Krocks In The Kitchen

[Turaj]

Watched this with interest. Brian seems very sure he has cancer and yet the biopsy has not been done. I guess he will know this week. I must say it takes a very special person willing to donate their kidney to a stranger because the process is not without risk.

 

[suzeq]

@Saydee you are so brave and selfless to use you and your husband's experience to educate us.

It helps us to understand what Brian is facing.

Thank you.

 

[TryingMyBest]

How do you find a renal tumor during a colonoscopy?
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Okay. I'm reading the transcript. They didn't find it during the colonoscopy they found it from a CT.

 

[Make sense of it!]

They posted a video today that is from last year. It's a plant based meatloaf. It has over 20 ingredients! It also looks kinda burned on top. I don't eat meat but I don't think I will be trying this recipe.

I think it's the balsamic ketchup glaze that made it burn on the top. I won't be making it far to many ingredients and the amount of fibre in that thing l mean toilet papers expensive
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I think technically that is just a plant based loaf.... no meat. I don't eat meat but I never was in the least bit interested in eating something pretending to be meat.

Speaking of Peef... on another forum we were talking about adults with stuffies. Someone said hospital staff calls it the teddy bear sign and posted an interesting study about it.

The Positive Teddy Bear Sign: Transitional Objects in the... : The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease

An abstract is unavailable. This article is available as a PDF only.

journals.lww.com

That journal study is very very interesting indeed. Thanks for sharing
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I hope the comments on videos don’t upset Jessica. We only live once, if having a baby makes them happy then so be it. I’m sure it will be loved and cared for and that’s what’s important

She appeared (we only know what they show) to be in a much better headspace. I am genuinely thrilled for them, she mentioned about her Mum questioning the decision to have a baby as previously she hadn't felt ready and if it was because of her cancer. Found that very interesting, would they have had a child if not for her diagnosis.
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Jessica and Brian are both kind, loving people. Maybe a tad eccentric but basically just nice people. They have a strong support system.

They are a great match, both very quirky. I like them.

 

[Make sense of it!]

Here's some heart-warming comments from their live stream we can chat about. BRB just popping out for some worming tablets to cure me

 

[girlwhowrites]

I watched the live and am left wondering…maybe my age …but they don’t speak about the realities of a new child. Jessica is working and will get six months off…what about Brian.. he sings at Church. Talked about looking for houses but not in the near future.my impression is Jessica has the emotional issues and indicated she will not be able to handle any bad news on the scans. The whole thing with talking about registries for baby gifts and strangers making blankets left me cold..some people have issues with Kyle but I don’t understand Brian.

Their current living situation (confined to it seems a small space in Brian’s parents’ basement) is probably the main thing that’s throwing me off about the decision to have a baby. Even if they lived in just a small apartment it would be a better setup. They definitely don’t seem to have a whole lot of money in savings and with how expensive raising a kid is, they probably won’t be able to buy a house for a long time.

I also wonder if they discussed it with Brian’s parents? Just allowing Brian and Jessica to move into their house was a big favor that has probably changed how they used to live their day-to-day lives in their own home. As cute as babies are, they cry constantly. Unless the basement is soundproof their parents are going to have to deal with the crying too.

 

[Saydee]

I've watched them all through the recipe years from very early on. The food was interesting but they both struggled with weight badly. It's been terrible seeing their cancer diagnoses. I was also very shocked when the baby suddenly happened at what seemed liked the worse time to make such a decision. My dad died of kidney cancer so reading through this thread has been an eye opener and quite sad I understand now a bit more why his decline was so fast on the last 9 months of his life. I couldn't understand why treatment was minimal after a certain point but I get it now. It's a horrible thing to see.

I wish them all the best. I see them as flawed but genuine people, not grifters. I found this after Bryan mentioned a forum. I was on Tattle anyway but my heart sank when he mentioned it as I thought it might be here. I hope Jessica is coping OK, she's not on the video update so I'm guessing she's not up to being on camera and fair enough.

