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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE I ignored all the signs... then doctors found an aggressive cancer. Here is what I wish I knew
An Oregon man who blamed his extreme fatigue and weight loss on work stress actually had terminal cancer. Once an ultramarathon champion and self-proclaimed 'health nut,' the 41-year-old had grown accustomed to intense weight training and running up to five miles a day. He mostly steered clear of alcohol and processed foods and prioritized a balanced diet with all organic vegetables and lean proteins. But earlier this year, he noticed he could no longer get through his regular exercise routine - 'the first big change' that signaled a deadly issue. Over the course of several months, he suffered extreme fatigue and dropped 30 pounds without trying. 'I thought it was just stress at work,' the mechanical engineer said. However, bloodwork and an abdominal CT at his yearly checkup revealed stage four pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, the most common form of pancreatic cancer. Just one in eight patients with pancreatic cancer is expected to survive five years, data shows, and when it's diagnosed in later stages, which happens most of the time, survival rates dwindle to just three percent. The man, who posted his story in an anonymous Reddit thread, has just six months left to live despite living 'a very healthy lifestyle' and having no family history of the disease. He said: 'I never smoked, almost never drank, ate clean and exercised daily. Sometimes biology lets you down.' Pancreatic cancer affects roughly 67,000 Americans every year and kills about 52,000. More than half the time, the disease is first spotted after it has already reached stage three or four due to its vague symptoms. These include abdominal pain, weight loss, back pain, jaundice and floating or clay-colored stools. This leads patients to assume their symptoms are from more benign causes like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This was the case for Clair Honeywood, a 45-year-old from the UK who chocked her severe stomach pain up to IBS. She was diagnosed with inoperable pancreatic cancer and given a year to live. And Matthew Rosenblum of Michigan assumed his bone-white stools in 2021 were from Crohn's disease, but it was actually stage four pancreatic cancer at age 32. It's unclear exactly what causes pancreatic cancer, but smoking, obesity and diabetes are thought to increase the risk by inducing harmful inflammation that causes cells to divide and become mutated more easily. The man in the Reddit thread, however, blames his diagnosis on bad luck. He said: 'Before this diagnosis, I was in perfect health. I thought I had another 50 years left. The first thought was 'This is too soon.'' The former engineer said he will soon move into hospice care and try psilocybin therapy for pain and the mental health effects that have come with his diagnosis. Psilocybin, the psychoactive ingredient in magic mushrooms, has been thought to reduce anxiety and depression in cancer patients. He also has signed up for several clinical trials. It's unclear if he will be getting standard treatments like chemotherapy or radiation. For now, he is focusing on using up his savings on vacations, scuba diving, skydiving and other items on his bucket list. His main regret is not taking enough risks like 'starting a business, moving to another place, trying something you were interested in but didn't know if you could do.' 'In the end, your failures are often not as consequential as you might think,' he added. He said: 'I'm glad I've been able to experience life. In all the possible realities I could've existed in, this was a pretty good one. Even if it's short. 'I don't have any grandiose aspirations for my legacy. A simple 'that guy was alright' is good enough for me. 'The biggest piece of advice I would give is to not take the time you have for granted. I know that's probably a worn out statement, but it rings incredibly true when you realize how finite your life really is.'
