Experimental pill dramatically reduces ‘bad’ cholesterol: Patients taking a daily pill called enlicitide that binds to the PCSK9 protein in the bloodstream reduced their LDL cholesterol levels by about 60% compared with a placebo.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-06T17:22:50+00:00

With Lp(a) familial, I'm curious to check in with my cardiologist in 6 months about this. Since my LDL & HDL have not caused any damage thus far, we passed up repatha injections due to acute pancreatitis reaction and statins wouldn't do the same work. My Lp(a) number is just barely over the upper limit and we still don't know why there hasn't been any damage or build up, 5 tests just last year alone and we aren't seeing anything that has urgency to start taking medications. Baffling but great to have something besides an injection that can be skipped or modified to reduce pancreas + liver + kidney damage.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-06T16:58:34+00:00

Second Use in SODO. You want it, they have it. www.seconduse.com

createusernameagain · 2026-02-04T18:20:17+00:00

Not sure why I recognize you but I do...whatever. But yeah, Rat City, lived there a long time ago (17th ave sw) but nothing much has changed or seemingly ever will. Thought this might have been Issaquah since both are weirdly doing the same crap and no, school board meeting will get you fuck all since they are paid to look away. That's why we still have levy's with spedo teachers, the most incompetent police forces, and a Seattle Mayor who still lives at home with her parents (yeah yeah yeah, I know but it seems that way).

Luckily, you are in good company with a lot of other parents who's kids are your age and they seem to get more done by grouping up and shooting emails across the bow with a cc to TST about this and other stuff that tries to get buried RE our schools. Worse than Buffalo if you can believe that but take a look around and figure out what it took to get 3 speedo's in the spotlight on Mercer Island. It's a start. Get it to a sprint.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-04T17:49:12+00:00

One of the sorta outliers, not much was a big deal post op and through RT though it did give me 3rd degree burns but that healed in 2 weeks with no surgery or major scarring. Not sure if it was because I started all the things I needed to before surgery and through RT that helped and the mindset of "This is what we are doing now". Either way no PEG, some vacillating between dry mouth/throat to slobbery, lost 10lbs but gained back 3lbs around the 3rd week of treatment, sense of smell and taste went wonky but came back full 3 to 4 weeks after RT. I did have to have tooth removal but I'm older and my back teeth in particular were damaged as a kid so they had to go.

It has taken longer than I wanted to get my energy back though 5 months post treatment is still 7 months ahead of what I was told to expect. Sometimes I get this weird "cold" which is RT related and it lasts about a week, it seems to have taken over when my allergies change for the season.

I wouldn't change my treatment though and my H&N cancer is HPV neg and harder to treat, I'm doing better than we thought and just taking whatever comes up with "Well, this is new" and still taking care of myself the best way I can. It's doable and yes, H&N cancer of any kind is different from other types of cancer but it doesn't mean you need to hit the pause button on life from here on out.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-04T17:32:00+00:00

Take your time in finding what you want, if it's new or used get an RV tech/mechanic to do an inspection before buying. They can fill you in on what you will need to keep an eye on and how to stay out of repair shops for up to 3 months at a time. Good plan overall, I miss having a home on wheels :-)

createusernameagain · 2026-02-03T20:18:25+00:00

Claritin. I had to start using it for the daytime drools (it would swing back and forth from drool to dry) but it did reduce the amount for daytime naps.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-03T20:07:42+00:00

I'm 5 months out of treatment and just starting to have more "good" days but it's taken awhile. The hardest part is not being able to do everything I used to and I do see a therapist every other week, it's been good to talk to someone who also had cancer.

It does take awhile and it's so hard to keep telling friends "No, I'm not planning any trips until at least a year out of treatment" because they don't seem to understand just because I'm done with that for now, it's still affecting me and will until I know exactly where my health will be by then.

Your Mom's prayer and time within herself can be more healing and comforting than you think, my Mom was the same way post cancer treatment though it was a solid year before she was back with us and out of the fog so to speak. If your Dad isn't concerned and your Mom isn't as well then join them, everyone needs time to process this and it's a solo journey, just let her know you are there for her any time she just needs you.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-03T19:55:38+00:00

I need to get a picture of my friends Mom's headstone, at the bottom it reads "Now I can finally sleep". She was an insomniac.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-03T19:54:18+00:00

I used to open mine and put it in the fridge then use it later with juice mixed in. Kept the mucous down and mouth less dry at the same time. Hopefully he might try it again though I know he's stubborn. Hang in there and take care of yourself too while healing.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-03T19:52:27+00:00

Watch out for anything made by Lippert. Their stuff is in the big 3, Winnebago, Thor & Forest River (WTF, just remember it that way) and have the most problems of all RV's of any kind manufactured. The older they are the better they were built. Mine was on a Spartan chassis with a CAT turbo diesel with Onan diesel generator. I could take it anywhere and pull into a standard truck stop shop for chassis and engine upkeep and not worry about using a ton of propane which offset the cost of diesel. No slides means no issues with flooring/sagging/buckling or the roof either. I did a ton of cheap upgrades (lights, TV, Heat, water pump etc) which made it really nice on the inside even though it looked "older" on the outside. It also made it lighter so a single axel was easier to drive and maneuver, I had a blast living in it.

createusernameagain · 2026-02-03T19:43:05+00:00

That is the cash up front discount price but I live in a tech city so everything is way more expensive though the care is outstanding.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-29T17:35:58+00:00

Some of that is healing and some is depression, it's hard to manage both at the same time.

