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Tim McDonald NED

Posted on June 2, 2023 by Ken

Tim McDonald #DonateLifeMonth @tamcdonald

NED (No Evidence of Disease)
This is a picture of a true winner. It’s easy to win at sports, games, etc.
Yours was a tough win. Congratulations my friend. And if you knew me,
you would know I don’t impress easily. I assure you. You sir, impress
the hell out of me.

Also, a picture of a leader. Lead on!

It still feels weird to say. When I was told 2.5 years ago that I had 3 years to live, I didn’t believe them, but also never thought I would be able to say it. I ended up getting treated
at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. One of the top 10 cancer centers in the US. But still advocated for myself and pursued a liver transplant at URM Strong Memorial Hospital
in Rochester N.Y.

Are they based in the US or Canada?
Liver Transplant hospitals in North America – Search (bing.com)
My best suggestion is to connect with one of about 15 centers in NA who perform liver transplants. Toronto General, URM (Rochester NY), Cleveland Clinic, Univ of Pittsburgh, Washington University – St Louis do more than all the others combined.

When you are down and all the odds are stacked against you, remember one thing,
you are not a statistic. You are a remarkable human capable of unimaginable things.

Let the world feel your heartbeat #relentless #resilience
#fightcrc #strongarmselfie #stage4 #colorectalcancer #donatelife

May 30 2023 Today is 2 weeks to the day I was given a new lease on life.

Hopefully one that will remain cancer free.
It’s all possible because of a #livingdonor like Beth and the amazing transplant team
led by Dr. Hernandez at URM Strong Memorial Hospital. #FightCRC #ShareMyLiver

TCups Mom @TcupsMom
I had a doc tell me I was going to die and I want comfort care on Jan 22 when
both my kidneys and liver shut down. I regained full mobility and new docs can’t
figure out why it happened or why my numbers don’t make sense to this day.

Yes. In my colon and all over my liver. Not a candidate for resection.
I’d suggest URM Strong Memorial Hospital or University of Pittsburgh.
Happy to connect you with URM. And check out

The Heartbeat That Changed the World | HuffPost Impact

“Let the world feel your heartbeat.” Wow, that’s a beautiful statement. Thank you.
Today, and every day, from now on, I will strive to let the world feel my heartbeat.

Tim’s Liver (timsliver.com) hear, hear. and congratulations to you.
I have also lived beyond my “expiration date;” and wonder if I would have accepted
the statistics as my fate. Tim McDonald was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer with
metastases to his liver in November 2020.
One oncologist told Tim he had three years to live. Another oncologist told Tim his life expectancy would be “in the five-year range.” When Tim went to Moffitt Cancer Center
in Tampa, his doctor didn’t discuss his life expectancy, but rather how they could fight
Tim’s cancer.

July 11 2022 Colon Cancer Patient, Tim McDonald, Needs a Liver Donor –
WE Have Cancer (wehavecancershow.com)
July 12 2022 Tim McDonald needs a liver donor. You might be the match. –
Man Up to Cancer (captivate.fm)

Initially told he would be on chemo ( Folfoxfiri and then Folfiri) for life and was not a suitable candidate for liver resection, Tim learned about Colontown through Man Up
to Cancer and was put in touch with Dr. Hernandez who performs liver transplants at University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital.

In March 2022, Tim had his donor meeting, and he believed obtaining a live donor for his stage IV colorectal cancer living donor liver transplant surgery would be the relatively easy part. Fifteen months later, Tim said finding a liver donor was more difficult and frustrating than he thought it would be.

On April 3, 2023, while celebrating his wife’s birthday on a cruise, Tim learned that he now has a liver donor, and he will be undergoing stage IV colorectal cancer liver transplant surgery on May 16, 2023. More than a week after learning Tim’s transplant team found a donor for him, April 12 was another big day for Tim when he rang the bell signaling the end of chemo treatment, something he never expected he would get the opportunity to do.

Preparing for Liver Transplant Surgery
Tim’s story is a little different from Carole’s since he was responding well to treatment without the devastating effects that Carole’s treatment caused to her liver.  With a colon resection surgery completed in March 2022 and other concerns addressed, Tim was relieved to receive the results that everything was OK, and he could continue on toward liver transplant surgery. His donor search officially began.

Although an optimistic and patient person by nature, Tim was surprised that the search for a liver donor took longer than he anticipated. Out of everyone he knew who had liver transplant surgery, finding his donor took the longest. When he received news of his liver donor and was given a living donor liver transplant surgery date, Tim learned that he needed to be off chemotherapy for four to six weeks, so his body could recover from surgery more quickly.

His final chemo treatment placed him firmly in that four-to-six-week window,
and Tim was able to ring that bell, something he never thought he would be able to do since he believed he was on chemo for life. Tim’s pre-op visit is scheduled a week before his surgery.
He will get a chest x-ray, a CT scan, and more blood work. All of his other screening had been done during a two-day evaluation in December 2022, when Tim’s transplant team initially believed they had found Tim’s donor.

At that time, he had the stress echo test, and the initial meetings with everyone working
on him and his care team. They took 27 vials of blood, the most blood Tim said he has ever had taken. Tim is prepared. He has been eating healthy, not drinking or smoking. He feels he has prepared his body to go through surgery most effectively and to recover quickly. Finally, he knows how important it is to walk and move post-surgery.

Potential Donor Disappointments
For stage IV colorectal cancer live donor liver transplant surgery, candidates need to get their own donor (directed donor), where the donor needs to call the transplant team at the facility the recipient is being treated, give the name of the person who needs the liver, and date of birth. During his donor search, Tim specifically did not ask anyone he knew – not friends, family, or even acquaintances – for a liver donation because he didn’t want them to feel obligated or pressured.

Over the past 15 months, Tim met or had people reach out to him who attempted to become donors for him. His research revealed that most people average five to seven potential donors before they find their donor match. There were at least nine people –
but probably 10 – that Tim knew of who were screened as a potential donor beyond the
initial phone call before he found his match.

To paraphrase Mike Tyson,
“Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.”
“I think getting cancer is getting punched in the face. I think going through this donor process and not knowing that a potential match – why they weren’t, and why they’re not anymore – is a punch in the face. And every time you get that, you need to figure out how you can react to it.”
–Tim McDonald, stage IV survivor and liver recipient scheduled for live donor liver transplant surgery on May 16
Ultimately Tim realized the only thing he can control is his reaction, not the situation. He no longer focuses on the control he thought he had, but instead focuses on his reaction to the news he is getting. So although he has received disappointing news while waiting for his liver donor to be found, Tim no longer felt depressed or resentment. He kept moving forward.

The Silver Lining
While he was patiently awaiting his own liver donor, Tim realized there was a need for people who may not be donor matches for him, but who could help others. He created a site, Share My Liver, in an effort to help guide others who have stage IV colorectal cancer with unresectable metastases to the liver to find their donors. The same week Tim found out that his transplant team had located a liver donor for him, the first confirmed match on Share My Liver came through. Tim is overjoyed.

Meeting His Donor and His Happily Ever After
Tim had an hour-long conversation with his live donor, and he is looking forward to meeting her and her husband for dinner in person when he travels to Rochester, New York, for his surgery. What Tim is most excited about with his liver transplant surgery is that this surgery provides the highest projected rate of long-term survival compared with any other treatment.

Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, MD, FACS, FRCSC,
On Tim and Living Donor Liver Transplants…

In May, Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, MD, FACS, FRCSC, Professor of Surgery; Chief, Division of Transplantation, Hepatobiliary Surgery, University of Rochester, will perform Tim’s live donor liver transplant surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York. Dr. Hernandez is looking forward to helping Tim become cancer free. According to Dr. Hernandez, “Liver transplantation is for a specific and a very narrow population who has stage IV colon cancer.

Tim has fallen into this small population of people eligible for a liver transplant from a living donor. Imagine having a 30% chance of being cured instead of surviving to five years with a 5% to 10% chance. With liver transplantation, there is a 50% chance of surviving at 10 years. This is a huge difference and also factors in the quality of life of liver transplantation as well.”

The Screening Process for Donating a Liver
When someone decides to donate a liver, it’s not as simple as a phone call or email that puts them on a list. Tim’s experience is that screening is a two- or three-month-long process per potential eligible donor.

The screening process entails:
An initial phone call
An evaluation phone call
Blood work
Sending medical records
Colonoscopy
CT scan
Liver ultrasound

This screening process occurs one person at a time and one step at a time. There are
never multiple people being screened to become a donor for the same recipient. While the process is methodical, it is also stressful to the recipient who is waiting to learn of a match.

Interesting Facts About Stage IV Colorectal Cancer Liver Transplant Surgery.

Right Side vs. Left Side
So far, Dr. Hernandez says that his team has done fewer right-side colon cancer live donor liver transplant surgeries compared with left-side colorectal cancer transplant surgeries. Right-side colon cancer is typically more aggressive, so the liver transplant team needs to be more cautious with people who have colon cancer on the right side.

Liver Transplant Surgery in the United States
Liver transplant surgery for people with stage IV colorectal cancer has only been performed in the United States for the past five years. To date, more than 40 live donor liver transplant surgeries have taken place.
“We need to educate people that this is a possibility that exists. Physicians and patients may think a liver transplant is the last resort. If a patient is diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer with metastases only to the liver, then we can meet and generate a plan. First the patient will be treated with chemo. Next the primary tumor will be removed. Then we can begin the work of setting up the process for living donor transplantation.”

–Carole Motycka-Mancini – Search (bing.com)
As someone who had all but run out of options:
Carole recommends consulting your physician team to find what fits best
for you and the opportunities that exist for your particular cancer profile.
“Five years ago, it was just me. Today, there are more than 40 of us who
have transplanted.”

People who donate their livers go on to live a completely normal life. Their liver regenerates. If you donate the right side of your liver, you don’t grow a new right side,
but the left side grows to compensate for the portion missing from the right side.
The liver can regenerate anywhere from 80% to 105%, according to Dr. Hernandez.
Dr. Hernandez’s final suggestion is not to lose hope.
If a person is told they are not a candidate for stage IV colorectal cancer liver resection surgery, they should not hesitate to seek out a second or third medical opinion if they feel they need it. Dr. Hernandez has seen people who were told they had unresectable tumors in their liver, but when he reviewed imaging, he saw these tumors could be resected.

To Learn More:
Many organizations accept organ or tissue donations.
If you’re interested in donating for someone specific such as Tim through the University
of Rochester. Medical Center Liver Transplant Program, or Carole through the Cleveland Clinic Transplant Team, be sure to contact the potential recipient’s hospital’s transplant team for more information and instruction on how to proceed and get screened to give a second chance at life to people with stage IV colorectal cancer.  From Stage 4 Cancer to CANCER-FREE: Guy Tenenbaum Success Story – YouTube

Tim McDonald #DonateLifeMonth @tamcdonald

NED (No Evidence of Disease)
This is a picture of a true winner. It’s easy to win at sports, games, etc.
Yours was a tough win. Congratulations my friend. And if you knew me,
you would know I don’t impress easily. I assure you. You sir, impress
the hell out of me.

Also, a picture of a leader. Lead on!

It still feels weird to say. When I was told 2.5 years ago that I had 3 years to live, I didn’t believe them, but also never thought I would be able to say it. I ended up getting treated
at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. One of the top 10 cancer centers in the US. But still advocated for myself and pursued a liver transplant at URM Strong Memorial Hospital
in Rochester N.Y.

Are they based in the US or Canada?
Liver Transplant hospitals in North America – Search (bing.com)
My best suggestion is to connect with one of about 15 centers in NA who perform liver transplants. Toronto General, URM (Rochester NY), Cleveland Clinic, Univ of Pittsburgh, Washington University – St Louis do more than all the others combined.

When you are down and all the odds are stacked against you, remember one thing,
you are not a statistic. You are a remarkable human capable of unimaginable things.

Let the world feel your heartbeat #relentless #resilience
#fightcrc #strongarmselfie #stage4 #colorectalcancer #donatelife

May 30 2023 Today is 2 weeks to the day I was given a new lease on life.

Hopefully one that will remain cancer free.
It’s all possible because of a #livingdonor like Beth and the amazing transplant team
led by Dr. Hernandez at URM Strong Memorial Hospital. #FightCRC #ShareMyLiver

TCups Mom @TcupsMom
I had a doc tell me I was going to die and I want comfort care on Jan 22 when
both my kidneys and liver shut down. I regained full mobility and new docs can’t
figure out why it happened or why my numbers don’t make sense to this day.

Yes. In my colon and all over my liver. Not a candidate for resection.
I’d suggest URM Strong Memorial Hospital or University of Pittsburgh.
Happy to connect you with URM. And check out

The Heartbeat That Changed the World | HuffPost Impact

“Let the world feel your heartbeat.” Wow, that’s a beautiful statement. Thank you.
Today, and every day, from now on, I will strive to let the world feel my heartbeat.

Tim’s Liver (timsliver.com) hear, hear. and congratulations to you.
I have also lived beyond my “expiration date;” and wonder if I would have accepted
the statistics as my fate. Tim McDonald was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer with
metastases to his liver in November 2020.
One oncologist told Tim he had three years to live. Another oncologist told Tim his life expectancy would be “in the five-year range.” When Tim went to Moffitt Cancer Center
in Tampa, his doctor didn’t discuss his life expectancy, but rather how they could fight
Tim’s cancer.

July 11 2022 Colon Cancer Patient, Tim McDonald, Needs a Liver Donor –
WE Have Cancer (wehavecancershow.com)
July 12 2022 Tim McDonald needs a liver donor. You might be the match. –
Man Up to Cancer (captivate.fm)

Initially told he would be on chemo ( Folfoxfiri and then Folfiri) for life and was not a suitable candidate for liver resection, Tim learned about Colontown through Man Up
to Cancer and was put in touch with Dr. Hernandez who performs liver transplants at University of Rochester Strong Memorial Hospital.

In March 2022, Tim had his donor meeting, and he believed obtaining a live donor for his stage IV colorectal cancer living donor liver transplant surgery would be the relatively easy part. Fifteen months later, Tim said finding a liver donor was more difficult and frustrating than he thought it would be.

On April 3, 2023, while celebrating his wife’s birthday on a cruise, Tim learned that he now has a liver donor, and he will be undergoing stage IV colorectal cancer liver transplant surgery on May 16, 2023. More than a week after learning Tim’s transplant team found a donor for him, April 12 was another big day for Tim when he rang the bell signaling the end of chemo treatment, something he never expected he would get the opportunity to do.

Preparing for Liver Transplant Surgery
Tim’s story is a little different from Carole’s since he was responding well to treatment without the devastating effects that Carole’s treatment caused to her liver.  With a colon resection surgery completed in March 2022 and other concerns addressed, Tim was relieved to receive the results that everything was OK, and he could continue on toward liver transplant surgery. His donor search officially began.

Although an optimistic and patient person by nature, Tim was surprised that the search for a liver donor took longer than he anticipated. Out of everyone he knew who had liver transplant surgery, finding his donor took the longest. When he received news of his liver donor and was given a living donor liver transplant surgery date, Tim learned that he needed to be off chemotherapy for four to six weeks, so his body could recover from surgery more quickly.

His final chemo treatment placed him firmly in that four-to-six-week window,
and Tim was able to ring that bell, something he never thought he would be able to do since he believed he was on chemo for life. Tim’s pre-op visit is scheduled a week before his surgery.
He will get a chest x-ray, a CT scan, and more blood work. All of his other screening had been done during a two-day evaluation in December 2022, when Tim’s transplant team initially believed they had found Tim’s donor.

At that time, he had the stress echo test, and the initial meetings with everyone working
on him and his care team. They took 27 vials of blood, the most blood Tim said he has ever had taken. Tim is prepared. He has been eating healthy, not drinking or smoking. He feels he has prepared his body to go through surgery most effectively and to recover quickly. Finally, he knows how important it is to walk and move post-surgery.

Potential Donor Disappointments
For stage IV colorectal cancer live donor liver transplant surgery, candidates need to get their own donor (directed donor), where the donor needs to call the transplant team at the facility the recipient is being treated, give the name of the person who needs the liver, and date of birth. During his donor search, Tim specifically did not ask anyone he knew – not friends, family, or even acquaintances – for a liver donation because he didn’t want them to feel obligated or pressured.

Over the past 15 months, Tim met or had people reach out to him who attempted to become donors for him. His research revealed that most people average five to seven potential donors before they find their donor match. There were at least nine people –
but probably 10 – that Tim knew of who were screened as a potential donor beyond the
initial phone call before he found his match.

To paraphrase Mike Tyson,
“Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.”
“I think getting cancer is getting punched in the face. I think going through this donor process and not knowing that a potential match – why they weren’t, and why they’re not anymore – is a punch in the face. And every time you get that, you need to figure out how you can react to it.”
–Tim McDonald, stage IV survivor and liver recipient scheduled for live donor liver transplant surgery on May 16
Ultimately Tim realized the only thing he can control is his reaction, not the situation. He no longer focuses on the control he thought he had, but instead focuses on his reaction to the news he is getting. So although he has received disappointing news while waiting for his liver donor to be found, Tim no longer felt depressed or resentment. He kept moving forward.

The Silver Lining
While he was patiently awaiting his own liver donor, Tim realized there was a need for people who may not be donor matches for him, but who could help others. He created a site, Share My Liver, in an effort to help guide others who have stage IV colorectal cancer with unresectable metastases to the liver to find their donors. The same week Tim found out that his transplant team had located a liver donor for him, the first confirmed match on Share My Liver came through. Tim is overjoyed.

Meeting His Donor and His Happily Ever After
Tim had an hour-long conversation with his live donor, and he is looking forward to meeting her and her husband for dinner in person when he travels to Rochester, New York, for his surgery. What Tim is most excited about with his liver transplant surgery is that this surgery provides the highest projected rate of long-term survival compared with any other treatment.

Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, MD, FACS, FRCSC,
On Tim and Living Donor Liver Transplants…

In May, Roberto Hernandez-Alejandro, MD, FACS, FRCSC, Professor of Surgery; Chief, Division of Transplantation, Hepatobiliary Surgery, University of Rochester, will perform Tim’s live donor liver transplant surgery at Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, New York. Dr. Hernandez is looking forward to helping Tim become cancer free. According to Dr. Hernandez, “Liver transplantation is for a specific and a very narrow population who has stage IV colon cancer.

Tim has fallen into this small population of people eligible for a liver transplant from a living donor. Imagine having a 30% chance of being cured instead of surviving to five years with a 5% to 10% chance. With liver transplantation, there is a 50% chance of surviving at 10 years. This is a huge difference and also factors in the quality of life of liver transplantation as well.”

The Screening Process for Donating a Liver
When someone decides to donate a liver, it’s not as simple as a phone call or email that puts them on a list. Tim’s experience is that screening is a two- or three-month-long process per potential eligible donor.

The screening process entails:
An initial phone call
An evaluation phone call
Blood work
Sending medical records
Colonoscopy
CT scan
Liver ultrasound

This screening process occurs one person at a time and one step at a time. There are
never multiple people being screened to become a donor for the same recipient. While the process is methodical, it is also stressful to the recipient who is waiting to learn of a match.

Interesting Facts About Stage IV Colorectal Cancer Liver Transplant Surgery.

Right Side vs. Left Side
So far, Dr. Hernandez says that his team has done fewer right-side colon cancer live donor liver transplant surgeries compared with left-side colorectal cancer transplant surgeries. Right-side colon cancer is typically more aggressive, so the liver transplant team needs to be more cautious with people who have colon cancer on the right side.

Liver Transplant Surgery in the United States
Liver transplant surgery for people with stage IV colorectal cancer has only been performed in the United States for the past five years. To date, more than 40 live donor liver transplant surgeries have taken place.
“We need to educate people that this is a possibility that exists. Physicians and patients may think a liver transplant is the last resort. If a patient is diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer with metastases only to the liver, then we can meet and generate a plan. First the patient will be treated with chemo. Next the primary tumor will be removed. Then we can begin the work of setting up the process for living donor transplantation.”

–Carole Motycka-Mancini – Search (bing.com)
As someone who had all but run out of options:
Carole recommends consulting your physician team to find what fits best
for you and the opportunities that exist for your particular cancer profile.
“Five years ago, it was just me. Today, there are more than 40 of us who
have transplanted.”

People who donate their livers go on to live a completely normal life. Their liver regenerates. If you donate the right side of your liver, you don’t grow a new right side,
but the left side grows to compensate for the portion missing from the right side.
The liver can regenerate anywhere from 80% to 105%, according to Dr. Hernandez.
Dr. Hernandez’s final suggestion is not to lose hope.
If a person is told they are not a candidate for stage IV colorectal cancer liver resection surgery, they should not hesitate to seek out a second or third medical opinion if they feel they need it. Dr. Hernandez has seen people who were told they had unresectable tumors in their liver, but when he reviewed imaging, he saw these tumors could be resected.

To Learn More:
Many organizations accept organ or tissue donations.
If you’re interested in donating for someone specific such as Tim through the University
of Rochester. Medical Center Liver Transplant Program, or Carole through the Cleveland Clinic Transplant Team, be sure to contact the potential recipient’s hospital’s transplant team for more information and instruction on how to proceed and get screened to give a second chance at life to people with stage IV colorectal cancer.  From Stage 4 Cancer to CANCER-FREE: Guy Tenenbaum Success Story – YouTube

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Riley Faith Cancer Story

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Ken

Family throws party for Upstate girl battling cancer (wyff4.com)

SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (WYFF) – Riley was diagnosed with stage four adrenal cortical carcinoma in September 2020 and got the alarming news. This Simpsonville family is asking for global prayers for their 4-year-old daughter battling a rare form of cancer.
1 in a million people and even less common in children. “We noticed she was gaining weight and we were alarmed by how much weight she was gaining,”

Riley’s father Matt Steep said. Adrenocortical carcinoma, stage 4…started in both adrenal glands, moved to lungs then liver, part of liver removed. Now in the portal vein in the liver & getting bigger. Follow her parents and Mimi & their Facebook pages: Team Riley Faith | Facebook & Riley Faith | Facebook

“They found her tumor on her adrenal gland,” Riley’s grandmother Tiffany Page said.
“It was the size of two grapefruits.” Page says they visited doctors all over the East Coast, but says some told them the tumors were inoperable. In September, she says they found doctors who could remove tumors on Riley’s adrenal gland, as well as three tumors in her lungs.

Riley’s family says she also went through four rounds of chemotherapy and had countless tests, scans and blood work done. Her father says the chemotherapy didn’t seem to be working. Page took to social media to share Riley’s story and ask for support.

They’ve gotten support from people all around the world over the last several months.
The saddest thing in the world is a child suffering with an awful disease.

Dear Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that you please have mercy on this
poor child and her family and if possible, relieve them of this horrible burden.

Heart Breaking. Lord, restore this baby from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet . Give her back a long-full life and ease her pain. Amen

“When I found out she had cancer, I felt extremely helpless,” she said. “Like I couldn’t fix the problem.” Page says she started asking for global prayer. She says they’ve since gotten support in the forms of cards, messages and care packages from people around the world. While they continued to receive prayers, Riley’s family searched for doctors who had other treatments available.

Steep says they connected with other families through social media who
were going through the same thing, and found a hospital in New York.
Steep says his daughter started immunotherapy in December.
They make a road trip up to the hospital in New York every three weeks and are due back this weekend. Right now, he says she still has some extremely small tumors, but they’re asking everyone to keep praying for Riley.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — March 23, 2022.
Upstate girl with cancer receives prestigious service award (wyff4.com)
Riley received the award in Gov. Henry McMaster’s office at the State House in Columbia. Gov. Henry McMaster on Twitter stated, “Riley Faith is an inspiration to us
all and represents the very best of South Carolina. Her story is courageous, and she serves as an example of how we can all make the world a better place. Congratulations, Riley!”   Upstate girl with cancer receives South Carolina’s most prestigious service award (yahoo.com)

Riley Faith Steep of Greenville, received the Order of the Silver Crescent Award Tuesday,  Watch | Facebook the state’s most prestigious service award, for creating “Riley’s Cozy Comfy Mission.” Riley Faith’s parents are Matthew and Rachael Steep. “Nobody’s promised tomorrow,” Steep said. “Every day everybody wakes up, you just never know what life’s going to bring.” Riley needs a miracle from God to survive.

I am just trying to form a prayer team to help Riley. #RileyFaith

You can follow Riley’s journey here.

Upstate 5-year-old with cancer starts mission to help other kids in hospital

Please pray for Riley and her family. That is Riley’s dad in the picture.

Her mom stayed home with the other children.
Her parents’ prayer group on Facebook is Team Riley and Riley Faith.
Just lifting her up to God and asking for others to do the same.
Riley loves sloths. See the sloth around her neck.

Riley Update:
Riley got a blood transfusion on May 31, 2023. She said it felt cold going in,
so, I’m cold blooded. It was given to her through an IV since her port was removed.
She had more energy afterwards. She wants to try to go to school tomorrow.
That is wonderful news to hear. She looks so good too & I love seeing her smile.
I’ve been praying for Riley and will continue! God bless. #Faith #GodIsGood

Please pray she sleeps tonight. Riley loves animals, reptiles, and bugs.
So she meant that she is cold-blooded like a hummingbird and reptile.
She loves all of God’s creatures both big and small. If you want to send
a card to Riley Faith, the address is:
Riley Faith, PO Box 7052 Spartanburg, SC 29304.

Riley turned 7 years old on May 6, 2023

She does not realize how serious her cancer journey is.
She loves Jesus, Sloths, Zoos & Art.

Offer her prayers & smiles.

Despite her own health concerns, the child and her family started (2) Faith over Fear for Riley Faith | Facebook “Riley’s Cozy Comfy Mission.” Riley collects donations of sheets, stuffed animals and coloring books for other children being treated for cancer at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital. The family hopes to someday turn Riley’s mission into a nonprofit organization. You can find more information on Riley Faith’s Facebook page
if you would like to donate.

You can also find a list of sheets and other items on her Amazon wish list.
Riley Faith’s Birthday Parade – YouTube

Molly’s Kids: A global prayer for Riley Faith (wbtv.com)

Dear father: please go to YouTube Kenneth E. Hagin, The Authority of the Believer, Part 1. He was born with a deformed heart & blood disease. Drs. said he would never reach his 17 birthday. God’s Word healed him. He had an anointing 4 cancer.

Have your daughter listen https://youtu.be/k4FJ4bJkyeo

Heavenly Father…. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done….
We beseech you Lord to touch this girl and restore her to health! We love you and
we know your plan is perfect, we know that if we pray and have faith, it will be done!
We ask in Jesus’ name Amen

Lord, I firmly believe that You have the power to heal this child. You are greater than this disease. You are the author of her life, and You are fully able to bring her back to normal. Touch her now with Your healing hands, God. Remove the affliction from within her body. Enable her to rise up and walk again. Bring the smile back to her face.
In Jesus name I pray
Lord Jesus, I come before you, just as I am, I am sorry for my sins, I repent of my sins, please give a miracle healing to Faith. , Amen Jeremiah 17:14 … Heal me, O Lord, and
I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.
Team Riley Faith | Simpsonville SC | Facebook Amen

How to Pray For a Miracle Healing | Divine Intervention | Will God Heal Me?

New 2023 Lauren Daigle Christian Songs  Ultimate Lauren Daigle Full Album.

Always remember, where there’s life, there’s hope.
And hope makes us never to be ashamed. We can always rest in hope.
Sent more of Jesus’s Mighty Heavenly Host with healing in their wings
to war on behalf of Riley. They only need our love + faith.

Fast Freddy @FastFreddyy · May 26

Answering Many prayers through others !
Can I ask, have you looked into Turkey Tail Mushrooms ? They are amazing !
1000 ML of Turkey Tail mushrooms (x two a Day) 500ml of Vitamin C with each dose !
It is a Cancer killer at high speed It will supercharge the Turkey Tail Mushrooms !

Please look into this ! The results are Amazing !!!!!

I have personally watched it happen and it’s amazing what I can say.
I pray for you Riley, May the lord lay his healing hands on you.
God Bless you all.

Simpsonville girl uses art to cope with cancer diagnosis – Bing video
This is a child that I have been following her cancer journey since she was 3.

She is a beautiful little girl who just graduated from Kindergarten.
She will tell you she is a world famous artist.

