#Diabetes education for kids

[cheekios]

Last Cartridge of Insulin

This is an URGENT REQUEST as I cannot go a day without insulin. Currently I am unemployed through no fault of my own. I do not have insurance so I will have to use GoodRx. My insulin is called Afrezza. It costs around $450-$490 depending on the pharmacy I go to.

Goal: $450

CA: $HushEmu

PP: emuslayter@gmail.com

Currently I cannot drive because my only pair of perscription glasses are broken. So I will also need help with ubers. Please.

I’d like to stress that not taking insulin daily is deadly. This is a medical emergency. Begging for this request to be filled.

Informative read:

https://www.healthcentral.com/condition/type-1-diabetes/how-long-can-a-diabetic-go-without-insulin

[wellhealthhub]

Diagnosing Diabetes: A Comprehensive Guide

Hey there! Welcome to our ultimate guide on diagnosing diabetes. We’re all about providing you with the latest and most accurate info on health topics, and today, we’re diving into the world of diabetes diagnosis. So whether you suspect you might have diabetes or you just want to expand your knowledge, this article is the place to be. Let’s start by understanding what diabetes is all about. It’s…

[heckinconfusedparade]

Woe! Sonic character headcanons be upon Ye!

Sonic:

- Learned how to cook while raising Tails and got really good at it

- Hedgehog Gordon Ramsay

- Can’t bake for shit tho

- Made up a lullaby that he sings to Tails to help him sleep. It’s been effective since the kit was 4

- In the warmer months, Sonic scouts out nice places for his annual picnic with Amy. He loves hanging out with her and enjoying sweets!

- Has a memorial for Chip with his necklace somewhere hidden

- Ran before he could walk

- Bothers Knuckles on Angel Island at least twice a week

- He and Shadow spar every week

- Bro has a bunch of Knick knacks and trinkets from his adventures

- Has a lazy day every once in a whilel

- He does vocal warm ups every morning as part of his little routine, even if he doesn’t plan on singing that day. It’s good to warm up before doing a lot of speaking!

Tails:

- He’s so sweet but so sassy

- Will sass a grown man to death

- Hugs people he really loves with his tails included

- He has a blacksmith place somewhere

- Had to have an intervention for his mint addiction (unsuccessful)

- His love language is gift giving! His gifts are one of a kind

- He made Shadow a gun for Christmas. It has bullets that explode on impact. It’s a tiny rocket launcher

- Used a chaos emerald to give a box Chaos Control so he can warp stuff back to his workshop

- the box defies logic, and he can fit literally anything in it

Amy

- If anyone insults or puts down her besties it’s ON SIGHT! EVEN IF ITS THE BESTIE SAYIN IT ABOUT THEMSELF (looking at you, TAILS)

- Refuses to let anyone go hungry. Angel to anemic and diabetic community!

- Spars with Knuckles to practice her hand to hand combat

- Meets up with Sonic in the coldest part of winter so they can hibernate together

- Loves her picnic dates with Sonic!

- Got Vanilla to homeschool Tails so at least the kid can have credentials to go into higher education in the future if he wants

- Loves thrift shopping! One man’s trash is this gals treasure!

- Crystal girl

- Shares Taylor Swift album theories with Shadow. They both go crazy for it

- She took Cream, Rouge, Blaze, and Sticks on a road trip. It was the most chaotic thing to hit the roads that summer.

Knuckles:

- is the reason a mountain has a giant crack in it

- vibe checks buildings for faulty wiring with his electro signal echidna stuff

- Bro moves the soil around his island to promote healthier plant life

- Bro is the single teen dad of many many many Chao

- Tries to leave the island whenever he can. He has a map of places that Sonic marked because they made him think of him!

- Taught Tails how to throw one hell of a punch and how to use his namesakes in combat

- Secretly looks forward to Rouge’s visits because he finds the sparring fun

Shadow:

- His room is usually only illuminated by a lamp because the sun shines directly in his window, and the ceiling light is too bright

- the lightbulb in the lamp changes colours. Rouge calls it his Mood Lamp

- If Sonic doesn’t show up to their weekly sparring, he gets concerned and indirectly searches for the dude. He’d rather die than admit he’s concerned tho

- Taylor Swift karaoke night with Amy

- Plays Project SEKAI

- Has a garden full of beautiful flowers dedicated to Maria. Amy and Sonic helped find flowers and seeds, and Knux provided the soil. They didn’t ask to get involved, nor were they asked, they just found out from Rouge and decided to help Shadow out

- He cannot fucking cook

- He cannot fucking bake

- There’s very few things he can actually make BUT HES LEARNING

- Learning to enjoy life as it happens. He’s stopping to smell the roses and appreciate what he has right now, and tries not to lament about the past or future

Rouge:

- Sometimes visits Angel Island just to bother Knuckles

- She has a pair of boots that has spikes on the toes

- Taught Tails how to steal

- She’s Cream’s favourite guest to bring to a tea party because of all the drama she brings with her.

