Paul Harrell is about to die

[DoubleDuty]

So very sad

 

[easy rider]

I like the way he explained things, sad to hear.

 

[Texasjack]

All the Cancer data shows the 5 year survival rate as 12% that seems high to me.

Yeah, it varies a bit with the type of pancreatic cancer that you have. The range I've seen is 3 to 8%.

When I was first diagnosed, the M.D. Anderson oncologist told me that there were two primary versions of PC. One is the kind Patrick Swayze had and the other is the type Steve Jobs had. I quickly pointed out that both of them are DEAD, so either he was telling me to give up or he needed A LOT better examples. Jobs apparently had one with a higher survival rate than Swayze, but Jobs insisted on trying alternative treatments - shark cartilage and such - and that didn't work. I turned out to have a more rare kind, which in cancer treatment is a bad thing. Treatments are based on statistics, so you want something that lots of people have had (and a significant number have survived). Major surgery - losing a few organs - months of chemo, and years of follow up. The last time I saw the doc he said that I no longer needed annual testing. He said that they usually recommended testing in 10 years, "..but you'll probably be dead by then anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it." True story.

 

[Darkpriest667]

Yeah, it varies a bit with the type of pancreatic cancer that you have. The range I've seen is 3 to 8%.

When I was first diagnosed, the M.D. Anderson oncologist told me that there were two primary versions of PC. One is the kind Patrick Swayze had and the other is the type Steve Jobs had. I quickly pointed out that both of them are DEAD, so either he was telling me to give up or he needed A LOT better examples. Jobs apparently had one with a higher survival rate than Swayze, but Jobs insisted on trying alternative treatments - shark cartilage and such - and that didn't work. I turned out to have a more rare kind, which in cancer treatment is a bad thing. Treatments are based on statistics, so you want something that lots of people have had (and a significant number have survived). Major surgery - losing a few organs - months of chemo, and years of follow up. The last time I saw the doc he said that I no longer needed annual testing. He said that they usually recommended testing in 10 years, "..but you'll probably be dead by then anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it." True story.

I'm glad you lived. There are some things I'm terrified of. ALS, Alzheimers, and pancreatic cancer. What symptom finally made you go to a doctor?

 

[Eli]

Yeah, it varies a bit with the type of pancreatic cancer that you have. The range I've seen is 3 to 8%.

When I was first diagnosed, the M.D. Anderson oncologist told me that there were two primary versions of PC. One is the kind Patrick Swayze had and the other is the type Steve Jobs had. I quickly pointed out that both of them are DEAD, so either he was telling me to give up or he needed A LOT better examples. Jobs apparently had one with a higher survival rate than Swayze, but Jobs insisted on trying alternative treatments - shark cartilage and such - and that didn't work. I turned out to have a more rare kind, which in cancer treatment is a bad thing. Treatments are based on statistics, so you want something that lots of people have had (and a significant number have survived). Major surgery - losing a few organs - months of chemo, and years of follow up. The last time I saw the doc he said that I no longer needed annual testing. He said that they usually recommended testing in 10 years, "..but you'll probably be dead by then anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it." True story.

I had a friend that was diagnosed in her mid-40s after several ER trips due to painful stomach aches. She finally saw somebody that realized she wasn't trying to con them out of drugs and took the time to run some tests, which resulted in a referral to an oncologist.
Stage II Pancreatic Cancer.
Unfortunately, she was pressured into 'alternative treatment' by a quack 'doctor' (that held a doctorate in an unrelated field, not medicine), which actually caused the cancer to become more aggressive, I don't think she lasted 2 years, despite being in pretty good health prior to diagnoses.
I have since lost another friend to pancreatic cancer, although he hid that he was sick and had a history of major health problems.
Both of my friends were chronic diet soda drinkers, she because 'sugar is bad' (it isn't, sodas are) and he because of Type 1 diabetes. A conversation with an oncologist confirmed what I thought, there is a strong correlation between use of sugar substitutes and pancreatic cancer - there just isn't a definitive link, so it's still allowed.
'Diet' is banned in my house, and my children know it isn't allowed.

Eli

 

[Texasjack]

I had a friend that was diagnosed in her mid-40s after several ER trips due to painful stomach aches. She finally saw somebody that realized she wasn't trying to con them out of drugs and took the time to run some tests, which resulted in a referral to an oncologist.
Stage II Pancreatic Cancer.
Unfortunately, she was pressured into 'alternative treatment' by a quack 'doctor' (that held a doctorate in an unrelated field, not medicine), which actually caused the cancer to become more aggressive, I don't think she lasted 2 years, despite being in pretty good health prior to diagnoses.
I have since lost another friend to pancreatic cancer, although he hid that he was sick and had a history of major health problems.
Both of my friends were chronic diet soda drinkers, she because 'sugar is bad' (it isn't, sodas are) and he because of Type 1 diabetes. A conversation with an oncologist confirmed what I thought, there is a strong correlation between use of sugar substitutes and pancreatic cancer - there just isn't a definitive link, so it's still allowed.
'Diet' is banned in my house, and my children know it isn't allowed.