Independent Singapore
18 hours ago
- General
- Independent Singapore
‘I'm still her child and I have feelings too': Daughter says her mum favours siblings who give more money, even though she covers most family expenses
SINGAPORE: A 27-year-old Singaporean woman took to Reddit to express how painful it is to feel overlooked in her family simply because she gives her mother less money than her siblings. 'I know my mum doesn't favour me because I can't give her more or as much money as my siblings does. I have student loans to pay from when I studied in uni and also savings,' the woman wrote on the r/askSingapore forum on Thursday (Jun 19). 'To her, I have a higher pay so I should be able to give more but I'm not giving her more. She doesn't want to understand that I have financial responsibilities because she doesn't understand the concept and value of money after not working for 20 years. All she knows is that she'll get money if she asks for it and she better get it when she asks for it.' Still, the woman said she makes it a point to show up for the family whenever she can. She shared that she's usually the one footing the bill for family celebrations. 'I've always been the one who paid for everyone's birthday when we eat out. I paid for the bill for father's day, everyone's birthdays and sometimes even mine, and my parents' anniversary. I bought the cake and gifts,' she said. 'For mother's day, I split the bill with my younger brother to treat my entire family of 6 to dinner at Arab Street eating Mediterranean food. It costed us well over $350. ' 'I didn't mind paying first, but one of my brothers transferred me half, saying that we should at least split the bill because it was a lot. My mum didn't notice or cared that I paid first and eventually forked out half of the bill. She kept on bragging to her siblings and bringing up how thankful she was that my brother paid for mother's day. Just my brother and not me.' What cut even deeper was how her own birthday was handled. Initially, she had suggested a day trip to Johor Bahru, but changed her plans when she realised her youngest brother couldn't join due to a CCA camp. Wanting everyone to be involved, she chose to have a small celebration at home instead. Her only request was simple: to have three of her favourite dishes—chilli crab, prawn fritters, and mee soto—prepared for the occasion. But even that, she said, was met with dismissal. 'On the day of my birthday, my mother sent a message in the family group chat saying that she'll be making changes to the menu. She'll only be cooking chilli crab and the prawn fritters but not the mee soto even though I offered to help her cook and clean when it's my birthday.' 'She eventually said that she was lazy because it's just another day. I was in my room doing a bit of WFH (took half day off on my birthday which fell on a weekday) and just started crying because I felt so hurt for some reason.' At the end of her post, the woman shared that she had long accepted she was not the favourite child in the family. It was something she had gradually made peace with over the years. Even so, she admitted that moments like these still hurt more than she would like to admit. 'Sometimes it sucks,' she wrote. 'I'm 27 but I'm still her child and I have feelings too.' 'I hope you will have a wonderful 28th birthday next year.' Local users quickly flooded the comments with support, telling her she's not alone and that her feelings are completely valid. Some also tried to cheer her up. One user said, 'You matter too, and if there's no one that knows how to treat you like you matter, then let's start making yourself matter to yourself first. Great things will come to you. Please, please, please don't ever put yourself down just for another person's comfort.' Another wrote, 'Happy belated birthday. I am so sorry that you went through a sad 27th birthday. We can't choose our family, but we can choose how we feel. 'I am not my mum's favourite child either, so I don't focus on her. I focus on those that love me. Yes, she is your mum and your immediate family. You need to love her, but you also need to love yourself first. I hope one day you will be able to come to peace with this and not feel upset if such a situation happens again. I hope you will have a wonderful 28th birthday next year.' A third added, 'Things will get better, don't worry. You are a good daughter in the family. Unfortunately, you can't choose your mother. Try to talk things out between you two, if that doesn't work. Consider moving out and finding a partner. In time, your mum will appreciate you more when you are not living with her.' In other news, a man in his late 20s recently turned to social media to ask how much money someone should be making before they feel ready to start dating. Posting on the r/askSingapore subreddit, he shared that he had just landed a short traineeship in data analytics within the finance sector. However, he revealed that his current pay is only in the mid-S$2,000 range. Read more: Man earning S$2K a month asks: How much do you need to earn in Singapore before you're ready to date? Featured image by Depositphotos (for illustration purposes only)
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
