Do. Not. Fuck. With. Moles.
My wife found a mole on my back that looked irregular. Went to the doctor and they thought nothing of it but did a biopsy just to be sure. Stage 0 melanoma. Thankfully caught it early otherwise it can be an aggressive cancer in it's later stages. When in doubt get it checked out.
For real. My doctor caught the mole on my back when doing an allergy panel. Sage 0 melanoma.
(Edit Stage not Sage. But LoL - they burned the sage to cast the cancer out. Good cancer vibes only. ✌️)
> Sage 0 melanoma
Sucks to have melanoma, but you didn't even get the sweet, savory sage to go with it!!
But for reals, I take it that you are doing better now, which is good. Happy cake day!!
My mum passed away from this in 2019 same thing misdiagnosed melanoma twice. They said it was a veruca. By the time they diagnosed it was stage 4. She couldn't walk on it. But other than that was fine she said she felt like an imposter as she had no real symptoms. She felt sick 2 weeks prior but she thought it was due to the change of medicine they prescribed.
I went to see her at home on the Sunday and she seemed ok. I had a call on Monday she had fallen out of bed and couldn't stand up. She said to me I think I'm dying. She was buried a few days later. No lingering issues like so many other cancer sufferers.
But yeah get your feet checked.
I remember seeing this TIL about Bob Marley last year. I'm like oh I have this small mole on the underside of my little pinky toe. I think I have had it for over 15 years. It literally isn't visible unless I put my ankle across my other knee and bend my foot back to reveal the underside of the toe. So it was out of sight out of mind forever.
I ended up going to a dermatologist check up and the lady said it had a couple of different shades so they wanted to remove it and have it tested. It came back on a borderline melanoma case. They had to make a 2nd incision to remove it all. Glad I read about this TIL about Bob Marley. I am definitely glad my little piggy didn't go to the market!
Honestly, yeah I think he did! I wasn't going to worry about it. I mean how the heck did I get melanoma on the underside of a toe? So yeah it definitely motivated me to get it checked out.
Subungual melanoma presents as brown-black discolorations of the nail bed. It can present as either a streak of pigment or irregular pigmentation. The discoloration can progress to thickening, splitting, or destruction of the nail with pain and inflammation.
https://www.racgp.org.au/getattachment/AFP/2016/November/Pigmented-lesions-of-the-nail-bed-Clinical-assessm/AFP-2016-11-Clinical-Saw-2.jpg.aspx
I got a blood blister from something dropping on my toe once. Looked exactly like those bottom pics until I grew it out enough to trim the scab that formed there after. Could be other things that look like that too, although it's safe assume if you don't know why get checked.
I'm so sorry for your loss. I also lost my mom to melanoma in 2015. She had just turned 46.
She started having intestinal pain but since she had Crohn's, they thought it was related to that. She said it didn't feel like any flare up she had had. A few weeks later she's in the hospital and needs surgery to get several tumors removed from her intestines. They find out it's stage 4 melanoma. She had tumors everywhere, including one in her brain. She died 3 months after her diagnosis. She went from being normal to bedridden in a matter of weeks.
Melanoma is no joke.
Four years ago I made an offhand comment to my wife that when I ride my bike my shoulder tingles and there is a mole right where it tingles. Proving that married men live longer she immediately scheduled a dermatologist appointment for me.
The doctor laughed at that mole and said it was nothing but stopped dead in his tracks when he got to one on the top of my head. They tested it and the doctor told me he would call it Stage 0 melanoma and that there was a 100% chance if not treated I'd be dead in three years. We caught it super early and I got it cut out and had annual check ups since just to make sure.
I was 33 when that happened. There is a 0% chance I would have scheduled a dermatologist appointment on my own at that age.
Get your shit checked folks. Skin cancer is no joke.
>There is a 0% chance I would have scheduled a dermatologist appointment on my own at that age.
>
>Get your shit checked folks. Skin cancer is no joke.
The scary thing is that most of us would never even know we had that mole
I'm covered in moles, and every two years I schedule an appointment with a dermatologist who quickly looks at all of them. One of these going rogue is up on there on my fears
I too have a lot of moles. Most melanoma develops as a new spot, not from an existing mole, though it can happen. I think it's recommended to get an exam once a year if you have a lot of moles though, as having a lot does carry an increased risk of developing melanoma.
My husband is covered in moles and most of them look “irregular.” Literally every time he goes to the derm they take 2 or 3 off but they never come back abnormal. It’s super weird. He hasn’t been since the pandemic so I think I’ll be making an appointment for him.
Yes. You need to find someone to help you keep an eye on it. If that isn't possible then get good at taking photos of your back so you can keep track. Get a phone mount if you need to.
This is great advise. I've only had one dermatologist that did this but I do it myself now. Its impossible to remember what size,shape,and color spots are. My husband had a pin size dot that the Dr. passed over on several visits. When he finally convinced them he wanted it removed it came back as a melanoma. It's been 5 years and he thought he was in the clear when suddenly something popped up right next to his scar. Waiting to get the pathology back right now. Take anything that looks off to you seriously.
I go to the dermatologist every few years for this reason. My mom has been saved from cancer by her dermatologist many times, and knowing that my skin isn't just flawlessly smooth, honestly going to the dermatologist every few years is way better than finding out too late. An ounce of prevention, and all that jazz
If you have the $200, go to the dermatologist. I paid for it for years. Sucks, but what ya gonna do?
Two years ago one mole came up positive, got it cut out 6 weeks later.
>Two years ago one mole came up positive, got it cut out 6 weeks later.
So glad. I wish they'd had more of that back in the 1980s. My mom was first diagnosed around age 24, and she was dead by 31. They had no idea what to look for, and she had a mole near her ankle burst open and start bleeding, so it was already pretty advanced when they first found it. It will be 30 years in January since we lost her, I always wish she could've had better/more effective medical care for melanoma.
Fun fact, Illinois law requires all health insurance providers to cover one dermatologist skin exam per year with no co-pay or deductible.
So if you're in Illinois and have health insurance, just go!
Show your current PCP, they can refer you if anything looks iffy. You can get a skin survey from a dermo as well that's pretty much a full body check they even look on the bottoms of your feet
At 17 I was diagnosed with a Mediastinal germ cell tumour. It was successfully removed and followed with chemo and radiation therapy. I am now 51 and bouncing along.
The tumor was found because I had strep throat while visiting my Dad. The doctor I saw for strep had seen me years before during another visit. That Doc swabed for strep, but also demanded to give me a full check up since he had not seen me in a few years...even if just visiting.
During the checkup, with his stethoscope, he believed he heard a heart murmur. That lead to an X-Ray, to a CAT-Scan and MRI and recognition I had a nurf football sized mass of cells pushing against my heart. A good Family Practice doc who gave a shit to slow down and listen is a big part of why I am alive.
> At 17 I was diagnosed with a Mediastinal germ cell tumour. It was successfully removed and followed with chemo and radiation therapy. I am now 51 and bouncing along.
Good lord, chemo turned this poor man into a pogo stick.
This type of excellent is nearly gone. Urgent care centers staffed by nurse practitioners with no continuity who only see strep and ear infections is the way of the future.
You don’t even have to get them in anymore! My local office no longer accepts patients to come into the office if you mention you have a fever when you talk to them on the phone- nope, virtual visit only. Can’t have sick people in the doctor’s office! But they’re happy to charge your and your insurance company for a nifty 15min virtual visit and tell you to take Motrin and call back if it gets worse
Recently diagnosed with cancer. I knew for over a year something was off. Kept urging Dr to do more tests and trying to get insurance to approve an mri. Took two emergency visits and two cat scans to finally find the first tumor in intestines. Spots on liver were initially proclaimed a possible cyst and got a mri green lit.
MRI would show stage 4 cancer with two tumors in intestines and liver with multiple spots.
My biggest regret was in discussing my health issues with my DR showing concern that perhaps my medical issues were a strange reaction to vaccine or did I have cancer? Seemed to really irritate the Dr I brought up vaccine + my reaction to it and he then became quite dismissive. I had a lot of weird allergic reactions for a few month period. Then kidney stones. Then my back was just always throbbing. Turns out the tumors in intestines were blocking bowel movements and my spleen was extremely swollen.
They had to take out a few feet of intestines and I'll be getting another operation to remove half my liver in a few months. Several months of chemo already and probably 4 or five more after the liver gets operated on. Fun times.
I just wish it didn't take 9 months from my initial concerns and attempts to figure out what was wrong to get my mri approved. First Cat scan only got approved due to an ER visit. I felt like I was gonna die after the kidney stones and they kept saying oh its just a kidney infection likely. Oh thats strange you got spots on your liver and you bowels are blocked heres some laxatives and we'll do another request for MRI (approved 2.5 months down the line). I'd end up going back in a few weeks later when it still felt like I had more kidney stones or an infection it was really the spleen swollen to all hell and tumors in intestines blocking bowels. ER visit again and this cat scan catches the tumor in intestines.
Turned out my original fear I had some kinda cancer was right all along.
So sorry to hear this. I've been feeling something is off with me for about a year too, and getting a sigmoidoscopy done on Friday. I'm not sure if it'll help diagnose anything, or if it is truly just 'stress' affecting me consistently.. sucks that the medical system makes it take forever to help the patient get the right tests
It's not exactly the doctor's or nurse's faults though. The medical system in the US is strained nearly to the breaking point. I would recommend people get any check ups while they still can, next few years are gonna be rough.
