#spinal cord problems

[munaeem]

Can physical therapy help with spinal stenosis-related nerve pain?

Spinal stenosis is a condition characterized by the narrowing of the spinal canal, which can result in compression of the spinal nerves. This compression often leads to pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in the affected areas of the body. While medication and surgery are sometimes necessary for severe cases, physical therapy is a conservative and non-invasive treatment approach that can…

[tired-cripple-punk]

It’s Ehlers-Danlos awareness month and I am very aware right now

[marmorada]

I love waking up to my 67 year old father having a 14 year old girl style silent treatment bitchfit because he's decided overnight I'm faking my hand problems for mysterious reasons and I just love being humiliated by going to class without properly brushing my hair & also do it on purpose to, idk, screw him. Because somehow this has anything to do with him at all. I guess I need to be more understanding of his apparently grievous pain and ruin my hands even more so he can stare at my hair or whatever the fuck reason this bothers him so fucking bad.

[sunnycanwrite]

I've been watching a lot of TV late. And I get it, good wheelchairs cost a lot. So yeah, they put actors in standard wheelchair. Like a spinal injury needs a certain chair! It just makes me want to punch so someone.

But guess what studios, and casting directors? Instead of placing those abled bodies actors in rental chairs, they hire disabled actors! Or just hire them in general! Because we actually understand the experience, we fucking live it! Day to day. And you might be wondering why are you angry? Cause I have the right to be.

[drsameepsohoni]

Spine Issue Symptoms

Here find detailed info on: Spine Issue Symptoms. Know, List of Rare Spinal Diseases. Common Spine Problems in Older Adults… from Dr. Sameep Sohoni… Top Orthopedic Doctor Thane. Top spine surgeon Thane.

[sureshblogs]

Medspine: Your Destination for Premier Spine Surgery Solutions in Chennai

In the bustling healthcare landscape of Chennai, finding the optimal care for spinal issues can be daunting. However, nestled within the city's medical hub lies Medspine, a beacon of excellence in spine surgery and treatment. Renowned as the best spine surgery hospital in Chennai, Medspine offers comprehensive services catering to various spinal conditions, backed by a team of seasoned specialists and cutting-edge technology.

When it comes to addressing spine problems, Medspine stands out as the epitome of excellence. As the premier spine surgery clinic in Chennai, it provides unparalleled care for individuals grappling with back pain, neck pain, spinal deformities, and complex spinal conditions. Medspine boasts a multidisciplinary approach, ensuring personalized treatment plans tailored to each patient's unique needs.

At Medspine, patients benefit from a holistic range of services, including diagnostic evaluations, conservative treatments, minimally invasive procedures, and advanced surgical interventions. Whether it's the treatment of spinal fractures, primary spine tumors, intradural tumors, or sacral tumors, the hospital excels in delivering precise and effective solutions.

Medspine is synonymous with expertise, housing the best spine surgery doctors and specialists in Chennai. With extensive experience and profound knowledge in their respective fields, Medspine's medical team ensures that patients receive world-class care at every step of their journey. From spine surgeons to scoliosis correction specialists, kyphosis surgery experts, and back spine specialists, Medspine's roster of physicians is second to none.

Moreover, Medspine takes pride in its state-of-the-art facilities and advanced surgical techniques. As the top spine surgery center in Chennai, the hospital embraces innovation to achieve superior outcomes for patients. Whether it's minimally invasive spine surgery, transpedicular biopsy, or complex spinal reconstruction, Medspine employs the latest advancements to optimize surgical precision and minimize patient discomfort.

For individuals seeking the best hospital for back surgery or back pain treatment in Chennai, Medspine emerges as the undisputed choice. The hospital's unwavering commitment to excellence, coupled with compassionate patient care, sets it apart as a trusted destination for spinal health.

In conclusion, Medspine shines as the beacon of hope for individuals grappling with spinal issues in Chennai. As the foremost authority in spine surgery and treatment, Medspine combines expertise, innovation, and compassion to redefine the standards of spinal care. For those in search of unparalleled solutions for spinal health, Medspine stands tall as the premier destination in Chennai.

Whether it's addressing spinal fractures, spinal tumors, deformities, or chronic pain, Medspine delivers exemplary care that transcends expectations. With a legacy of excellence and a commitment to patient-centric care, Medspine remains at the forefront of spine surgery, ensuring that every patient receives the best possible treatment for their condition.

[billa-billa007]

Does the pain originate from the extremity or the spine? with Dr., Nick Rainey

Determining whether pain originates from the extremity (such as an arm or leg) or the spine can be challenging and often requires a thorough assessment by a healthcare professional. Pain can be referred, meaning that it is felt in a different location than its actual source.

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

Heat Intolerance

This disability pride month I'd like to talk about heat intolerance. Because honestly although it's not the first health issue that presented symptoms in my life. It was the first time I was like "I don't think my body works right".

And honestly given disability pride month is during one of the hottest months in the year. It seems fitting. Especially because there's a lot of disabilities and medications that cause it.

What is heat intolerance?

Simply speaking it's the inability for the body to regulate it's temperatures especially in hot settings to cool itself down.

Why is awareness important?

Because gaslighting people or worse not providing them a place to cool down just because you "feel fine" is extremely fucking dangerous.

What are the medicines that can cause heat intolerance?

Antihistamines (Allergy medications) . Decongestants (Sudafed or any medication that has the D at the end of it). Stimulants (ADHD medications. Steroids. Caffeine.) Beta-blockers (blood pressure medications). Overactive bladder treatment. Psychiatric medications (including but not limited to medications for depression and anxiety). Pain relievers. Antibiotics.

What medical conditions can cause heat intolerance?

EDS (Elhers-Danlos syndrome). Autism. ADHD. Migraines. Brain/spinal-cord injury. Sensory processing disorder. Chronic fatigue syndrome. Endocrin problems. POTS. Menopause. Hypothyroidism. Diabetes. Heart Disease. Multiple sclerosis. Mental health disorders.

