I’m an expat living in Asia and from my perspective doctors here are treating patients like babies. Extremely nice, calming and protective - as European I had problems (even if it was a nice experience) to be on the same page and had to look for expatriate colorectal surgeon who was telling me straight away what’s going on and what is the next move. I believe that’s the reason why Tiff is so attached to “her” surgeon as coming from similar ethical background and he just knows how to approach her.
I also tried to google “colon dilation” as Tiffany mentioned doctor tried to dilate to get biopsy and I found out that actually it can mean he tried to dilate the colon with gas or even ballon which is used sometimes during obstruction. She also shows symptoms of bowel blockage: abdominal pain, loss of appetite, vomiting. Obstruction is much more common with advanced cancer and in patients who had radiotherapy to the abdomen. Of course I doubt Tiffany would share with us all these details..
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If tiffany had a blockage, she wouldn't be discharged. Blockages can lead to bursting, bursting can lead to sepsis. Sepsis kills cancer patients, especially if chemo has left them immune compromised. If Tiffany had a blockage they would operating swiftly.
Doctors here in the UK don't treat patients like babies. Tiffany portrays herself that she is confused and doesn't understand.
Doctors are actually quite the opposite. Many times my husbands consultant keeps reminding us that treatment is palliative only, ie don't be expecting a cure, the best you can expect is stable disease. It's not nice to hear this, but doctors have to be honest and they are.
If Tiffany was on palliative care, she would have been told. They don't treat patients like babies.
Tiffanys surgeon actually sounds extremely level headed and practicle. In his opinion he stated Tiffany may be better delaying surgery for aslong as possible (may be he has seen how she reacts to her having a biopsy and fears how an earth she would handle major surgery), and has stated a watch and wait approach while she is NED (Scans and biopsies are showing no evidence of disease) <I should add that this doesnt mean a patient is cancer free. Watch and wait is usually scans and a consult every 12 weeks, but in Tiffanys case he has offered every 6 weeks. He did say surgery may be better for Tiffany for her mental health. This may be because he senses that Tiffany is spending all her time wondering and isn't leading a good QOL. Quality of life is everything in the world of oncology. Oncologists love seeing patients thrive.
Please don't go believing our health system is as bad as it is being portrayed to be. Our consultants and surgeons are always honest. There is also 3 services that I can think of that Tiffany hasn't used. 1) Macmillan support, 2 Maggies centres, dedicated centres to suppot cancer patients and their families 3) pyschiatric oncologist. Tiffanys chooses to blog her journey and openly says its a form of therapy for her.
I followed emily too, still watch her videos sometimes. She was such a genuine person. Watching her videos made me want to be better. The early videos of tiffany made me feel like maybe her channel will be like emily's...but oh no.
She loves attention. That's it. Even this board probably feeds her need for attention. I worry she is learning from her journey, the more her cancer journey is severe/sad/unclear, the more attention she gets. She will feed into that and continue making videos that many of us find infuriating. I dont want to feel badly about her "success" on youtube because its makes me feel like a tit person. So the best thing is stop following and wish her the best. I do hope she gets better but watching her makes me into a not so nice person. No more!
I wonder how Emilys partner is?
Yes, the titles of videos and thumbnails are well chosen. BLOOD & MUCUS?
The ones I do feel sorry for is Mat and Amma. Althout Mat defintely doesn't look like the deer caught in headlights like he used to do. He gets on with life, working, running, socialising etc. At times he looks frustrated when Tiffany is filming.
Amma? It breaks my heart to see a mother worrying.
Remember when they allowed Tiffanys mum to sleep at the hospital with her? Only parents are usually allowed to sleep at the hospital when their kids are sick. The NHS make allowances for Tiffany. It upsets me to see Tiffany making videos and riling up her viewers who then bad mouth our health service.