#umbilical cord stem cells

[lifeforcestemcell]

Unlocking the Potential of Umbilical Cord Stem Cells: Pros, Cons, and Promising Uses

Introduction:

Umbilical cord stem cells have emerged as a revolutionary source of regenerative medicine, holding immense potential for treating various medical conditions. These cells, collected from the umbilical cord and placenta after childbirth, are rich in hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells. As with any medical advancement, the use of umbilical cord stem cells comes with its own set of pros, cons, and exciting applications.

Pros:

Rich Source of Stem Cells: Umbilical cord stem cells are abundant in both hematopoietic and mesenchymal stem cells. These cells have the unique ability to differentiate into various cell types, making them valuable for regenerating tissues, organs, and blood.

Ethical Considerations: Unlike embryonic stem cells, which raise ethical concerns, umbilical cord stem cells are harvested from the discarded placenta and umbilical cord after childbirth, posing no ethical dilemmas.

Reduced Risk of Transmissible Diseases: Compared to adult stem cells, umbilical cord stem cells have a lower risk of transmitting infections or diseases, making them a safer option for transplantation.

Improved Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) Management: Studies suggest that the risk of GvHD, a common complication in stem cell transplantation, is lower with umbilical cord stem cells. This makes them a preferable choice for patients in need of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Cons:

Limited Quantity: The quantity of stem cells obtained from the umbilical cord is relatively small compared to other sources. This limitation may affect the treatment of larger patients or those requiring multiple doses.

Restricted Match Availability: Finding a suitable match for transplantation can be challenging, as the donor's tissue type must closely match that of the recipient. This limitation may hinder widespread use.

Limited Storage Time: Umbilical cord blood must be processed and stored promptly after collection to ensure cell viability. Delayed processing or storage can compromise the quality and effectiveness of the stem cells.

Uses:

Blood Disorders: Umbilical cord stem cells are commonly used in treating various blood disorders, such as leukemia and sickle cell anemia, through hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Regenerative Medicine: These cells hold promise for regenerating damaged tissues and organs, offering hope for conditions like spinal cord injuries, heart diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders.

Immunotherapy: The unique properties of umbilical cord stem cells make them a potential resource for developing personalized immunotherapies, enhancing the body's ability to fight cancer and other diseases.

Conclusion:

Umbilical cord stem cells represent a remarkable advancement in medical science, offering numerous advantages while posing some challenges. As research continues, addressing the limitations and maximizing the potential of these cells could pave the way for groundbreaking treatments, bringing us closer to a future where regenerative medicine transforms the landscape of healthcare.

[rcmclachlan]

On this week's episode of Things I Think About While Driving, I was having myself a grand ol' time thinking about all the different times and ways Buck could've met Tommy earlier, and the one I kept coming back to was S4xE5.

Like, right after Buck walks out of Maddie's apartment having learned about Daniel...

He drives.

He drives and drives and drives with no actual destination in mind, operating completely on autopilot, for hours. No music, no podcasts, just the rush of wind through all the open windows of the Jeep and the echoing refrain in his head of so they made one.

It would've been an allogeneic transplant. He'd looked it up once when he was watching a 60 Minutes special on Myelodysplastic Syndrome. They would've taken the stem cells from his umbilical cord if the timing was right. Unless they tried it a little bit later, maybe waited a few months before they scraped Daniel's homegrown defense system right out of Buck's bones. He would've been too young to remember the pain and discomfort that came after. He wonders if he cried as a baby more than he would've if he'd been wanted for anything other than the hellfire missiles in his marrow.

And then it didn't work. Defective, right out of the gate. No wonder they've always treated him like a massive disappointment—he is one. He had one job and he couldn't even manage to do that much.

So he drives. He drives and he's furious. He drives and he's inconsolable. He drives and he's sorry. With every street he turns down at random, he moves onto another emotion, and by the time the gas gauge is nudging close to empty and the evening is giving way to night, the only thing he's capable of feeling is tired.

And hunger. He'd only had an apple before he went over to Maddie's.

So he circles back to Glendale Boulevard and decides on the place with a red lion on their sign solely because it doesn't look busy for 8:30pm on a Tuesday. There's even a free space in the little lot next to the building. Thanks, COVID.

It's pretty quiet inside, with a substantial bar set against old wood paneling on the walls, making it feel like an old tavern. He takes a seat at the far end of the bar where the lighting's kind of dim.

Turns out it's a German bar, so he orders a glass of Warsteiner, which he's never had before, and it's got a strong, malty backbone for a lager. The bartender tells him there's a Biergarten in the back if he wants to take his drink outside. 

Buck doesn't want to move from his little corner. It feels safe here, even with his mask off. At least two of the one hundred thousand knots in his back muscles have relaxed since he sat down. He quietly declines the offer, but he does order himself the sausage plate and a glass of Augustiner Maximator once he's done with the Warsteiner, which goes down so good he can't believe it's got an ABV of 7.5%. He orders a second.

He's in the middle of robotically eating a smoked bockwurst he can't taste, thinking so they made one, when the door to the biergarten opens up. A guy walks over to the bar and Buck throws him a cursory glance. Then he looks again. 

The guy is exactly who you'd find on the cover of the LAFD charity calendar: big and beefy, with the kind of high cheekbones that belong on a runway in Milan. Effortlessly handsome. Buck wants to tip his beer toward him, because, respect. He also wants to poke his biceps and ask what his regiment is, if he P90X's or something. Buck isn't a small man by any stretch of the imagination, but this guy looks like he could throw Buck around like a grizzly bear. 

Buck lets himself be distracted by watching the guy lightly tap his fingers against the bar to the beat of whatever 80s song is playing softly over the speakers. He's always loved people watching; it's a great way to get out of his head after tough calls. This guy is a particularly fascinating specimen. There's just something magnetic about him. Buck's known people like that: they draw the eye even if they're not doing anything to warrant attention. Without even being called, the bartender wanders over to the guy, no doubt drawn to whatever invisible light is coming off him. Buck can't hear what they're saying, but then the bartender turns and points right at Buck, who freezes, caught. 

The guy flashes Buck a thumbs up and asks just loud enough to be heard through his face mask, "How was the Warsteiner?"

Swallowing, Buck lifts the empty glass and says, "Uh, g-good. Full-bodied." 

With a thoughtful nod, the guy turns back to the bartender and says something too quiet for Buck to hear, but he figures it out when the bartender goes and comes back with a glass of what is clearly Warsteiner. The guy takes a sip, pauses, and then moves toward Buck, stopping before he gets too close. "Thanks for the recommendation. Hey, Jay, put his next one on my tab."

The bartender—Jay—gives him a thumbs up and goes to the register. Buck, mortified at the thought of being a charity case, of this guy pitying him enough to buy him a beer, opens his mouth to tell Jay he can pay for his own beers, thanks, when the guy holds up a hand to forestall the protest.

"German beer's not usually my thing. I'm more of a craft beer kind of guy, so really, I appreciate the assist. If it makes you feel better, pay it forward." His cheeks curve up, and in the bar lighting Buck can see there are long legs attached to the guy's crow's feet. He clearly has spent his life smiling. Buck would bet this man has never once curled up in the dark on his birthday knowing for a fact his parents weren't going to even text him and was still disappointed when the clock ticked past midnight and he had nothing to show for it. This guy's parents probably had a golden statue of him erected in their front yard.

Buck musters up a smile that feels like one of the little, weak waves that just sort of roll over the shoreline without any fanfare before dissolving back into the sea, and the guy tilts his head.

"Rough day?"