What should I do if I suspect I have heat intolerance?

Reduce time outside during hot months. Keep your electrolytes up. Drink plenty of water. Stay out of the sun whenever possible if outside. Be aware of the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

Clothes that are best worn for heat intolerance. Loose lightweight breathable fabrics. Natural fibers. Long sleeves that protect from sunburn as sunburns will increase your risk. Light clothes that reflect light. Wide brimmed hats that shade the face and neck.

Cool. So what are those symptoms I'm supposed you be looking for?

Headaches. Excessive fatigue. Mood changes. Muscle cramping or weakness. Nausea/ vomiting. Rapid heartbeat. Excessive sweating or not sweating at all.

When should I do to the doctor?

If you suspect you have heat intolerance you can go to your PCP to discuss what medications you may be on and what you can do about it. Otherwise, please go to the emergency room if you have symptoms of heat stroke.

This is good information and all but why are you making this post?

To raise awareness. Not just for the people that have it but weren't aware of what it was called. But for all of the idiots that tried to gaslight me when I was in school because I was like "I don't think this is normal. Every time we do our mile run outside I vomit all over the place but other kids aren't doing that."

Also because people always blame me for over heating if I wear long sleeves or pants. I always like to take notes from what people in the middle east wear because they literally live in the excessive heat and spend long hours in the excessive heat. Often in clothing that covers most of their body. They've gotta know what they're doing, right?

I have some type of xenophobic comment about why people from the middle east cover up

Shut the fuck up 😊

-fae

[danaris112]

I'm so sick of people saying that Covid is just a cold.

It's not. Unlike a cold, Covid targets your nervous system, i.e. your brain, your nerves and spinal cord.

That is terrifying. It has the ability to mess up the signals your brain sends to the rest of your body. Best case scenario, you're more likely to have changes in smell and taste, cognitive dysfunctions such as memory problems and brain fog, as well as being more likely to have strokes and seizures. Worst case scenario, you become permanently disabled.

In my case, I got infected with Covid and developed a chronic illness. There is little to no chance that I will ever recover. Every day, I deal with fatigue, pain, headaches, brain fog and so many other symptoms that make me unable to complete even the most basic tasks. I can't go to school. I can barely leave the house. It's very likely that I'll never be able to get a job and support myself. My life, and the lives of millions of other people, were ruined by Covid.

So no, it's not just a cold.

[munaeem]

how can physical therapy help manage spinal stenosis?

Physical therapy can be a valuable tool in managing spinal stenosis. Here are a few ways it can help: Pain management: Physical therapists can teach you exercises and techniques to reduce pain associated with spinal stenosis. They may use modalities such as heat or ice therapy, ultrasound, or electrical stimulation to provide pain relief. Strengthening and flexibility: Physical therapy can…

[tired-cripple-punk]

About me:

- Kai (he/him)

- queer & trans

- 24 & in the USA (unfortunately)

- DID system

- multiple disabilities & chronically ill

- neurodivergent & mentally ill

- mobility aid user

- alternative (emo/punk)

- new to tumblr, idk what the fuck I’m doing, but I’ll figure it out

I’ll try to make everything accessible, but let me know if there is anything I miss.

DNI under cut:

- any & all bigots (anti-LGBTQ+, ableist, racist, etc)

- blogs with untagged triggers

- spam blogs

- blogs without title or age (minors can interact on this blog)

- endos & anyone pro-endo

- anyone uncomfortable with swearing, slurs & venting material

- pedos, zoos, trans-id

- (constantly being updated)

All userboxes are from sysgraphics

[cripplecharacters]

Do you have tangible advice on *how* to research different disabilities for writing? How to find specific blogs beyond searching the name of the disability on Tumblr, forums, websites with good info, etc? I see a lot of advice that is basically just "research the disability and talk to people who have it" but with how Google has gone down in quality, I'm not sure where to look beyond the surface level info (plus how to find people with the disability who are willing to share niche details/answer really specific situational questions). Thank you for everything you do on this blog!

Hey!

I'd say that you should break the research process into a few steps.

First, figure out what you should actually look into. Think about the genre, intended audience, and role of the character. A background character in a comedy meant for elementary school kids and a main character in an adult romantic novel will have two different approaches. You don't have to (and probably shouldn't) overdo a character that doesn't need it - otherwise it can end up feeling like some sort of disability awareness PSA, and that's probably not what you want.

With that in mind, you can start the actual research. I think that the websites of organizations/foundations for people with that specific disabilities are the best, since they cover a lot of things from many different angles. They are also usually written in simpler language than medical websites (which are also great, but I get that not everyone can understand those, not everyone's fluent in English, etc.) and have more tangible advice for "how to function with XYZ" essentially. It also can give you a glimpse of what your character could specifically struggle with, especially in case of a recent disability - medical pages often won't talk about insurance problems, interpersonal issues, or actually coping with the new state one's body is in. Check the FAQs, or the most commonly visited pages, stuff like that to get an idea on what's important. For example, these are some of the most concise explanations of how someone with a complete spinal cord injury at a specific level might function and what they might need. Something like this can be a good start to figure out where your characters "is", so to speak.

Some organizations for common disabilities might also have some sort of "media representation" page that's made specifically for writers. UK's Down Syndrome Association has one, Face Equality International has one, Phoenix Society has one, US Foundation for the Blind has one, etc.

This alone is more research than the vast majority of writers bother to do. If you actually understand:

what the disability is,

what symptoms it has,

how those affect your character in day-to-day life,

how to avoid the most common offensive stereotypes,

you are doing better than a lot of published writers, to be honest.

Okay, but what can you do to make it even better:

Since at this step you know what symptoms your character has and which ones you will actually show to the audience, you can start researching them one by one.

Here you might have to go read some medical studies, and learning how to get information out of those is a skill that needs some practice. But it is necessary to figure out if your blind character's vision loss is more likely to be total with no light perception or 20/200 (and, to figure out if your character's eye condition even causes blindness... because I've seen "blind characters" who are blind from eye conditions that... do not cause vision loss) so that you can actually research appropriate accommodations or aids.