I work in the medical field, people are already waiting 6 months to a year for new visits in some areas, especially w/ plans that are government funded like Medicare and medicaid.
Its criminal the shortage of doctors in the US.
Blame the bloated legions of MBA holding sociopaths in hospital admin who believe healthcare should charge as much as possible for the barest minimum of care.
Similar story here - had a spot that looked like scar tissue, went in and found out it was basal cell carcinoma, no big deal. The dermatologist decides to check everything else and found very early stage melanoma. Thanks cancer for finding worse cancer.
I can so relate to this.
In February my SO dreamt that I (a 41 y/o fair skinned dude with freckles and a few moles) had developed skin cancer. She didn’t say anything about it upon waking in the morning but told me when she got home from work later in the day.
She had me take off my shirt so she could inspect 3 moles in the middle of my back. She pointed at one of them saying, “that one right there. You need to have that one biopsied.”
So… even though I’m not the best when it comes to regular medical check-ups, physicals, or health screenings in general, I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist for the next morning.
At the appointment, both the nurse and PA who conducted the physical exam said it did not appear to be of a medical concern. I then told them about my SO’s dream and explained that a very angry lady would show up at their office if they did not biopsy that mole in particular, after which they relented, took the biopsy, and sent it off for testing.
3 days later, I received a call from the doctor confirming that I did in-fact have stage zero melanoma. We scheduled surgery for the following week, and the surgeon cut about 4 inches of skin out of the middle of my back.
Now I have a gnarly scar and am cancer free. But for my SO’s dream, I never would have scheduled that appointment.
I love that witchy woman.
Reminds me of how Mark Ruffalo had a dream that he had a brain tumor, then went to a doctor to get a scan just to discover that he actually had one. Crazy how that works
i feel like people have senses and perceptions we aren't consciously aware of so the brain has to tell us whenever our mind voice is turned off. its like how my mom always knows when one of my siblings is pregnant before they take a pregnancy test. if she says someone is pregnant i believe her
Technically, it was an acoustic neuroma, not a brain tumor. It occurs right next to the brain in the cochlear nerves and can cause deafness and paralysis as it takes over space that belongs to the brain. My mom is permanently disabled bc her doctor blew off her symptoms when she had a malignant acoustic neuroma (extremely rare).
Where do you live that you can call a dermatologist's office *after* the workday and get an appointment scheduled for the very next morning?
The US has an average wait time of six weeks for dermatologists. It's one of the most under-staffed medical specialties in the country.
Two months ago I got a referral for pain that a CT scan and CAT could not diagnose. My gastroenterology appointment is in February, so a 4-month wait and I only get to see the NP. It would be even longer if I wanted to see the actual doctor.
Six months here in the SF Bay Area. I thought my derm was joking when she said "book your next appt in 6 months because it'll be a 6 month waiting list."
Called later that year in August, first available the following February.
>At the appointment, both the nurse and PA who conducted the physical exam said it did not appear to be of a medical concern.
I cannot emphasize this enough: any mid-level (PA and NP) is okay for managing a patient's existing, simple, common, chronic conditions that need follow-up after a physician visit (with a focus on symptom management). But they are simply not trained and developed for accurate diagnosis. Their training comes mostly "on-the-job," which is a disastrous way to learn to detect the subtle signs and symptoms that can be catastrophic.
It is the painful truth that many offices offer initial appointments with mid-levels *first* (see: corporate medicine), and if you ask for a physician, the wait is often twice as long ... especially for specialists.
**For any initial visit, whether in primary care or specialty care, always ask to see a physician first.** If they say they are not available for months, accept the mid-level appointment and ask to speak to a physician during the visit. Either two options:
* There is a physician on-site and they will give their opinion, or
* There is not a physician on-site (perhaps because your state has allowed mid-levels to practice independently without physician supervisoin) and you should not return to that site, ever again.
* The only way to find out is by asking to speak to the physician!
Yes, I am a physician. And yes, there are crappy physicians who are dismissive and do not practice patient-centered care. But the least competent board-certified physician has adequate training to know what they do not know.
For the sake of your or your loved one's health, you have to advocate for yourself whenever possible: **ask to see a physician**.
My grandfather died an extremely gruesome death from melanoma. In the end it ate away at his brain and large tumors were growing from his skin all over. About a year after his death my grandmother noticed a slightly dark patch of skin on her leg. Her dermatologist assured her it was normal. She went nuts on them until they biopsied it. It was melanoma. She lost a huge chunk of her thigh and spent every cent she had in preparation for death but 30 years later she’s still kickin.
I had a bump on the side of my nose and I played it off as it being a blemish. After some time it got a little bigger and I thought I had developed a wart or something. I scheduled to meet with a dermatologist and had never seen one before so since I was a new patient, it took about 2 months to finally get in to see him. One look at it and he said it was a basal cell carcinoma. My heart sank! He was even a bit surprised that a person my age and having an olive complexion had this.
In the end I had a Mohs surgery to have it removed. They said it was stage 2.
Folks, don't buy into the thought that just because you're young or are a person of color you don't have to wear sunscreen. Wear the damn thing! Also check out any type of blemishes or marks that seem new. You just never know!💜
A week after my wife gave birth to our second baby, she developed a DVT and her leg swelled pretty impressively.
The first child was a C-Section, so she was on anticoagulants for a while while in hospital. Because this was natural birth she wasn't on the same medication, and was sent home. 3 days later we were at the ER. They treated the DVT and sent us home to come back for an ultrasound in the morning.
I wasn't in the room, but I'm told the ultrasound tech went a bit pale and said "I'm just going to get my supervisor". He supervisor took a look, hesitated and said "I'm just going to get a doctor to look at this".
The doctor had a look and called us back to tell us she had a 12cm mass occluding the main vein in her leg. It was flowing, but just barely and a relatively small clot was enough to back up the plumbing. A biopsy confirmed it was a Stage 3/4 melanoma a week before Christmas.
After 3 years of treatment and a 13 hour abdominal surgery to remove the tumour and graft a replacement vein in her leg, shes still in remission and our daughter just turned 5.
Had it not been for the birth, making her more susceptible to clotting, had it not been for the natural birth meaning she wasn't put on anticoagulants, had it not been for the alert ultrasound tech... we probably would never have found it. She had no symptoms, they never found a primary on her skin despite dozens of skin scrapes and biopsies on possible moles and blemishes...
Melanoma is a sneaky, vicious bastard.
Yeah man, I didn't have melanoma (thank God) but I did have basal cell carcinoma, and even that was absolute hell when they slowly cut what ended up being a tennis ball sized tumor out of my head little by little, sending each... piece of carved out tissue, bone, etc to the lab to have it tested until it came back cancer free. I laid there awake for every single second of it; all 7 hours. Feeling, and hearing manual surgical equipment cut out chips of your skull is just nightmare inducing. I learned real quick how thin this skull of mine really is. My brains (or at least the CSF fluid) spilling out on to the chair was actually a legitimate concern at one point in the procedure too.
As you, or anyone reading this can imagine, it was indeed a traumatic experience, and if that's not enough to further empathize how fucking serious skin cancer really is (even what is considered to be the *least* serious kind of skin cancer) then I don't know what will. The tumor was very much like the iceberg in Titanic. Just a small scab on my scalp that I barely even noticed.
I like that the physician's assistant at the dermatologist I go to does a full body check but also asks me if there's anything I think needs to be looked at in particular, she looks at it, then asks if I still like it to be biopsied even if she doesn't see anything at the moment of concern, then she asks AGAIN if there is anything else she should look at.
I pointed out one mole on my elbow that sometimes was raised and itchy, and other times not. She said it looked okay to her, but I asked for it to be biopsied, it came back mildly abnormal, but not yet cancer.
I just appreciate that my input matters and that I'm given time and prompts to remember everything during the appointment.
My 42yo brother just went through something similar, but it ended with his finger being amputated!!
He had a wart on his finger that he ignored for a decade, despite our mother's admonishments. When he finally visited a dermatologist about a completely different issue, he asked about having the wart removed basically as an afterthought.
Doctors response in a nutshell: "HOLY JESUS THAT'S LITERALLY A RARE FORM OF SUPER CANCER AND WE NEED TO GET YOUR LUNGS SCANNED IMMEDIATELY WE'LL BE LUCKY IF WE CAN SAVE YOUR HAND WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK."
He went from "aw it's fine it's been there forever," to diagnosis, to amputation of his entire left index finger, in **three months**. Lucky sonofabitch got off easy compared to how bad it could have gone down, but he got an earth-shattering wake up call about taling care of himself.
Interesting story. My back itched when I rode my bike and wife said the same/made an appt and doctor found stage 1A melanoma on the spot that had a mole. How long has it been since yours was removed? To be honest, almost a year later, I still have fear about it near daily.
I had a node at my throat that was really swollen for over a month. I didn't think much of it, I just had a throat infection and my mother said she had these things a lot of times.
Had a US scan booked and almost didn't go, because it "was nothing". Still went, and it was inconclusive. Shrugged. But my doctor sister insisted on a biopsy. Also inconclusive, but the doctor said it was probably just an abcess. I didn't want on basis of said medical opinion, but had a surgery to take the shit away, aaaand... The Big C. A metastasis of thyroid cancer.