"Rough life," Buck says, utterly pathetic, and feels like he's betrayed all his friends for even saying it. "No, that's—that was incredibly ungrateful. My life isn't—I-I have a good life. I just learned something today about my parents that, uh, clarified a few things for me about our relationship. It... wasn't great."

The guy taps his finger against the bottle of Warsteiner in his hand, staring at Buck with deep consideration, flaying Buck from head to toe without a word. Then he gives a nod that smacks of commiseration and walks around the bar until he's only two chairs away. When the guy opens his mouth and inhales, Buck can already hear what's coming: surely it's not that bad. You should talk it out with them. You're being too hard on them. C'mon, they're your parents, they love you. 

"That sucks," the guy says, simple as anything.

Out of nowhere, heat starts prickling in Buck's nose and the corners of his eyes, and he looks at this guy and the calm, earnest expression on his face, and... yeah. Yeah. It does suck. It sucks so hard and it has for so long, and all his life he's wanted someone to tell him that, to hear him list every injustice and offer a crumb of support without any pretense or judgment. Buck gasps a laugh that sounds more like he's been stabbed, and he opens his mouth to thank the guy for telling him exactly what he needed to hear, but instead what comes out is... everything. The whole story comes out of him like an unraveling firehose, pulling longer and longer the more he talks, stretching from the day he crashed his bike—"But it wasn't my bike, it was his."—to sitting in Maddie's living room and finally learning the truth: that he hadn't been crazy, that something had been wrong his entire life and the something was him.

"They'd made a box for her—full of all these memories and little trinkets and pictures—and I bet you he had one with baseball cards and his first, like, pacifier, and Skittles, and whatever, but when I asked them where mine was, they looked at me like I had three heads, because human junkyards full of scrap metal and defective blood cells don't get baby boxes," he finishes on a shout. Panting like he just sprinted to Santa Monica and back, he finds himself deflating into his folded arms on top of the bar now that he isn't filled to the brim with 29 years worth of bottled-up grievances. This must be what bulldozed graveyards feel like: scraped clean and ready to be filled up again. Buck is surrounded by five empty glasses, a little mountain of twisted-up napkins, and a complete stranger who hasn't said a word since Buck began, and it's as a good place to start again as any.

Buck closes his eyes and stews in embarrassment for about thirty seconds, then turns his head to look at his audience of one. At some point, the guy had gravitated into the chair right next to him and took his mask off, revealing a stupidly handsome face, and his wide-eyed, slack-jawed stare makes Buck want to throw up a little. It may have been the cleansing Buck'd needed, but the poor guy didn't ask to be part of any of it. Buck doesn't know why he told him in the first place. This is the kind of thing he'd hesitate to blurt out to Eddie, never mind a complete stranger, but there had been something so oddly steady and compassionate in the guy's gaze that Buck had felt like he could trust him with anything. It had been so easy to just... talk. And to his credit, the guy had listened to Buck's entire rant—stopping Buck only twice to ask a quiet, clarifying question—without making a face, snorting, rolling his eyes, or getting up and just leaving.

Face warm, Buck shifts in his seat to try and get feeling back into his left ass cheek, then he opens his mouth to apologize for dumping all that on the him instead of at his next session with his fucking therapist.

But the guy just blinks out of his stupor and flags down Jay, who wanders over sedately. He taps the bar counter twice and says, "Yeah, can you just put the rest of his bill on my tab?"

When Buck sits up with an outraged squawk, the world spins a little, and the guy places a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder to steady him. He doesn't take it back right away and Buck doesn't shrug it off. The weight feels good.

"N-No, that wasn't—you can't do that, man," Buck mumbles, face hot. His mouth feels a bit gummy.

"I can and I did," the guy says. "Someone should treat you to dinner for putting up with all that shit for all this time. I don't know your parents from a hole in the ground, but I would happily drop 3,000 pounds of water on their house. Jesus Christ, and I thought my issues with my parents were bad."

"I never should've—"

But the guy shakes his head and tightens his hand on Buck's shoulder. "You absolutely should've, actually. If that had built up any longer, I probably would've seen you literally explode on the 6 o'clock news."

Buck snorts a laugh, rubbing his disbelieving smile against his sleeve. "Believe me, it wouldn't be the first time you saw me on the 6 o'clock news."

The guy gives Buck a curious tilt of his head, so Buck clarifies, "Do you remember a few years back when that kid was mailing bombs to people and he rigged that fire engine to explode? And it fell on that firefighter?" At the guy's slow, wary nod, he continues, "I was the, uh, firefighter."

At that, the guy sits up and his gaze goes so sharp that Buck wants to call Jay over and have him slice up some bratwurst on it. "You're with the 118."

Buck blinks, and then the guy introduces himself... as LAFD firefighter pilot Tommy Kinard, who'd gotten his start at Buck's own damn station. Who knew both Chimney and Hen when they were probies, and who watched Bobby walk in and turn the place into a house Tommy could be proud to be part of. Who had been their air support during the Doheny Park gas leak incident.

"That was you?" Buck glances down at the bar counter to make sure it hadn't cracked when his jaw hit it. "Chimney told us afterwards he'd called in a favor from an old friend."

Tommy grins and jauntily points to himself with his glass. "Except Howie was cashing in on a favor I owed him, which means I only owe him like 973 more now."

Over a round of drinks—another Maximator for Buck and a seltzer with lime for Tommy—Buck tells Tommy about who's at the 118 now and confirms which of "the most batshit insane stories I've heard about you guys" are true. He tells Tommy about the rollercoaster ride that was his recovery from the explosion, and then follows that up with being caught in the tsunami and being struck by lightning. In return, Tommy regales him with army stories, including the time he landed a burning helicopter under enemy fire, and his favorite calls from his time with the 118—the fucking rooster has Buck practically crying laughing into his arms. He also tells Buck about Hen's fearlessness in standing up to their asshole captain who was voted the LAFD's Most Likely To Have Been At The White House On January 6th, and how Chimney saved Tommy's literal life. He tells Buck that without Bobby showing up and making them into a family of sorts, without him being in their corner even when they didn't trust him not to abandon them like all their other captains, Tommy never would've found his way back to the sky.

Then Tommy gleefully drops a pipe bomb into the scant space between them with, "And you never would've joined the 118."

Buck squeezes his eyes shut to try and make his brain stop feeling so swimmy. "W-What? What does that mean?" His tongue is too big for his mouth. His words taste a bit funny, like they're mushy. He hopes Tommy hasn't noticed.

"You said you joined in 2017. That's when I left," Tommy says, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "I'm pretty sure you were the one who took my spot."

Buck untucks one of his arms so he can reach up to touch the hills and valleys running down Tommy's cheeks, then realizes that probably would be rude and tries to play it off like he was going to scratch the back of his own head. All he does is knock over one of his empty glasses. It takes a few clumsy tries before he successfully stands it back up.

"We missed each other," Buck mumbles. He thinks of what it might have been like walking into the station that day, seeing Tommy sitting between Hen and Chimney, smiling wide as he dished up more spaghetti. Maybe he would've turned that warm light on Buck as he passed him the tongs. Maybe Tommy would've shown him the ropes, got him through his first shifts, and even stopped him from stealing the engine for a booty call. Maybe they'd have met up for drinks just like this after their shifts were over, or as a way to distract themselves from bad calls the way Tommy's distracted Buck all night. Maybe they'd have been a two-man unit, and then when Eddie showed up they'd be a tri...something. Buck can't remember what it's called, but it means 'three'. Maybe Tommy would've been every bit as important to Buck as Eddie, Hen, and Chim.

He's hit with the realization that if he doesn't tell Tommy this, he might die, so he garbles out, "You're important. W-Wait, no. I mean, you could've... you were important... I—y'get the gist."