Dr. Ryan Cole Vaccine and cancer @drcole12

Has been consistently cautioning that those who took the vaccine are more likely to encounter an aggressive form of turbo cancer. I extend my best wishes to you and your daughter. If she has taken the jab, I encourage you to conduct thorough research and consider becoming an advocate, raising awareness among other parents. It is challenging to convey this without potentially causing distress to you and others who may not wish to discuss the vaccine.

Regrettably, there has been an increase in stage 4 turbo cancers across various age groups.
This little girl needs you to learn this information.
Look up “alternative health care for cancer”.

Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds: Turner PhD, Kelly A.: 9780062268747: Amazon.com: Books
Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology: 9781938685330:
Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com

Buy Ivermectin 12 mg Online at best price Buy ivermectin 24

Dewormer. Florida Sharkman parasite guide. Protocol – Search (bing.com)

Sometimes even anemia can result if the liver is malfunctioning.
Scientific Proof That Our Thoughts Can Heal Us – YouTube

The liver regenerates. I have been reading up on it & her chance of survival is high with
a living donor that donates a partial liver. The doctors in Houston & Austin are amazing.
Please contact them. Save her life.

There are numerous cures for cancer.
Cannabis Oil Success Stories | Facebook Hoxsey Method (You Tube)
Dr. Burzynski- http://discoverhealthinfo.com
Vitamin B17 (Amygdalin) Laetrile ~ Oasis of Hope
Oasis of Hope Stage 4 Treatments – Bing video
Google My Cancer Story Rocks and look into Fenbendazole.
Scientific Proof That Our Thoughts Can Heal Us – YouTube

Family throws party for Upstate girl battling cancer (wyff4.com)

SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (WYFF) – Riley was diagnosed with stage four adrenal cortical carcinoma in September 2020 and got the alarming news. This Simpsonville family is asking for global prayers for their 4-year-old daughter battling a rare form of cancer.
1 in a million people and even less common in children. “We noticed she was gaining weight and we were alarmed by how much weight she was gaining,”

Riley’s father Matt Steep said. Adrenocortical carcinoma, stage 4…started in both adrenal glands, moved to lungs then liver, part of liver removed. Now in the portal vein in the liver & getting bigger. Follow her parents and Mimi & their Facebook pages: Team Riley Faith | Facebook & Riley Faith | Facebook

“They found her tumor on her adrenal gland,” Riley’s grandmother Tiffany Page said.
“It was the size of two grapefruits.” Page says they visited doctors all over the East Coast, but says some told them the tumors were inoperable. In September, she says they found doctors who could remove tumors on Riley’s adrenal gland, as well as three tumors in her lungs.

Riley’s family says she also went through four rounds of chemotherapy and had countless tests, scans and blood work done. Her father says the chemotherapy didn’t seem to be working. Page took to social media to share Riley’s story and ask for support.

They’ve gotten support from people all around the world over the last several months.
The saddest thing in the world is a child suffering with an awful disease.

Dear Heavenly Father, we humbly ask that you please have mercy on this
poor child and her family and if possible, relieve them of this horrible burden.

Heart Breaking. Lord, restore this baby from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet . Give her back a long-full life and ease her pain. Amen

“When I found out she had cancer, I felt extremely helpless,” she said. “Like I couldn’t fix the problem.” Page says she started asking for global prayer. She says they’ve since gotten support in the forms of cards, messages and care packages from people around the world. While they continued to receive prayers, Riley’s family searched for doctors who had other treatments available.

Steep says they connected with other families through social media who
were going through the same thing, and found a hospital in New York.
Steep says his daughter started immunotherapy in December.
They make a road trip up to the hospital in New York every three weeks and are due back this weekend. Right now, he says she still has some extremely small tumors, but they’re asking everyone to keep praying for Riley.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — March 23, 2022.
Upstate girl with cancer receives prestigious service award (wyff4.com)
Riley received the award in Gov. Henry McMaster’s office at the State House in Columbia. Gov. Henry McMaster on Twitter stated, “Riley Faith is an inspiration to us
all and represents the very best of South Carolina. Her story is courageous, and she serves as an example of how we can all make the world a better place. Congratulations, Riley!”   Upstate girl with cancer receives South Carolina’s most prestigious service award (yahoo.com)

Riley Faith Steep of Greenville, received the Order of the Silver Crescent Award Tuesday,  Watch | Facebook the state’s most prestigious service award, for creating “Riley’s Cozy Comfy Mission.” Riley Faith’s parents are Matthew and Rachael Steep. “Nobody’s promised tomorrow,” Steep said. “Every day everybody wakes up, you just never know what life’s going to bring.” Riley needs a miracle from God to survive.

I am just trying to form a prayer team to help Riley. #RileyFaith

You can follow Riley’s journey here.

Upstate 5-year-old with cancer starts mission to help other kids in hospital

Please pray for Riley and her family. That is Riley’s dad in the picture.

Her mom stayed home with the other children.
Her parents’ prayer group on Facebook is Team Riley and Riley Faith.
Just lifting her up to God and asking for others to do the same.
Riley loves sloths. See the sloth around her neck.

Riley Update:
Riley got a blood transfusion on May 31, 2023. She said it felt cold going in,
so, I’m cold blooded. It was given to her through an IV since her port was removed.
She had more energy afterwards. She wants to try to go to school tomorrow.
That is wonderful news to hear. She looks so good too & I love seeing her smile.
I’ve been praying for Riley and will continue! God bless. #Faith #GodIsGood

Please pray she sleeps tonight. Riley loves animals, reptiles, and bugs.
So she meant that she is cold-blooded like a hummingbird and reptile.
She loves all of God’s creatures both big and small. If you want to send
a card to Riley Faith, the address is:
Riley Faith, PO Box 7052 Spartanburg, SC 29304.

Riley turned 7 years old on May 6, 2023

She does not realize how serious her cancer journey is.
She loves Jesus, Sloths, Zoos & Art.

Offer her prayers & smiles.

Despite her own health concerns, the child and her family started (2) Faith over Fear for Riley Faith | Facebook “Riley’s Cozy Comfy Mission.” Riley collects donations of sheets, stuffed animals and coloring books for other children being treated for cancer at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital. The family hopes to someday turn Riley’s mission into a nonprofit organization. You can find more information on Riley Faith’s Facebook page
if you would like to donate.

You can also find a list of sheets and other items on her Amazon wish list.
Riley Faith’s Birthday Parade – YouTube

Molly’s Kids: A global prayer for Riley Faith (wbtv.com)

Dear father: please go to YouTube Kenneth E. Hagin, The Authority of the Believer, Part 1. He was born with a deformed heart & blood disease. Drs. said he would never reach his 17 birthday. God’s Word healed him. He had an anointing 4 cancer.

Have your daughter listen https://youtu.be/k4FJ4bJkyeo

Heavenly Father…. Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done….
We beseech you Lord to touch this girl and restore her to health! We love you and
we know your plan is perfect, we know that if we pray and have faith, it will be done!
We ask in Jesus’ name Amen

Lord, I firmly believe that You have the power to heal this child. You are greater than this disease. You are the author of her life, and You are fully able to bring her back to normal. Touch her now with Your healing hands, God. Remove the affliction from within her body. Enable her to rise up and walk again. Bring the smile back to her face.
In Jesus name I pray
Lord Jesus, I come before you, just as I am, I am sorry for my sins, I repent of my sins, please give a miracle healing to Faith. , Amen Jeremiah 17:14 … Heal me, O Lord, and
I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.
Team Riley Faith | Simpsonville SC | Facebook Amen

How to Pray For a Miracle Healing | Divine Intervention | Will God Heal Me?

New 2023 Lauren Daigle Christian Songs  Ultimate Lauren Daigle Full Album.

Always remember, where there’s life, there’s hope.
And hope makes us never to be ashamed. We can always rest in hope.
Sent more of Jesus’s Mighty Heavenly Host with healing in their wings
to war on behalf of Riley. They only need our love + faith.

Fast Freddy @FastFreddyy · May 26

Answering Many prayers through others !
Can I ask, have you looked into Turkey Tail Mushrooms ? They are amazing !
1000 ML of Turkey Tail mushrooms (x two a Day) 500ml of Vitamin C with each dose !
It is a Cancer killer at high speed It will supercharge the Turkey Tail Mushrooms !

Please look into this ! The results are Amazing !!!!!

I have personally watched it happen and it’s amazing what I can say.
I pray for you Riley, May the lord lay his healing hands on you.
God Bless you all.

Simpsonville girl uses art to cope with cancer diagnosis – Bing video
This is a child that I have been following her cancer journey since she was 3.

She is a beautiful little girl who just graduated from Kindergarten.
She will tell you she is a world famous artist.

Dr. Ryan Cole Vaccine and cancer @drcole12

Has been consistently cautioning that those who took the vaccine are more likely to encounter an aggressive form of turbo cancer. I extend my best wishes to you and your daughter. If she has taken the jab, I encourage you to conduct thorough research and consider becoming an advocate, raising awareness among other parents. It is challenging to convey this without potentially causing distress to you and others who may not wish to discuss the vaccine.

Regrettably, there has been an increase in stage 4 turbo cancers across various age groups.
This little girl needs you to learn this information.
Look up “alternative health care for cancer”.

Radical Remission: Surviving Cancer Against All Odds: Turner PhD, Kelly A.: 9780062268747: Amazon.com: Books
Mistletoe and the Emerging Future of Integrative Oncology: 9781938685330:
Medicine & Health Science Books @ Amazon.com

Buy Ivermectin 12 mg Online at best price Buy ivermectin 24

Dewormer. Florida Sharkman parasite guide. Protocol – Search (bing.com)

Sometimes even anemia can result if the liver is malfunctioning.
Scientific Proof That Our Thoughts Can Heal Us – YouTube

The liver regenerates. I have been reading up on it & her chance of survival is high with
a living donor that donates a partial liver. The doctors in Houston & Austin are amazing.
Please contact them. Save her life.

There are numerous cures for cancer.
Cannabis Oil Success Stories | Facebook Hoxsey Method (You Tube)
Dr. Burzynski- http://discoverhealthinfo.com
Vitamin B17 (Amygdalin) Laetrile ~ Oasis of Hope
Oasis of Hope Stage 4 Treatments – Bing video
Google My Cancer Story Rocks and look into Fenbendazole.
Scientific Proof That Our Thoughts Can Heal Us – YouTube

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Congrats. MyKayla #2023class

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Ken

Cannabis Oil Cures Little Girl’s of Leukemia Within 6 Days! – YouTube

I remembered reading this article back in November 2012 when MyKayla Comstock
was only 7 years old. So naturally I followed this story from Erin Purchase and the Brave Mykayla | Facebook page, Until This Past Weekend when MyKayla Graduated on time with her #2023class Congrats. MyKayla, Erin Purchase and Grandma Suzanne.

My First Wowza Moment when I began blogging in Solitarius.org was back in November of 2012 when Erin Purchase with Brave MyKayla story broke about a 7 year with Leukemia going into full remission within 6 days using Cannabis Oil.

Dr. Donna Seger, the executive director of the Tennessee Poison Center and a professor at Vanderbilt University, said cannabis has no effect on liver or kidney function, and it does not cure cancer.

Dr. Seger said she has several concerns about a 7-year-old taking pills filled with cannabis oil because there is little research on its long-term effects on children. Cannabis could have potentially negative effects on cognitive development in children since it affects cognitive ability in adults.

Mykayla in Milwaukie, Oregon was an ordinary 7-year-old girl living through an extraordinary ordeal. Had been was diagnosed with intermediate risk T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and battling leukemia since June, when a basketball size tumor was discovered in her chest. Now Mykayla is in the middle of another battle, and in the national spotlight, over whether children should be able to use marijuana to mitigate the crippling effects of chemotherapy.

A newly registered member of the Medical Marijuana Program, she has consumed
a daily gram of cannabis oil, encapsulated in a pill, since shortly after her diagnosis.

The leukemia quickly went into remission, says an unapologetic parents, in the months that followed she has been able to cope with the debilitating symptoms associated with
her traditional cancer treatments. – The Daily Beast

But Purchase said she wasn’t afraid to give her daughter the pills that summer. She was
a little nervous about determining the right dose. She and her fiancé, Brandon Krenzler, who helped raise Mykayla since she was 3 years old, started MyKayla on .07-gram doses.

Cannabis Oil Pills Helped Child Go into Cancer Remission, Mom Says
An Oregon mother credits cannabis oil pills with child’s cancer remission.

By SYDNEY LUPKIN

Nov. 27, 2012 — When 7-year-old Mykayla Comstock was diagnosed with leukemia
in July, it was less than three days before her mother filed Oregon medical marijuana
paperwork so the child could take lime-flavored capsules filled with cannabis oil.

The decision to give Mykayla the capsules came naturally to Erin Purchase,
MyKayla’s mother, who believes marijuana has healing power, but doctors
aren’t so sure it’s a good idea.

“The first doctor was not for it at all,” Purchase told ABCNews.com.
“She was rude and she told us it was inappropriate. “Basically, she blew
up at us and told us to transfer to another facility.”

They found a new doctor, who knows that Mykayla takes about a gram of cannabis oil
a day — half in the morning and half at night — but he doesn’t talk about it with them.

“This is our daughter,” Purchase, 25, said. “If they don’t agree with our personal choices, we’d rather they not say anything at all.”

It’s legal for a minor to enroll in the Oregon medical marijuana program as long as
the child’s parent or legal guardian consents and takes responsibility as a caregiver.

And Mykayla is not alone with Grandma Suzanna.

There are currently four other patients enrolled in the Oregon medical marijuana program between the ages of 4 and 9, six between the ages of 10 and 14, and 41 between the ages of 15 and 17, according to the Oregon Public Health Division. Severe pain, nausea, muscle spasms and seizures are among the top conditions cited for medical marijuana use.

Mykayla first started to feel sick in May, when she developed a rash, cough and night sweats. By mid-July, doctors found a mass in her chest and diagnosed her with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia a few days later. The family relocated from Pendleton,
to Portland, Ore. to be near Randall Children’s Hospital for treatment, which included chemotherapy.

At first, Mykayla is not responding well to her treatment, and doctors said she might need a bone marrow transplant. Then she started taking the cannabis oil pills. her mother said. By early August, Mykayla was in remission and the transplant was no longer necessary.

“I don’t think it’s just a coincidence,” Purchase said. “I credit it with helping —
at least helping — her ridding the cancer from her body.”

Before Mykayla was diagnosed, Purchase had read about another young boy with cancer who received cannabis oil for nearly two years because his parents believed it kept him alive so much that they defied doctors’ orders and broke Montana law to give it to him.
She said she knew it was what she would do for her children if they ever got sick.

Cash “Cashy” Hyde died Nov. 14 at four years old, but his
parents say he was never in any pain because of the oil.

Read more about Cash and his parents.

Purchase said she, too, uses medical marijuana. She said it has helped with
her kidney and liver disease since 2010, adding, “I feel that it saved my life.”

However, Dr. Donna Seger, the executive director of the Tennessee Poison Center and a professor at Vanderbilt University, said cannabis has no effect on liver or kidney function, and it does not cure cancer.

“If it does anything, it decreases immunity,” she said. “It doesn’t fight cancer.”

Dr. Igor Grant, who directs the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research in San Diego, said he’s never studied marijuana’s effects on children and it’s
not clear how the pills will affect Mykayla’s development if she takes the drugs daily for
a period of months or years.

“It’s always a tricky issue prescribing a medication of any kind to developing organisms because they may be more sensitive to the effects, specifically if the prescription drug has an effect on the brain,” Grant said.

He said there have been basic laboratory studies that suggest pot slows cancer cells’
ability to change, but those studies are only theoretical. They include no clinical data
and or animal data.

The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes treating children with medical marijuana.
“The issue is that marijuana isn’t a medicine,” Dr. Sharon Levy, of the AAP, told the Oregonian.

Seger said she has several concerns about a 7-year-old taking pills filled with cannabis oil because there is little research on its long-term effects on children. Cannabis could have potentially negative effects on cognitive development in children since it affects cognitive ability in adults.

But Purchase said she wasn’t afraid to give her daughter the pills last summer. She was
a little nervous about determining the right dose. She and her fiancé, Brandon Krenzler, who helped raise Mykayla since she was 3 years old, started MyKayla with .07-gram doses.

“It took a while to get her adjusted to it,” Purchase said. “She acted more funny when she first started taking it and after a while gained tolerance. Now, when she takes it, you can’t even tell. She’s very normal.”

Purchase said she knew she’d done the right thing the day Mykayla missed a dose of her cannabis oil pills and her 17-month old sister walked into a room holding string cheese. The smell made Mykayla so sick that she threw up on the spot.

“She actually asked for her dose,” Purchase said, adding that she’s less perky without it. “She doesn’t use pain pills or nausea pills. She has not even lost a single pound since her diagnosis.”

Dr. Michel Dubois, who works in NYU Langone’s Pain Management Center, said using cannabis is still controversial because of its side effects and addictive qualities.

“This is a new ethical problem because you’ve got a medication, which is known to have psychoactive effects, approved by the parents and given to a child,” he said, adding that the child doesn’t have much choice in the matter.

(Psychoactive drugs disrupt communication in the brain and alter normal awareness,
behavior and mood, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.)

Dubois said it would be better to give a child other drugs for nausea because the cannabis oil likely contains at least 50 or 60 different chemicals with unknown long-term health effects. If Mykayla’s life expectancy is limited, her risk of toxicity will also be limited. However, if she is expected to make a full recovery, Dubois said there is a worry that
cannabis oil will add health problems later on.

MyKayla Graduated With Her Class #2023 on time

And Dr. Dr. Michel Dubois said cannabis shouldn’t be used for more than a month or two.
Although Mykayla’s doctors told Purchase she was in remission on Aug. 6 when her blood cell counts returned to normal, Mykayla will undergo two and a half or three more years of chemotherapy so that she can one day be officially cured, Purchase said. That could mean years of more medical marijuana.

FOOT NOTE: In my 20 years of Researching Cancer this News Article Has Been Rated #1 in all that I have researched because it convinced me Cannabis Oil is truly an alternative.

If you find the right people to help you with the Q&A.

Cannabis Oil Success Stories | Groups | Facebook

Search Results for Cannabis Oil | Cancer Quick Facts (solitarius.org)

Vitamin C – Graduation (Friends Forever) [Official Music Video].

Cannabis Oil Cures Little Girl’s of Leukemia Within 6 Days! – YouTube

I remembered reading this article back in November 2012 when MyKayla Comstock
was only 7 years old. So naturally I followed this story from Erin Purchase and the Brave Mykayla | Facebook page, Until This Past Weekend when MyKayla Graduated on time with her #2023class Congrats. MyKayla, Erin Purchase and Grandma Suzanne.

My First Wowza Moment when I began blogging in Solitarius.org was back in November of 2012 when Erin Purchase with Brave MyKayla story broke about a 7 year with Leukemia going into full remission within 6 days using Cannabis Oil.

Dr. Donna Seger, the executive director of the Tennessee Poison Center and a professor at Vanderbilt University, said cannabis has no effect on liver or kidney function, and it does not cure cancer.

Dr. Seger said she has several concerns about a 7-year-old taking pills filled with cannabis oil because there is little research on its long-term effects on children. Cannabis could have potentially negative effects on cognitive development in children since it affects cognitive ability in adults.

Mykayla in Milwaukie, Oregon was an ordinary 7-year-old girl living through an extraordinary ordeal. Had been was diagnosed with intermediate risk T-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and battling leukemia since June, when a basketball size tumor was discovered in her chest. Now Mykayla is in the middle of another battle, and in the national spotlight, over whether children should be able to use marijuana to mitigate the crippling effects of chemotherapy.

A newly registered member of the Medical Marijuana Program, she has consumed
a daily gram of cannabis oil, encapsulated in a pill, since shortly after her diagnosis.

The leukemia quickly went into remission, says an unapologetic parents, in the months that followed she has been able to cope with the debilitating symptoms associated with
her traditional cancer treatments. – The Daily Beast

But Purchase said she wasn’t afraid to give her daughter the pills that summer. She was
a little nervous about determining the right dose. She and her fiancé, Brandon Krenzler, who helped raise Mykayla since she was 3 years old, started MyKayla on .07-gram doses.

Cannabis Oil Pills Helped Child Go into Cancer Remission, Mom Says
An Oregon mother credits cannabis oil pills with child’s cancer remission.

By SYDNEY LUPKIN

Nov. 27, 2012 — When 7-year-old Mykayla Comstock was diagnosed with leukemia
in July, it was less than three days before her mother filed Oregon medical marijuana
paperwork so the child could take lime-flavored capsules filled with cannabis oil.

The decision to give Mykayla the capsules came naturally to Erin Purchase,
MyKayla’s mother, who believes marijuana has healing power, but doctors
aren’t so sure it’s a good idea.

“The first doctor was not for it at all,” Purchase told ABCNews.com.
“She was rude and she told us it was inappropriate. “Basically, she blew
up at us and told us to transfer to another facility.”

They found a new doctor, who knows that Mykayla takes about a gram of cannabis oil
a day — half in the morning and half at night — but he doesn’t talk about it with them.

“This is our daughter,” Purchase, 25, said. “If they don’t agree with our personal choices, we’d rather they not say anything at all.”

It’s legal for a minor to enroll in the Oregon medical marijuana program as long as
the child’s parent or legal guardian consents and takes responsibility as a caregiver.

And Mykayla is not alone with Grandma Suzanna.

There are currently four other patients enrolled in the Oregon medical marijuana program between the ages of 4 and 9, six between the ages of 10 and 14, and 41 between the ages of 15 and 17, according to the Oregon Public Health Division. Severe pain, nausea, muscle spasms and seizures are among the top conditions cited for medical marijuana use.

Mykayla first started to feel sick in May, when she developed a rash, cough and night sweats. By mid-July, doctors found a mass in her chest and diagnosed her with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia a few days later. The family relocated from Pendleton,
to Portland, Ore. to be near Randall Children’s Hospital for treatment, which included chemotherapy.

At first, Mykayla is not responding well to her treatment, and doctors said she might need a bone marrow transplant. Then she started taking the cannabis oil pills. her mother said. By early August, Mykayla was in remission and the transplant was no longer necessary.

“I don’t think it’s just a coincidence,” Purchase said. “I credit it with helping —
at least helping — her ridding the cancer from her body.”

Before Mykayla was diagnosed, Purchase had read about another young boy with cancer who received cannabis oil for nearly two years because his parents believed it kept him alive so much that they defied doctors’ orders and broke Montana law to give it to him.
She said she knew it was what she would do for her children if they ever got sick.

Cash “Cashy” Hyde died Nov. 14 at four years old, but his
parents say he was never in any pain because of the oil.

Read more about Cash and his parents.

Purchase said she, too, uses medical marijuana. She said it has helped with
her kidney and liver disease since 2010, adding, “I feel that it saved my life.”

However, Dr. Donna Seger, the executive director of the Tennessee Poison Center and a professor at Vanderbilt University, said cannabis has no effect on liver or kidney function, and it does not cure cancer.

“If it does anything, it decreases immunity,” she said. “It doesn’t fight cancer.”

Dr. Igor Grant, who directs the University of California Center for Medical Cannabis Research in San Diego, said he’s never studied marijuana’s effects on children and it’s
not clear how the pills will affect Mykayla’s development if she takes the drugs daily for
a period of months or years.

“It’s always a tricky issue prescribing a medication of any kind to developing organisms because they may be more sensitive to the effects, specifically if the prescription drug has an effect on the brain,” Grant said.

He said there have been basic laboratory studies that suggest pot slows cancer cells’
ability to change, but those studies are only theoretical. They include no clinical data
and or animal data.

The American Academy of Pediatrics opposes treating children with medical marijuana.
“The issue is that marijuana isn’t a medicine,” Dr. Sharon Levy, of the AAP, told the Oregonian.

Seger said she has several concerns about a 7-year-old taking pills filled with cannabis oil because there is little research on its long-term effects on children. Cannabis could have potentially negative effects on cognitive development in children since it affects cognitive ability in adults.

But Purchase said she wasn’t afraid to give her daughter the pills last summer. She was
a little nervous about determining the right dose. She and her fiancé, Brandon Krenzler, who helped raise Mykayla since she was 3 years old, started MyKayla with .07-gram doses.

“It took a while to get her adjusted to it,” Purchase said. “She acted more funny when she first started taking it and after a while gained tolerance. Now, when she takes it, you can’t even tell. She’s very normal.”

Purchase said she knew she’d done the right thing the day Mykayla missed a dose of her cannabis oil pills and her 17-month old sister walked into a room holding string cheese. The smell made Mykayla so sick that she threw up on the spot.

“She actually asked for her dose,” Purchase said, adding that she’s less perky without it. “She doesn’t use pain pills or nausea pills. She has not even lost a single pound since her diagnosis.”

Dr. Michel Dubois, who works in NYU Langone’s Pain Management Center, said using cannabis is still controversial because of its side effects and addictive qualities.

“This is a new ethical problem because you’ve got a medication, which is known to have psychoactive effects, approved by the parents and given to a child,” he said, adding that the child doesn’t have much choice in the matter.

(Psychoactive drugs disrupt communication in the brain and alter normal awareness,
behavior and mood, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.)

Dubois said it would be better to give a child other drugs for nausea because the cannabis oil likely contains at least 50 or 60 different chemicals with unknown long-term health effects. If Mykayla’s life expectancy is limited, her risk of toxicity will also be limited. However, if she is expected to make a full recovery, Dubois said there is a worry that
cannabis oil will add health problems later on.

MyKayla Graduated With Her Class #2023 on time

And Dr. Dr. Michel Dubois said cannabis shouldn’t be used for more than a month or two.
Although Mykayla’s doctors told Purchase she was in remission on Aug. 6 when her blood cell counts returned to normal, Mykayla will undergo two and a half or three more years of chemotherapy so that she can one day be officially cured, Purchase said. That could mean years of more medical marijuana.

FOOT NOTE: In my 20 years of Researching Cancer this News Article Has Been Rated #1 in all that I have researched because it convinced me Cannabis Oil is truly an alternative.

If you find the right people to help you with the Q&A.

Cannabis Oil Success Stories | Groups | Facebook

Search Results for Cannabis Oil | Cancer Quick Facts (solitarius.org)

Vitamin C – Graduation (Friends Forever) [Official Music Video].

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Guy Tenenbaum Success Story

Posted on May 31, 2023 by Ken

Stage 4 Cancer Success Story: You Have to See This! – Search (bing.com)
Guy Tenenbaum had stage 4 cancer. He is now cancer-free!
–
For many years, Guy dealt with numerous health problems, including:
• Type II diabetes
• Hypertension
• High cholesterol
• Joint and bone pain
• Chronic inflammation
• Weight problems
–
After repeatedly insisting on a PSA (a protein that can be produced cancerous
tissue in the prostate) test, doctors discovered that Guy had serious cancer.
–
They told them that there was nothing they could do for him and that he only
had a few months to live.
–
Guy then searched out other options and opinions. Other doctors told him the same story.
But he did not give up hope—he did not accept what doctors told him was his fate.
–
Guy then decided to take his health into his own hands.
He began to study everything he could on cancer.
–
Then, he discovered the realm of natural medicine and fasting. He fasted for 45 days.
During his fast he consumed natural cancer-killing nutrients.
–
There are two key takeaways:
1. Prolonged fasting helps induce autophagy
2. Low or no-calorie nutrients and herbs are vital along the way
to increase the cancer-killing power of fasting.
–
Guy consumed:
• Green tea
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Pepper
• Salt
• Protein supplements
• Vegetables
• Garlic (whole and supplements)
–
Today, Guy is healthy and cancer-free!
Stage 4 Cancer Success Story: You Have to See This! – Search (bing.com)

Watch | Facebook In this video, I have an amazing success story to share with you.

The case of Guy Tenenbaum: Wondering if… – Advanced Prostate… (healthunlocked.com)

MY BATTLE AGAINST CANCER: Survivor protocol : foreword by Thomas Seyfried: TENENBAUM, Guy, Amazon.com: Books

Survive From Cancer – YouTube

What Is Stage 4 Metastatic Cancer?
By Jennifer Welsh
Updated on May 03, 2023
Medically reviewed by Benjamin Leach, MD

Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Cancer Staging
Treatment
Palliative Care
Prognosis
Frequently Asked Questions

Stage 4 cancer is the most advanced stage.
Meaning cancer has spread to other parts of the body. You may be able to live for years with stage 4 cancer, but the prognosis often isn’t good. Rather than focusing on curing
the cancer, treatments work to slow or stop growth, relieve symptoms, and help you
live longer and enjoy a high quality of life.¹

When cancer spreads to organs away from the original tumor site, it’s said
to metastasize. That’s why stage 4 cancer is also called metastatic cancer.

