#or the kidney stone surgery I need to get

[sideshow-tornado]

You should follow Ben Wyatt's advice and Treat Yo' Self for your birthday!

I wish I could treat myself to an almost movie accurate Keaton era Batman suit, but alas I have less $100 in my checking account right now and die a little bit inside each time I draw from my savings to cover basic things like food & gas.

[danielnelsen]

peach (my cat) is having a full-day vet appointment to scan and possibly remove some teeth (the perks of only being allowed wet food)

completely unrelated, but anything regarding peach’s health or her being somewhere else or anything even mildly off with her routine or behaviour is probably by biggest anxiety and panic trigger

[ursanic]

.

[artemisia--hq]

The truth is…I was scammed while looking for a new place to live for my internship. ₱20,000 (roughly 340 usd) gone like that 🙃 now I’m short on my projected expenses for my internship cause I still need to settle requirements (labs and training fees) and I’m out of options where to get money for these now. I am even selling some of my stuff just to cover it, but it’s nowhere near enough. I don’t want to burden my mom anymore because she’s also have loans to pay. My sister doesn’t want to help either; she says I have to deal w/ my stupidity

I really don’t know what to do anymore. I also have to buy meds for my kidney stones to avoid surgery. Opening comms is another option but idk if people are still taking offers for those.

If anyone knows any good sites offering freelance work, let me know pls, I’m willing to bite anything at this point

Still linking my comms rate in case someone is interested: https://artemisia-hq.carrd.co/

I also have ko-fi if you’re kind enough to help out. Any amount is appreciated ❤️‍🩹

[bardic-inspirjaytion]

Why do you call your cat piss king? Is he really good at it or something?

hi anon!

we're gonna learn a bit about cat urinary systems and issues! it may be a bit TMI for the scope of the question but, given how few cat guardians know about this, I'm always looking for chances to educate since being informed can literally save a cat's life.

the main takeaway: if you notice that your cat cannot pee, HEAD TO THE EMERGENCY VET NOW, DO NOT PASS GO! full stop.

if they cannot pee, that is one of the few true emergencies in a healthy cat, and you NEED to treat it as such.

usually you'll see a blocked cat straining and vocalizing in the box, licking themselves, whining and highly reactive to being touched on the lower belly, and - of course - you won't see any proper urine in the box. there may be dribbles or blood, but no pee. this is a problem that escalates really fast, and can easily be lethal. do NOT fuck around with it.

what qualifies me to talk about this? it's exactly what happened to pekoe (peek for short) about three years ago.

proper Storytime and more detail below the cut.

see, the thing with cats is that their bladders are tiny and their kidneys are, uh, bad! so if they can't pee, not only is it incredibly painful, but the liquid and toxins building up in their system can do a LOT of organ damage in a VERY short amount of time. this can get very bad, very fast, and it is very easy for them to die from it if the issue can't be fixed easily and promptly.

usually, the vet will be able to get a catheter into the blocked cat to relieve the pressure, flush out their bladder if there's a physical blockage (ex, if they've made bladder crystals/stones, we gotta get those out of there!), and give them medication to prevent spasms and infection as they heal. a cat then needs to go on urinary-friendly food to prevent additional blockages for the rest of their lives, and some other lifestyle adjustments should be made to treat any underlying risk factors that the animal might have.

sometimes, however, that doesn't resolve the issue, and they block again. and if you're extra unlucky, they'll block AGAIN after that. and maybe again, for extra spice. if you're extra extra unlucky, this will all happen in the same week.

this is the situation that peek and i found ourselves in.

picture the urinary system of a cat as a funnel, with the external bits being the tip of the funnel. when you ultimately need to make a funnel bigger because it can't drain anymore, what do you do?

you remove the tip.

this is an operation called a perineal urethrostomy, or a PU for short. it's a last resort salvage procedure that essentially removes the external genitalia of a male cat to widen the exit of the urinary tract and prevent future blockages. it's a difficult and delicate operation with a very long recovery time. it was also the only option left to save peek's life.

real talk before this next bit: i will never judge pet guardians for impossible decisions made in good faith based on qualified medical advice, in the interest of trying to do what's best for their pets. flat up, i don't stand for that shit.

okay? cool, let's keep going.

a PU is definitely not a surgery that has any guarantees, it can be very painful, it needs a very skilled vet to do it, and it's both expensive and difficult to see an animal through it safely. it was also the one option we had left to save peek, who was very very VERY sick at that point. the vet told me that she was also willing to do euthanasia, if the PU was not right for us, with zero judgment - the little guy had been through a lot of pain and several surgeries already, and doing this operation would be asking a lot more from an animal that was already very weak, with no guarantees of success.