And Tommy must, because Tommy's smart and quick witted and a good listener, and he's looking at Buck fondly, like he might've done if he'd stayed at the 118 and they'd come through fire together, but he's also rolling his lips inward and his cheeks are trembling.

Buck whines, aggravated, because, "Y-You're laughing at me."

Tommy ducks his head and does, in fact, start laughing.

"'s so rude. Don't laugh at me, 's not my fault I'm defective." Buck buries his face in his arms in embarrassment. The cradle of it is so warm and comfortable he just stays there.

"You're not defective, Evan." Even though it sounds like Tommy's suddenly on the other side of the room, Buck can hear the matter-of-factness in the words. He says it like he'd said that sucks. "But you are drunk."

He's not. He's just really tired and his arms make for a great pillow. He also feels heavy and tight, which isn't good for a firefighter. What if he's called onto a massive scene? What if City Hall's on fire and he can't pull the mayor out because he's slow and weirdly full? What if his career as a firefighter is over?

"That's just bloat from all the beer and sausage," Tommy says from even farther away than he'd been a second ago. "Jay, can I settle up? I'm so sorry we kept you this late. You're getting a helluva tip, I promise."

His name's not Jay. It's Buck. But he'd introduced himself as Evan and... forgot to tell Tommy he goes by something else. But he likes that Tommy doesn't know that, because when Tommy says 'Evan' it sounds like how 'Buck' feels. He wants Tommy to keep 'Evan' in the warmth of his mouth, like how some alligators carry their young. For them, it's the safest place to be.

Buck wants to tell Tommy about the alligators, because they are super cool and only exist in two places in the whole world. He blinks his eyes open and finds his face pressed to something hard and cool. The bar stool feels a lot softer than it did a second ago. And it's vibrating.

There's a weight on his knee, shaking it gently.

He must've fallen asleep while watching Celebrity Death Match in the TV room again. Mom's going to kill him when she finds out. "Mads, five m're min's."

"Evan, you need to give me a building number."

"Hmmm...?"

"Your apartment building. I've been driving up and down South Spring for ten minutes. You gotta help me out here. What's your building number?"

"Mmm..." Buck rolls his forehead to chase the coolness. It feels so nice against his skin. He could just sink right into it.

"Evan, c'mon. You can do it. Tell me where you live."

"27 P'plar Road," he mumbles. He blinks his eyes open and catches sight of the rush of lights and road ahead, which blend together like they're about to jump into hyperspace. He's not in Hershey. He knows this road. Sighing, he closes his eyes again. "Oh. 's rowing. 409 at th' rowing."

He blinks awake when he suddenly trips over nothing, and he tries to stop himself from falling but there's nothing except the gaping maw of open space. But he doesn't actually go anywhere. Someone's got an arm around his waist. There's a name for that kind of rude awakening. He can't remember it.

"Two more stairs," the person with him mutters in his ear. "I'm begging you, lift up your feet before we both end up in the ER."

That's fine. He has his own bed there.

"Yeah, let's try to get you into the bed you have here first."

Strong hands lower him onto something soft, and he buries his face in sheets that are cool and smell familiar, his entire body smoothing out like the surface of a lake. Something tugs at his foot, and he rolls onto his back and tries to lift his leg to help, but he's comfy and cocooned in the dark. His sneakers get taken off anyway.

"Evan." Tommy's voice hangs in the air, soft and warm and invisible, and his name sounds like it's precious where it sits in Tommy's mouth. He read somewhere that alligators do that. "I'm going to get you some water and then head out. Do you need anything else?"

In the dark, he somehow lost his body, and he can barely see the outline of Tommy, but he can hear him step closer when Buck reaches out for him. When Buck's hand is caught, he's suddenly so aware of himself, of his blood and bones and every nerve trapped under his skin, and arches a little into the feeling with a quiet moan of relief.

Tommy knows about him. He knows Buck's cells are defective and he still bought Buck dinner and spent the night making him feel like he was made correctly from the start.

"D'nt go," he whispers. He's starting to float away, and he tugs on the hand holding his, trying to bring that steadfast presence on top of him, use it to keep him here. "Stay."

"I absolutely can't do that," Tommy murmurs. His thumb strokes over Buck's palm and it feels like he's dragging his tongue along the length of a nerve. Buck gasps. Something pulls tight and sweet between his legs, and he tilts his head back on the pillow, lips parting so he can suck in air desperately. So he's ready.

"Kiss me," he breathes.

He wants it so bad he almost gags. He wants all that weight and strength to hang over him like a bough, keeping him together, feeding his body what it's screaming for. He inhales deeply and the smell of indelible man fills his nose and the back of his throat, along with the faint hint of smoke and something sharp like snow. He wants a mouth on his. He wants strong, sure hands to run over his ribs. He wants to say I'm full of broken cells and I need you to fill me up with something better, but he's breathing too hard and the words keep blowing out of order. His legs slide open and the sound of them moving on the sheets is deafening. He's so hot, and so hungry. He thinks he's hard. He thinks he's dying.

The hand in his squeezes gently, but then it lets go.

Without it, Buck's going to dissolve. He's going to disappear. He squeezes his burning, wet eyes shut and pulls in a breath that is all wheeze, every part of him a live wire, unsteady and shivering and thwarted. So they made one.

"No. No," Buck sobs. "Y're just like them. You don't want me—no one... why. 's not fair."

The bed suddenly dips right next to Buck's thigh, right on the edge, and the hot press of a thumb against his chin stops him from howling his sorrow and disappointment. When it slides up and just barely brushes against his bottom lip, his mouth falls open. Yes. Yes.

"I'll tell you what." It's whispered so closely that Buck thinks he can feel the wash of breath over his tongue. "You remember any of this tomorrow? Call me, and I'll kiss you as much as you want. I'll kiss the idea you're unwanted right out of you."

Buck exhales in utter relief and sinks into the comfort of the bed as the weight next to him lifts away. He's going to do that. He's going to call and then let Tommy kiss him until he forgets he was ever unloved. But persistence pays off, so he tries one more time, even though he's suddenly so tired he can barely get the word out. "Stay."

"Sleep well, Evan."

+

When Buck wakes up, he immediately wants to crawl into a hole and die. His mouth tastes like there's roadkill in it and there's an egg beater trying to escape his skull by way of his left eye. Whimpering, he tries to bury his face into the pillow but half of it is wet with drool, so he reaches up and throws the stupid thing on the floor. His mattress is comfy. He can just plant his face there and suffocate, no problem.

He has no idea how he got home last night, which is terrifying. Everything after the third Augustiner is a bit hazy. He was talking to some guy who made him laugh, he knows that much. His mind conjures bits and pieces of his mysterious drinking companion: a wide, white grin; large hands; a voice he can hear the cadence and depth of but can't remember a single word it said. After that, he's got nothing.

It takes a few tries to unstick his tongue from the roof of his mouth and he rolls onto his side to put his back to where the sun is starting to filter through the curtains. The move puts the nightstand right in his line of sight, and when his vision focuses, he pauses.

There's a glass with water on top of it, but it's not the cup he usually chooses. It's one of the textured acrylic ones he picked out when he moved in that he absolutely hates using. Even though they're impossible to break, he feels like he's ten years old when he's forced to drink out of one. All that's missing is a sippy-cup lid.

Although he has to hand it to himself: the acrylic cup was a pretty solid idea, considering he might've knocked a real glass onto the floor sometime in the night and then cut himself when it shattered. Chimney forced Buck to watch Die Hard last year and it was a fun movie, but Buck has no desire to recreate the "shoot the glass" scene.