'Why don't you like us?' American woman is flooded with brutal responses after posing 'sad' question to Australians
Australians have a general reputation for being friendly, laidback, affable and easy-going people. But a recent Reddit thread shared by an American woman questioned why a country that prides itself on values like mateship appears to have an apparent 'dislike' of Americans and the United States. Earlier this week, the woman wrote: 'I've seen lots of polling lately showing that Australians really don't like Americans very much. 'It makes me super sad as an American who has visited Australia multiple times (I am actually in WA right now) and is obsessed with your country.' The research the original post referred to was a Pew Research Center report published on June 11 titled, 'Views of the United States'. The paper identified the countries that viewed the US most and least favourably. Among the western nations, Australia came in at second behind Sweden in the list of countries that had the 'least positive assessment' of the US. The Reddit user wrote that she was 'genuinely curious' to understand whether Australians' 'dislike' for Americans was as a result of recent 'politics' – or if it stemmed 'farther back'. 'What is it about Americans that really turns you guys off?' she asked. 'I have some guesses, like maybe we take ourselves too seriously or are way into work culture, or maybe we see ourselves as the centre of the universe too often?' Within a matter of days, the post attracted over 1800 comments, many from Aussies offering detailed explanations and even bullet point lists of reasons. The comment with the most up-votes surmised that the disdain many Australians felt stemmed from a misalignment of cultural 'values'. 'I don't think Australians dislike Americans in general. It's rather about some of the values America is currently exporting that turns people away,' one Aussie suggested. They continued by citing specific examples, such as 'tipping culture, removing social safety nets, the gigantic trucks and the polarised politics'. Replies to that post also singled out other issues Aussies perceived about American society, such as 'gun culture', 'rubbish healthcare system', and 'views about reproductive rights'. Many Aussie commenters were at pains to specify that most Americans are 'lovely on an individual level'. But the broader issue was around some of the values the US represents. One reply explained: '[A]s others have said it's not individuals but rather the collective values of the USA arose to be; greed, violence, dishonesty and selfishness.' The American tourist's Reddit post has yielded over 1800 responses, which detailed a range of perceived cultural issues that complicate the perception Aussies have of the US Another suggested reason was that 'American exceptionalism', evident in common sentiments like 'USA NUMBER 1!' goes 'directly against Aussies anti tall poppy ethos'. Past Australian history with the US - particularly during wartime - was also raised as an explanation for the complexity of Australia's feelings towards the US. But there were also multiple comments laying blame at the feet of the current state of American politics following the recent re-election of President Donald Trump. It wasn't just Aussies chiming in, with one New Zealander confirming that the US was disliked by kiwis for similar reasons to those expressed in the comments. Another person based in Europe added that locals viewed American tourists as 'loud', 'rude' and 'entitled'. A separate comment said: 'Unfortunately there's an extremely prevalent stereotype of ignorance and arrogance [about American people], and you'll find this stereotype exists all around the world, not just amongst Australians. These kinds of folks are the minority of Americans of course, but unfortunately the loudest.' The avalanche of comments served as wake-up call for the original poster, who said they 'appreciated' people sharing their honest thoughts. 'We can't fix our blind spots without being aware of them and some of the things said definitely apply to me, so thank you. Just trying to gain some perspective and humility,' she admitted. To the woman's credit, they also replied to multiple comments throughout the thread, humbly agreeing with many reasons. For instance, in reply to a comment about Australia's Vietnam War conscript involvement, she said that she 'had no idea'. She also conceded that Australia's willingness to overhaul its gun laws in the immediate aftermath of the 1996 Port Arthur massacre demonstrated 'a deep moral divide between Australia and the US'. She even agreed that American tipping culture had gotten 'out of hand'. The American woman also noted that certain attitudes she thought were the norm are actually more specific to American culture. As an example, she said 'a lot of Americans can't take a joke or any other kind of perceived insult' - admitting even she still tends to take herself 'too seriously'. The original poster also touched on the 'American Exceptionalism' point and offered an explanation for it. 'My generation... was brought up with a very strong message of "USA #1", which is part of that American Exceptionalism you speak of. It pervades everything, even if it's not explicit, it's implicit.'
