Just wanna say that I hope the best for your recovery and congrats on your new apartment. I hope you are also more active, tbh because I love your visions for Supes' mythos. I feel like you'd had great ideas for other characters' rogues gallery if you have the time!
As a general update my headaches have been subsiding but I get these intense bouts of fatigue where I just don’t want to do anything except sleep. Also can’t lift anything heavy without getting light-headed and dizzy which made this move and unpacking a real pain. Appreciate the well-wishes and I would like to branch out a bit more and do some of the Rogues for Marvel characters. Been thinking a lot about the F4 with their movie coming up, and why most of their other Rogues have struggled for relevancy outside of Doom.
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Plasma is a super-hot mixture of charged particles, such as ions and electrons, which can conduct electricity and are influenced by magne...
Plasma is a super-hot mixture of charged particles, such as ions and electrons, which can conduct electricity and are influenced by magnetic fields. Instabilities in plasmas can occur because the flow of particles in one direction or within a specific region can be different from the rest, causing some particles to group up into thin spaghetti-like filaments. Known as a ‘Weibel-like current’ instability, these filaments can generate their own magnetic field that further destabilises the rest of the plasma.
Combined immunotherapy (GVAX + anti-PD1) and targeted radiotherapy for pancreatic cancer not only promotes anti-cancer T cells but also immunosuppressive macrophages – insight for skewing therapy towards greater anti-tumour effects
Read the published research article here
Image from work by Junke Wang and Jessica Gai, and colleagues
Department of Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Published in Science Advances, February 2024
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I’ve kept most of this private throughout the year, in June I was diagnosed with a rare cancer called Epithelial-Myoepithelial Carcinoma, can’t spell it or pronounce it.
I had surgery and they thought they got it all, and I thought brilliant, now I can make plans, July scans showed it had gone, September scans showed it came back, and had an operation to remove it again.
Now, we are in December and after 10 months of this shit, I’ve got to go for radiotherapy.
This coming week I have 5 appointments in three days. Two scans (CT and MRI at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff), I have a blood test and oncologist appointment (at Velindre hospital) and finally a CT scan Llandough hospital).
They are hoping to start radiotherapy on Boxing Day, am I scared? I’m terrified, but knowing those friends that have my back means a lot to me. I will fight this with tenacity, positivity, and I know I am strong. I am not going to let cancer get to me, it’s just a thing.
Yet, that thing (samples and two large ones removed), is being used around the UK and in Europe, so it’s teaching students all about this rare cancer, it’s providing for the future medicine. I can’t donate organs, I can’t give blood, and this was the next best thing, I just wanted to feel useful, at something in my lifetime, and if I can help the future of medicine even a little contribution, I know means a lot to those hospitals.
Radiation is a dichotomous source. It can cause undeniable harm, from cancers to Acute Radiation Syndrome (ARS). Despite this, radiation has also been used to treat and cure cancer as well.
Radiation and the human body do not go well together. To keep it simple, materials that are radioactive can cause cell mutation and death. The mutations make the subject far more likely to develop cancers, as more mutated calls make it difficult for the body to find and eliminate them all, leading to unfortunate effects.
But scientists had an idea. If radioactive sources can kill off healthy cells, would it be able to also eliminate the cells which contain cancer? To the benefit and survival of millions of tumor and cancer sufferers, it was.
There are two types of radiotherapy treatments: external and internal. External radiotherapy is when a beam of radiation is aimed and shot directly at the effected cells. By using precise calculations and levels of power, the beam can travel through the body and hit specific areas, only affecting those places. Internal radiotherapy is when a source of radiation is inserted into the body. This can either be done through solid or liquid sources. Both types of internal radiotherapy will lead to the receiver becoming a source of radiation. They will often be quarantined for the duration of their treatment.
Radiation therapy is usually not the only treatment given during the course of a cancer diagnosis. But it is a powerful, effective one. An NHS article on the topic says “…radiotherapy can be a highly effective treatment for cancer. 4 out of every 10 cancer cures include radiotherapy as part of the treatment plan.” The use of radioactive therapy, under the care of a trained professional, is shown to be effective.
Despite its fearful reputation, radioactive sources have been utilized to the benefit of mankind. An effective treatment of a long-feared diagnosis, radiotherapy is evidence of the good radioactive and nuclear technology can bring to humanity.