Verywell / Julie BangStage 4 Cancer Symptoms

This article gives an overview of stage 4 cancer.

It explains what it is, how it’s diagnosed, possible treatment options,
and what you should know about survival rates. The symptoms of metastatic cancer depend on the type of cancer and, more importantly, also where the metastases have occurred.¹ In some cases, there are no symptoms at all, so it’s possible to have stage 4 cancer and not know it.

Most of the time, a cancer that reaches stage 4 affects not only the part
of the body where it originated but the areas where it has spread to as well.

Common Symptoms of Metastatic Cancer
When cancer spreads to:
It may cause:
Lungs
•Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
•Cough
•Coughing up blood
•Chest pain
Liver
•Pain
•Weight loss
•Yellowing of skin (jaundice)
•Abdominal swelling and fluid (ascites)
Bones
•Pain, especially severe back pain plus numbness in a leg
or loss of bowel or bladder control
•Fractures, especially without injury
Brain
•Headaches
•Dizziness
•Nausea
•Problems with speech or vision
•Trouble walking
•Confusion
•Seizures

Stage 4 cancer also can cause more general symptoms, such as extreme fatigue and lack
of energy. Some people become so tired and weak they have trouble doing everyday things.
They may even need help with getting dressed or other routine tasks.²

Hearing your healthcare provider call a liver tumor “breast cancer” may sound strange. But stage 4 cancer is diagnosed based on where the original cancer is located, not where
it has spread. So, breast cancer that has spread to the liver will be called stage 4 breast cancer with liver metastasis—not stage 4 liver cancer.

Causes
Cancer diagnosed as stage 4 has spread to an organ or a part of the body
away from the original tumor. For this to happen:

Cancer cells break away from the tumor. They find their way into the bloodstream or,
less often, the lymphatic system—a network that helps transport white blood cells and
clear harmful substances from your system.
Cells are carried in the blood or lymph fluid to another part of the body.
They attach to the tissue there. Once they’re attached, the cells grow while
simultaneously fighting off the immune system.

The cancer’s spread will often begin in the same region where the original cells were found. For example, breast cancer may spread to lymph nodes under the arm.

Common ways that cancer metastasizes include:¹

Lung cancer to adrenal glands, bones, brain, liver, and the other lung
Breast cancer to bones, brain, liver, and lungs
Prostate cancer to adrenal glands, bone, liver, and lungs
Colorectal cancer to liver, lungs, and peritoneum (lining of the abdomen)
Melanoma to bones, brain, liver, lung, skin, and muscle

Stage 4 Cancer and the Lungs
Because cancer cells that break away from the original tumor travel through
the body via the bloodstream, the lungs are a common site of metastasis since
blood always filters through the lungs.

Diagnosing Stage 4 Cancer
Oncologists are doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating cancer.
Many of the same tests and procedures used to diagnose earlier stage cancers
can be used to diagnose stage 4 cancer.

Biopsy
A small amount of tissue from the suspected area of spread is removed.
This could be something like breast tissue, skin, or even bone marrow.

It is examined under a microscope for signs of abnormal cells.

What Cancer Looks Like Under a Microscope

Imaging Tests
Images make it possible to view the inside of the body to check a tumor.
They help to identify where it is, how large it is, and how it’s affecting other
organs and blood flow.

Tests used to diagnose cancer include:

X-rays
Computerized tomography (CT) scan
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Ultrasound
Positron emission tomography (PET) scan

Lab Tests
Many tests that are run to analyze blood, other body fluids,
and biopsied tissues can be used to diagnose cancer.

Endoscopy
Endoscopy is a procedure in which a tube or wire with a small camera
attached is used to look at and take pictures of internal organs.

This procedure can also help guide a practitioner as they perform a biopsy.

Different Types of Endoscopy

Cancer Staging
Stage 4 cancer is the most advanced stage of cancer based on what is known as
the TNM system in which aspects of the cancer are graded on a numerical scale.³
The letters T, N, and M refer to specific features of a cancer:

T refers to the size of the tumor and whether it has spread to nearby tissue or organs.
The T rating ranges from 0 to 4.
N refers to whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes. These are scored from 0 to 3.
M stands for metastasis. There are two M stages: M0 means there’s no spread, while
M1 means cancer cells have metastasized.

Taken together, the TNM score will help you and your healthcare team to understand
how the cancer has progressed and what treatment options are available.

An M score of 1 automatically classifies cancer as stage 4. Still, prognosis of an M1
case varies depending on the T and N classifications of the cancer.

Substages
Some stage 4 cancers have sub-stages. For example, stage 4 prostate cancer maybe
labeled as stage 4A. This means it has spread to lymph nodes near the site.

Stage 4B means the spread is farther away, and the cancer may have reached bones or distant lymph nodes.⁴

Treatment
Stage 4 cancer usually can’t be cured. In addition, because it’s usually spread throughout the body by the time it’s diagnosed, it is unlikely the cancer can be completely removed.

The goal of treatment is to prolong survival and improve your quality of life.

An oncologist will treat the cancer depending on its type, where it has spread, and
other factors. Some of the options include surgery, medication (targeted therapy),
immunotherapy, and chemotherapy.⁵

Surgery
Surgery typically is not used to treat stage 4 cancer. However, if the sites of spread are small and there aren’t very many of them, they can be removed along with the primary tumor. In these instances, surgery may relieve symptoms and help prevent the cancer
from spreading even more.

Targeted Therapy
Some cancer cells can be treated with medications that
target specific proteins or genetic mutations.

These drugs work in different ways. For example, some help starve a tumor
of its blood supply, while others block signals that prompt cancer cells to divide.

Testing can determine whether your tumor could respond to any of
the available targeted therapy drugs.

Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy relies on drugs that use your immune system,
including blood proteins called antibodies, to attack tumor cells.

Immunotherapy drugs exist for many types of cancer, including bladder, breast, colon
and rectum, kidney, liver, lung, and blood (leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma).⁶

How Immunotherapy Works for Cancer

Palliative Care
Stage 4 cancer treatment often includes palliative care. The goal of palliative care is
to improve quality of life and increase comfort. It is provided by a team of healthcare
providers and social workers who work with seriously ill patients.

It is not hospice or end-of-life care. Rather, palliative care is designed to relieve pain,
ease stress, and help a person with advanced cancer to cope with symptoms.

Palliative care may be used in stage 4 cancer pain management. One example might be
the use of radiation therapy to shrink a tumor that’s causing pain or interfering with body functions.

This type of care may also include counseling to help people manage mental
and emotional issues that arise with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.⁷

How Palliative Care Is Used in Cancer

Stage 4 Prognosis
In many cases, stage 4 cancer can’t be cured. However, this is not true of all cancers.
Stage 4 testicular cancer, for example, is highly curable. Lymphomas are highly curable
regardless of stage.

How stage 4 cancer is likely to progress (its prognosis) depends on the type of cancer.
Some advanced cancers are very aggressive and fast-growing. Some may have fewer
treatment options than others. The outlook for these cases is not likely to be positive.

However, remember that even when stage 4 cancer can’t be cured, it isn’t necessarily
terminal—in other words, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the end of life is near.

People with stage 4 cancer often live many years after diagnosis, which
is why it’s more accurate to describe it as “advanced” or “late stage.”

Survival Rates
One aspect of the prognosis for cancer is called relative survival rate.
This refers to the overall percentage of people with a certain diagnosis who are likely
to live a specific amount of time. This can be further broken down by stages of cancer.

The rates for advanced cancers are based on statistics published in the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database.⁸

SEER does not use TNM to classify cancers. Instead, it uses three stages—localized, regional, and distant—with “distant” generally meaning the same thing as stage 4.
It refers to cancer that has spread far beyond the original site.

Five-Year Survival Rates for Distant (Stage 4) Cancer
Cancer Type: Relative 5-Year Survival Rate
Leukemia* 65.7%
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma* 63.9%
Thyroid 53.3%
Prostate 32.3%
Melanoma (skin) 31.9%
Breast (female) 30.0%
Uterine (endometrial) 18.4%
Kidney, renal pelvic 15.3%
Colon and rectal 15.1%
Bladder 7.7%
Lung and bronchus 7.0%
Pancreatic 3.1% *
Lymphoma and leukemia are staged differently from other cancers. The non-Hodgkin lymphoma number is the stage 4 survival while the leukemia number refers to the five-year survival rate at any stage. *Relative 5-Year Survival Rate Sarcoma’s – Search (bing.com)

Other factors that affect the prognosis for stage 4 cancer include age, overall health, smoking history, and performance status (PS).⁹ PS is how well a person is able to perform everyday tasks. It’s based on a classification system that uses a scale of 0 to 5.¹⁰

Remission
It doesn’t happen often, but some cancers can go into remission even if they are stage 4. Breast cancer is one such example.

Remission is when the signs and symptoms of cancer have gone away to the point where doctors declare the patient has been successfully treated.¹¹

Remission rates for stage 4 cancer vary. Even if a stage 4 cancer patient goes into remission, the cancer will probably come back. In cases like these, the stage 4 remission may instead be termed no evidence of disease (NED).⁶

Summary
Stage 4 cancer, sometimes called advanced cancer or late-stage cancer, is cancer that has metastasized (spread) to other parts of the body from the original site. This happens when cancer cells break away from the primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

Symptoms of stage 4 cancer mainly depend on which organs are affected, though there may be no symptoms at all.

The prognosis for stage 4 cancer, often described in terms of survival rate, typically is not good. However, it does vary among different types of cancer. The treatment goal is not to cure stage 4 cancer, but to ease symptoms, improve quality of life, and try to keep it from progressing.

Survival rates for some cancers are low.
But they are improving. For instance, compared to breast cancer average life expectancy statistics of the 1980s, those after 2010 nearly doubled.¹² With next-generation targeted therapies and immunotherapies, as-well-as those gains are likely to continue.
BONUS: Relative 5-Year Survival Rate Leiomyosarcoma’s – Bing video

Frog in boiling water analogy – Search (bing.com)

The boiling frog is an apologist describing a frog being slowly boiled alive.
The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out,
but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly,
it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.

Are Orwell’s “1984” predictions coming true in 2020 ? (world-mysteries.com)
I’m on a Raw Food Diet, My Health Has Never Been Better (msn.com)
Wild Scandinavia | Fire and Ice | Episode 3 | PBS Expires 6.21.23
Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway – 3-18-22 – YouTube
Wild Scandinavia PBS – Search (bing.com)
“We are in it together…” – B-Skeptical

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long can you live with stage 4 triple negative breast cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 pancreatic cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 colorectal cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 prostate cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 liver cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 lung cancer? – Search (bing.com)
What is the deadliest type of cancer? – Search (bing.com)
Are stage 4 cancers curable? Never Give Up…Never!!!
Stage 4 Natural Cancer Survivors – Bing video
Combating Cachexia – Bing video

By Jennifer Welsh
Jennifer Welsh is a Connecticut-based science writer and editor with over ten years of experience under her belt. She’s previously worked and written for WIRED Science, The Scientist, Discover Magazine, LiveScience, and Business Inside

Stage 4 Cancer Treatment — Stage 4 Cancer Success Story: You Have to See This! – Search (bing.com)
Guy Tenenbaum had stage 4 cancer. He is now cancer-free!
–
For many years, Guy dealt with numerous health problems, including:
• Type II diabetes
• Hypertension
• High cholesterol
• Joint and bone pain
• Chronic inflammation
• Weight problems
–
After repeatedly insisting on a PSA (a protein that can be produced cancerous
tissue in the prostate) test, doctors discovered that Guy had serious cancer.
–
They told them that there was nothing they could do for him and that he only
had a few months to live.
–
Guy then searched out other options and opinions. Other doctors told him the same story.
But he did not give up hope—he did not accept what doctors told him was his fate.
–
Guy then decided to take his health into his own hands.
He began to study everything he could on cancer.
–
Then, he discovered the realm of natural medicine and fasting. He fasted for 45 days.
During his fast he consumed natural cancer-killing nutrients.
–
There are two key takeaways:
1. Prolonged fasting helps induce autophagy
2. Low or no-calorie nutrients and herbs are vital along the way
to increase the cancer-killing power of fasting.
–
Guy consumed:
• Green tea
• Ginger
• Turmeric
• Pepper
• Salt
• Protein supplements
• Vegetables
• Garlic (whole and supplements)
–
Today, Guy is healthy and cancer-free!
Stage 4 Cancer Success Story: You Have to See This! – Search (bing.com)

Watch | Facebook In this video, I have an amazing success story to share with you.

The case of Guy Tenenbaum: Wondering if… – Advanced Prostate… (healthunlocked.com)

MY BATTLE AGAINST CANCER: Survivor protocol : foreword by Thomas Seyfried: TENENBAUM, Guy, Amazon.com: Books

Survive From Cancer – YouTube

What Is Stage 4 Metastatic Cancer?
By Jennifer Welsh
Updated on May 03, 2023
Medically reviewed by Benjamin Leach, MD

Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
Diagnosis
Cancer Staging
Treatment
Palliative Care
Prognosis
Frequently Asked Questions

Stage 4 cancer is the most advanced stage.
Meaning cancer has spread to other parts of the body. You may be able to live for years with stage 4 cancer, but the prognosis often isn’t good. Rather than focusing on curing
the cancer, treatments work to slow or stop growth, relieve symptoms, and help you
live longer and enjoy a high quality of life.¹

When cancer spreads to organs away from the original tumor site, it’s said
to metastasize. That’s why stage 4 cancer is also called metastatic cancer.

Verywell / Julie BangStage 4 Cancer Symptoms

This article gives an overview of stage 4 cancer.

It explains what it is, how it’s diagnosed, possible treatment options,
and what you should know about survival rates. The symptoms of metastatic cancer depend on the type of cancer and, more importantly, also where the metastases have occurred.¹ In some cases, there are no symptoms at all, so it’s possible to have stage 4 cancer and not know it.

Most of the time, a cancer that reaches stage 4 affects not only the part
of the body where it originated but the areas where it has spread to as well.

Common Symptoms of Metastatic Cancer
When cancer spreads to:
It may cause:
Lungs
•Shortness of breath (dyspnea)
•Cough
•Coughing up blood
•Chest pain
Liver
•Pain
•Weight loss
•Yellowing of skin (jaundice)
•Abdominal swelling and fluid (ascites)
Bones
•Pain, especially severe back pain plus numbness in a leg
or loss of bowel or bladder control
•Fractures, especially without injury
Brain
•Headaches
•Dizziness
•Nausea
•Problems with speech or vision
•Trouble walking
•Confusion
•Seizures

Stage 4 cancer also can cause more general symptoms, such as extreme fatigue and lack
of energy. Some people become so tired and weak they have trouble doing everyday things.
They may even need help with getting dressed or other routine tasks.²

Hearing your healthcare provider call a liver tumor “breast cancer” may sound strange. But stage 4 cancer is diagnosed based on where the original cancer is located, not where
it has spread. So, breast cancer that has spread to the liver will be called stage 4 breast cancer with liver metastasis—not stage 4 liver cancer.

Causes
Cancer diagnosed as stage 4 has spread to an organ or a part of the body
away from the original tumor. For this to happen:

Cancer cells break away from the tumor. They find their way into the bloodstream or,
less often, the lymphatic system—a network that helps transport white blood cells and
clear harmful substances from your system.
Cells are carried in the blood or lymph fluid to another part of the body.
They attach to the tissue there. Once they’re attached, the cells grow while
simultaneously fighting off the immune system.

The cancer’s spread will often begin in the same region where the original cells were found. For example, breast cancer may spread to lymph nodes under the arm.

Common ways that cancer metastasizes include:¹

Lung cancer to adrenal glands, bones, brain, liver, and the other lung
Breast cancer to bones, brain, liver, and lungs
Prostate cancer to adrenal glands, bone, liver, and lungs
Colorectal cancer to liver, lungs, and peritoneum (lining of the abdomen)
Melanoma to bones, brain, liver, lung, skin, and muscle

Stage 4 Cancer and the Lungs
Because cancer cells that break away from the original tumor travel through
the body via the bloodstream, the lungs are a common site of metastasis since
blood always filters through the lungs.

Diagnosing Stage 4 Cancer
Oncologists are doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating cancer.
Many of the same tests and procedures used to diagnose earlier stage cancers
can be used to diagnose stage 4 cancer.

Biopsy
A small amount of tissue from the suspected area of spread is removed.
This could be something like breast tissue, skin, or even bone marrow.

It is examined under a microscope for signs of abnormal cells.

What Cancer Looks Like Under a Microscope

Imaging Tests
Images make it possible to view the inside of the body to check a tumor.
They help to identify where it is, how large it is, and how it’s affecting other
organs and blood flow.

Tests used to diagnose cancer include:

X-rays
Computerized tomography (CT) scan
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Ultrasound
Positron emission tomography (PET) scan

Lab Tests
Many tests that are run to analyze blood, other body fluids,
and biopsied tissues can be used to diagnose cancer.

Endoscopy
Endoscopy is a procedure in which a tube or wire with a small camera
attached is used to look at and take pictures of internal organs.

This procedure can also help guide a practitioner as they perform a biopsy.

Different Types of Endoscopy

Cancer Staging
Stage 4 cancer is the most advanced stage of cancer based on what is known as
the TNM system in which aspects of the cancer are graded on a numerical scale.³
The letters T, N, and M refer to specific features of a cancer:

T refers to the size of the tumor and whether it has spread to nearby tissue or organs.
The T rating ranges from 0 to 4.
N refers to whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes. These are scored from 0 to 3.
M stands for metastasis. There are two M stages: M0 means there’s no spread, while
M1 means cancer cells have metastasized.

Taken together, the TNM score will help you and your healthcare team to understand
how the cancer has progressed and what treatment options are available.

An M score of 1 automatically classifies cancer as stage 4. Still, prognosis of an M1
case varies depending on the T and N classifications of the cancer.

Substages
Some stage 4 cancers have sub-stages. For example, stage 4 prostate cancer maybe
labeled as stage 4A. This means it has spread to lymph nodes near the site.

Stage 4B means the spread is farther away, and the cancer may have reached bones or distant lymph nodes.⁴

Treatment
Stage 4 cancer usually can’t be cured. In addition, because it’s usually spread throughout the body by the time it’s diagnosed, it is unlikely the cancer can be completely removed.

The goal of treatment is to prolong survival and improve your quality of life.

An oncologist will treat the cancer depending on its type, where it has spread, and
other factors. Some of the options include surgery, medication (targeted therapy),
immunotherapy, and chemotherapy.⁵

Surgery
Surgery typically is not used to treat stage 4 cancer. However, if the sites of spread are small and there aren’t very many of them, they can be removed along with the primary tumor. In these instances, surgery may relieve symptoms and help prevent the cancer
from spreading even more.

Targeted Therapy
Some cancer cells can be treated with medications that
target specific proteins or genetic mutations.

These drugs work in different ways. For example, some help starve a tumor
of its blood supply, while others block signals that prompt cancer cells to divide.

Testing can determine whether your tumor could respond to any of
the available targeted therapy drugs.

Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy relies on drugs that use your immune system,
including blood proteins called antibodies, to attack tumor cells.

Immunotherapy drugs exist for many types of cancer, including bladder, breast, colon
and rectum, kidney, liver, lung, and blood (leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma).⁶

How Immunotherapy Works for Cancer

Palliative Care
Stage 4 cancer treatment often includes palliative care. The goal of palliative care is
to improve quality of life and increase comfort. It is provided by a team of healthcare
providers and social workers who work with seriously ill patients.

It is not hospice or end-of-life care. Rather, palliative care is designed to relieve pain,
ease stress, and help a person with advanced cancer to cope with symptoms.

Palliative care may be used in stage 4 cancer pain management. One example might be
the use of radiation therapy to shrink a tumor that’s causing pain or interfering with body functions.

This type of care may also include counseling to help people manage mental
and emotional issues that arise with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.⁷

How Palliative Care Is Used in Cancer

Stage 4 Prognosis
In many cases, stage 4 cancer can’t be cured. However, this is not true of all cancers.
Stage 4 testicular cancer, for example, is highly curable. Lymphomas are highly curable
regardless of stage.

How stage 4 cancer is likely to progress (its prognosis) depends on the type of cancer.
Some advanced cancers are very aggressive and fast-growing. Some may have fewer
treatment options than others. The outlook for these cases is not likely to be positive.

However, remember that even when stage 4 cancer can’t be cured, it isn’t necessarily
terminal—in other words, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the end of life is near.

People with stage 4 cancer often live many years after diagnosis, which
is why it’s more accurate to describe it as “advanced” or “late stage.”

Survival Rates
One aspect of the prognosis for cancer is called relative survival rate.
This refers to the overall percentage of people with a certain diagnosis who are likely
to live a specific amount of time. This can be further broken down by stages of cancer.

The rates for advanced cancers are based on statistics published in the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program database.⁸

SEER does not use TNM to classify cancers. Instead, it uses three stages—localized, regional, and distant—with “distant” generally meaning the same thing as stage 4.
It refers to cancer that has spread far beyond the original site.

Five-Year Survival Rates for Distant (Stage 4) Cancer
Cancer Type: Relative 5-Year Survival Rate
Leukemia* 65.7%
Non-Hodgkin lymphoma* 63.9%
Thyroid 53.3%
Prostate 32.3%
Melanoma (skin) 31.9%
Breast (female) 30.0%
Uterine (endometrial) 18.4%
Kidney, renal pelvic 15.3%
Colon and rectal 15.1%
Bladder 7.7%
Lung and bronchus 7.0%
Pancreatic 3.1% *
Lymphoma and leukemia are staged differently from other cancers. The non-Hodgkin lymphoma number is the stage 4 survival while the leukemia number refers to the five-year survival rate at any stage. *Relative 5-Year Survival Rate Sarcoma’s – Search (bing.com)

Other factors that affect the prognosis for stage 4 cancer include age, overall health, smoking history, and performance status (PS).⁹ PS is how well a person is able to perform everyday tasks. It’s based on a classification system that uses a scale of 0 to 5.¹⁰

Remission
It doesn’t happen often, but some cancers can go into remission even if they are stage 4. Breast cancer is one such example.

Remission is when the signs and symptoms of cancer have gone away to the point where doctors declare the patient has been successfully treated.¹¹

Remission rates for stage 4 cancer vary. Even if a stage 4 cancer patient goes into remission, the cancer will probably come back. In cases like these, the stage 4 remission may instead be termed no evidence of disease (NED).⁶

Summary
Stage 4 cancer, sometimes called advanced cancer or late-stage cancer, is cancer that has metastasized (spread) to other parts of the body from the original site. This happens when cancer cells break away from the primary tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system.

Symptoms of stage 4 cancer mainly depend on which organs are affected, though there may be no symptoms at all.

The prognosis for stage 4 cancer, often described in terms of survival rate, typically is not good. However, it does vary among different types of cancer. The treatment goal is not to cure stage 4 cancer, but to ease symptoms, improve quality of life, and try to keep it from progressing.

Survival rates for some cancers are low.
But they are improving. For instance, compared to breast cancer average life expectancy statistics of the 1980s, those after 2010 nearly doubled.¹² With next-generation targeted therapies and immunotherapies, as-well-as those gains are likely to continue.
BONUS: Relative 5-Year Survival Rate Leiomyosarcoma’s – Bing video

Frog in boiling water analogy – Search (bing.com)

The boiling frog is an apologist describing a frog being slowly boiled alive.
The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out,
but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly,
it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.

Are Orwell’s “1984” predictions coming true in 2020 ? (world-mysteries.com)
I’m on a Raw Food Diet, My Health Has Never Been Better (msn.com)
Wild Scandinavia | Fire and Ice | Episode 3 | PBS Expires 6.21.23
Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway – 3-18-22 – YouTube
Wild Scandinavia PBS – Search (bing.com)
“We are in it together…” – B-Skeptical

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How long can you live with stage 4 triple negative breast cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 pancreatic cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 colorectal cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 prostate cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 liver cancer? – Search (bing.com)
How long can you live with stage 4 lung cancer? – Search (bing.com)
What is the deadliest type of cancer? – Search (bing.com)
Are stage 4 cancers curable? Never Give Up…Never!!!
Stage 4 Natural Cancer Survivors – Bing video
Combating Cachexia – Bing video

By Jennifer Welsh
Jennifer Welsh is a Connecticut-based science writer and editor with over ten years of experience under her belt. She’s previously worked and written for WIRED Science, The Scientist, Discover Magazine, LiveScience, and Business Inside

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

To Sweden with LOVE

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Ken

Tess Meyer makes approximately $45,000 per year as a consultant in
Sweden and pays a 33% income tax. © Courtesy of Tess Meyer

I moved from the US to Sweden after struggling with burnout.
Now I have 6 weeks of paid vacation per year and rarely work overtime.
Story by htowey@insider.com (Hannah Towey)

Tess Meyer, a 30-year-old consultant from California, moved to Sweden after struggling with burnout. Now she rarely works overtime, gets six weeks of paid vacation a year, and got a free master’s. But it took her two years to secure a full-time job and her salary is lower than it was in the US.
This story is part of a series called Millennial World, which seeks to examine the state of the generation around the globe. This as-told-to essay is based on an interview with Tess Meyer, a 30-year-old consultant from California and author of the blog Sweden and Me. She has chosen to omit the name of her employer due to the company’s media policy.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m originally from Burbank, California, and moved to Sweden four and a half years ago. My partner and I currently live in Malmö, a city on the southernmost tip of the country
30 minutes away from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Before this, I was living in the US working 50 hours a week and feeling burned out.
When I was 23 years old, I left my corporate job at a company I’d been with for four
years and moved back in with my parents.

That’s when I started researching happiness. If you type in “happy” into Google, Scandinavian countries are consistently ranked as the happiest countries in the world.
So, in 2016, I decided to come out to the Nordic region and spent two weeks traveling around to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki to figure out if I could see myself living there someday.
I connected to the way of life and the values of Swedish society — specifically, the focus on sustainability and not letting stress rule your life. The work-life balance here is incredible. It’s not about working late to get that gold star. In Sweden, if you work late, your boss might flag that your workload is too high, or that you’re not capable enough to do your work within work hours.

As a Swedish resident, I was able to get a free master’s degree
My partner, who is also American, works in the video-game industry.
Back in the US, he worked for PlayStation. They don’t have an office in Sweden,
but a lot of other video-game studios do, so he was able to get a job offer pretty quickly.
His company sponsored both of our residencies and work visas, so we had the ability to live and work in Sweden full time. Once we moved here, we went to the immigration and tax agencies and filled out all the paperwork. It took around three months to get everything settled.
I started looking for work, but ended up going back to school. I applied twice for a one-year master’s program at the local university. The first time, I applied as an American resident and got accepted. It would have been about $13,000, which isn’t that bad by American standards.
But then I applied again a year later as a Swedish resident with a Swedish social-security number. The same program accepted me again — except this time, it would be completely free.

It took me two years to find a full-time job. © Jacek Kadaj/Getty Images

The unemployment rate in Sweden is 7.5%, according to April 2023 data.
After graduation, it was difficult to find a job — it took me two years. I have both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the US and a 2nd master’s degree from Sweden.
I’m also a native English speaker, which is attractive to a lot of companies here.
It’s incredibly tough to get into the Swedish job network.
It’s about who you know, and culture fit is really important to the companies here.
I eventually was able to get a job at a major consulting firm, where I’ve been for two and a half years now. I met the team at a university career fair, where they invited me to lunch and an informal interview, and then I formally applied. So it was very much about who
I knew and my relationship with them before I even submitted an application. But before that, I had probably put out about 100 applications and networked as much as I could.

I know a lot of other very intelligent expats who also have master’s degrees and can present themselves well who have a hard time in the Swedish job market. It’s definitely dependent on the type of work you want to do. If you’re coming here with a tech background or as a developer, you’re going to find a job instantly.
Personally, I was looking for work within human resources, but I didn’t know Swedish labor laws or the Swedish language, so that eliminated a lot of jobs that I could go for. Also, a lot of companies here are good with their recruitment pipelines with the university students. They occasionally hire students two years in advance.

