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

[hoipolloi]

29 minutes ago, Giraffe said:

Are they back at their house then or staying elsewhere? I

Sounds like they are still elsewhere, a small apartment, while Shalom gets their house straightened out.

[Howl]

5 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

She said his blood clot is causing issues and now his face is swollen.

Any word on whether they've sought traditional medical treatment/evaluation by an MD/oncologist?

[Ozlsn]

12 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

They put so much effort into cleaning and the woo treatments. They aren’t lazy. You can tell Shalom wants to do as much as she can for him. I just wish they would have put all of this time, money, and effort into an actual medical treatment for his cancer

Agreed. Or had the grace to accept it if there were no curative treatments available and spent the time at home with their family, eating healthily and doing whatever else would make them feel like they were doing something. 

[MariaariaM]

10 hours ago, Howl said:

Any word on whether they've sought traditional medical treatment/evaluation by an MD/oncologist?

Dr. David Gorski wrote a blog post recently about a study on how cancer quacks use internet search engines to advertise and legitimize their "clinics". A big part of that is reviews. The most interesting (to me) part of the positive reviews is that most of them aren't about the result of the treatment. Of the negative reviews... well, it's the individual comments, mostly left by friends and relatives rather than by the patients/marks.

Spoiler

 

Drat, I really tried to put that under a spoiler.

Regardless: here's the full blog for anyone interested:

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/alternative-cancer-clinics-use-google-listings-to-lure-in-desperate-patients/

Edited August 20 by MariaariaM

[TrueRebel1]

On 8/19/2024 at 2:27 PM, Giraffe said:

Are they back at their house then or staying elsewhere? I would hate to have been gone for so long only to come home and not be able to stay there!

Shalom mentioned in a story that their brother-in-law James had an apartment for them to use. I assume that's James, Shoshanna's ex. 

[Howl]

That's a big family for a small apartment.  

Also, totally ridding a space of fleas, which lay eggs that start a new infestation cycle all over again, is hard.  What a nightmare.  

[FiveAcres]

6 hours ago, Howl said:

That's a big family for a small apartment.  

Also, totally ridding a space of fleas, which lay eggs that start a new infestation cycle all over again, is hard.  What a nightmare.  

The hot humid conditions of the south and Texas are perfect for fleas. Early in our two years in Plano, TX, we had a horrible infestation with our three dogs. We were able to get rid of them by using bombs and the topical treatment for our dogs. The topical treatment was new so I was dubious, but I was also desperate. The fleas liked my partner's ankles more than mine, so I felt very sorry for hi as well.

[Howl]

1 hour ago, FiveAcres said:

The hot humid conditions of the south and Texas are perfect for fleas.

Based on personal experience, I can attest that this is true! 

[JermajestyDuggar]

Shalom posted Justin shaved his very long beard off due to hair loss. She said that when he got antibiotics and steroids at the real hospital in Mexico, they caused him to lose hair. She said he’s still on the steroids and weaning himself off of them. So that is likely why he’s losing hair. From the meds.

[Bluebirdbluebell]

53 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Shalom posted Justin shaved his very long beard off due to hair loss. She said that when he got antibiotics and steroids at the real hospital in Mexico, they caused him to lose hair. She said he’s still on the steroids and weaning himself off of them. So that is likely why he’s losing hair. From the meds.

I wonder if the steroids are the reason he seems to have some energy. I have feeling that he won't feel as good when he completely stops taking them.

Edited August 22 by Bluebirdbluebell

[marmalade]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Shalom posted Justin shaved his very long beard off due to hair loss. She said that when he got antibiotics and steroids at the real hospital in Mexico, they caused him to lose hair. She said he’s still on the steroids and weaning himself off of them. So that is likely why he’s losing hair. From the meds.

I was skeptical about steroids causing hair loss but apparently some steroids, taken orally, can cause some hair loss. But it typically doesn't happen unless someone has been taking them for quite a while. And hair will grow back. He's probably more malnourished.

[Bassett Lady]

Steroids can cause hair loss but they are also powerful inflammatories and likely giving him some temporary reprieve. 
 

I do not think he is malnourished, in the traditional sense, but his body has had a monumental battle with the cancer. Late stage cancer causes excessive weight loss and can cause hair loss as well. He is literally burning everything he has fighting the cancer. 

[Howl]

I recall that earlier in their stay at the clinic that he absolutely refused to shave his beard, so this is a bigger deal than one might think. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

4 hours ago, Bassett Lady said:

Steroids can cause hair loss but they are also powerful inflammatories and likely giving him some temporary reprieve. 
 