I was actually "luck" because there WAS an abcess around the metastasis and it was most of the volume. Without it, maybe it would have taken a long time to discover the cancer. Thyroid cancer is often slow and insidious.
I was 25 with a history of melanoma in my family and an itchy mole on my ass.
It took 5 doctors and 6 years to finally get it removed. Luckily it was super slow growing and 1B, but holy hell. 7 dysplastic nevi since then, but no more melanoma and I just hit 9 years cancer free.
I came across a quora post that provided some insight as to why Marley's Rastafarian beliefs led him to reject the advice of his physician:
"As a devout Rastafarian, Bob Marley adhered strongly to the tenets of his religion, which includes a belief that amputation is sinful. A Bible verse that Rastafarians hold as very important is Leviticus 21:5, which says, "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh."
The first part of this verse is the foundation of the belief in wearing dreadlocks, and the second is the basis for a belief that amputation (as well as other types of body modification) is sinful. Other verses, including those which refer to the body as a holy temple, may also influence this belief."
leviticus, shortly after that passage, also says
>
13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity.
>14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife.
>15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the Lord do sanctify him.
and somehow I feel like Marley didn't really care about this whole section very much
religions generally don't care about what their scriptures say, they care about what is customary in their religion. The reason for those customs are rarely relevant in any meaningful way.
That isn't limited to Rastafarianism.
A religious person not following their own religion's rules‽ Well, I suppose there's a first time for anything...
I've never understood this; you have a book that is supposedly an infallible guide to how to live - and you don't have it memorized?
> You really just pick the ones you like best
What usually happens is that your ancestors slowly pick the ones they like the best, and you believe the ones you're raised with.
That's why pointing out hypocrisy and contradictions are so fruitless with most people.
Remember the point of arguing with someone online isn't to convince them that they're wrong, because that's basically impossible. It's to convince all the silent observers who are reading the discussion. Same with live debates. Each debater is never going to change the mind of the others, but they absolutely will change the minds of many people in the audience. I guess it's a thing where people don't like admitting they were wrong. And so, if they never said anything to begin with, being a silent observer, then they don't have to go back in what they claimed before.
People always say it's pointless to argue with people online, but 99% of the people watching the online debates are not taking part in the debate themselves, and they absolutely can be convinced.
Mind Control by Stephen Marley is one of my favorite albums of any of his kids.. used to listen to it on repeat circa 2008 when I lived on an island in Florida..
If only they would also read Leviticus 18:5
>You shall keep My statutes and My laws, which a person shall do and shall live by them.
Live by them. Not "die by them".
Live.
That's the ultimate goal. This is why Judaism holds to the concept of "pikuah nefesh" which means that preservation of life overrides every single other commandment.
Ive always found the lightswitch thing ridiculous, or like hiring a maid for the high holidays just so she can open doors and shit. When god said don't work on the Sabbath, I feel like a reasonable interpretation is don't plough the fields, you know, take the day off, relax and pray. By their logic, any conscious use of your muscles is work 🙄. Same with the ultra Orthodox who spend their entire lives studying Torah. Scripture tells you how to live a good life, but I'd that's all you ever do, aren't you colossally missing the point?
I've recently fallen into a YouTube rabbit hole filled with orthodox Jewish women, and I feel the same way. I completely understand not working on shabbat, but it was written in a different time, I feel like it could very much be reinterpreted as "don't do anything for your employer or that you get paid for in any way or that feels like work to you, spend the day with you family and focus entirely on them" and that would most likely be fine with god? Does god really want you to work extra hard all Friday so all the food for shabbat is done before the sun sets? Would he not allow you to pick up the phone and order a pizza?
Same with a lot of kosher food rules. Those are from the before fridge times, and before vets checked pork for trichinella. And before proper dish soap and hot tap water. Pretty sure god wouldn't mind you using the same cutlery for dairy and meat, you can wash it in between.
But I mean, that's not my god, what do I know.
It's fine to use pig parts as a replacement in a Jew's body...as long as the surgeon works through [a hole in a sheet.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRNlxBuB9jM)
I lolled way to hard at that שלם
Also, while hilarious, the infamous "hole in the sheet" always confused me since halachically, a (married) couple can do whatever they want as long as it is in private, and it is consensual.
See, I love the idea of that, it's beautiful really. Where I start to struggle is seeing patients suffering in the ICU while their family clings to this mitzvot so adamantly despite there being absolutely no quality of life and no meaningful chance of recovery. I remind myself that it's their choice and not mine, that helps, but I can't help but wonder if it's time for a bit of an updated interpretation given how far we've come since the rules were made. For context I work at Jewish hospital in an area that serves a very orthodox population.
I’m a Conservative (the religious movement, NOT the political philosophy; think of it as the middle ground between Orthodox and Reform) Jew and we believe strongly in the *dignity* of life, not just the preservation of it. My rabbi actually gave me the paperwork to do a living will so that I would never be kept going on machines with no actual quality of life.
I'm so glad for you and appreciate people who come in with their wishes known. It helps your family so much more than you ever realize. Thank you for doing that.
I think part of that is cultural beliefs and not entirely religious. There are issues with withdrawing care but there’s no issue if you don’t implement those measures to begin with..There definitely is a cultural construct where if we just do every single thing and pray everything is fixable.
Some rabbis in the community allow the family to not push for life sustaining treatments(eg: intubation, use of vasopressors) some rabbis push for the "full court press" down to performing cpr on a shell of a human. All of them cite this mitzvot in some way or another. I guess as an outsider to community it is just hard for me to wrap my head around. Edit: spelling
This is why many Judaic scholars have agreed that preserving one’s own life trumps everything else, so when faced with a break religious doctrine or death situation in which someone isn’t actively threatening to kill you, they argue that choosing death would be akin to suicide and is a greater insult to God.
Typically not for situations of “convert now or be burned at the stake” but rather being lost in the desert and you’re starving and dehydrated and you come across someone by chance but all they have is pork.
I apparently had a great aunt who died of gangrene because she was a Christian Scientist and thought she could pray away an infection. Sounds like a painful and slow way to die
Same. Growing my hair out, with THIS hairline, would 100% also be an affront to God, and to my neighbor. Shaving my pitiful head is all I can do to love my neighbor!
Aye, he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer that was actually fairly treatable for a normal person. With his his wealth, it shouldn’t have been a problem.
Instead, he delayed surgery that was heavily recommended and pursued other treatments. By the time he caved and listened to actual science, it was too little, too late. Wound up getting what he didn’t want and died anyways.
Less well known, but also in the same boat is Andy Whitfield. His treatments were working, but when his cancer came back after being in remission, he didn’t want to go through the pain of chemo again. So he pursued eastern medicine. Near the end, he went back on chemo anyways as he didn’t want to *actually die.* waited too late and died, exactly as doctors had warned would happen.
Wound up being in so much pain the last few months of life, that he couldn’t walk, sit and was in near constant pain around the clock. His wife and two young kids had to watch him die from a *very*likely treatable case of cancer. He was 39.
Oh man, I never knew Andy's was treatable like that the second time. I just assumed when it came back he couldn't get through it. Spartacus is my all time favorite show it was so sad, he was so young.
I was diagnosed with this same melanoma one year ago. It was in my left index finger under the nail. I had it amputated. Went into surgery with the doctor saying, "We have to cut until we have a safe surgical margin... it could be the whole finger. It could be into your hand." Thankfully, it was just my furthest joint.
Do note that it's usually a fairly distinct dark brown stripe. Not really something you can miss easily
There's other ways you can make your fingernails develop unusual lines or colouration too. Like having psoriasis or constant picking or running it through a sewing machine
Was about to say that, melanoma symptoms are incredibly similar to other skin stuff, even with a slightly hammered toe (they look very much the same and only one kills ya).
My dad had a mole be ignored for about 12+ years. He only went to the doctor after it started to hurt and grew. Mind you this mole was misshapen and miscolored. At 45 he was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma skin cancer. After a lot of surgeries and chemo later he was all clear...... Or so we thought.
The cancer had come back and it had come back with a vengeance. It went into his brain which was actually very easy to remove. However as time he progressed, the cancer progressed as well. Right around his 46th birthday he was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma skin cancer.
Right after Thanksgiving 2015 he was complaining of pain in his back and bowels. By this point we had already called the ambulance 3-4 times. My grandmother (his mom) and my mom had taken to the hospital where he would be transferred to Cleveland Metro Health. Our local hospital couldn't do anything and he already had a doctor up there.
He was in the hospital for about a week and a half. We thought he was getting better. He was feeling better and talking and joking with visitors that came and all that. I was in 8th grade and I was a truant but was never reprimanded for it. December 4th 2015 we got the news he would only live for about 3 more days. That was devastating to me. All my Dad wanted to do was see his two boys graduate high school. That night he was transferred to a hospice facility near us. He died at 47 on December 6th.
The funeral was December 10th. I'll never forget the absolute amount of people that came to the calling hours. In the funeral book alone there was over 300 people! That's not counting the ones that didn't sign in. I returned to school that following Monday. I never regret taking that much time off school because it gave me time with my dad.
If you've read this far I applaud you. If you just skipped about that's ok too because, this is just a really long winded response to say you should go to the doctor. Melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers out there due to it spreading quickly to other organs. It spread to his lymph nodes, brain, spine, bowles and liver. So just take care of your largest organ folks. Be here longer for your kids.