My salary is lower than it was in the US, but the cost of living is more affordable
My salary here as an American can feel very low, but I feel wealthy in Sweden. You don’t need to make a lot of money to live a good life. Back in the US, I was making $60,000 a year before taxes and that was almost eight years ago. Here, my annual salary is around $45,000 a year before taxes.
Compared to my friends in Sweden, that’s a competitive salary. The country has a very short salary scale. It’s all about income equality, so you don’t see these huge ranges that you might see in the US.
The cost of living in Sweden, especially where I live, is very affordable. I have a two-bedroom apartment that’s slightly over 800 square feet and we pay around $1,000 a month. We don’t need a car because there’s great public transportation and you can bike everywhere. Healthcare in Sweden is basically free — outpatient-visit costs are capped at $125 a year and prescription-drugs costs are capped at $246 a year.
Eating and drinking out can be a little expensive because there’s a value-added tax.
When I eat out here, I’ll pay similar prices to what I did in LA, but of course,
my salary isn’t as high.

I rarely work overtime and employee well-being is prioritized.
© Courtesy of Tess Meyer

Meyer goes into the office one to three times a week.
“I love to work from home,” she told Insider.
In the office, it’s quiet around 4:30 p.m. every single day. I never get meetings
after three o’clock on Fridays because people are getting their weekends started.
It’s very normal to take a long lunch or to leave to go to an appointment,
get your hair cut, or to go to an exercise class. Well-being is prioritized.
Also, if you ever need to show up late or miss work or leave early because of your kids,
it’s never questioned. No one blinks an eye — you’re expected to be an involved parent.

I very rarely need to work overtime. I work in consulting, which is typically one of the
most demanding industries when it comes to work-life balance. I have friends who work
at the same firm in the US who have much more demanding schedules.
There’s just a real sense of trust that everyone will do the work that the company assigns them. And if you need to do that early in the morning or late at night because you have a family commitment, that’s great, that’s on you. It’s not a micromanaging and performative culture where you have to sit at your desk even though you’re not doing anything.
If I’m done with my work and it’s 3:30 p.m., then I’m going to leave, and nobody
worries about it.

I get six weeks of paid vacation every year and I use it all.
© Courtesy of Tess Meyer

Sweden’s Annual Leave Act gives workers the legal right to take at least
four weeks of consecutive paid vacation between the months of June and August.
In Sweden, after you work for a company for a full year, you are legally guaranteed 25 days of paid vacation and you can take up to four consecutive weeks of paid time off during the summer. In fact, you actually get paid a slightly higher salary during your vacation days.
My company gives us six weeks of paid vacation per year, and I take all of it. I personally haven’t taken four weeks in a row because as an American, I’m like, what would I do for four weeks without work? So I take two or three weeks here and there while spreading out long weekends throughout the year. Also, if you don’t take the full 25 days, you can roll over up to five days to the next year.
I spend the majority of my vacation visiting family and traveling around Europe.
I have a work phone and a personal phone, so unless there’s something happening at the office that I had been actively involved in, I won’t even bring my work phone with me.
For nine out of 10 trips, my work phone stays at my apartment, turned off.
Because I made such drastic changes in my life and moved across the world to improve my work-life balance, I’m very protective over it. I’ve actually had multiple Swedish colleagues tell me that they aspire to be more like me when it comes to setting boundaries.
My motivation is just so high because I gave up being near my family, higher salaries,
the friendliness of Americans, and the amazing nature in the US to move here.

I’m not sure if we will eventually move back to the US After our five-year mark,
we will apply for Swedish citizenship and still retain my US citizenship.
The way I think about it is that my career is just one pillar of my life.
My relationship with my partner, my friends, my family, my wellness and
personal development — all of those things also need time and attention.
I felt like working in the US, you could only focus on your career and one or two other pillars — that was the most I had space for. Now I really feel that I have the space to manage more of those pillars, which feels good.
I’m not sure if we will eventually move back to the US. We really miss being close to family. It’s hard having a 12-hour flight and a nine-hour time difference between us.
We love living in Europe, and we are different people after having lived here for almost five years. It doesn’t help to see the political climate in the US and the shootings.
It’s horrific watching the news. If we’re planning to have a family in the future, the paid parental leave in Sweden is 480 days. That’s over a year and a half. Just to give that up would feel like a huge sacrifice.

The unemployment rate in Sweden is 7.5%, according to April 2023 data. Jacek Kadaj/Getty Images — Tess Meyer makes approximately $45,000 per year as a consultant in
Sweden and pays a 33% income tax. © Courtesy of Tess Meyer

I moved from the US to Sweden after struggling with burnout.
Now I have 6 weeks of paid vacation per year and rarely work overtime.
Story by htowey@insider.com (Hannah Towey)

Tess Meyer, a 30-year-old consultant from California, moved to Sweden after struggling with burnout. Now she rarely works overtime, gets six weeks of paid vacation a year, and got a free master’s. But it took her two years to secure a full-time job and her salary is lower than it was in the US.
This story is part of a series called Millennial World, which seeks to examine the state of the generation around the globe. This as-told-to essay is based on an interview with Tess Meyer, a 30-year-old consultant from California and author of the blog Sweden and Me. She has chosen to omit the name of her employer due to the company’s media policy.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I’m originally from Burbank, California, and moved to Sweden four and a half years ago. My partner and I currently live in Malmö, a city on the southernmost tip of the country
30 minutes away from Copenhagen, Denmark.
Before this, I was living in the US working 50 hours a week and feeling burned out.
When I was 23 years old, I left my corporate job at a company I’d been with for four
years and moved back in with my parents.

That’s when I started researching happiness. If you type in “happy” into Google, Scandinavian countries are consistently ranked as the happiest countries in the world.
So, in 2016, I decided to come out to the Nordic region and spent two weeks traveling around to Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Helsinki to figure out if I could see myself living there someday.
I connected to the way of life and the values of Swedish society — specifically, the focus on sustainability and not letting stress rule your life. The work-life balance here is incredible. It’s not about working late to get that gold star. In Sweden, if you work late, your boss might flag that your workload is too high, or that you’re not capable enough to do your work within work hours.

As a Swedish resident, I was able to get a free master’s degree
My partner, who is also American, works in the video-game industry.
Back in the US, he worked for PlayStation. They don’t have an office in Sweden,
but a lot of other video-game studios do, so he was able to get a job offer pretty quickly.
His company sponsored both of our residencies and work visas, so we had the ability to live and work in Sweden full time. Once we moved here, we went to the immigration and tax agencies and filled out all the paperwork. It took around three months to get everything settled.
I started looking for work, but ended up going back to school. I applied twice for a one-year master’s program at the local university. The first time, I applied as an American resident and got accepted. It would have been about $13,000, which isn’t that bad by American standards.
But then I applied again a year later as a Swedish resident with a Swedish social-security number. The same program accepted me again — except this time, it would be completely free.

It took me two years to find a full-time job. © Jacek Kadaj/Getty Images

The unemployment rate in Sweden is 7.5%, according to April 2023 data.
After graduation, it was difficult to find a job — it took me two years. I have both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the US and a 2nd master’s degree from Sweden.
I’m also a native English speaker, which is attractive to a lot of companies here.
It’s incredibly tough to get into the Swedish job network.
It’s about who you know, and culture fit is really important to the companies here.
I eventually was able to get a job at a major consulting firm, where I’ve been for two and a half years now. I met the team at a university career fair, where they invited me to lunch and an informal interview, and then I formally applied. So it was very much about who
I knew and my relationship with them before I even submitted an application. But before that, I had probably put out about 100 applications and networked as much as I could.

I know a lot of other very intelligent expats who also have master’s degrees and can present themselves well who have a hard time in the Swedish job market. It’s definitely dependent on the type of work you want to do. If you’re coming here with a tech background or as a developer, you’re going to find a job instantly.
Personally, I was looking for work within human resources, but I didn’t know Swedish labor laws or the Swedish language, so that eliminated a lot of jobs that I could go for. Also, a lot of companies here are good with their recruitment pipelines with the university students. They occasionally hire students two years in advance.

My salary is lower than it was in the US, but the cost of living is more affordable
My salary here as an American can feel very low, but I feel wealthy in Sweden. You don’t need to make a lot of money to live a good life. Back in the US, I was making $60,000 a year before taxes and that was almost eight years ago. Here, my annual salary is around $45,000 a year before taxes.
Compared to my friends in Sweden, that’s a competitive salary. The country has a very short salary scale. It’s all about income equality, so you don’t see these huge ranges that you might see in the US.
The cost of living in Sweden, especially where I live, is very affordable. I have a two-bedroom apartment that’s slightly over 800 square feet and we pay around $1,000 a month. We don’t need a car because there’s great public transportation and you can bike everywhere. Healthcare in Sweden is basically free — outpatient-visit costs are capped at $125 a year and prescription-drugs costs are capped at $246 a year.
Eating and drinking out can be a little expensive because there’s a value-added tax.
When I eat out here, I’ll pay similar prices to what I did in LA, but of course,
my salary isn’t as high.

I rarely work overtime and employee well-being is prioritized.
© Courtesy of Tess Meyer

Meyer goes into the office one to three times a week.
“I love to work from home,” she told Insider.
In the office, it’s quiet around 4:30 p.m. every single day. I never get meetings
after three o’clock on Fridays because people are getting their weekends started.
It’s very normal to take a long lunch or to leave to go to an appointment,
get your hair cut, or to go to an exercise class. Well-being is prioritized.
Also, if you ever need to show up late or miss work or leave early because of your kids,
it’s never questioned. No one blinks an eye — you’re expected to be an involved parent.

I very rarely need to work overtime. I work in consulting, which is typically one of the
most demanding industries when it comes to work-life balance. I have friends who work
at the same firm in the US who have much more demanding schedules.
There’s just a real sense of trust that everyone will do the work that the company assigns them. And if you need to do that early in the morning or late at night because you have a family commitment, that’s great, that’s on you. It’s not a micromanaging and performative culture where you have to sit at your desk even though you’re not doing anything.
If I’m done with my work and it’s 3:30 p.m., then I’m going to leave, and nobody
worries about it.

I get six weeks of paid vacation every year and I use it all.
© Courtesy of Tess Meyer

Sweden’s Annual Leave Act gives workers the legal right to take at least
four weeks of consecutive paid vacation between the months of June and August.
In Sweden, after you work for a company for a full year, you are legally guaranteed 25 days of paid vacation and you can take up to four consecutive weeks of paid time off during the summer. In fact, you actually get paid a slightly higher salary during your vacation days.
My company gives us six weeks of paid vacation per year, and I take all of it. I personally haven’t taken four weeks in a row because as an American, I’m like, what would I do for four weeks without work? So I take two or three weeks here and there while spreading out long weekends throughout the year. Also, if you don’t take the full 25 days, you can roll over up to five days to the next year.
I spend the majority of my vacation visiting family and traveling around Europe.
I have a work phone and a personal phone, so unless there’s something happening at the office that I had been actively involved in, I won’t even bring my work phone with me.
For nine out of 10 trips, my work phone stays at my apartment, turned off.
Because I made such drastic changes in my life and moved across the world to improve my work-life balance, I’m very protective over it. I’ve actually had multiple Swedish colleagues tell me that they aspire to be more like me when it comes to setting boundaries.
My motivation is just so high because I gave up being near my family, higher salaries,
the friendliness of Americans, and the amazing nature in the US to move here.

I’m not sure if we will eventually move back to the US After our five-year mark,
we will apply for Swedish citizenship and still retain my US citizenship.
The way I think about it is that my career is just one pillar of my life.
My relationship with my partner, my friends, my family, my wellness and
personal development — all of those things also need time and attention.
I felt like working in the US, you could only focus on your career and one or two other pillars — that was the most I had space for. Now I really feel that I have the space to manage more of those pillars, which feels good.
I’m not sure if we will eventually move back to the US. We really miss being close to family. It’s hard having a 12-hour flight and a nine-hour time difference between us.
We love living in Europe, and we are different people after having lived here for almost five years. It doesn’t help to see the political climate in the US and the shootings.
It’s horrific watching the news. If we’re planning to have a family in the future, the paid parental leave in Sweden is 480 days. That’s over a year and a half. Just to give that up would feel like a huge sacrifice.

This company invented a wild new way to keep swimming pools heated for cheap — it’s all thanks to these ‘digital boilers’ (msn.com)
GE has a wild plan to ‘vacuum’ air pollution right out of our skies — here’s how the mind-blowing idea would work (msn.com)
Gen Zers are skipping New York and LA and flocking to smaller cities with cheaper homes, great jobs, and lots to do.

This 2024 Kia EV9 Pickup Render Will Make The Tesla Cybertruck Sweat From Its Heat Pump (msn.com)
Biden’s radical green energy policies strain our electric grids. Here’s how bad it will get if they continue;
I’m a Canadian who moved to Sweden 4 years ago. Here are 8 things that surprised me. (yahoo.com)
In 1972 Over 70% Of Homes Had 1, Now Only 18% Have One…What Is It? (msn.com)
5 of the Smallest Electric Cars in 2023 to Tackle Your City Commute (msn.com)
A big El Niño is looming. Here’s what it means for our weather. (msn.com)
Fixing supermarket prices take us down the road to socialism (msn.com)
America’s Faustian Pact with runaway debt is coming due (msn.com)
6 Best Portable Solar Panels for Off-Grid Power (msn.com)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Disease X

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Ken

‘Disease X’ poses threat of a deadlier pandemic, warn COVID experts – Insider Paper

The U.S. CDC says cases of human metapneumovirus — or HMPV — spiked this past spring. The virus can cause just as much misery as the flu, but most people have never heard of it. CNN’s Anna Coren talks to viral researcher Dr. Jorge Rodriguez about what you need to look out for and how to stay safe.

So, who/what exactly is a “Covid expert”?
The so called “experts” have been lying to the world since 2019. Disease X?
Bred in a lab like Covid?? Wasn’t the “end” of the pandemic just announcing
a month ago??? So, this is right on time. Right on schedule.
As described in the WEF & WHO playbook.

‘Disease X … COVID experts.” A joke, right?
Remember Omicron? It was like getting a Common Cold. But was promoted as an end
of the world-type holocaust. “Disease X” will be the same – as will “Disease Y” and “Z.”

THE UNVACCINATED | “Nobody is Safe!”
This is more bullshit from globalist Big Pharma population control and military bioweapons centers just in time for the WHO’s Fall 23 ‘dry run’ of proposed new imposed lockdown rules. It’s called ‘Disease X’ because they haven’t made it yet in the lab. Once they do the liberal media will then give it a good marketable propaganda buzz name.

‘Disease X’. They have yet to come up with an applicable name. Wanna know why?
They are fine tuning it now to require mandatory death jabs at the same time they are developing their tyrannical propaganda ‘user guide’ full of lies, threats, oppression, and similar. Not to worry because the bill that McCarthy and Biden have in the works has an additional $5Billion for new Covid Vaccine development… just in time for the 2024 elections, how stupid do they think we are? #disgusted

The real disease threat to humanity…Satanism ~
Paul Harvey – If I were the devil… 1965 – Updated Video – YouTube
Me, I don’t give a damn. I don’t care what the hell the globalist psycho
freaks come up with this time around, or any other time.

I w0n’t comply with anything these bastards try to push!
It speaks volume about the American governmental system. The fact that someone
like Slo-Joe Biden and others like him, have been allowed to maintain a position in our governmental system for as long as he and they have. FJB … And The WHO, too!(edited)

They get away with as much as they have and do as little as they have for the nation.
It begs the question. What did all those patriotic military men and women die for?
To have our elections stolen. It was in 2020. Give up our sovereignty?
Nurture those that are offended by our flag. Give up our freedom to choose.
We have under this administrations watch. Tear down our historical statues.
They are. Confusing the younger generations. Rewrite our history.
No Wonder there is School Shootings, they are doing it now.
You think about that…that’s communist Marxism.
They want us to turn our back to God.

Lots of “talk” about s and s lately.
They’ll call it an “ALIEN VARIANT”
for plausible deniability.

I can see it being set-up.
so SHUT THE FUCK UP AND
COVER YOUR FACE Therefore,
And STAND ON THE…..X

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE DO NOT QUESTION
In a related story, ” Coup flu gooks preparing for President Trump’s heralded return
t0 save the land founded to honor God, for his main sponsor and strongest supporter.”

Fauci Taking The Shot in The Wrong Arm – Bing images

The story continues, “Globalist have no shit left in their collapsing bile bowels.”
In conclusion, ” The ULTRA MAGA Renaissance is all out of Wuhan fucks.”
I guess they found the recipe for globalist fear. AND THE WHO must be dissolved.

Perchance are these the same “experts” who set official policies during the Covid plandemic? Policies that proved to be ineffective at best–like masks, social distancing, lockdowns–or far deadlier than the virus itself (ventilators, remdesivir, boosters)?

Covid wasn’t a deadly pandemic though, the only people that died got treatment I don’t give a damn what the so-called ‘COVID experts’ may say or demand! They are worthless, totally unscientific, uneducated, politically appointed dumbasses who have totally discredited themselves with their death jabs, masks, and lockdowns!

If I treated your cold with smack and fent, you’d probably be dead now eh.
Perhaps it’s time to avoid the harmacy and hospitals folks, none of the shit they
do is safe or effective at keeping you alive. The only real Disease X is the “experts”
themselves. I believe there’s a cure, though. It’s called “the gallows.”(edited)

Now they’re creating a virus to enslave the population.
Ukrainian labs have delivered proof of the pharmaceutical plot,
with the complicity of the Pentagon.
The WEF and WHO are planning to wipe out billions of us.
Bill Gates is not shy about saying so.

Bill Gates and the return on investment in vaccinations – Search (bing.com)

Bill Gates Depopulation Plan Investing millions to make billions – Bing video

Well, it’s ELECTION TIME next Year! They’re Going to BRING SOMETHING OUT!
Just another Way to STEAL another ELECTION! YOU CAN BET ON THAT BECAUSE
THEY KNOW THEY ARE BEATEN in 2024

PUT the FEAR out there EARLY so the EXPERTS can SCARE THE SHEEP! They can’t wait- they are just salivating with the idea of releasing another bioweapon to harm as many people as they can and get even more people to buy into taking another
fake shot. Think about it, mass vaccination of new diseases every year.

I mean come on just ignore the bs. …
The 0nly people I know who died from covid died on the respirator, and the ones
that walked out of the hospital refused the crap. How much money did each hospital
get per death… like $30,000 large.

Globalist culling. Well fools…. You were so easily controlled with Wuhan,
it’s time for another round of lunacy. The last man-made pandemic didn’t
kill enough people for Dr. Fauci, WEF & WHO or Bill Gates?
S0, they’re letting you know ahead they’re getting ready to release another disease.
WHO announces the next pandemic is scheduled just before the presidential election.
So, an unknown virus will arrive somewhere at an unknown time, with unknown symptoms. Got it. The Nerve 0f These Commie bastards…. They have N0 Shame!!

LET’S GET READY FOR #2024 ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION????
So, they can’t tell you anything about it… But it’s emergence will be deadly…

Pure BS…The Chinese and the U.S.S.A. democrats are preparing
for another election fiasco. And The Republicans already have their plan of action ready.
Just like the last time. NOTHING, it will be another scare campaign designed to line the pockets of greedy pharmaceutical companies. No… vaccinations of any type for me. (edited)

“Ignorance is the best medicine”. “This enigmatic term denotes a disease that has yet to be identified by the medical community as a cause of human infections. As a novel pathogen—be it a virus, bacterium, fungus, or other entity—its emergence poses a considerable challenge, with the absence of the readily available vaccines or treatments.”

Surprise. Surprise.
Another pandemic possibility declared by the World health Organization. They call it Disease X. We no longer fight wars with reluctance with a will to win and go home. Now we seek wars in our own back yard – long protracted wars with carefully thought-out plans for years down the line. It would seem the disease industry is using the same playbook.

This is the preparation under way for the next release. https://wehurtothers.com/home/
We didn’t have these disease scares until 2020 elections. Yea diseases have been around since forever, but how convenient they predict a disease then it spreads into This Covid madness. No wonder the WHO is raising fears that this is worse than COVID. Since just last week, wheels were put in motion to get the WHO to control world health in ALL 195 countries. And which country is leading this effort to deprive nations of their sovereignty over the health of individual nations. NO OTHER THAN GrandPa JOE’S USSA

Election fraud has been around since Athen’s and viruses in existence even longer,
finally the two meet again – a whole new challenge for mankind.

Translated from MSM bs: Be good peons and STFU, or we’ll release an even nastier bug than COVID. They must be waiting for just the right time to release it. Three months before the 2024 election would be most beneficial for the Marxist left.

If it ever materializes, Pfizer, Gates, Fauci and the WHO will all have had
a hand in creating it, patenting it and weaponizing it for profit and control.

It’s a Load of bs: CCP AND GLOBAL ELITES READY TO TAKE
#2024 WITH BEIJING BIDEN BLESSING LEADERSHIP. H0w much money does D0c
Fauci have invested in the research, the development and the cure for this new disease?

Thanks and for now I got a song stuck in my head…

MUSE – Propaganda [Official Lyric Video] – YouTube

Drivin’ My Life Away (Single) – YouTube

‘Disease X’ poses threat of a deadlier pandemic, warn COVID experts – Insider Paper

The U.S. CDC says cases of human metapneumovirus — or HMPV — spiked this past spring. The virus can cause just as much misery as the flu, but most people have never heard of it. CNN’s Anna Coren talks to viral researcher Dr. Jorge Rodriguez about what you need to look out for and how to stay safe.

So, who/what exactly is a “Covid expert”?
The so called “experts” have been lying to the world since 2019. Disease X?
Bred in a lab like Covid?? Wasn’t the “end” of the pandemic just announcing
a month ago??? So, this is right on time. Right on schedule.
As described in the WEF & WHO playbook.

‘Disease X … COVID experts.” A joke, right?
Remember Omicron? It was like getting a Common Cold. But was promoted as an end
of the world-type holocaust. “Disease X” will be the same – as will “Disease Y” and “Z.”

THE UNVACCINATED | “Nobody is Safe!”
This is more bullshit from globalist Big Pharma population control and military bioweapons centers just in time for the WHO’s Fall 23 ‘dry run’ of proposed new imposed lockdown rules. It’s called ‘Disease X’ because they haven’t made it yet in the lab. Once they do the liberal media will then give it a good marketable propaganda buzz name.

‘Disease X’. They have yet to come up with an applicable name. Wanna know why?
They are fine tuning it now to require mandatory death jabs at the same time they are developing their tyrannical propaganda ‘user guide’ full of lies, threats, oppression, and similar. Not to worry because the bill that McCarthy and Biden have in the works has an additional $5Billion for new Covid Vaccine development… just in time for the 2024 elections, how stupid do they think we are? #disgusted

The real disease threat to humanity…Satanism ~
Paul Harvey – If I were the devil… 1965 – Updated Video – YouTube
Me, I don’t give a damn. I don’t care what the hell the globalist psycho
freaks come up with this time around, or any other time.

I w0n’t comply with anything these bastards try to push!
It speaks volume about the American governmental system. The fact that someone
like Slo-Joe Biden and others like him, have been allowed to maintain a position in our governmental system for as long as he and they have. FJB … And The WHO, too!(edited)

They get away with as much as they have and do as little as they have for the nation.
It begs the question. What did all those patriotic military men and women die for?
To have our elections stolen. It was in 2020. Give up our sovereignty?
Nurture those that are offended by our flag. Give up our freedom to choose.
We have under this administrations watch. Tear down our historical statues.
They are. Confusing the younger generations. Rewrite our history.
No Wonder there is School Shootings, they are doing it now.
You think about that…that’s communist Marxism.
They want us to turn our back to God.

Lots of “talk” about s and s lately.
They’ll call it an “ALIEN VARIANT”
for plausible deniability.

I can see it being set-up.
so SHUT THE FUCK UP AND
COVER YOUR FACE Therefore,
And STAND ON THE…..X

ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVE DO NOT QUESTION
In a related story, ” Coup flu gooks preparing for President Trump’s heralded return
t0 save the land founded to honor God, for his main sponsor and strongest supporter.”

Fauci Taking The Shot in The Wrong Arm – Bing images

The story continues, “Globalist have no shit left in their collapsing bile bowels.”
In conclusion, ” The ULTRA MAGA Renaissance is all out of Wuhan fucks.”
I guess they found the recipe for globalist fear. AND THE WHO must be dissolved.

Perchance are these the same “experts” who set official policies during the Covid plandemic? Policies that proved to be ineffective at best–like masks, social distancing, lockdowns–or far deadlier than the virus itself (ventilators, remdesivir, boosters)?

Covid wasn’t a deadly pandemic though, the only people that died got treatment I don’t give a damn what the so-called ‘COVID experts’ may say or demand! They are worthless, totally unscientific, uneducated, politically appointed dumbasses who have totally discredited themselves with their death jabs, masks, and lockdowns!

If I treated your cold with smack and fent, you’d probably be dead now eh.
Perhaps it’s time to avoid the harmacy and hospitals folks, none of the shit they
do is safe or effective at keeping you alive. The only real Disease X is the “experts”
themselves. I believe there’s a cure, though. It’s called “the gallows.”(edited)

Now they’re creating a virus to enslave the population.
Ukrainian labs have delivered proof of the pharmaceutical plot,
with the complicity of the Pentagon.
The WEF and WHO are planning to wipe out billions of us.
Bill Gates is not shy about saying so.

Bill Gates and the return on investment in vaccinations – Search (bing.com)

Bill Gates Depopulation Plan Investing millions to make billions – Bing video

Well, it’s ELECTION TIME next Year! They’re Going to BRING SOMETHING OUT!
Just another Way to STEAL another ELECTION! YOU CAN BET ON THAT BECAUSE
THEY KNOW THEY ARE BEATEN in 2024

PUT the FEAR out there EARLY so the EXPERTS can SCARE THE SHEEP! They can’t wait- they are just salivating with the idea of releasing another bioweapon to harm as many people as they can and get even more people to buy into taking another
fake shot. Think about it, mass vaccination of new diseases every year.

I mean come on just ignore the bs. …
The 0nly people I know who died from covid died on the respirator, and the ones
that walked out of the hospital refused the crap. How much money did each hospital
get per death… like $30,000 large.

Globalist culling. Well fools…. You were so easily controlled with Wuhan,
it’s time for another round of lunacy. The last man-made pandemic didn’t
kill enough people for Dr. Fauci, WEF & WHO or Bill Gates?
S0, they’re letting you know ahead they’re getting ready to release another disease.
WHO announces the next pandemic is scheduled just before the presidential election.
So, an unknown virus will arrive somewhere at an unknown time, with unknown symptoms. Got it. The Nerve 0f These Commie bastards…. They have N0 Shame!!

LET’S GET READY FOR #2024 ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION????
So, they can’t tell you anything about it… But it’s emergence will be deadly…

Pure BS…The Chinese and the U.S.S.A. democrats are preparing
for another election fiasco. And The Republicans already have their plan of action ready.
Just like the last time. NOTHING, it will be another scare campaign designed to line the pockets of greedy pharmaceutical companies. No… vaccinations of any type for me. (edited)

“Ignorance is the best medicine”. “This enigmatic term denotes a disease that has yet to be identified by the medical community as a cause of human infections. As a novel pathogen—be it a virus, bacterium, fungus, or other entity—its emergence poses a considerable challenge, with the absence of the readily available vaccines or treatments.”

Surprise. Surprise.
Another pandemic possibility declared by the World health Organization. They call it Disease X. We no longer fight wars with reluctance with a will to win and go home. Now we seek wars in our own back yard – long protracted wars with carefully thought-out plans for years down the line. It would seem the disease industry is using the same playbook.

This is the preparation under way for the next release. https://wehurtothers.com/home/
We didn’t have these disease scares until 2020 elections. Yea diseases have been around since forever, but how convenient they predict a disease then it spreads into This Covid madness. No wonder the WHO is raising fears that this is worse than COVID. Since just last week, wheels were put in motion to get the WHO to control world health in ALL 195 countries. And which country is leading this effort to deprive nations of their sovereignty over the health of individual nations. NO OTHER THAN GrandPa JOE’S USSA

Election fraud has been around since Athen’s and viruses in existence even longer,
finally the two meet again – a whole new challenge for mankind.

Translated from MSM bs: Be good peons and STFU, or we’ll release an even nastier bug than COVID. They must be waiting for just the right time to release it. Three months before the 2024 election would be most beneficial for the Marxist left.

If it ever materializes, Pfizer, Gates, Fauci and the WHO will all have had
a hand in creating it, patenting it and weaponizing it for profit and control.