I do not think he is malnourished, in the traditional sense, but his body has had a monumental battle with the cancer. Late stage cancer causes excessive weight loss and can cause hair loss as well. He is literally burning everything he has fighting the cancer. 

When he was first-diagnosed, he had stage 2 cancer. That's not a late stage. It's possible that the cancer progressed since then, but only his doctors would know that. 

[Bluebirdbluebell]

Adding that after googling it, I haven't found any sites that say that cancer causes hair loss. Most health-care sites like the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, say that cancer doesn't cause hair loss, it's treatments like chemotherapy that cause hair-loss. Here's a link for those curious.

[treemom]

10 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

Shalom posted Justin shaved his very long beard off due to hair loss. She said that when he got antibiotics and steroids at the real hospital in Mexico, they caused him to lose hair. She said he’s still on the steroids and weaning himself off of them. So that is likely why he’s losing hair. From the meds.

Also the steroids are almost certainly propping him up. When he is off them he is going to probably not feel as welll and this his state will be very apparent 

[JermajestyDuggar]

14 minutes ago, treemom said:

Also the steroids are almost certainly propping him up. When he is off them he is going to probably not feel as welll and this his state will be very apparent 

I really wish they would see a real dr for treatment in Tennessee. 

[MariaariaM]

1 hour ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I really wish they would see a real dr for treatment in Tennessee. 

Even less chance of that now that they've decided that the real doctors caused his hairloss. Not expecting them to see medical professionals anymore unless it's an emergency.

[FiveAcres]

3 minutes ago, MariaariaM said:

Even less chance of that now that they've decided that the real doctors caused his hairloss. Not expecting them to see medical professionals anymore unless it's an emergency.

At some point, I foresee a repeated cycle of trips to the ER, where they demand that doctors treat him according to the quack clinic's protocols, followed by raging on SM when the ER doctors refuse. Eventually, they will reluctantly accept some palliative measures for symptomatic relief, then complain that the doctors aren't helping him get better.

It will be like the poor clinicians trying to treat  (COVID 19 caused) "pneumonia" when the patients and their families refused to accept that COVID 19 might possibly to worse than the common cold. COVID only got listed on a lot of death certificates because that way the government would pay for funeral arrangements.

It will, unfortunately, be tough on the kids.

[Ozlsn]

On 8/22/2024 at 11:42 PM, FiveAcres said:

At some point, I foresee a repeated cycle of trips to the ER, where they demand that doctors treat him according to the quack clinic's protocols, followed by raging on SM when the ER doctors refuse.

I just hope they don't decide to go back to the clinic.

[Howl]

Really worrrisome that Shalom has not posted any updates.  Maybe she's just overwhelmed with their housing situation; I truly, sincerely hope there hasn't been a health crisis. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

34 minutes ago, Howl said:

Really worrrisome that Shalom has not posted any updates.  Maybe she's just overwhelmed with their housing situation; I truly, sincerely hope there hasn't been a health crisis. 

So she did post in her stories today. They are having a sale at Justin’s shop. I assume they need money. But she didn’t word it that way. Justin didn’t look too bad. She did mention a “doctor.” She said it in passing that Justin was at the doctor earlier. Who knows what kind of Dr. They call woo pushers “doctors” so it could be a real MD or just some quack. You never know with them. 

[hoipolloi]

6 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

So she did post in her stories today.

It looks like they are still renovating or rehabbing their house. She mentioned that "my brother-in-law, James Easling" gave them tiles for their bathroom. She did not say ex-BIL. 

She did refer to the sale at Justinʻs shop as a liquidation sale. I hope it brings in a lot of funds that they spend on actual medical care, not quacks and woo. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

16 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

It looks like they are still renovating or rehabbing their house. She mentioned that "my brother-in-law, James Easling" gave them tiles for their bathroom. She did not say ex-BIL. 

She did refer to the sale at Justinʻs shop as a liquidation sale. I hope it brings in a lot of funds that they spend on actual medical care, not quacks and woo. 

They found some mold in the bathroom so that’s what they’ve been renovating. 

[JDuggs]

I think Justin looks good because he finally had to get rid of his beard. But he doesn’t look overly fatigued or in pain, so that’s good. It’s interesting how helpful James has been to Justin and Shalom. He comes off as much more of a stand up person than Shoshanna. I’m glad they had all of that “stuff” to sell. I don’t know how well Justin’s business was doing before he got sick, but I don’t know what kind of income they’ll have in the future.