He slides his face a little closer to the edge of the bed so he can find his phone. It's sitting on the top of the nightstand, plugged in, which is almost as surprising as the acrylic cup. He never remembers to plug his phone in when he's sober, but there it is, charging away. His wallet and keys are also laying next to it. It's such a neat and tidy tableau that, for a second, he thinks he's still asleep and this is one of those dreams where only one or two things is out of place and he spends the entire dream wondering if he's dreaming.

If he were dreaming, though, he wouldn't feel like hard-boiled ass, so someone else had been here and got him squared away. Maybe he called Eddie for a ride home? Buck reaches for his phone and his fingers brush up against the edge of a piece of paper. A receipt? Maybe he took a taxi instead.

Buck squints at it, and he has every intention of grabbing it to look for clues, but he ends up dozing for almost two hours. By the time he wakes up, the sun has invaded every part of the loft, but he doesn't feel so much like he's about to slip this mortal coil. He'll take the wins where he can.

It only takes a minute or two of psyching himself up before he's able to roll into something resembling sitting, and after that he gives himself five minutes to drop his head into his hands and regret his life choices. Once he promises God, the Devil, Zeus, and the purple laser ghost of Prince that he will never drink to such excess again as long as he lives, he finally looks over at the nightstand where his phone is.

It's been set to Do Not Disturb, which is nice. It's not something he ever does, because he's afraid he'll miss something important, and when he turns it off the screen fills with dozens of missed calls and texts from Maddie and Chimney. He takes great pleasure in dismissing all of them. Nothing from his parents, of course. There's also one from Eddie asking if everything's okay because "Chim called me asking if I'd heard from you and he sounds like he's about to start climbing the walls using only his teeth."

It's followed by a text that reads "Bobby says to take your time coming in. What happened?"

He taps open the message to reply when he glances up and sees the receipt on the nightstand. Abandoning his phone in favor of learning just how much he spent on a DD, he learns it wasn't a taxi at all. It's a note written in an unfamiliar hand on a small piece of drafting paper.

Your car is parked at the Red Lion. Jay said it was OK to leave it there because you weren't in any shape to drive.

Underneath that is a phone number, and underneath that is a single line: Remember—as much as you want. But only if you want.

It's signed "TK".

Baffled, Buck brings a fist to his mouth, because he's not sure what else to do, and when his thumbnail presses against his bottom lip, something hot and shivery pops low in his belly. It's how he realizes he's got to pee so bad he's going to wet the bed if he waits any longer.

After he pisses for what feels like an eternity, downs four Advil, showers the sweat and shame off, he stumbles back up the stairs feeling wrung out but definitely more human. Once he's in a pair of clean boxers, he surveys the room.

There was a stranger here last night, but it doesn't look like anything's missing. He checks his wallet, but all his cards and cash are still there. His sneakers were neatly placed against the wall, out of the way where he wouldn't trip on them if he got up during the night. And there's of course his phone, fully charged for once, and the note.

He sits on the edge of his bed and reads the note four more times. Then he looks up the Red Lion's operating hours, but it doesn't open for two more hours.

Which leaves him with the number and As much as you want. But only if you want.

His mind immediately takes a swan dive into the gutter. It's probably not meant to be as sexual as it reads, but... he's not sure how else he's supposed to take it. TK's blocky penmanship reveals nothing.

Maybe after he was done talking to the guy at the bar he met some woman? Maybe she was the one to take him home, although considering how drunk he must've been, it couldn't have been an easy feat. That she didn't help herself to his money and was thoughtful enough to plug his phone in and get him a glass of water really warrants a thank you.

He looks down at the phone number.

He grabs his phone—100%, what an absolutely wild concept—and taps in the number, double checking it like four times while his finger hovers over the CALL button like an anvil.

What the hell. He's got nothing left to lose.

He taps CALL and brings the phone to his ear. It takes two rings before someone picks up.

"Hello?"

Not a woman. Buck sits up so straight they could use his spine as an I-beam level.

"Uh, h-hey," he stutters, looking around his room, trying to divine any lingering atoms this person might've left behind. "Um, I think you—I have a note with this number on it and—"

Thankfully, the mysterious "TK" stops Buck before he gets a good ramble going, his voice friendly as he breaks in with, "Evan! Hey. Glad to hear the Maximator couldn't keep you down for long. How're you feeling this morning?"

Buck's entire body goes warm as it relaxes from its ramrod-straight pose. "I, uh, a little confused. I don't remember getting home, but I guess I have you to thank for that." Buck pauses. "So, thank you."

"Well, you didn't make it easy." TK laughs, and it shivers down the line right into Buck's ear canal. "It took me a lot longer to figure out you were saying 'Rowan' and not 'rowing' than I care to admit, but we got there in the end. Your place is insane. Did you get a signing bonus when you joined the 118 or something?"

Buck blinks. An image of Bobby winning a fight against a rooster comes winging out of the back of his mind. "That—that's right. You're a firefighter. Uh, do you really fly with Harbor One or am I making that up?"

"You made me promise four times to give you lessons," TK says warmly. "I had to stop you from slicing your palm open so we could shake on it."

Ducking his head with a helpless chuckle, Buck nods, even though TK can't see him. "Yeah, that, uh, sounds like something I'd do. Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. I'd love to take you up."

He doesn't know how he got lucky enough that the person he made a fool out of himself in front of was one of the chosen few who are able to handle The Full Buck without too much of a fuss, but he's so grateful for it. They're a rare breed.

"Anytime you want, just tell me when."

Buck's gaze immediately shoots to the piece of paper he's still clutching in his other hand, and for no reason he can think of his heart rate picks up. His cheeks start tingling with blossoming warmth.

He curls a little into himself, cupping the phone closer to his mouth. "I-Is that what you meant in your note?"

There's a little pause on the line, and then when TK's voice comes back, it's softer. "No. That's not what I meant."

Buck swallows a mouthful of saliva and asks, just as softly, "What does 'TK' stand for?"

"Tommy Kinard."

Exhaling a shaky breath, Buck's eyes fall closed. He thinks of cool sheets under him, and feeling heavy and safe in the dark. His belly clenches with something like hunger. He bites his bottom lip and then licks it.

"... Evan? You still there?"

He doesn't know why his body feels like it's being pulled in a million different directions, or why the first thing he thought of when Tommy said "Evan" was baby alligators, but he does know this: on the worst day of Buck's life, Tommy Kinard made it easier to bear. He kept Buck company, kept him distracted, and then kept him safe.

I told you not to go, he thinks out of nowhere.

"Look, Evan, it's completely fine, and I promise I won't be offended if you don't want—"

Evan Buckley was born to fix someone else. He has defective cells and has never once been enough for anyone, and that sucks. But he's still here and this life is his whether it was meant to be or not, and he does want.

Buck opens his eyes.

"Hey, so, what are you doing Saturday?"

[cryoviva]

At Cryoviva, we know that not everyone has the exact need to preserve their stem cells. That's why we work with you to find the best way to keep your stem cells for future use

[sharvidutta]

undefined

What Happens When Water Break During Pregnancy?

Water breaking can be both challenging and exciting. Read this to know what actually happens when water break during pregnancy. Visit https://www.cordlifeindia.com/why-save-cord-blood and get an idea about the immense benefits of cord blood banking.