Knowing specific symptoms will be even more helpful if your character's disability isn't very common - symptoms are very rarely tied to just a single disability, and you might have more luck researching a completely different one. For example, if you can't find info on something related to being a unilateral arm amputee, try searching for solutions that hemiplegics use. Not all will apply, but a lot of this stuff will be the same.

Make sure you understand what you do or don't do with those symptoms. There might be treatments, there might be some lifestyle changes to be done, there might be some strict limitation that you will have to put on your character for them to make sense. I think it's better to fit the character concept to the symptoms that you want and not the other way around - if you do the latter, you might find yourself writing an essentially abled character or a disabled character that is just inconsistent. Not every disability will be compatible with every role or concept, and there's really no point in trying to put us literally everywhere. If you really can't find a solution for something you need the character to do, it might mean that there just isn't one.

Once you figure out the technical stuff and have all the "dry" information laid out, start seeking the real life equivalents. Start widely at first so that you can narrow it down later, not the other way around (unless you don't mind changing the character around a lot). If you have already done a lot of technical research before, you will have more specific questions (which are easier to answer than "how do I write a disabled character").

Look up daily vlogs and day-in-a-life videos on youtube from people with that disability (and don't be afraid of only very-low views count videos popping up as that's almost inevitable - there are very few big disability youtubers, so try giving the smaller ones a chance). Watch interviews where people with that condition explain how their daily life is, how their disability affects it. SBSK is one of the best IMO. Check out AMAs on Reddit. Read personal blogs (you can generally find some by just putting "living with Name of Disability blog" into search). There's a ton of people who sincerely want to help others understand the realities of living with their disability and name their stuff accordingly so that it's easy to find.

At this stage you should have a decent idea of how the disability affects your character both in the technical sense, and in the more practical one.

Try to write out their average daily routine - from how they get up in the morning to when they go to sleep. Try to actively think "how would they do it" - how would they get from their bed and into their wheelchair, how would they dress up, how would they commute to work, how would they communicate with others, how would they get from point A to point B. If you realize that you're suddenly stuck, you now have a specific question ("how to put on pants with no hands", "how do totally blind people use computers", "shower accommodations C5 SCI", whatever) which is much easier to research than just a vague awareness of Not Knowing how your character functions in general. All of these questions have been asked before - newly disabled people will be going through them in their real life, and they use the same search engines and same social media as everyone else.

If you get this far, you're doing quite great! I'd say that this is enough effort to make a good and complex disabled character that's important in the story, though maybe not the POV character.

For a POV character, if you aren't disabled, you probably need a sensitivity reader/consultant.

There are a lot of those in writing spaces already - a lot of disabled people write themselves. If you just drop a "I need a sensitivity reader for XYZ" and use the general writing tags, there's a high chance you will get a response (assuming the XYZ in question isn't something very rare and/or so severe it would prevent someone from using the internet in general).

You can also try the disability's tag (don't get discouraged if it's not used a lot, a lot of people lurk without posting anything themselves) since you're looking for a real person and intending to pay them (very different from abled writers randomly posting their blorbos in disability tags).

Some of the places where you can try looking are r/SensitivityReaders, WritingDiversely, FireflyCreativeWriting, even sites like Fiverr could work. I've also heard some good things about Facebook writing groups, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

You can also always reach out to an association for people with the kind of disability you need - tell them that you are a writer and are looking to pay a sensitivity reader to help you, and they might be able to refer you to someone who would like to do that.

Another thing would be to keep intersectionality in mind - if your character is disabled, but otherwise part of the majority in every other sense (in NA or most of EU: white, rich, Christian, cisgender, straight, non-immigrant), you will have less things to consider than if your character has the same disability but is also a Polynesian transgender immigrant. If any intersectionality is particularly important to what you're writing, you should include that as well (you can also work with multiple sensitivity readers to try and get as close as possible).

My last advice is to only seek out sensitivity readers if you're able to pay them a fair amount for their work. Don't ask people to work for you for free (which is probably obvious, but a ton of fanfic and whump writers on Tumblr seem completely unaware of this).

Technical tips:

For specifically avoiding AI slop, I recommend putting [before:2023] after whatever question you put in, it will filter all results made after 2022, eliminating 99% of AI nonsense (works for images too).

If you're constantly getting a specific kind of wrong result, use [-ThingYouDon'tWant] after the input, it will remove everything that contains it.

If you're not getting a specific result, put the word you need in quotes ["Word You Need"] and it will force only the results who use that specific phrase/term to appear.

So if you're trying to find a blog about living with quadriplegic cerebral palsy as an adult and can't find any relevant searches by putting just that into the search, try ["cerebral palsy" "blog" quadriplegic -parents -spinal -SCI] and you should get more relevant stuff.

That's how I generally try to approach research for writing and I would say I've had good results (including now). Researching is a skill that requires practice unfortunately, at some point you can simply tell when a resource is bad or good since you've looked at so many already.

Follower input is welcome and encouraged :-)

mod Sasza

[bougiebutchbitch]

Absofuckinglutely. Thank you.

still not over how a bunch of physically, visibly disabled people with ambulation-limiting disabilities were upset about how THE ONLY character in OFMD with a canonical physical, visible, ambulation-limiting disability, whose ARC revolved around his disability, was treated by the narrative of this so-called 'kind' comedy

(i.e., going from hating his disability and feeling suicidal, to accepting himself and learning to love himself again with the help of his support network and a new mobility aid... then dying in a ridiculous way while saying he 'wanted to go' and undoing all that amazing growth, while a bunch of fans and the showrunner said this was just 'the natural end to his arc' and 'it just felt right')

and a bunch of you were like 'ACTUALLY you don't get to criticise this because one other character lost his finger once and this other actor has a small facial difference, and a lot of people in this fandom have headcanons, confirmed by neither canon nor Word of God, about other characters having invisible disabilities! And invisible disabilities are just as important!' (true! I have plenty, as well as visible ones!) 'and you are actually being ABLEIST by not being satisfied with the disability rep in this show, because all disabilities are exactly the same and should be treated as such!' (absolute bullshit)

Like, until you learn that disability is not a monolith, disabled rep should also not be a monolith, people with visible disabilities do not have some sort of fucking 'privilege' over people with invisible disabilities, complaints about how one disabled character was treated cannot magically be wiped away by saying 'but I think this other character has an invisible disability and HE lived, so maybe you're the ableist one!', and that headcanons =/= disability rep, I really don't think you should participate in these conversations. :)

As always, able-bodied people can reblog, but don't participate in the convo unless you're offering support.

