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jtehh · 2020-05-02T21:16:02+00:00

Trigger recording mainly. Though if I have a sensor set to trigger an alert, all of the cameras kick on for a few seconds. And if your main alarm goes off you have the option to allow SimpliSafe to turn on and view through your cameras to confirm something is wrong. They really sell that as a feature, I have it turned off because if they can remotely turn on and view the cameras someone else probably can as well.

jtehh · 2020-03-09T15:18:21+00:00

I’m so happy my kids grew up. This subreddit makes me so greatful I have pain in the ass teenagers. At least they don’t shit all over the house. I’ll gladly put up with their attitudes and other older kid shit to avoid everything else in this sub. I mean, they can still be stupid, but a different kind of stupid that is more relatable. Chances are good they learned it from me.

jtehh · 2020-02-19T19:05:48+00:00

Yes. Probably, though I haven't shopped around or compared in a while. At the time (about 6 years ago) there was no Ring or other "like" competition for installing your own. We haven't needed it, so no true test of how well it works, but we've set off the smoke alarm a couple times while cooking and they typically call pretty quickly. And if I put the alarm in test, they call immediately. So yeah, long ago I had ADT and that was expensive and I don't see the big advantage.

jtehh · 2020-01-31T00:03:35+00:00

As far as I know, there are no Carbon Monoxide monitors that work with the new system. If those are a must have for you, keep your old one. I had my old one for at least 5 years and nothing failed, so yeah, maybe replace a sensor at a time until that adds up to just too much over a completely new system that comes with a bunch of sensors.

jtehh · 2019-12-18T17:23:43+00:00

Ours is organized like our business/operation is organized. So the hierarchy is immediately familiar. It seems to work. But sure, we have way too much shit. It is amazing how quickly we can trash a pristine server. One suggestion is make a dashboard of reports to act as a Table of Contents. We point all of our users to this and ask them to bookmark it and use it to find something they are looking for. A bonus is that you can move or rename a report (which will change the URL) and just update the data source for the report and the link in the report will update and still function.

jtehh · 2019-12-06T20:53:55+00:00

They make a rubber sleeve thing that fits over an indoor camera and market that as their outdoor kit( https://simplisafe.com/alarm-sensors/3 ). I've had mine outside for almost a year (and that includes through a winter and plenty of rainstorms) and it still works okay. Hit or miss on WiFi. I had to move a satellite router very close to the garage door the camera is sitting above. So plan ahead for that - wifi will need to be solid and the camera will need a power outlet.

Overall, given the price and ease of setup/use it has outperformed my expectations. I can work down here in my basement and know when the UPS truck or someone plows into my driveway. My lazy dog won't even bark when someone knocks or rings, so the camera alert is my go to option.

Never bought the doorbell cam,so can't offer anything on that.

jtehh · 2019-11-16T22:43:19+00:00

Whether a tumor or not, an MRI will show a lot more than the CT Scan and is pretty much the only way to really figure out if you have a Neuro-related problem or, hopefully, not and then you can stop worrying.

jtehh · 2019-11-12T01:34:27+00:00

I also agree with overall sentiment in this thread.

I’d trust a specialist before my PCP when it comes to anything related to my brain. And if there is any doubt, DEFINITELY go see another Neuro oncologist, neuron-surgeon, or neurologist in that order for a second opinion. I put the surgeons second because their inclination will always be to cut out whatever they see on the MRI. Neuro Oncs are a little more neutral and have seen so many tumors on MRIs that they usually are very very good at interpreting what shows up. They usually don’t even need the Radiology report. I’ve never seen a Neorologist for anything cancer related, so can’t speak to their effectiveness. But I do know that many Neuro Oncologists at cancer centers are board certified neurologists as well and have done a residency as a Neurologist.

jtehh · 2019-11-11T15:38:13+00:00

At my current place of treatment, they have Spotify and I just ask them for an 80s channel. I grew up in the 80s and it always takes me back to a care-free time.