Eli

There is also supposed to be a link between Januvia and PC, and I was on Januvia for several years before diagnosis. There have been announcements from attorneys trying to put together a class action lawsuit, but I refuse to join. I have no interest in making attorneys rich.

 

[Texasjack]

I'm glad you lived. There are some things I'm terrified of. ALS, Alzheimers, and pancreatic cancer. What symptom finally made you go to a doctor?

Pain! Extreme pain! The emergency room originally identified it as gall bladder and told me to see a specialist to get it removed, even though no stones showed up when they did an ultrasound. My wife was sick (hospitalized), so I didn't see a doc for a couple months. One day it was so bad I was in agony. I had to go to work that day because the plant was doing one of those "management by panic" things and I had to be the one to bring sanity to the situation. As soon as that meeting was over, I told my boss I was going to the hospital. At the ER, the triage nurse asked what my pain level was on a scale of 1 to 10. I said, "What level makes you cry?" She said, "We'll call it an 8." They gave me morphine and it did absolutely nothing. Then they gave me Dilaudid, which is strong enough that you could do your own surgery, and it helped some. They sent me for another ultrasound and this time the young technician who was doing the scan was on her first day solo. She couldn't find the gall bladder, but noticed the other mass. (It was about the size of a tennis ball.) She called in a supervisor, they looked and whispered a bit, then sent me back to the tiny ER room. Then they did a CT scan and came in and told me I had PC.

Now, having said that, let me point out that not every tumor is shaped the same. I met a guy - the son-in-law of some friends - that had a tumor shaped more like a hot dog. Because the shape fit in his pancreas better, his pain wasn't as intense as early as mine. They actually discovered his on the operating table where they were about to remove his gall bladder. At that point, it had spread to his liver and it killed him in about a year or so. That's one of the big reasons pancreatic cancer is so deadly, most of the time it has few symptoms, so by the time it's found, it's too late.

Cancer is truly evil. It doesn't just want to kill you; it wants to take your soul. It wants to keep you from the people you love and the things you love doing. It wants you to be miserable and make everyone around you miserable as well. It is a physical, mental, and spiritual trial. The physical part is obvious and terrible. The spiritual part, well, I don't know how an atheist could possibly deal with it as I had a lot of conversations with God. But the mental part will kill you before anything else, if you let it. I've seen people will themselves to living well beyond the doctor's expectations and I've seen people will themselves into a grave. The guy I mentioned above had a terrible time dealing with it and by the time he died, his family was actually relieved.

I told the oncologist, "There are people who would be happy to see me dead, so I plan to live just to piss them off." He replied, "Well, whatever motivation works is ok."

I've had people close to me with Alzheimer's or with ALS. Both are pretty bad, but ALS is particularly so. We all assume that one day we'll just drop dead, but far too often it's a long, protracted process.

 

[Eli]

There is also supposed to be a link between Januvia and PC, and I was on Januvia for several years before diagnosis. There have been announcements from attorneys trying to put together a class action lawsuit, but I refuse to join. I have no interest in making attorneys rich.

It's known that oftentimes blood sugar becomes uncontrollable early in the course of pancreatic cancer, as to why the doctors didn't check my diabetic friend...

Eli

 

[Texas Faust]

This is the first time I've heard of this gentleman, but my heart goes out to him as someone who lost my father to esophageal cancer a few years ago. I will be checking out his videos.

 

[Blaize]

One of the best on YouTube

 

[General Zod]

The last time I saw the doc he said that I no longer needed annual testing. He said that they usually recommended testing in 10 years, "..but you'll probably be dead by then anyway, so I wouldn't worry about it." True story.

I told the oncologist, "There are people who would be happy to see me dead, so I plan to live just to piss them off." He replied, "Well, whatever motivation works is ok."

Your oncologist is a jackass and I hope you've fired him and moved on to someone with an ounce of bedside manner.

 

[Swedonia]

God bless that man. I was an Oregonian most of my life until it went to progressive hell. I lived in Eastern Oregon for a time, and always wondered if Paul was filming south of Bend, possibly near LaPine. I wish pancreatic cancer on no one (well, maybe Kim, Xi and Putin ...).

 

[Sasquatch]

God bless that man. I was an Oregonian most of my life until it went to progressive hell. I lived in Eastern Oregon for a time, and always wondered if Paul was filming south of Bend, possibly near LaPine. I wish pancreatic cancer on no one (well, maybe Kim, Xi and Putin ...).

IIRC Paul has lived in both eastern Oregon and in the valley - he regularly attends / attended the Rickreal gun show (if not familiar, Rickreal is west of Salem, south of McMinnville, north of Corvallis)

He was out in Eastern Oregon camping near Wallowa when he killed the asshole that tried running him and his wife over, and I think he used to live near LaGrande, and I think a lot of those vids were shot out in the mountains south of the gorge.