he was briefly stable so i took him home to think about it and sat with him overnight. hours in the darkened living room, with my fluffy best friend sleeping fitfully in my arms like a sick baby. in the morning when he woke up he gave me a little lick on the face, and then a headbutt with a weak but undeniably hungry little meow. he hadn't had an appetite in a week, but now he wanted breakfast. in that moment, i knew he was letting me know that he wasn't finished fighting yet, so i knew the right decision for me was to keep fighting for him.

i called the vet, and we went ahead with the surgery.

i'll spare you the rest of the grisly details - the procedure was a success, and i was lucky enough to be able to work remotely and nurse him through the recovery. it was long and difficult and stressful. it sucked! it was crazy making. i would break down weeping with relief every single time i saw a dirty litter box for WEEKS. if you're reading this and going through it yourself, please feel free to reach out to me any time, okay?

but we persevered. i took care of him, and he rallied like a goddamn king. and hey. anon. guess what?

that was almost three years ago. his life went fully back to normal after he healed. you wouldn't know that this had happened if you didn't already know, because that fluffy little king still pisses like a champion race horse.

so, that's the story of how pekoe became

THE PISS KING.

[pastelfairytears]

⚠️SIGNAL BOOST, I NEED HELP⚠️

I will tell you my situation

I have been suffering from the gallbladder for approximately 12 years, but for reasons that it was misdiagnosed by the imss(Mexican social secure), now the problem has become more complicated. I had 2 wrong diagnoses (costochondrosis and kidney stones)

They always just gave me pain medication and sent me home, to the point that my body became immune to the pain medication and it no longer had an effect on me.

Over the last 2 years I have been going to different places to have different opinions and I finally know exactly what I have, but over time the problem has become a bit more complicated.

My gallbladder is larger than normal which caused it to move to the part of the liver, (as if it had been embedded) and it is putting pressure on my orta vein, which is why I get tired quickly when doing simple activities since it is the vein that pumps blood to the heart.

I have surgery scheduled for this December 2 but I only have half of the total expenses, which are $50,000mxn($2557 dollars) adding that I still need $900 ($46 dollars) for postoperative tests and $500 ($25 dollars) for the last evaluation consultation.

Also a few will know that I am a single mother and my livelihood was my shop that unfortunately due to low sales I had to close 1 month ago. That's why I want to ask you for help with all my heart since I can't take it anymore, the pain they give me is horrible and I've ended up in the emergency room because of it, and I don't have access to loans because I'm already up to my neck in debt with my son's school expenses and several more things.

I will show you all the invoices since there are many scams of this type.

I leave you my account for those who like to cooperate, any amount helps.

PAYPAL:

pastel-fairytears@hotmail.com

[30somethingautisticteacher]

I'm the WORST at prompts. But something whumpy... I need that so badly. I dunno, maybe throw one of them off a high place. I'd take anything that hurts one and makes the other worry. 😭

I haven't written much whump before so I hope I delivered!

When Buck and Tommy first started dating, Buck knew the risks of being with another first responder. He had mentally prepared himself for the possibility of a helicopter crash or Tommy getting trapped during a rescue. He didn't want those things to happen, but at least he had experience with such scenarios.

What he wasn't expecting, though, were the awful words the doctor had just uttered: "Stage 3 kidney cancer." Buck felt as if his heart had stopped beating right then and there. "No!" he silently screamed. Not this... not now. They were so happy together. Buck had just moved into Tommy's house, and they had all sorts of plans to renovate and redecorate. They were going to plant a little garden and had talked about getting a pet. This couldn't be happening.

Tommy was so big, strong, and capable. Tommy, his Tommy, couldn't have cancer. Buck couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face.

Tommy, on the other hand, remained stone-faced, expressionless. His voice was steady as he asked, "What's the prognosis? What are my treatment options?" He paused for a moment, then added, "Just give it to me straight, is this the end? Am I gonna die?"

Buck knew that his boyfriend was a straight shooter, but hearing him ask that so matter-of-factly sent a chill down his spine. He choked back a sob, trying to compose himself for Tommy's sake.

The doctor's expression softened slightly. "Mr. Kinard, while stage 3 kidney cancer is serious, it's not necessarily a death sentence. The five-year survival rate for stage 3 kidney cancer is about 53%. With aggressive treatment, many patients can go into remission."

Buck found little comfort in those words. "53 percent," he thought, his heart sinking. "So almost half don't survive." He knew Tommy was a fighter, but those were not good odds. And just what exactly did "aggressive treatment" mean? The uncertainty was almost as scary as the diagnosis itself.

Tommy remained stoic, his face masking the emotion that Buck new lie beneath the surface. Buck knew Tommy well enough to know that he was terrified. "And the treatment? What does that look like?" he asked, his voice unwavering.