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I can't say anything as brave as 'battling cancer' or 'fighting cancer.' I think that the best thing I can say is that I am enduring cancer. Pronounced to be in remission the last week of December, I understand that I am not cured. Instead, I have what I have chosen to call Schrodinger's Cancer - they don't know if it's there or not, but we are choosing to proceed as if it is until blood tests and imaging indicate otherwise. Even after five years, when they pronounce one to be 'cured' - there is always the chance of recurrence or a new type of cancer altogether. There will always be a sword hanging over my head, as my chemobuddies taught me.
I found out about my cancer by reading my discharge papers from a place I will call Asshat Central Hospital. They referred me to Asshat specialists who from my calls in the middle of February could not see me until the end of march, and in some cases as far out as May. I needed to see an oncologist and a urologist urgently. Over the next two weeks, I was stumbling and fumbling as I tried to get care out of my HMO network, two more visits to the ER got me a shot of morphine and a CT scan, another list of referals, and finally pain meds.
I woke up on the morning of March 3rd in so much pain that I thought I was going to die. I knew if I went back to Asshat Central, Dunno Medical Center, or Clowncar General that even with my PPO, that I would die. I got my ass in an Uber and over the hill to Cedars-Sinai. I was upstairs and in a bed in a matter of hours, I had painmeds and that first night I remember sleeping so deeply. I was safe and getting care. Within two days, all the care that was weeks or months out started rolling in. Colonoscopy. Nephrostomy and stent. MRI, CT, ultrasounds, x-rays. Cardiac, oncology, urology/nephrology, and all the ologies rolled through my room and them me all over the hospital - it hurt, was terrifying, and in the end the platform needed for care.
Killing the Cancer Instead of the Patient
On March 18th, I had a power pump installed in my left arm for drawing blood and administering chemo.
Five weeks of chemoradiation began shortly after. Radiation Monday through Friday, with a chemo pump Monday through Saturday, a Monday infusion of Emend, Kytril, and dexamethasone, followed by Wednesday and Saturday fluids with Kytril and dexamethasone. Here is what I will tell you about this phase and how to survive it.
This will knock you down so hard that you will not know which way is up. Radiotherapy and oncology like to point fingers. Fuck the fingerpointing. You will be so fatigued that sleeping 12 hours per day will be about all you can do.
You must stay hydrated and it's hard even with two hydration bags going in twice a week I ended up in the hospital with dehydration twice and a whopping kidney infection. Enterade is a drink that helps calm everything down after radiation and chemo and helps to limit the GI damage both can cause. Get Ultima drink powder, make up two gallons and put them in the fridge and pre-fill four one liter bottles - keep them next to you so that you can see them. When you wake up, down one.
Kiss your appetite good-bye. You still need to eat. I found that baby-food stayed down the best. Once upon a Farm is a good national brand, and so is Yumi. Kate Farms makes tasty nutritional shakes that don't give you explosive diarrhea.
I could not stomach meat or dairy, and managed to take only gummy vitamins and gummy pre/probiotic supplements. Spices hurt my mouth and throat and my stomach kicked them right back out.
My doctor prescribed Zofran sublingual, compazine, and Ativan - compazine in case the Zofran didn't work, Ativan when the nausea and vomiting was driven by anxiety. I spent a lot of time carrying around a one gallon ziplock - they came in handy. Saltines and plain soda water do help!
You'll have a break after chemoradiation - at least two weeks. Sleep.
About Power Ports
GET THAT PORT. INSIST ON THAT PORT. It will save you endless bullshit with collapsing veins later as chemo and radiation both make your veins brittle. Insist on anyone drawing blood or giving an infusion use that port. Get ready to call bullshit when they say that they can't. I had bruises up and down my arms until I told them to get someone to access the fucking port or I would damn well walk to Cedars if I had to.
Be aware of the increased risk of blood clots. Your arm may swell and that needs to be seen and treated right away, usually with a three-month course of Eliquis or other blood thinner. You could take aspirin as a preventative with your doctor's approval, but I'm allergic to that and other NSAIDS. Turmeric, ginger, black pepper, cinnamon, and cayenne all have blood-thinning properties, but I could not keep them down. Likewise, grapefruit juice or supplements can enhance (not in a good way) blood thinning medications.