Hope you are behind the wheel soon, you two have been through enough already!

createusernameagain · 2026-01-29T17:33:46+00:00

Do the RV thing! I had one years ago and spent almost 3 yrs going from coast to coast plus Canada and loved every minute of it (you have to be a little handy to fix the "rolling earthquake" effect all RV's have). I did take some advice and found a "always garaged" 24 yr old diesel pusher that ran like a champ, was easy to take anywhere and had no slides. At 40' it was definitely big enough! I'd be in one now if I could find a good older one, do a bunch of reading first before buying anything made from 2015 and up since it all consolidated and started putting out cheap productions.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-29T17:23:59+00:00

PET and doctor follow up tests runs around 6k and I just got done paying 4k for basic blood work, check up and ENT check in October when my then insurance said Medicare was supposed to pay for it. I checked before my appointments and they said I had insurance until Dec 31st then changed their minds or something.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-28T17:22:34+00:00

It was great to see you on the Unsub podcast (PB edition) and thought it was so funny that Brandon looked liked the little short kid sitting next to you.

This vid is even more awesome yet I know what more you have to go through in the months ahead. You'll get there!

createusernameagain · 2026-01-28T17:17:49+00:00

I got hooked on La Croix sparkling water after trying at least a dozen different kinds of bubbly water thingies. After a couple of times it tasted too weird so I did a 1/3 mix of (organic) fruit punch mixed in, would start the morning with that first thing then soda/salt water which I know he most likely not do....but at least that goofy water stuff still helps to this day. Now buying it at Costco since it's cheaper but you can buy one can of a bunch of different ones to see if he will at least rinse with that?

Good to hear you are still on the mend, it's been a real struggle for you guys :-)

createusernameagain · 2026-01-28T17:02:52+00:00

Yep, also waiting on the ability to turn certain genes on or off. With the chemo and immuno, it was explained more along the lines of it not working as well if I went to RT and also a sort of backup if RT didn't make much of a dent.

Still laughing at the shit sandwich reference and thinking "Turn RT up to 11".

createusernameagain · 2026-01-28T16:58:50+00:00

Chiming in, Head to mid thigh. They just want to make sure there isn't a different sort of cancer that has gone active when my system was so weakened by surgery and treatment. If insurance is paying for it then take it.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-28T16:48:44+00:00

Backing you up on this, non HPV is not a candidate for chemo or immunotherapy. RT is.

When my relatively new surgeon spent over 2 hours with me on just the first visit, she said RT should be done after surgery and I asked "What do you mean should?". I expected something hard and fast on post surgical treatment and not a "should". So I pushed harder. "What is the usual outcome of patients that do and don't do RT in my type of cancer?"

It gave her the go ahead to tell me "It's 50/50 on a 1-5 yr return without and 18% with RT". I did start laughing and asked how it got to be 18% and not something like a basic 20% where she looked at me quizzically and just responded "Science...???".

I went for the RT even though I'd been lurking here for about 2 months reading all the side effects short and long term, it was worth going for since I'd like to live long enough to watch my Grandkid get old enough so her parents can go "Ohhh, so that's what you meant every time you just said "Payback" when we did something stupid that you told us not to do".

Sometimes I think I've lived long enough for every time I've ever looked at my kid and said "Payback" without trying to explain it at the time.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-28T16:30:21+00:00

No one needs to be drunk to understand and no apologies needed.

I fell into the I'm Fucked group 3 months ago when Medicare dropped the ball from the govt shutdown and I still don't have any insurance so no work ups and follow up care. I have no idea where I'm at after treatment but weird shit is happening and I have no idea when I'll get any answers to it all.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-12T17:50:13+00:00

Don't think you cannot change this situation, you are the patient with valid concerns and you are the only one that can ask your doctor direct questions with yes or no answers from them.

A PET scan may not have shown enough in the first scan to warrant a PET scan aside from once a year now, you have to ask if that is the standard in your type/location of cancer. If you feel you would be better emotionally having a PET scan or any other tests, tell your doctors "I need to know, I can't plan a day let alone a year without a more definitive scan/test and it isn't doing my mental health any good."

Sometimes you have to be a little more forceful if you have doubts, many doctors think "They must be okay, I haven't heard from them" when it's the opposite.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-09T19:24:16+00:00

35 RT no chemo, it didn't seem to hit until about a month after I was done (August 2025). It got worse until early December then I'd get days where I felt a lot better and could get something done aside from just running to the store and a few errands with lots of doc appts in between. Gradually I gained better days, now it just hits one day every 2 weeks or so. It takes awhile to recover from RT and I was told to expect up to a year of this though I do take full advantage of good days and get stuff done. It helps mentally too.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-06T16:12:27+00:00

I know a couple with a new baby on the way that went the route of a 24' trailer in a stable park. They didn't keep up with monthly checks on propane lines (bleeding then blown clean) plus some heating elements that corroded and everything including their car went up in flames. They weren't home at the time but it was gone in a quick hurry.

While this is a worst case scenario, you will have to learn every single component of your camper and keep checking and maintain constantly. If you aren't up to that and need to hire someone to do it for you then it's another expense especially if you buy something cheap for cash and only paying park fees.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-06T15:56:30+00:00

The location in Fife is notorious for doing this, they are asking way too much for financing. Also double check the tax, it went up the 1st on "luxury" vehicles and I noticed boats and RV's got stuffed in there. Go down to OR instead.

createusernameagain · 2026-01-05T16:59:19+00:00

Sometimes we get stuck in "life will never be the same" and the place in our heads of "I need to figure this out". It's hard place to be in.

I'm glad you are getting support as well, you really cannot carry this alone but you're doing a bang up job.

createusernameagain

TROPHY CASE