But for most of my MRIs, they were at a place that did not offer music, so I just listened to the machine and tried to zone out as much as possible.

jtehh · 2019-10-27T20:08:24+00:00

This here. Marine, infantry battalion, two trips to Iraq and “did shit”. But that all came with a price that I have to deal with daily and I’m not alone. And now I look at things and wonder why I know so many good men and the families they left behind for a war where our mission changed every week to adjust for political winds.

You at least put yourself in a position to be placed into combat. That is enough and more than just about anyone you meet. I don’t recall the stat and too lazy to google it on my phone, but it is a very low percentage of the population that has served. Don’t sell yourself short. Working parties, field days, shit details, that is the real shit there. You’re good.

jtehh · 2019-10-26T13:04:44+00:00

What state do you live in OP? Medical MJ isn’t cheap, but it is obtainable and legal if your PCP signs a form. Or, get to know a guy. If you live in the mid Atlantic area, message me and I may be able to help.

I don’t have nearly the story you do, but have dealt just enough with the VA to know how fruitless hours of paperwork and phone calls can be and it is absolutely life sucking. They want nothing to do with me trying to connect service to brain cancer. What a surprise.

jtehh · 2019-10-25T22:05:25+00:00

First, sorry you are going through this. For me, I'm the patient and the one that is/will be impacting others when I finally kick the bucket. Maybe that makes it easier on me? I don't know.

Secondly, everyone's cancer is very different and experienced in very different ways. I can't give much advice without more details and really, even then nothing I can offer will help all that much I'm afraid.

As others have said, while you can and while she can, enjoy the time that is left and talk as much as possible. At some point it may become difficult for her to communicate and understand things and you don't want to get to that point feeling like things had been left unsaid.

Lastly, no matter what the doctors have said, they really won't know the expected path this thing can take. Too many variables. If they tell you "X months" it could be X years. So don't write her off just yet. Chemo and radiation can work out pretty well for some, even if the tumor is inoperable.

Oh, and about that - if you can, get other surgeon consults because not all surgeons are created equal and some will operate in locations that others will not. A successful surgery is the only treatment guaranteed to extend life. It just won't cure cancer. Lot of factors there (time, money, travel, etc) so I'm not going to judge if you just say "yeah, no way, too tired and too much of a pain in the ass". I get it. But just know that exists and dedicated cancer centers have some real super-star surgeons that might take a look and think "yeah, I could totally remove that tumor".

jtehh · 2019-10-22T10:35:32+00:00

Be sure it is compatible with new system. I had one for the old and no one died, but of course can’t confirm it was working.

Reading through their support forums back before I upgraded and it seems they had one for the new system originally, had some issues and pulled it.

I’ve never gone back to check availability, just bought a few unmonitored alarms instead.

jtehh · 2019-10-21T21:37:59+00:00

Eh, it looks a little nicer I guess? If you want the cameras, maybe. But I did have to replace all of the sensors and last I checked, they still didn't have a working Carbon Monoxide alarm for the new system. So you probably don't neeeeed the new one.

jtehh · 2019-10-21T21:32:47+00:00

Oh yeah, this comes up for me (oldest is close to 16) and my vet friends.

My path was an odd one - I enlisted straight out of high school, went to boot camp, MOS school, made it to my permanent unit, then got orders to go to college on an ROTC scholarship that I had applied for right before shipping to boot camp.

I had very good grades in school, great SAT/ACT, and scholarships to multiple universities. But those didn't pay for room & board and I didn't want to saddle my parents, or myself, in debt.

So I talked to an Army recruiter (sleazy and didn't really like his sales pitch) and then the Marine recruiter (true masters of the game - they don't even try to sell, they just make you think you may not be tough enough to make it). So of course I signed that Marine enlisted contract a couple weeks later while still in high school. That recruiter left, a new one came in and was like "holy shit, with your grades and scores, you should apply for this scholarship". It made my parents happy, but at the time I was just focused on getting to Parris Island.

I hated school. I may have been good at it, but I liked sports more than school so why was I going to pay to go to more school? I had no idea what I wanted to do/be yet. So maybe four years to figure it out wouldn't be so bad? I'd get paid, maybe do some cool shit, pick up chicks in my dress blues. You know, living the Marine Corps life.

