Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video] • Hacker News Board

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#21

Post by AceJohnny2 » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 6:57 PM UTC

Wow, talk about curveballs. That's a terrifying prospect, and I wish Simone the best for her surgery. I'm glad to hear it's not malignant, and I hope that holds.

I've seen cancer show up unexpectedly among two friends. One discovered she had leukemia, and underwent chemo and a bone marrow transplant. She died from a lung infection because of her weakened immune system after the transplant, not even a year after the initial diagnosis. She had just turned 27.

Another friend discovered they had an extremely rare form of mesothelioma, the asbestos-caused lung cancer, except theirs isn't due to asbestos and isn't in the lung. There are less than 300 documented cases, rare enough that there are no experts, and they're a case study. They're currently living with the uncertainty in their mid-30s.

Both friends were in great physical health (the former made the regional swim team, the latter climbs the highest peaks in North America for fun) until the diagnostic.

Seeing this has reinforced my nihilism (there is no meaning to life but the one you apply to it), and gave me greater understanding that our multicellular bodies are a peace treaty among cells that is likely to break down at any moment.

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#22

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:01 PM UTC

wanderfowl wrote: post #4

This makes me very sad, but I've also gotta highlight her skill at perfectly nailing the tone of that video. Humor, sadness, gratitude, and fear, in excellent measure. Plus, I'm thrilled to see somebody else with a nice sense of gallows humor. Sometimes, we have to laugh so we don't have to cry.

[deleted]

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#23

Post by middleclick » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:10 PM UTC

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #21

Wow, talk about curveballs. That's a terrifying prospect, and I wish Simone the best for her surgery. I'm glad to hear it's not malignant, and I hope that holds. I've seen cancer show up unexpectedly among two friends. One discovered she had leukemia, and underwent chemo and a bone marrow transplant. She died from a lung infection because of her weakened immune system after the transplant, not even a year after the i…

A close friend of mine, when we were 21, had heart attack and passed away. No family history of heart attacks, he was in excellent shape (cycling was his life) and just randomly out of the blue.

I do try to stay fit and eat healthy but there are times that I realize that I have no control over randomness or my genes. That is humbling and scary at the same time.

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#24

Post by berg01 » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:12 PM UTC

Hesitated whether to share this or not, in case Simone would read it...

My (then 70yo) mom got diagnosed with something very similar three years ago (golfball-sized tumor just behind one of the eyeballs). It was super scary for everyone involved.

The surgeon (in Linköping, Sweden) was one of the top specialists globally on this type of procedure - I did a ton of research before the surgery.

Recovery took a few days. They were wonderful at the hospital.

She's fine now, but her eye-sight on the affected eye is like 30%. I think the reason for this is that it was diagnosed quite late.

I'm quite surprised that such a young person like Simone (she's 27 according to wikipedia) has a golf-ball sized tumor.

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#25

Post by mzs » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:14 PM UTC

coupdejarnac wrote: post #19

It's good that her tumor isn't cancerous, but she's going to be out of action for at least a year. I see other people saying that she can make a full recovery, but this is not the type of thing you ever fully recover from. Two of my girlfriends had brain tumors, both in their 20s. It's life changing, if not life shattering.

Never underestimate the skills of medical pros and a patient's determination to stay our of a rehab hospital ;) My wife had a brain tumor, 100% resection. She's different, but it's her super power really. Only has one good ear now, can tune the kids or me out at will ;) Good luck shitty robots person! Work your magic medical pros!

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#26

Post by staunch » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:16 PM UTC

I hope people and technology can fix her completely and this ends up just being a bump in the road of her life. She's already made the world better (yet again) by sharing this experience. We all need to be reminded of how precious life is and how important it is to improve medical technology.

Good luck Simone!

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#27

Post by AndrewKemendo » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:20 PM UTC

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #21

Wow, talk about curveballs. That's a terrifying prospect, and I wish Simone the best for her surgery. I'm glad to hear it's not malignant, and I hope that holds. I've seen cancer show up unexpectedly among two friends. One discovered she had leukemia, and underwent chemo and a bone marrow transplant. She died from a lung infection because of her weakened immune system after the transplant, not even a year after the i…

I've had the same experience. Multiple friends dying young of cancer, others to war and it shook my core beliefs about who and what is important. In almost every case, each of them were "the best of us" and were top performers destined for greatness.

A philosophical nitpick too, you're likely describing absurdism, not nihilism. Nihilism doesn't accept the self-application of meaning/purpose. Whereas other forms of existentialism do accept that self application of purpose is valid, with absurdism being the only one which offers that any self assigned purpose is equally valid to others.

I only say this because both handle the question of suicide differently. I'm on the fence between being a nihilist and an absurdist weekly.

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#28

Post by pkaye » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:25 PM UTC

middleclick wrote: post #23

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #21

Wow, talk about curveballs. That's a terrifying prospect, and I wish Simone the best for her surgery. I'm glad to hear it's not malignant, and I hope that holds. I've seen cancer show up unexpectedly among two friends. One discovered she had leukemia, and underwent chemo and a bone marrow transplant. She died from a lung infection because of her weakened immune system after the transplant, not even a year after the i…

A close friend of mine, when we were 21, had heart attack and passed away. No family history of heart attacks, he was in excellent shape (cycling was his life) and just randomly out of the blue. I do try to stay fit and eat healthy but there are times that I realize that I have no control over randomness or my genes. That is humbling and scary at the same time.

That is kind of the reality I've living with myself. My father died of Leukemia when I was young. After college, one of my friends died of brain cancer. Right now my wife and I are dealing with my MILs breast cancer treatment. Meanwhile I found out I had kidney disease due to an auto immune condition a few years back and now I'm on dialysis. Just the other day my sister was talking about dealing with her MILs Alzheimer's disease. Sometimes its just hard to have an optimistic view on live when it all can go tumbling down in a moments notice.

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#29

Post by berg01 » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:26 PM UTC

coupdejarnac wrote: post #19

It's good that her tumor isn't cancerous, but she's going to be out of action for at least a year. I see other people saying that she can make a full recovery, but this is not the type of thing you ever fully recover from. Two of my girlfriends had brain tumors, both in their 20s. It's life changing, if not life shattering.

My then 70 year old mom (three years ago) had this kind of surgery. She was back in action after about a week.

Re: Simone Giertz on her brain tumour [video]

#30

Post by hsavit1 » Mon, Apr 30, 2018, 7:49 PM UTC

coupdejarnac wrote: post #19

It's good that her tumor isn't cancerous, but she's going to be out of action for at least a year. I see other people saying that she can make a full recovery, but this is not the type of thing you ever fully recover from. Two of my girlfriends had brain tumors, both in their 20s. It's life changing, if not life shattering.

You can absolutely fully recover, I've done it myself. I've had a brain tumor removed 16 years ago and now I am in better physical shape than anyone I personally know.