It’s a Load of bs: CCP AND GLOBAL ELITES READY TO TAKE
#2024 WITH BEIJING BIDEN BLESSING LEADERSHIP. H0w much money does D0c
Fauci have invested in the research, the development and the cure for this new disease?

Thanks and for now I got a song stuck in my head…

MUSE – Propaganda [Official Lyric Video] – YouTube

Drivin’ My Life Away (Single) – YouTube

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

ELECTRIC EVs

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Ken

Inflation No Longer America’s Biggest Financial Concern What It Is Now
(and How to Handle It) • Story by David Nadelle.

Whether buoyed by the slight cooling of inflation over the past year or beaten down by “recession fatigue,” Americans’ biggest concern has shifted from these two economic irritants to something entirely more personal during the first quarter of 2023.

Discover: 5 Ways a Debt Ceiling Default Could Impact Your Retirement Savings | Demand for Gold is Up. Here’s Everything You Need to Know.
For the first time since 2021, U.S. households cite health as their leading concern in Primerica’s Middle-Income Financial Security Monitor (FSM), beating inflation and recession, which dropped in sentiment by 5% and 4% respectively since the previous survey in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The FSM poll, conducted by Change Research and used by Primerica to track the financial health and mood of middle-income Americans (those with annual household incomes of $30,000 to $100,000) every quarter, found that respondents are most concerned about health this year (35%), followed by inflation (32%), finances (27%), paying for food and groceries (25%), saving for retirement (22%) and recession (21%).

Related video: ‘More needs to be done’ about inflation, analyst says (CNBC).
As noted above, personal finances are a big worry for middle-income Americans,
but a concern that Americans believe they can handle. According to Primerica’s FSM,
respondents are more optimistic (20%) than they were at the end of 2022 (15%).

“As the nation heads further into 2023, middle-income Americans are showing increasing confidence in their personal finances and are adapting to the current economic climate,” said Glenn J. Williams, CEO of Primerica.
However, 72% claim their income can’t keep up with the cost of living and only 15% believe the U.S. economy will improve a year from now. Additional findings by Primerica show that U.S. families are spending less (40%) than they did a year ago (32%) and a whopping 80% are wisely cutting back on non-essential purchases.
Amid the highest inflation in 40 years, many Americans admitted to using their savings (38%) and using credit cards more (33%) in 2022. Worryingly, particularly for those whose top concern is health costs, 42% of respondents do not have an emergency fund and almost half (49%) used theirs in the past year. 56% of retired adults are anxious about paying for health care expenses that are not covered by Medicare.

According to Gallup, 38% of Americans skipped or delayed medical care
in 2022 due to cost. This is the highest percentage tracked by the polling company
in 22 years and the 12% increase from 2021 marks the sharpest hike year-over-year.
The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) finds that percentage to be low.
Four in 10 adults, more than 100 million Americans, currently have debt due to medical
or dental bills and 79% of those with health care debt reported skipping or delaying care or medications due to costs, per KFF. Six in ten adults with health care debt say they cut back spending on food, clothing and basic household items.
Without widespread policy changes, an increase in consumer assistance programs and government regulations to restrict what insured patients have to pay out-of-pocket,
it’s unfortunately up to each American to save where they can and that means getting
a handle on their personal or household finances.

Take Our Poll
: What Are You Worth to Your Company?
See: Inflation Is Quietly Devastating Social Security Benefits-
and also the Debt Ceiling Crisis Could Cause More Damage
While a rosier outlook is one of the key takeaways from Primerica’s
U.S. Middle-Income Financial Security Monitor, improving their health, physically
(by making healthier choices and scheduling routine care and preventative screenings) and financially (by eliminating debt and saving for emergencies) will help alleviate healthcare costs and the worries they cause.
Additionally, using free telehealth and virtual consultation services, choosing generic
drug options and contributing to, and using doctors covered by, a health plan will help
you better manage the steep expenses that come with health hardships.

More From GOBankingRates
10 Aldi Brand Products Worth Buying
See GOBankingRates’ Top 100 Most Influential Money Experts and
Get Advice | 3 Things You Must Do When Your Savings Reach $50,000
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com:

Elon Musk just teased Tesla fans with 3 brand-new EV models —
and one of them is the company’s cheapest car yet (msn.com)
Scientists may have found a way to make phone batteries last for 9 years:
‘[There’s] a whole range of possible applications’
‘Squad’ Democrat senses lack of frustration among Black Americans
over reparations: ‘People have lost hope’ (msn.com)
This all-new ‘neighborhood vehicle’ can run on free energy from the sun —
and it’s incredibly cheap to drive (msn.com)
The Tunguska event was the biggest asteroid impact in recorded history.
How did it vanish without a trace? (msn.com)
Scientists discover giant crater from ice age explosion that has methane-
spewing mud volcano inside it (msn.com)
A Head-To-Head Between The 2023 Tesla Model 3 And Hyundai Ioniq 6
Reveals Hidden Flaws (msn.com)
Study Links Inability to Pass Simple Balance Test With Increased Risk
of Early Death | Watch (msn.com)
Toyota RAV4 Prime Travels More Than 1,200 Miles On Electric Power
Without Stopping To Charge (msn.com)

China’s youth unemployment hits a record high, deepening its economic scars (msn.com)
Invasive insect is transforming Antarctic soils, paving the way for new species (msn.com)
Conquer Alaska’s Dalton Highway on an Epic Road Trip to the Arctic Circle (msn.com)
Shanghai breaks more than century-old heat record in sweltering May (msn.com)
New York and California lost a combined $92B in income as rich Americans escaped
to other states — here are the low-tax areas that scooped up those billions (msn.com)
Will climate change cut off the Panama Canal, and global supply chains? (msn.com)
How This ONE Tesla Model S Claims 700 Mile Range With New Battery (msn.com)
British households will have to cut energy use again, says National Grid (msn.com)
Electric revolution: 1000 km range on a single charge thanks to solid-state battery.

The Colorado River is running dry. That’s worse news than you probably think it is.
Britain’s failed ruling class would rather destroy the country than fix its problems.
1 Soon-To-Be-Killed Electric Vehicle Is One of the Most-Driven EVs (msn.com)
Tesla Rival VinFast Has More Bad News About Its Electric Vehicles (msn.com)
A Confusing Trend Is Happening in Hyundai’s Car Sales This Year (msn.com)
Danish company finds new way to recycle turbine blades | Watch (msn.com)
Going Solar? What to Know About Kilowatts and Kilowatt-Hours (msn.com)
For the first time, more money is going into solar power than oil (msn.com)
This Is Extraordinary: Gravity Can Create Light, All on Its Own (msn.com)
The coming El Niño is going to really hurt the world economy (msn.com)

The Smallest Electric Car You Can Buy Isn’t a Nissan or Mini (msn.com)
The One Thing Holding Back Electric Vehicles in America (msn.com)
10 New Electric Cars That Are Taking The Fight To Tesla (msn.com)
The Graphic Truth: Who caused the US national debt? (msn.com)
Scotty Kilmer America is Not Ready for This – Search (bing.com)
10 Affordable Electric Cars With Impressive Range (msn.com)
Are Electric Cars a Good Investment in 2023? (msn.com)
New microscopic discoveries that went ‘viral’ (msn.com)
10 Best Electric Cars Under $30,000 (msn.com)
America is Not Ready for This – YouTube

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Greek Καρκίνος: Karkinos, Crablike

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Ken

How Was Cancer Treated in Ancient Greece? – Hellenic Daily News (hellenicdailynewsny.com)

Cancer (from Latin; sometimes known by the transliteration Carcinos, from original Greek Καρκίνος: Karkinos) or, simply the Crab, is a giant crab in Greek mythology that inhabited the lagoon of Lerna.^[1] He is a secondary character in the myth of the twelve labors of Heracles, who attacks Heracles on Hera‘s orders, while Heracles is in the midst
of fighting the Hydra of Lerna.^[2]
Heracles kills the Crab, who is rewarded for his efforts by Hera turning him into the constellation of Cancer.^[3] Since it is not a main element of the myth, it does
not always appear in the versions that have reached the present day; nevertheless, classic mythographers, astronomers, historians or philosophers such as Plato, the Pseudo-Eratosthenes, the Pseudo-Apollodorus and Hyginus mention the character in their texts.
One of the most common interpretations of the myth associates it with a 22nd century B.C. battle in the Peloponnese, which resulted in the destruction of Lerna (Minoan-influenced) by pre-Mycenaean peoples^[4]
In art, Carcinos is often depicted as a detail of the myth of the Hydra or as
an image of the Zodiac sign and the constellation to which it gives its name.

Etymology[edit]
The name “Carcinos” is a transliteration of the Ancient Greek word Καρκίνος,^[5] which literally means “crab”.^[6] This is why, according to the version and translation of the myth, the character is not referred to by his original name but only as a giant crab, the Crab or Cancer.^[7]
“Cancer” is the translation of the word carcinos into Latin, made by Aulus Cornelius Celsus and collected in his work De medicina. The Greek term had been used since Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) to denote certain types of tumors,^[8] because of the resemblance that the Greek physician observed between the lesions and
the shape of a crab.
Celsus continued to use the analogy and introduced the term that has endured
to the present day to denote that group of diseases.^[9] The word Καρκίνος is still
used in the Greek language today for several of the meanings of the word cancer.
Other words such as “carcinoma” (also used by Hippocrates), “carcinogen” or “carcinology” share the original Greek root, in reference to both the crustaceans
and the disease.
A Karkinos (KAHR-kee-nohs; Anc. Gr. Καρκινος “Cancer”) is a giant crab-like Wesen that was seen in a Grimm diary in “Map of the Seven Knights“.

Characteristics

When woged, Karkinos’ hands turn into powerful claws, and their skin becomes an armored crab-like carapace. They were immortalized by the Greeks when one of them famously fought Hercules.

Excerpt from Grimm Diaries
I was on a trade ship bound for Alexandria when suddenly a fierce storm turned
the sea… Gathered upon the rocks of a small… It was providence that had kept me alive. Grace was not upon the crew. I am wounded, my body wretched with pain,
though God gave me breath to experience it. A figured hun… out of the…
It surveyed the scene… for salvage but still one who came.

Before I raised my hand to signal him, another figure followed the first, then another, until at least ten moving to the flotsam of the… Later, I realized their sinister designs.
The beasts bent over them and the creatures resembled crabs as men with fearsome claws and unspeakable evil. They savaged the corpses of the crew, greedily eating
flesh and crushing bone. Summoning my last breaths I stood, grasped a statue in a shattered boat and wielded it as a club.

The Karkinos are scavengers akin to all those that feed on opportunities…
cowards. I shattered three of them before a number fled inland. The sound of battle
attracted local hunters who took me in. It was with the… the name of these beasts.
In gratitude for helping I stayed on the Island until I was certain every member
of the Karakinos… to the sword.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 77 – 80
(trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
“For his second labour Herakles (Heracles) was instructed to
slay the Hydra Lernaia (Lernaean). The beast was nurtured in the marshes of Lerna . . .
[Herakles attacked her and] she hung on to him by wrapping herself round one of his feet, and he was unable to help matters by striking her with his club, for as soon as one head was pounded off two others would grow in its place. Then a giant crab (karkinos) came along to help the Hydra, and bit Herakles on the foot. For this he killed the crab.”
Plato, Euthydemus 297c (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
“[Plato uses the myth of the Hydra as a metaphor for urgument :] Herakles, who was no match for the Hydra . . . who was so clever that she sent forth many heads . . . in place of each one that was cut off; . . . [and a] crab . . . from the sea–freshly, I fancy, arrived on shore; and, when the hero was so bothered with its leftward barks and bites,
he summoned his nephew Iolaus to the rescue, and he brought him effective relief.”
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 23 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
“Cancer. The Crab is said to have been put among the stars by the favour of Juno [Hera], because, when Hercules [Heracles] had stood firm against the Lernaean Hydra, it had snapped at his foot from the swamp. Hercules, enraged at this, had killed it, and Juno [Hera] put it among the constellations.”

Cancer Genetics What is cancer From Greek karkinos (slidetodoc.com)
Instant Crabification: Why Evolution Keeps Coming Up Crustacean
By Helen LinLast Updated May 27, 2021

Plenty of interesting things took place during the pandemic lockdown of 2020.
With everyone stuck at home, attention wandering aimlessly, it was only natural that many of us would revert to scrolling around online. It was during this mass instance of random swiping when a Twitter post gained steam and the internet collectively discovered an evolutionary process called carcinization.

According to Know Your Meme, it was around October of 2020 that carcinization memes began appearing in full force as a common search result. And the memes that a quick Google search delivers depict the strange scientific process that describes how various creatures seemingly turn into crabs over time. But is carcinization real, or is it just meme fodder? Let’s take a closer look into the process and its biological implications.

What Is Carcinization?
So what exactly is carcinization, and why did it become the focus of so many internet users in 2020? If memes are to be believed, it’s the idea that everything, from internet routers to other memes, eventually evolves into a crab. But memes often come with a hefty dose of hyperbole, and the idea that every creature on Earth is destined to eventually resemble a Dungeness from the depths is a pretty hefty exaggeration.

Photo Courtesy: One of many carcinization memes that began appearing online
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Microsoft Word – ãÑÖ ÇáÓÑØÇä ãä ãäÙæÑ ØÈí – ÇÌÊãÇÚí.doc (iasj.net)
Carcinization is an actual evolutionary process, however, and it involves crustaceans specifically. Scientists have documented ample instances in which previously un-crab-like crustaceans have evolved into far more crab-like forms, and their process of doing so is called carcinization. (“Carcin” comes from the Greek “karkinos,” which means “crab” and is also the origin of the zodiac sign Cancer.) This isn’t a recent development in the scientific community, either; the term “carcinization” was first coined by zoologist Lancelot Alexander Borradaile in 1916. Researchers have been observing carcinization taking place for over a century.

In 2017, several academics performed a scientific study on the subject and published
their findings in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. The study discussed five documented instances in which creatures that started out as something else all managed to evolve to display much more crab-like forms. A 2020 tweet from a user who’d just discovered this research ended up going viral. The internet latched on and began creating jokes, and the rest is meme history — much like the creatures that gradually turned into crabs.

Not All Crabs Are Created Equal
Before we go any further, it’s important to define exactly what “crab” means, at least in scientific terms. The answer sounds like it should be obvious, right? Well, not exactly.
As it turns out, science is far pickier about naming conventions and descriptions than many of us might imagine.

Unidentified Man: The alphabet has only 26 letters.
With these 26 magic symbols, however, millions of words are written every day.
Around 400 B.C., Hippocrates is said to have named masses of cancerous cells karkinos — Greek for crab. Science and medical historian Howard Markel discusses a few hypotheses on why Hippocrates named the disease after a crab, and how well cancer was understood in the ancient world.

IRA FLATOW, host: And that means it’s time for that little jingle,
time for our episode of Science Diction on SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.
I’m Ira Flatow, and we’re going to be talking with Howard Markel. Hi, Howard.
Dr. HOWARD MARKEL (History of Medicine, University of Michigan):
Hi, Ira. Good afternoon.
FLATOW: We always talk about Howard, every week about the origin of scientific words.
This month, Howard, what kind of word do you have for us today?
Dr. MARKEL: Well, keeping with the theme of scary things, it’s the word that was –
it was and remained scary to a lot of people, the C word, cancer.
FLATOW: Hmm. Well, wow. Yeah. Well, I know it’s a constellation, right?
Has anything to do with that?
Dr. MARKEL: Well, it is a constellation. But before that, it was and is a crab. And, you know, when you’re starting with medical origins, it’s a good bet to start with Hippocrates because he was around very early. And some time about 400 B.C., he was examining many cancer patients with what we’d call today end-stage cancer.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm.
Dr. MARKEL: And he applied the Greek word karkinos, which means crab. A lot of explanations, all of them equally wonderful and all of them equally difficult to prove, but why did he use that? And if you examine a tumor, if you actually feel a malignant tumor, you’ll note that it’s hard as a rock. And so some have explained that it reminded him of the hard shell of a crab. But others have said it may remind him of – may have reminded him of the pain that a malignant tumor induces. It’s much like the sharp pinch of a crab’s claw. And an even better version is that it suggests the tenacity with which, you know, a crab bites you…
FLATOW: Right. Right.
Dr. MARKEL: …and refuses to let go. And that reminded Hippocrates and other doctors how stubborn these things were to remove.
FLATOW: I got you. We’re talking about word origins on SCIENCE Friday from NPR.
I’m Ira Flatow, talking with Howard Markel. And so you have those three main definitions…
Dr. MARKEL: Right.
FLATOW: …of how they originated.
Dr. MARKEL: Yeah. And then later on, you know – now, Hippocrates, of course, thought tumors were – malignant tumors were caused by something else, an overabundance of black bile, which by the way, doctors for the next thousands (unintelligible) did that.
But he was seeing a lot of tumors, as per other doctors of the ancient world, that were malignant. You know, breast and uterine, mouth, skin cancer and so on. And their best advice to those people was to tell them, basically, to go home and die.
FLATOW: Hmm.
Dr. MARKEL: About 47 A.D., however, the Greco-Roman philosopher Celsus – he was not a doctor, but he wrote a very important encyclopedia of medicine – he named it cancer, because that’s the Latin equivalent of crab and so the word remains to this day. And then about 100 years later, another very famous doctor named Galen extended that Hippocratic metaphor even further. He was dissecting a breast tumor. He noticed all the veins and tributaries of malignancy around that mass, and he said it looks just like a crab’s legs extending outward from every part of its body.And so the term really stuck. Even though doctors for many hundreds of years didn’t really know what caused it or to distinguish it from many other diseases that also had oozing, non-healing sores and things like that.
FLATOW: Hmm. Now, there’s a word related to cancer and of course, it’s oncology.
Dr. MARKEL: Right. In fact, we called doctors to this day, oncologists.
And that’s another Hippocratic term onkos, is a Greek word, and it simply means masses.
The – I think that’s probably a lot better word than cancerologist. (Soundbite of laughter)
FLATOW: Yeah.
Dr. MARKEL: And that stuck, as well.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm. And just speaking of how people used to talk about cancers,
I remember from way back, people were actually afraid to use the C word.
Dr. MARKEL: Absolutely. I mean, I remember as a boy, when family members had cancer, they would often – adults would whisper it or call it the
C word. And, you know, that’s a wonderful change over time piece of evidence. There is that for, you know, thousands of years, cancer was a death sentence for those who were unfortunate enough to get it. And now, as time has moved on and we’ve gotten so much better, not only at diagnosing and distinguishing it, but treating it – and there’s hundreds of forms of cancer – it’s no longer that death sentence. In fact, there are many, you know, millions of people who have survived cancer. So it’s become something that we can talk about more openly…
FLATOW: Hmm.
Dr. MARKEL: …even though it’s still around the crabby word.
FLATOW: Yeah. In those mysterious days, where did people think cancers came from? How did you get cancer?
Dr. MARKEL: Well, that’s just a host of things. You know, the imbalance of the four humors in antiquity. Some people in the middle ages in the Renaissance Period thought it was for the sins they committed against their god, that they somehow deserved it. By the 1850s, pathologists started looking at tumor cells. You know, we talked about the origin of the word cell a few weeks ago. And they were looking at cancer cells and they were fascinated by the fact that they proliferate uncontrollably and they destroy healthy tissue and spread. And so we started thinking about cellular mechanisms, beginning in the 1850s, 1860s, but it reached its zenith in the last 10 or 20 years.
And we can only expect better and better information…
FLATOW: All right.
Dr. MARKEL: …as time goes on.
FLATOW: Howard, thank you very much as always. We’ll see you next month.
Dr. MARKEL: Okay. Have a good weekend, Ira.
FLATOW: You too. Howard Markel is professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and director of the Center for the History of Medicine there. Copyright © 2010 NPR. All rights reserved.
Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor.
This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Listen to this Article at: Science Diction: The Origin Of The Word ‘Cancer’ : NPR

Karkinos Healthcare seeks to democratize cancer care, while enabling communities towards cancer prevention and early detection under the aegis of its Distributed Cancer Care Network. This ensures that no patient is left out of the cancer care continuum for lack of access or affordability. In the process, the Command Center plays the role of a central entity of this network, by facilitating centralized quality control and coordination of care mechanisms in patient navigation. “Technology will play a significant role in reducing numbers of new cancer cases and deaths” (biospectrumindia.com)

Transitioning from Reactive to Proactive cancer care based on robust, evidence-based histopathology diagnosis – Karkinos Healthcare This short video showcases the fundamental steps of Karkinos Healthcare on its journey towards shaping
the cancer care ecosystem in India.

Karkinos Healthcare – Shaping Community-Centered Cancer Care in India
through Command Center & DCCN – YouTube
Physics — the crux to finding new cancer therapies – Karkinos Healthcare
k-Vani – Karkinos Healthcare | Karkinos Healthcare – YouTube
karakinos: cancer is crablike – Search (bing.com)

How Was Cancer Treated in Ancient Greece? – Hellenic Daily News (hellenicdailynewsny.com)

Cancer (from Latin; sometimes known by the transliteration Carcinos, from original Greek Καρκίνος: Karkinos) or, simply the Crab, is a giant crab in Greek mythology that inhabited the lagoon of Lerna.^[1] He is a secondary character in the myth of the twelve labors of Heracles, who attacks Heracles on Hera‘s orders, while Heracles is in the midst
of fighting the Hydra of Lerna.^[2]
Heracles kills the Crab, who is rewarded for his efforts by Hera turning him into the constellation of Cancer.^[3] Since it is not a main element of the myth, it does
not always appear in the versions that have reached the present day; nevertheless, classic mythographers, astronomers, historians or philosophers such as Plato, the Pseudo-Eratosthenes, the Pseudo-Apollodorus and Hyginus mention the character in their texts.
One of the most common interpretations of the myth associates it with a 22nd century B.C. battle in the Peloponnese, which resulted in the destruction of Lerna (Minoan-influenced) by pre-Mycenaean peoples^[4]
In art, Carcinos is often depicted as a detail of the myth of the Hydra or as
an image of the Zodiac sign and the constellation to which it gives its name.

Etymology[edit]
The name “Carcinos” is a transliteration of the Ancient Greek word Καρκίνος,^[5] which literally means “crab”.^[6] This is why, according to the version and translation of the myth, the character is not referred to by his original name but only as a giant crab, the Crab or Cancer.^[7]
“Cancer” is the translation of the word carcinos into Latin, made by Aulus Cornelius Celsus and collected in his work De medicina. The Greek term had been used since Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.) to denote certain types of tumors,^[8] because of the resemblance that the Greek physician observed between the lesions and
the shape of a crab.
Celsus continued to use the analogy and introduced the term that has endured
to the present day to denote that group of diseases.^[9] The word Καρκίνος is still
used in the Greek language today for several of the meanings of the word cancer.
Other words such as “carcinoma” (also used by Hippocrates), “carcinogen” or “carcinology” share the original Greek root, in reference to both the crustaceans
and the disease.
A Karkinos (KAHR-kee-nohs; Anc. Gr. Καρκινος “Cancer”) is a giant crab-like Wesen that was seen in a Grimm diary in “Map of the Seven Knights“.

Characteristics

When woged, Karkinos’ hands turn into powerful claws, and their skin becomes an armored crab-like carapace. They were immortalized by the Greeks when one of them famously fought Hercules.

Excerpt from Grimm Diaries
I was on a trade ship bound for Alexandria when suddenly a fierce storm turned
the sea… Gathered upon the rocks of a small… It was providence that had kept me alive. Grace was not upon the crew. I am wounded, my body wretched with pain,
though God gave me breath to experience it. A figured hun… out of the…
It surveyed the scene… for salvage but still one who came.

Before I raised my hand to signal him, another figure followed the first, then another, until at least ten moving to the flotsam of the… Later, I realized their sinister designs.
The beasts bent over them and the creatures resembled crabs as men with fearsome claws and unspeakable evil. They savaged the corpses of the crew, greedily eating
flesh and crushing bone. Summoning my last breaths I stood, grasped a statue in a shattered boat and wielded it as a club.

The Karkinos are scavengers akin to all those that feed on opportunities…
cowards. I shattered three of them before a number fled inland. The sound of battle
attracted local hunters who took me in. It was with the… the name of these beasts.
In gratitude for helping I stayed on the Island until I was certain every member
of the Karakinos… to the sword.

Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2. 77 – 80
(trans. Aldrich) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
“For his second labour Herakles (Heracles) was instructed to
slay the Hydra Lernaia (Lernaean). The beast was nurtured in the marshes of Lerna . . .
[Herakles attacked her and] she hung on to him by wrapping herself round one of his feet, and he was unable to help matters by striking her with his club, for as soon as one head was pounded off two others would grow in its place. Then a giant crab (karkinos) came along to help the Hydra, and bit Herakles on the foot. For this he killed the crab.”
Plato, Euthydemus 297c (trans. Lamb) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) :
“[Plato uses the myth of the Hydra as a metaphor for urgument :] Herakles, who was no match for the Hydra . . . who was so clever that she sent forth many heads . . . in place of each one that was cut off; . . . [and a] crab . . . from the sea–freshly, I fancy, arrived on shore; and, when the hero was so bothered with its leftward barks and bites,
he summoned his nephew Iolaus to the rescue, and he brought him effective relief.”
Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 23 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
“Cancer. The Crab is said to have been put among the stars by the favour of Juno [Hera], because, when Hercules [Heracles] had stood firm against the Lernaean Hydra, it had snapped at his foot from the swamp. Hercules, enraged at this, had killed it, and Juno [Hera] put it among the constellations.”

Cancer Genetics What is cancer From Greek karkinos (slidetodoc.com)
Instant Crabification: Why Evolution Keeps Coming Up Crustacean
By Helen LinLast Updated May 27, 2021

Plenty of interesting things took place during the pandemic lockdown of 2020.
With everyone stuck at home, attention wandering aimlessly, it was only natural that many of us would revert to scrolling around online. It was during this mass instance of random swiping when a Twitter post gained steam and the internet collectively discovered an evolutionary process called carcinization.

According to Know Your Meme, it was around October of 2020 that carcinization memes began appearing in full force as a common search result. And the memes that a quick Google search delivers depict the strange scientific process that describes how various creatures seemingly turn into crabs over time. But is carcinization real, or is it just meme fodder? Let’s take a closer look into the process and its biological implications.

What Is Carcinization?
So what exactly is carcinization, and why did it become the focus of so many internet users in 2020? If memes are to be believed, it’s the idea that everything, from internet routers to other memes, eventually evolves into a crab. But memes often come with a hefty dose of hyperbole, and the idea that every creature on Earth is destined to eventually resemble a Dungeness from the depths is a pretty hefty exaggeration.

Photo Courtesy: One of many carcinization memes that began appearing online
Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Microsoft Word – ãÑÖ ÇáÓÑØÇä ãä ãäÙæÑ ØÈí – ÇÌÊãÇÚí.doc (iasj.net)
Carcinization is an actual evolutionary process, however, and it involves crustaceans specifically. Scientists have documented ample instances in which previously un-crab-like crustaceans have evolved into far more crab-like forms, and their process of doing so is called carcinization. (“Carcin” comes from the Greek “karkinos,” which means “crab” and is also the origin of the zodiac sign Cancer.) This isn’t a recent development in the scientific community, either; the term “carcinization” was first coined by zoologist Lancelot Alexander Borradaile in 1916. Researchers have been observing carcinization taking place for over a century.

In 2017, several academics performed a scientific study on the subject and published
their findings in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. The study discussed five documented instances in which creatures that started out as something else all managed to evolve to display much more crab-like forms. A 2020 tweet from a user who’d just discovered this research ended up going viral. The internet latched on and began creating jokes, and the rest is meme history — much like the creatures that gradually turned into crabs.

Not All Crabs Are Created Equal
Before we go any further, it’s important to define exactly what “crab” means, at least in scientific terms. The answer sounds like it should be obvious, right? Well, not exactly.
As it turns out, science is far pickier about naming conventions and descriptions than many of us might imagine.

Unidentified Man: The alphabet has only 26 letters.
With these 26 magic symbols, however, millions of words are written every day.
Around 400 B.C., Hippocrates is said to have named masses of cancerous cells karkinos — Greek for crab. Science and medical historian Howard Markel discusses a few hypotheses on why Hippocrates named the disease after a crab, and how well cancer was understood in the ancient world.