 

[RoadRunner]

I hate hear about Paul having PC. I have been enjoying his videos for a few years. He seemed like a really good guy.
He will be missed by lots of folks.

I watched my dad suffer with PC for a very short time. As I remember it he died very quickly but he must have been sick for longer than I knew about. He died when I was 10.

 

[Texasjack]

Your oncologist is a jackass and I hope you've fired him and moved on to someone with an ounce of bedside manner.

Oddly enough, he decided cancer was too depressing and quit. Last I heard he was going to move to some middle state (Kentucky?) and become a small town general practitioner. I was billed over $1000 every time I saw the primary doctor and sometimes that was for 5 minutes.

For the most part, EVERYBODY at M.D. Anderson sees every patient as someone who is about to die. My mother was a nurse at a nursing home and she had to be careful not to like any patients because, like it or not, they are in Heaven's waiting room. So I get why they act the way they do. As a patient, you are nothing but a "medical record number" for most of your time there. (You have to memorize the number and be prepared to recite it before anyone will test your blood pressure, operate on you, feed you, mop the floor, etc.) Now, after you've survived a few years, they suddenly know your name and they'll ask about your family or your pet dog or whatever, like as if you suddenly became human. And the funding people will always tell you how much you are loved and how much more they will love you if you donate lots of money.

 

[Glenn B]

So, in a nutshell, who is Paul Harrell?

 

[glenbo]

Oddly enough, he decided cancer was too depressing and quit. Last I heard he was going to move to some middle state (Kentucky?) and become a small town general practitioner. I was billed over $1000 every time I saw the primary doctor and sometimes that was for 5 minutes.

For the most part, EVERYBODY at M.D. Anderson sees every patient as someone who is about to die. My mother was a nurse at a nursing home and she had to be careful not to like any patients because, like it or not, they are in Heaven's waiting room. So I get why they act the way they do. As a patient, you are nothing but a "medical record number" for most of your time there. (You have to memorize the number and be prepared to recite it before anyone will test your blood pressure, operate on you, feed you, mop the floor, etc.) Now, after you've survived a few years, they suddenly know your name and they'll ask about your family or your pet dog or whatever, like as if you suddenly became human. And the funding people will always tell you how much you are loved and how much more they will love you if you donate lots of money.

Your earlier post about cancer being evil is spot on. My wife has survived, just barely, throat cancer, is now an invalid and will be until she dies.

However, your statement about MDAnderson is not true, in our experience. All the doctors, nurses, staff, technicians, were caring and have done, and are still, doing their best to help her out and trying to get her to have a better life while she's still here. They went out of their way to get her started in treatment several weeks earlier than we expected, treated her like a queen, and been nothing short of wonderful. The only complaint we have had is a few of the nurses in the chemo treatment didn't know how to put in an IV. A couple of them were butchers, but that's to be expected in any large hospital. Overall, the entire treatment plan is way beyond expectations.

 

[JGA177]

So, in a nutshell, who is Paul Harrell?

http://www.youtube.com/@PaulHarrell

 

[Sasquatch]

So, in a nutshell, who is Paul Harrell?

He is the YouTube gun daddy - either on the very early edge of Gen X, or the tail of the Boomer generation - but that doesn't matter.

He's a hunter, a dental hygenist, firearms instructor, black powder rifle afficianado, and had a military career, IIRC in both the USMC and Army, finishing up in the Oregon National Guard. He's been a shooting competitor, won a bunch of medals from local matches and military matches, but is not one of the modern tactical gun gamers.

He is famous for his "Shatneresque -- pauses", his spiffy shooting jacket(s), and his Meat Targets (tm) - which are usually made up of pork ribs, pork chops to simulate muscles, a bag of oranges to simulate lung tissue, usually wrapped in a T-shirt and backed by the high-tech fleece bullet stop. His other favorite target is 3 liter Shasta "soda jugs"

He's done some very good presentations on calibers, specific bullet comparisons through various rifles and handguns, he did a good breakdown of the Miami shootout and how maybe the FBI's charge to switch to 10mm was misguided, and tactics played more of a role than caliber failures in that engagement.

He's killed two men in self defense, was arrested in one of those cases and exonorated in court for it (he shot a man in a pickup truck trying to run him and his wife over while they were camping at a very remote state campground in Eastern Oregon before an upcoming black powder shooter event - he used, IIRC, an A2 style AR15 in that shooting if I remember the court docs and story correctly) - the other killing is very hard to find details of, so I can't speak to that one.

He's a man who likes classic muscle cars, classic (and classy) guns - favoring a .38 Super chambered 1911 over the .45 flavor - and isn't some wokester, tactical Ted, or fudd who hates anything modern. Just an all around average guy with a slightly above average background who started making videos teaching some firearms basics and expanded from there. A plain spoken man who would probably get along smashingly with most folk on this forum.

He's been on my YouTube watch list for over a decade, longer than any other "content creator" on that site.

 

[Glenn B]

He is the YouTube gun daddy - either on the very early edge of Gen X, or the tail of the Boomer generation - but that doesn't matter....

Thanks