[flemingology]

Hi !! :D Following your most recent post I wanted to request smth for Jessie . Basically reader is not used to celebrating Christmas since she had problems with her family growing up which lead to them never celebrating it in their household . Cue to now where Jessie and her are spending their first ever Christmas as a couple , Jessie invites reader to her parents’s for Christmas and it becomes the first time reader gets to celebrate it ? Just really fluffy mostly (idk if what I wrote made sense English is not my first language 😭)

home for the holidays ─ jessie fleming x reader

part of my christmas series. full masterlist here!

in which: jessie and her family are determined to change your mind about celebrating christmas

warnings: talks of a poor youth, poverty, financial issues, dysfunctional family dynamic but also lots of fluff, i promise

wc: 4.6k

a/n: first part of the christmas series! combined a couple drafts of jessie taking reader to celebrate christmas with her family. hope you enjoy!

Growing up, you missed out on a lot of things due to the precarious financial situation of your family. Your dad had incurred a work-related accident when you were three years old, leaving him bedridden with permanent spinal cord injury. Your mum worked 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, trying her hardest to muster up the money to take care of both you and your father. Nonetheless, your family struggled. You never experienced any of the traditional things that most kids did; no birthday parties, no holidays, no trips to the zoo or an amusement park, and certainly not Christmas. You dreaded the Christmas holidays. It confronted you with the dysfunctional family dynamic, never having the money to buy presents, let alone decorate the house.

The longer you found yourself in the terrible conditions in which you grew up, the more you promised yourself that you would try and break that vicious cycle. From the age of 16, you started looking for a job. You struggled, a lot of employers judging you based off your background, but eventually you managed to get a job at a local supermarket on the corner of your street. When you weren't at school, you were working, and when you weren't working, you were helping your mum with household chores. You didn't have any free time at all, but you kept reassuring yourself it would all be worth it in the end.

By the age of 20, you finally felt like you could look forward a little. You had finished school at 18, and now had been working full-time in the supermarket for 2 years, still helping your mum out with the household and even giving a big part of your income to her to help out with dad's care. Besides that, you opened a savings account for yourself, where you put the remainder of the money you made every month. You felt like you were slowly but surely creeping out the vicious cycle, paving the way for yourself to have a more positive looking future. You didn't have to take things day-to-day anymore. You started doing some charity work for OHOH: Oregon's Harbor of Hope – an institution caring for the homeless people of Portland. When you weren't on the clock in the supermarket, you went out there to help the volunteers. OHOH worked on giving homeless people a safe space, a community, and the essential services they needed to stabilize their lives.

You stumbled across the organization while browsing on the internet on a library computer, and you'd felt the fire in your belly to help them. You wrote down the address on your hand and went to check it out the following day, opening up about your past experiences and about how you thought you could aid OHOH. They took you in, welcomed you with open arms, and you had been one of the main volunteers there for the past three years now. But if anyone had told you that you'd meet the love of your life at one of their fundraisers, you would've never believed them.

OHOH organized fundraisers on every first Friday of the month. They were open for everyone who wanted to come check out the institution and help out – whether that be financially or actual engagement. That's where you met Jessie. Jessie, who also stumbled across the organization while scrolling through her socials. Jessie, who was so eager to help the local community. Jessie, who you bonded with the first time she came around and then she just kept coming. Every first Friday of the month she'd be there, claiming she was just there to help out, but she knew deep down that there was more to it than just helpfulness.

Jessie and you got talking on her first time visiting OHOH. You took it upon yourself to show her around the place, explaining her the ins and outs about the services you offered, Jessie listening to you with care and intent. Before you even realized, you started opening up about yourself to the Canadian. Conversation flowed easily between the two of you and you felt at ease, Jessie not judging you for any of the things you opened up to her about. It was late into the night when you two wrapped up, the only two people still hanging around at the fundraiser. You had an early shift in the supermarket the next day and you already knew you'd curse yourself for staying up late today. Jessie lingered a little while you locked up, and you caught yourself stealing a glance of her every now and then. You said your goodbyes then, parting ways with Jessie's promise that she'd be back next month.

And she was. And then again the next month. Jessie and you had grown closer over her past couple visits. You felt something warm and fuzzy coursing through your body every time you talked to her, a foreign feeling you'd never experienced before and you didn't really know what to do with it. Things with Jessie were easy. It felt like a fresh start, like a blank page ready to be written on. Jessie, on the other hand, cursed herself every time she left the fundraiser without asking for your number. She was in her head about it, thinking she might just be reading in to things, but she couldn't deny her feelings for you anymore. Not when your touch seemed to linger a little bit too long after she pulled you into a hug, not when you memorized the way she drinks her coffee after only making her one once, not when the way you said her name would make her stomach flutter in ways she'd never felt before. So she promised herself that next month, she'd ask for your number. And if you then didn't seem to be on the same page, well then at least she tried.

