#medical talk -

[kourabiedes]

I'm not here to grind a political or social axe. I'm just here to tell a short story, about a normal person trying to navigate the American medical establishment. Here is some evidence. You may draw your own conclusions.

So I've had a migraine for a month.

That's not hyperbole, mind. It has been a month since this started. A month of the entire side of my head pulsing with pain, worse whenever I look at light which is always because I do digital art and all that.

Now, I've had migraines all my damn life. I know the drill. I have a preventative medicine that keeps me from having more than one a month or so, and I have a "rescue" medicine meant to stop the ones that do start. I have a nice dark room to rest in when it starts, I have blindfolds, I have ice packs -- I know how to handle these, is the point. So, for about the first two weeks, I did just that. I hit this sucker with everything that worked before and did my best to wait it out. Yes, I delayed getting care, because it was a problem I was already familiar with and assumed was normal for me.

Then, a week ago, it stopped responding to my rescue medication. Entirely stopped. Alarmed, I went to the ER. They hit me with a fairly standard migraine cocktail (so they said anyway -- don't ask me what it was because I honestly do not remember). Killed the pain almost right away and they give me some advice about what to do next and sent me home.

It was back in sixteen hours.

ER again. Same cocktail, same result. I'm freaked out now, so I call my PCP and schedule an appointment. She fits me into her schedule because she's alarmed too. She gives me a shot of Toradol and that helps, but she notices my blood pressure is reading a little elevated for me and we decide to try a blood pressure medication. Okay, cool, I'm down, high blood pressure runs in the family and it can definitely give you migraines if untreated. We start this medicine and she prescribes me a new rescue medication, giving me one pill to try while waiting for insurance to okay the prescription. This rescue medicine works, putting me back in control of the pain. Cool, thinks I, I just have to get through a couple weeks while the blood pressure medicine settles in, and if we're right, the migraine will finally let go.

Today, I discover that insurance would only okay ten pills of this medicine, because I have had the other rescue medication refilled recently for... obvious reasons. Ten pills, and if I want more, I have to wait like forty days or something.

Do you know how many of these pills I have to take a day to keep the migraine at bay? Two.

I have five days of relief -- four, now -- before I go right back to the same ER level pain, unless I am exceedingly lucky with this blood pressure medicine.

The ER did no imaging. I'm not sure if they even could. My PCP put in an order for an MRI when I saw her, which was a week ago, and that request has not yet left the insurance company.

A migraine is not just a headache, like you get after overindulging or staying up too late. A migraine alters your mental state. It can come with physical symptoms beyond head pain -- mine likes to manifest itself with dark spots in my vision, for example, which can ruin a day real fast -- and sometimes they even come with nasty mental symptoms.

So... what part of all that upsets you the most? Because, for me, it's knowing I have about four days before I go right back to screaming misery.

Oh, and I have to note, I am considered fairly lucky because the state covers my ass when Medicare won't. Yet here we are all the same.

[nurse-floyd]

Carlos Motherfucking Sainz

This man. I cannot. Also, these men also keep putting my love of nursing and my love of F1 together so let's get into it! How did Carlos Sainz manage to win 2 weeks after having an appendectomy?

In the UK, at least, you can leave the hospital the same day you've have an appendectomy as long as there are no complications as long is it was done laparoscopically and there were no complications (burst appendix etc)

Carlos had his appendix removed laparoscopically (which I predicted considering how quickly he was back at the paddock to watch the Grand Prix!) you can tell by the incisions - 3 small ones for the camera and tools rather than one long incision for an open appendectomy.

Usually after an appendectomy you can go back to work after 1-2 weeks. IF YOU HAVE A NON-PHYSICAL JOB. We know this man was back training and strengthening as soon as he could. You can usually start to work out after 2 weeks, depending on wound healing. Those sit ups would have been agony!

That alone would have had him in a lot of pain, let alone the amount of g-force the drivers encounter when they're driving around the circuits - up to 5G in some cases. That's 5x their body weight.

On his latest Instagram post you can see him in a weird glass tube - this presumably is a hyperbaric chamber. There are multiple studies investigating the effectiveness of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in the speedier healing of surgical wounds and reduction of post-operative infection.

In short, this type of therapy can reduce inflammation and boost the formation of white blood cells (the cells that protect the body against infection and defend it from attack of unknown organisms) to improve healing and lower the risk of infection.

Overall, we know he wouldn't have been able to drive unless he was safe to and he said himself they made sure he could get out of his car in the required time and padded his wound and made adjustments to ensure his comfort but you could see the pain he was in after and Lando helping onto the podium.