As the doctor began explaining the potential treatment plans - surgery, radiation, chemotherapy - Buck felt completely overwhelmed. Their life had been completely turned on its head in a matter of minutes. Everything they had planned, everything they had looked forward to, now seemed trivial in the face of cancer.

Buck tried to focus on the doctor's words, knowing he needed to understand what lay ahead. But his mind kept racing. He had to be strong for Tommy, he knew that. But in this moment, he had never felt weaker in his entire life.

A wave of guilt washed over him as a selfish thought crept into his mind. He felt like the universe was taunting him. Cancer again. Cancer had affected his life before he was even born. He was born because his brother had cancer and he couldn't save him. And here cancer was again, threatening the happiness he had built with Tommy.

He glanced at Tommy, marveling at his composure. How could he be so calm when their world was crumbling around them? Buck wanted to be that pillar of strength for Tommy, but he felt like he was barely holding himself together.

Buck reached out and grasped Tommy's hand, squeezing it tightly. To his relief, Tommy squeezed back, a small gesture that spoke volumes. In that moment, Buck made a silent vow. No matter how tough things got, no matter how weak he felt, he would find the strength to be there for Tommy every step of the way. They would fight this together, just as they had faced every other obstacle in their lives.

As the doctor continued speaking, Buck tried to prepare himself for the fight ahead. Their future was uncertain and full of challenges. But one thing was clear: he wouldn't let Tommy face this alone. They were a team, and together they would tackle whatever came their way.

When they climbed into the car, Tommy quietly asked, "Are you ok?"

"Am I ok?" Buck replied, incredulous. "Babe, are you ok? This is earth-shattering."

"I know," Tommy said, tears welling up in his eyes. "But you're not stuck with me. I don't want you to feel obligated, and I won't blame you or judge you if it's too much. You didn't sign up for cancer."

"Tommy," Buck gasped, his voice thick with emotion. "I would never leave you. We may not have officially said it yet, but I am here in sickness and in health."

Tommy didn't say a word but pulled Buck into a hug. His eyes met Buck's with a look of determination. It was a silent promise to fight - for himself, for Buck, and for their future together. Because they deserved their happily ever after, and Tommy wasn't about to let cancer take that away from them.

[raayllum]

for snake boy callum 2.0 week day 2, snakes + stars

It takes time, but eventually Callum is pieced together enough, and Ezran can't evade enough, that Soren sits them down to have a conversation on castle security. About assassinations.

One of the guards who'd stuck around through everything—had deserted Viren's army, had fought in the tower with Soren and survived the night, had sworn true service to Harrow's heir—sits with them. A familiar face as any, but Callum still eyes her warily.

She's not his family, and she's not even Soren, and...

"There are enchantments I can set around the castle," Callum says. Sky spells are sound like alarms when sound pings off. Sun spells he can craft with help from Aunt Amaya's resources for lights and morse code, shadow traps and truth crystals, just to make sure everyone is being honest.

"Won't some elves maybe know how to undo them, though?" Ezran inquires. He's sitting in a regular chair and his feet can't touch the floor.

He's so tiny, still, and while Callum has seen first hand how capable his brother is, how much he shouldn't be underestimated—He's strong and brave, he'll get it, he'll save the egg!—Callum shakes his head.

He hates the circumstances that led them here. The assassination, the murder, and there's peace now, but their family—and the silver lining of it all isn't even here, now, and—

"It's not elves we have to worry about now, Ez," Callum says darkly. "The other human kingdoms aren't happy with you or Aanya. Even our own is..."

"At least we do not have to worry about more Moonshadow elf assassins," the guard says with a tiny, joking smile, not seeing the warning signs Soren makes with his hands, and it takes all of Callum's self control not to demand she be thrown out of the room.

In the end, he sulks and studies in his new office. Viren'd had a primal stone too once upon a time. There has to be something in his notes, loathe as Callum is go through them of course, that could be a worthwhile measure to implement. Or maintain.

Not that any of them were enough to protect his father from Moonshadow assassins in the end, but... Ez will be different. He has to be different.

Eventually, he turns to a book that's propped half open in the corner of a bookshelf he hasn't really explored yet. The sketch of a soulfang serpent pokes out, and Callum goes and pulls it from the shelf, cracking the tome open.

It hits like a blow to the chest, to be reminded of the Midnight Desert after—he focuses on the eery green glow of their eyes, the shimmering grey of their scales. They look nothing like dark magic chains at least. A passage is circled about their connection to the Moon arcanum and souls (that's almost enough to make him put the book away) and Viren's cramped handwriting: Two head — switch?

I'd switch places in a second, he'd said to Claudia that day in the library, and she'd run off with an excited gleam in her eye.

It curdles his stomach now to wonder what it was, but... They'd found a basket with snake feces in it in King Harrow's room afterwards. Opeli had shown them the court records once she'd thought they could bear it.