When next month came around, Jessie found herself trying to make an extra effort to look good on Friday. She usually wasn't really one to be very bothered about her outfits, but she caught herself standing in front of her wardrobe a little too long for what was just a fundraiser she'd been at multiple times. After a quick shower and freshening up a little, she made her way over to Portland's city centre, expertly navigating the roads to a place she'd visited frequently enough to know the way by heart. She noticed you from a little while away, talking to some of the other volunteers by the entrance. You spotted her too, giving her a small wave from across the street, which Jessie readily reciprocated. She scolded herself over how excited she got over the little gesture. She quickly made her way over, greeting everyone before eventually finding herself opposite you. You engulfed her in a hug, the embrace a welcome barrier against the cold Portland wind that nipped at Jessie's skin. "Hey. Thank you for coming," you mumbled against her, slowly pulling back from the hug. "Always."

You went through the motions, as you did every month. Talked to newcomers, caught up with old visitors, gave tours and explanations on what you did at OHOH. Jessie busied herself, talking to people here and there, sharing experiences with the people of Oregon. It was a welcome change for her, being somewhere where nobody really knew who she was. To be taken as herself, as Jess, not so much as Jessie Fleming – the Thorns and Canada midfielder that everyone seemed so eager to get a piece of. That's one of the main reasons she was so fond of you. You didn't know who she was. You hadn't found out yet either, or you were just very good at hiding it. It never came up in conversations, either. The only time Jessie spoke about football was the first time you met each other; when you asked her what her hobbies were. Football. A hobby. If only you knew. Jessie realized that she'd have to tell you at some point, but she liked the calm for now. The comfort.

As the night furthered, you two started gravitating towards each other more and more. From fleeting glances whenever you passed her with a new group to guide around the building, to quick conversations in between catch-ups, to full on spending the last hour of the fundraiser tucked away in a slightly more quiet corner, talking to each other like it was the easiest thing in the world. Neither you could deny the feelings that were starting to build inside you anymore. The fuzzy feeling remained, and now your skin felt tingly whenever Jessie's touch was on you. It excited you, really, but it made you oh so nervous. Scared, even. You'd never felt this way, not in your 24 years of doing life had you ever felt like this about someone. You didn't know what love was. Your mum loved your dad, you could see that, but that got lost in the dysfunctional dynamic of the family. Platonic love isn't something you experienced either throughout your youth, your peers had never been fond of you. You'd gotten used to that, grown accustomed to being alone. Not lonely, though, you didn't mind being alone. But this was different. Jessie made you feel all kinds of things and she made being alone feel like the worst thing in the world. You wanted to be around her, be alongside her, be with her.

You'd noticed a nervous touch in Jessie's behaviors that night. A little more restless than usual, a little more jumpy, much less controlled. Controlled. Jessie was always controlled. Although, that's what she thought. She liked being in control. In control over her thoughts, emotions, her behaviors. But the way she was fiddling with her fingers, the way she kept tapping her feet and how she seemed to stumble over her otherwise so composed words, you knew something was off.

"Are you okay, Jess?" You'd just locked up the building as the fundraiser came to an end, another successful evening wrapped up. You'd been building up the courage to ask her the question all evening, much as she had been trying to build up the courage to ask for your number – unbeknownst to you. You glanced at her over your shoulder when she didn't give you a reply. "Jess?" You raised your voice a little bit, seemingly startling the freckled Canadian. "Hmm?" She cocked her eyebrows, a nervous glint in her eye. You chuckled and made your way over to her, stalling opposite of her. "I asked whether you were okay. You've been a little... off tonight, or something? I don't know. I just wanna make sure, you know." You carefully approached the subject, not knowing if you were just overthinking things or if something was genuinely up.

Jessie cleared her throat. "Uhm, yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Bit off, I guess," she said distractedly. "You sure?" You decided to pry a little, inching closer towards her, your fingers nearly brushing hers. She chuckled, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips before she met her gaze again. "Yeah, it's fine, I promise. I think- I've just been in my head a bit this evening, I'm fine." A frown painted your face as you listened to her words. "Mhm, okay. You wanna tell me what it is? I hope I didn't do anything to upset you." You wracked your brain trying to think of a moment in the past couple hours that could've possibly upset the Canadian, but you blanked.

"No, no, God, no, it's not that. Please, don't worry about that," Jessie chuckled before continuing, "it's not you. It's me, I swear." You cocked an eyebrow at her. "'It's not you, it's me'? Really, Jess?" You couldn't contain the uneasy feeling that started to grow inside you as the conversation progressed. It seemed like Jessie didn't want to talk about what was bothering her, but she gave you just enough of an insight to keep you on your toes – it was almost annoying you. "No, fuck- I'm making it worse." Jessie rubbed her hands down her face and lifted a hand when she saw you were going to speak again, ordering you to wait. "I've been in my head tonight, yeah. But it's nothing to do with you. Well- in fact, maybe it does. But, not like that. You know? I'm just-" "Jessie Fleming, what are you trying to say? Get it over with."

Jessie took in a deep breath, trying to compose herself, before she opened her eyes and a waterfall of words left her mouth. "Wouldyoumaybewanttogivemeyournumber?" You slightly tilted your head and gave her an amused look, cocking an eyebrow when her gaze fluttered down. "Jess, I couldn't make much of that, I'm sorry." You couldn't help the chuckle that crept up your throat, you'd never seen the Canadian this unsure. "Would you maybe want to give me your number?" Your eyebrows raised in surprise as you took a moment to process her words, but Jessie assumed your silence was your way of denying her request. "I mean, you don't have to, really, I was just asking because- uhm, because, you know, things for the fundraisers and stuff. It's okay, honestly-" You cut Jessie off by a placing a hand on her chest and searching for her gaze that was flicking everywhere but to your face. "Hey, take it easy. Take a breath, okay?" Jessie's eyes were filled with concern but she did as you asked, feeling her chest expanding and deflating a couple times underneath your hand. "I'd love to give you my number."

Safe to say that you and Jessie struggled to find your way with one another. You, not used to romantic love, or love in general, you struggled with accepting Jessie's affection. But in the end, you made compromises, communicated with one another about what worked and what didn't, and you had been in a relationship that you could only describe as perfect for the past 8 months. Jessie and you complimented each other. You fit together. She got you up when you were down, and vice versa. You learned very quickly about her career in football, something that took you completely by surprise when she told you. You adjusted, you compromised, and it worked. You were happier than you'd ever been.