I'm sorry for your loss. RCC research has been very scarce in past years, but the landscape has recently massively changed. Next year sees Belzutifan being brought to the market. A brand new treatment for kidney cancer specifically. It certainly offers nothing for those already lost but brings so much hope for newly diagnosed patients. I'm hopeful that Brian may be able to access this new treatment down the line (whenever Belzutifan is approved in the US)

 

[LeonorG]

not a question of "will" they film the baby but rather how much? So common on YT creators have one focus and then have a child....child then becomes the focus. That is where I tune out. I detest seeing cameras put in the face of infants and young children.

Not only it's wrong but also boring. Not interested in watching kids. Kids are only interesting to their parents.

 

[Daisychain4]

You have brought up some interesting points. I just hope the Krocks won't film their baby.
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See, I would like them to talk more about how the potentially stage 4 cancer was not found during her surgery. If I remember correctly, that has not been properly explained. She had cancer which was removed during the first surgery, then she was believed to have more cancer and they operated on her but nothing was found. Her case was dire for a while but then this "miracle" came. Does anyone remember? I did not watch their newest videos.

Yes agree. I remember things being very dire pre and post second surgery and the projected prognosis appeared grim. Then results were released and they were fantastic (which was indeed fantastic for Jessica) but very puzzling given the prelude. Since then it’s been quiet on their front but seemingly Jessica is still in a good place cancer wise.
I would have many questions if I was her and wonder if they did in fact have lots of questions for her surgeons?

 

[TryingMyBest]

It was a good update but such an odd case in that Mayo Clinic seems still very unsure what happened to the cancer and they have a bunch of very small spots they are watching. Super-stresser every 3 months for the foreseeable future. Brian looks good with his haircut...it was pretty unkempt.

As a 2 time cancer victim/survivor/patient those little nodules are always concerning. I have one in my left lung and every scan I'm terrified it has grown. Last time it said it was calcified and no more worries.

 

[Daisychain4]

So ... they were very close to starting the process of locating a non-Tess surrogate. Ummm ... how were they planning to cough the $50,000 (or more) in cold hard cash to provide to the surrogate as well as the additional money for the agency/attorney fees? Don't they have a mortgage? What about hospital copays for both of them? Are those all paid off? Their car must have a bajillion miles racked up what with all the driving they do, back and forth between MO, MN and OH. I just don't understand how they have all this money just sitting around to be able to pay for a surrogate (as well as the cost to raise another child.) But hey hey hey Tess is here to save the day (and save the Krocks a lot a lot a lot of bucks). And just think, there are two Krocksicles waiting to be implanted ...

I’m disgusted they would even think of using Tess again. Why is it all about them when in fact, it should definitively be all about priorities and another child is certainly not a priority when you look at their lives.

Their health is abysmal, they struggle financially, Brian has just recovered from cancer surgery, Jessica’s health is debatable, they already have a young child via surrogacy, they are both heart attacks waiting to happen given obesity and morbid obesity issues and placing importance on another surrogate pregnancy is not a very mature decision. Poor kids!

 

[LeonorG]

@Saydee you are so brave and selfless to use you and your husband's experience to educate us.

It helps us to understand what Brian is facing.

Thank you.

I'm so glad that we have Saydee

 

[mcl92]

I think Jessica would have a nervous breakdown if she discovered she had a thread on Tattle. Silly stupid teasing on her channel caused a mental health decline. Very fragile lady.

I agree. I am a loyal follower of the Krocks. I believe they are very genuine. Their content is comprehensive and informative. I like them personally too. I like them so much that I did not want them to have TL thread. I don’t want them to be exposed to gossip. I really don’t. Ugh

 

[girlwhowrites]

The timeline for them having a baby is definitely bizarre to me. February 19 is when they posted her video "Am I Cancer Free?!" so by that time they were only learning that she might possibly not have cancer anymore but they (mainly Jessica) weren't going to 100% believe it until more tests were done.