Maybe Viren had...

But it's awful, from the sound of it. Wearing someone else's face, your soul in a stranger's body. It's not as though Katolis doesn't have surgeries—there's the baker's son who'd needed a new kidney, a few years back—but to take a wholly healthy body and... It's the worst kind of dark magic.

Ez finds him out on one of the balconies later, feet slipping just like Callum's had on the climb up. (He can't quite manage to summon his wings again, yet, but... he's working on it.) Callum grabs his hand to help haul him all the way up. It's a moonless night, clouds obscuring the slim crescent that is there. Stars twinkle in between.

"I'm not going to get assassinated, you know," Ezran says, nudging him in the shoulder.

Callum exhales. "I know," he says, because he won't let it happen. "I just..." Tears build, cold on his face in the mid-autumn air. "You're all I have left, Ez."

"She'll come back."

Callum looks away and wipes at his nose with his scarf, sighing when Ezran wraps an arm around his shoulder. He's the big brother, he's supposed to be comforting Ezran, not the other way around.

"I saw the notes you left," Ez continues quietly. "Well, the ones Viren left, I guess. About the soul fang serpent." He runs his fingers over one hand thoughtfully. "D'you think Dad...?"

"I don't know," Callum says. "But—there's no way Dad would've agreed, even if he was given that kind of deal."

The magic was awful. It wasn't precise enough. If the spell could swap souls and bodies, maybe—let the corpse fall and then put you back in, heal up the wounds—let you be yourself, and the other person's soul and body would be severed but buried, then—

Callum pushes those thoughts away. No. No, even if Harrow could've kept his body, even if he could've kept his face, it still wouldn't be fair to whosever soul died on that blade. Not fair to the family, or husk left behind, or...

Callum buries his fingers in his hair and breathes through his nose, in and out. Ezran rests his head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're High Mage now," his little brother says, stifling a yawn. "I wouldn't know how to handle all this magic stuff without you."

Someone had to make these kinds of decisions, Callum reminds himself. Or at least consider the possibilities, the paths spreading out before them, even if they weren't all going to be—shouldn't be taken.

He has to be more than Ezran's high mage. There are humans, and dark mages, and someone has to know what they might be up against from the Pentarchy. Ezran needs a shield, from whatever he can still be shielded from.

And that person is him.

"Hm." Callum kisses him on the forehead once Ezran he's asleep, then shifts and picks him up.

Ez is getting heavy for this, but—Callum manages to make his way down, carrying him all the while. He passes Ezran off to Soren in the hall, the king snoozing as the crownguard hefts him up and then heads down the hall to the king's tower.

Callum hauls tome after tome off the shelves after, full of dark magic—grotesque images and wicked spells—carrying them up to his spot on the balcony, a primal flame in his hand as he begins to read. The stars have nearly blinked out by the time he stops and goes to bed.

He had to know what his brother's enemies could be capable of if he wanted to be able to stop them, after all.

(Later, he will know what he's capable of, too.)

[watchingthegregoryandjamesshow]

S1:E3 Occam’s razor

Okay first of all, what did I just watch? A guy is coughing, and than He and this girl start banging and than one of them passes out,

Woohoo! Here comes Greg and James!

James and the giant peach is like, “So there’s a person in the emergency room.” (The guy form earlier) and Greg Heffley is like “Alright.”

James: How was that so easy? Gregory: You know why ;)

James: Blood pressures not responding to IV fluids? Gregory: Yeh

James: *Smiles*

Gregory: That’s just WEIRD.

(What does this even mean? 😭)

So the House named Greg says “This guy has too many symptoms.”

He shows the other docs all the symptoms the guy has on a whiteboard.

The girl doc with a pony tail is like, “No condition accounts for all the symptoms.”

and Greggy goes, “Oh good, I thought he was sick, but it turns out he’s not!” Than says they need to treat the guy with a bunch of big doctor words I do not understand.

So now it cuts to a scene where the kid is coughing up a storm, his girlfriend is like, “Stop testing him, start treating him!” A doc says “Erm, actually we need to test him before he make him better sooo….”

Then Greg house guy introduces himself to a waiting room full of people, and says “Hi, I’m stoned, who wants me?” And then proceeds to look at the people like this….

Then the guys girlfriend goes up to the Australia doctor and says, “did I give that guy this sickness?? Me and that guy were having sex, and I was very rough.” And he looks at her, very concerned.

So now a lady is with Greg and says, “My mucus was pale golden rod a week ago, and I don’t like being told what to do.” Greg says “We’ll do a full body scan later this week.”

so than the Australia doctor, says to two other docs “That girl thinks she rode him to death.” and the girl doc says, “I hope you got some specifics! If she thinks it could kill him, It’s worth knowing about.”

and he goes “have you ever taken a life??”