Your first big argument with your Jessie didn't come until December, near Christmas time. Jessie insisted that you came with her back to Canada to celebrate the holidays with her and her family, but you insisted on staying home. You didn't want to be a bother, and as much as your girlfriend had tried to convince you that you wouldn't be, the thought remained firmly planted at the forefront of your mind – whatever Jessie did, not helping to get rid of it.

You'd told Jessie about your upbringing. How it hadn't been the best, how you'd missed out on all the traditional things. You never went into much detail, not wanting to relive your past, preferably living in the now, but Jessie knew. That's the reason why she always treaded very carefully when approaching the subject, not wanting to pry or ask too much leading to you closing yourself off. It wasn't until after one particularly rough night with your girlfriend – the both of you spending the best part of 30 minutes fighting about the whole ordeal – that you thought it was best to just get it over with and tell Jessie why you were so reluctant.

You told her about how you spent most Christmases at home. No Christmas tree or Christmas lights because they would cost too much, no Christmas films because renting one was way out of the budget, never any fancy meals as the holidays were just another period of trying to survive off stale bread and canned vegetables. You told her how you'd felt jealous in school, embarrassed even, your peers gushing about the presents they received or the family dinners they went to, while you had nothing to bring to the conversation. Not that they wanted you to be part of it, anyway. You explained to Jessie that you just didn't know how to celebrate Christmas, and that you didn't want to be a burden to your family and to herself. You didn't know how to replace those feelings of resentment with new ones, forever feeling guilty at how much better you had it now than then.

The Canadian assured you that she understood, but she also saw an opportunity that she was ready to take with both hands. She tried convincing you one more time to come with her, how she would make sure to take care of you and be gentle with introducing you to all the Christmas traditions. That you didn't have to worry about her family, who always seemed to think 'the more, the merrier' when it came to these types of days. You'd met them before, twice, when you accompanied Jessie on her occasional weekend going back home, and you knew they liked you. It wasn't that that you were worried about, it was more so that you just didn't know how to act during these types of days. What do you do? Say? What do you wear? Should you get something nice or do they prefer you to just wear something cozy? How do you behave? What presents do they want? Many questions and so very little answers.

Eventually, after some more raised voices and a lot of frustration, you agreed. Agreed on accompanying your girlfriend to Canada, the prospect of being with her and her family much more enticing than having to be on your own in your shared apartment for 3 weeks. When you finally, albeit reluctantly agreed, Jessie couldn't wipe the grin off her face even if she tried. She gently cupped your cheeks and leant her forehead against yours, pressing a soft kiss against your nose. "I promise it'll be good. It'll be so much fun and we'll take everything slow. Your pace, hmm?" She pressed a couple more kisses against your nose, before leaning down and pressing a gentle, fleeting kiss against your lips. You exhaled deeply and closed your eyes, leaning your forehead on her shoulder. "Yeah," you sighed, "yeah. We'll be fine. It'll be fun." Jessie sensed the hesitance in your voice, and promised herself then and there that she'd do everything in her power to make the holidays a fun time for you.

Traveling to Ontario wasn't that bad. No delays, no abundance of traffic, no problems with baggage, your 3-week getaway had gotten off to a perfect start and it did wonders to relieve you from some of the stress you'd been dealing with the past couple weeks leading up to this trip. Jessie and you had hired a car to drive yourself from the airport to her childhood home. You could've taken a cab, but figured it would be easy to have an extra car at home for if you wanted to go somewhere, just the two of you. You'd been in London before, but Jessie was adamant to reintroduce you to all the spots she'd shown you around before, insisting that it would be a completely different vibe now that everything was decorated for Christmas. The drive went smoothly, your plane arriving a little past 8 meaning you just about dodged the flurry of evening traffic. Your eyelids were growing heavy in the car, exhausted from the long plane journey, and with the low hum of the engine and Jessie's fingers tracing soft patterns on your thigh, it didn't take long for you to doze off against the car window.

You didn't wake until a few hours later, when Jessie put a hand on your shoulder and lightly shook you to try and wake you from what had seemed quite a deep sleep. "We're here baby, wake up," she whispered, putting a couple strands of hair behind your ear that had fallen across your face. You grunted, eyes still closed but you stretched, sitting up straight and leaning into Jessie's touch. "Tired," you grumbled. "I know, baby, it's late. We can sleep when we're inside, yeah?" You opened your eyes and looked at your girlfriend, who was sporting a small smile on her face. "You're cute when you snore." She gave you a small wink and pressed a kiss on your nose, unbuckling your seatbelt and leaning across you to open your door. Any protests that were forming in your head about how you were not a snorer died in your throat as you felt the cold wind coming from outside nipping at your skin. You hurried outside, any propositions to help your girlfriend with the bags waved away as she carried all three of them comfortably to the front door. You rang the bell, not allowed any time to complain about the weather as it took no longer than a couple seconds for Jessie's mum to open the door.

Michaele sported a beaming smile and her eyes were brimming with unshed tears as she pulled her daughter in a heartfelt embrace. It'd been a while since they saw each other. Jessie opted to stay in Portland after her domestic season had ended, the environment motivating her more to stick to her training plans than if she'd gone home early. She also still had a couple Canada camps to attend to, so she needed to stay on top of her fitness if she wanted to perform. It'd been close to 4 months since she'd been home, and you could tell that it had been weighing on her. Jessie had always been very family-oriented, so her excitement to come back home for the holidays was second to none. Especially since she managed to convince you to come too.

Ever since Jessie introduced you to her family, they took you in as part of the family. Her parents never questioned anything, loved you as one of their own and you managed to bond quite well with Tristan and Elysse. You truly felt at home with the Fleming's, a feeling you never managed to experience within your own family. It lead to a lot of uncomfortable feelings at first, when you realized that you felt more comfortable with strangers than with your own mother, but Jessie reassured you that it was okay. That it was okay to feel those things, to be upset, but that you'd never have to worry about experiencing such love ever again. She'd make sure of that.