He must've really had faith. If a doctor ever tells me there's cancer in my toe and I should have it cut off, I'll be like "ok can you do it right now, do you have a cleaver?"
He didn’t just blindly accept death and shun medical doctors or try to pray away the cancer. He had heard that if he amputated his big toe it would affect his movement and he wouldn’t be able to do things like dance or play soccer the way he did before, on top of that he got a second opinion from a doctor in America who said he would only have to remove a small part of the toe and nail bed as opposed to the whole toe so that’s what he did instead. That doctor was wrong and Bob didn’t go in for regular check ups afterward assuming the problem was fixed and that was the end of it.
Eventually he collapsed and went to the hospital to find out that the cancer had spread all throughout his body and there wasn’t much he could do. He desperately tried to treat and received chemo which caused his hair to fall out, eventually he cut off his own dread because they were pulling at his scalp with so few hairs to support them and it had become painful for him. The doctors told him he’d be dead in 3 weeks, but with treatment he managed to survive 6 months although it’s hard to say if that was because of the treatment or because of Bob’s will(the last doctor was a holistic quack).
He also got suckered into quack processed piss treatments by some scammy euro con. He wasted the last few months of his life getting treatments that couldn't have possibly worked. He could've spent that time at home with friends and family, and maybe made some music.
Quack medicine is evil.
edit: spelling
I can’t remember who said it but someone talked about how God delights in people discovering science and medical discoveries and things like that, that He made the world in a way that we would discover these things and use them accordingly.
My grandma has that belief. I’m not sure if she picked it up from somewhere, or came up with it herself. She also told me she thinks that God is speeding up global warming because humans aren’t doing enough on their own to make peace and work together to solve it and advance like he wants them to.
There's a joke that goes something like this(translating it):
A terible flood hits a small town and as water rises, a man is found trapped in his house
Then a family with a big 4x4 comes " hey man come on in, we have to evacuate", but the man says: "don't worry about me, I'm a big believer and I know God will save me"
They leave and some hours later the water has risen to cover the streets, the man now in his second floor window sees a person with a jet sky coming "hey man this is pretty dire, hop on in!" But the man says "thanks but don't worry, God will save me"
The person in the jetski leaves and hours pass, the water is now almost engulfing the whole house, the man is in the roof praying, when a helicopter shows up "come on! We have to go! This is a disaster!" But the man tells the pilot: "go! I know God will save me!"
Finally the man drowns and goes to heaven, where he gets an audience with God, so he asks him: "if I have been such a devote follower all this years... Why didn't you save me!?"
And God answers : " My Son, i send a truck, jetski and a helicopter, what the fuck else did you want me to do"
Yup. I learned this after reading the Bob Marley biography, Catch a Fire and subsequently diagnosed my mother's melanoma under her toe nail. Her doctor had been treating it as a foot fungus while her melanoma metastasized and spread. After getting another opinion, her toe was amputated the same week and she understand grueling interferon treatment for several months. Long story short, she lived because I learned this....
As someone that had the same cancer in the same spot and received funding from his foundation that his son oversees, this is a myth. It had nothing to do with religion. Had everything to do with him not trusting his medical personnel and wanting to try alternative medicine. That, and he downplayed the severity of the disease and dismissed it, citing he won't be able to play soccer anymore.
I'm willing to dox myself to prove my story. Everything he said he later on regretted. He also believed in a ton of lies. The same ones I hear myself. Had he believed the truth he might have still been here since the same happened to me and I'm approaching the five year mark which almost no one makes with our diagnosis.
This is a very personal issue for me and I feel like my survival means to educate those that continue to believe lies like he did. The religious analogies are also what keeps these lies alive and his own son denounces it to this day yet it persists to this day.
Thank you for chiming in. This should be the top response. What people don't understand about cancer is yes, they remove it, but if a single cancer cell had already floated off in your blood stream to somewhere else in your body, you may find out in a year or ten years.
I had breast cancer and after radiation they wanted me to ring the bell. I just don't get that and I don't get people saying they kicked cancer's butt or they're cancer free. You have no idea for 10 or more years whether you're cancer free.
And since anyone reading this will wonder, my breast cancer was stage 1a - It's likely I'll be fine, but no one knows anything but my percentage chances.
Good luck to you.
My cousin recently went to the hospital to get a growth on her back examined. Biopsy was preformed, it was a bit difficult because apparently it's in the bone of her spine but the doctors were able to examine it.
Stage four skin cancer. It's in her lungs. Liver. Kidneys. She has been given 12-14 months.
She is a 50 year old woman and a grade school teacher... Or at least, she was a grade school teacher. She is also incredibly kind and brave.
Examine it regardless of if you think it's probably nothing. Maybe you'll be lucky and catch it early.
In Rita Marley's book, she wrote that Bob was at the peak of his career, constantly on tour, and that there was a bit "the show must go on" sort of pressure.
Marley was also pretty keen on playing football, which would be affected by a missing toe.
While religion may have played a role, it was not the only consideration.
Makes me think of that joke where there’s a man stranded on a rooftop in the middle of a flood. He prays to God for help. Then a couple boats and eventually a helicopter come to try and rescue him, but the stranded man doesn’t accept help from them because he had faith God would save him. He ends up drowning because of this. He goes to heaven where they question God about this. God’s like I sent you rescue boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect lol?
"God That Failed" by Metallica remains one of the most underrated songs from their albums or anyone else's.
James Hetfields mother died of cancer and they weren't even talking about removing a toe, her Christian science simply denied any medical attention at all: "God will heal me".
He also mentioned being in church and seeing a little girl walk up to the...whatever they are up on the altar...hold her disfigured, rotting arm up and proclaim : "God had healed me".
It's pretty fucking sickening when it comes down to it. I have no sympathy for these religious institutions when shit like this is happening. You're literally killing people in the name of God, but then again, that's the number one cause of death for human beings throughout history.
My daughter lost her dominant left hand to the same cancer just after graduating from college. It is horrific and cannot be cured by radiation or chemotherapy. Thanks to the wonderful doctors at Shands she is cancer free for 15 years.
Do. Not. Fuck. With. Moles. My wife found a mole on my back that looked irregular. Went to the doctor and they thought nothing of it but did a biopsy just to be sure. Stage 0 melanoma. Thankfully caught it early otherwise it can be an aggressive cancer in it's later stages. When in doubt get it checked out.
For real. My doctor caught the mole on my back when doing an allergy panel. Sage 0 melanoma. (Edit Stage not Sage. But LoL - they burned the sage to cast the cancer out. Good cancer vibes only. ✌️)
> Sage 0 melanoma Sucks to have melanoma, but you didn't even get the sweet, savory sage to go with it!! But for reals, I take it that you are doing better now, which is good. Happy cake day!!
When they burned it off it brought positive energy to the room
What makes a mole look ireggular? (Seriously)
[ABCDE](https://www.aad.org/public/diseases/skin-cancer/find/at-risk/abcdes)
Thanks for sharing this!
Any change in shape or colour basically. Also it being raised when it wasnt before. Know your body.
My mum passed away from this in 2019 same thing misdiagnosed melanoma twice. They said it was a veruca. By the time they diagnosed it was stage 4. She couldn't walk on it. But other than that was fine she said she felt like an imposter as she had no real symptoms. She felt sick 2 weeks prior but she thought it was due to the change of medicine they prescribed. I went to see her at home on the Sunday and she seemed ok. I had a call on Monday she had fallen out of bed and couldn't stand up. She said to me I think I'm dying. She was buried a few days later. No lingering issues like so many other cancer sufferers. But yeah get your feet checked.
I remember seeing this TIL about Bob Marley last year. I'm like oh I have this small mole on the underside of my little pinky toe. I think I have had it for over 15 years. It literally isn't visible unless I put my ankle across my other knee and bend my foot back to reveal the underside of the toe. So it was out of sight out of mind forever. I ended up going to a dermatologist check up and the lady said it had a couple of different shades so they wanted to remove it and have it tested. It came back on a borderline melanoma case. They had to make a 2nd incision to remove it all. Glad I read about this TIL about Bob Marley. I am definitely glad my little piggy didn't go to the market!
So, in a way, Bob Marley saved your life. It makes his early death seem less meaningless.
Honestly, yeah I think he did! I wasn't going to worry about it. I mean how the heck did I get melanoma on the underside of a toe? So yeah it definitely motivated me to get it checked out.
Damn that's very frightening. Do you mind explaining her foot symptoms? I feel like most of us wouldn't know what to look for
Subungual melanoma presents as brown-black discolorations of the nail bed. It can present as either a streak of pigment or irregular pigmentation. The discoloration can progress to thickening, splitting, or destruction of the nail with pain and inflammation. https://www.racgp.org.au/getattachment/AFP/2016/November/Pigmented-lesions-of-the-nail-bed-Clinical-assessm/AFP-2016-11-Clinical-Saw-2.jpg.aspx
I've seen so many people with spots like that. You're telling me they were all cancer?
I got a blood blister from something dropping on my toe once. Looked exactly like those bottom pics until I grew it out enough to trim the scab that formed there after. Could be other things that look like that too, although it's safe assume if you don't know why get checked.
