Pearl Family 3: Living on Snake Oil, Charcoal and Plexus

[nelliebelle1197]

Hopefully one day I will open this topic and not be infuriated and sad.

 

 

[Xan]

Any word about whether Justin got home yet or not?

[hoipolloi]

3 hours ago, Xan said:

Any word about whether Justin got home yet or not?

No updates for a couple of days. Hope that no news is at least no bad news.

[JermajestyDuggar]

I hope it means they are traveling home and have poor WiFi. 

[hoipolloi]

Shalom has just updated her IG. Justin is getting one more set of "treatments" from the quacks and then they are heading home to TN later today. Hope for their sakes that this actually happens and that they make it home without incident.

We'll see. 

[Giraffe]

1 minute ago, hoipolloi said:

Shalom has just updated her IG. Justin is getting one more set of "treatments" from the quacks and then they are heading home to TN later today. Hope for their sakes that this actually happens and that they make it home without incident.

We'll see. 

Oh FFS! Go home to your children already! They must've "found" more money. 

[Xan]

I saw that Shalom said that some of the "therapies" that Justin got included hydrogen therapy, "vibe machine" (recalled in USA  because it doesn't work), and red light therapy along with some IVs.  So, yeah.  They figured out a way to scam him again before he left.  He must have been dehydrated.  I hope he makes it all the way home okay.

[marmalade]

Are they driving or flying? 

[JermajestyDuggar]

42 minutes ago, marmalade said:

Are they driving or flying? 

They said awhile ago they will drive so they can stop often for Justin to walk around. I think they don’t want him sitting in one place for too long. But to be honest, so many flights are not straight flights. They could probably book a flight with multiple stops so it would be a bunch if short plane rides. But I don’t know. It’s weird they go to these quack doctors but then listen to actual medical advice like not sitting down for long periods due to possible clots. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

They are finally on their way home:

[Howl]

...but of course he's driving.  Haven't  heard anything since Wednesday?  Hope they got  home without incident.  

[Coconut Flan]

This week they end up in the ER and discover the tumor did not shrink, but has grown and there is nothing left to be done except palliative care.  Will they publish that or wait and simply give funeral information? 

Hopefully I'm unduly pessimistic over how this adventure is going to proceed.  

[JermajestyDuggar]

Ok so new update. Yesterday Justin’s oxygen was dropping and they couldn’t get it up. So someone drove an oxygen tank to him. They were visiting Shalom’s sister (I assume she’s referring to Rebekah). They are in New Mexico and the oxygen tank is helping him today. They are driving from Gallup to Albuquerque today.  

Edited August 4 by JermajestyDuggar

[FiveAcres]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Ok so new update. Yesterday Justin’s oxygen was dropping and they couldn’t get it up. So someone drove an oxygen tank to him. They were visiting Shalom’s sister (I assume she’s referring to Rebekah). They are in New Mexico and the oxygen tank is helping him today. They are driving from Gallup to Albuquerque today.  

I am surprised they didn't immediately turn around and head back to the quack clinic since the quacks were doing him so much good. Sigh...

Many years ago, my father-in-law came to Colorado for a family wedding. I don't think it was generally known in the family just how compromised his lungs were after years of smoking. He was really suffering from the lack of oxygen at our elevation of 7000 ft. (Albuquerque is about 5500 feet elevation.) Fortunately, one my in-laws is a physician and he was quickly able to organize oxygen for my father-in-law. After that, family events were held at sea level until my father-in-law died. 

[Giraffe]

Wow. I feel like I'm on a death watch at this point. For his kid's sake I hope he makes it home. 

[Howl]

Gallup is a small city (23,000) with two hospitals.   Albuquerque, just two hours away on the interstate, is a large city (half million) with major medical.  Once you head east from Albuquerque, it's 4 hours to Amarillo and another 4-ish hours to Oklahoma City, both, of course, have major medical.  Continuing east (do the Brands live in Tennessee?) there are large cities on the way every four or five hours or so. 

Not a doctor and don't play one on TV, but if  he goes to an ER, they will likely get a full update on whats really going on and (again likely?) overnight stay in a hospital. 

And how does one go about getting oxygen? 

 

 

Edited August 5 by Howl

[FiveAcres]

40 minutes ago, Howl said:

Gallup is a small city (23,000) with two hospitals.   Albuquerque, just two hours away on the interstate, is a large city (half million) with major medical.  Once you head east from Albuquerque, it's 4 hours to Amarillo and another 4-ish hours to Oklahoma City, both, of course, have major medical.  Continuing east (do the Brands live in Tennessee?) there are large cities on the way every four or five hours or so. 

