#(they need to be posted so the backlog can be whittled down before more get added lmao)

[hirazuki]

Illumi Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter) Cosplayer: me Photo credit: tranimaging2 Costume: YouAn Store (AliExpress) Contacts: Uniqso (Sweety Pearl Black) Boots are my own

Treasure ✖️ Memory ✖️ Cramped Hotel Room

[thessalian]

Thess vs Silver Linings

So today was bullshit.

Basically the last two weeks have been the consultants - especially the head consultant - making unreasonable demands on the admissions staff, the hospital theatre list, their admin staff (always and forever their admin staff) ... and their own patients. Basically - and keep in mind that this is the tenth time this week - a consultant turned around and booked a patient’s injections for the same day as their post-MRI follow-up. For those of you playing at home, this means that we don’t even know if they need injections yet. They could need surgery. They could manage with just physio and anti-inflammatories. We don’t know, because we haven’t seen the MRIs, because they aren’t having the MRIs until the day of their actual injections. Assuming they need them.

The problem is the number of people who actually need the post-MRI clinic letter. Like, for instance, the theatre techs. Like, for instance, the insurance company paying for it. So it’s imperative that we get that letter to the appropriate people before the procedure takes place. And most people generally prefer more lead time than five fucking minutes.

Now, this is usually just a problem for me - because it means that before I’m even properly in the door, I have to either dig through the amassed backlog of work to find that one letter that we urgently need, ignoring all the other stuff that I urgently need to do, or I have to prod the dictation out of a consultant who refuses to upload his dictation in a timely manner. I ... okay, I mind this but I’m getting used to it now.

Thing is ... this particular patient isn’t happy. This particular patient feels rushed. This particular patient was told they needed injections without what they feel is sufficient lead time or sufficient explanation, and of course the consultant couldn’t give any real details because, again, no MRI yet.

That on top of the fifteen theatre bookings I have to make. The massive backlog of typing that I had to clear after I finally got a theatre list involving nineteen patients prepped. The amount of other people’s typing I had to do. I get it done. I get no appreciation. It is the way of things. Meh.

But.

When I got home, there was a card in my mailbox saying that there were parcels with the neighbours. I love my friends, by the way. So I have the last two W+D trade paperbacks that I needed to get caught up. I have this *really* nifty book called Table Fables which has given me SO MANY NEW IDEAS! And, surprisingly best of all, I have the latest InCryptid novel. All the hearts and hugs to @seananmcguire - a new book by her never fails to make my day a shinier place. Thank you, @fauxfire76 and @raceofhearts respectively - this is the first day in like two weeks that I haven’t gone home and spent three hours as an exhausted, dispirited duvet burrito before I could even face cooking dinner.

So I’m saving Magic For Nothing. For the commute tomorrow. Because dear gods, if today was bad, tomorrow’s going to be worse. Because I have: the last-minute bullshit that always gets thrown onto the theatre list like a half-hour before theatre starts; theatre prep for Tuesday because bank holiday; full clinic by the consultant I type for; trying to whittle down the immense backlog LazyArse has left again. Not to mention dealing with New Practice Manager telling me, “We’re all that busy”. Listen, lady. I am doing something like a day and a half’s work in just over half a day because this place would fall apart if I didn’t, and LazyArse’s typing queue has barely moved in a month without my input. Don’t you fucking tell me how busy ‘you all’ are. Some people need to push a little harder so I can stop fucking killing myself, okay?

...Yeah, see, if I didn’t have awesome friends and wonderfully timed deliveries, this entire week would be misery incarnate.

[ladystylestores]

Ukraine’s Backlog of Babies Born to Surrogates Begins to Ease

KYIV, Ukraine — For weeks, more than 100 foreign genetic parents of babies born to surrogate mothers in Ukraine have been waiting nervously, prevented by Ukraine’s rigid coronavirus restrictions from entering the country to pick up their newborns.

But the government has been granting some exemptions, and on Wednesday, having gone through a mandatory two-week quarantine, 11 couples from Argentina and Spain were joyously united with their newest family members. It was a first step in whittling down a backlog of babies born into Ukraine’s surrogate motherhood industry during the pandemic that some officials have said could swell to as many as 1,000.