- Is the reason Tails is a gossip

- She played Thief Simulator and had the greatest time ever

- Watched analysis videos of people trying to solve heists she committed

- Pretended not to listen when Amy infodumped to her about crystal energy, but she actually finds it very interesting

Omega:

- Trusts Tails with his life

- Because he can’t fit through doors or knock without breaking them, he stands outside the window waiting for someone to notice him outside

-or he just breaks the door anyway because why not

- Loves fireworks, wants to fire them on his own

- Absorbs every insult he hears Sonic make, as well as searches up on the internet to add to his database just so he can insult Eggman in a way that matters.

[theblackqueen-ofmyheart]

You know what we need @fiery-red-kryptonite? We need a diabetic convention.

A few days long where diabetics of all ages could all get together and just talk, share things. both type 1 and type 2 diabetics. I know where I live there were diabetes camps but like…those were for kids and that’s great but so many people who are older need the support.

Because honestly no one understands a diabetic like another diabetic, doctors don’t get me the way you do. Other friends may try to help (and they do an amazing job when I need them to help) but I can just message you and go “holy shit the low I had today” and you understand and share what helps you. I can say “my lord the dream I had today” and you respond with “how was your blood sugar?”.

Plus I know way too many type 2 diabetics who are sorely uneducated on type 1 diabetes and I feel like they would learn better in an open, friendly environment rather than a doctors office where the doctor might not even fully know.

New diabetics who are scared and worried being able to talk face to face with elder diabetics who’ve been dealing with this Illness for most of their lives and hearing from some who knows first hand how they handle it. Being able to go back to their doctors with informed ideas on how to better manage their diabetes.

Panels set up by diabetics for diabetics (and their families because let’s be honest families need more education than they get too)

Little sales booths where diabetics can sell little trinkets to decorate pump or pen pouches. Little bears to help little kids with diabetes brave the injections (I had one his name was poke, he was my second favourite bear)

Just something for diabetics to get together in person and be able to share. Make connections with each other and finally feel a little bit less alone.

I don’t know this idea struck me while I was changing my sensor and I felt like a post that other diabetics may see and share etc would be nice……at least we can have a diabetic Tumblr group or something 😂

Edit: the post has been reblogged and liked a few times so I went ahead and made a discord so diabetics can connect in some way at the very least. The invite shouldn’t expire but if it does please let me know and I’ll put a new one or invite you personally.

[loudlittleecho]

Too Late to Save Them: Frozen in Time.

Previous

Part 3

Paul had moved the Ice Growler into a shed. He had needed that field, after all. The ice had repaired itself from the previous chips, but never grew larger or smaller. It was just one of those things one keeps in a shed. Out of sight, out of mind, unless you need something.

It had been a year. Two, maybe? From Paul’s estimates, when his son found it. His kids visited every so often. Becks, his oldest, worked as a librarian. His son, Nathaniel, was a. . . stock broker? Banker? Paul was never sure what his son did, but Nathan was always talking about his ‘next big break’. Paul loved his kids, and he and Sara had made sure the two had a decent enough education, and that their wills were fair between the two. Especially when Sara’s cancer diagnosis revealed itself.

Well, Nathan was fit to be tied about the ice in the shed.

“Dad! Do you know what this means?”

Paul added another helping of green beans to his plate. This was a ‘dedicated meal’. Sara had made the kids promise- you will visit your father once a season- this was one of those meals.

Rebecca– Becks- visited more often, though Nathan typically visited only the four times a year.

Nathan continued. “This could be my big break! Ice that never melts?? Dad, I could compete against the Stanley and Yeti brand- I could sell it to medical companies- I could sell it to anyone! I– we could make millions! Why did you not tell me earlier?”

Paul took a swig of sweet tea. Nathan always got very animated when he got a new idea. That’s what he was, an idea man. Becks had a concerned look on her face.

“Dad, have you checked if it's safe, though? What if it’s dangerous?”

Paul loved his children. Becks, the overthinker, and Nathan, the optimistic.

“Bits of it have been in the fridge for a few months now. Nothin’s gone bad. Fridge hasn’t been plugged in for awhile.”

Becks placed the spoonful of corn down. The little family shared who brought what to their dedicated meals. Paul had supplied the iced tea, corn and green beans. (this year he hadn’t managed to shuck and peel like he used to. These were from cans, but he had made sure to rinse and season them thoroughly) Becks had brought the ham and mashed potatoes, and Nathan brought Bluebell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and store bought brownies. (the brownies had a discounted sticker from the grocery bakery. Paul was just glad Nathan was there).