Safe to say that Jessie kept her promise of making sure the holidays went by smoothly for the two of you. Your first week in Ontario went by quickly, the two of you re-exploring the city in which Jessie had grown up so many years ago. You visited coffee spots, strolled around her elementary school, went for dinner at her favorite burger restaurant and spent a lot of time with her family. Game nights, movie nights, going out for walks together, you name it. Jessie's family dynamic was so different to what yours had been, it was a breath of fresh air. It was healthy.

Your getaway went by quick and before you knew it, you were reaching the final week of the year. You woke up on Christmas morning with a weird feeling in your stomach. You knew everything would be fine – Jessie assured you it would, but you couldn't help the nerves that were settling in your stomach the moment you stirred from your sleep. You'd bought everyone a present, it wasn't much, but you hoped it would suffice. You didn't want to come empty handed, especially not when Jessie's family let you stay with them for the best part of a month. The feeling of being an intruder in their house had long faded, a heartfelt conversation with Jessie's mother aiding to you feeling at home within their house.

Your girlfriend must've sensed your restlessness that morning and woke up not long after you, pulling you down in a warm cuddle before agreeing to get up together. You made your way downstairs and were pleasantly surprised to see you were the first ones up. Jessie made you and her a steaming warm mug of coffee, before cuddling up with each other on the couch. You looked out across the garden, snow wrapping the town in an icy blanket of cold.

"You wanna make cookies?" Jessie's voice pulled you out of your thoughts. "Cookies?" You weren't opposed to the idea. It was nice to be alone for a moment, doing something together – just the two of you. "Yeah, cookies. I can't say it's a tradition, we don't do it every year, but sometimes my mum makes these Christmas cookies. Her own recipe. They're really good." Jessie raked her fingers through your long strands of hair from her position behind you on the couch, your back resting tight against her front. You craned your neck towards her. "Yeah, that'd be nice."

You and Jessie got to work in the kitchen, combining your forces to try and make sure the cookies would be as good as when Michaele would make them. You followed the recipe step by step, measuring and mixing the ingredients that would soon come together in small, bite-size, Christmas sugar cookies. It made you feel at ease, to have a little moment with just Jessie, before the prospect of what would surely be a busy day. Just the two of you, cuddling up to each other in the kitchen while making something that reminded Jessie of her childhood. It felt good, it felt right, it felt like home. A minute or 20 later, you put the cookies in the oven. 18 of them, 3 each.

Elysse and Tristan had already made their way downstairs, with Jessie's parents following suit only a couple minutes later. You all made some small talk, Jessie now also providing coffee for the rest of her family members. Before long, you all gathered in the living room where the presents would be given out.

"We've got the stockings first, as always," Michaele announced. She opened a bag that was sitting near the edge of the sofa and started giving them round, everyone receiving a stocking with the letter of their first name. What you didn't expect, though, was you to get one yourself. So when everyone had gotten their stocking and Michaele reached back into the bag to get one for you, it was hard to swallow the lump that had formed in your throat. Jessie noticed this, placing a comforting hand on the small of your back as you thanked and hugged her mom. You'd never felt more loved, more part of something than in that moment. You were part of their family, part of their home and everyone wanted to make sure you knew that.

The rest of the day went by so much better than you could've imagined. The Christmas cookies turned out perfect, some more family members came over for lunch, you went out for an afternoon stroll and then you all watched a Christmas movie on the sofa together late at night. You were feeling apprehensive about many things before you both took off to Oregon, but it's safe to say that Jessie kept her promise of trying to turn Christmas into something joyous for you.

Ever since that year, you hadn't missed a holiday season with the Flemings ever again. And you wouldn't want to have it differently anyway. Because after all, they were your family.

[tanadrin]

"What I think is crazy/creepy is when individual cells of a multicellular organism mutate to become essentially a free-living organism"

...

""is Tasmanian Devil facial tumor disease a chordate and a mammal despite being essentially an infectious microbe?""

Could you talk more about this? It sounds biologically and philosophically interesting but I don't think I completely understand what you mean. What's the argument that the tumor disease could be considered a chodate & mammal?

in cladistics, new members of a clade inherit membership in every clade their progenitor species is a part of. even though the original synapsid is a reptile with some mammal-like anatomical features that evolved in the late carboniferous period, humans are members of the synapsid clade because we descended from that ur-synapsid. birds are dinosaurs because they descend from members of the clade dinosauria. there are good reasons to prefer this cladistic structure in many cases to the traditional "rank" structure of species/genus/family/order/etc, bc even when new members of a clade are genuinely innovative in some ways, they still often bear traits typical of the rest of their clade. no matter how diverse chordates get, they all still have spines, you know? and sometimes members of a clade may lose important features, like flightless birds, but they will still inevitably retain others. a purely feature-based analysis of the ostrich's anatomy might erroneously lead you to conclude they lack the critical bird feature "flight" and therefore are not birds, but this would obscure the (in this case dead obvious) evolutionary relationship, and evolution is so criticial to our undertanding of biology and natural history.

sure, this cladistic perspective leads to some apparently goofy stuff: while land animals are obviously not fish, all tetrapods (which includes snakes!) do descend from members of clades like the osteichthyes (bony fish), so if you are using "fish" as a cladistic classification, then humans are a kind of fish. but the real answer is that lots of classifications of life are simply paraphyletic--"fish" as a category excludes tetrapods, which is fine. you could argue that the colloquial meaning of the term "dinosaur" is paraphyletic and excludes birds, too, bc when people say "the dinosaurs went extinct 66 million years ago" they obviously aren't talking about chickens, which didn't exist then. this isn't a problem with cladistics, just with the fact that some common words do double duty with more specialized meaning in scientific vocabulary, you know?

but the model of clades where new clades have to be nested entirely within existing clades, genuinely does break down in a couple of places in the history of life. one example would be the emergence of eukaryotes. the eukaryote cell originates in the symbiosis of an anaerobic archaeon from the Heimdallarchaeia taxon with a member of the bacterial clade Rickettsiales. eukaryotes are not usually classified as a kind of archaeon; they are really very, very different from both their archaeal and bacterial progenitors, and two separate clades coming together to produce an offspring that inherits from both is not usually how evolution works.

