Pearls 2: Michael, Shoshanna, et al

[marmalade]

They've certainly tapped out donations by now. I wonder how much she raised?

[Xan]

30 minutes ago, marmalade said:

They've certainly tapped out donations by now. I wonder how much she raised?

So far she's raised almost $50,000 on GiveSendGo.

[marmalade]

7 minutes ago, Xan said:

So far she's raised almost $50,000 on GiveSendGo.

Damn. That's impressive.

[Cults-r-us]

On 7/18/2024 at 3:28 PM, Coconut Flan said:

To add to the woe of the story, I've never heard of a People's Hospital in TJ.  That doesn't mean it isn't there, but not in the general line of hospitals usually talked about.  Google maps gives me an alternative treatment cancer hospital called Oasis of Hope when I try to get a location.  Also all the normal hospitals are near highway 2 while this one is off near the woo center they picked.  

Nonetheless, despite it's obscure location, People's Hospital got his lung drained, his pneumonia and dehydration treated and oxygen levels up. Then they threw their good work in the crapper by giving him bread made with GM grain and Sysco egg patties. He might be dead already had they not intervened.

[Cults-r-us]

6 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

I've known Catholics who were the same way, that if they just prayed to God he would do what they asked. 

As for the hospital staff, it must be particularly rough dealing with arrogant people who think they know more than you and can't really communicate since they speak the language. 

Most hospitals have a translation service. You sign in, pick a language and voila, a translator appears onscreen. Except I don't think "Fundie" is a language choice.

[JermajestyDuggar]

Don’t they realize why all the H4C doctors speak English? And the nearby hospitals don’t? Because H4C is marketed toward Americans not Mexicans. It’s in Mexico so they can get around all the rules and regulations in America. What would be a red flag to mainstream folks is a positive to fundies. 

[marmalade]

5 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Don’t they realize why all the H4C doctors speak English? And the nearby hospitals don’t? Because H4C is marketed toward Americans not Mexicans. It’s in Mexico so they can get around all the rules and regulations in America. What would be a red flag to mainstream folks is a positive to fundies. 

Do we know how they found that place? Is it a fundie pipeline of sorts?

[JermajestyDuggar]

Just now, marmalade said:

Do we know how they found that place? Is it a fundie pipeline of sorts?

Yes, it’s popular amongst fundies because fundies believe in the woo. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

51 minutes ago, Cults-r-us said:

Most hospitals have a translation service. You sign in, pick a language and voila, a translator appears onscreen. Except I don't think "Fundie" is a language choice.

She said something like "I need to learn Spanish" after talking to doctors. Yes, there could be a sign in menu when they got there, but it came up when dealing with doctors and discussing treatment options. The post is on one of the previous two pages.

[marmalade]

8 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Yes, it’s popular amongst fundies because fundies believe in the woo. 

Not all of them. I think the Duggars and Bateses would seek traditional medical care for a family member with cancer. Traditional medicine saved Cathy Dillard Byrum's life. She also had lymphoma. 

But yeah, no shocker that Pearl spawn is all about the woo, and it will cost her husband his life. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

1 minute ago, marmalade said:

Not all of them. I think the Duggars and Bateses would seek traditional medical care for a family member with cancer. Traditional medicine saved Cathy Dillard Byrum's life. She also had lymphoma. 

But yeah, no shocker that Pearl spawn is all about the woo, and it will cost her husband his life. 

Yes, not all fundies love woo. But there’s a very big overlap. They are not the first fundie to go to H4C and they won’t be the last. 

[marmalade]

7 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Yes, not all fundies love woo. But there’s a very big overlap. They are not the first fundie to go to H4C and they won’t be the last. 

I guess that place is only for the rich woo fundies. I could see a Bontrager there. Poor Allison might not have the funds, though this place is right up her alley. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

11 hours ago, marmalade said:

I guess that place is only for the rich woo fundies. I could see a Bontrager there. Poor Allison might not have the funds, though this place is right up her alley. 

It’s all about the go fund me. Rusty Thomas took his teen son there. I’m sure he got plenty of donations. Everyone wants to donate to help save a sweet teen boy from cancer. But he still died anyway. That boy’s own mother died of cancer when he was very young. I don’t know if she tried woo. Maybe not. Maybe that’s why Rusty Thomas wanted to take Jeremiah there. Because maybe his wife still died after standard cancer treatment. Who knows. But I just wish Jeremiah hadn’t wasted time there. He seemed like such a sweet kid. 

[marmalade]

It sickens me that they toy with cancer like that. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I can’t help but wonder why H4C is what God wants but not standard chemo and radiation at a nearby hospital. 

[Xan]

What kind of therapy could they be planning to do at home for a year?  Is it more organic vegetables?  Colonics?  Light therapy?  I can't help but think that H4C feels that they've gotten all the money that they can out of him so they're turfing him back home for someone else to manage.