“Dad. . .” Becks said worriedly, while Nathan jumped up. “The fridge! Really!”

The rest of the evening had a different pace from previous dinners. Nathan was on the phone with different “investors”, while Becks was on theirs researching about unmelting ice and effects of low levels of radiation in humans. Paul thought Becks had finally mastered Sara’s tater recipe. It was the butter. For a few years Becks had tried a ‘fat free’ healthier butter. It seemed to Paul that this year Becks had finally admitted that regular butter (and a heaping spoonful of it) made the best mashed potatoes.

. . .

It had been two weeks. Becks had bought him a new fridge and had brought replacements for everything he had in his other fridge. She told him she loved him and was just worried about the untested ice. (He mentioned twice about paying her; Becks just shook their head both times with a “Dad, I don’t need your money. I just want you".)

Nathan had asked him to borrow the ice. Have it tested. Have his investors look at it. Of course, Paul agreed. He wasn’t getting any younger, and if this really was something Nathan saw as helping people, “of course dad! Think of the diabetics!” Well, who was he to stop progress?

. . .

Nathan had asked his dad to give him the ice. Paul wasn’t sure. If what Nathan said was right, this could make Nathan a lot. . . and he needed to be fair between his two children. Nathan snapped at him. “Give me the ice. Becca can have the farm.” Paul still gave Becks a call. Becks had murmured something he couldn’t hear, but did say: “If you want to change your will that’s your choice dad. If Nathan’s plan doesn’t work. . . I’ll make sure Nathan’s ok. Don’t you worry.”

Paul trusted his children. The overthinker and the optimist.

He updated his will.

Part 4

[darkmaga-retard]

If you only have three minutes to watch Tucker Carlson’s latest podcast, this is the three minutes you need to see.

The Vigilant Fox

Aug 17, 2024

Stanford-educated surgeon Dr. Casey Means and her brother Calley Means took center stage in a gripping interview with Tucker Carlson that aired on Friday. The health duo didn’t hold back—tackling the dangers of Ozempic, the vaccine industry, birth control pills, and more. But the topic that really grabbed everyone’s attention was how sick America really is.

Like a human encyclopedia, Dr. Means listed an array of alarming health statistics, and you won’t believe how bad the numbers are until you see them for yourself:

• Autism rates in kids are 1 in 36 nationally, compared to 1 in 1500 in the not-so-distant past.

• In California, it's even worse: Autism rates are 1 in 22.

• 74% of American adults are overweight or obese.

• Close to 50% of children are overweight or obese.

• 50% of American adults have prediabetes or type 2 diabetes, when only 1% of Americans in the 1950s had the disease.

• 30% of teens now have prediabetes.

• Infertility is increasing by 1% per year.

• Sperm counts are decreasing by 1% per year.

• 40% of 18-year-olds have a mental health diagnosis.

• Young adult cancers are up 79%.

What's causing all this? It's simple: “Our toxic food system and our toxic environment.”

[mykingdomfor]

URGENT! Family with sick infant and grandmother needs help!

I know there are many gofundme posts out there right now. I humbly ask for any kind of donation, any amount, for the family friends of a colleague, Nizar.

On October 18, the Nizar's home was bombed. "Screams came from every direction. Ambulance sirens began to approach our house, and paramedics arrived. We hadn't realized that our house had collapsed on us due to the destruction of the neighboring house. We all woke up to the screams that our beloved granddaughter had died, along with her younger sister and their mother, who was seven months pregnant."

There is an infant suffering from a rare disease causing liver hemorrhage, and a diabetic grandmother.

Their full story is under the cut.

Please please donate, and if you cannot please reblog and send to friends.

Hi this is Nizar,

I am from Gaza. I studied computer science I work as software engineer

I loved every single detail about my work, the tiniest details with my family and all the moments we had in this beloved city. All this fate has changed with everything going on in Gaza. The latest life-changing moment was in October.

On the evening of October 18th, the family gathered for dinner, sharing stories about our displacement from our home in North Gaza to a house in Rafah. Everyone was pondering what we would do the following morning when we woke up safe. However, we did not wake up in the morning; instead, we were awakened in the middle of the night by the rubble surrounding us. Screams came from every direction. Ambulance sirens began to approach our house, and paramedics arrived. We hadn't realized that our house had collapsed on us due to the destruction of the neighboring house. We all woke up to the screams that our beloved granddaughter had died, along with her younger sister and their mother, who was seven months pregnant. The house sheltered the grandfather, his wife, their 8 children, and their 14 grandchildren.