Not a doctor and don't play one on TV, but if  he goes to an ER, they will likely get a full update on whats really going on and (again likely?) overnight stay in a hospital. 

And how does one go about getting oxygen? 

 

 

In the US, I believe a physician has to write a prescription for the oxygen.

Early on in the pandemic, the in-law I mentioned above sent out a message to the family. "Let me know if you need refills for anything" because states have reciprocal agreements about physicians being able to prescribe, and shit was getting weird. As far as I know, no one in the family had to take him up on it.

My partner and I both got Covid-19 on our last trip to California (probably a shuttle bus in Yosemite NP). We decided to drive back, and I looked at a map and knew that we could go to a hospital in Salt Lake City if one of us started concerning symptoms on the trip. (We are both high risk for a variety of reasons, and also highly vaccinated.) From Salt Lake City it isn't far to Cheyenne Wyoming, which is also fairly civilized. It is a slightly surreal experience to be sitting in a dingy hotel with your laptop making those sorts of calculations. Interstate 80 is so much better drive than Interstate 70.

[Howl]

@FiveAcres, I'm in  SW  CO for the time being.  I've noticed a few ginormous new Trump flags in the last week or two.  Still red as far as I know.  Good riddance to Ms. Bobo though. 

Also been following the Tina Peters trial.  

[Coconut Flan]

2 hours ago, Howl said:

And how does one go about getting oxygen? 

Normally here a doctor writes a script and a home health agency delivers it.  That's how it was pre-placed for Mom before she needed it and how my next door neighbor had it arranged.  I was asked to accept delivery as neighbor needed the oxygen available when he got home from the hospital.  

Edited August 5 by Coconut Flan

[Bluebirdbluebell]

From what @JermajestyDuggar posted it sounds like a friend had an oxygen tank or a couple oxygen tanks lying around, drove one up there, and gave it to them. I'm not sure Justin saw any doctors to get the tank.

[FluffySnowball]

It’s heartbreaking. I hope they make it home and if things go how I’m afraid they might, that he has good pain management and end of life care. And I just hope he has some time left with his children. 

[hoipolloi]

4 hours ago, Bluebirdbluebell said:

From what @JermajestyDuggar posted it sounds like a friend had an oxygen tank or a couple oxygen tanks lying around, drove one up there, and gave it to them. I'm not sure Justin saw any doctors to get the tank.

Yes, AFAIK, O2 requires an Rx. There's no indication that Justin has seen an actual doctor or went to a bona fide medical facility. They apparently stayed overnight with Rebekah Pearl Anast, herself a firm believer in the woo. While there, they got an oxygen tank + apparatus from someone. Shalom has also supplemented the O2 with some bottled stuff (not medical-grade) from WalMart or wherever and another person in Albuquerque was supposed to give them more medical-grade O2.

Sure hope they make it home to TN so that Justin can spend time with his family & friends.

Edited August 5 by hoipolloi
Clarity

[JermajestyDuggar]

Yes, a friend drove a tank to them. I hope he stops at an actual doctor to get a prescription for the ride home. 

[FiveAcres]

When my mother was on oxygen, she had a concentrator (big, noisy machine that was also a trip hazard because of the tubing) in her apartment. For trips outside of her apartment, she had oxygen bottles.

4 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Yes, a friend drove a tank to them. I hope he stops at an actual doctor to get a prescription for the ride home. 

I can't remember how long a bottle would last. It depends on the rate of flow. I presume they are using a pulse oxymeter to measure the amount of oxygen in his blood.

ETA: There are also portable concentrators, but they are expensive (+$1000) and you need a prescription to get one. They were very hard to even source. I know this because a friend of mine struggled to get one three years into the pandemic. She succeeded in buying one, and although she was able to wean herself off of it, she still keeps it since we are living at 7000 ft.

Edited August 5 by FiveAcres
added paragraph

[hoipolloi]

Had a family member who used O2 intermittently to alleviate headache pain. They absolutely had an Rx which had to be renewed. Their O2 was "portable" to the extent that there was a wheeled frame for the O2 tank that could be pulled along if they needed to change locations while using the O2. It was very cumbersome but despite the inconvenience, it was a godsend for pain relief.