IRA FLATOW, host: And that means it’s time for that little jingle,
time for our episode of Science Diction on SCIENCE FRIDAY from NPR.
I’m Ira Flatow, and we’re going to be talking with Howard Markel. Hi, Howard.
Dr. HOWARD MARKEL (History of Medicine, University of Michigan):
Hi, Ira. Good afternoon.
FLATOW: We always talk about Howard, every week about the origin of scientific words.
This month, Howard, what kind of word do you have for us today?
Dr. MARKEL: Well, keeping with the theme of scary things, it’s the word that was –
it was and remained scary to a lot of people, the C word, cancer.
FLATOW: Hmm. Well, wow. Yeah. Well, I know it’s a constellation, right?
Has anything to do with that?
Dr. MARKEL: Well, it is a constellation. But before that, it was and is a crab. And, you know, when you’re starting with medical origins, it’s a good bet to start with Hippocrates because he was around very early. And some time about 400 B.C., he was examining many cancer patients with what we’d call today end-stage cancer.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm.
Dr. MARKEL: And he applied the Greek word karkinos, which means crab. A lot of explanations, all of them equally wonderful and all of them equally difficult to prove, but why did he use that? And if you examine a tumor, if you actually feel a malignant tumor, you’ll note that it’s hard as a rock. And so some have explained that it reminded him of the hard shell of a crab. But others have said it may remind him of – may have reminded him of the pain that a malignant tumor induces. It’s much like the sharp pinch of a crab’s claw. And an even better version is that it suggests the tenacity with which, you know, a crab bites you…
FLATOW: Right. Right.
Dr. MARKEL: …and refuses to let go. And that reminded Hippocrates and other doctors how stubborn these things were to remove.
FLATOW: I got you. We’re talking about word origins on SCIENCE Friday from NPR.
I’m Ira Flatow, talking with Howard Markel. And so you have those three main definitions…
Dr. MARKEL: Right.
FLATOW: …of how they originated.
Dr. MARKEL: Yeah. And then later on, you know – now, Hippocrates, of course, thought tumors were – malignant tumors were caused by something else, an overabundance of black bile, which by the way, doctors for the next thousands (unintelligible) did that.
But he was seeing a lot of tumors, as per other doctors of the ancient world, that were malignant. You know, breast and uterine, mouth, skin cancer and so on. And their best advice to those people was to tell them, basically, to go home and die.
FLATOW: Hmm.
Dr. MARKEL: About 47 A.D., however, the Greco-Roman philosopher Celsus – he was not a doctor, but he wrote a very important encyclopedia of medicine – he named it cancer, because that’s the Latin equivalent of crab and so the word remains to this day. And then about 100 years later, another very famous doctor named Galen extended that Hippocratic metaphor even further. He was dissecting a breast tumor. He noticed all the veins and tributaries of malignancy around that mass, and he said it looks just like a crab’s legs extending outward from every part of its body.And so the term really stuck. Even though doctors for many hundreds of years didn’t really know what caused it or to distinguish it from many other diseases that also had oozing, non-healing sores and things like that.
FLATOW: Hmm. Now, there’s a word related to cancer and of course, it’s oncology.
Dr. MARKEL: Right. In fact, we called doctors to this day, oncologists.
And that’s another Hippocratic term onkos, is a Greek word, and it simply means masses.
The – I think that’s probably a lot better word than cancerologist. (Soundbite of laughter)
FLATOW: Yeah.
Dr. MARKEL: And that stuck, as well.
FLATOW: Mm-hmm. And just speaking of how people used to talk about cancers,
I remember from way back, people were actually afraid to use the C word.
Dr. MARKEL: Absolutely. I mean, I remember as a boy, when family members had cancer, they would often – adults would whisper it or call it the
C word. And, you know, that’s a wonderful change over time piece of evidence. There is that for, you know, thousands of years, cancer was a death sentence for those who were unfortunate enough to get it. And now, as time has moved on and we’ve gotten so much better, not only at diagnosing and distinguishing it, but treating it – and there’s hundreds of forms of cancer – it’s no longer that death sentence. In fact, there are many, you know, millions of people who have survived cancer. So it’s become something that we can talk about more openly…
FLATOW: Hmm.
Dr. MARKEL: …even though it’s still around the crabby word.
FLATOW: Yeah. In those mysterious days, where did people think cancers came from? How did you get cancer?
Dr. MARKEL: Well, that’s just a host of things. You know, the imbalance of the four humors in antiquity. Some people in the middle ages in the Renaissance Period thought it was for the sins they committed against their god, that they somehow deserved it. By the 1850s, pathologists started looking at tumor cells. You know, we talked about the origin of the word cell a few weeks ago. And they were looking at cancer cells and they were fascinated by the fact that they proliferate uncontrollably and they destroy healthy tissue and spread. And so we started thinking about cellular mechanisms, beginning in the 1850s, 1860s, but it reached its zenith in the last 10 or 20 years.
And we can only expect better and better information…
FLATOW: All right.
Dr. MARKEL: …as time goes on.
FLATOW: Howard, thank you very much as always. We’ll see you next month.
Dr. MARKEL: Okay. Have a good weekend, Ira.
FLATOW: You too. Howard Markel is professor of the history of medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and director of the Center for the History of Medicine there. Copyright © 2010 NPR. All rights reserved.
Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor.
This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Listen to this Article at: Science Diction: The Origin Of The Word ‘Cancer’ : NPR

Karkinos Healthcare seeks to democratize cancer care, while enabling communities towards cancer prevention and early detection under the aegis of its Distributed Cancer Care Network. This ensures that no patient is left out of the cancer care continuum for lack of access or affordability. In the process, the Command Center plays the role of a central entity of this network, by facilitating centralized quality control and coordination of care mechanisms in patient navigation. “Technology will play a significant role in reducing numbers of new cancer cases and deaths” (biospectrumindia.com)

Transitioning from Reactive to Proactive cancer care based on robust, evidence-based histopathology diagnosis – Karkinos Healthcare This short video showcases the fundamental steps of Karkinos Healthcare on its journey towards shaping
the cancer care ecosystem in India.

Karkinos Healthcare – Shaping Community-Centered Cancer Care in India
through Command Center & DCCN – YouTube
Physics — the crux to finding new cancer therapies – Karkinos Healthcare
k-Vani – Karkinos Healthcare | Karkinos Healthcare – YouTube
karakinos: cancer is crablike – Search (bing.com)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

A Suppress Immune System

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Ken

Suppressed Immune System
What Is It, Causes, and More
Author: Corinne Tarantino, MPH
Editors: Alyssa Haag, Kelsey LaFayette, BAN, RN
Illustrator: Jillian Dunbar
Copyeditor: Joy Mapes

What is a suppressed immune system?
The immune system consists of the body’s defenses against most foreign bodies (i.e., pathogens), and it includes white blood cells, antibodies, organs (e.g., the lymphatic
organ system, spleen, thymus) and other parts of the body. When a body lacks sufficient
white blood cells or antibodies, the immune system is considered suppressed.
A suppressed immune system is weakened to the point that it cannot mount a proper immune response to protect the body from pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and other infectious microorganisms. Therefore, people with a suppressed immune system become vulnerable to various infectious diseases.

What causes immune suppression?
There are many different causes of immunosuppression, including diseases,
medications, and lifestyle factors. Most commonly, a suppressed immune system can
be caused by an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks its own cells.
This occurs when the immune system produces self-targeting antibodies, which cannot distinguish between self and non-self and will therefore mistakenly attack an individual’s own body. Some of the most common autoimmune diseases include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes.
Both systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis are characterized by inflammation or swelling of the joints, while type 1 diabetes is characterized by impaired release of the insulin, a naturally occurring hormone that regulates blood sugar levels, from the pancreas.

There are various viral and bacterial infections that can also suppress the immune response. The most common example of long-term viral immunosuppression is the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can develop into acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV infects and destroys CD4+ T cells, a major group of white blood cells involved in responding to viral pathogens. This leaves the immune system suppressed and vulnerable to other infections. Pneumonia is another example. Often the result of a bacterial infection (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pneumoniae), pneumonia causes inflammation of the lungs.

The damage pneumonia can do to the lungs can suppress the immune system and
increase the risk of future infections. Other diseases — including lymphoma, leukemia, and sickle cell disease — may also suppress the immune system, as they can affect the spleen, an important organ involved in the immune response.
Lymphoma and leukemia are types of cancer that can cause a buildup of lymphoma cells, red blood cells, and platelets in the spleen. This buildup can also make the spleen swell and work less efficiently, which may eventually lead to splenic dysfunction. In the case of sickle cell disease, the characteristic sickle-shaped red blood cells can block the spleen’s blood vessels, causing swelling and impairing the spleen’s functioning.

Rarely, an individual may be born with poor development or functioning
of one or more immune cell types, called a primary immune deficiency.
These conditions typically affect the four main types of antibodies:
IgA, IgE, IgG, and IgM. Each type of antibody plays various roles in fighting off pathogens.
The most common types of primary immunodeficiencies include selective IgA deficiency
(i.e., deficiency in the IgA antibody), X-linked agammaglobulinemia (i.e., deficiency in all
classes of antibodies), and hyper-IgM syndrome (i.e., deficiency in IgA, IgE, IgG antibodies).
Moreover, there are several medications that can weaken the immune system.
Immunosuppressants are a class of medications that are prescribed intentionally to
suppress the immune system, such as to treat an autoimmune disease or prevent the
body from rejecting an organ transplant. Immunosuppression can be a side effect
of some treatments, like chemotherapy.

Prescribed to destroy cancer cells,
Chemotherapy medications often suppress the immune system at the time of treatment and for a few months following the conclusion of treatment. Occasionally, lifestyle factors, such as long-term alcohol misuse and severe malnutrition, may also result in a weakened immune system.

What are the signs and symptoms of a suppressed immune system?
Signs and symptoms of a suppressed immune system include frequent infections accompanied by severe constitutional symptoms, such as high fevers, chills, and weakness. Also, if an individual requires many antibiotic treatment courses in one year, this may be indicative of an underlying immune response concern.
Specifically, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology suggests that if a child needs more than four antibiotic courses in a year, or an adult needs more than two,
a healthcare professional should assess for underlying immune suppression.
For both children and adults, having pneumonia twice in a lifetime, needing preventative antibiotics, or having chronic sinus infections may also indicate a suppressed immune system.
Depending on the cause of the immunosuppression, there may be additional symptoms, such as feeling tired and weak or experiencing body aches and pains. Some autoimmune diseases may present with swelling around the joints and rashes on the skin. For example, people with lupus tend to have a distinctive “butterfly” rash across both cheeks; however, unlike rashes caused by an allergic reaction, it is usually not an itchy rash.

How is a suppressed immune system diagnosed?
Diagnosis often begins with a medical examination, during which a clinician asks
for the individual’s past medical and family history, assesses their signs and symptoms, and performs a physical exam. If immunosuppression is suspected, blood tests will often be performed, particularly a complete blood count (CBC).
A CBC will measure how many white blood cells an individual has, and it can provide additional information that may help to identify what part of the individual’s immune system is suppressed. Additional blood tests may be performed depending on the suspected cause. In some cases, imaging, such as an X-ray or magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI), may assist with diagnosis.

How is a suppressed immune system treated?
Individuals with a suppressed immune system will often be monitored for the development of infectious diseases, and they can be educated on infection prevention measures, including guidelines for self-isolation and personal protective equipment (PPE). An individual may also practice lifestyle behaviors that support their immune system, such as getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, and eating a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. If infection occurs, antibiotics, like amoxicillin, or antivirals, like oseltamivir, may be prescribed depending on the specific bacterial or viral cause. Additional treatment for a suppressed immune system will vary by the underlying cause.
For autoimmune diseases, immunosuppressive medications are often prescribed.
HIV may be treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART), which aims to keep the virus from spreading throughout the body. HIV, as well as some cancers, may also be treated with immunomodulation therapy, medications that aim to improve and strengthen the immune response.

A person with splenic dysfunction may have a splenectomy, or surgery to remove their spleen. Although an individual can survive without a spleen, this will increase their risk of infection and sepsis. Because individuals without a spleen are at an increased risk of infections from encapsulated bacteria, vaccination against pneumococcus, meningococcus, and Haemophilus influenzae is advised after splenectomy.
For primary immune deficiency diseases, intravenous immunoglobulin treatments may be given to provide the individual with the specific antibodies they lack. Treatment can also include stem cell transplants or gene therapy, which promote the body’s intrinsic production of antibodies.
When the immunosuppression is caused by a medication, treatment usually focuses
on relieving the unwanted side effects. Such treatment can include medications to treat nausea (e.g., ondansetron) and pain-relieving medications (e.g., aspirin, ibuprofen).
If an infection occurs, the immunosuppressant’s dosage may be lowered, and depending on the infectious agent, antibiotics or antivirals may be prescribed. Less commonly, the immunosuppressive medication may be discontinued.

What are the most important facts to know about a suppressed immune system?
A suppressed immune system is weakened to the point that it leaves an individual vulnerable to infections. Immune system suppression can result from many causes, including diseases, medications, and lifestyle factors.
Most commonly, immune suppression happens due to an autoimmune disease,
such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or type 1 diabetes.
The occurrence of frequent infections with severe symptoms is the primary sign
of a suppressed immune system. Immunosuppression is often diagnosed through a
medical examination and blood tests, typically including a complete blood count (CBC).
Most immunosuppression is treated by monitoring for infections, practicing lifestyle behaviors that boost the immune system, and taking medications to treat the associated symptoms and underlying cause. 10 Foods That May Weaken Your Immune System (healthline.com)

Humans’ slow metabolisms explain long life span, study says.
Though some individuals may not appreciate their slow metabolisms, a new study
suggests that humans and other primates – who burn 50% fewer calories each day
than other mammals – have such long lives because of their curiously slow metabolisms.
Publishing their results in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the international team of scientists says burning fewer calories may also explain why primates grow up so slowly.
Though our pet dogs, cats or hamsters progress to adulthood much faster than we do, reproduce at a faster rate and sadly, die long before we will, humans and other primates – such as apes, monkeys and lemurs – have relatively long childhoods, do not reproduce as frequently and live longer lives.

The researchers note that the slow pace of the primate life has baffled biologists, as the underlying reasons for it were unclear. In order to better understand, the researchers examined 17 different primate species in zoos and sanctuaries, as well as in the wild, to assess their daily energy expenditure and determine whether their slow pace of life could be attributed to a slow metabolism.

Slow metabolic rate contributes to slow pace of aging
They employed a technique called “doubly labeled water,” which is non-invasive and tracks the body’s production of carbon dioxide. Using this technique, they were able to measure the calories that the primates burned for a duration of 10 days.
After establishing daily expenditure rates in primates, the team compared
them with the rates of other mammals.
According to Herman Pontzer, lead author of the study and anthropologist
at Hunter College in New York, the results surprised them:
“Humans, chimpanzees, baboons, and other primates expend only half the calories we’d expect for a mammal. To put that in perspective, a human – even someone with a very physically active lifestyle – would need to run a marathon each day just to approach the average daily energy expenditure of a mammal their size.”

Slow metabolism equals suppress immune system.
The researchers say that this reduction in primates’ metabolic rate explains their slow pace of life, and they add that energy expenditure can contribute to aging – as all organisms need energy to grow and reproduce.
“The environmental conditions favoring reduced energy expenditures may hold a key to understanding why primates, including humans, evolved this slower pace of life,” says David Raichlen, co-author of the study and anthropologist from the University of Arizona.
Though it seems logical that primates in captivity may not expend as many calories daily as those in the wild, the researchers found this is not the case. The captive primates expended just as many calories each day as those in the wild, which the team says may suggest that physical activity contributes less to total energy expenditure than we think.
Co-author Steve Ross, director of the Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, says that the similarities in daily energy expenditures between wild and captive primates “demonstrates the depth of research potential” for zoo and sanctuary settings.

He suggests that these settings “represent an alternative to traditional laboratory-based investigations and emphasize the importance of studying animals in more naturalistic conditions.”
But the takeaway findings from the study – that daily energy expenditure may uncover how our bodies develop and age – have important implications for understanding health and life span in humans.
The researchers say unfolding the relationship between physical activity and daily energy expenditure may help us better understand metabolic diseases and obesity.
Herman Pontzer says they are already conducting more detailed research on the subject, adding:
“Humans live longer than other apes, and tend to carry more body fat. Understanding how human metabolism compares to our closest relatives will help us understand how our bodies evolved, and how to keep them healthy.”
Medical News Today recently reported on a study that suggested age-related weight gain may be due to brown fat failure. The researchers suggested as we age, our “good” brown fat is less efficient at burning calories.
Metabolism as a guiding force for immunity | Nature Cell Biology

BONUS: slow metabolism equals suppress immune system – Search (bing.com)

Tracing the relationship between metabolism and immune response
The delicate balance between our metabolism and our body’s immune response has critical implications for a range of chronic noncommunicable diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In a new review paper, published February 9, 2017, in the journal Nature, Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, J.S. Simmons Professor of Genetics and Metabolism and chair of the Department of Molecular Metabolism, traces the evolution of this relationship.
The way our bodies regulate and manage energy—our metabolism—and our body’s ability to defend itself against pathogens—the immune response—are closely linked because a strong immune response relies on energy, writes Hotamisligil. But an imbalance in this relationship can put us at risk for chronic metabolic diseases. Hotamisligil writes that there is now an opportunity to translate the increased knowledge about immunometabolism into interventions that one day may reduce the global burden
of those diseases.

Foods to enhance immune system – Bing video
Feeding your body certain foods may help keep your immune system strong.
If you’re looking for ways to prevent colds, the flu, and other infections, your first step should be a visit to your local grocery store. Plan your meals to include these 15 powerful immune system boosters. The idea of boosting your immunity is enticing, but the ability
to do so has proved elusive for several reasons. The immune system is precisely that —
a system, not a single entity.

Sleep Resets the Immune System – Search (bing.com)
Sleep provides essential support to the immune system. Getting sufficient hours of high-quality sleep enables a well-balanced immune defense that features strong innate and adaptive immunity, efficient response to vaccines, and less severe allergic reactions. In contrast, serious sleeping problems, including sleep … See more
To function well, it requires balance and harmony. There is still much that researchers don’t know about the intricacies and interconnectedness of the immune response.
For now, there are no scientifically proven direct links between lifestyle and
enhanced immune function.

But that doesn’t mean the effects of lifestyle on the immune system aren’t intriguing
and shouldn’t be studied. Researchers are exploring the effects of diet, exercise, age, psychological stress, and other factors on the immune response, both in animals and in humans. In the meantime, general healthy-living strategies make sense since they likely help immune function and they come with other proven health benefits.

GREAT VIDEOs How does sleep strengthen the immune system – Bing video

Suppressed Immune System
What Is It, Causes, and More
Author: Corinne Tarantino, MPH
Editors: Alyssa Haag, Kelsey LaFayette, BAN, RN
Illustrator: Jillian Dunbar
Copyeditor: Joy Mapes

What is a suppressed immune system?
The immune system consists of the body’s defenses against most foreign bodies (i.e., pathogens), and it includes white blood cells, antibodies, organs (e.g., the lymphatic
organ system, spleen, thymus) and other parts of the body. When a body lacks sufficient
white blood cells or antibodies, the immune system is considered suppressed.
A suppressed immune system is weakened to the point that it cannot mount a proper immune response to protect the body from pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and other infectious microorganisms. Therefore, people with a suppressed immune system become vulnerable to various infectious diseases.

What causes immune suppression?
There are many different causes of immunosuppression, including diseases,
medications, and lifestyle factors. Most commonly, a suppressed immune system can
be caused by an autoimmune disease, in which the immune system attacks its own cells.
This occurs when the immune system produces self-targeting antibodies, which cannot distinguish between self and non-self and will therefore mistakenly attack an individual’s own body. Some of the most common autoimmune diseases include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, and type 1 diabetes.
Both systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis are characterized by inflammation or swelling of the joints, while type 1 diabetes is characterized by impaired release of the insulin, a naturally occurring hormone that regulates blood sugar levels, from the pancreas.

There are various viral and bacterial infections that can also suppress the immune response. The most common example of long-term viral immunosuppression is the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can develop into acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). HIV infects and destroys CD4+ T cells, a major group of white blood cells involved in responding to viral pathogens. This leaves the immune system suppressed and vulnerable to other infections. Pneumonia is another example. Often the result of a bacterial infection (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pneumoniae), pneumonia causes inflammation of the lungs.

The damage pneumonia can do to the lungs can suppress the immune system and
increase the risk of future infections. Other diseases — including lymphoma, leukemia, and sickle cell disease — may also suppress the immune system, as they can affect the spleen, an important organ involved in the immune response.
Lymphoma and leukemia are types of cancer that can cause a buildup of lymphoma cells, red blood cells, and platelets in the spleen. This buildup can also make the spleen swell and work less efficiently, which may eventually lead to splenic dysfunction. In the case of sickle cell disease, the characteristic sickle-shaped red blood cells can block the spleen’s blood vessels, causing swelling and impairing the spleen’s functioning.

Rarely, an individual may be born with poor development or functioning
of one or more immune cell types, called a primary immune deficiency.
These conditions typically affect the four main types of antibodies:
IgA, IgE, IgG, and IgM. Each type of antibody plays various roles in fighting off pathogens.
The most common types of primary immunodeficiencies include selective IgA deficiency
(i.e., deficiency in the IgA antibody), X-linked agammaglobulinemia (i.e., deficiency in all
classes of antibodies), and hyper-IgM syndrome (i.e., deficiency in IgA, IgE, IgG antibodies).
Moreover, there are several medications that can weaken the immune system.
Immunosuppressants are a class of medications that are prescribed intentionally to
suppress the immune system, such as to treat an autoimmune disease or prevent the
body from rejecting an organ transplant. Immunosuppression can be a side effect
of some treatments, like chemotherapy.

Prescribed to destroy cancer cells,
Chemotherapy medications often suppress the immune system at the time of treatment and for a few months following the conclusion of treatment. Occasionally, lifestyle factors, such as long-term alcohol misuse and severe malnutrition, may also result in a weakened immune system.

What are the signs and symptoms of a suppressed immune system?
Signs and symptoms of a suppressed immune system include frequent infections accompanied by severe constitutional symptoms, such as high fevers, chills, and weakness. Also, if an individual requires many antibiotic treatment courses in one year, this may be indicative of an underlying immune response concern.
Specifically, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology suggests that if a child needs more than four antibiotic courses in a year, or an adult needs more than two,
a healthcare professional should assess for underlying immune suppression.
For both children and adults, having pneumonia twice in a lifetime, needing preventative antibiotics, or having chronic sinus infections may also indicate a suppressed immune system.
Depending on the cause of the immunosuppression, there may be additional symptoms, such as feeling tired and weak or experiencing body aches and pains. Some autoimmune diseases may present with swelling around the joints and rashes on the skin. For example, people with lupus tend to have a distinctive “butterfly” rash across both cheeks; however, unlike rashes caused by an allergic reaction, it is usually not an itchy rash.

How is a suppressed immune system diagnosed?
Diagnosis often begins with a medical examination, during which a clinician asks
for the individual’s past medical and family history, assesses their signs and symptoms, and performs a physical exam. If immunosuppression is suspected, blood tests will often be performed, particularly a complete blood count (CBC).
A CBC will measure how many white blood cells an individual has, and it can provide additional information that may help to identify what part of the individual’s immune system is suppressed. Additional blood tests may be performed depending on the suspected cause. In some cases, imaging, such as an X-ray or magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI), may assist with diagnosis.

How is a suppressed immune system treated?
Individuals with a suppressed immune system will often be monitored for the development of infectious diseases, and they can be educated on infection prevention measures, including guidelines for self-isolation and personal protective equipment (PPE). An individual may also practice lifestyle behaviors that support their immune system, such as getting adequate sleep, exercising regularly, and eating a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. If infection occurs, antibiotics, like amoxicillin, or antivirals, like oseltamivir, may be prescribed depending on the specific bacterial or viral cause. Additional treatment for a suppressed immune system will vary by the underlying cause.
For autoimmune diseases, immunosuppressive medications are often prescribed.
HIV may be treated with antiretroviral therapy (ART), which aims to keep the virus from spreading throughout the body. HIV, as well as some cancers, may also be treated with immunomodulation therapy, medications that aim to improve and strengthen the immune response.

A person with splenic dysfunction may have a splenectomy, or surgery to remove their spleen. Although an individual can survive without a spleen, this will increase their risk of infection and sepsis. Because individuals without a spleen are at an increased risk of infections from encapsulated bacteria, vaccination against pneumococcus, meningococcus, and Haemophilus influenzae is advised after splenectomy.
For primary immune deficiency diseases, intravenous immunoglobulin treatments may be given to provide the individual with the specific antibodies they lack. Treatment can also include stem cell transplants or gene therapy, which promote the body’s intrinsic production of antibodies.
When the immunosuppression is caused by a medication, treatment usually focuses
on relieving the unwanted side effects. Such treatment can include medications to treat nausea (e.g., ondansetron) and pain-relieving medications (e.g., aspirin, ibuprofen).
If an infection occurs, the immunosuppressant’s dosage may be lowered, and depending on the infectious agent, antibiotics or antivirals may be prescribed. Less commonly, the immunosuppressive medication may be discontinued.

What are the most important facts to know about a suppressed immune system?
A suppressed immune system is weakened to the point that it leaves an individual vulnerable to infections. Immune system suppression can result from many causes, including diseases, medications, and lifestyle factors.
Most commonly, immune suppression happens due to an autoimmune disease,
such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, or type 1 diabetes.
The occurrence of frequent infections with severe symptoms is the primary sign
of a suppressed immune system. Immunosuppression is often diagnosed through a
medical examination and blood tests, typically including a complete blood count (CBC).
Most immunosuppression is treated by monitoring for infections, practicing lifestyle behaviors that boost the immune system, and taking medications to treat the associated symptoms and underlying cause. 10 Foods That May Weaken Your Immune System (healthline.com)

Humans’ slow metabolisms explain long life span, study says.
Though some individuals may not appreciate their slow metabolisms, a new study
suggests that humans and other primates – who burn 50% fewer calories each day
than other mammals – have such long lives because of their curiously slow metabolisms.
Publishing their results in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the international team of scientists says burning fewer calories may also explain why primates grow up so slowly.
Though our pet dogs, cats or hamsters progress to adulthood much faster than we do, reproduce at a faster rate and sadly, die long before we will, humans and other primates – such as apes, monkeys and lemurs – have relatively long childhoods, do not reproduce as frequently and live longer lives.

The researchers note that the slow pace of the primate life has baffled biologists, as the underlying reasons for it were unclear. In order to better understand, the researchers examined 17 different primate species in zoos and sanctuaries, as well as in the wild, to assess their daily energy expenditure and determine whether their slow pace of life could be attributed to a slow metabolism.

Slow metabolic rate contributes to slow pace of aging
They employed a technique called “doubly labeled water,” which is non-invasive and tracks the body’s production of carbon dioxide. Using this technique, they were able to measure the calories that the primates burned for a duration of 10 days.
After establishing daily expenditure rates in primates, the team compared
them with the rates of other mammals.
According to Herman Pontzer, lead author of the study and anthropologist
at Hunter College in New York, the results surprised them:
“Humans, chimpanzees, baboons, and other primates expend only half the calories we’d expect for a mammal. To put that in perspective, a human – even someone with a very physically active lifestyle – would need to run a marathon each day just to approach the average daily energy expenditure of a mammal their size.”

Slow metabolism equals suppress immune system.
The researchers say that this reduction in primates’ metabolic rate explains their slow pace of life, and they add that energy expenditure can contribute to aging – as all organisms need energy to grow and reproduce.
“The environmental conditions favoring reduced energy expenditures may hold a key to understanding why primates, including humans, evolved this slower pace of life,” says David Raichlen, co-author of the study and anthropologist from the University of Arizona.
Though it seems logical that primates in captivity may not expend as many calories daily as those in the wild, the researchers found this is not the case. The captive primates expended just as many calories each day as those in the wild, which the team says may suggest that physical activity contributes less to total energy expenditure than we think.
Co-author Steve Ross, director of the Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo, says that the similarities in daily energy expenditures between wild and captive primates “demonstrates the depth of research potential” for zoo and sanctuary settings.