We emerged from the rubble, witnessing a tragic scene that was not familiar to this family, which had dreamt of a brighter future. The reality was hard to believe. It wasn't just the bitterness of separation we experienced but also other difficulties. One of the sisters, who was married, had given birth to Aya, who was diagnosed as a “Collodion baby” at birth. Aya, only four days old, was among those injured and suffered from a rare disease causing liver hemorrhage. She continues to suffer due to the lack of medical facilities needed to confront the challenges posed by this rare disease, which requires significant medical support and medication currently unavailable.

Adding to our worries about Aya, my grandma is also suffering from chronic diseases both diabetes and hypertension which also need medication.

This is just a fraction of our suffering. We lost not only safety but also our homes, living in displacement and famine. The family's breadwinners, who worked in computer engineering, lost their jobs, and the children lost their right to education. My sister Aya had only completed two years of university and now face losing their future educational opportunities.

Will this be the end of the hardships we face? Or are there compassionate hearts willing to help my family live safely?

We as a family decided to create this fundraising to try the last glimpse of hope to have a brighter future for our kids where they can live safely, have education and have any medication needed.

I am aiming to evacuate my family from Gaza to Egypt. The barrier to leaving is the coordination fee, amounting to $5,000 per adult and $2,500 for children which would cost roughly for all of us $62,500

Every donation will benefit a fundraising campaign that contributes to the coordination fees for the family's departure from Gaza to Egypt and the start of a new life. Your generosity, no matter its size, will make a tangible difference in the life of this grieving family."

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

I thought Fauci was hospitalized with the WEST NILE virsus? "Fauci wants to bring back MASKS after contracting COVID (despite being vaccinated SIX times)"

12 Aug 2024

By Alexa Lardieri U.S. Deputy Health Editor Dailymail.Com

The number of infections is increasing as part of another summer surge - even though hospitalizations and deaths from the virus remain at historic lows.

On Monday, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease said: 'The message is that if you are in a risk category you have got to take this seriously.'

The 83-year-old told people with comorbidities and seniors 'you should be wearing a mask' in crowded places.

He also revealed he had contracted Covid about two weeks ago. It was his third Covid infection and he has been vaccinated and boosted a total of six times.

The above shows weekly Covid deaths (blue bars) and percent positivity of Covid tests (orange line)

The above shows the percent positivity of Covid tests in the past week by region in the US

According to the CDC, the weekly Covid test positivity for the week ending August 3 was nearly 18 percent, compared to 16 percent the prior week and 10 percent one month before that. 

Test positivity is the share of Covid swabs taken that come back positive. 

World Health Organization officials warn that if the virus continues to spread, it could lead to new mutations and severe infections that evade vaccine protection and therapeutics. 

Deaths have been generally on the rise since May, but began declining the week ending July 20. They currently hover at around 500 per week, compared to more than 25,000 in the fall of 2020.

The elderly, people with compromised immune systems and those with comorbidities are more at risk of developing severe Covid, being hospitalized and have a higher risk of death from the virus. 

New documents 'credibly show' Covid DID leak from Wuhan lab, say House Republicans

Dr Fauci told MedPage Today Editor-in-Chief Dr Jeremy Faust: 'You don't have to immobilize what you do and cut yourself off from society, but regardless of what the current recommendations are, when you're in a crowded closed space and you're an 85-year-old person with chronic lung disease or a 55-year-old person who is morbidly obese with diabetes and hypertension, then you should be wearing a mask.

'And you should be careful to avoid crowded places where you don't know the status of other people and you should get vaccinated and boosted on a regular basis.'

Dr Fauci's face mask guidelines have long been criticized as people claimed they did not work to prevent the spread of Covid. 

The educational and social effects of face masks on children have been well documented, with one NIH study calling the impact of mask use on students' literacy and learning 'very negative.' 

Another NIH study also found that social distancing caused 'depression, generalized anxiety, acute stress and intrusive thoughts.'  

And in testimony to Republicans in June, Dr Fauci admitted he didn't remember reading anything to support that masking kids would prevent COVID.

When asked if masking kids was an effective way of preventing Covid transmission, he said: 'I still think that's up in the air.' 

Despite the mixed guidance, experts are still concerned about the rapid spread.

Dr Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University's School of Public Health and former White House Covid response coordinator, told NBC: 'If you just talk about infections, this is probably going to end up becoming the largest summer wave we’ve had. It’s still not as big as the winter waves, but it is starting to get close.'

Dr Anthony Fauci recommended that the elderly and people with comorbidities wear face masks to protect against Covid

Dr Jha said she expects this surge to peak in the next few weeks and subside in September, just as updated vaccines to target the KP.2 strain of Covid become available.  