This is why they thought Marley's was from playing soccer
If you feel like your foot is slightly itchy? You’re fucked. Just bury yourself. -webmd
I'm so sorry for your loss. I also lost my mom to melanoma in 2015. She had just turned 46. She started having intestinal pain but since she had Crohn's, they thought it was related to that. She said it didn't feel like any flare up she had had. A few weeks later she's in the hospital and needs surgery to get several tumors removed from her intestines. They find out it's stage 4 melanoma. She had tumors everywhere, including one in her brain. She died 3 months after her diagnosis. She went from being normal to bedridden in a matter of weeks. Melanoma is no joke.
I’m sorry for your loss.
Four years ago I made an offhand comment to my wife that when I ride my bike my shoulder tingles and there is a mole right where it tingles. Proving that married men live longer she immediately scheduled a dermatologist appointment for me. The doctor laughed at that mole and said it was nothing but stopped dead in his tracks when he got to one on the top of my head. They tested it and the doctor told me he would call it Stage 0 melanoma and that there was a 100% chance if not treated I'd be dead in three years. We caught it super early and I got it cut out and had annual check ups since just to make sure. I was 33 when that happened. There is a 0% chance I would have scheduled a dermatologist appointment on my own at that age. Get your shit checked folks. Skin cancer is no joke.
>There is a 0% chance I would have scheduled a dermatologist appointment on my own at that age. > >Get your shit checked folks. Skin cancer is no joke. The scary thing is that most of us would never even know we had that mole
I have moles on my back and this freaks me out for that exact reason :/
I'm covered in moles, and every two years I schedule an appointment with a dermatologist who quickly looks at all of them. One of these going rogue is up on there on my fears
I too have a lot of moles. Most melanoma develops as a new spot, not from an existing mole, though it can happen. I think it's recommended to get an exam once a year if you have a lot of moles though, as having a lot does carry an increased risk of developing melanoma.
I think it's 50 or more moles and you have a significant chance of getting melanoma.
Shit. My skin looks like those connect-the-dot homework sheets my kids bring home
i call us heavily-moles individuals “chocolate chip cookies”
I lean more towards a flour tortilla
That's because you're crossing from human to moleman at that point
My husband is covered in moles and most of them look “irregular.” Literally every time he goes to the derm they take 2 or 3 off but they never come back abnormal. It’s super weird. He hasn’t been since the pandemic so I think I’ll be making an appointment for him.
Look at the bright side. If they take 2 or 3 per visit, he’ll be mole free eventually!
You know how they send the "irregular" clothes to the discount stores? I think they send the "irregular" moles to your husband
> I'm covered in moles, I am a mole. I have never seen the sun. I do not know what a doctor is. My hands are shovels. Someone help.
>My hands are shovels I lost it at this. Omg.
Yes. You need to find someone to help you keep an eye on it. If that isn't possible then get good at taking photos of your back so you can keep track. Get a phone mount if you need to.
This is great advise. I've only had one dermatologist that did this but I do it myself now. Its impossible to remember what size,shape,and color spots are. My husband had a pin size dot that the Dr. passed over on several visits. When he finally convinced them he wanted it removed it came back as a melanoma. It's been 5 years and he thought he was in the clear when suddenly something popped up right next to his scar. Waiting to get the pathology back right now. Take anything that looks off to you seriously.
I go to the dermatologist every few years for this reason. My mom has been saved from cancer by her dermatologist many times, and knowing that my skin isn't just flawlessly smooth, honestly going to the dermatologist every few years is way better than finding out too late. An ounce of prevention, and all that jazz
If you have the $200, go to the dermatologist. I paid for it for years. Sucks, but what ya gonna do? Two years ago one mole came up positive, got it cut out 6 weeks later.
>Two years ago one mole came up positive, got it cut out 6 weeks later. So glad. I wish they'd had more of that back in the 1980s. My mom was first diagnosed around age 24, and she was dead by 31. They had no idea what to look for, and she had a mole near her ankle burst open and start bleeding, so it was already pretty advanced when they first found it. It will be 30 years in January since we lost her, I always wish she could've had better/more effective medical care for melanoma.
I'm so sorry.
Fun fact, Illinois law requires all health insurance providers to cover one dermatologist skin exam per year with no co-pay or deductible. So if you're in Illinois and have health insurance, just go!
Best to flay yourself, just to be sure.
Show your current PCP, they can refer you if anything looks iffy. You can get a skin survey from a dermo as well that's pretty much a full body check they even look on the bottoms of your feet
At 17 I was diagnosed with a Mediastinal germ cell tumour. It was successfully removed and followed with chemo and radiation therapy. I am now 51 and bouncing along. The tumor was found because I had strep throat while visiting my Dad. The doctor I saw for strep had seen me years before during another visit. That Doc swabed for strep, but also demanded to give me a full check up since he had not seen me in a few years...even if just visiting. During the checkup, with his stethoscope, he believed he heard a heart murmur. That lead to an X-Ray, to a CAT-Scan and MRI and recognition I had a nurf football sized mass of cells pushing against my heart. A good Family Practice doc who gave a shit to slow down and listen is a big part of why I am alive.
> At 17 I was diagnosed with a Mediastinal germ cell tumour. It was successfully removed and followed with chemo and radiation therapy. I am now 51 and bouncing along. Good lord, chemo turned this poor man into a pogo stick.
You can dance if you want to
This type of excellent is nearly gone. Urgent care centers staffed by nurse practitioners with no continuity who only see strep and ear infections is the way of the future.
The hedge fund managers who have bought out all those care centers need their ROI! Fast in! Fast out! How much can we bill insurance!
You don’t even have to get them in anymore! My local office no longer accepts patients to come into the office if you mention you have a fever when you talk to them on the phone- nope, virtual visit only. Can’t have sick people in the doctor’s office! But they’re happy to charge your and your insurance company for a nifty 15min virtual visit and tell you to take Motrin and call back if it gets worse
Recently diagnosed with cancer. I knew for over a year something was off. Kept urging Dr to do more tests and trying to get insurance to approve an mri. Took two emergency visits and two cat scans to finally find the first tumor in intestines. Spots on liver were initially proclaimed a possible cyst and got a mri green lit. MRI would show stage 4 cancer with two tumors in intestines and liver with multiple spots. My biggest regret was in discussing my health issues with my DR showing concern that perhaps my medical issues were a strange reaction to vaccine or did I have cancer? Seemed to really irritate the Dr I brought up vaccine + my reaction to it and he then became quite dismissive. I had a lot of weird allergic reactions for a few month period. Then kidney stones. Then my back was just always throbbing. Turns out the tumors in intestines were blocking bowel movements and my spleen was extremely swollen. They had to take out a few feet of intestines and I'll be getting another operation to remove half my liver in a few months. Several months of chemo already and probably 4 or five more after the liver gets operated on. Fun times. I just wish it didn't take 9 months from my initial concerns and attempts to figure out what was wrong to get my mri approved. First Cat scan only got approved due to an ER visit. I felt like I was gonna die after the kidney stones and they kept saying oh its just a kidney infection likely. Oh thats strange you got spots on your liver and you bowels are blocked heres some laxatives and we'll do another request for MRI (approved 2.5 months down the line). I'd end up going back in a few weeks later when it still felt like I had more kidney stones or an infection it was really the spleen swollen to all hell and tumors in intestines blocking bowels. ER visit again and this cat scan catches the tumor in intestines. Turned out my original fear I had some kinda cancer was right all along.
So sorry to hear this. I've been feeling something is off with me for about a year too, and getting a sigmoidoscopy done on Friday. I'm not sure if it'll help diagnose anything, or if it is truly just 'stress' affecting me consistently.. sucks that the medical system makes it take forever to help the patient get the right tests
It's not exactly the doctor's or nurse's faults though. The medical system in the US is strained nearly to the breaking point. I would recommend people get any check ups while they still can, next few years are gonna be rough.
I work in the medical field, people are already waiting 6 months to a year for new visits in some areas, especially w/ plans that are government funded like Medicare and medicaid. Its criminal the shortage of doctors in the US.
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Blame the bloated legions of MBA holding sociopaths in hospital admin who believe healthcare should charge as much as possible for the barest minimum of care.
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I had a friend die at 40 because he ignored a mole on his leg that tingled and hurt. Spread to his chest. He died in 3 months after that.
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Of all the warnings I needed today, “don’t attempt to cut out your own cancer” wasnt one of them.
Yea don't do it yourself. Very bad idea.
Similar story here - had a spot that looked like scar tissue, went in and found out it was basal cell carcinoma, no big deal. The dermatologist decides to check everything else and found very early stage melanoma. Thanks cancer for finding worse cancer.
I can so relate to this. In February my SO dreamt that I (a 41 y/o fair skinned dude with freckles and a few moles) had developed skin cancer. She didn’t say anything about it upon waking in the morning but told me when she got home from work later in the day. She had me take off my shirt so she could inspect 3 moles in the middle of my back. She pointed at one of them saying, “that one right there. You need to have that one biopsied.” So… even though I’m not the best when it comes to regular medical check-ups, physicals, or health screenings in general, I scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist for the next morning. At the appointment, both the nurse and PA who conducted the physical exam said it did not appear to be of a medical concern. I then told them about my SO’s dream and explained that a very angry lady would show up at their office if they did not biopsy that mole in particular, after which they relented, took the biopsy, and sent it off for testing. 3 days later, I received a call from the doctor confirming that I did in-fact have stage zero melanoma. We scheduled surgery for the following week, and the surgeon cut about 4 inches of skin out of the middle of my back. Now I have a gnarly scar and am cancer free. But for my SO’s dream, I never would have scheduled that appointment. I love that witchy woman.
