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Jake Seliger has died
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Re: Jake Seliger has died
#162Honest question: Does this rate a black bar? I know that he wasn't a big deal, outside this community, but within HN, his posts were kinda awesome (and heartbreaking).
I've vouched this comment. I believe it was misinterpreted as suggesting there shouldn't be a black bar, which would be flaggable as flame bait. However, the black bar either wasn't there or they hadn't noticed it (it can be hard to see on mobile or if your topcolor is dark), and they were suggesting it should be. I myself took this impression initially. Posting this in case someone else is confused and tempted to fl…
Thanks.
At the time I wrote it (and the wording is bad, in hindsight -I probably should have said “Doesn’t”), the bar was definitely not there.
Re: Jake Seliger has died
#163Jake's wife on FDA deregulation https://bessstillman.substack.com/p/the-drugs-killing-dying-...
This is a complicated subject. Because those rules are in place for reasons. And some of those reasons are to prevent drug companies from turning the poor into lab rats with no regard to their safety. And I guarantee you, you let "terminal" patients skirt rules, there will be a hell of a lot more "terminal" patients. And I'm sure there are some non-regulation reasons to limit various therapies. They are trying to see…
Some who are terminally ill want to be lab rats. You get one last shot at surviving and, perhaps more importantly, you also get to leave the world a little better by helping advance drug science. I don't think "lab rat" conveys the courage it takes to participate in a clinical trial and the gratitude we should have for them.
Re: Jake Seliger has died
#164Jake posted as jseliger on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jseliger He blogged at https://jakeseliger.com/ >, and numerous of his blog articles were submitted to HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=jakeseliger.com >. That includes numerous topics, over the past year or so his experience with cancer, often concerning frustrations with the process and mechanism. His essay on agenticness especially strik…
With regards to the mention on Tabarrok's post, her piece on FDA deregulation should be highlighted, I think: https://bessstillman.substack.com/p/the-drugs-killing-dying-...
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Re: Jake Seliger has died
#165Hi everyone, This is Bess, Jake's wife. I just want to say how deeply touched I am to see how much Jake and his writing are appreciated here on HN. The intellectual online community which made up a big piece of his life for so long was important to him, as was having a positive influence on others, and it would have meant so much to him- as it does to me- to see the impact he made. Thank you for the people who reache…
Love you
Re: Jake Seliger has died
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cancer is insidious in all kinds of ways. One in particular is that insight into the current and possible state(s) of a tumor are are really difficult to assess. With all our current imaging and testing capabilities, the human body is still largely a black box. Especially after multiple surgeries, distinguishing new tumour growth from scar and necrotic tissues is difficult. And ... for suitably aggressive tumours, ev…
My dad discovered he had a very large solid tumor (a form of soft tissue sarcoma) in 2022 and due to the lack of solid data or population size no oncologist could even give a hunch as to the growth rate. Whether it had been developing slowly for a decade before it finally became symptomatic over a few months, or the terrifying possibility it was extremely fast growing during the year or so he began to notice symptoms…
It sounds like the reading helped you, though. Maybe it gave you a purpose or it focused your worry into something that felt productive. Either way, you would only be able to conclude that the reading wasn't productive by doing the reading.
Basically, I understand and sympathize with why you went down that rabbit hole. I have gone down those rabbit holes for far less compelling reasons.
Also, I have similarly concluded that medical literature's probabilistic nature means it has little bearing on the N=1 of a personal medical issue.
Glad to hear your dad is an outlier. Here's to more clean scans!
Re: Jake Seliger has died
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
Cancer is insidious in all kinds of ways. One in particular is that insight into the current and possible state(s) of a tumor are are really difficult to assess. With all our current imaging and testing capabilities, the human body is still largely a black box. Especially after multiple surgeries, distinguishing new tumour growth from scar and necrotic tissues is difficult. And ... for suitably aggressive tumours, ev…
My dad discovered he had a very large solid tumor (a form of soft tissue sarcoma) in 2022 and due to the lack of solid data or population size no oncologist could even give a hunch as to the growth rate. Whether it had been developing slowly for a decade before it finally became symptomatic over a few months, or the terrifying possibility it was extremely fast growing during the year or so he began to notice symptoms…
Having gone through similar exhaustive research myself in the past, and undoubtably in the future as well ....
... one thing that such an exercise does do is to give you some reassurance that you're not letting anything slip by. That you did what you could, and that you found all available best current information.
Sometimes all that provides is a negative result, or a neutral result, e.g., "there's nothing more that we can do".
But at least you know that having done so, which may bring its own comfort.
I still periodically do scans on literature of a decades-old experience I'd been proximate to. Then, in the moment, there was always the hope for some incipient breakthrough. What I've learned is that years and years and years later there really hasn't been, and the principal chemotherapies actually date to WWI chemical warfare agents. (Medical history is ... weird.)
Another viewpoint is that it might be possible to marshal effort into research on some condition or another. I've also seen some of those attempts, often with great fame and fortune behind them (Reeves on spinal injuries, Fox on Parkinsons, amongst the better known). These have made some progress, but often only marginal and slowly over time. Other instances, notably of infectious disease, have been more profound (polio, smallpox, HIV/AIDS, cervical cancer, ...).
Predicting where and when breakthroughs might occur is desperately hard.
Re: Jake Seliger has died
#168The craziest thing to me is he was still posting up to the very end. I've seen this multiple times in end-stage cancers, my grandfather's pancreatic cancer, he seemed "fine" (other than looking incredibly sick) til the last ~12 hours or so - he was even doing some yard work the day or two before he died. He knew the entire time how much time was left, too. I don't know why I find this so crazy, other than I hope I ne…
I think thats why cancer is such a vicious illness to have a loved one experience. Its a long drawn-out suffering, with an inevitability at the end of it. The body shuts down gradually as the cancer wins out. For my sister it was the same with 'good days' vs 'bad days'. At first bad days were the minority and over time the ratio changed.
A sister's friend's mother had a very aggressive cancer that was diagnosed and in 10 days killed her. In a twisted way, I think that might be worse than tge long drawn battle, where more time is available.
I have no first hand experience, so this is speculation. It was just shocking to hear.
Re: Jake Seliger has died
#169Hi everyone, This is Bess, Jake's wife. I just want to say how deeply touched I am to see how much Jake and his writing are appreciated here on HN. The intellectual online community which made up a big piece of his life for so long was important to him, as was having a positive influence on others, and it would have meant so much to him- as it does to me- to see the impact he made. Thank you for the people who reache…
I didn’t know Jake’s work, but I’m going on vacation tomorrow and this thread has moved me to get copies of his books and start reading them while I’m away. I’ll be thinking of your family as I make my way through them.
I sincerely wish you and your daughter the best.
Re: Jake Seliger has died
#170Earlier quoted context omitted.
so what was this guy known for? for a blog? for his illness?
Yes. He was an academic who wrote about writing, authored two inconsequential novels, and was very open about his cancer. Many people here interacted with him or his work, but there’s no shame if you didn’t. A black bar on HN means people asked for it, it’s not a new entry on life’s high score table that needs to be rigorously justified.
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