Additionally, in a briefing last week, World Health Organization officials said 84 countries are experiencing a rise in the percentage of positive Covid tests over the last several weeks. 

WHO officials said: 'Covid-19 infections are surging globally... and are unlikely to decline anytime soon. The UN health agency is also warning that more severe variants of the coronavirus may soon be on the horizon.'

And wastewater surveillance suggests the spread of the virus is two to 20 times higher than what is currently being reported. 

WHO officials added that new waves of infection could spur mutations and more dangerous strains of the virus 'that could potentially evade detection systems and be unresponsive to medical intervention.

The health agency is urging countries to ramp up their vaccination efforts and promote yearly Covid vaccines for high-risk individuals. 

Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, an infectious disease epidemiologist and lead of the COVID-19 response at WHO, said: 'As individuals it is important to take measures to reduce risk of infection and severe disease, including ensuring that you have had a COVID-19 vaccination dose in the last 12 months, especially, if you are in an at-risk group.

'I am concerned with such low coverage and with such large circulation, if we were to have a variant that would be more severe, then the susceptibility of the at-risk populations to develop severe disease is huge.'"

[number1hugluvr]

Redesign your logo We know what we're doing We are here to help you Everything's connected Time is of the essence We live in the future Color makes us hungry Everything's connected Redesign your logo We know how to do it Make the calculations Put them into action We will find the angle Starting with convention On to innovation Everything's connected

Here we have a circle Smooth and inoffensive This will be the basis For your revolution Gravity is crucial Geomagnetism With some calculation We will find your logo DNA is crucial We must understand it In the human genome We will find your logo Everyone will see it Every demographic If they fail to see it Are they even human?

Every demographic Men 18 to 30 College educated Women over 40 Suicidal poets Fat midwestern fathers Kids with diabetes Pentecostal preachers Mothers under 20 Interracial couples Atheist professors Government employees Xenophobes and racists Private aviators Everyone will see it Every demographic

Think about it this way Guided evolution This will be a new breed Cutting edge but classic Fully complimentary Bold and self-sufficient Symbolizing freedom And, of course, your product When the logo's finished Then we will unveil it Seven billion people Instantly enlightened Everyone's rebranded All the fighting's over Say goodbye to conflict That design's rejected There's no longer language Only recognition There's no longer country Only corporate colors Color makes us hungry Hunger makes us human Everyone can see it Everything's connected

Redesign your logo Give us all your money Redesign your logo Give us all your money Redesign your logo Give us all your money Redesign your logo Give us all your money

-🍋👿 REDESIGN YOUR LOGO ("if they fail to see it, are they even human?" neil cicirega really saying that blind people aren't human. smh.)

OH! I remember seeing vee sing a song by that uh, lemon demon guy! But she got mad at me when I told her about it..

[pansyboybloom]

okay, i've located 5 gofundmes that I will be using to have people match donations with. i'll make a more in-depth post on Tuesday when I start summer school and this officially begins, but basically, I will be donating 25$, 5 dollars to each of the 5 gfms. I will provide proof; if you match 5 dollars and provide proof, i'll write you a four stanza (4-5 lines per stanza) poem on whatever topic you'd like, as personalized as you'd like. if you donate to multiple gfms, I'll add a simple related digital art doodle to the poem. I'm still ironing out everything, but I'm really, really hoping yall participate! even if it you can't donate 5$ (no judgement, i'm unemployed currently i get it!) i sincerely hope this inspires you to spare even one dollar towards saving lives

Here are the 5 gofundmes that i'll be boosting, all of which have been vetted. Thanks yall!

URGENT: Evacuate My Diabetic Kid Out of GAZA WAR

Help Abood Evacuate Gaza, Rebuild, and Pursue Education

I need urgent help for my son, Louay, who has autism.

Help me evacuate Gaza and treat my hand urgently.

Help Israa leave Gaza and complete its treatment

[shadowfromthestarlight]