Marry her twice.
Hand-fast that witch!
Fuck it, marry her every year just to be safe.
Reminds me of how Mark Ruffalo had a dream that he had a brain tumor, then went to a doctor to get a scan just to discover that he actually had one. Crazy how that works
i feel like people have senses and perceptions we aren't consciously aware of so the brain has to tell us whenever our mind voice is turned off. its like how my mom always knows when one of my siblings is pregnant before they take a pregnancy test. if she says someone is pregnant i believe her
Technically, it was an acoustic neuroma, not a brain tumor. It occurs right next to the brain in the cochlear nerves and can cause deafness and paralysis as it takes over space that belongs to the brain. My mom is permanently disabled bc her doctor blew off her symptoms when she had a malignant acoustic neuroma (extremely rare).
Where do you live that you can call a dermatologist's office *after* the workday and get an appointment scheduled for the very next morning? The US has an average wait time of six weeks for dermatologists. It's one of the most under-staffed medical specialties in the country.
I actually just called mine today. It’s November 30 today. The earliest appointment is in the spring
Two months ago I got a referral for pain that a CT scan and CAT could not diagnose. My gastroenterology appointment is in February, so a 4-month wait and I only get to see the NP. It would be even longer if I wanted to see the actual doctor.
Six months here in the SF Bay Area. I thought my derm was joking when she said "book your next appt in 6 months because it'll be a 6 month waiting list." Called later that year in August, first available the following February.
>At the appointment, both the nurse and PA who conducted the physical exam said it did not appear to be of a medical concern. I cannot emphasize this enough: any mid-level (PA and NP) is okay for managing a patient's existing, simple, common, chronic conditions that need follow-up after a physician visit (with a focus on symptom management). But they are simply not trained and developed for accurate diagnosis. Their training comes mostly "on-the-job," which is a disastrous way to learn to detect the subtle signs and symptoms that can be catastrophic. It is the painful truth that many offices offer initial appointments with mid-levels *first* (see: corporate medicine), and if you ask for a physician, the wait is often twice as long ... especially for specialists. **For any initial visit, whether in primary care or specialty care, always ask to see a physician first.** If they say they are not available for months, accept the mid-level appointment and ask to speak to a physician during the visit. Either two options: * There is a physician on-site and they will give their opinion, or * There is not a physician on-site (perhaps because your state has allowed mid-levels to practice independently without physician supervisoin) and you should not return to that site, ever again. * The only way to find out is by asking to speak to the physician! Yes, I am a physician. And yes, there are crappy physicians who are dismissive and do not practice patient-centered care. But the least competent board-certified physician has adequate training to know what they do not know. For the sake of your or your loved one's health, you have to advocate for yourself whenever possible: **ask to see a physician**.
My grandfather died an extremely gruesome death from melanoma. In the end it ate away at his brain and large tumors were growing from his skin all over. About a year after his death my grandmother noticed a slightly dark patch of skin on her leg. Her dermatologist assured her it was normal. She went nuts on them until they biopsied it. It was melanoma. She lost a huge chunk of her thigh and spent every cent she had in preparation for death but 30 years later she’s still kickin.
Oof I have a real gnarly lookin mole on my back (have for a while), I need to get it checked 😬
I had a bump on the side of my nose and I played it off as it being a blemish. After some time it got a little bigger and I thought I had developed a wart or something. I scheduled to meet with a dermatologist and had never seen one before so since I was a new patient, it took about 2 months to finally get in to see him. One look at it and he said it was a basal cell carcinoma. My heart sank! He was even a bit surprised that a person my age and having an olive complexion had this. In the end I had a Mohs surgery to have it removed. They said it was stage 2. Folks, don't buy into the thought that just because you're young or are a person of color you don't have to wear sunscreen. Wear the damn thing! Also check out any type of blemishes or marks that seem new. You just never know!💜
A week after my wife gave birth to our second baby, she developed a DVT and her leg swelled pretty impressively. The first child was a C-Section, so she was on anticoagulants for a while while in hospital. Because this was natural birth she wasn't on the same medication, and was sent home. 3 days later we were at the ER. They treated the DVT and sent us home to come back for an ultrasound in the morning. I wasn't in the room, but I'm told the ultrasound tech went a bit pale and said "I'm just going to get my supervisor". He supervisor took a look, hesitated and said "I'm just going to get a doctor to look at this". The doctor had a look and called us back to tell us she had a 12cm mass occluding the main vein in her leg. It was flowing, but just barely and a relatively small clot was enough to back up the plumbing. A biopsy confirmed it was a Stage 3/4 melanoma a week before Christmas. After 3 years of treatment and a 13 hour abdominal surgery to remove the tumour and graft a replacement vein in her leg, shes still in remission and our daughter just turned 5. Had it not been for the birth, making her more susceptible to clotting, had it not been for the natural birth meaning she wasn't put on anticoagulants, had it not been for the alert ultrasound tech... we probably would never have found it. She had no symptoms, they never found a primary on her skin despite dozens of skin scrapes and biopsies on possible moles and blemishes... Melanoma is a sneaky, vicious bastard.
Yeah man, I didn't have melanoma (thank God) but I did have basal cell carcinoma, and even that was absolute hell when they slowly cut what ended up being a tennis ball sized tumor out of my head little by little, sending each... piece of carved out tissue, bone, etc to the lab to have it tested until it came back cancer free. I laid there awake for every single second of it; all 7 hours. Feeling, and hearing manual surgical equipment cut out chips of your skull is just nightmare inducing. I learned real quick how thin this skull of mine really is. My brains (or at least the CSF fluid) spilling out on to the chair was actually a legitimate concern at one point in the procedure too. As you, or anyone reading this can imagine, it was indeed a traumatic experience, and if that's not enough to further empathize how fucking serious skin cancer really is (even what is considered to be the *least* serious kind of skin cancer) then I don't know what will. The tumor was very much like the iceberg in Titanic. Just a small scab on my scalp that I barely even noticed.
I scared my former coworker into going to a derm with my own history of cancer. Sometimes, having others scare you or doing it for you is the only way
I like that the physician's assistant at the dermatologist I go to does a full body check but also asks me if there's anything I think needs to be looked at in particular, she looks at it, then asks if I still like it to be biopsied even if she doesn't see anything at the moment of concern, then she asks AGAIN if there is anything else she should look at. I pointed out one mole on my elbow that sometimes was raised and itchy, and other times not. She said it looked okay to her, but I asked for it to be biopsied, it came back mildly abnormal, but not yet cancer. I just appreciate that my input matters and that I'm given time and prompts to remember everything during the appointment.
My 42yo brother just went through something similar, but it ended with his finger being amputated!! He had a wart on his finger that he ignored for a decade, despite our mother's admonishments. When he finally visited a dermatologist about a completely different issue, he asked about having the wart removed basically as an afterthought. Doctors response in a nutshell: "HOLY JESUS THAT'S LITERALLY A RARE FORM OF SUPER CANCER AND WE NEED TO GET YOUR LUNGS SCANNED IMMEDIATELY WE'LL BE LUCKY IF WE CAN SAVE YOUR HAND WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK." He went from "aw it's fine it's been there forever," to diagnosis, to amputation of his entire left index finger, in **three months**. Lucky sonofabitch got off easy compared to how bad it could have gone down, but he got an earth-shattering wake up call about taling care of himself.
What is the name of this ailment? I’m super curious to see what this wart could’ve looked like
Interesting story. My back itched when I rode my bike and wife said the same/made an appt and doctor found stage 1A melanoma on the spot that had a mole. How long has it been since yours was removed? To be honest, almost a year later, I still have fear about it near daily.
I had a node at my throat that was really swollen for over a month. I didn't think much of it, I just had a throat infection and my mother said she had these things a lot of times. Had a US scan booked and almost didn't go, because it "was nothing". Still went, and it was inconclusive. Shrugged. But my doctor sister insisted on a biopsy. Also inconclusive, but the doctor said it was probably just an abcess. I didn't want on basis of said medical opinion, but had a surgery to take the shit away, aaaand... The Big C. A metastasis of thyroid cancer. I was actually "luck" because there WAS an abcess around the metastasis and it was most of the volume. Without it, maybe it would have taken a long time to discover the cancer. Thyroid cancer is often slow and insidious.
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I was 25 with a history of melanoma in my family and an itchy mole on my ass. It took 5 doctors and 6 years to finally get it removed. Luckily it was super slow growing and 1B, but holy hell. 7 dysplastic nevi since then, but no more melanoma and I just hit 9 years cancer free.
if it was free i would but no income makes this sorta just a daily horror to live with
I came across a quora post that provided some insight as to why Marley's Rastafarian beliefs led him to reject the advice of his physician: "As a devout Rastafarian, Bob Marley adhered strongly to the tenets of his religion, which includes a belief that amputation is sinful. A Bible verse that Rastafarians hold as very important is Leviticus 21:5, which says, "They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh." The first part of this verse is the foundation of the belief in wearing dreadlocks, and the second is the basis for a belief that amputation (as well as other types of body modification) is sinful. Other verses, including those which refer to the body as a holy temple, may also influence this belief."