Then the other guy Doc goes, “THERES FLUID FILLING HIS LUNGS, HIS KIDNEYS ARE SHUTTING DOWN!”

*Super epic realistic blood cell CGI*

“Our treatment isn’t making him better. it’s killing him.” *Dunn Dunn duuuuuunnn*

Gregory tells a guy he thinks his tie is ugly

The patient Guy’s parents arrive. He tells his parents “Hi. This is my fiancé.” And shows them the girl who Rode him to death.

The tests show the antibiotics didn't cause the kidney failure. Greg tells them the patient is getting better.

Greg is with a patient, but he’s busy playing on his game boy. ”My THRoAT HUrTS.” Says the patient

“Yeah, so you said.” Greg rolls his eyes. “HoW LOng Do I HAVE to WaIT?” ”Two minutes less than when you asked me two minutes ago.” 🙄

Australia is pouring coffee, but spills some because he was staring at the doc girl. Then she starts talking to him in very very graphic detail about talking about what sex does to the human body. “Did you know That WomEn Can HaVE An HoUR lOnG OrgASM?” Australia man just stares at her.

than this just happens:

Greggy boi meets with the family. He accuses them of giving the patient the "cough medicine" (He thinks the patient was taking an illegal drug instead of cough medicine) after he arrived at the hospital. The mother admits to it and finds the medicine bottle. Australian doc goes to the pharmacy. The guys mom says “Yas, those are the SAME pills I gave my son.” It turns out they did give the patient the cough medicine after all not illegal drugs.

Gregory says,

“I was not wrong everything I said was true, it fit! It was elegant!”

James: “so reality was wrong?”

“Reality is almost always wrong.” Greg says before he downs a ton of pills.

They start to prepare the patient for surgery. Then the patient goes crazy, and almost dies, They get his heart started again, But, they have to cancel the surgery. The patient now also has pain in his fingers. A doc guy tells Greggory, and he starts thinking of something.

Greggy goes into the clean room without preparation. He still thinks the patient was poisoned because of a new symptom, the guy is losing hair 🫨He thinks the kid has been using illegal drugs contaminated with Colchicine and orders treatment. The patient starts getting better.

But Gregory is STILL not satisfied - he still can't figure out the source of the poisoning. the patient guy starts coughing again. They give him cough pills, and he realizes they aren't the same as the old pills he was taking; the new pills have the letter "L" on them but the other pills did not.

Australia says to girl “wanna get some food?” but she cuts him off right away and says “Nah.”

It ends with a scene showing Greggy Pooh in the pharmacy after hours, he’s sitting on the floor searching through the bottles. He holds two similar-looking pills, they both have the same shape, only one has writing on it and one does not. He smirks, He was RIGHT. *happy music 🎉🎊🎉🎉🎊🎊🎉*

This show is the bomb.com guys 💯 🔥

[ittyalfie]

I went in to the hospital unexpectedly for emergency surgery. I nearly did not even ask for medical help because of interoception difficulties, alexythmia, communication and high pain threshold. I am just amazed and so grateful I did the best thing and saught help. They thankfully considered my symptoms and presentation carefully, considered and ruled out appendicitis or kidney stones but it was ovarian torsion. But pain scale is so, so hard for me and I’m sure others, especially autistics could relate. I thought my pains were maybe 7 but it was a lot higher. I just wanted to share. If you try so hard to trust and advocate or assert your need in anyway , I am proud of you. I am proud of my self today. It was such a challenging day on so many levels. I don’t even know how I’m posting this but yay, I felt I really wanted to. I used my autism alert card from Aspect Australia and thank them for their resources. How to get one Link in here only for interest:

[necrofuturism]

i am HOME from the hospital and one kidney stone lighter, with another one in the barrel that'll get obliterated later this year

also i finally did some drug-induced comedy that i have NO MEMORY of doing lmao

after my laser procedure i took a while to come out of anesthesia, and i came to once, ate 1 tater tot, and passed out again immediately.

absolutely hilarious. 10/10.

and this morning after the surgery, i called the nurses in my sleep and informed them i was about to have a "RAGING UTI" - they came to my room to check in on me, of course, and i was fast asleep.

i'd ask y'all to wish me luck on my recovery, but i need more luck growing in all the chest hair that got ripped off by the lead stickers. i have so many stupid bald spots rn.

[nekosd43]

the saga continues

I am still not moved. My partner just informed me that his mom (the reason we were held up) might be putting the move on hold indefinitely. I'm so tired. All my shit is in boxes. I've had to start UN packing because things I packed in May when I didn't need them (like my work clothes) I need now that it's September.

My partner had COVID for the 5th time so I haven't actually seen him in over a month. Our 19th anniversary is Monday but we're probably not going to get to do anything special because we're both just so worn out.