That man deserves his seat.

[theotherhappyplace]

Surgery done and recovering now

Feeling a bit better already

Tmi but who cares I had to have a hysterectomy. So that's the big thing I'm trying to recover from. Thank you to everyone sending me such kind messages I can't respond to everyone individually because I'm very tired. But I read them all thank you thank you

[beaft]

the bathroom scales inform me that i have somehow lost 47 pounds since my top surgery. as i see it, there are two possibilities here: 1), that the scales need new batteries; or 2), that my boobs - despite looking pretty normal - were actually made of some incredibly dense substance, like osmium, and thus required a small crane and/or circus strongman to remove them

[brain-rot-central]

Re the blood glucose comment on the last ask: I've been diabetic for over twenty years, and I've wondered whether diabetes exists in Faerûn but only magic works as a temporary fix. So if the party runs out of healing spells and Tav's blood sugar spikes, what if Astarion feeds on her to help bring her blood sugar down? What if he drinks his fill and afterwards it takes less time for her to recover because now her blood sugar is normal instead of low after the blood loss?

But that also opens up opportunities for angst, too. What if her blood sugar's low, but he hasn't eaten in days and she can tell he's trying so hard not to say anything? What if she has an invincibility complex, thinks "I'll be fine," and lets him drink without telling him? What if he can no longer feel her trembling in his arms as he feeds, pulls back, and suddenly realizes just how pale, sweaty, and absolutely frozen she is, practically paralyzed because there's no glucose fueling her ability to move? Grabs Shadowheart to tend to her because his guilt has in turn paralyzed him?

Anyway, I've had some thoughts about this.

Ohhhh bloodletting for hyperglycemia. I can see this being a thing in Faerûn! Definitely a thing between a diabetic Tav and Astarion.

Also I've seen people go into hypoglycemic episodes before, so I can envision exactly what Tav with low glucose would be like.

I once gave a patient an entire amp of D50 for a glucose of like 38 (they were somehow still conscious). Their sugar shot up to like 500ish, only to come back down to 40 like 15 minutes later (this tends to happen with IV glucose; the sugar burns through you so fast because your body is basically starved of it). Nodding out, slurring; the whole nine. I think we found out they gave themselves their regular dose of long acting insulin the night before alongside their reg morning insulin without having eaten breakfast that morning. Shit is scary.

Diabetic Tav seems interesting to play with, though 🤔

[animatedgifofwatermelonexploding]

Do you think hfjone doctors would have guys that are decently knowledgeable for a bunch of different things (like paramedics or primary care doctors) and also specialists for more severe problems (like neurologists)

i think hfjone doctors that work in the hospital full-time would be mostly paramedics and doctors whose main job is to get information out of the patient and be friendly and stuff, but many would work with healing limb and eye/mouth injuries since those are less serious and more general in treatment than damage to the object

i think neurologists wouldnt even really be in the same field as doctors honestly and that theyd just be psychologists and therapists given objects dont have physical brains. my hc at least is that objects dont have organs within their actual bodies and whatever goes into their mouths just goes into like a pocket dimension like that one scene where bryce brushes his teeth

maybe they just do all surgery through the mouth. but i hope not

[bistaxx]

Heyo! I figured I should probably mention on here that I'm getting surgery done on my dominant wrist tomorrow! I'm gonna probably be less active while I recover- my queue is pretty full with rb's but I don't think I'm gonna do liveblogs or original posts much if it all while my wrist recovers!

I'll probably still be lurking around in the meanwhile though ^u^

[rebel-21]

I often wonder if Rocket suffers with migraines cause what H.E. did to his brain. Also could see him suffering with seizure cause his brain over firing his neurons. His neurological system get over loaded when he overworks himself. But of course they never show stuff like that in the films. He had one seizure in the GOTG3. My headcanon is Guardian's have had to deal with a couple of seizure from Rocket before

They all keep meds on them when ever Rocket gets Migraine or seizure Cause God knows the Raccoon will have everything but his own meds. Cause he never thinks of his own health.

[hungerpunch]

getting tattooed later and feeling anxious about how little i slept last night possibly impacting my pain tolerance today but then i remembered i once had a cyst on my cervix burst while sitting, just casually bleeding out while being tattooed for six hours, and i survived just fine.

[theotherhappyplace]

I want very badly to make a comic about my entire experience with endometriosis. I want more people to know how bad it is. 1 in 10 people with a uterus experience it and it is widely ignored and not understood due to prejudices and lack of awareness.