[kosheeka]

The most important component of cell culture is likely the culture medium, and various commercial media solutions have been developed as a consequence of years of research and development. Serum, most frequently foetal bovine serum, is one common ingredient for cell culture media. However, are you aware of the purpose of this addition and, more significantly, can your cells exist without it? We’ll go over the advantages and disadvantages of utilising serum in your cell culture media as well as how to get rid of it if you decide to do so.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week - March 20, 2023

🌱 - Okra to the Rescue and Other News You Can't 'Lettuce' Miss This Week

1. 4 day work week being pushed in Congress

Progressive Democrats, led by Rep. Mark Takano of California, are pushing for a four-day workweek to give Americans more time for leisure outside of work. The proposed Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to require overtime pay for any employee working more than 32 hours in a week at a rate of time and a half.

More than 70 British companies have started to test a four-day workweek, and halfway through the six-month trial, most respondents reported there has been no loss in productivity.

2. Governor Walz signs universal school meals bill into Minnesota law

Minnesota just became the fourth state in the US to provide breakfasts and lunches at no charge to students at participating schools! The bill was signed into law by Governor Tim Walz on Friday, and it's set to ease the burden on parents who struggle to provide meals for their children.

The new legislation will cover the cost of meals for all students, regardless of household income. This means that families who don't qualify for free and reduced meals but who struggle to pay for food will also be covered. The bill is also meant to prevent "lunch shaming" practices, where children are denied food or given substitutes that indicate their family is struggling financially.

3. Texas Researchers Use Okra to Remove Microplastics from Wastewater

Researchers from Tarleton State University in Fort Worth, Texas discovered that food-grade plant extracts from okra have the power to remove microplastics from wastewater. Polysaccharide extracts from plants like fenugreek, cactus, aloe vera, tamarind, and okra were found to be effective non-toxic flocculant alternatives to remove microplastics from water.

Polysaccharides from okra and fenugreek were best for removing microplastics from ocean water, while a combination of okra and tamarind worked best for freshwater. Furthermore, plant-based flocculants can be easily implemented in existing water treatment facilities.

4. In the northern California snow, stranded cows are getting emergency hay drops

The recent wave of unprecedented snowfall in California has left cattle stranded and starving. When rancher Robert Puga ran out of hay, neighboring Humboldt County officials put together an emergency rescue operation called "Operation Hay Drop." State, federal, and local officials airdropped stranded cattle bales of hay to feed them.

Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal went to the Coast Guard with the idea of a helicopter rescue, and by midday Sunday, March 5, Operation Hay Drop was underway. So far, Operation Hay Drop has been a success, said rancher Puga. The mission covers about 2,500 head of cattle over several miles.

5. Make-A-Wish Foundation no longer considers Cystic Fibrosis to be automatically qualifying due to improvements in life outcomes for patients

Given the ongoing life-changing advances in cystic fibrosis, beginning in January 2024, cystic fibrosis will no longer automatically qualify for a wish.

6. 1st woman given stem cell transplant to cure HIV is still virus-free 5 years later

In 2017, a woman known as the "New York patient" underwent a stem cell transplant to treat both her cancer and HIV. Now, about 30 months later, she has been virus-free and off her HIV medication, leading some researchers to suggest that she may have been cured of HIV.

The New York patient, received stem cells taken from umbilical cord blood that also had the HIV-resistance genes. However, it's important to note that there is no official distinction between being cured and being in long-term remission, and the medical team is waiting for longer-term follow-up before making any definitive statements.

7. Cheetahs Back in Wild in India After Seven Decades

Namibian cheetahs have been successfully reintroduced to India after the world's fastest land animal was declared extinct in the South Asian country more than 70 years ago. Two cheetahs, Obaan and Asha, were released into the wild of Kuno National Park after being brought to India last September.

The species is being reintroduced on an experimental basis as part of a major prestige project for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India aims to bring in about 100 of the big cats over the next decade. The African cheetah is a different subspecies from the extinct Asiatic cheetah, which once roamed the sub-continent in great numbers.

Lastly, I recently opened a Youtube channel. Subscribe for a weekly compilation of feel good videos.

- - -

That's it for this week :) If you liked this post you can support me with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Let's carry the positivity into next week and keep spreading the good news!

[evansboyfriend]

there's just so much here and i can't find the original post and anyway i don't want to go off at OP so i'm making my own post:

FIRST THINGS FIRST, doctors and medical professional are sworn in by The Hippocratic Oath - this is from an article dated in 2001, and under normal circumstances I'd look for something more recent but for the sake of this post, since Evan Buckley was born in 1992, it'll suffice. (and i'm not going to sit here and examine the limitations and criticisms okay. you can read the article if you're interested.)

the point is no medical professional would approve of a procedure that puts an infant child through immense pain in order to harvest bone marrow and treat another child, no matter how sick that older child would be. i'm not sure why I even need to back up my claims for this because it's just a logical fact that no doctor would inflict pain of that level, even if the parents of said infant brought him to the doctor and said they want to put their child through this procedure. quite frankly, they'd have social services called because doctors are mandatory reporters.

which brings me to the second point: to think that the buckley parents would inflict pain of that level on their infant child is fucking bizarre, or that they would not tend to their fussy baby. there's literally nothing in canon to suggest that buck wasn't taken care of as a baby. even if his parents were emotionally absent and neglectful and let maddie step up to provide the comfort a child needs. i mean. it's a fucking reach.

so how is the procedure done? -> link from the NHS website which very plainly explains stem cells are harvested from the placenta and umbilical cord to treat cancers, immune deficiencies, and genetic disorders.

Baby bred to provide stem cells for sister (2000)

Placental blood as a source of hematopoietic stem cells for transplantation into unrelated recipients (1996)

i can't find anything earlier than 1996 but quite frankly i don't think i have to. that's only 4 years before buck was born. i think it'll suffice.

tl;dr this is the dumbest take i have seen and i think a very quick 5-minute google search disproves OP's "headcanon" so i'm gonna go ahead and take that bet for 0 dollars. there's 0 % chance that happened.

y'all gotta stop coming up with scenarios that put buck through worse things that canon already has because it's giving woobification. because it's not bad enough that his first experience that pain = love was at 5 years old which is very transparently depicted in canon. what the fuck is wrong with y'all.

and i'm not even gonna touch upon the reblogger's tags about how buck is "predisposed" to "subbing" for.. this.. reason.. of all things... because i see bad BDSM takes every day on this godforsaken website anyway.

[reality-detective]

The Vitamin K shot is a vaccine and not a vitamin. It contains aluminum, Benzyl Alcohol and polysorbate-80 (polyoxyethylated/Polyoxyethylene). It is one of the most dangerous vaccines available and only a few that comes with a Black Box Warning, meaning that it can cause death. Also, babies are deficient in vitamin K for a reason. When a baby is born, its blood is thin to facilitate the transfer of nutrients and stem cells from the umbilical cord (connected to the mother's placenta).

The baby starts producing its own vitamin K in the 7-8th day. It's one reason to avoid the vitamin K vaccine. It's also a reason for delayed cord clamping.

"At the moment a baby's born, 1/3 of their blood is still outside their body. If you delay cord clamping 90 seconds, they get 60% more blood cells. They get enough iron to last them through their first year. They get white blood cells to fight infection. They get antibodies. They get stem cells to help repair their body."

— Dr. Alan Greene, MD

[miquella-everywhere]

so do you have any crazy theorys that you wont post cause theyre too outlandish or theres no evidence to back it up?

There is one theory that I have that has absolutely no basis at all lol

A few months ago I was looking at the files of content that got cut from the game and one item in particular really stood out to me, namely the Entwining Umbilical Cord

So there's almost nothing on this thing, no clue what it was meant for, but FromSoft had used umbilical cords before in its games and they have played a pivotal role in the story, so seeing this thing my mind (naturally) went to Miquella and Malenia.

