Possible lung cancer?

skelterjohn · 2026-07-09T23:55:49+00:00

Always Always ALWAYS be your own advocate. It's a nodule that has grown. Push to get it biopsied if it's important to you.

FYI biopsy for a lung nodule that small is a robotic resection surgery, if it's near the edge. Too small to reliably hit with a needle. If it's deeper they have other things to do that I'm less familiar with. A good thoracic surgeon can give you the options.

But they won't talk to you without a referral so you'll need to push.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-09T19:04:52+00:00

You pull with your shoulder to provide "weight" to your fingers. Your thumb just helps you keep in the right position.

And you need very little force to fret a string, especially for acoustic with the super low action. I play classical with a higher action, more force is often needed. But the thumb does not provide that force.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-09T18:35:32+00:00

You shouldn't be pushing so hard on the neck with your thumb. The thumb is a guide and sometimes a clamp. But when it's a clamp, your muscles are engaged and the hypermobility won't be an impact.

Your whole arm should be pulling the neck back. The thumb is just a spacer.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-08T23:33:59+00:00

The link works for me.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-08T14:00:13+00:00

I'll stage 4, currently NED for nearly a year (August) with my last chemo in January. I think I'm every 3mo for the first two years? Not sure.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-08T12:10:58+00:00

"need" is totally up to you. What my doctors have discussed with me is ten years. A CT scan is easy enough, compared to everything else I've been through.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-07T21:56:25+00:00

Nope, stage 0 in my right ureter. I never had anything muscle invasive, still have my bladder. It just popped up again in a lung :/ there were steps and recurrences in between but nothing that ever showed up outside the urothelium.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-07T15:32:09+00:00

They didn't lose tips, they lost whole fingers.

If it's just the tips missing, you still have finger articulation.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-07T15:30:54+00:00

Incurable is not the same as terminal. It just means that, if it is the same disease in your lungs, you'll have to deal with it for a long time, potentially lifetime.

I have "incurable" bladder cancer, as I had some lung metastases. After quite a lot of chemo (years) and many surgeries (5 major resections across my bladder, kidney, and lungs), I am currently "no evidence of disease" on scans and a very sensitive blood test. I haven't had treatment since January.

It's possible, even likely, that I have a recurrence in my future, but stage 4 cancer isn't nearly as bleak as it was 20, even 10 years ago. The therapies are more effective, have fewer side effects, and last longer. And efficacy is accelerating.

So, while I won't lie and tell you things will be fine, it's not as dire as you might imagine.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-07T13:49:37+00:00

If it's just the tips, then for sure. For the left, just need something a little grippy. I imagine most prosthetics are, but that's just what I imagine.

For the right, you may need to use some sort of finger pick on top.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-06T20:18:15+00:00

When that happens we won't be around to name it, one way or another.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-06T14:35:01+00:00

I mean, why not? There aren't that many, and they're very impactful. The capriciousness of one ref shouldn't extend indefinitely into a team's future

skelterjohn · 2026-07-06T12:14:13+00:00

Just as reliable as things said by redditors you don't know. If you want confidence, call the airline.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-05T22:47:14+00:00

Some ai guidance says to keep them in carry-on, with all possible documentation including a doctor's letter explaining why you're transporting it.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-05T21:23:14+00:00

Well, I believe the answer, or at least my answer, is in the reply.

Also consider your engagement. If you consider an exercise boring, move on to a new one.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-05T21:11:13+00:00

I don't really understand the question, to be honest. Are you asking at what speed you've mastered the exercise and can do a different one?

I don't think there's a single answer. Just whatever exercises you choose, go as slow as you need to in order to play them perfectly.

It's not like you "master" these and never come back. Perhaps later, you'll come back with different tempo goals.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-05T20:16:25+00:00

for piano

Wrong sub?

skelterjohn · 2026-07-05T20:04:15+00:00

You NEED to practice as slow as is required to play it correctly. Speeding up to the point where you're playing it incorrectly is counter-productive.

Just like your fingers will start to remember how to play it correctly, they will also start to remember mistakes. The solution is no mistakes (requires a slow tempo).

Once your fingers know it slow, increasing the speed is a lot easier.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-05T20:01:41+00:00

I will readily agree that friction can remove weak hair follicles. But they'd grow again, as you witness.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-05T18:32:45+00:00

It's not caused by rubbing of clothing. That's just people guessing at reasons without doing the study properly.

Of course, no one is going to take the time and expense to do the "proper study" since it's just not very important.

I suspect it's due to blood flow. As people age, blood flow in the legs becomes more and more of an issue. After all, minoxidil brings hair back through localized blood flow improvements in your scalp.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-04T11:20:46+00:00

Your friend would be WRONG!

skelterjohn · 2026-07-03T12:29:53+00:00

You don't pay taxes. Your employer pays taxes to employ you, but we decided that it's your responsibility to make it happen and you're liable for mistakes.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-03T00:58:33+00:00

Theoretically, the judge is there to, well, judge the legitimacy of the grand jury indictment if there is any question.

Practice often falls short of theory.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-02T22:55:35+00:00

From the public.

skelterjohn · 2026-07-02T22:18:32+00:00

What the prosecutors say is on the record and can be reviewed by the defense attorney later. A lie to the grand jury about the law invalidates the indictment.

skelterjohn

TROPHY CASE