HeLa cells and transmissible cancers in the wild don't violate the principles of cladistic structure in the same way, but they do raise really awkward questions. they break what are otherwise apparently a lot of one-way ratchets in evolution: single-celled to multicellular, undifferentiated tissues to more differentiated tissues, the preservation of at least some anatomical features in offshoot clades (ostriches don't fly but they still have beaks and feathers and spinal cords! they're still obviously amniotes, you know?). and yet despite being wildly, insanely different from their progenitor species, in a way not even the first eukaryotes were, the genome of these organisms is still very similar. like if you sequenced the genome of TDFTD it would be impossible to escape the conclusion that its closest living relative is the Tasmanian devil, and not some other single-celled pathogen. cladistically, it's a chordate and a mammal, if you grant it the status of organism. (and why shouldn't we? lots of organisms are obligate parasites.)

you could say, ok fine, chordate and mammal and amniote and any other classification implicated in this scenario is paraphyletic. i think that's a little unsatisfying. i think it's more honest to admit that the concept of clades and monophyletic groupings and all that just isn't well-equipped to handle some freaky biological edge cases, this one included. in the same way it's not well-equipped to deal with the emergence of eukaryotes, or whatever is going on with the evolutionary history of viruses/plasmids/retrotransposons. or for that matter the same way these concepts break down in situations of intense horizontal gene transfer, like what was probably the case with the common ancestral community of primitive cells. and much like black holes in astronomy, sometimes the most interesting stuff occurs in those contexts where very useful general models start to break down!

[jellyvibes710]

I dunno what to really say here :p

Here be the character sheets I made for this series, enjoy!

PARASITE COMIC HERE (a fan comic for @abbeyofcyn kraang infection au read it if you haven't yet! :D)

This is all their outfits throughout the series, it's a short series so there isn't a whole lot haha

Unfortunately for Raphs and Donnies gif I had to do a worse quality because the original gifs were too big and I can only add one video, may their high resolution rest in peace

Splinter, April, Casey JR [UNAVAILABLE] soon

Kraang infected characters [UNAVAILABLE]

[CLASSIFIED INFORMATION]

Himato Leonardo, Age 18

××-××-××

Self modified shell and workings of the parasite may be too gruesome for certain groups, withholding highly sensitive documentary will result in the reader being rendered MISSING due to [REDACTED]

Upon contact of receiving the parasite the host [Leonardo] began experiencing pain beyond reasoning, the speed of the parasite reaching the hosts mind was remarkable. Taking only approximately 3.6 seconds for the parasite to reach the Frontal Lobes as well as parts of the Occipital Lobe, Parietal Lobe and Limbic System resulting in host going Farel, attacking any other potential hosts within range. Although, upon sudden high temperatures from the family ninpo due to [REDACTED] the parasite noticeably retreated to the hosts shell by accessing the cerebellum then traveling down through the brainstem and spinal cord.

Compared to previous host [Donatello], access to the current host[yours truly] sparked an interesting difference. While the previous host acted [REDACTED], the parasite acts more violently to its current host, spreading across the inside of the shell and swelling, applying roughly 650-660 pounds of force to the shell. Surpassing the pressure it'd take to crush a regular turtle shell, hypothesis states due to mutation our shells are more flexible than average, allowing us to twist and bend in ways that'd be unnatural/harmful to our unmutated counterparts, but causing extreme pain and discomfort for the host, applying pressure not only to the shell but to the internal organs as well. Putting the subject life at high risk, if not acted upon [REDACTED] resulting in life threatening damage and spread of the parasite to any nearby victims.

Immediate surgical action required.

_______________________________________

My additional research collected continues to impress my original beliefs.

With new additions added, the host has not only managed to contain the parasite but even weaponize it.

Self made cracks aided in the surgical process as well as preventing the parasite from destroying the shell worse than it has, leaving a peace of the shell in its original position assistance in leveraging the parasite, it also assist in the closing mechanisms added to the inners of the shell. Additional spinal support was added to prevent risks from having far more flexibly than the current host previously was capable of, as well as aiding in preventing the parasite from spreading and causing more problems with the use of ninpo running through the mechanical parts.

It hurts.

Due to the tech needing a constant flow of ninpo to prevent system failure and allowing the parasite to spread, ninpo will be very limited if in events of a battle. Unfortunately, constant access to regular temperatures leads to flu like symptoms, allowing the parasite to thrive and spread despite the ninpo mechanisms preventing it from swelling, acting more as damage control. The hosts shell is too damaged to be submerged, milkshakes and ice will have to assist in the prevention of spread.

Along in aiding with parasite control, the tech attached to the spine (somehow separated from the shell and is confined within the flesh of the parasite, as if it was carefully peeled off. Remarkably no damage found to anything vital.) Have flexible material that wrap around the bone and were very careful surgically attached to the spinal nerve, spinal cord and vertebrae to act as support and to prevent accidental damage, Acting as a theoretical shell in the meantime.

Flexible but strong material was bolted in along the inside of the host shell, acting as some kind of prosthetic allowing the host to open and close the shell at will. Still causes discomfort unfortunately.

More in depth description shall be provided [REDACTED]

Overall this surgery took approximately 12 hours. Rest is required.

_______________________________________

The log has ended, but pieces can still be found from here out.

Perhaps then you may have the full story

As much as I wanna go more into depth with these details unfortunately it'll risk spoiling parts of the story I'm really looking forward to working on

Till next time! ^-^=

(Sorry if something doesn't make sense or I spelled something wrong, I decided to write this while I'm pretty much half asleep ☠️)