The Entwining Umbilical Cord probably had something to do with the twins (get it? en-twin-ing hahaha) also its design is similar to the cut Twinblade of Abundance and Decay, but what I'm focused on is the nature of umbilical cords as is. Because what do you get from umbilical cords?

That's right.

✨STEM CELLS✨

Almost everything from the human body grows from stem cells, and Miquella, who managed to cultivate his own blood into a plant, would've have an absolute field day with his own stem cells and would have grown some pretty spectacular things from them... Like say perhaps a tree? 🤔

So yeah, my crack theory is that Miquella sourced the Haligtree from the stem cells found in his and Malenias umbilical cord, making the Haligtree a literal clone of Miquella, with a few traces of Malenia in there as well. Which kinda makes sense considering how well the Haligtree has held up with the scarlet rot running rampant.

[skaruresonic]

My memory on the topic is foggy. How was Shadow supposed to cure Maria?

I'm not fully understanding the relation between Shadow being the ultimate lifeform and Gerald finding a cure for Maria's illness

Okay so Shadow is the perfect being. What does that have to do with Maria's sickness?

Idk. She's dying from anime mom disease. That's all the series needs you to know.

I don't particularly remember the games specifying how Shadow would cure her. Ironic, because now that the third film is coming out, people are trying to shock normies by portraying NIDS as "space AIDS," which is just tasteless, and probably a big part of the reason why SoJ quietly shied away from labeling Maria's disease in subsequent years.

"The fictional disease is described in the guide as fatal and which renders its victims physically weak, a symptom that worsens until eventual death." First of all, Maria must have been the other weapon of mass destruction being developed aboard the ARK if this is her nerfed version. Girl is terminally ill and can not only keep up with Shadow with only a little shortness of breath to show for it, but can also destroy robots through the patented 'botnik family bitch-slap.

Second... a disease that weakens people? You mean like cancer? You mean like chronic anemia? You mean like pretty much any disease ever, because fighting disease consumes large amounts of energy? Wow, this is so reminiscent of AIDS. Truly, my third eye has been blown wide open.

Maria essentially has, for lack of a better term, Mary Shepherd-Sunderland Syndrome. You're not supposed to delve too closely into the details because that's not the point.

No lie, the last time I took a hiatus from listening to Castlesuperbeast was because a fan wrote to Pat and Woolie about the third film, describing NIDS as "space AIDS" and Shadow as "canonically immune to HIV."

The two of them proceeded to make homophobic Sonadow jokes.

Love those guys, but every now and again I receive a harsh reminder that they're normies. As with all normies who are irony-poisoned, their Sonic takes are so rancid. It's like a switch gets flipped in their brains and suddenly they have to slag off the series.

You might argue that both NIDS and WMDs are too topical for a Sonic game, but the reason I get heated about mocking the former and not the latter is because we haven't all perished in nuclear war yet. The mass hysteria over WMD development ultimately amounted to George W. Bush blowing hot air.

However, entire generations of queer people were systematically killed through the government's negligent response to the AIDS crisis. It is beyond disrespectful to describe Maria's condition as "space AIDS" just to shock normies into thinking SA2 is Deep and Dark(tm), precisely because fuckwads are going to make jokes like this on the basis that lol funny blue cartoon hedgehogs shouldn't tackle serious topics. Shame on them.

...Anyway.

---

I'm not fully understanding the relation between Shadow being the ultimate lifeform and Gerald finding a cure for Maria's illness

Since the morpheme "neuro-" features in NIDS, it's probably safe to say the condition is genetic in nature. And because Shadow's new Parasite Eve schtick is being explored in SxS Gens, the cure likely has something to do with gene manipulation.

While I wouldn't like it to be explicitly named in the games - nor call it canon because there's zero evidence - if you forced me to come up with an explanation, I would also call stem cells a candidate. Savior siblings of children with cancer are often conceived with the intent to harvest the stem cells of the umbilical cord.

[dailyanarchistposts]

Biotechnology and the future of humanity

Animals Are Commodities Too

Under slavery human individuals are owned, are property. Under capitalism workers aren’t owned but they have to sell their labour/time/creativity because capitalists own everything (land, the means of production, transport and communication etc) that would enable people to live outside of wage labour and the market place. Now, instead of individuals owning non-human animals as part of their subsistence, corporations are claiming the right to ‘own’ whole species of animals. This process of patenting life can be traced back to the 1980 US Supreme Court ruling, which stated that a GM bacterium (modified to digest oil) could be patented. Not just that one bacterium of course but the whole, created species. In 1985 the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled that GM plants, seeds and plant tissues could be patented. Now the corporations can demand royalties and licence payments every time farmers use those plants or seeds. Monsanto holds a patent on (i.e. owns and rents out) all GM cotton and soya. Patents have been granted on biological characteristics of plants as well. For example, a patent has been issued to Sungene for a variety of sunflower that has a high oleic acid content. But the patent covers the characteristic as well as the genes that code for it, so any plant breeder who achieves the same result by traditional methods could be sued.

In 1987 animals joined the biotech market place when a Harvard biologist patented ‘oncomouse’, a GM organism (mouse) predisposed to develop cancer for use in medical ‘research’. By 1997 40 GM ‘species’ of animal had been patented, including turkey, nematodes, mice and rabbits. Hundreds of other patents are pending on pigs, cows, fish, sheep and monkeys among others. In 1976 a leukaemia patient named John Moore had his cancerous spleen removed under surgery at the University of California. Without his knowledge or consent some of the cells from his spleen were cultured and found to produce a protein which could be used in the manufacture of anti-cancer drugs. The estimated value of this cell-line to the pharmaceutical industry is $3 billion. In 1984 the California Supreme Court ruled that he was not entitled to any of these profits.

A US company called Biocyte holds a patent on (owns) all umbilical cord cells. Systemix Inc has a patent on (owns) all human bone marrow stem cells, these being the progenitors of all cells in the blood. The worldwide market for cell lines and tissue cultures was estimated to be worth $426.7 million to the corporations in 1996. Not only cells but also fragments of DNA can be patented (owned) in this way. Incyte, for example, has applied for patents on 1.2 million fragments of human DNA. The logic of this is that ‘genes for’ particular diseases such as cystic fibrosis, diabetes, various cancers etc could become the property of pharmaceutical companies who could then make huge profits on tests for such genes and genebased therapies. There is no space here to get into a lengthy criticism of the reductionist idea that individual genes simply map onto well-defined physical traits underlying the whole theory and practice of GM. It’s enough to say that research into patenting (owning), for example, a supposed’ breast cancer gene’ is of little benefit to humanity if it is true, as some scientists have estimated, that 90% of breast cancers are unrelated to genetics but are triggered by environmental pollution, diet and lifestyle factors. So what’s new? Capitalism, indeed class-society in general, always seizes the living and turns it into profit and power, declares ownership where previously there was only life: from the enclosure of the commons to the seizing of millions of human beings from Africa to be slaves to the current looting of tropical biodiversity for use in the biotech labs.

[casuallybirthing]

Oh one of the ladies in my town has this condition. Weird but kinda hot ngl.... But!! She told me she sells the stem cells from the umbilical cords to the local research hospital to make some extra cash. Have you ever considered doing that? Bet you'd be able to take a vacation in no-time.

Oh? I wasn't aware that this exists. Might need to look into it. Perhaps the umbilical cords might be worth a lot.

[positivexcellence]

tomdeblass: Just got stem cells at @ways2well. I am so excited about this. Both of my shoulders have a torn labrum and rotator cuff, and I am very confident this is going to help me tremendously. These stem cells are taken directly from the umbilical cord of a healthy mother (non 💉). It was a busy day as they had Rogan in the morning, the great @tulsigabbard treated right before me (fingers crossed she runs for pres), @jaredpadalecki was treated the same time as me along with his wife, then @tonyhinchcliffeand @gordonlovesjiujitsu. Many thanks to @ferrisbuhler81 for this. I am so thankful, brother. Looking forward to the comedy club tonight!