His cat has kidney stones and needs surgery.

My dad's cancer diagnosis is moving a lot faster than I think anyone anticipated. It went from an "oh we will wait and see" to a "you're going to die in six months if we don't start chemo immediately". He starts chemo this week.

My grandmother was hospitalized last week for what looked like it might be bladder cancer (thankfully it was not), but my family has been in serious denial about her situation. She turned 95 this year, is incapable of standing or walking for more than a few seconds, won't eat without being forced to, and is incapable of living alone.

My aunt and my mom have been living with her in shifts for two years, but they wanted to lie to the hospital about this because they refuse to admit they might need more help. I know they're doing the best job they can but they are not nurses and they are not trained, and their refusal to accept the reality of the situation is stressful.

Grandma gets out of the nursing home today and they're going back to the way things were without reflecting on the "maybe it IS time to get full time help instead of doing all this unpaid labor ourselves when we're not qualified." Which means half the week my mom will not be here to help with my dad when he's on chemo, which means it will be my responsibility because my brother is not available to help.

I'm working full time (not for full time pay of course because why would we pay a fully credentialed substitute who is doing all the same work that a teacher would do the same rate as a teacher???) at a school that is apparently the epicenter of the right wing insanity that has overtaken my school district.

Our school board is being held hostage by extremists that openly talk on social media how they think all teachers are child molesters and groomers. Apparently I was targeted by one of these people because I asked students for pronouns on the first day of school (it was a private, optional question on a survey of getting to know you questions). I intentionally have not gone looking for the attacks but I'm very afraid about what these people might be saying about me and what that might mean for my job.

Also my feet are just... fucked up. They just really hurt. My ankle makes crunching noises when I walk. I'm really tired. I probably have mixed IBS but I've been too busy to get it checked out. All my art supplies are packed and my ipad is starting to give up the ghost so drawing is hard and I haven't had any fun of any kind in at least two months. My ttrpg stuff is in boxes. I miss my friends, I miss hosting my game club, I miss having a cat, I miss DND, I'm frustrated with my family's behavior, I'm frustrated with my partner's situation, I'm frustrated with my work life, I'm tired and I'm scared.

I genuinely feel like I'm being stepped on.

[dollsonmain]

I know folks are probably getting tired of this by now so you get a tag AND a cut.

But I feel like discussing this sort of thing might help people sometimes? since it's a first person account instead of listicles online.

What they did and didn't tell me about having stents.

They told me why: Facilitates drainage which takes strain (pressure) off of the kidneys and helps the antibiotics work by helping prevent pockets of infected urine reforming (that's what was making me sick, stuck urine that had built up lots of bacteria).

They told me how-ish: They go up with various catheters and things and install the stents, the stents stay in place until they are removed. Some stents have lines that exit the body to facilitate removal. Mine do not. The doc didn't want me accidentally pulling them out since the area they're in is heavily infected. They'll be removed at my first stone removal surgery in about two weeks from installation which was a couple days ago.

They did not tell me how-completely: The stents are hooked into my body meat like little fish hooks. They also didn't tell me they'd be taking urine for testing from my bladder and each kidney or that they would also be draining both kidneys during the procedure, so I did get a fluid-pressure reset.

They did not tell me basically anything about what the next two weeks will be like.

I'm on flowmax to soften my bladder so it's easier to empty. I don't think I needed that, I was peeing fine, but stents do change things.

I was worried that I might push them out while pooping but that's not likely to the point of nearly impossible. Not 100%, but nearly.

These things feel like a bad UTI and I have two of them. I got the ows, the zaps, the GOTTA GOs every few minutes. At least now I know that ALL of those pains are UTI pains, you know? I'd get some random pain sometimes and be like "what was that......" and now I know. It was UTI and pressure in my kidneys and the pain signals were traveling around the whole renal system. Because they do that.

I'm in a lot more pain now than I was with just the kidney stones. It is very, VERY atypical but my kidney stones and the pressure behind them don't hurt. Those nerves may have died off.

There's varying amounts of blood in my urine, sometimes very little, sometimes a lot. Sometimes there are clots. That's all normal but I had to ask as things were happening.

I get up every couple hours in the night and some times I don't make it to the toilet (I did all last night, so that is improving).

They also didn't warn me that just having the surgery itself might make me wet myself because the muscles hadn't all regained strength/how long it would take for the anesthesia to fully wear off.

I called the doctor's office and asked about that, too.

I'm glad I thought to have That Guy bring Depends but that's also something you'd think someone would like, mention. You know?

So that's what having stents has been like so far.

Feels like a bad UTI, though for some people they feel nothing. Need adult diapers for accidents. Need to be near a toilet at all times, and not going to get a hell of a lot of continuous sleep for a while.

