extremelybears

[extremelybears]

Post on my dash about medical debt reminded me of the time tumblr saved me two grand. I don't think I told y'all about it because I am out of the habit of posting everything I do on tumblr lol

So. Last December, I had a bad cavity filled, and about a week later, I woke up with half of my face paralyzed. Which, as I'm sure you can imagine, freaked me the fuck out. Fortunately I had some level-headed Discord friends who a) told me what Bell's palsy was so I could look it up and b) reminded me to call my dentist for an emergency appointment. Dentist was also pretty sure it was Bell's palsy, but urged me to go to the emergency room to get checked out, because one-sided facial paralysis is also a possible indicator of a stroke. And you don't fuck around with strokes.

Bell's palsy, if you, like me of 6 months ago, don't know, is a harmless paralysis/muscle weakness on one side of the face that can be caused by a variety of things. It usually goes away on its own after a few weeks but also you can speed up the process with steroids.

I was pretty sure I was not having a stroke, because I'm Red Cross first aid certified and I know the symptoms of a stroke, and while one-sided facial paralysis is one of them, I didn't have any of the others. Also, I had quit my shitty job in October, which meant I had a shiny new marketplace health insurance plan and hadn't even touched my deductible. But I called my parents from the car and they urged me to get checked out and promised to help me pay off the emergency room bill if I needed it, because they're good people and they love me even if they drive me crazy sometimes. So off I went to the nearest emergency room.

Emergency room staff also didn't think I was having a stroke, because I waited ALL AFTERNOON, periodically having a new person come up to me and ask me to smile, hold both arms out to the side, press down on their hands, and tell them what month and year it was. (They don't ask who the president is anymore. Hmm, I wonder why.) One guy had me drink a cup of water while he watched. I cannot stress enough that I did not have any medical tests other than a physical examination: no CT scans or MRIs, no IV drugs or blood draws, nothing.

I get diagnosed with Bell's palsy and given a prescription for Prednisone. And then they give me a phone number and tell me to talk to this person about administrative stuff. So I call, and the dude on the phone verifies my name and date of birth and insurance information, and then he says, "It looks like your copay today is going to be $2400. How would you like to pay?"

I am, to this day, kind of impressed that he didn't even stutter over that number, but I assume working in a medical call center drains your entire soul. At this point, it's about 7pm, and I've been in the hospital since 2pm, and I'm stressed because half my face doesn't work, and I know that I can't afford $2400 because I quit my shitty job with nothing lined up back in October. But, I still remember every tumblr post I've ever read about health insurance and the medical system and how you can negotiate down a bill. I am not looking forward to this process, it sounds like a pain in the ass, but the alternative is paying $2400, so I say the magic words: "Send me an itemized bill."

I kinda expected the guy to try and get me to pay up front, but he just says "Ok" and finishes up the process. I get discharged, go to the only open pharmacy at that time of night to get my Prednisone, have the pharmacist tell me the prescription isn't written right and he can't fill it, go home, and have a screaming sobbing meltdown because I have used up every single milligram of cope in my entire body. (I got my steroids eventually, and the Bell's palsy cleared up in a couple weeks.)

A few weeks later, I get the bill in the mail. I brace myself and open it...

$300.

Turns out, after going through insurance and processing and everything, they couldn't actually find $2400 worth of stuff to charge me for. Shocking! Who could have predicted!

I might have been able to argue it down even more, but I was fed up with entire thing, so I paid the $300 just to be fucking done with it. Sometimes the cheapest way to pay is with money.

What if I had paid that $2400 up front? Do I think they would have been like, "Oh, oops!" and refunded me $2k? Well, possibly, but I am not optimistic.

So, thank you to everyone who has ever posted about navigating the US healthcare system on tumblr. Because of you, I knew how to handle this situation even when I was tired and stressed.

Don't forget to ask for an itemized bill, folks.

