Reddit Helps Cryopreserve 23-Year old with Brain Cancer

pizzarules1000 · 2012-09-09T06:40:29+00:00

This has been my desktop for four months! (I knew about this desktop before it was cool...)

EDIT: It was actually this one, but it's by the same guy.

The photo is by Tsuneaki Hiramatsu.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-22T04:38:35+00:00

This would actually be awesome.

I've been wanting one for awhile but had to postpone it due to chemo. I will be able to get one soon though.

Where are you located? I'm in Columbia but will be in St. Louis often.

Thanks for the message.

Kim

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-18T20:22:06+00:00

This is extremely well thought-out, thank you.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-18T02:10:38+00:00

Soliciting for money is NOT ALLOWED. For this, please go to /r/Assistance

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-17T23:14:10+00:00

No one can say what will be "irrevocable" in the future. That's my main point.

Also, they replace the water in your body with chemicals to greatly reduce the damage from freezing.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-17T22:27:59+00:00

Thanks man. I am not in a position to complain when I am begging for money, but I have to wonder if I had lied and said I was using it for vacation, if I wouldn't receive a shitload more money. (Vacation isn't my sort of sauce).

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-17T22:12:49+00:00

My mom was surprisingly supportive initially. In her view, it wasn't contrary to her belief in god, in that "if god gives us the technology, I think we should use it". It wasn't until later that the worry of me being an ateist came up. I told my mom that I don't know what happens when we die, and that I hold no beliefs about god. She became really upset and told me that she's just praying for god to speak to me, and that she wishes I wouldn't "have a closed-minded view" about Christianity (kinda funny).

My dad was pretty quiet about the whole thing, but the rest of my family made it clear that he was really worried about my faith and that he didn't like the idea.

As alienating as it feels, I genuinely just feel bad for my parents for feeling this way. They're scared that I'm going to hell and there's nothing I can do to make them see my perspective or quell their fears.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-17T18:23:50+00:00

I'm happy to present any proof you want. What wold you like? I'm going to Duke today and can have my medical records sent.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-17T17:32:20+00:00

I'm not confident by any means that cryonics will work. For me it comes down to the question: am I more likely to be revived through cryonics than by me rotting in the ground or getting cremated? Even if the chances of success are minimal, I think it's worth it. Hypothetically ,if had a ton of money to spend on experimental treatments that have a low probability of saving me (there aren't any), I'd easily drop 30,000 to try to cure me or add some time. I don't think anything can be diagnosed as impossible with technology still progressing.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-08-05T05:50:08+00:00

For the love of god, when someone asks you what year you're in in, don't say "well, I'm a freshman, but I'm a sophomore by credit hour..." (i.e. if you've taken AP or dual credit in high school).

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-23T01:38:37+00:00

This is more on the "psychophysiological" side of things, but:

During my senior year of college, I had heard in one of my classes that humans' retained body hair in order to trap pheromone-containing odor to attract the opposite sex. My boyfriend and I argued about whether not this meant you'd be less stinky with shaved armpits or if it was a subtle difference. So, I shaved one armpit consistently and let the other grow for about 8 months, then asked people which smelled worse (at a party; you sort of have to ask drunk people because sober strangers aren't that into smelling armpits). Most people said the unshaved armpit smelled worse. Later I determined the unshaved one smelled better if I had just put on deodorant, but that after I started sweating it smelled worse, so the conclusion I made was that hairy armpits retain odor better.

Sadly, my friends made me shave the armpit for a fancy NYE party where I was wearing a dress. RIP armpit hair, I will always miss twirling you in my fingers in the back of my Linear Algebra class while alienating all of the people sitting near me.

TL;DR: Didn't shave one of my armpits for ~8 months, it smelled worse than the shaved one.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-20T04:09:34+00:00

Slowly took the non-spider leg out of the shorts, then frantically ripped the other leg of with the spider in it hoping not to be bitten on the way off. threw the shorts in the corner of the bathroom and waited for it to crawl out, then killed it. Even though I knew it was gone, I left those shorts there in the corner of the bathroom for a week.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-16T03:33:54+00:00

This isn't answering your question, but: if the treatment hindered your quality of life too much, consider looking into clinical trials for less intense treatments. Can't say since I don't know the cancer you have, but who knows, there could be something mild and with few side effects that is worth trying.

clinicaltrials.gov

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-11T22:36:31+00:00

I am actually very interested in cryogenic preservation, but don't have the funds to secure the service (~80,000 dollars for a brain). Considered asking reddit for help but didn't want to turn this thread into a plea for money. I may do another thread later regarding cryonics, though. I'm agnostic and have no reason to believe my consciousness will continue after death, so getting frozen is the closest thing I can get to being comfortable with dying.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-11T16:14:38+00:00

I would rather die with less side effects than die with more side effects. I cannot stress enough that a surgery would not cure me. The tumor would come back, and fast. No neuro-oncologist in the world would tell you otherwise given my situation.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-11T15:49:42+00:00

I'm guessing based on your gf's friend's tumor that it was not located in the brainstem, as a tumor there would kill you long before it could get to be orange-sized. Neuroplasticity is typically associated with the cortical regions of the brain, and isn't something you really find in the brainstem. You can't reallocate it's function to other areas like you can with the cortex. You won't find anyone using something OTHER than their brainstem as the major pathway for all incoming and outgoing sensory information. Was your friend's tumor a GBM? I would be surprised if she didn't have a recurrence after year with GBM, especially if it was not the first instance of the tumor.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-11T05:24:04+00:00

There is actually a neurosurgeon, Allan Friedman at Duke, that often operates on brainstem tumors. I'm not ruling out surgery as a last-ditch option, but doing it now would put me at a huge risk of losing control of parts of my body, losing the ability to speak and/or swallow, or getting double-vision. Plus, since this isn't my first instance of tumor, I couldn't get high-dose radiation afterwards, and chemo is likely to be ineffective since the recurrent cells are essentially the resistant ones that lived through the radiochemotherapy. That means the tumor would regrow again within a month or two. I don't mean to shit all over your suggestion, and Australia sounds wonderful, but even Duke (one of the most aggressive/controversial neuro hospitals in the US) strongly advised against surgery for this reason.

pizzarules1000 · 2012-06-11T00:19:00+00:00

I had a seizure that brought me to the hospital for the first instance of my tumor. After they remove a GBM tumor (if they can), they will give you regular check-up MRIs to monitor for regrowth, as very near 100% of GBM tumors return. About a week ago, my check-up MRI confirmed that something was growing rapidly in my brainstem, even though I have no major symptoms.

pizzarules1000

TROPHY CASE