-

I also think it's worth noting that I've had two male doctors blow me off about this and I think the only thing that went differently at the ER was that it was a female doctor.

The first male doctor said it was an anxiety attack.

The second male doctor said it was a viral stomach bug.

The female doctor listened to my symptoms and ordered a bunch of tests.

So, more personal blather about the whole situation.

While I was in the first ER I heard a man yelling and starting trouble in the waiting room. That Guy and Son got up and left as soon as the man was distracted by a security guy. I'd had told them to go home as soon as they dropped me off and I would text if I needed picked up. I knew I wasn't going home, though.

-

My neighbor was an elderly lady and they kept trying to figure out when she'd last pooped but she couldn't remember. Finally she called them in and was like I need to poop so they wrestled her up on a bed pan (she cried, she was in a lot of pain) and then left her alone with her curtain closed to poop. Right then the floor doctor walked in and was like HI MISS GERALDINE and whipped her curtain open to start talking to her.

...

I chewed him out. That's very atypical of me. Like, I laid into him for not asking if she was wanting to talk in that exact moment. And then I felt really bad until I realized he's probably had people a lot more angry at him than me considering a lot of the patients I could hear were elderly and some were confused, and I didn't feel bad anymore.

-

Since it's a university-run hospital there were sometimes pairs of nurses, and at one point a trainee came in to give me a dose of antibiotics through the IV but she hooked it into the wrong plug which depressurized the system and blood starting backing up the tube. As soon as she saw that she ran to get her trainer and they spent some time doing a full reset of the IV set up.

I wasn't worried or anything. It was my own blood and it could only go so far/only so much could be lost. At the most a cup since the saline bag was fresh and mostly full, still. So I was totally calm the whole time, which I'm sure helped.

I think the nurse in training was surprised when her trainer stepped out and I encouraged her instead of yelling at her. I praised her for not being too proud to get help when she noticed an issue, and for observing how to rectify the situation.

-

That Guy was like "Yesterday's nurses did NOT like me..." and I was like yeah I kind of told on you, but not out loud. He got put on the shit list FAST by staff. So for that I have a note in my account that I'm experiencing financial abuse and he exhibits controlling behavior. If there ever is a point where Son and I have to leave, I have the name of where to call. There's a facility in Next Town Over where the hospital is that will come and get us, and that would be the last time we see him.

I feel guilty for saying anything because he has paid for my existence for decades but he has also been abusive, just not physically.

They asked me if Son is safe at home alone with That Guy and I said "Safe, yes. Happy, no."

They also asked like how is Son and I said he seems to understand that his father's behavior isn't his fault but he still has had to endure it.

I also in the process learned how much money he makes (I didn't know before) and wow we should all certainly have insurance (he and Son might through his work but I have nothing and don't qualify for assistance while he claims me on his taxes as a dependent) and have had medical care all this time and there's no reason at all to be doing the whole -pointedly look at the food receipt every grocery trip, look up at the sky angrily, shake his head, shove it in his pocked, huff, and walk away- thing. Also explains why his work friends keep suggesting burger joints that end up costing like $80 for the whole family....

[sirfrogsworth]

I'm not sure I should even write about this but I am feeling a bit traumatized and thought it might help to get it out of my brain.

Trigger warning for graphic urological talk.

Took my dad back to the urologist. The good news is that his infection is gone and he has probably been testing false positive for a while now. When they grew the cultures there wasn't really anything there anymore. The at-home tests must be picking up some contaminates. The doctor told us how to get a better result for next time.

However, we were also trying to solve why my dad has the urge to go every hour because it keeps him from getting decent sleep. Due to his metal hip, the CT scan of his bladder did not resolve very well. So the doctor needed to scope him.

This is the part where you need to stop reading if you are squeamish about medical procedures or things going up things.

This is already a very uncomfortable process. I've had this done due to my kidney stone issues in the past. But due to his age and some prostate operations, getting the scope in was difficult. My dad had a Hank Hill issue. The dreaded narrow urethra. The scope just could not enter.

The doctor was like, "I'll be right back, I need to get something."

He returns with some kind of package and sets it on the counter and it makes a large metallic thud. It sounded like he had a bag of wrenches or something. He opened up the package and it was just a bunch of long metal rods with curves on the end. They literally looked like medieval torture implements. At this point I closed my eyes and just tried to go to my happy place.

The doctor started the procedure and my dad started making noises of discomfort. Soon those noises turned into screams of agony. I wanted to leave the room at this point. Hearing my dad scream like that was very disconcerting. The doctor was silent. My dad yelled, "take it out, take it out!" The doctor offered no words of encouragement... though I think he was just trying to concentrate on his task and finish it as quickly as possible.