"it's so sad that kids these days don't just go to the arcade and go roller skating they don't know what real fun is" oh honey this is just the tip of the iceberg i'm sorry, kids are being poisoned physically, mentally, and spiritually every single day. 1 in 2 people in gen z is expected to get cancer. there's a reason every family you know has a kid with asthma or food allergies or obesity or digestive issues or skin conditions or learning disabilities or mental health disorders. kids' environments are sanitized to prevent them from getting sick, which is just making them more sick by not letting them develop their immune systems. and that's just one of the evils that was done to them during COVID-19. their toys, their food packaging, even their clothing is full of plastic. their snacks are full of inflammatory seed oils, behavior-altering toxic dyes, and refined sugar. even their non-processed food is typically grown or raised in poor soil with pesticides, meaning they don't even get the nutrition they would have gotten from the same food 100 years ago. their water and toothpaste is full of a neurotoxin that lowers IQ to "prevent cavities" lmfao. the internet and social media steals their attention spans and exposes them to things their brains aren't equipped to handle. dangerous medications are pushed on them when their bodies can't deal with all the poison and vitamin deficiency. they're not even getting enough sunlight, which is one of the biggest and most freely available nutrients out there, both because they're being crammed inside to "learn" (lmao) and to do a million different activities to make them scholarship-eligible and to play video games and sit on their phones and iPads and because their parents are taught to fear the sun and slather them with goop (which is often toxic itself!) instead. their education is shit, they've been taught to read the wrong way and they're being spoonfed pseudoscientific race and gender garbage under the guise of "social-emotional learning" when they're not being told they're going to die from glaciers melting.

being a kid right now is just awful, if we don't turn things around right now gen alpha is gonna be depressed, infertile, unable to consume food groups people routinely consumed for thousands of years, and unable to function independently in society if they don't all have diabetes and cancer.

[wellhealthhub]

Understanding A1C and Its Role in Diabetes Diagnosis

Hey there! At Well Health Hub, we’re all about sharing valuable info on diabetes and everything related to it. Today, we’re diving deep into the importance of the A1C test when it comes to diagnosing diabetes. We want to give you a resource that goes beyond the usual articles out there, providing you with a clear and in-depth understanding of A1C and how it relates to your blood glucose levels.…

[readersmagnet]

Lynda Drake author, and educator, has experienced the peace and power that comes from letting go of the illusion of perfection. She also do life coaching for parents of kids with mental health issues, a professional speaker, and a group facilitator. She attributes this to raising her three powerfully imperfect children with labels including Down syndrome, autism, mood disorder, diabetes, attention deficit disorder, severe allergies, anxiety, and depression.

You are not alone in what you go through and that you can do this job called 'parenting', maybe not perfectly, but you can do it with love! Visit https://www.lyndadrake.com/ to learn more about tools in caring imperfect children.

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

Yeah ok we can be done with this visit now. 🙃

We had a Mother’s Day brunch with me, my husband, my kids, my parents, my in-laws, my sister, and her fiancé. MIL brought a card for me to the restaurant. She is extremely invested in cards for all occasions and spends a large amount of time finding the “perfect” one, then underlining key words in the text and adding her own message.

So first of all during the meal, she told my husband multiple times to make sure I didn’t forget to take the card home. I was sitting RIGHT THERE but I guess she couldn’t just tell that to me?

Then, a bit after we got home, I was in the next room - but CLEARLY within earshot if she thought about it for .02 seconds - and she asked my husband if I had opened the card. He said he thought I had, and she got upset because “I would’ve thought she would tell me if she liked it if she had opened it.” My husband told her to ask me and she finally did. But like. Come ON. I get that she’s into cards, but it was JUST a super trite hallmark card with 1 sentence addition. And I thanked her for it when she gave it to me. How much effort exactly does she think one is supposed to expend on a thank you for just a CARD? No gift. Just a card. Maybe I’ll send her a thank you card next time and we can then exchange thank you cards for the thank you card ad infinitum? And also, HELLO I AM MY OWN PERSON, stop asking my husband about me when I’m literally right there.

Then, our friends had an idea to organize a last minute surprise party for my husband, so I added them, my family, and my in-laws to a WhatsApp group to plan it. I asked if anyone had any ideas about how to get my husband to the party location without spoiling the surprise. MIL then messaged me privately outside the group asking how we were going to get him there?? Like that is why we have a group. So that I am not going back and forth between all the involved parties. So that we can collaborate. In the group. 🤦🏻‍♀️ She also messaged the entire group to tell the friend who is hosting the party that she had messaged her privately. So…super excited to find out what that was about, if it wasn’t just asking the exact same question or similar as she asked to me.

And then they said they were going to leave soon, but it took them over an hour to actually do so, and meanwhile I got super hangry and couldn’t get anything to eat because my MIL was in the kitchen and I didn’t want to risk being around her while hangry, and after all they were supposed to be leaving aaannnyyyy second…….

Meanwhile MIL has recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and it’s clear she has received absolutely ZERO patient education on it. Which to be clear, for this one I’m not blaming her, I’m upset at her doctor. On Friday night she said she was only going to have 1 bite of the dessert because of her diabetes, but meanwhile at the restaurant today her meal consisted of fries, mushroom ravioli, and white bread. She has literally zero concept that she needs to change her diet in any way except avoiding cane sugar. Nor does she seem clear on what the plan is from her doctor, or if she’ll be scheduled for any sort of nutrition appointment. We keep asking her about it and she seems too flustered to advocate for herself. I really hope her doctor gets it together and gives her the resources she needs.

