"Pancreatic Cancer Doesn't Have to Be a Death Sentence"

[ygolo]

Opinion | Pancreatic Cancer Doesn't Have to Be a Death Sentence

Early detection is the key to increasing survival rates

www.medpagetoday.com

 

[Coriolis]

Indeed, it does not. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the poster child for surviving pancreatic cancer. Of course it helps to have access to the best health care the modern world can provide. I lost my father-in-law to it, and a close colleague; also a couple spouses of friends. It is not an easy diagnosis to face.

 

[SearchingforPeace]

I had two cousins die of it, one in her 30s, one in her forties. So sad.

 

[ceecee]

The issue is "early detection". My husbands' boss died of it last summer - the out of pocket costs bankrupted his family in the end. While it's great that advances are made in detection, none of it matters when those advances remain unaffordable by design.

 

[ygolo]

The issue is "early detection". My husbands' boss died of it last summer - the out of pocket costs bankrupted his family in the end. While it's great that advances are made in detection, none of it matters when those advances remain unaffordable by design.

The costs of healthcare are ridiculous, and getting worse so much faster than inflation.

The last few years have had me hit my out of pocket maximum for healthcare (chose a plan like that because I have had life long health issues). Even with the cap, there's crippling amounts of debt.

Right now, I am looking any sort of bright spots or causes for optimism in healthcare (or really more generally).

 

[ceecee]

The costs of healthcare are ridiculous, and getting worse so much faster than inflation.

The last few years have had me hit my out of pocket maximum for healthcare (chose a plan like that because I have had life long health issues). Even with the cap, there's crippling amounts of debt.

Right now, I am looking any sort of bright spots or causes for optimism in healthcare (or really more generally).

So I haven't been working due to my hip deteriorating and pain increasing so fast (we agreed I would come back to my job in 2024 and take this year to recover). So with my husbands ins. we have a $2k deductible, $3k max out of pocket per person, but it's 85% coverage. The difference between this and 100% after deductible and max out of pocket was huge so we opted to get the lower coverage. I just paid the last $1800 for the hospital.

The point is not that the insurance coverage is good or bad, it's why was it almost $70k to have an outpatient procedure to begin with? The current system has no bright spots as price controls and universal coverage that normal countries have, takes political will that simply no longer exists in the US.

 

[ygolo]

So I haven't been working due to my hip deteriorating and pain increasing so fast (we agreed I would come back to my job in 2024 and take this year to recover). So with my husbands ins. we have a $2k deductible, $3k max out of pocket per person, but it's 85% coverage. The difference between this and 100% after deductible and max out of pocket was huge so we opted to get the lower coverage. I just paid the last $1800 for the hospital.

The point is not that the insurance coverage is good or bad, it's why was it almost $70k to have an outpatient procedure to begin with? The current system has no bright spots as price controls and universal coverage that normal countries have, takes political will that simply no longer exists in the US.

Right. Why is whether or not you have good healthcare about how good your health insurance is? Why are procedures so ridiculously expensive? I've gotten sick in India, went into a free clinic and got treatment within an hour. In the US, it's unlikely that I would even be able to talk to an advice nurse.

I still think it is a good thing that we can do some forms of detection better. That's all the first post was about.

 

[LightSun]

“I’ll just share. Prior to my wife contracting pancreatic cancer I now take personal self responsibleness. I and it is subjective when ever I see any professional, they have to meet my criteria in order for me fully respect that specific person.

I used to go to Waikiki Health Center. There was a doctor that said to my wife these for me haunting four sentences.

In and of itself it is harmless. I take private and personal responsibility. This is “Emotional Reasoning.” This doctor said to my wife 4 sentence structures. I know he could not know the ramifications later on with a medical community.

He said to my wife:
Stanza one: I don’t feel confidant to deal with the situation.
Stanza Two: My wife needed to see a professional.
Stanza three: Take a drug test.
Stanza four: To see if she was selling drugs on the street.

Like I said these words though not necessarily delicate and in no manner possessing empathy are in and of itself harmless.

His name was Dr. Kavala. I still remember the date he said this to my wife. It was drizzling outside. She was crying. I said, “Don’t worry about it honey. We’ll take care of it.”

He couldn’t have known. My wife was a very accomplished professional in the mental health field. I refrain from telling my full accreditation. Sort out of a sense of privately imposed humbleness.

What he couldn’t know is my wife had innumerable professional jobs on the mainland. As myself.

He could not have foreseen the medical community. Basically at that time in my mind all Dr. Kalava had too do as a practitioner was give her her medicine and take regular blood tests.

What he couldn’t know is that we were sent out into the community. She had to recount that she was a victim of incest. We were delayed in appointments for weeks at a time.

One doctor did not wish to give my wife pain medicine she had received from a different doctor. All the while unbeknownst to me she had pancreatic cancer and it continued to grow in unabated fashion.

I had grief when my died. My poor honey never told me that after an operation to remove some of the developed cancer that it was a death sentence.

I am not a violent man. I’m quite peaceful. I was so angry at my wife’s decent with pancreatic cancer and to me the ineptitude of the medical community that I felt as a lion ensnared in a net. Trying to claw myself out.

My name at birth Leon Paul Johnson Jr. but I went as my middle name since 3rd grade. First I’m atypical. What I present on the surface, people can receive a wrong, as well erroneous perception.

When my wife died I cried every day. Now in fact my love for her and my perfectionistic qualities, I actually became productive. Yes I cried. I wasn’t depressed though. I was highly creative. I developed this group by name Soul Family.