“It was like a dream,” Andrea Diez, a mother from Argentina, said Wednesday after she was handed her baby at a news conference hosted by a surrogacy agency, Biotexcom.

Biotexcom, which has faced criticism over the backlog, staged the event for maximum effect, bringing out the babies and uniting them with their joyful parents for the first time.

With permissive legislation, high-quality private maternity hospitals and an abundance of poor women, Ukraine has in recent years become the leading country providing surrogacy services to foreigners, industry executives and women’s rights advocates say.

For the most part, the surrogacy agencies care for most of the babies, though some have been left with the surrogate mothers. Biotexcom, the largest such agency, is caring for 79 babies in cribs in a hotel and clinic in Kyiv. The company is expecting two more births on Wednesday.

The baby pickup on Wednesday is a step toward unwinding the problem, one of the more bizarre to arise from travel restrictions imposed to limit the spread of the coronavirus.

But the schedule for pickups so far is slower than the rate of births, so the stranded surrogate babies are still growing in number in Ukraine.

The authorities have estimated that 1,000 surrogate mothers are expecting. So far, 120 genetic parents of 125 babies have asked for assistance with travel, and 31 couples have arrived, including the 11 who met their babies on Wednesday, according to Lyudmila Denisova, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman. The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said in a statement that it had helped six American parents travel to Ukraine.

Ukraine is an outlier among nations, though not alone, in allowing foreigners access to a broad range of reproductive health services, including buying eggs and arranging for surrogate births for a fee. Ukrainian law grants custody to the genetic parents.

Ms. Diez and her husband, Fernando Montero, both 46, said they turned to Ukraine for a surrogate mother after years of failed fertility treatments in Argentina.

They named their son Ignacio (and nicknamed him Nacho). Born April 29, he spent the first month and a half of his life cared for by nurses in a room packed with cribs.

The baby pileup has revived criticism of the business in Ukraine.

Biotexcom has been criticized for sometimes impregnating surrogate mothers with three embryos, increasing the chances of a successful pregnancy but risking an abortion if all three develop.

“We do it for the result,” Albert Tochylovsky, the company director, said in an interview. “We work for the result.”

La Strada, a women’s rights group, said it received about 100 calls a year from surrogate mothers seeking help. In most cases, the women are upset about having to hand over the baby, said Maryna Lehenka, the group’s legal director, indicating “insufficient psychological support for women who go into surrogacy programs.”

Other surrogate mothers have expressed appreciation for the pay — around $15,000 per birth, if everything goes right — and the chance to help infertile couples. But some are upset by the total separation from the babies once they have given birth.

Updated June 5, 2020

Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?

So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.

How does blood type influence coronavirus?

A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.

Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

How can I protect myself while flying?

If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

Should I wear a mask?

The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

What should I do if I feel sick?

If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

“It’s been five years since I gave birth to my twins, and I would be happy to receive a postcard to know how they are doing,” said Olha Korsunova, 27, who is now 12 weeks into her third surrogate pregnancy.

“The parents do not do that, and it is their right, I do not judge,” she said.

Ms. Korsunova decided to become a surrogate mother after the war in eastern Ukraine drove her from Donetsk, her hometown, and she needed money for medical school. She gave birth to her own son when she was 18 and at 21 gave birth to the twin boys, for parents from Spain.

“I received education and have a possibility to give my son all he needs thanks to the surrogacy programs,” Ms. Korsunova said. She is studying obstetrics.

Some surrogate mothers have been left caring for the babies themselves.

One woman living in Vinnytsia, in western Ukraine, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Dasha, to avoid repercussions from her agency, has been caring for a baby girl she gave birth to in April. She said she became a surrogate mother to pay her mortgage.

The baby, she said, cries constantly, and the agency that arranged the birth has provided little support. “It was very hard,” Dasha said in an interview. “I just want the parents to come and to take this girl away from me.”

Andrew E. Kramer contributed reporting from Moscow.

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