Then on March 19 they did a livestream. Jessica said that while they had been getting a lot of comments saying that she looked happier and better, the reality was that she had been suffering from deep depression that whole time.

They also talked about the fact that they both gained a lot of weight and that they plan on losing it.

So yeah, very odd that they would decide to have a baby at a point in time when everything was still so uncertain for them.

 

[mayday mayday]

I'm surprised the plan is to first obtain a biopsy. Almost all of the renal cancers patients I come across at work have gone straight to a nephrectomy or for a fewer number of patients, a partial nephrectomy. I wonder if Brian's tumor is too large for a partial nephrectomy.

 

[TryingMyBest]

no matter what kind of procedure or surgery Brian has he is a high risk patient.

True. He still is morbidly obese.
I think plant based eating is admirable and I wish I was that disciplined. I'm a vegetarian that can't give up cheese unfortunately. I don't think it's the way to avoid cancer.

 

[Turaj]

I see there are some brutally honest people coming on in the comments with their opinions on Tess doing this again. She has a family and can't believe her husband would encourage this. The way the two of them talk sounded very childish and not at all like two mature women. Right now Jessica latest scans gave Mayo docs caused enough concern to order them in 2 months rather than 3. Brian is morbidly obese and has one kidney with uncertain outcome after no follow up treatments and renal cancer. Tess almost died last time after Elsie was born. I think most would say concentrate on Elsie and your own health. It does seem like today's video was for the $$ and they are gearing up for more. Jessie has had depression and other issues in the past and does not take well to negative comments. This could get interesting.

 

[Turaj]

This may sound like a dumb question but from an insurance point of view..is any of this covered by the surrogate's insurance or by the Krocks' insurance? And now 2 months in an air bnb in Columbus? I thought they might discuss the GoFundMe excess last night but I assume it is being used for the baby now. I must say Jessie has put an extraordinary amount of additional stress on herself for the scans in two weeks. You could see her voice change when talking about this reality. There was a comment about Brian's reply to Jessica's mother when she said that her grandbaby will not be brought up as a barbarian or some such nonsense that Brian was talking about. I think he might be a MIL's challenge. He mentioned something about the child being ready to fight people etc. It was odd. I vote Brian's behavior more concerning than Kyle or Matt. He responded to the comment with something about this baby being a Krock and the tone I too thought was rude as did the poster. I am also left wondering about their longterm ability to hawk vegan plant based lifestyle considering being overweight (Brian) and Jessica's cancer. It does not make me want to look at their choices for myself. I don't like posting negative thoughts on them but I realized last night they sort of invite this with the things they do and say on social media. Love it when Brian said going to be the best traveled baby ever...and they plan to do lots of travel...and the money keeps rolling in?
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And now YTubers want to have an online shower for them and also gifts for Tess the surrogate. They are now figuring out how front and center this baby will be in their YT videos after birth.

 

[Turaj]

I'm totally not qualified to make judgements or diagnosis on the Krocks but having this baby just seems like an emotional disaster in the making for those two. I really like them and wish them the best. Brian will undoubtedly be the stay a home dad.

i. Went into video with open mind but I tend to agree with you

 

[Turaj]

I see a big change in people regarding youtubers. Cancer youtubers are now viewed with a lot of suspicion and scepticism. It wasn't like this before.
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I see what you mean. There is an "old" quality about them. Like they would fit better in a different century. I think they would fit "old-fashioned" clothes and activities. They give me amish vibes.

I think it is the hair style (not much choice) as you look at her "before" photos with the longer hair that is smooth and I think she looks about her age. I always think most of us can benefit from a bit of makeup and of course her choice but she seems makeup free. With that "permed" look of hair she does look like a grandma rather than young woman but that will pass. Not sure on Brian's age but about the same I think and indeed he looks far beyond his 30's.