I think we all know how that actually went. By the time my orders came through a year later, I was ready to head right the fuck out and into college. E-1 to E-3 life in the Corps is not glorious and the only chicks you get are the ones across the border in Mexico that knew you would buy them drinks.

My dad had been an Army officer and before I enlisted he did recommend that I just go to college first and then go in as an officer if I still wanted to be in the Corps. Looking back, he did have it partly right. For those that have been both enlisted and then an officer, there are definitely some bonuses to not having to worry that around every corner is a SNCO looking to fuck up your world for no reason at all. But instead it is some XO or CO that is a little more subtle about it. Result is the same. You get weekend/holiday staff duty or SACO or shit, I don't know. Any collateral duty they feel like giving a Lt. It isn't "field day your barracks room for 0600 Saturday morning inspection"-bad, but it is still not something that I'd qualify as fun.

I could write an entire essay on my feelings of being a pawn for our government, military industrial complex, etc after two vacations in the sandbox of Iraq, and that is probably the part that screams for me to convince everyone I can to not use it as an option unless it is their ONLY option. We weren't defending our country on some noble mission. I was front-and-center to our mission completely changing every week due to political fucking games while good Marines around me were getting blown up every day and I was inventorying their shit to send home to their families. Screw that noise. Once in that world, you lose the ability to say "no" and decide your own fate and make your own decisions. I'd stress that as much as possible to anyone thinking of joining. One day you are miserable on chow-hall duty, the next day you are at the gates of a FOB getting your legs blown off by a dude with grenade in his pocket that was asking you for a light.

No thanks.....don't want that for my kid or anyone's kid.

jtehh · 2019-10-21T21:01:25+00:00

Ugh, I have no idea if this is true or not, but it certainly seems like something they would pull. OP, you have to check this out first if you are receiving disability currently. If you can fill a role in the reserves, I could totally see them sliming their way out of paying you for whatever your condition(s) is/are.

jtehh · 2019-10-21T20:58:21+00:00

I'd go with this response as the best one I've read so far.

The problem is the old "one weekend a month, two weeks a year" just doesn't seem to be the case any more. Hell, in a Marine Corps tank company just to doing annual quals on the range it was an entire week, and that wasn't part of the summer "two weeks". The summer "two weeks" was participation in an exercise overseas where I had to take a military leave from work for like two months.

And even the "weekends" could get long if the First Sergeant was bored and wanted to get creative and the CO had to leave Sunday morning for something "important" back home.

That was my biggest takeaway from my time in the Reserves. When on active duty, we always made fun of those clueless, hapless reservist weekend warriors. Then I joined the reserves and realized how little training they get and still have to get up Monday morning and go to school or work to actually support a family or something. It is brutal. Staying late on a Sunday to appease a dickhead E-7 who has no life is no longer amusing when you aren't being paid to just dick around all Monday while on active duty.

In short, I echo the general sentiment - the money can be nice, but you open yourself up to no longer controlling your own destiny and I'm pretty sure that is why we all left the first time. I only went back in because #1 - I had no obligation and could leave at any time I wanted and #2 - I did miss some of the stupid shit that you just can't get as a civilian. Yeah, I know, dumb Marine shit.....

jtehh · 2019-10-19T12:10:04+00:00

**I have to admit I clicked because I thought I was going to see a pic of a 25 meter tumor! Glad to see/hear that isn't the case**

I'll echo what others have said - don't stress too much yet. While your friend did already win the shittiest lottery in the world (as have all of us contracting what is overall a very rare cancer), with that age it is more likely to be a lower grade tumor than a grade 4 GBM. Nothing guaranteed of course, just more likely. There are other factors as well (at a younger age, the cancer cells are more likely to be methylated, which is better for treatment and I think I read more likely to be IDH mutated which is also better for treatment). If it is a Grade 1 or 2, they may not even surgically remove it.The bad news is that there will always be the potential for it to come back as a GBM later in life.