About Nephrostomy Bags
They fucking suck. A nephrostomy should be reversed six to eight weeks after the surgery, and the stent in the ureter (not the urethra) takes over. You cart your piss bag everywhere, wake up to make sure it's not overflowing. You're at an increased risk for kidney infections. Here's my tips for living with the motherfucker.
Order only name-brand bags from Amazon. You'll want to change out the bag once per week. Keep the big bag for when you're at home, the little bag for when you have to go out. Coloplast, Bard, and Medline are all good to use. There are bag covers, bag carriers, and even clothing to keep your bag concealed, catch leaks, and stop punctures. You might want to tape your connections to prevent accidental decoupling. Also, insist on a home health nurse to change that dressing - the angle is such that you can't do it yourself.
Friends
You will make friends in radiation and infusion waiting rooms. You'll share space with them in infusion clinics. You may lose them. It will hurt. At the same time, you'll be happy and heartbroken. You'll share tips and tricks, highs and lows, and a fellowship that can't be described, only experienced.
Voilà une petite bd sur l'état des cheveux après une radiothérapie crânienne (Je n'ai pas eu de chimio, je précise). Je précise que celle qu'on m'a fait était localisée sur un endroit où j'ai perdu les cheveux là sur environ 1.5cm de diamètre, et à très forte intensité. Suite à ça ils tombaient facilement mais comme j'ai eu un traitement médical assez lourd je ne peux pas dire si c'est lié. La perte des cheveux n'est pas systématique, j'en ai perdu beaucoup mais j'en avais toujours suffisamment sur le caillou pour qu'on ne remarque rien. Ils n'ont pas poussé pendant environ un an, mais comme je l'ai dis, les médocs sont à prendre en compte. Voilà! Mine de rien, j'ai regardé récemment des photos prises un peu avant qu'on "découvre" cette maladie, je ne peux pas comprendre comment personne n'a rien vu, trop occupés qu'ils étaient à médire probablement, j'étais vraiment pâle et d'apparence toute fragile, on aurait dit que j'étais faite en verre...
Here's a small comics about hair's condition after crannial radiotherapy (I precise I didn't have chimiotherapy). I specify that the one they did to me was centered on a spot where I losed my air on nearly 1.5cm of diameter. It was on a high intensity. After that, I easily losed them but as I had heavy medicines so I can't say if there's a connection. The lost of hair is not systematic, I lost many but I still had enough then people won't notice anything. They didn't grow for nearly a year, but as I said, the medicines must be considerated. Voila! Come to think of it, I recently saw photographies that were taken before they "discovered" the disease, I can't understand how no one didn't see anything, they were too much busy with mud-slinging i suppose. I was so pale and looked all fragile, it was like I was made of glass...
Voilà une image où j'ai enfin réussi à ne pas avoir une tête de gogole, bon, je les teins maintenant parce que je suis vieille xd, la lumière était gentille avec moi ce jour-là, mais je ne comprends vraiment pas ces personnes qui passent leur temps à se photographier, c'est tellement chiant... Bref, vous pouvez voir comme c'est classe de ne pas avoir des cheveux qui poussent à la même vitesse!
Here's a photo where I finally successed to not have a silly face. I dye them now because I'm old though xd, the light was nice with me on that day, but I'll never understand those people who're taking photos of themselves all day long, it's so boring... Anyway, you can see how this looks great to not have hair which grows up at the same speed!
Alors pas de panique pour vos cheveux, laissez le temps faire, certes ils sont plus fins et moins bouclés pour moi, mais ils ont retrouvé leur beauté. Je sais que ça paraît futile mais quand on commence à aller mieux ça tourmente. Ah oui, juste si vous vous demandez pourquoi je les garde longs (ouais je sais on s'en fiche), chez moi ils sont tellement fins qu'ils poussent en largeur, le poids de leur longueur les rend sages.
So do not panic for your hair, let them time. Of course for me, they're thinner and less curly, but they're beautiful like before. I know that can appears foolish, but when you're starting to feel better it becames some torment. And if you're wondering why I'm keeping them long (yes I know, we don't care), they're are so thin that they grow up wide, so the weight when they're long makes them wise.