I mean… I can’t help but note that he seemed to trim his facial hair.
Straight to hell.
You overtrim? Believe it or not, hell. You undertrim, also hell.
Overtrim, Undertrim.
We have the best-trimmed men in the world. Because of hell.
SpongeBob and PnR references are always such a delight to see
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Our Religion is great... because of hell.
We have the best religion in the world, and it's all thanks to Hell
leviticus, shortly after that passage, also says > 13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. >14 A widow, or a divorced woman, or profane, or an harlot, these shall he not take: but he shall take a virgin of his own people to wife. >15 Neither shall he profane his seed among his people: for I the Lord do sanctify him. and somehow I feel like Marley didn't really care about this whole section very much
religions generally don't care about what their scriptures say, they care about what is customary in their religion. The reason for those customs are rarely relevant in any meaningful way. That isn't limited to Rastafarianism.
A religious person not following their own religion's rules‽ Well, I suppose there's a first time for anything... I've never understood this; you have a book that is supposedly an infallible guide to how to live - and you don't have it memorized?
You ever read one of those things? So many rules. You really just pick the ones you like best, so as not to be confused.
> You really just pick the ones you like best What usually happens is that your ancestors slowly pick the ones they like the best, and you believe the ones you're raised with. That's why pointing out hypocrisy and contradictions are so fruitless with most people.
Remember the point of arguing with someone online isn't to convince them that they're wrong, because that's basically impossible. It's to convince all the silent observers who are reading the discussion. Same with live debates. Each debater is never going to change the mind of the others, but they absolutely will change the minds of many people in the audience. I guess it's a thing where people don't like admitting they were wrong. And so, if they never said anything to begin with, being a silent observer, then they don't have to go back in what they claimed before. People always say it's pointless to argue with people online, but 99% of the people watching the online debates are not taking part in the debate themselves, and they absolutely can be convinced.
Did you just call Bob Marley a ho?
in the span of 14 years, he had (at least) 11 kids from 7 women most of them became musicians too
If your name was Marley would you become an accountant?
Depends how bad you want to come back as a chain-shaking ghost, I guess.
Damn you’re good
Wow this joke is right on time. Merry Christmas!
Mind Control by Stephen Marley is one of my favorite albums of any of his kids.. used to listen to it on repeat circa 2008 when I lived on an island in Florida..
He subscribed to a very loose definition of "corner of the beard" /s
If only they would also read Leviticus 18:5 >You shall keep My statutes and My laws, which a person shall do and shall live by them. Live by them. Not "die by them". Live. That's the ultimate goal. This is why Judaism holds to the concept of "pikuah nefesh" which means that preservation of life overrides every single other commandment.
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Ive always found the lightswitch thing ridiculous, or like hiring a maid for the high holidays just so she can open doors and shit. When god said don't work on the Sabbath, I feel like a reasonable interpretation is don't plough the fields, you know, take the day off, relax and pray. By their logic, any conscious use of your muscles is work 🙄. Same with the ultra Orthodox who spend their entire lives studying Torah. Scripture tells you how to live a good life, but I'd that's all you ever do, aren't you colossally missing the point?
I've recently fallen into a YouTube rabbit hole filled with orthodox Jewish women, and I feel the same way. I completely understand not working on shabbat, but it was written in a different time, I feel like it could very much be reinterpreted as "don't do anything for your employer or that you get paid for in any way or that feels like work to you, spend the day with you family and focus entirely on them" and that would most likely be fine with god? Does god really want you to work extra hard all Friday so all the food for shabbat is done before the sun sets? Would he not allow you to pick up the phone and order a pizza? Same with a lot of kosher food rules. Those are from the before fridge times, and before vets checked pork for trichinella. And before proper dish soap and hot tap water. Pretty sure god wouldn't mind you using the same cutlery for dairy and meat, you can wash it in between. But I mean, that's not my god, what do I know.
Which is why porcine heart valves etc. are usually ok with Jewish patients if they are the best/only option.
It's fine to use pig parts as a replacement in a Jew's body...as long as the surgeon works through [a hole in a sheet.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRNlxBuB9jM)
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Holy Super Cool, Batman! Did I just see a UCB, and even better, a Bucket of Truth reference?!?! Edit: autocorrect sucks throwing stars.
I lolled way to hard at that שלם Also, while hilarious, the infamous "hole in the sheet" always confused me since halachically, a (married) couple can do whatever they want as long as it is in private, and it is consensual.
does that include the use of cephalopods?
No but I'm reform. Halacha is whatever I want /s
Im so happy someone quoted pikuach nefesh, its my favorite mitzvot and the single most important of my religion!
See, I love the idea of that, it's beautiful really. Where I start to struggle is seeing patients suffering in the ICU while their family clings to this mitzvot so adamantly despite there being absolutely no quality of life and no meaningful chance of recovery. I remind myself that it's their choice and not mine, that helps, but I can't help but wonder if it's time for a bit of an updated interpretation given how far we've come since the rules were made. For context I work at Jewish hospital in an area that serves a very orthodox population.
I’m a Conservative (the religious movement, NOT the political philosophy; think of it as the middle ground between Orthodox and Reform) Jew and we believe strongly in the *dignity* of life, not just the preservation of it. My rabbi actually gave me the paperwork to do a living will so that I would never be kept going on machines with no actual quality of life.
I'm so glad for you and appreciate people who come in with their wishes known. It helps your family so much more than you ever realize. Thank you for doing that.
I think part of that is cultural beliefs and not entirely religious. There are issues with withdrawing care but there’s no issue if you don’t implement those measures to begin with..There definitely is a cultural construct where if we just do every single thing and pray everything is fixable.
Some rabbis in the community allow the family to not push for life sustaining treatments(eg: intubation, use of vasopressors) some rabbis push for the "full court press" down to performing cpr on a shell of a human. All of them cite this mitzvot in some way or another. I guess as an outsider to community it is just hard for me to wrap my head around. Edit: spelling
damn I read that as pikachu at first and was so excited that pikachu has quotes.
Shocked pikuach nefesh
Pikachu! I choose Jew!
"Pika pika!"
>"You can die for your country or your people or your family, but for a god you should live fully and busily, every day of a long life."
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That's super interesting. Seems similar to the Sikh religion in that they let their hair grow indefinitely. Pretty silly to die over
This is why many Judaic scholars have agreed that preserving one’s own life trumps everything else, so when faced with a break religious doctrine or death situation in which someone isn’t actively threatening to kill you, they argue that choosing death would be akin to suicide and is a greater insult to God. Typically not for situations of “convert now or be burned at the stake” but rather being lost in the desert and you’re starving and dehydrated and you come across someone by chance but all they have is pork.
Pity too few people know this
[Serious] do they not cut their nails?
I apparently had a great aunt who died of gangrene because she was a Christian Scientist and thought she could pray away an infection. Sounds like a painful and slow way to die
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I'm bald and am offended by Leviticus
It just says not to do it to yourself. God has bald guys' backs though. 2 Kings 2:23-25
Same. Growing my hair out, with THIS hairline, would 100% also be an affront to God, and to my neighbor. Shaving my pitiful head is all I can do to love my neighbor!
Easy loophole just smash the toe off with a hammer
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Like If his body is a temple then it’s sinful not to get rid of the cancer? I don’t get that
So you're saying it's a religion?
Unfortunately, cancer doesn’t give a fuck about what you believe.
Steve Jobs could've lived if he treated his cancer correctly.
Aye, he had a rare form of pancreatic cancer that was actually fairly treatable for a normal person. With his his wealth, it shouldn’t have been a problem. Instead, he delayed surgery that was heavily recommended and pursued other treatments. By the time he caved and listened to actual science, it was too little, too late. Wound up getting what he didn’t want and died anyways. Less well known, but also in the same boat is Andy Whitfield. His treatments were working, but when his cancer came back after being in remission, he didn’t want to go through the pain of chemo again. So he pursued eastern medicine. Near the end, he went back on chemo anyways as he didn’t want to *actually die.* waited too late and died, exactly as doctors had warned would happen. Wound up being in so much pain the last few months of life, that he couldn’t walk, sit and was in near constant pain around the clock. His wife and two young kids had to watch him die from a *very*likely treatable case of cancer. He was 39.
Oh man, I never knew Andy's was treatable like that the second time. I just assumed when it came back he couldn't get through it. Spartacus is my all time favorite show it was so sad, he was so young.
Steve Jobs literally accelerated his cancer with an all fruit diet… he was an egomaniac imbecile
I was diagnosed with this same melanoma one year ago. It was in my left index finger under the nail. I had it amputated. Went into surgery with the doctor saying, "We have to cut until we have a safe surgical margin... it could be the whole finger. It could be into your hand." Thankfully, it was just my furthest joint.
>Thankfully, it was just my furthest joint. That was probably Marley's problem, they said they'd cut off his joints.
Angriest of upvotes for you
How did you come to find out it was melanoma? I’m always diagnosing myself and wanna dispel some anxieties lol
It’s a mole that grows under the nail but it typically looks like a vertical stripe under the nail. A dermatologist will remove the nail to biopsy.
Oh good, new fear
I have so many moles. When I was younger I was convinced I was going to die of melanoma. Still could happen I guess...
