Comment by nikisweeting 8 days ago
OP is explicitly asking for hacks and "out there" solutions, I think this is a reasonable place to post anecdata, papers, personal theories, etc. as long as people state their confidence level and link to sources when possible
The post reads a bit like one of those stackoverflow questions seeking a solution to x when that’s not the problem they should be solving.
> post reads a bit like one of those stackoverflow questions seeking a solution to x when that’s not the problem they should be solving
Sort of. They're looking to be a good friend and assuage perceived helplessness in the face of a repeat foe. )=(From a clinical perspective, the most-useful observation in the thread may be the unusual frequency with which this person has seen GBM.)
More broadly, we tell the stories of Sancho following Don Quixote through windmills, or Sam following Frodo to Mordor, because loyalty over reality is itself a reality of humanity. Like Sancho or Sam, our role in that journey is less to weigh its merits and more to keep our hero from cliffs. That, however, means the person playing that role has to see clearly.
As someone who nearly died a little over two years ago from cancer... It's irresponsible.
Point to the experts, but don't cause further pain through at best, false hope, and at worst, a murderous experience for your last few days.
Lots of people want to help. That leads to questions like this. You're desperate to help someone who is suffering. But you will absolutely make that suffering worse if you act through ignorance.
As someone with a mother, stepfather and multiple extended family members who've survived cancer thanks to modern medical science, all I can say is hopefully their friend at least asked before OP went out looking for these harebrained schemes.
I disagree. OP is just asking for medical misinformation, and it would be irresponsible to provide it.
Self-assessed confidence levels are basically useless because the most confident people are generally the most ignorant. It's causal: ignorance causes people to be confident. The more you know, the more you realize how little you know.
> And your contribution is to stop people from helping them
No. In the vast majority of cases, answering this question as intended isn't helping them, it's actively harming them.
> because of something about what now
You're responding to a post which explains this. If you understood the post, faking confusion is dishonest. If you didn't understand the post, you weren't qualified to disagree with it.
This removes so much agency from the people involved. If I were dying of cancer and asked for "out there" solutions, I wouldn't want people hand-wringing about whether it's morally ok to share unconfirmed theories.
Gimme everything you got at all levels of certainty, and let me decide what I want to try and not try. If I decide I don't want to try anything, or none of the suggestions have enough evidence to be worth trying and I'd rather travel around the world and skydive with my wife the last few months, that's ok too!
But none of us can pretend to know what they're actually going through, we can only offer what it asked and let them decide.
> OP is explicitly asking for hacks and "out there" solutions, I think this is a reasonable place to post anecdata, papers, personal theories, etc. as long as people state their confidence level and link to sources when possible
As long as OP and their friend know this is spinning wheels for fun and is pretty much certainly not going to extend their lifespan, sure. There can be satisfcation in knowing you never truly came--nor will ever come--to terms with death.