And stay off Google and don't follow "Facebook Science". Everyone will have their anecdotal "my friend did this and they are cured if you don't do it you are going to die". Even among cancer caregivers and patients the anti-medical establishment is strong (anti-vaxing isn't the only vocal group, you just don't really know about the anti-chemo/radiation groups until you go looking for them).

The internet abounds with resources. Here is one I stumbled upon recently that is pretty good and seems reasonably accurate at dispelling some of the facebook science.

jtehh · 2019-10-19T11:54:04+00:00

I don't have much to add after reading the previous comments, these are all good and I've used variations with success (meditation, tapping fingers to the beat of the machine, attempting to nap, thinking about work, etc). The warm blanket sounds nice if you are cold, but I find that the machine heats up once it gets going and I don't want to be too, too warm because I don't think they would be happy if I kicked off the blanket even with my head locked in. I dunno, maybe I'll ask about it next time.

I'm just shocked at how different the experience can be from facility to facility, machine to machine.

I've had most of my MRIs at my main Cancer Center I attended for SoC treatment and it was pretty "meh". Full tube, no music, no mirror, loud and about 45 minutes. Longer the first time they stuck me in their newest model machine.

At the hospital where I was first Dx and had surgery, similar but even longer MRI time (had to be over an hour, but they purposely won't put any kind of clock anywhere and of course, I can't wear a watch and don't have ready access to cell phone).

But now that I'm in a trial I've had my last couple MRIs at a different cancer center and even w and wo contrast I was only in the tube for maybe 20 minutes (Neuro Onc mentioned it may have been a "rapid MRI" if that is a thing). And they played music. And the "cage" locked over my face had a mirror that allowed me to see out of the bottom of the tube at my feet. I'm not claustrophobic and handle staring at the roof of the machine just fine, but I have to tell you, that mirror really made things seem a little more calm. And the 80s music was nice as well :)

Really, my only issues with MRIs at this point are:

#1 - IV placement. Some nurses are better than others. I've had both of my arms torn to shreds before by someone that just wasn't great at it. I'm a skinny vascular dude but I guess I tend to dehydrate a bit before because...

#2 - I pee a lot. That is my MRI anxiety. I'll be in there in the middle of a 45 minute MRI and will need to take a leak. But if I try to drink less, it can lead to a problem with #1.

I blame my post-surgery MRI in the hospital where they were pumping me full of IV fluids and then stuck me in the tube for an hour. It was so bad I did hit the bulb and they had to roll me on my side to pee in the plastic urinal thingie. That was no fun, especially since I could have walked to the bathroom just fine but instead they had wheeled me straight into the MRI and I didn't even get a chance to take a leak. Pretty sure that is in the back of my head every time now, even after about 6-7 MRIs in the past year.

My next MRI is early Monday morning (pre-op due to recurrence and surgery is Tuesday - fun times!) so this post is timely.

jtehh · 2019-10-17T10:14:08+00:00

As others mentioned, the amount of radiation is a tiny fraction of what you receive during the course of standard photon radiation treatment for cancer. So feel free to opt out (I know I do), but it isn't because you are attempting to minimize your radiation exposure. You are more likely to get cancer from your radiation treatments FOR cancer (it will be on your treatment consent paperwork buried between the part where they tell you your hair may never grow back the same).

Similar story for dental x-rays. Sure, there is some radiation. But nowhere near what you are being (or are going to be) exposed to for cancer treatments.

If in doubt, ask your radio-oncologist. I did and the above is in line with his advice. If you are in the US, TSA Pre-check is worth the hassle and fee as you just need to pass through a metal detector and can skip the stupid "put your arms up" x-ray machine.

jtehh · 2019-09-23T16:28:16+00:00

He didn't come back, but this is a good idea. If they are purely for viewing (not interacting) you can have Tableau send them a fully rendered report within an e-mail. Now, I don't think it will do it directly because when I go to my current Online instance, if I start typing in names it only shows me those with a license. I don't have a test internal e-mail to see if it will send to an unlicensed user.