He suggests that these settings “represent an alternative to traditional laboratory-based investigations and emphasize the importance of studying animals in more naturalistic conditions.”
But the takeaway findings from the study – that daily energy expenditure may uncover how our bodies develop and age – have important implications for understanding health and life span in humans.
The researchers say unfolding the relationship between physical activity and daily energy expenditure may help us better understand metabolic diseases and obesity.
Herman Pontzer says they are already conducting more detailed research on the subject, adding:
“Humans live longer than other apes, and tend to carry more body fat. Understanding how human metabolism compares to our closest relatives will help us understand how our bodies evolved, and how to keep them healthy.”
Medical News Today recently reported on a study that suggested age-related weight gain may be due to brown fat failure. The researchers suggested as we age, our “good” brown fat is less efficient at burning calories.
Metabolism as a guiding force for immunity | Nature Cell Biology

BONUS: slow metabolism equals suppress immune system – Search (bing.com)

Tracing the relationship between metabolism and immune response
The delicate balance between our metabolism and our body’s immune response has critical implications for a range of chronic noncommunicable diseases, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In a new review paper, published February 9, 2017, in the journal Nature, Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, J.S. Simmons Professor of Genetics and Metabolism and chair of the Department of Molecular Metabolism, traces the evolution of this relationship.
The way our bodies regulate and manage energy—our metabolism—and our body’s ability to defend itself against pathogens—the immune response—are closely linked because a strong immune response relies on energy, writes Hotamisligil. But an imbalance in this relationship can put us at risk for chronic metabolic diseases. Hotamisligil writes that there is now an opportunity to translate the increased knowledge about immunometabolism into interventions that one day may reduce the global burden
of those diseases.

Foods to enhance immune system – Bing video
Feeding your body certain foods may help keep your immune system strong.
If you’re looking for ways to prevent colds, the flu, and other infections, your first step should be a visit to your local grocery store. Plan your meals to include these 15 powerful immune system boosters. The idea of boosting your immunity is enticing, but the ability
to do so has proved elusive for several reasons. The immune system is precisely that —
a system, not a single entity.

Sleep Resets the Immune System – Search (bing.com)
Sleep provides essential support to the immune system. Getting sufficient hours of high-quality sleep enables a well-balanced immune defense that features strong innate and adaptive immunity, efficient response to vaccines, and less severe allergic reactions. In contrast, serious sleeping problems, including sleep … See more
To function well, it requires balance and harmony. There is still much that researchers don’t know about the intricacies and interconnectedness of the immune response.
For now, there are no scientifically proven direct links between lifestyle and
enhanced immune function.

But that doesn’t mean the effects of lifestyle on the immune system aren’t intriguing
and shouldn’t be studied. Researchers are exploring the effects of diet, exercise, age, psychological stress, and other factors on the immune response, both in animals and in humans. In the meantime, general healthy-living strategies make sense since they likely help immune function and they come with other proven health benefits.

GREAT VIDEOs How does sleep strengthen the immune system – Bing video

GREAT DIET FOR LYME DISEASE Calming Inflammation: Changing the Microbiome with the Specific Carbohydrate Diet with Pamela Ferro – YouTube

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

The McCaughey Miracle

Posted on May 29, 2023 by Ken

The World’s First Surviving Septuplets Are Grown Ups Now

The McCaughey Septuplets – Bing video
This article was originally published on ParentMood by John Travis
The McCaughey septuplets born November 19, 1997, are the septuplets
of Bobbi (mother) and Kenny McCaughey from Des Moines, Iowa.
They are the world’s first known set of surviving septuplets.

Adding another family member and becoming a parent is one of the most life-changing experiences – so imagine welcoming seven newborns all at once. That’s what Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey did many years ago now. Fortunately, their sons and daughters lived healthy lives and ultimately became the first-ever septuplets to all survive.
From babies to young adults, here is their story.

Meet The Incredible Parents

Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey felt super blessed at the arrival of a healthy baby girl in 1996. Given that Bobbi had to battle complications with her pituitary gland, which can cause problems with fertility, the couple believed their newborn daughter to be a miracle baby.

They decided to name her Mikayla Marie. They weren’t planning on having just one child,
so they started to consider having their next.

Pursuing Fertility Treatment
Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey knew about the difficulties in conceiving Mikayla,
and that’s why they decided to seek fertility treatment for their next child.

Upon seeking medical advice, the doctor prescribed Metrodin, a medication that
helps with ovulation and is required to be taken by a woman to conceive a child.
With plans for their second baby, Bobbi started taking the medication.

When Bobbi and her husband went for a scan to their doctor,

Planned For One, Got Seven
they were hoping that everything would turn out fine, and they wouldn’t be getting
any surprises. However, the scan turned out to be life changing as it revealed that
Bobbi was pregnant with not one but seven babies.

It was big news for them as they were not only looking at a big family of 10 but also
because the pregnancy posed a great danger to the health of Bobbi and the babies.

A Tough Decision
As multiple births can pose a danger to the health of both the mother and the babies, Bobbi’s body was under immense strain from carrying not one but seven fetuses. Due to the risk to Bobbi and her unborn babies, the doctor recommended the couple to consider
a process called “selected reduction.”

In this process, those fetuses are protected, which are most likely to make it to full term. Hence, it is like aborting babies who have fewer survival chances.

Taking The Risk
Bobbi and Kenny fully understood the risks involved in the pregnancy that poses a lot of dangers to mother and babies’ health, but they didn’t want to choose one of their babies above another. So, they gave it a long thought and decided to proceed with the pregnancy.

It was a tough decision because only about 40-50 births in the world have resulted from
a pregnancy involving seven babies. There is a possibility that they drew some confidence from the fact that although many septuplets have not survived birth or infancy, at least one more set of septuplets had survived beyond infancy.

Getting Lots of Attention from Everyone

As Bobbi and Kenny made the big decision to keep all seven babies and not opt for selective reduction, the news spread like wildfire, and everyone across the country
wanted to know more about them.

While some found the story of septuplets fascinating, some people weren’t supportive of keeping all seven babies. However, Bobbi and Kenny had made up their minds, and they were confident that everything would work out for the best.

Getting Help
People who knew the McCaugheys, and those who didn’t know them at all, everyone was eager to offer them help. It was understandable because the birth of seven children at once was undoubtedly an extraordinary event.

More Assistance Came That Help: For instance, Kraft stepped.
forward to give the family a year’s supply of “mac n cheese.”

They were also given boxes of diapers, and some offered help as babysitters or nannies.
Amazingly, a 5,000 square foot house was also donated to the family.

Another Gift
As if getting a 5,000 square foot house wasn’t showing the people’s generosity,
someone stepped forward to donate a brand-new van to the family.

The van was big enough to fit all of the babies comfortably.

More Gifts
Moreover, someone donated a year’s supply of groceries to the family.

As weeks and months were leading up to the birth of seven babies,

Exciting and Scary Times
It was scary, thrilling, and stressful times for the family. The doctors were
concerned that the stress of the deliveries could lead her to early labor.

Bobbi tried her best to keep calm, and though the couple was worried that things might not work as planned, they knew that staying positive was their best bet at that time.
They tried their best to remain as positive as possible.

Delivering The Babies: The couple received the news that they
would need to be at the hospital at just 31 weeks.

They were told that the babies would be delivered by caesarian section.
Although Bobbi and Kenny were a bit surprised, they trusted the doctors.
On November 19th, 1997, Bobby gave birth to seven babies in only the
space of just SIX minutes.

The couple was happy to welcome four boys and three girls.

A Family of TEN
Everyone was relieved to find out that the septuplets were healthy.
All now the parents needed was to name their babies.

The heaviest of the babies was named Robert, while the other boys were named Kenny Robert, Brandon James, Nathan Roy, and Joel Steven. The beautiful girls were named Alexis Mary, Natalie Sue, and Kelsey Ann. It must be a lot to remember the names of
7 babies. Here is a challenge for you: try remembering all the names by the end of this article.

A Team Effort
It wasn’t only Bobbi and Kenny’s effort in bringing seven babies into the world;
there were the dedicated efforts of the hardworking hospital staff as well.

The doctors, nurses and maternity staff were happy that they were part of making American history. A few days after the birth of septuplets, all the team gathered to
take a memorable group photo.

Waiting To Get the First Pictures of Babies.

As Bobbi and Kenny were asked by the doctors to come to the hospital
9 weeks before Bobbi’s due date, the news channels didn’t know about it.

When the news channels finally became aware that the births were taking place at the Iowa Methodist Hospital Center in Des Moines, they started camping out to get the first pictures of the newborns.

Spending Extra Time Under Observation

The doctors at the hospital wanted to ensure that the babies and the mother were healthy before discharging them. Therefore, Bobbie and her seven babies had to spend three months and ten days in the hospital after the delivery.

When the news broke out that the couple and babies were leaving the hospital,
the cameramen and journalists gathered around to get a snap of the septuplets.
As the McCaugheys headed for their home, there were a lot of smiles, cheers,
and even a few tears.

Getting Police Security outside the home of the McCaughey’s

As they wanted to ensure that the couple reached their home without facing any trouble whatsoever. The babies were first brought back to the couple’s old home, but they would be moving into their new home pretty soon.

While the couple took care of their seven babies in their old home,

Exciting Times: their new home was getting ready and once their new home was organized, a ceremony took place in which they were handed over the keys to their new home.
The ceremony involved the chairman of Clarke Companies, Lloyd Clarke. He gave the keys to the couple in the garage of the house. There was excitement in the air as the couple entered their new home.

Getting Countrywide Media Attention

In December of 1997 (just a month after the septuplets were born),
Bobbi and Kenny featured on the front cover of Time Magazine.

Initially, the couple thought that only local reporters were interested in covering their story, but they didn’t know that their incredible septuplets had caught the attention of some big magazines as well.

After the news magazine, ABC News PrimeTime was able to get.
full access to the family for a complete interview and news feature.

A Complete Interview
Given that most of the coverage involved reporters retelling what others
had already written, the interview with ABC covered other aspects as well.

While most of the news coverage was positive:

There Was Also Criticism and some negative reports, as well.
Some people called the family irresponsible for having too many children.

Some even criticized the couple because they thought that the amount of waste
generated by having so many babies could play a role in damaging the environment.
But it didn’t matter to the couple as they were happy with their babies.

They felt blessed to have seven babies.

As the excitement around the septuplets started to subside with time,
Trying to Keep Things Private it gave an excellent opportunity to the
McCaughey’s to get on with raising their eight children.
They received a useful piece of advice from the Dionne family who had
quintuplets that it is best to keep their family life as private as possible.
They acted upon the advice of the Dionne family with one exception;
they would make a public appearance yearly on the birthday 0f seven.

The Dionne quintuplets were born in Ontario, Canada,
in 1934 to Elzire Dionne.

The Advice from Quintuplets
She came under a lot of criticism for the way her babies were raised. There was a lot of press focus on the children, and the press sometimes even described them as a circus.
The quintuplets, who were grown adults, advised Kenny and Bobbi about keeping their children’s lives as private as possible.

Managing a Lot of Work
Even a single child can make a lot of mess and increase your workload; the couple
had to deal with the chaos and dirty clothes of 8 children. It was surely a lot of work.
It was reported that the McCaughey’s did an average of 17 loads of laundry a week.
Given they tried their best to keep their lives private, it means that they had to do
a lot of house chores themselves. Luckily for them, they had two washing machines
and two dryers to help them with loads of laundry.

They Needed of a Strategy,

With seven growing babies, it was apparent that there would be a lot of laundry.
But there were other expenses as well. They were using, on average, 52 diapers
a day between them and 42 bottles of milk.
As expected, the couple was spending a lot of money daily. So, Bobbi and Kenny
decided that they need to come up with a strategy to manage their large family
and control their expenses.

Not Opting for Formula Milk
It would’ve been understandable if Bobbi had decided only to give formula milk to her children, but she decided that she would feed her babies with pumped breast milk for the first three months.
For seven babies, the pumped four to five gallons of milk would get through a week.

Everything Took Time
With the septuplets, it was expected that everything from feeding them to changing diapers would take a lot of time. For instance, potty training was quite time-consuming and challenging.
They were able to potty-train their first daughter Mikayla within four days,
but it wasn’t that easy with the septuplets. It also took a lot of time to
potty train them fully.

Volunteers Were Like a Blessing

It takes a lot of effort and time to raise a child, and in the case of McCaughey’s
eight children needed to be raised. So, volunteers stepped in to help the family.
The family would have needed around seventy volunteers to help with daily tasks
around the house. Still, eight or nine people were helping with changing diapers,
feeding the babies, and taking proper care.

Everyone Was Trying to Help.
It was great to see so many helping hands.
Anyone who came in contact with the family wanted to help them in some way.
Even the construction workers that were involved in building their new house
spent time taking care of the babies.

Here is a photo of Bobbi’s sister holding one of the septuplets.

Family Stepped In As Well
It wasn’t just the volunteers who stepped forward to help the McCaughey’s;
there was also a lot of help from within the family as well.
The help Bobbi and Kenny received meant a lot to them as
they couldn’t have done it without them.

Although everyone in the family was eager to help the McCaughey’s,

There was one particular family member who wanted to help in
whatever possible way there was.

The Big Sister Being a Big Sister
Big sister Mikayla helped in feeding times and taking care of her siblings.
She knew that it was her responsibility to take care of her siblings to take
some load off her parents.

Implementing Their Strategy: As we’ve mentioned earlier,

The McCaughey’s came up with a strategy to maintain their expenses,
and they applied it quite impressively. For instance, they bought everything
in bulk to save some money on everything. They also started purchasing
products that came with some special offers. They manage to bring their
monthly expenses to $300 a month.

Futuristic Strollers: Seeing twin strollers is not uncommon,

But what the McCaughey’s required was two sets of four-seater strollers to
carry their babies around the town – something no one had ever seen before.
So, whenever they used to go for a walk around their neighborhood,
their strollers would get a lot of attention.

Going Green
The McCaugheys were doing an excellent job at reducing their monthly expenses,
but they knew that they had to do more. So, they started growing their fruits and
vegetables as it was not only an organic option but a free one as well.

They were able to reduce the cost of grocery shopping by using fresh fruits and
vegetables from their backyard. The only thing that they were missing was a cow.

Regular Check-ups
Taking care of just one baby requires a lot of attention, and when it comes to taking
care of seven babies, the amount of attention needed increases by seven times.
That’s why the couple ensured all seven babies were regularly getting checked by the doctor.

Eating Healthy Breakfast Each Day
All the babies loved their breakfast, and it is a good thing because all of them needed healthy food for their proper growth. The babies required massive quantities of whatever they were eating for breakfast on any given day.

Cryptophasia: As the babies grow into toddlers, they develop
a unique bond between them and create their own language.

This phenomenon is called cryptophasia and it is no different as
it usually happens between twins and triplets and siblings.

With each passing year, the septuplets grew older, and the family
celebrated each birthday together and created more memories.

Celebrating The Milestones Together
They considered the birthdays an excellent opportunity to thank the Lord for helping their babies and also for helping the couple make the right decision of keeping all of their babies.

The Pinnacle of Correct Shoe Sizes
As each kid grew at a different rate, some grew stronger while some were fragile.
But it didn’t matter to the parents. However, Bobbi and Kenny did decide to dress
up their four boys alike and had the same outfit for three girls. They faced issues
with finding the correct shoe sizes.

Clothing for Septuplets
Buying clothes for seven growing kids was costing the McCaugheys huge sums of money.
However, something amazing happened. A famous children’s clothing brand, Carter’s,
announced that they would be supplying clothes for all of the babies until the age of five.
It was one of many examples of how people showed their generosity towards Bobbi,
Kenny, and their cute family.

Getting Attention of Two Presidents

When the septuplets were born, the president of the United States at the time,
Bill Clinton, also called the couple and congratulated them. Years later, the next
President, George W. Bush, also had the chance to meet the children. Lucky him!

Meeting George W. Bush
The McCaugheys were invited in 2001 to meet with President George W. Bush.
As it was a big deal for the family, the parents made sure that all the kids were
properly dressed. It was a great meet up, and the kids were dressed in such a
way that it attracted everyone’s attention within seconds of their arrival.

Clinton’s Call
When the septuplets were born, the McCaugheys got a call from Bill Clinton.
The President congratulated Bobbi and Kenny and also said to Bobbi that when
the seven children finally go off to school, she will be able to get a job running a
major corporation in America. “You will be one of the best-organized managers
in the United States,” said President Clinton to Bobbi.

Everyone Wanted to Meet Them

It is no surprise that the septuplets were famous babies even before they were born. Everyone was fascinated by them, and they were a favorite topic of most people.

Learning How to Share: Here in the photo, you can see there
are just four candles for seven children.

It is because the parents wanted to teach them the lesson of learning how to share.
The McCaugheys not only tried to be economical, they were able to teach their seven
a lesson about sharing as well. It seems the children weren’t too worried about it.

Different Personalities: As the septuplets started to grow up,

they began to develop different personalities as well.
For instance, Brandon is brave and a little stubborn.

Different Personalities
Kenny junior is considered the joker among the group, whereas Natalie and Joel like to read books. Although Kenny was always a well-mannered guy, his son, Kenny Junior, is known for causing mischief from time to time.
That explains why Bobbi calls her son, “pint-sized explorer.” It is beautiful that children of the same parents grow up to have different personalities. This is something that cannot be explained, and that’s the beauty of it.

If you have a house that is full of eight growing children,
taking out time for yourself can be difficult.

Dedicated Date Night
That’s why Kenny and Bobbi decided to set aside Friday as their
date night so that they could get much needed alone time together.

Different Personality Traits
Each of the eight children has unique characteristics. As Kenny and Bobbie spent a lot of time with their kids, they were able to pick up on the different personality traits of their children. For instance, Kelsey is a “sporty fashionista,” Nathan is “determined,” and Alexis is “sweet and perceptive.”

Taking Time Out for Family
Taking care of kids and running a family is hectic, and yet you have to take out some
time to spend quality time together. With eight children, the McCaughey’s were finding it difficult. However, they still used to take some time out. Here is when the whole family went to Disney World in Orlando.

Getting Back on The Cover

As the children celebrated their eighth birthday, they did it in style this time as they appeared on the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal. There was also an article in the magazine which included Bobbi and Kenny answering different questions.

Getting Way Too Much Attention

As there was already a lot of media attention before and after the birth of the children,
the parents could have decided to allow a reality TV show about their lives, and it would
not have been something different. However, they made sure that it didn’t happen.
Although, there were occasional times when the children did a feature on TV or in the press.

This time, all the kids had their cakes with 13 candles.

As mentioned earlier, the McCaugheys didn’t want a reality TV based on their lives,
so they didn’t allow cameras in the house…except on the children’s birthday.

One Exception: Here, the couple allowed Ann Curry from
the Today Show to meet the children on their 14th birthday.
Dateline’s 20th: McCaughey septuplets (nbcnews.com)

The septuplets started high school in 2012 by enrolling in
Carlisle High School in Carlisle, Iowa.

Starting High School
As expected, they received a lot of attention from everyone.
But they handled it quite well (probably because they have
been doing it their entire lives).

Joining The School Band
As if the septuplets weren’t already receiving a lot of attention, they decided to raise the bar.
They got into the school band and started playing together at the school’s sports matches.

Siblings with Different Interests and Talents
The septuplets didn’t just captivate everyone by featuring in a school band, but they also had their talents and interests. Some of the septuplets joined the cross-country team, and some joined the wrestling team, and while the less sporty ones joined the choir and speech society.

Buffet Everyday: When it comes to feeding eight growing mouths,

It takes a lot to prepare just one meal.
That’s why Bobbi and Kenny decided to serve meals in the house as buffets.
It turned out to be the best time in the house, and the kids started to help in
preparing the meals as well.

It Wasn’t All Sunshine and Rainbows

As we know, the premature birth of a child can affect his or her development.
In the case of septuplets, there were some premature births, and it resulted in
two children being born with cerebral palsy. Nathan and Alexis both suffer from
cerebral palsy, which affects their movement and coordination.

“I taught myself how to walk because I really wanted to learn.

Strong Nathan
As both Alexis and Nathan have difficulty walking and require walking aids,
Nathan was keen to walk without support. He taught himself how to walk
without the help of his walker.
Strong Nathan stated: It’s just been getting better and better,” he said.

Alexis Making Waves as Well ~ Just like her brother,

Alexis didn’t want to get confined by her condition.
Although she still needs aid to walk, she has shown her immense talent in many other areas, proving she is an exceptional person. She won the “Teens Miss Dreams Come True” award in 2013. Also, she is excellent in academics as well; she also finished in the
top 15% of her class.

Turning Sixteen: As the septuplets turned sixteen.

they gained the attraction of the press and the world again. Everyone wanted to
know what was going on in their lives and what kind of personalities they have.

As sixteen is the age when teenagers start their driving lessons,

Turning Sixteen, the McCaughey’s knew that it could be costly.
So, they came up with a different, affordable solution.

Work to Make Your Wishes Come True
Kenny Sr. is a firm believer in working hard, and he has made sure he instills this belief in all of his children as well. In an interview with NBC, he said, “We were taught if you want something, you have to work for it.”

Work to Make Your Wishes Come True
The parents made sure to teach their children a lesson that if they
want something that is out of the ordinary, they should work for it.

Capturing The Milestone
As the septuplets turned eighteen, the press was ready to capture the milestone.
It was a special year for the teenagers as they also graduated from high school.

Capturing The Milestone: Although they are septuplets,
they were still doing regular teenager things.

Entering A New Phase of Life
As the septuplets turned 18, there was a sense of relief in everyone’s eyes, not just for the children but the parents as well. Of course, their parents are always there to guide and support them. But we can imagine how difficult it would be to give advice to each of the eight children while considering their personalities and needs.

A Proud Moment: Graduation, yay!

The septuplets made their parents and themselves proud by graduating in May 2016.
It was a fantastic achievement and a message for anyone who doubted they would achieve this much in their lives. It was the result of the endless efforts of Bobbi and Kenny.

Emotional Bobbi
It was an emotional moment for Bobbi as she saw her beautiful children grow up and graduate from high school. The best thing for her is the bond that all her children share between them. “It’s sad to see things end, but there will be lots of firsts coming,” she said.

Alexis and Kenny Jr. decided to enroll in their local college.

Staying Close to Parents
It was nice news for Kenny and Bobbi as it meant they were close to them.
Alexis hopes to become a teacher, and we are sure one day she would become
a great one (we can say it because she is known as an academic student,
and she graduated at the top of her class).

It was a proud moment for Bobbi and Kenny

When they learned that their son Brandon had enrolled in the U.S. Army.
He always dreamt of becoming a soldier, and his wish finally came true.
Proud Parents: After training, he has become an expert in pistol and also
carbon shooting, and we hope he serves his country proudly.

Brandon is now a part of the 75th Ranger Regiment,

Has made his parents proud and fulfilled his dream of joining the army.
He followed his heart and made sure that he never deviates from it.
We hope he goes on to fulfill all his desires and serves his country better.

Different Path for Kenny Jr
All of the septuplets have their own identities and personalities. That’s why they all
find their happiness in things that they love to do. For Kenny Jr., the dream was clear;
to become a carpenter. So far, he has been doing a great job at it.

When big sister Mikayla was blessed with her first child,

Gift from Little Brother
Kenny Jr. decided to create a memorable and long-lasting gift for his sister.
He created a classic kitchen table with benches for his sister, and she felt super blessed and happy to have it. Can’t all sisters have a brother like Kenny Jr.?

College Education Promise
When the septuplets were born, the state of Iowa promised to sponsor each child’s college education at any university of their choice. Natalie, Nathan, Joel, and Kelsey took up the offer and enrolled at the Hannibal-LaGrange University in Missouri, and they are studying there right now. Although they are far from home, they get comfort from the fact that they are together.

Meet The Future Teacher

Alexis has always dreamt of becoming a teacher,
and she is currently pursuing her dream of becoming one.
Her social media presence shows us how she is trying her best to achieve her dream,
and we are quite confident that she’ll have a significant impact on the students.

Meet The Future Scientist

Early in his childhood, Nathan took a liking to the sciences.
Although he is still deciding which area of science he would like to pursue
as a career, we are sure he will achieve success in whatever field he chooses.

Meet the Next Musician

Kelsey enrolled at Hannibal-LaGrange University and chose music as her major.
She is inarguably a bright talent, and we are excited to see her achieve success in this field.
She has been passionate about music for as long as she can remember, and it won’t be long
before we can see her performances.

Meet the Next Computer Scientist

Just like Nathan, Joel chose something technical. However, his field is different
as he is passionate about computer science. We are looking at the next computer
scientist, and we hope to see him achieve a lot of success in the upcoming years.

Meet the Next Elementary School Teacher

Natalie is pursuing her career in education, just like her sister Alexis,
but she is taking a different route. She is focusing on early-childhood
education and is interested in elementary school education.

Inseparable Siblings
The septuplets gave an interview on TV after their graduation.
As they have experienced being in front of the media their whole lives,
they didn’t feel nervous at all.

On one particular question about their closeness,

They answered that they have an unbreakable bond.
We hope they always stick together through thick and thin.

Feeling Alone
As all of Bobbi and Kenny’s children have gone to pursue their careers, the couple looks at their empty house and misses them. Feeling Alone, However, they are trying to get used to it as they know that their children are always with them no matter the distance.

Big Sister Mikayla
How can we forget big sister Mikayla?
She also started to pursue her dream and received constant encouragement and love from her younger siblings. She studied at Des Moines College and then went on to Arizona State University.

She is happily married and has a beautiful child.

Bobbi and Kenny are happy grandparents.
One of the most special days for the McCaugheys was when Mikayla got married.
Her sisters were her bridesmaids, and her younger brothers were part of the wedding party.

They all look so lovely together in this photo.

Beautiful Bridesmaids
By the way, they hardly managed to squeeze into one photo.

Dad Keeping Himself Busy:
When all your children live in different cities, you can find it depressing in your home.
However, Kenny McCaughey found an excellent opportunity to occupy his spare time.

He has become passionate about his motorcycles.
He scraps motorcycles and then carefully rebuilds them.
He also takes rides on one of his bikes around the country.

Since all the children had left for college and moved out,

Downsizing = the house seemed too big for just Kenny and Bobbi.
So, it was a good decision to sell the house and downsize to something smaller.
The McCaughey’s found a buyer of the house in February of this year.

Buyer Found
The new owners of the house are quite lucky as they own a house that was filled
with happiness and love. So, Bobbi and Kenny are settling into their new home.
Oh wait, there’s a twist.

Giving Back to the Society
Bobbi and Kenny would have sold their house for a considerable sum of money, but they decided to give it to an organization called Ruth Harbor. The organization is a non-profit, and it helps young women with unplanned pregnancies.

When the couple was asked about their generous decision, they said,
“We have been blessed to receive such a wonderful gift, and nothing would please
us more than the idea of our home being used as a place of refuge for those in need.”

Looking Back and Feeling Lucky

Whenever Bobbi and Kenny look back to when they had to decide on selective reduction, they feel lucky and blessed that they made the right decision. After all, opting for selective reduction would’ve meant a smaller family for the McCaugheys.

Creating Awareness
Having a baby comes with a lot of challenges, and Bobbi and Kenny were able to raise
not one or two but eight children. They are hoping to create more awareness about it,
and their eight kids show how successful they were.

It wasn’t long after the birth of the septuplets that McCaugheys decided
to write and release their book, which would include their experiences.

Penning Down Their Experiences

The book’s primary theme is the couple’s faith and belief in God.
You’ll find that it was the religion that played a significant role in giving
them the power to raise their children. The McCaughey’s made a decision
that they would try their best to keep their children away from the press
and the public eye.

A Deal: To chronicle the progress of their children,

They struck a deal with Gamma Press in 2001 so that they could
take a photograph of the children once a year on their birthdays.
It was a smart deal as the family can look back on the images and
cherish those fantastic days.

Lucky Photographers
There were a few lucky photographers who had the privilege of taking
photos of children each year. They were Rodney White, Holly McQueen,
and Andrea Mendez. Lucky Photographers

Documenting Each Milestone in a Special Way

These photographers were keen on taking photos of the septuplets, and they
were able to record the lives of septuplets as they became part of American history.

As there were group photos of the septuplets, each child also received an annual individual portrait. The portrait helped document the important milestones of each child. If you can’t identify who is who in this photo, let us help you.

Top row, from left to right, Kelsey, Kenny Jr, Natalie, and big sister Mikayla.
On the bottom row are Alexis, Brandon, Nathan, and Joel.

But it is not an easy task to take pictures with energetic children.