[extremelybears]

I don’t like mixing this blog with my personal life too much but also I’ve been pretty humbled and lost a lot of pride this year—I haven’t had a lot of time to make comics. My partner is very sick and disabled with no income and treatment bills have been swiftly draining both our savings. So many people have already been exceptionally generous and I think it’s saved my partner’s life, but our need continues. Recovery sure isn’t linear, but it seems to be slowly happening, and I want more than anything to continue making that possible.

[extremelybears]

I can't find the post I read yesterday (or Sunday?) about the DOE's attempt to ram through a "direct final rule" to rescind the part of §504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 that mandates the construction of federally-funded buildings make them accessible, but here's Disability Scoop's article on that. 《 Under existing regulations, facilities constructed or altered after June 13, 1980 that receive federal financial assistance must be “readily accessible to and useable by handicapped persons.” Buildings are considered to meet that standard if they comply with what are known as Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards.

But now the Energy Department is calling this requirement “unnecessary and unduly burdensome.”》

(And no, I don't understand why this is under the DOE, but it appears to apply to all federally funded construction, not just for that department.)

Please read and share and most importantly go to the links below to comment - the comment period is open ONLY UNTIL JUNE 16TH and the rule would go into effect on July 15th, so this is urgent. They need as many comments as possible to keep this from being pushed through with virtually no opportunity for the public to comment.

[extremelybears]

Moash blasting Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift to hype himself up every time hes gonna have an encounter with his ex wife Kaladin

[extremelybears]

You know, i imagine why the population of New York in superhero universes never seems to dwindle due to the horrifying amount of mass murder schemes and world-ending threats is that rent and housing has to be - at this point - dirt fuckin cheap, right? like people just immediately start moving back there because fuck it, New York might get blowed the fuck up every now and then, but at least it keeps the property values down.

fuckin tweets like "oh sick some weirdo just zapped like half of a city block with a monkey laser and blew up the entire sewer system of manhattan im boutta pay that 1980s rent hell yeah i love this shit"

[extremelybears]

[extremelybears]

[extremelybears]

We can and must do everything in our power to stop the carnage in Gaza.

[extremelybears]

A reminder with PBS being defunded that it is SO MUCH MORE than PBS Kids. It broadcasts educational shows about science, history, current events, nature, art and so much more, instructional television for cooking and home improvement, British shows that might not be available in the states if it wasn’t for PBS, theatre productions, indie productions that PBS gives an opportunity to broadcast they might not get otherwise, and all that’s not even mentioning NPR!!!!! Losing PBS would not only be losing nostalgic shows like Sesame Street and Arthur, but shows for teens and adults who might not be able to afford other channels as well, and THAT is one of the many reasons why it’s so important to fight for it. The link below is a form that lets you send a message to your lawmakers to not defund the extremely important resource to millions that is PBS!!!!!

[extremelybears]

On April 16th 2025 the US federal government has proposed to change the interpretation of the endangered species act so that it no longer protects habitat.

This is open for public comment until the end of May 19th. Please comment and make your voice heard.

Wildlife need their habitat. If the ESA redefines harm so that habitat is no longer protected, the implications for wildlife would be catastrophic.

[extremelybears]

based off this post by @75screamingtoads that made me start watching. as you can see my art gets progressively worse each panel lol

[extremelybears]

hey hi hello so as the US goes through this ~ hostile government takeover ~ Trump signed an executive order last week to eliminate the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). On Thursday (3/20) DOGE attempted to quietly raid IMLS but staff there posted to reddit and the unwanted media attention led them to put a pause on the takeover, for now. Trump replaced the director of IMLS with Keith Sonderling, who very openly stated that his goals are to "promote patriotism" and "American exceptionalism". We worry grants will be more dependent on whether your institution supports DEI [or anyone who isn't a white hetero cis amab].