While I know things were much worse for my dad, I felt like I could feel what was going on in my own bits. A sympathetic scoping of sorts. I just wanted to save him from that pain and all I could do was sit there with my eyes closed and hope it would all end soon.

The procedure only lasted a few minutes. But it left me very unsettled. The doctor was able to gather some clues as to what is going on. He believes some scar tissue leftover from a prostate surgery was causing the issue. It's possible just the scope was able to open things up. My dad got home and said he peed like normal for the first time in forever. We'll have to see if that continues to be the case.

That was just a horrible experience and I can't get my brain to stop replaying my dad screaming. He feels fine now. And if this fixed the issue, I'm sure we'll both say it was worth it.

But yeah, that sucked.

Try not to get old.

[astrosfaerydae]

Love is the Death of Peace of Mind || Chanlix

Chapter 25: I'm no Angel

[wc: 7.6k]

Summary:

Routine? What routine? Everything has been thrown off kilter by their overwhelming grief. They seem to become strangers in their own home but the world still turns regardless of whether they want it to or not. They seem to drift until Felix finally reaches out but he may have gotten more than he bargained for. (Even though he was technically begging for it)

Notes/Tags:

Uhmm so yes here's the porn tags for this chapter cause yea:

First time, blow jobs, anal sex, begging, crying, Felix is a menace as always, Chan is cheesy, unsafe sex(always use protection people!), heavily emphasized consent, Chan is careful possibly too careful

So sorry it took so long to get this out really I apologize 100%! But seriously I'm about to call Sam and Dean to figure out if there's been some curse or something around me cause I've had nothing but bad luck! Since I posted last my step dad passed and he for all intents and purposes was my real dad, a few days after my husband was hospitalized for 5 days for an impacted kidney stone and surgery to remove it, due to that we lost a whole paycheck and that sucked ass still catching up from that and then a few days later my grandpa had a stroke and my mother in law found out she had appendicitis and needed her appendix out. The cherry on top, all this stress has given me a stomach ulcer. Things have calmed down now obviously as I'm posting again so hopefully it stays that way. Soon fingers crossed things will be back to normal and I can knock out 7k in a night like I was doing towards the middle of December that was really nice lol. Thanks for listening to me babel and thanks for being here still and supporting my fic it really means a lot!

[Fic Masterlist]

[dalamusrex]

So, those who follow my personal blog are aware, and I know I'm not required to give details, but I've been thinking about letting people know and now's as good a time as any:

My dad was hospitalized for Acute Pancreatitis late at night on the 4th of August, after experiencing increasing pain for several days prior which he mistakenly originally thought was food poisoning. (And several incidents of "food poisoning" over the last year which were likely this pancreatitis beginning). Only once it became excruciating did he ask to be taken to the hospital, and by then it had caused some damage to his kidneys, liver, and GI tract. The cause is, they suspect, a gall stone which got stuck in the duct and eventually was passed.

Most people, with care, recover from Pancreatitis within 3 or 4 days, but my dad's been in the hospital for about 10, and they said he shouldn't leave without gallbladder removal surgery, but can't seem to get him to reach a point where they feel safe performing the surgery. So there's currently no discharge date in sight.

He was in the ICU over the weekend because the IV fluids they needed to help calm his pancreas was backing up into his lungs and causing breathing issues, and the nurses were too busy to keep up with his pain medicine. I think the fluid issue has been resolved? He's only recently been taken off all pain medication, finally able to bear being without it even if it still hurts. He should be moved out of the ICU today, if not tomorrow.

He is stable right now, but in pain, and taking longer to recover than is comfortable.

On top of that, I'm still unemployed, and I need to fix that ASAP but, yknow, no one wants to hire anymore, so it's been slow going.

I still log onto tumblr almost every day, bc Dal is a comfort to me even if I'm not actively writing/drawing for him.

I have it in my mind I want to participate in the currently ongoing TES Summer Fest even if I will be late for every post. And, of course, BG3 Dal is over here. One day I'll play ffxiv and write/draw for that Dal, and I have ideas for Modern Dal I just haven't posted to his blog yet. I haven't been able to sit still long enough to organize my thoughts into cohesive headcanons.

So I'm still here, I'm just overwhelmed at the moment. I appreciate everyone's patience with asks and replies, and I appreciate that people still have an interest in Dal despite my slowed activity.

I know people are often unsure what to talk about when serious subjects are present (not wanting to feel "cold" by changing the subject from serious matters), but I promise Dal is always a safe, even preferable, subject to bring up with me, whenever you want, wherever you want. If you want to remind me of an RP we had 8 years ago, please do. If you saw a bug outside that made you think of Dal for whatever reason, I wanna know. Don't feel like asking for an RP or sending asks is somehow cold or callous; it's a nice distraction even if I'm slow to respond.