A few days ago they were still getting decent amounts of liquid draining from his lungs.  Is that gone now?  Did the tumor shrink that fast?  I have a bad feeling about this.

Edited July 22 by Xan

[hoipolloi]

1 hour ago, Xan said:

I can't help but think that H4C feels that they've gotten all the money that they can out of him so they're turfing him back home for someone else to manage.

This is my guess. H4$ has probably fine-tuned the process of extracting the last dollar before the patient expires on their premises.

[Giraffe]

26 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

This is my guess. H4$ has probably fine-tuned the process of extracting the last dollar before the patient expires on their premises.

I was thinking this after the latest post. I wonder how many of their "patients" are still alive one year after their "treatment." I'd also like to know how many people begin actual medical treatment after leaving there. Eta my guess is not many. If they're deep enough into the woo to go there in the first place* they may dig their heals in further upon leaving. 
 

*and wealthy enough. Even if they fundraise and sell everything they can to go down there there's still some degree of financial ability to do it. (On that note I wonder how many "patients" or their families come back to the states destitute. 

Edited July 22 by Giraffe

[Howl]

I'm wondering if the tumor has shrunk to the size of a raisin, why is he still having terrible problems with fluid buildup in his lungs?  

My hope would be that when he gets home and has a problem that takes him to a hospital, he'll get some feedback by doctors on the actual status of his health. 

 

 

 

Edited July 23 by Howl

[Smee]

12 hours ago, Giraffe said:

I was thinking this after the latest post. I wonder how many of their "patients" are still alive one year after their "treatment." I'd also like to know how many people begin actual medical treatment after leaving there. Eta my guess is not many. If they're deep enough into the woo to go there in the first place* they may dig their heals in further upon leaving. 
 

*and wealthy enough. Even if they fundraise and sell everything they can to go down there there's still some degree of financial ability to do it. (On that note I wonder how many "patients" or their families come back to the states destitute. 

Someone posted a link about this way upthread somewhere - a youtube guy who went searching to see how many patients who had started GoFundMes had evidence of being alive or deceased a couple of years post treatment. The stats were pretty much what you'd expect

[Xan]

There's a Facebook group for H4C victims.  Mostly, it's people who were scammed or have relatives who died.  There are a few posts from people (probably paid by H4C) who try to smooth things over.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1786167898231678/

Apparently, telling people that their tumors shrank by 40%, 50%, etc. is very popular.  When the patients get home, they find the tumors have actually grown.

[Howl]

12 minutes ago, Xan said:

There's a Facebook group for H4C victims

Just did a quick read through.  So many people or family with advanced, metastasized cancer wondering if H4C is a viable option.  I do completely understand clingling to hope in the face of a hopeless diagnosis, but this is not the place. 

14 minutes ago, Xan said:

Apparently, telling people that their tumors shrank by 40%, 50%, etc. is very popular.  When the patients get home, they find the tumors have actually grown.

I fear this is what the Brands will discover when they get home. 

[Howl]

Reading a bit more on the Hope4Cancer Victims Facebook page, spending exactly $50,000 before leaving is mentioned more than once. 

And yes, people are terrified of chemo because of its devastating side effects.  And yes, it's a shitty disease with a scary treatment.  I can understand why desperate people might choose H4C, but there are so many cancers that are curable with traditional treatment or can extent life for many years with ongoing treatment.

When I had breast cancer about 25 years ago, I recall a nurse practitioner telling me that cancer is a yang disease that requires yang treatment.  In regular speak, it's an aggressive disease that requires an aggressive treatment.  That has stayed with me all these years. 

 

Edited July 23 by Howl

[hoipolloi]

1 hour ago, Howl said:

people are terrified of chemo because of its devastating side effects. 

And there is a choice to be made, sometimes, as to whether you want to pursue chemo or palliative care - medical care that allows you, to the extent possible, to stay in your home & community, surrounded by family & friends.

H4$ is a criminal enterprise. That FB page is heartbreaking.

[Xan]

Justin replied to someone on his Facebook page that if all goes well, they're headed home this weekend.  

His page and the one on H4$ is making me so angry.  Everyone on his page is commenting that prayer works and that it's so wonderful that God shrank the tumor.  People are gullible.

Cancer is scary but, in the end, it's just something that goes wrong with your body -- specifically your immune system.  You have a rogue cell that doesn't die and get replaced.  It just keeps growing and your immune system doesn't notice it and kill it off.  You don't catch cancer.  And the body can sometimes heal itself and sometimes placebos work.  However, most of the time we have to rely on science to try to extend our lives.  The fact is that everyone dies.  Everyone.  And everyone dies of something.  You can get cancer or have a heart attack.  You can get hit by a meteor.  But no one lives forever.

These clinics exist to play on people's fears.  They'll promise that you won't die and, since most people don't think about their own mortality, it works to separate sick folks from their money.  Shalom isn't doing anyone any favors by pushing this scam clinic as a place for miracles.