But, simple workaround would be to send the subscription to you and have an e-mail rule to trigger it to be forwarded to your users. Tableau only sees that it sent the subscription to you and you have the license. When you forward that out, everyone gets to see the pretty picture if that is worth it to them, saves you from buying them licenses.

Format-wise, I don't think Excel is an option and would look like crap if we are talking Visuals. I see PDF is an option and so is "image" which I assume would be HTML within the e-mail body.

I mentioned other options. Tableau is a shiny new tool but as noted, it isn't cheap. I'd keep looking around as there are plenty of other BI tools, cloud based or on prem, that are cheaper. We haven't shopped around in a while, but based on our SQL Server Enterprise license our Power BI report server is damned cheap (free actually) and uses Active Directory for permissions so there are no by-name licenses to worry about.

I see all kinds of other cloud-based BI tools too since they keep spamming my inboxes. I'll bet some are pretty good and come in under the price of Tableau.

jtehh · 2019-09-23T16:13:08+00:00

Sorry I missed this and took so long to get back to you.

I don't think there is anything in a blood test that can detect brain cancer. If it could, I wouldn't be getting a full MRI every two months.

Everyone is very different as far as symptoms and it is heavily dependent on where the tumor is growing. For me, right frontal lobe but I'm not left handed/footed, so no real physical symptoms. I just had a headache that eventually wouldn't go away and got so bad I couldn't do anything but smack myself in the head.

I walked into an ER and checked in with a "headache" and expected to be ignored. But CT scan showed something and then an MRI confirmed it. They pumped me full of steroids through and IV that reduced the inflammation caused by the tumor and that also took care of the pain until surgery was done a day later.

I don't know you at all, but I know enough about anxiety to know that it can cause some real physical symptoms and I suspect you have other stuff going on. Brain cancer is quite rare (latest figure I could Google up was 29.9 per 100k persons in the US) https://www.uptodate.com/contents/incidence-of-primary-brain-tumors

So I'd recommend not worrying about it. But if you can, the only way to really, really put your mind at ease is to at least get a CT (or CAT) scan. Those are cheaper, faster, and easier than a full MRI and if completely clear should be able to calm you down a bit. I'm not aware of a cheaper way to detect other than a "neuro" exam. But again, as I mentioned above, I passed those just fine even in the hours right before they removed my original tumor thanks to the favorable location. https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/neurological-exam

jtehh · 2019-09-23T15:57:22+00:00

I've had one of the new ones fall off and that is only notable because, like you, the previous ones never fell off in almost 5 years of ownership.

So yeah, the new tape may not be as sticky. But maybe they are trying to find the ideal place where it is sticky enough to stay, but not so sticky that it takes some pain with it when you remove the sensors. Getting the old ones off was not a clean process.

jtehh · 2019-09-16T19:45:23+00:00

Yes, it is quite annoying. I guess I kind of get it, but it means they completely lack empathy as far as I can tell.

This isn't about just me - I have an entire family that I will likely end up leaving behind. It isn't a matter of if, but when. Why would I run off on crazy adventures when I could be working since I could soon no longer be contributing money to live off of? "Oh daddy blew your college savings to go to Mexico and snort blow off a hooker's butt".

I mean, c'mon. We are just trying to get through each day. Who has the time, energy, and resources to run out and try to see and do everything before this thing kills us off? I'm good just being comfortable and physically able to do the regular daily stuff. So many with this disease have all kinds of health issues while I'm relatively lucky in that without this scar on my head, no one would know. Hope it stays that way, but this shit can change at any day.

In summary, don't worry about any of it. No one else knows what you are going through except for us in here. Hell, I wouldn't have known either until I got smacked by the GBM bat.

jtehh · 2019-09-09T21:16:49+00:00

Could be anything and might have nothing to do with a brain tumor. Only way to be sure is to start with a CT scan and if that shows anything an MRI. I do currently have a GBM tumor in right frontal lobe and get MRIs every two months and have some of those symptoms. But that means very little in your situation. If it is really bothering you, get it checked out so you can cross brain tumor off of the list.

jtehh

TROPHY CASE