A lot of libraries depend on IMLS grants! If they go away we will lose librarians and libraries may close, or at least significantly decrease their services. This will affect funding for technology classes, free resources for the blind, summer reading, databases, free internet access assistance, and interlibrary loans among other things. As the administration also targets social security, immigration, and other safety nets, libraries are attempting to fill the gap for the public, and things will get much harder without reliable funding.

This is also IN ADDITION to the administration calling book bans "fake" and some states attempting to pass laws to criminalize librarians, with fears in the library world that they will also try to make it a federal crime to promote or otherwise provide access to "inappropriate materials" which have included books that promote "gender ideology" or basically any character that isn't a white heterosexual cis amab. That is one of the cornerstones of Project 2025. This IMLS takeover will only make things worse, and make it harder for people to access information.

Personally, we have been told by our director to be very careful and not talk about this while at work because of fears of retaliation, we have had several calls from the public to remove books with gay characters (we didn't), and as an adult services librarian, I am already seeing an impact on databases I help the public use. Medline Plus, the only free and easy-to-use medical encyclopedia for the public I have been able to find, is a US government website and already has warnings above certain pages about the "harms of gender ideology". This warning can be seen above pages on health disparities and abortion.

If you're so inclined and live in the US, the ALA put together a portal that makes it easy to email your reps with a script. You can find the portal here. I would also recommend investing in your local library, post on social media what services you use, sign up for a library card and see how many resources you can access for free. Many state library associations collect user stories of libraries so they can show their stakeholders they matter. Like my library, it is likely that staff have been warned not to discuss this at work because of fears of retaliation, so try not to talk to librarians about this at work.

General advocacy page:

Article from NPR about the takeover:

What happens if IMLS goes away:

A report on how much museums give back to the US economy:

An interactive map of what IMLS funds in the US:

[extremelybears]

We have 30 days until the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) laws are rescinded. This is the 50-year bedrock of American conservation. Normally, these actions take years but the administration has provided 30 days for public comment gutting clean water and clean air. Drop what you’re doing, before you make any more calls or read any more social media posts, please populate the Federal Register with dissent.

A. Go to https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/02/25/2025-03014/removal-of-national-environmental-policy-act-implementing-regulations

B. Click on the green rectangle in the upper right corner ("SUBMIT A PUBLIC COMMENT") .

C. Fill in your comment, and info at the bottom, and SUBMIT COMMENT.

[extremelybears]

with casting for the harry potter show likely on the horizon, remember that whatever 10 year olds are in this will be weaponized to deflect discussion of jkr's transphobia. that in fact, hbo will likely stoop to any stuntcast they can think of. this might include recasting a popular actor from the movies, casting actors of color as characters who were previously white, or even queer actors as a wink and nudge that, see, joanne is totally cool with the gays (as she donates five-figure sums to anti-trans legislation lobbying)! do not fall for it when it happens. it is to try and make people forget this show is being made because jkr - whose involvement is confirmed to be very heavy - is cranky that half the cast of the films (including all three main actors) have publicly denounced her for her transphobia.

turn up the heat on anyone who lets their name be attached to this. demand their stance on jkr's transphobia and let them dig their own graves. the fastest way to render hp culturally irrelevant is to make corporations feel like associating with it is a liability. if signing onto this show becomes reputational suicide, we saw from the radioactive sludge basin that fantastic beasts turned into how unceremoniously that will get future projects cancelled.

[extremelybears]

Uk peeps!! Let’s get this going! 🏳️‍⚧️🇬🇧

[extremelybears]

Kellen please fuck off and stop looking at my blog

It's an invasion of privacy and it's also just weird. We broke up. Leave me alone please. Do not contact my mom. Do not contact random ass animal shelters. Do not threaten my roommate. Do not contact people on Instagram about me. If you see me at the fish store or AAAA leave me alone. I am abandoning this tumblr account and will no longer be using it.

I'm changing the url on the sideblogs you knew about as well, but we both know you're smart enough to get around that. All the same, please do not.

If you ever cared about me or you still do in any way, then please, respect my privacy and leave me alone.