Independent Singapore
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Independent Singapore
Kopitiam or parking lot? PMAs lined up in a row leave Singaporean confused
Photo: Reddit screengrab/ u/queeenvee SINGAPORE: A local Reddit user wrote that they 'didn't know we have parking lots within coffee shops now' in a recent post, adding an emoji of a figure with an eyebrow raised. To illustrate their point, u/queeenvee added a photo of a row of Personal Mobility Aids (PMAs) on their June 17 (Tuesday) post on r/singapore. There are, of course, regulations for using PMAs in Singapore, including a speed limit, which was recently lowered from 10 kmh to 6 kmh. PMAs must also conform to size and weight limits, otherwise they won't be allowed on public paths. Additionally, the Land Transportation Authority (LTA) said that only users with certified medical needs will be allowed to use a mobility scooter. From the fourth quarter of this year, they may obtain a medical certificate from a doctor or an occupational therapist. However, this does not apply to users of motorised wheelchairs. Nevertheless, due to the size of crowds in certain areas in Singapore, many people have been unhappy with PMA users, especially in indoor areas such as food courts or groceries . 'Lol, I think I know which coffee shop this is… Boon Lay Drive area?' wrote a commenter on the Reddit post, adding, 'The PMA situation is out of control there. Some of the elderly I know personally really have mobility issues. But quite a fair bit of the users are just the demographic you would expect, and they ride around like they own the pavement, and it's dangerous. Quite a few are modded, and I nearly got knocked down several times myself.' 'A large number of PMAs are zooming around Toa Payoh because seniors' estate. Uncles and aunties, fast and furious… I once saw an uncle sipping beer from his beer can in a cup holder while riding his PMA. Drink driving yo. Another uncle was watching a drama on his tablet attached to PMA. Honestly, I don't really care about them moving about in PMAs, but can they at least 'drive' carefully at a reasonable speed and not put others at harm's way with their speeding?' wrote another. 'Controversial opinion, but I think we are having a PMD epidemic. I dare say at least 50% of the elderly on PMD don't even need it, simply due to plain laziness,' a commenter opined. 'The level of entitlement among that particular demographic often seems to be through the roof,' one chimed in, while another wrote, 'When people ask what's uniquely Singapore next time, we post this photo.' /TISG Read also: 'She should use wheelchair instead of PMA' — PMA rider at crowded food court upsets Singaporeans, sparking debate
Independent Singapore
2 days ago
- Business
- Independent Singapore
Man earning S$2K a month asks: How much do you need to earn in Singapore before you're ready to date?
SINGAPORE: A man in his late 20s recently turned to social media to ask how much money someone should be making before they feel ready to start dating. Posting on the r/askSingapore subreddit, he shared that he had just landed a short traineeship in data analytics within the finance sector. However, he revealed that his current pay is only in the mid-S$2,000 range. He added that he plans to search for a full-time role both during and after the traineeship, in hopes of securing a better-paying position. As for his finances, he shared that while his savings are not substantial, he has managed to set aside enough for an emergency fund and to repay his student loans. He also mentioned that he has invested in well-established companies and exchange-traded funds. 'Different girls, different expectations…' His question prompted several responses from other Reddit users, many of whom shared their own experiences and perspectives on how money factors into modern relationships. See also Artist claims he has sex with Mona Lisa One user pointed out that there's no one-size-fits-all answer, as expectations differ widely among individuals. They wrote, 'Different girls, different expectations. There are girls who do not mind their partner earning little as long as they have a proper job and always look to improve themselves. Likewise, you can be earning five digits per month, but if your personality sucks, I am sure no girls will date you.' Another user, identifying as female, shared that in her early 20s, income wasn't something she paid much attention to since she and her peers were still students. But by her mid- to late 20s, her expectations had evolved. At that point in life, she wanted a partner who could at least match her financial standing She added. 'Finance affects lifestyle, and I don't see myself lowering my lifestyle much. By the way, I'm in the same field as you. The market is not good. If it gets better, it is not an issue at all for you to earn well. Just keep hustling! No need to worry.' A third user reflected on his own experience, saying that it all comes down to whether the woman is willing to grow with her partner. He said, 'Hmm, actually, it's more of if the lady is willing to be there for you, ba.' I did not earn a lot when my wife first dated me. I progress along the way.' When is the right time to talk about income? Talking about money, especially salary, can feel awkward in the early stages of dating. Many people might avoid the topic on a first or second date, fearing it might come off as too forward or transactional. However, experts suggest that this conversation shouldn't be put off for too long. Ideally, it should take place after a few dates or before the relationship becomes official, as financial compatibility can play a big role in long-term success. In fact, a study by Lunch Actually found that more than half of singles (52%) believe it's important to understand their partner's financial situation once they enter a relationship. Similarly, a separate study by Syfe revealed that 44% of Singaporeans think it's acceptable to ask about someone's salary before becoming a couple. Around one in three also said they would be comfortable sharing how much they earn within the first five dates. Read also: 'Why is this allowed to happen, and why is there no enforcement?' — Singaporean dismayed by the state of Lazarus Beach after migrant workers' day-off gathering Featured image by freepik (for illustration purposes only)