[arctic-hands]

Long ass post about being a sick and disabled child with pediatric imposter syndrome and inattentive and flat out ableist adults ahead. It got ahead of me but there's nothing I want to cut. No I'm not putting it under a read more. Look at my post, boy.

I wonder if my childhood fascination with wheelchairs was based in the chronic pain and exhaustion I was feeling even by the age of seven.

In second grade we had a "disability week" (tho I wouldn't be surprised if they had called it "differently abled" but I can't remember for certain) where we had disabled adults come to speak to our (allegedly) able-bodied class and the school as a whole. The ones i remember were just explaining the disability and a simplified ways to treat it and things like it's rude to stare and such. Not too too glurgy in that out of context...

...but the memories about it are def tainted by the fact that any kid who was sick or disabled was forced to give presentations on their medical conditions to "educate and de-stigmatize" the students.

This wasn't part of Differently Abled Week, we were just forced to present when we just got diagnosed or whenever the condition got noticed by anyone. The first one i saw was in first grade as a fifth grader gave all the individual classes a presentation on her diabetes. I was forced to give one in third grade after I came back from being dramatically rushed to the hospital after my heart started beating so fast and hard that you could see it thru my shirt, and after about a week out of school in another hospital in the bigger city two hours away because my hometown hospital wasn't equipped to treat pediatric cardiac problems. My third grade presentation on supraventricular tachycardia was well-received, and the school was sympathetic because all my classmates and teachers were like omg this angelic little child has a heart condition and everyone was scared that I might die 😢

... Next year's fourth grade presentation on I Shit Too Much Disease was less well-received, even as I tried to self-censor the inherently disgusting details. To add to that, my SVT had been corrected (for a few decades, it appears to be coming back after 2) by an ablation in late third grade, so the Scary Heart Explodey (not really) Disease had been tied up neatly and I was free to live as a Normal Child. But Crohn's disease was something else, something relatively new to the lexicon in the early millennium and I constantly had to explain my health to strangers as the unwilling IBD Ambassador of the town. This would be and still is life-long and particularly hard to treat (my Crohn's was once compared to brittle diabetes in the way it never did and still doesn't respond to treatment), and the sympathy of the ableds is fickle and short lasting. Even just a year after my Diagnosis, my teachers stopped caring WHY I was missing school and sleeping all the time and in the bathroom too long and only saw these as delinquent behaviors to be punished, and my classmates no longer had sympathy for the perceived special treatment I barely got and were convinced I was faking it all for attention

Anyway I'm digressing, but I did need to feel the need to give context to my school's attitude towards sick kids. Back to Disability/Differently Abled Week

...We were allowed to play with mobility aids. Yeeeah. To de-stigmatize of course, totes not to keep us occupied. At one point we played with wooden beads of different shapes to make "hearing aids" and microphones in the style of the day, and each class was allowed one wheelchair, two sets of crutches, and a few arm slings for kids to be assigned to use for half the day.

I had seen these before. There were only a few sick kids in my school and none in mobility aids, but 7 year olds do have some life experience in being in the outer world, and my hometown was a city and not insular, so I had been exposed to disabled people before. My grandmother's best friend was an old lady with a basic prosthetic foot and used a cane, and she was patient and i daresay a little proud to show it off when i was really little and we'd go to have tea/hot chocolate with her and i stared in fascination and asked innocently offensive questions. At seven I hadn't been diagnosed with SVT or Crohn's yet and my intense and agonizing leg pains had been dismissed by my pediatrician as a hysteric and melodramatic little girl's response to "growing pains" (I've stopped growing but still feel them, I'm just used to them enough after thirty years that I barely notice them unless my legs are touched). I knew about broken bones and as someone who still had potent memories of toddler ear infections that were bad enough to send me to the E.R, I had even taken a few rides in wheelchairs.

But being in a wheelchair constantly was a new experience for me, especially as this was a manual wheelchair that you pushed yourself with the big wheels in, not the hospital kind that nurses push for you. The thought of never having to use my legs was an intoxicating thought, and I had childhood delusions of being strong and muscley enough to be able to handle maneuvering it with my scarily emaciated noodle arms.