Too Much Happiness and Energy
This photo shows the calmness of Bobbi.
Bobbi was able to take a relaxing photo with seven children.
How cool is that, right?

Playing Together and Alone
As septuplets are not a regular occurrence, many people wondered if each
child got to play with his or her toys and if they had a typical childhood or not.
The truth is that they started to share at a very young age, and they were able
to play alone whenever they felt it.

Love for Video Games
As it is the case with most young kids, some of the septuplets (especially the boys)
enjoyed playing video games. They could sit for hours playing their favorite games.
Although Bobbi and Kenny hoped that one day the kids would grow of their craze,
it didn’t happen (it usually doesn’t happen).

The Craze Never Ends
The kids have grown up, and they still like to spend hours playing their favorite games.
As we mentioned earlier that Ann Curry covered the story of septuplets on the Today Show. The world was always curious to see how the kids have progressed,
and Ann showed glimpses of their progress from time to time.

Will It Happen Again?
If you’re wondering if multiple births will run in the family, then the simple answer is probably no. It is because Kenny and Bobbi were fortunate enough to have septuplets because of undergoing fertility treatment. So, it seems like it won’t happen in the family again.

Would They Have Swiped Septuplets for Twins?

One thing we have learned from the story of Bobbi and Kenny,
Is that they feel blessed to have septuplets, and they wouldn’t change anything about it.
If they would give you one important piece of advice; if you want anything in your life,
just go for it.

BONUS: The World’s First Surviving Octuplets Are All Grown up Now (wackojaco.com)

The World’s First Surviving Septuplets Are Grown Ups Now

The McCaughey Septuplets – Bing video
This article was originally published on ParentMood by John Travis
The McCaughey septuplets born November 19, 1997, are the septuplets
of Bobbi (mother) and Kenny McCaughey from Des Moines, Iowa.
They are the world’s first known set of surviving septuplets.

Adding another family member and becoming a parent is one of the most life-changing experiences – so imagine welcoming seven newborns all at once. That’s what Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey did many years ago now. Fortunately, their sons and daughters lived healthy lives and ultimately became the first-ever septuplets to all survive.
From babies to young adults, here is their story.

Meet The Incredible Parents

Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey felt super blessed at the arrival of a healthy baby girl in 1996. Given that Bobbi had to battle complications with her pituitary gland, which can cause problems with fertility, the couple believed their newborn daughter to be a miracle baby.

They decided to name her Mikayla Marie. They weren’t planning on having just one child,
so they started to consider having their next.

Pursuing Fertility Treatment
Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey knew about the difficulties in conceiving Mikayla,
and that’s why they decided to seek fertility treatment for their next child.

Upon seeking medical advice, the doctor prescribed Metrodin, a medication that
helps with ovulation and is required to be taken by a woman to conceive a child.
With plans for their second baby, Bobbi started taking the medication.

When Bobbi and her husband went for a scan to their doctor,

Planned For One, Got Seven
they were hoping that everything would turn out fine, and they wouldn’t be getting
any surprises. However, the scan turned out to be life changing as it revealed that
Bobbi was pregnant with not one but seven babies.

It was big news for them as they were not only looking at a big family of 10 but also
because the pregnancy posed a great danger to the health of Bobbi and the babies.

A Tough Decision
As multiple births can pose a danger to the health of both the mother and the babies, Bobbi’s body was under immense strain from carrying not one but seven fetuses. Due to the risk to Bobbi and her unborn babies, the doctor recommended the couple to consider
a process called “selected reduction.”

In this process, those fetuses are protected, which are most likely to make it to full term. Hence, it is like aborting babies who have fewer survival chances.

Taking The Risk
Bobbi and Kenny fully understood the risks involved in the pregnancy that poses a lot of dangers to mother and babies’ health, but they didn’t want to choose one of their babies above another. So, they gave it a long thought and decided to proceed with the pregnancy.

It was a tough decision because only about 40-50 births in the world have resulted from
a pregnancy involving seven babies. There is a possibility that they drew some confidence from the fact that although many septuplets have not survived birth or infancy, at least one more set of septuplets had survived beyond infancy.

Getting Lots of Attention from Everyone

As Bobbi and Kenny made the big decision to keep all seven babies and not opt for selective reduction, the news spread like wildfire, and everyone across the country
wanted to know more about them.

While some found the story of septuplets fascinating, some people weren’t supportive of keeping all seven babies. However, Bobbi and Kenny had made up their minds, and they were confident that everything would work out for the best.

Getting Help
People who knew the McCaugheys, and those who didn’t know them at all, everyone was eager to offer them help. It was understandable because the birth of seven children at once was undoubtedly an extraordinary event.

More Assistance Came That Help: For instance, Kraft stepped.
forward to give the family a year’s supply of “mac n cheese.”

They were also given boxes of diapers, and some offered help as babysitters or nannies.
Amazingly, a 5,000 square foot house was also donated to the family.

Another Gift
As if getting a 5,000 square foot house wasn’t showing the people’s generosity,
someone stepped forward to donate a brand-new van to the family.

The van was big enough to fit all of the babies comfortably.

More Gifts
Moreover, someone donated a year’s supply of groceries to the family.

As weeks and months were leading up to the birth of seven babies,

Exciting and Scary Times
It was scary, thrilling, and stressful times for the family. The doctors were
concerned that the stress of the deliveries could lead her to early labor.

Bobbi tried her best to keep calm, and though the couple was worried that things might not work as planned, they knew that staying positive was their best bet at that time.
They tried their best to remain as positive as possible.

Delivering The Babies: The couple received the news that they
would need to be at the hospital at just 31 weeks.

They were told that the babies would be delivered by caesarian section.
Although Bobbi and Kenny were a bit surprised, they trusted the doctors.
On November 19th, 1997, Bobby gave birth to seven babies in only the
space of just SIX minutes.

The couple was happy to welcome four boys and three girls.

A Family of TEN
Everyone was relieved to find out that the septuplets were healthy.
All now the parents needed was to name their babies.

The heaviest of the babies was named Robert, while the other boys were named Kenny Robert, Brandon James, Nathan Roy, and Joel Steven. The beautiful girls were named Alexis Mary, Natalie Sue, and Kelsey Ann. It must be a lot to remember the names of
7 babies. Here is a challenge for you: try remembering all the names by the end of this article.

A Team Effort
It wasn’t only Bobbi and Kenny’s effort in bringing seven babies into the world;
there were the dedicated efforts of the hardworking hospital staff as well.

The doctors, nurses and maternity staff were happy that they were part of making American history. A few days after the birth of septuplets, all the team gathered to
take a memorable group photo.

Waiting To Get the First Pictures of Babies.

As Bobbi and Kenny were asked by the doctors to come to the hospital
9 weeks before Bobbi’s due date, the news channels didn’t know about it.

When the news channels finally became aware that the births were taking place at the Iowa Methodist Hospital Center in Des Moines, they started camping out to get the first pictures of the newborns.

Spending Extra Time Under Observation

The doctors at the hospital wanted to ensure that the babies and the mother were healthy before discharging them. Therefore, Bobbie and her seven babies had to spend three months and ten days in the hospital after the delivery.

When the news broke out that the couple and babies were leaving the hospital,
the cameramen and journalists gathered around to get a snap of the septuplets.
As the McCaugheys headed for their home, there were a lot of smiles, cheers,
and even a few tears.

Getting Police Security outside the home of the McCaughey’s

As they wanted to ensure that the couple reached their home without facing any trouble whatsoever. The babies were first brought back to the couple’s old home, but they would be moving into their new home pretty soon.

While the couple took care of their seven babies in their old home,

Exciting Times: their new home was getting ready and once their new home was organized, a ceremony took place in which they were handed over the keys to their new home.
The ceremony involved the chairman of Clarke Companies, Lloyd Clarke. He gave the keys to the couple in the garage of the house. There was excitement in the air as the couple entered their new home.

Getting Countrywide Media Attention

In December of 1997 (just a month after the septuplets were born),
Bobbi and Kenny featured on the front cover of Time Magazine.

Initially, the couple thought that only local reporters were interested in covering their story, but they didn’t know that their incredible septuplets had caught the attention of some big magazines as well.

After the news magazine, ABC News PrimeTime was able to get.
full access to the family for a complete interview and news feature.

A Complete Interview
Given that most of the coverage involved reporters retelling what others
had already written, the interview with ABC covered other aspects as well.

While most of the news coverage was positive:

There Was Also Criticism and some negative reports, as well.
Some people called the family irresponsible for having too many children.

Some even criticized the couple because they thought that the amount of waste
generated by having so many babies could play a role in damaging the environment.
But it didn’t matter to the couple as they were happy with their babies.

They felt blessed to have seven babies.

As the excitement around the septuplets started to subside with time,
Trying to Keep Things Private it gave an excellent opportunity to the
McCaughey’s to get on with raising their eight children.
They received a useful piece of advice from the Dionne family who had
quintuplets that it is best to keep their family life as private as possible.
They acted upon the advice of the Dionne family with one exception;
they would make a public appearance yearly on the birthday 0f seven.

The Dionne quintuplets were born in Ontario, Canada,
in 1934 to Elzire Dionne.

The Advice from Quintuplets
She came under a lot of criticism for the way her babies were raised. There was a lot of press focus on the children, and the press sometimes even described them as a circus.
The quintuplets, who were grown adults, advised Kenny and Bobbi about keeping their children’s lives as private as possible.

Managing a Lot of Work
Even a single child can make a lot of mess and increase your workload; the couple
had to deal with the chaos and dirty clothes of 8 children. It was surely a lot of work.
It was reported that the McCaughey’s did an average of 17 loads of laundry a week.
Given they tried their best to keep their lives private, it means that they had to do
a lot of house chores themselves. Luckily for them, they had two washing machines
and two dryers to help them with loads of laundry.

They Needed of a Strategy,

With seven growing babies, it was apparent that there would be a lot of laundry.
But there were other expenses as well. They were using, on average, 52 diapers
a day between them and 42 bottles of milk.
As expected, the couple was spending a lot of money daily. So, Bobbi and Kenny
decided that they need to come up with a strategy to manage their large family
and control their expenses.

Not Opting for Formula Milk
It would’ve been understandable if Bobbi had decided only to give formula milk to her children, but she decided that she would feed her babies with pumped breast milk for the first three months.
For seven babies, the pumped four to five gallons of milk would get through a week.

Everything Took Time
With the septuplets, it was expected that everything from feeding them to changing diapers would take a lot of time. For instance, potty training was quite time-consuming and challenging.
They were able to potty-train their first daughter Mikayla within four days,
but it wasn’t that easy with the septuplets. It also took a lot of time to
potty train them fully.

Volunteers Were Like a Blessing

It takes a lot of effort and time to raise a child, and in the case of McCaughey’s
eight children needed to be raised. So, volunteers stepped in to help the family.
The family would have needed around seventy volunteers to help with daily tasks
around the house. Still, eight or nine people were helping with changing diapers,
feeding the babies, and taking proper care.

Everyone Was Trying to Help.
It was great to see so many helping hands.
Anyone who came in contact with the family wanted to help them in some way.
Even the construction workers that were involved in building their new house
spent time taking care of the babies.

Here is a photo of Bobbi’s sister holding one of the septuplets.

Family Stepped In As Well
It wasn’t just the volunteers who stepped forward to help the McCaughey’s;
there was also a lot of help from within the family as well.
The help Bobbi and Kenny received meant a lot to them as
they couldn’t have done it without them.

Although everyone in the family was eager to help the McCaughey’s,

There was one particular family member who wanted to help in
whatever possible way there was.

The Big Sister Being a Big Sister
Big sister Mikayla helped in feeding times and taking care of her siblings.
She knew that it was her responsibility to take care of her siblings to take
some load off her parents.

Implementing Their Strategy: As we’ve mentioned earlier,

The McCaughey’s came up with a strategy to maintain their expenses,
and they applied it quite impressively. For instance, they bought everything
in bulk to save some money on everything. They also started purchasing
products that came with some special offers. They manage to bring their
monthly expenses to $300 a month.

Futuristic Strollers: Seeing twin strollers is not uncommon,

But what the McCaughey’s required was two sets of four-seater strollers to
carry their babies around the town – something no one had ever seen before.
So, whenever they used to go for a walk around their neighborhood,
their strollers would get a lot of attention.

Going Green
The McCaugheys were doing an excellent job at reducing their monthly expenses,
but they knew that they had to do more. So, they started growing their fruits and
vegetables as it was not only an organic option but a free one as well.

They were able to reduce the cost of grocery shopping by using fresh fruits and
vegetables from their backyard. The only thing that they were missing was a cow.

Regular Check-ups
Taking care of just one baby requires a lot of attention, and when it comes to taking
care of seven babies, the amount of attention needed increases by seven times.
That’s why the couple ensured all seven babies were regularly getting checked by the doctor.

Eating Healthy Breakfast Each Day
All the babies loved their breakfast, and it is a good thing because all of them needed healthy food for their proper growth. The babies required massive quantities of whatever they were eating for breakfast on any given day.

Cryptophasia: As the babies grow into toddlers, they develop
a unique bond between them and create their own language.

This phenomenon is called cryptophasia and it is no different as
it usually happens between twins and triplets and siblings.

With each passing year, the septuplets grew older, and the family
celebrated each birthday together and created more memories.

Celebrating The Milestones Together
They considered the birthdays an excellent opportunity to thank the Lord for helping their babies and also for helping the couple make the right decision of keeping all of their babies.

The Pinnacle of Correct Shoe Sizes
As each kid grew at a different rate, some grew stronger while some were fragile.
But it didn’t matter to the parents. However, Bobbi and Kenny did decide to dress
up their four boys alike and had the same outfit for three girls. They faced issues
with finding the correct shoe sizes.

Clothing for Septuplets
Buying clothes for seven growing kids was costing the McCaugheys huge sums of money.
However, something amazing happened. A famous children’s clothing brand, Carter’s,
announced that they would be supplying clothes for all of the babies until the age of five.
It was one of many examples of how people showed their generosity towards Bobbi,
Kenny, and their cute family.

Getting Attention of Two Presidents

When the septuplets were born, the president of the United States at the time,
Bill Clinton, also called the couple and congratulated them. Years later, the next
President, George W. Bush, also had the chance to meet the children. Lucky him!

Meeting George W. Bush
The McCaugheys were invited in 2001 to meet with President George W. Bush.
As it was a big deal for the family, the parents made sure that all the kids were
properly dressed. It was a great meet up, and the kids were dressed in such a
way that it attracted everyone’s attention within seconds of their arrival.

Clinton’s Call
When the septuplets were born, the McCaugheys got a call from Bill Clinton.
The President congratulated Bobbi and Kenny and also said to Bobbi that when
the seven children finally go off to school, she will be able to get a job running a
major corporation in America. “You will be one of the best-organized managers
in the United States,” said President Clinton to Bobbi.

Everyone Wanted to Meet Them

It is no surprise that the septuplets were famous babies even before they were born. Everyone was fascinated by them, and they were a favorite topic of most people.

Learning How to Share: Here in the photo, you can see there
are just four candles for seven children.

It is because the parents wanted to teach them the lesson of learning how to share.
The McCaugheys not only tried to be economical, they were able to teach their seven
a lesson about sharing as well. It seems the children weren’t too worried about it.

Different Personalities: As the septuplets started to grow up,

they began to develop different personalities as well.
For instance, Brandon is brave and a little stubborn.

Different Personalities
Kenny junior is considered the joker among the group, whereas Natalie and Joel like to read books. Although Kenny was always a well-mannered guy, his son, Kenny Junior, is known for causing mischief from time to time.
That explains why Bobbi calls her son, “pint-sized explorer.” It is beautiful that children of the same parents grow up to have different personalities. This is something that cannot be explained, and that’s the beauty of it.

If you have a house that is full of eight growing children,
taking out time for yourself can be difficult.

Dedicated Date Night
That’s why Kenny and Bobbi decided to set aside Friday as their
date night so that they could get much needed alone time together.

Different Personality Traits
Each of the eight children has unique characteristics. As Kenny and Bobbie spent a lot of time with their kids, they were able to pick up on the different personality traits of their children. For instance, Kelsey is a “sporty fashionista,” Nathan is “determined,” and Alexis is “sweet and perceptive.”

Taking Time Out for Family
Taking care of kids and running a family is hectic, and yet you have to take out some
time to spend quality time together. With eight children, the McCaughey’s were finding it difficult. However, they still used to take some time out. Here is when the whole family went to Disney World in Orlando.

Getting Back on The Cover

As the children celebrated their eighth birthday, they did it in style this time as they appeared on the cover of Ladies’ Home Journal. There was also an article in the magazine which included Bobbi and Kenny answering different questions.

Getting Way Too Much Attention

As there was already a lot of media attention before and after the birth of the children,
the parents could have decided to allow a reality TV show about their lives, and it would
not have been something different. However, they made sure that it didn’t happen.
Although, there were occasional times when the children did a feature on TV or in the press.

This time, all the kids had their cakes with 13 candles.

As mentioned earlier, the McCaugheys didn’t want a reality TV based on their lives,
so they didn’t allow cameras in the house…except on the children’s birthday.

One Exception: Here, the couple allowed Ann Curry from
the Today Show to meet the children on their 14th birthday.
Dateline’s 20th: McCaughey septuplets (nbcnews.com)

The septuplets started high school in 2012 by enrolling in
Carlisle High School in Carlisle, Iowa.

Starting High School
As expected, they received a lot of attention from everyone.
But they handled it quite well (probably because they have
been doing it their entire lives).

Joining The School Band
As if the septuplets weren’t already receiving a lot of attention, they decided to raise the bar.
They got into the school band and started playing together at the school’s sports matches.

Siblings with Different Interests and Talents
The septuplets didn’t just captivate everyone by featuring in a school band, but they also had their talents and interests. Some of the septuplets joined the cross-country team, and some joined the wrestling team, and while the less sporty ones joined the choir and speech society.

Buffet Everyday: When it comes to feeding eight growing mouths,

It takes a lot to prepare just one meal.
That’s why Bobbi and Kenny decided to serve meals in the house as buffets.
It turned out to be the best time in the house, and the kids started to help in
preparing the meals as well.

It Wasn’t All Sunshine and Rainbows

As we know, the premature birth of a child can affect his or her development.
In the case of septuplets, there were some premature births, and it resulted in
two children being born with cerebral palsy. Nathan and Alexis both suffer from
cerebral palsy, which affects their movement and coordination.

“I taught myself how to walk because I really wanted to learn.

Strong Nathan
As both Alexis and Nathan have difficulty walking and require walking aids,
Nathan was keen to walk without support. He taught himself how to walk
without the help of his walker.
Strong Nathan stated: It’s just been getting better and better,” he said.

Alexis Making Waves as Well ~ Just like her brother,

Alexis didn’t want to get confined by her condition.
Although she still needs aid to walk, she has shown her immense talent in many other areas, proving she is an exceptional person. She won the “Teens Miss Dreams Come True” award in 2013. Also, she is excellent in academics as well; she also finished in the
top 15% of her class.

Turning Sixteen: As the septuplets turned sixteen.

they gained the attraction of the press and the world again. Everyone wanted to
know what was going on in their lives and what kind of personalities they have.

As sixteen is the age when teenagers start their driving lessons,

Turning Sixteen, the McCaughey’s knew that it could be costly.
So, they came up with a different, affordable solution.

Work to Make Your Wishes Come True
Kenny Sr. is a firm believer in working hard, and he has made sure he instills this belief in all of his children as well. In an interview with NBC, he said, “We were taught if you want something, you have to work for it.”

Work to Make Your Wishes Come True
The parents made sure to teach their children a lesson that if they
want something that is out of the ordinary, they should work for it.

Capturing The Milestone
As the septuplets turned eighteen, the press was ready to capture the milestone.
It was a special year for the teenagers as they also graduated from high school.

Capturing The Milestone: Although they are septuplets,
they were still doing regular teenager things.

Entering A New Phase of Life
As the septuplets turned 18, there was a sense of relief in everyone’s eyes, not just for the children but the parents as well. Of course, their parents are always there to guide and support them. But we can imagine how difficult it would be to give advice to each of the eight children while considering their personalities and needs.

A Proud Moment: Graduation, yay!

The septuplets made their parents and themselves proud by graduating in May 2016.
It was a fantastic achievement and a message for anyone who doubted they would achieve this much in their lives. It was the result of the endless efforts of Bobbi and Kenny.

Emotional Bobbi
It was an emotional moment for Bobbi as she saw her beautiful children grow up and graduate from high school. The best thing for her is the bond that all her children share between them. “It’s sad to see things end, but there will be lots of firsts coming,” she said.

Alexis and Kenny Jr. decided to enroll in their local college.

Staying Close to Parents
It was nice news for Kenny and Bobbi as it meant they were close to them.
Alexis hopes to become a teacher, and we are sure one day she would become
a great one (we can say it because she is known as an academic student,
and she graduated at the top of her class).

It was a proud moment for Bobbi and Kenny

When they learned that their son Brandon had enrolled in the U.S. Army.
He always dreamt of becoming a soldier, and his wish finally came true.
Proud Parents: After training, he has become an expert in pistol and also
carbon shooting, and we hope he serves his country proudly.

Brandon is now a part of the 75th Ranger Regiment,

Has made his parents proud and fulfilled his dream of joining the army.
He followed his heart and made sure that he never deviates from it.
We hope he goes on to fulfill all his desires and serves his country better.

Different Path for Kenny Jr
All of the septuplets have their own identities and personalities. That’s why they all
find their happiness in things that they love to do. For Kenny Jr., the dream was clear;
to become a carpenter. So far, he has been doing a great job at it.

When big sister Mikayla was blessed with her first child,

Gift from Little Brother
Kenny Jr. decided to create a memorable and long-lasting gift for his sister.
He created a classic kitchen table with benches for his sister, and she felt super blessed and happy to have it. Can’t all sisters have a brother like Kenny Jr.?

College Education Promise
When the septuplets were born, the state of Iowa promised to sponsor each child’s college education at any university of their choice. Natalie, Nathan, Joel, and Kelsey took up the offer and enrolled at the Hannibal-LaGrange University in Missouri, and they are studying there right now. Although they are far from home, they get comfort from the fact that they are together.

Meet The Future Teacher

Alexis has always dreamt of becoming a teacher,
and she is currently pursuing her dream of becoming one.
Her social media presence shows us how she is trying her best to achieve her dream,
and we are quite confident that she’ll have a significant impact on the students.

Meet The Future Scientist

Early in his childhood, Nathan took a liking to the sciences.
Although he is still deciding which area of science he would like to pursue
as a career, we are sure he will achieve success in whatever field he chooses.

Meet the Next Musician

Kelsey enrolled at Hannibal-LaGrange University and chose music as her major.
She is inarguably a bright talent, and we are excited to see her achieve success in this field.
She has been passionate about music for as long as she can remember, and it won’t be long
before we can see her performances.

Meet the Next Computer Scientist

Just like Nathan, Joel chose something technical. However, his field is different
as he is passionate about computer science. We are looking at the next computer
scientist, and we hope to see him achieve a lot of success in the upcoming years.

Meet the Next Elementary School Teacher

Natalie is pursuing her career in education, just like her sister Alexis,
but she is taking a different route. She is focusing on early-childhood
education and is interested in elementary school education.

Inseparable Siblings
The septuplets gave an interview on TV after their graduation.
As they have experienced being in front of the media their whole lives,
they didn’t feel nervous at all.

On one particular question about their closeness,

They answered that they have an unbreakable bond.
We hope they always stick together through thick and thin.

Feeling Alone
As all of Bobbi and Kenny’s children have gone to pursue their careers, the couple looks at their empty house and misses them. Feeling Alone, However, they are trying to get used to it as they know that their children are always with them no matter the distance.

Big Sister Mikayla
How can we forget big sister Mikayla?
She also started to pursue her dream and received constant encouragement and love from her younger siblings. She studied at Des Moines College and then went on to Arizona State University.

She is happily married and has a beautiful child.

Bobbi and Kenny are happy grandparents.
One of the most special days for the McCaugheys was when Mikayla got married.
Her sisters were her bridesmaids, and her younger brothers were part of the wedding party.

They all look so lovely together in this photo.

Beautiful Bridesmaids
By the way, they hardly managed to squeeze into one photo.

Dad Keeping Himself Busy:
When all your children live in different cities, you can find it depressing in your home.
However, Kenny McCaughey found an excellent opportunity to occupy his spare time.

He has become passionate about his motorcycles.
He scraps motorcycles and then carefully rebuilds them.
He also takes rides on one of his bikes around the country.

Since all the children had left for college and moved out,

Downsizing = the house seemed too big for just Kenny and Bobbi.
So, it was a good decision to sell the house and downsize to something smaller.
The McCaughey’s found a buyer of the house in February of this year.

Buyer Found
The new owners of the house are quite lucky as they own a house that was filled
with happiness and love. So, Bobbi and Kenny are settling into their new home.
Oh wait, there’s a twist.

Giving Back to the Society
Bobbi and Kenny would have sold their house for a considerable sum of money, but they decided to give it to an organization called Ruth Harbor. The organization is a non-profit, and it helps young women with unplanned pregnancies.

When the couple was asked about their generous decision, they said,
“We have been blessed to receive such a wonderful gift, and nothing would please
us more than the idea of our home being used as a place of refuge for those in need.”

Looking Back and Feeling Lucky

Whenever Bobbi and Kenny look back to when they had to decide on selective reduction, they feel lucky and blessed that they made the right decision. After all, opting for selective reduction would’ve meant a smaller family for the McCaugheys.

Creating Awareness
Having a baby comes with a lot of challenges, and Bobbi and Kenny were able to raise
not one or two but eight children. They are hoping to create more awareness about it,
and their eight kids show how successful they were.

It wasn’t long after the birth of the septuplets that McCaugheys decided
to write and release their book, which would include their experiences.

Penning Down Their Experiences

The book’s primary theme is the couple’s faith and belief in God.
You’ll find that it was the religion that played a significant role in giving
them the power to raise their children. The McCaughey’s made a decision
that they would try their best to keep their children away from the press
and the public eye.

A Deal: To chronicle the progress of their children,

They struck a deal with Gamma Press in 2001 so that they could
take a photograph of the children once a year on their birthdays.
It was a smart deal as the family can look back on the images and
cherish those fantastic days.

Lucky Photographers
There were a few lucky photographers who had the privilege of taking
photos of children each year. They were Rodney White, Holly McQueen,
and Andrea Mendez. Lucky Photographers

Documenting Each Milestone in a Special Way

These photographers were keen on taking photos of the septuplets, and they
were able to record the lives of septuplets as they became part of American history.

As there were group photos of the septuplets, each child also received an annual individual portrait. The portrait helped document the important milestones of each child. If you can’t identify who is who in this photo, let us help you.

Top row, from left to right, Kelsey, Kenny Jr, Natalie, and big sister Mikayla.
On the bottom row are Alexis, Brandon, Nathan, and Joel.

But it is not an easy task to take pictures with energetic children.

Too Much Happiness and Energy
This photo shows the calmness of Bobbi.
Bobbi was able to take a relaxing photo with seven children.
How cool is that, right?

Playing Together and Alone
As septuplets are not a regular occurrence, many people wondered if each
child got to play with his or her toys and if they had a typical childhood or not.
The truth is that they started to share at a very young age, and they were able
to play alone whenever they felt it.

Love for Video Games
As it is the case with most young kids, some of the septuplets (especially the boys)
enjoyed playing video games. They could sit for hours playing their favorite games.
Although Bobbi and Kenny hoped that one day the kids would grow of their craze,
it didn’t happen (it usually doesn’t happen).

The Craze Never Ends
The kids have grown up, and they still like to spend hours playing their favorite games.
As we mentioned earlier that Ann Curry covered the story of septuplets on the Today Show. The world was always curious to see how the kids have progressed,
and Ann showed glimpses of their progress from time to time.

Will It Happen Again?
If you’re wondering if multiple births will run in the family, then the simple answer is probably no. It is because Kenny and Bobbi were fortunate enough to have septuplets because of undergoing fertility treatment. So, it seems like it won’t happen in the family again.

Would They Have Swiped Septuplets for Twins?

One thing we have learned from the story of Bobbi and Kenny,
Is that they feel blessed to have septuplets, and they wouldn’t change anything about it.
If they would give you one important piece of advice; if you want anything in your life,
just go for it.

BONUS: The World’s First Surviving Octuplets Are All Grown up Now (wackojaco.com)

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