It was an academy to learn critical thought. I didn’t give answers. Instead asking questions of the open end type. A form that’s Socratic questioning. I facilitated that private group.

I wrote at then 300+ articles. Now at around 500 on any thought topic any person might imagine.

I too collected all of my beloved wife’s written articles, poetry and scholastic journal which I first edited. Then I created Notes in honor of her.

When I went to Waikiki I saw PA Jeanelle. She is an INFP. I slowly came to the cognizance dissolve of understanding. Doctors just don’t necessarily posses.

1. IQ or any intelligence. Mere data.
2. They do not have necessarily Empathy.
3. They may not posses insight in some manner.
4. They do not necessarily have a gift that’s name is by Interpersonal Intelligence.
5. They don’t have in many innumerable case scenario a gift that is called Spatial Intelligence.
6. They do not necessarily have effective or in professional way Active Listening Skills.

It was shock. It upended my opinion of any doctor. My wife and I are academic and were in professional sense skilled counselors. Addition we’re really quite natural and skillful group in the trained group facilitation skill set.

Anyways at center called Waikiki going through grief was saw by 3 professionally skilled Psy.D., Behavior Coordinator, and by Jeanelle PA.

All three professional trained coincidently are each INFP of female type. This is just subjective. Jeanelle going to visit in unconscious manner helped me overcome my grief.

Subjective sense I called them “Sessions.” Amy Psy.D. was merely an appointment. Dianne the Behavior Coordinator was what I called a meeting between two elder intuitive’s.

I told Dianne that honestly since I started seeing Amy I had not received 1 insight into myself, she had not provided any insight, there was zero therapy, progress or breakthrough.

Dianne asked me, “Why do I continue to see her? I replied, “Well she has potential. She is intelligent. She has a doctorate in the field of psychology and she claims to be an INFP.”

Now I will focus on Amy’s good qualities. She is a warm, compassionate human being. She is intelligent and has interpersonal intelligence. In addition spatial intelligence.

This is my own insight. For those who posses the interpersonal intelligence of Amy, Dianne and Jenelle I experienced;
First a feeling of safety, calm and piece. It was the mirror like quality of a still lake.

Secondly I was able to articulate and process my grief even angst and used interpersonal intelligence with these articulate ladies.

Third I experienced an after effect of an endorphin surge after every single session.

It is my own insight but any person who isn’t quite articulate. It is just merely an appointment to get over and done. Second the doctor himself does not display any interpersonal intelligence nor is articulate. I get my needs met however.

I come from the field and can adequately express my desires. Secretly though I find the encounter boring. There are none of the qualities I experience with the three alluded professional women.

Now this I am livid. Moral outrage. I learned these basic counseling skills at St. Petersburg University, FL.

1. Thought Empathy.
2. Emotive Empathy.
3. Reflection.
4. Feedback.
5. Validation.
6. Ask open ended questions.

Anyway Dr. Kavala who worked directly with my wife was then a supervisor of Jeanelle, PA. He had her say to my face twice the exact same stanza he had said to my wife.

All that was missing was stanza one. He just has a theme of an underlying not feeling competent to deal with the situation. Anyway I stood up for myself and remained with Waikiki. Jeanelle, PA provided the best medical care I had ever received from the VA system.

I once said to Amy the Psy.D. that when I see Jeanelle it is like Rogerian and Gestalt Therapy. The insight didn’t hit me till later. Amy, Dr. Franson did not comment nor ask an open ended question such as, “Could you elaborate or what do you mean exactly?”

In all that time I saw Amy I finally got the insight. Amy does not posses any counseling or therapeutic skills that she utilizes during sessions.

Anyway I broke it down for Dr. Franson. I had to be humble. I didn’t want to take full credit for doing the psychologists job. I told both Dianne and Amy of my sessions with Jeanelle.

“Two bright mind, two stars due to gravitation can not meet but are half and half of the equation of my to finally heal of grief, angst and anger over my spouses death.”

In Rogerian Therapy is the concept of “Unconditional Regard.” Now that is not Jeanelle’s job. It is mine. But in such an environment there is a feeling of trust and safety which is essential for any therapeutic therapy. Carl Rogers coincidently founded Rogerian is INFP.

In Gestalt Therapy, let’s use Fritz Perls. In Geatalt Therapy a patient role plays grief, trauma, or any kind unresolved conflict. Through this role play catharsis becomes achieved as a result. Fritz Perls happened being NF.

This is only generalizing. NF’s have what Dr. Helen Fisher, Biological Anthropology states have what’s called “Executive Social Skills.”

This means in genetics NF’s get tuned into body language, facial expression, the pitch, tone or flow of a persons speech.

I had to give Jeanelle half credit. I’m grateful in my crossing my life path with this individual. It was just her presence that I was allowed to process my thoughts. I remember one Christmas I communicated about my wife’s death.

Two weeks later I let her go in peace. Ergo by default though in no manner designed in this way, both Rogerian as well Geatalt Therapy. It is my own fundamental opinion that because of the unconscious characteristics plus traits, that I eventually did heal.

I no longer attend Waikiki. I’ve not any need whatsoever. It is my hypothesis that a person who has hereditary and a genetic gift can provide better therapeutic progress. I’m really going and keep simplicity.

1. Ask open ended questions. It is the clients, or patients time. Not for a therapist to talk. And by gosh utilize basic skills in the therapy field.” LightSun