However I am also pretty severely traumatized. This has been the worst experience of my life and I feel like a giant monster of iron and flames ate up 4 years of my life and money and dreams and future. I have a desolate burning landscape to live in.

People don't know how bad it is to be sick in America. They think they are safer than they are. They don't see how if the system decides you are inhuman.

No one helps.

I feel like I went into hell and heard the demons coming for YOU in particular. I left hell losing most of my soul and I desperately want to warn you with all I have left. I want to say "RUN RUN ITS GOING TO GET YOU DONT YOU UNDERSTAND??"

If someone was about to catch on fire

You'd want to warn them right?

[anachrosims]

Just want to say "thank you" to all the supportive messages people have sent, the kind replies, especially in the last six months.

Life has improved since I moved to another state. I've been settling in and trying to shake off, heal from the trauma of... well, everything that's happened since 2019-- a toxic job that nearly sent me into traffic, the diagnosis of a cystic growth (which still hasn't been dealt with because money), a year of unemployment during the pandemic, nearly falling into homelessness, the death of one of the cats I've had half my life which directly followed the painful decline and passing of my Grams (who was more of a mother to me than my biological mother ever was)--those happened within months of each other. Plus, a car that constantly broke down, barely making it financially (living alone on the outskirts of a city), on top of chronic severe clinical depression.

I have managed to survive, somehow, and the last six months are the first time in years I have had to catch my breath physically, emotionally, and financially. I have so many things to be thankful for--a remote job, a good computer, a sweet old cat, my roommate who is a wonderful friend and his amazing dog, and a dad who loves me. I have this blog, and Patreon, and I have my roleplay blog and my writing partners and friends I've made there too.

I have all these things, and it can still feel like a crawl up a mountain. Sometimes I want to cry, feeling like I've climbed Mt. Everest, only to look up and see I still have halfway to go. I am working on my finances, so I can save up and pay off my debt, so I can buy a working vehicle, so I can see the doctors I need to keep/improve my health, so I can keep my job and live well, so I can get the surgery I need to continue living a decent life... and so it goes. I am miserable at my job, I feel trapped and unappreciated and I am definitely underpaid. I am so tired of giving and giving and giving, and people taking. I just want that reciprocated, and it leaves me drained.

But still... I want to take all of the good things and hold them, and cherish them. Part of doing that is making that appreciation known. I want to put more love into the world. I know I don't live in a warzone, I have a roof over my head and three meals a day, I have been blessed with all that and more, and all of you are part of those blessings.

So, thank you, for the kindness, the support, the sweet words. Thank you so much. They've helped keep me going. I need you all to know how much those kindnesses impact things in a good way. You are part of why I am still alive, why I still try to have enough hope to keep moving forward.

Thank you. x x x

[golden-girl-daisy]

Poor baby got a corneal ulcer this morning playing with the neighbor’s puppy so she’s getting 5 eye drops a day and trying to be so brave about it.

[foxxology]

I think we need some more Winn love, love a trans guy who could kick my face in

Yknow, I'm realizing I haven't talked about how transitioning and being trans works in the world of Skyfell!

Fun facts about Skyfell: Trans Medicine Edition!

TW for Medical Talk (just in case!)

It's pretty straight forward, anything hormonal is done with the help of either alchemists with tonics or poultices, or with esoteric mages who specialize in body chemical manipulation!

The esoterist way can be done either with low level magic over the span of a year or so in order for the body to slowly adjust to the small hormonal changes, OR high level magic where the hormones are changed quickly, but recovery can take some time with constant monitoring so that the body doesn't go in shock.

Surgery wise? It's still just regular surgery, though the tools are a little behind our modern scalpels and such. Knives made of obsidian and crystal do the work well enough, and with the help of healing magic and potions, things heal nicely!

Winn's top surgery scars are actually solidarity scars! It's a pretty common practice for trans masc peeps who did their hormonal change before puberty to undergo scarification to have their own top surgery scars in solidarity and community. Some people make their scars fancy, but Winn, who likes getting into fights, was worried it might mess with his manoeuvrability. He ripped his stitches multiple times while recovering lol

[dubiousdisco]

Medical news it might be cancer again

[jackals-ships]

so im making chicken noodle soup bc momthers throat is All Kinds Of Raw RN and if y'all know. The Jackal Lore. you know that chicken is the one i tend to get caught in my esophagus A Lot

so anyways im dicing that shit into the Tiniest pieces known to man and if it gets stuck at this point i think that's just natural selection,