[laf-outloud]

@tomdeblass Just got stem cells at @ways2well. I am so excited about this. Both of my shoulders have a torn labrum and rotator cuff, and I am very confident this is going to help me tremendously.

These stem cells are taken directly from the umbilical cord of a healthy mother (non 💉).

It was a busy day as they had Rogan in the morning, the great @tulsigabbard treated right before me (fingers crossed she runs for pres), @jaredpadalecki was treated the same time as me along with his wife, then @tonyhinchcliffe and @gordonlovesjiujitsu.

Many thanks to @ferrisbuhler81 for this. I am so thankful, brother.

Looking forward to the comedy club tonight!

I hope this kind of treatment can help Jared's ACL!

[wolves-etc]

thoughts on The Last Of Us episode nine - the finale - largely in the order I had them:

[thoughts on: 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | X ]

— "actively about to give birth and running from zombies" is a fucking horrible situation to be in what the fuck

— the fucking RUNNING UP THE STAIRS NOISES I DON'T LIKE THIS

— we had a whole episode without infected where ellie was the only infected, why did they have to do this to me

— honestly kudos to the supreme fucking terror of "the thing you can't see, only hear, that the characters are fucking terrified of," I forgot how effective that can be

— and here's the countdown. she's infected and she needs to get her kid somewhere safe.

…feeding that baby is gonna be difficult in this setting.

— "yeah, you tell 'em." <3 <3

— "you fuckin' tell 'em, ellie." !!!!!!!

— I MEAN YEAH THAT'S ELLIE ALRIGHT! yeah that sounds like a person who'd be ellie's mother alright!!

— this must be why ellie's immune. either some cordyceps went through the umbilical cord before it was cut (I notice it was cut with the knife that was used on the infected, too) or if she breastfeeds, through the milk maybe? would it be different if it's in milk?

— they found a very tiny angry baby for this and it's perfect

— whatever difficulties I experience in my life I'll never run for my life, fight for my life, give birth, realise I'm doomed, save my baby then realise I need to find a way to keep her safe all within ten minutes. she must be experiencing emotions only known to shrimp right now.

— (…is it stem cells in umbilical cords that are a little bit magic, biologically speaking? I'm not sure why else infection via that could be different.)

(that or it's that she only got the teeniest bit infected - it depends whether we think ellie's actually the first, or whether others have, for instance, touched infected with a papercut and ended up immune. maybe never found out, or maybe got bitten after and assumed they were doomed and got killed before they would turn. maybe a few, like ellie, realised and kept it quiet - or maybe they told people and that's how the rumours of potential cures started.)

— I'm told that ellie's mother voiced ellie in the video games and marlene voiced marlene (HI MARLENE <3) which is SO cool. she looks and sounds so much like someone ellie might grow up to be, it hurts a bit.

— holy shit she's made of steel. singing and holding a knife to her own neck and, what, planning to kill herself when she starts slurring? when she almost can't hold the knife steady anymore?

— "I cut it before I was bit," and marlene just tilts her head a little, and anna says again "before."

that's really good acting to subtly convey a thing - that marlene suspects she's lying, that anna maybe knows she suspects it but reckons she can safely stick to that story for now.

— anna having to beg to be killed. fuck.

— this fucking long pause here

— honest to goodness the emotional impact of "cover her ears."

— BUT THEN HE DIDN'T EVEN COVER HER EARS. did he think cloth tucked loosely around her was enough. is he already deaf from gunshots himself. has he never been around a baby before.

— CHEF BOYARDEE, HECK YEAH

— his grin there. he is such a dad.

— "if you wanna beat me at something, it would be this." <3

— "take this for me" and he trusts her with the gun!!! growth!!

— "do you wanna learn how to play guitar?"

he's- fuck. fuck. he's offering to stay with her after all this. THAT'S what he's doing. right there as they're approaching the hospital where she'll hopefully be the source of a miracle cure, he's finding a way to say "I'm gonna stick with you after this, I'm not gonna say it but I will make it clear."

mister "not good at this [talking about feelings]" finding another way.

— (bad screenshot because that unhappy face graffiti struck me as SO video game, I couldn't explain why)

— ellie correctly guessing joel's modus operandi, joel straight-facedly joking about using dynamite instead <3 <3

— joel trying the feelings talk, ellie apologising, joel really softly saying "no, it's fine," AUGH

— ellie you'll give the old man a heart attack.

— OKAY THAT'S A FAIR REASON TO RUN OFF ACTUALLY

— ellie's whispered "don't scare it," joel's promise that he won't. this is so unspeakably tender.

— sometimes it's so clear that ellie's a child, you know?

— I've heard this comment about studio ghibli films, that they have a lot of… empty space for things not happening, just space for wonder and beauty and peace, and it's something I really appreciate. I never thought to see it in a zombie show.

— I want to cradle this moment in my hands like a baby bird.

— joel just resigning himself to the fact that they're following a giraffe now

— offering her that option of just, leaving and living a life, fuck. and it's her choice to keep at it. that's so good.

— "it was me. I was the guy who shot and missed." joel

— "so time heals all wounds I guess." "it wasn't time that did it." they're really not beating around the bush with this father-daughter thing, huh

— they talked about their feelings I'm so proud of them both

— PEOPLE ARE MAKING APOCALYPSE JOKES LIKE THERE'S NO TOMORROW

I cackled <3

— ...okay. the moment we saw marlene I knew this wasn't going to be good and, well, she proved it.

— the awful thing is I believe that she does understand what joel's feeling right now. and I don't know what's right in this situation. but this is joel and ellie's story and I care about them both and the fireflies are sacrificing a child on a possibility of a cure based on one doctor's theory. no smaller measures first, no biopsy that she'd probably survive, she gets put under immediately to have her entire brain removed.

excuse me for being very callous for a moment (I am also very angry don't you worry) but that is an awful use of resources. if they're wrong they won't have any more chances. if they lose this lab like they lost the others they won't have any more chances - and nor will anyone else with the ability to work on this, as much as I wouldn't trust fedra to distribute the cure to everyone they can. the fireflies are gambling with the death of a child, and if they lose, well, they're doomed anyway.

maybe I'm being overly harsh. I really shouldn't keep the show paused for twenty minutes just to feel things.

— honestly cannot tell if giving joel ellie's knife is meant to be kind or cruel. (okay, probably kind. but fuck.)

— joel yes

— this quiet, grim, inevitable music while joel's just going around shooting people, fuck. he's gonna wipe out the last of the fireflies to save her.

— using ellie's knife to kill one of them. shit.

— tragic musc as befits a tragedy - all the deaths, of course, but also the death of the goal he and ellie set out to achieve.

— and the vibe to all of this, really, but especially the moment the presumably-doctor picks up a scalpel and refuses to let ellie go, it's that the doctor's bravely facing a villain, it's that joel has changed just a little in this decision to get ellie out no matter the cost (was it even a decision?) and now he's something else, something awful, that he has been all along.

— (during that murder spree scene, though, he sure moves like he had formal training. I'm not sure what to think about that tbh.)