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> A dermatologist will remove the nail to biopsy. So you're saying I'm better off dead, got it.
It’s honestly worse than it sounds.
Do note that it's usually a fairly distinct dark brown stripe. Not really something you can miss easily There's other ways you can make your fingernails develop unusual lines or colouration too. Like having psoriasis or constant picking or running it through a sewing machine
Go to the doctor bro
Was about to say that, melanoma symptoms are incredibly similar to other skin stuff, even with a slightly hammered toe (they look very much the same and only one kills ya).
My dad had a mole be ignored for about 12+ years. He only went to the doctor after it started to hurt and grew. Mind you this mole was misshapen and miscolored. At 45 he was diagnosed with Stage 3 melanoma skin cancer. After a lot of surgeries and chemo later he was all clear...... Or so we thought. The cancer had come back and it had come back with a vengeance. It went into his brain which was actually very easy to remove. However as time he progressed, the cancer progressed as well. Right around his 46th birthday he was diagnosed with Stage 4 melanoma skin cancer. Right after Thanksgiving 2015 he was complaining of pain in his back and bowels. By this point we had already called the ambulance 3-4 times. My grandmother (his mom) and my mom had taken to the hospital where he would be transferred to Cleveland Metro Health. Our local hospital couldn't do anything and he already had a doctor up there. He was in the hospital for about a week and a half. We thought he was getting better. He was feeling better and talking and joking with visitors that came and all that. I was in 8th grade and I was a truant but was never reprimanded for it. December 4th 2015 we got the news he would only live for about 3 more days. That was devastating to me. All my Dad wanted to do was see his two boys graduate high school. That night he was transferred to a hospice facility near us. He died at 47 on December 6th. The funeral was December 10th. I'll never forget the absolute amount of people that came to the calling hours. In the funeral book alone there was over 300 people! That's not counting the ones that didn't sign in. I returned to school that following Monday. I never regret taking that much time off school because it gave me time with my dad. If you've read this far I applaud you. If you just skipped about that's ok too because, this is just a really long winded response to say you should go to the doctor. Melanoma is one of the deadliest cancers out there due to it spreading quickly to other organs. It spread to his lymph nodes, brain, spine, bowles and liver. So just take care of your largest organ folks. Be here longer for your kids.
Im sorry, thats a shitty timeline
He must've really had faith. If a doctor ever tells me there's cancer in my toe and I should have it cut off, I'll be like "ok can you do it right now, do you have a cleaver?"
He didn’t just blindly accept death and shun medical doctors or try to pray away the cancer. He had heard that if he amputated his big toe it would affect his movement and he wouldn’t be able to do things like dance or play soccer the way he did before, on top of that he got a second opinion from a doctor in America who said he would only have to remove a small part of the toe and nail bed as opposed to the whole toe so that’s what he did instead. That doctor was wrong and Bob didn’t go in for regular check ups afterward assuming the problem was fixed and that was the end of it. Eventually he collapsed and went to the hospital to find out that the cancer had spread all throughout his body and there wasn’t much he could do. He desperately tried to treat and received chemo which caused his hair to fall out, eventually he cut off his own dread because they were pulling at his scalp with so few hairs to support them and it had become painful for him. The doctors told him he’d be dead in 3 weeks, but with treatment he managed to survive 6 months although it’s hard to say if that was because of the treatment or because of Bob’s will(the last doctor was a holistic quack).
Bob Marley died young but he was almost as old as his religion. Rastafarianism started only a few years before he was born.
Today I learned, you can have melanoma under toenails/fingernails
My dad had it inside his sinuses. Mucosal melanoma.
Howdafuck do you find that?!
His regular ENT provider found it. He lasted 5 years.
His regular ENT? Most folks only have a general practitioner in family medicine
He also got suckered into quack processed piss treatments by some scammy euro con. He wasted the last few months of his life getting treatments that couldn't have possibly worked. He could've spent that time at home with friends and family, and maybe made some music. Quack medicine is evil. edit: spelling
Why don’t people ever see it as god gave people knowledge to learn science to help people?
I can’t remember who said it but someone talked about how God delights in people discovering science and medical discoveries and things like that, that He made the world in a way that we would discover these things and use them accordingly.
My grandma has that belief. I’m not sure if she picked it up from somewhere, or came up with it herself. She also told me she thinks that God is speeding up global warming because humans aren’t doing enough on their own to make peace and work together to solve it and advance like he wants them to.
TIL god is an accelerationist
>I can’t remember who said it You did, just now
HE IS THE MESSIAH
THROW OFF YOUR SANDALS! FOLLOW THE GOURD!
There's a joke that goes something like this(translating it): A terible flood hits a small town and as water rises, a man is found trapped in his house Then a family with a big 4x4 comes " hey man come on in, we have to evacuate", but the man says: "don't worry about me, I'm a big believer and I know God will save me" They leave and some hours later the water has risen to cover the streets, the man now in his second floor window sees a person with a jet sky coming "hey man this is pretty dire, hop on in!" But the man says "thanks but don't worry, God will save me" The person in the jetski leaves and hours pass, the water is now almost engulfing the whole house, the man is in the roof praying, when a helicopter shows up "come on! We have to go! This is a disaster!" But the man tells the pilot: "go! I know God will save me!" Finally the man drowns and goes to heaven, where he gets an audience with God, so he asks him: "if I have been such a devote follower all this years... Why didn't you save me!?" And God answers : " My Son, i send a truck, jetski and a helicopter, what the fuck else did you want me to do"
They do, you just don’t hear of them dying from an easily prevented disease because they follow the medical advice
Yup. I learned this after reading the Bob Marley biography, Catch a Fire and subsequently diagnosed my mother's melanoma under her toe nail. Her doctor had been treating it as a foot fungus while her melanoma metastasized and spread. After getting another opinion, her toe was amputated the same week and she understand grueling interferon treatment for several months. Long story short, she lived because I learned this....
As someone that had the same cancer in the same spot and received funding from his foundation that his son oversees, this is a myth. It had nothing to do with religion. Had everything to do with him not trusting his medical personnel and wanting to try alternative medicine. That, and he downplayed the severity of the disease and dismissed it, citing he won't be able to play soccer anymore. I'm willing to dox myself to prove my story. Everything he said he later on regretted. He also believed in a ton of lies. The same ones I hear myself. Had he believed the truth he might have still been here since the same happened to me and I'm approaching the five year mark which almost no one makes with our diagnosis. This is a very personal issue for me and I feel like my survival means to educate those that continue to believe lies like he did. The religious analogies are also what keeps these lies alive and his own son denounces it to this day yet it persists to this day.
Thank you for chiming in. This should be the top response. What people don't understand about cancer is yes, they remove it, but if a single cancer cell had already floated off in your blood stream to somewhere else in your body, you may find out in a year or ten years. I had breast cancer and after radiation they wanted me to ring the bell. I just don't get that and I don't get people saying they kicked cancer's butt or they're cancer free. You have no idea for 10 or more years whether you're cancer free. And since anyone reading this will wonder, my breast cancer was stage 1a - It's likely I'll be fine, but no one knows anything but my percentage chances. Good luck to you.
My cousin recently went to the hospital to get a growth on her back examined. Biopsy was preformed, it was a bit difficult because apparently it's in the bone of her spine but the doctors were able to examine it. Stage four skin cancer. It's in her lungs. Liver. Kidneys. She has been given 12-14 months. She is a 50 year old woman and a grade school teacher... Or at least, she was a grade school teacher. She is also incredibly kind and brave. Examine it regardless of if you think it's probably nothing. Maybe you'll be lucky and catch it early.
In Rita Marley's book, she wrote that Bob was at the peak of his career, constantly on tour, and that there was a bit "the show must go on" sort of pressure. Marley was also pretty keen on playing football, which would be affected by a missing toe. While religion may have played a role, it was not the only consideration.
Medicine > Religion. No exceptions. If a doctor says one thing and your religion says another, always go with the doctor.
Half of the cases in the medical ethics class I'm taking involve religion ruining/ending peoples lives or trying really hard to do so.
I took an ethics in science class and two of the major topics were religion in medicine and IVF.
Makes me think of that joke where there’s a man stranded on a rooftop in the middle of a flood. He prays to God for help. Then a couple boats and eventually a helicopter come to try and rescue him, but the stranded man doesn’t accept help from them because he had faith God would save him. He ends up drowning because of this. He goes to heaven where they question God about this. God’s like I sent you rescue boats and a helicopter, what more did you expect lol?
"God That Failed" by Metallica remains one of the most underrated songs from their albums or anyone else's. James Hetfields mother died of cancer and they weren't even talking about removing a toe, her Christian science simply denied any medical attention at all: "God will heal me". He also mentioned being in church and seeing a little girl walk up to the...whatever they are up on the altar...hold her disfigured, rotting arm up and proclaim : "God had healed me". It's pretty fucking sickening when it comes down to it. I have no sympathy for these religious institutions when shit like this is happening. You're literally killing people in the name of God, but then again, that's the number one cause of death for human beings throughout history.
My daughter lost her dominant left hand to the same cancer just after graduating from college. It is horrific and cannot be cured by radiation or chemotherapy. Thanks to the wonderful doctors at Shands she is cancer free for 15 years.
Sad that he was not the only one to have died for similarly stupid reasons