Aides were assigned by last name down the list, and the teacher just arbitrarily decided which one you'd get. My last name is fairly down the list, so I waited the better part of a week to get assigned, all the while eyeballing the wheelchair enviously as my classmates assigned to it got to play disabled in it. I wondered how to pop a wheelie in it (for the record, my immediate reaction to being given roller skates on my fourth birthday was to immediately try to do a trick jump off the porch and landed hard on my ass with miraculously intact bones and face). But mostly I was fascinated by the thought of never having to use my legs for an entire half a day. I kept my composure at school so not to be labeled a crybaby, but by the time I got home I sometimes couldn't even focus on Pokémon because my legs were too agonizing and I'd be crying. My parents were sympathetic enough to my leg pains that they bought me hot water bottles to sooth my knees and tried to get me to take my mind off it by meditating the pain away (I'm too bipolar to focus in meditation even then but everyone's reaction to my bipolar is another long ass post in the making). But they didn't care enough to advocate for me against my pediatrician, even as he ignored all my other dramatic symptoms that were beginning to become un-ignorable. It took until my heart emergency for any adult (ily Dr. Stein, my pediatric cardiologist who immediately realized I needed more help than just for SVT) to notice the misery I was in and get me the right help (ily Dr. Maizle, my first pediatric gastroenterologist and the only one who actually listened to me when i said some of the meds felt worse than the disease).

Anyway I was assigned crutches when my name was called and i nearly did finally snap and cry at school. Nearly. And the crutches (basic under armpit ones, not forearm crutches) sucked. They were painful in my armpits, they weren't adjusted to my height properly, and I fell a few times because I was trying to swing both my legs at the same time because BOTH my legs were in constant agony and I was trying to alleviate my body's pressure on them both. I had a miserable time "pretending" to be disabled, but I was the only one who complained about the crutches and so I went ignored, setting up the theme for my childhood.

This fascination with wheelchairs stuck with me and as I became a bigger kid and my body just piled on more illness and pain, but despite all that my legs were technically functional so I kept my yearning for a chair quiet for fear of being offensive (didn't know what appropriation meant back then but that was the feeling) and an actual attention seeker like my classmates accused me off. Sure, I was sick and constantly in pain, but at least I wasn't actually "stuck in a wheelchair". Could be worse. At least it's not cancer, after all.

It got to the point that by middle school i was having idle fantasies about being grievously and dramatically injured to the point I lose my aching leg(s) and thus was finally granted a wheelchair. In my darkest moments I wondered how much pain doing it myself would be in the moment, but the thing that snapped me out of crippling (I use that word deliberately) myself was that I genuinely love the feeling of sand beneath my feet and the way beach sand (I wouldn't see the ocean until my twenties, but the artifical lake we went to had sand) felt in between your toes and how my feet didn't ache so much as the hot sand conformed around them. I still kept this quiet because I knew it was crazy and was beginning to realize that I as a whole being was crazy, but I didn't want to be treated as crazy so I kept my fantasies secret.

I've lost the point I was trying to make as I ramble on about these physically painful memories but I'm going to end by saying lmfao I've been using a cane for my pain (to not great success tbh) and have been told I'll prolly need a wheelchair in the next few years. My trepidation about this is totally devoid of any "be careful what you wish for!" karma and everything to do with how infamously inaccessible the Atlantic Coast of the United States is for mobility access. The buildings are all old and pretty and no one wants to ruin the aesthetics of the rowhomes and the shops (except the liquor stores, make of that as you will) don't want to put in the money to add or replace the stairs getting up to the shops with ramps.

This is really dumb even before I started using aides, because EVERYONE can use a ramp while only SOME people can use stairs. And that's not even the end of it, if you manage to get into the shops the aisles are too small to get even a folding chair in between, and no one wants to put in the extra work to rearrange the store to cater to those seeking "special treatment". For years I thought the A.D.A had a grandfather clause that said historical buildings didn't have to adapt unless they renovate and that's why the older cities on the East Coast are the way they are. Nope, that clause doesn't exist. But no one is willing to enforce the A.D.A except SOMETIMES for federal buildings. Even some medical facilities are on stairs with no ramp. Baltimore IS in the middle of a years-long A.D.A lawsuit, but it's only for the absolutely abysmal sidewalks that prevent wheelchairs from going over them at all and makes it treacherous for canes and crutches. I see people in wheelchairs on the road more than I see them on sidewalks because it's the only way to get a wheelchair to move. Baltimore drivers are legitimately and legendarily terrifying. I wouldn't even want to ride a bike (were I still able) in the bike lanes, let alone wheel myself IN a major road. This is going to be a terrifying experience here, unless something very much changes and soon. But will the abled leaders care enough even if they're under lawsuit? I don't feel optimistic. But what choice do/will I have? It doesn't HAVE to be hard, but it WILL be because ableds don't care enough to make even the slightest change to make it easier for EVERYONE if it takes even the slightest bit of effort. See: their collective response to covid