— marlene you're saying ellie would want to do what's right but you didn't even fucking ask. you were unwilling to ask her and risk having to actually overpower and murder a scared teenager instead of an unconscious one. you didn't know, so you'll never know, so don't imply it's ellie's call and then pretend you didn't have to bother with asking.

this is tapping into a mess of IRL stuff for me, feel free to skip, where I think that people who kill other people from a distance with deniability and respectability could do with facing their victims more often. for an easier example: someone who wants to launch nuclear missiles should have to face someone they know and cut into their heart to get the launch codes.

and the clean and mannerly murder of a sedated teenager by people who honestly looked a bit guilty when joel stopped them is just too easy.

...but still, I could justify it if I were sure about the results.

— oh. oh, joel.

— she's fourteen. it wouldn't have been fair to ask this of her. it isn't fair to hide this from her. but I don't know which one's less fair and this one leads to her alive and not blaming herself, so long as he does this right.

— but the way ellie's eyes just snapped to him when she said "were people hurt?" and he said "yes," I… do wonder if she suspects something.

— this is selfish of him though. as selfish as killing dozens and potentially dooming so many more just to save one.

— "I'm taking us home." now I'm the one having emotions only known to shrimp

— "well, she was a lot more… I wanna say girly, and I'm not sayin' that you're not girly…" "I'm not." "yeah, you're not." good display of tact from the father of two daughters, here.

— "she had a killer smile. again, I'm not saying that you don't." <3

— it's nice to hear him talking about sarah, but it's strange. I think it's the high of finally getting ellie safe. I think he's talking to cover the awkwardness, ellie's quietness, the big secret being kept from her, not spoken but still partly felt.

...I think he's taken the last step in his mind towards accepting and keeping her as family, and she didn't see it happen, so she's kind of a step behind.

— I figured riley was the first one ellie killed, but it doesn't make it any easier to hear.

— there are a lot of moments in this that I'm not sure if I'm reading too much into or not, but they've all seemed solid so far, so I'm gonna go ahead and guess ellie knows joel is lying to her, she's just… not gonna call him out on it.

— maybe it's a trust thing. maybe she's sensing that whatever it is is so much bigger and worse than what she's faced before - and joel knows that - that she doesn't want to face it. not if it means going against joel. not now they're safely together again. maybe it's just wanting to keep him and sensing this might drive them apart.

— yeah. okay. yeah. that "okay" on the end, that's an agreement to let it go for now.

hoo boy.

so my friend tells me that the ongoing debates in the community are a) whether the fireflies were right to try to do what they did and b) whether joel was right to do what he did then lie to her. I've already reached as much of a conclusion as I can about the first, without knowing more about the situation.

the second? I don't think there were any right decisions to make there. I don't like, on reflection, that joel's motives were probably more selfish than about trying to do right by ellie, and I almost wish the chance of a cure had been a certainty just so this would be simpler. I kinda wish that the fireflies had given ellie the choice, even if they'd planned to kill her anyway, which is making me think I'm not being entirely rational about this.

and what a moment to end on. it's uncomfortable - what I've largely been watching for is the relationship between joel and ellie, and that's been strange and strained for this entire episode, with them finally approaching ellie's goal and then joel keeping things from her after. I think things between them are going to return to some sort of normal now. I think ellie at the end was willing and planning to set this down and stop dwelling on it so much, if joel didn't budge at all.

and I don't like the tacit betrayal in that, the fact that ellie didn't at any point get a choice, and maybe joel could have safely ensured it once he'd gotten to her but maybe not, and it's not like I don't respect a character who leans into salt-the-earth vengeance in defence of a child...

it does feel like by the time he and ellie were taken by the fireflies, the story had pushed them onto a path they couldn't escape from. joel wouldn't have done anything but what he did, except perhaps fail. I don't know for sure what ellie would have chosen - my friend's in slight disagreement with me about that, but he's drawing on the game canon too, and I haven't seen enough of ellie yet. not with how much she clearly cares at the end, and not with her being so angry and so much a survivor.

I'm wrapping these thoughts up four days after finishing the episode and reaching absolutely no firm conclusions, folks. just the faint and horrible suspicion that I might have preferred joel as a character when he was still twitchy and uncertain, when he hadn't yet committed to protecting ellie tooth and nail, no matter what it took.

maybe I'm struggling to see where all that trauma went. maybe I'm not entirely comfortable with the sheer and total starkness of his morality. maybe I wanted to see the comfortable, sassing-back-and-forth joel and ellie just once before the end.

this show was a rollercoaster.

[asiya2000]

Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Treatment: Cost, Procedure, & Hospitals in India

Overview

The bone marrow is a brown, spongy material, found inside the bones, which is responsible for the production of red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. Each of these has a specific function, which is vital for our existence. Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen-rich blood to different parts of the body, white blood cells produce antibodies that help us to fight infections and platelets help in clotting, thereby helping to prevent unnecessary blood loss. When your bone marrow is not healthy, it is naturally going to impact the production of the blood cells and platelets, disrupting their normal functioning. In such cases, the patient requires a bone marrow transplant.

What is Bone Marrow Transplant?

Bone Marrow Transplant, commonly referred to as BMT, is a therapeutic intervention that works by replacing the damaged or diseased bone marrow of a patient with healthy stem cells, taken either from the patient's own body or from a suitable donor. Healthy stem cells are infused into the patient's body, to promote the growth and development of new cells.

Different Types of Bone Marrow Transplant

Bone marrow transplant is broadly classified into three different types. These are as under:

Autologous bone marrow transplant - The term 'auto' means self. An autologous transplant involves the infusion of the patient's own stem cells into their body. The procedure is recommended for patients who have to undergo a high dose or intensive treatment like chemotherapy that can destroy the healthy bone marrow. The doctors collect healthy bone marrow from the patient's body prior to the treatment and administer it back into the body after the treatment is finished. The procedure is also referred to as stem cell rescue.

Cost - 11 lakhs to 18.5 lakhs

Steps involved - Various steps involved in autologous bone marrow transplant include:

Collection of the stem cells - This may take several days, and is done by administering medications that increase the stem cell count. The stem cells are then collected and stored at a low temperature.

Treatment - Once the bone marrow has been collected, doctors can proceed with your treatment, be it Chemotherapy or Radiation therapy

Transfusion of stem cells - Once the procedure is complete, the stem cells are reduced in the patient's bloodstream

Allogeneic bone marrow transplant - The term 'allo' means other. Allogenic bone marrow transplant involves the use of tenses taken from a donor, whose genes partially match those of the patients. The eligibility of a person to be a donor is determined by performing a series of tests. Usually, the siblings of the patient are a good match. In some cases, the parents and children may also be suitable donors. Allogeneic bone marrow transplant is classified into three different types - complete matched sibling donor bone marrow transplant, haploidentical bone marrow transplant, and unrelated donor bone marrow transplant.

Cost - 19 lakhs - 28 lakhs

Steps involved - Various steps involved in allogeneic bone marrow transplant include:

Identification of donor - In order to perform an allogeneic bone marrow transplant, there is a need for a compatible donor. The compatibility is defined with the help of a series of tests.

Collection of stem cells - After finding a suitable donor, the stem cells will be collected. This is done by injecting medicines to increase the production of the stem cells and then collecting these from the donor's bloodstream.

Treatment - The free transplant treatment is performed and the patient's body is prepared for the introduction of stem cells.

Introducing the donor cells - The donor cells are transplanted into the patient's bloodstream, which may take about an hour.

Umbilical cord blood transplant

Umbilical cord blood transplant is a type of allogeneic transplant, which involves the administration of stem cells taken from the umbilical cord of a newborn baby, into the patient's body. The cells are collected at the time of birth and stored at a very low temperature, to be used later. The best thing about an umbilical cord blood transplant is that the blood cells are not mature enough, thereby negating the need for a perfect match. The recovery rate is comparatively slower however the procedure can come in handy when the patient cannot find a suitable donor.