#pneumonia treatment in hospital

[lalithacsh]

Understanding Pneumonia: Symptoms, Causes & Treatment Insights

Explore the symptoms, causes, and treatment options for pneumonia. Get informed on how to effectively combat this respiratory illness and recover quickly.

To Know More: https://lalithachestandskinhospital.com/blog/battling-pneumonia-understanding-symptoms-causes-and-treatment-options/

best pulmonologist in Karimnagar,md pulmonologist near me,best pediatric pulmonologist near me,bacterial pneumonia treatment,pneumonia treatment in hospital,respiratory infection treatment

[txhospitals1234]

[tricountyanimal]

Treatment Options for Bacterial Pneumonia in Dogs and Cats

Bacterial pneumonia in dogs and cats is a serious respiratory condition that affects both dogs and cats. It can lead to severe health issues if not treated promptly. At Tri-County Animal Hospital, we prioritize your pet’s health and well-being, offering comprehensive treatment options for bacterial pneumonia in pets. Understanding the treatment options available can help pet owners make informed decisions and ensure their furry friends receive the best care possible.

Understanding Bacterial Pneumonia in Pets

Bacterial pneumonia is an infection of the lungs caused by bacteria, leading to inflammation and difficulty breathing. Common bacteria that cause pneumonia in pets include Bordetella bronchiseptica, Streptococcus, and Staphylococcus species. Pets with bacterial pneumonia often show symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, lethargy, fever, and loss of appetite. If you notice any of these signs, it is crucial to seek veterinary attention immediately.

Diagnostic Process

Before starting treatment, a thorough diagnosis is essential. At Tri-County Animal Hospital, our veterinarians perform a series of diagnostic tests to confirm bacterial pneumonia and identify the causative bacteria. These tests may include:

Physical Examination: Listening to the lungs for abnormal sounds like crackles or wheezes.

Chest X-rays: To visualize the lungs and identify areas of infection and inflammation.

Blood Tests: To assess the overall health of the pet and identify any underlying conditions.

Tracheal Wash or Bronchoalveolar Lavage: Collecting samples from the lower airways to identify the specific bacteria causing the infection.

Treatment Options for Pet’s Bacterial Pneumonia

Once bacterial pneumonia in pets is diagnosed, prompt and effective treatment is necessary to ensure a full recovery. The treatment plan typically includes the following:

Antibiotic Therapy

The cornerstone of treating bacterial pneumonia in dogs and cats is antibiotic therapy. The choice of antibiotics depends on the type of bacteria identified and their sensitivity to specific drugs. Commonly used antibiotics include amoxicillin, doxycycline, and enrofloxacin. The treatment duration usually ranges from two to six weeks, depending on the severity of the infection and the pet's response to the medication. It is crucial to follow the veterinarian’s prescription and complete the entire course of antibiotics, even if the pet’s symptoms improve before the medication is finished.

Supportive Care

Supportive care is essential to help pets recover from bacterial pneumonia. This may include:

Hydration: Ensuring the pet remains well-hydrated to thin mucus and support lung function. In severe cases, intravenous fluids may be necessary.

Nutritional Support: Providing a high-quality, nutritious diet to support the immune system and overall health.

Oxygen Therapy: For pets with severe breathing difficulties, oxygen therapy may be administered to improve oxygen levels in the blood.

Nebulization and Coupage

Nebulization involves the administration of aerosolized medications to the lungs, helping to loosen mucus and improve breathing. Coupage, a technique that involves gently tapping the chest, can help loosen and clear mucus from the lungs. At Tri-County Animal Hospital, we demonstrate these techniques to pet owners for at-home care.

Anti-inflammatory Medications

In some cases, anti-inflammatory medications may be prescribed to reduce lung inflammation and alleviate symptoms. These medications should only be used under the guidance of a veterinarian, as improper use can have adverse effects.

Rest and Recovery

Ensuring that pets get plenty of rest is crucial for their recovery. Limiting physical activity and providing a calm, stress-free environment can help pets heal faster. It’s important to monitor your pet closely and follow any specific care instructions provided by the veterinarian.

Follow-up Care

Regular follow-up visits to Tri-County Animal Hospital are essential to monitor the pet’s progress and adjust the treatment plan as needed. Follow-up chest X-rays and physical examinations help ensure that the infection is resolving and that there are no complications. In some cases, additional diagnostic tests may be required to confirm the pet's recovery.

Preventing Bacterial Pneumonia in Pets

Prevention is always better than cure. Here are some tips to reduce the risk of bacterial pneumonia in pets:

Vaccination: Ensure your pets are up-to-date on their vaccinations, especially those protecting against respiratory infections.

Good Hygiene: Maintain a clean living environment for your pets, and avoid exposing them to other animals with respiratory infections.

Regular Veterinary Check-ups: Routine health check-ups at Tri-County Animal Hospital can help detect and manage underlying health issues that may predispose pets to pneumonia.

Healthy Diet: Provide a balanced diet to support your pet's immune system and overall health.

Conclusion

Bacterial pneumonia in dogs and cats is a serious condition that requires prompt and effective treatment. At Tri-County Animal Hospital, we are dedicated to providing comprehensive care to help your pets recover and thrive. By understanding the treatment options and following the veterinarian's guidance, pet owners can ensure their furry friends receive the best possible care and make a full recovery. If you suspect your pet has bacterial pneumonia, don’t hesitate to contact us for an evaluation and personalized treatment plan.

[feminist-space]

"FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

9. Plaintiff Alexander Morris is an African American man and is the lead singer of the famous Motown group the "Four Tops." At the time of the incident the Four Tops were on a national music tour with the Temptations and had recently performed at the Grammy Awards.

10. On or about April 7, 2023; Plaintiff was transported to the Ascension Macomb Oakland Hospital emergency room via ambulance, and he presented to the emergency room with difficulty breathing and chest pain, he was on oxygen, and he had a significant known history of cardiac disease including the placement of stints and defibrillator. During his hospitalization, Plaintiff was ultimately diagnosed with a heart infraction that may require a heart transplant, pneumonia, and he suffered three seizures during his stay.

11. When he presented to the emergency room Plaintiff informed a nurse and a security guard that he was a member of the famous Motown group the "Four Tops," and that he had current security concerns due to stalkers and fans.

12. Shortly after check-in a nurse Holly Jackson, a White male security guard Greg Ciesielski, and a White male emergency room doctor Brandon Harris Fishman, DO racially profiled him and/or profiled him based upon a perceived disability and placed an order for a psychological evaluation for Plaintiff because they did not believe he was a singer or member of the "Four Tops." Doctor Brandon Harris Fishman, DO, the emergency room doctor who was on staff met with Plaintiff and interviewed him, Plaintiff informed him of his medical history, and informed him that he was having difficulty breathing and chest pain. Defendants and Brandon Harris Fishman, DO wrongfully assumed he was mentally ill when he revealed his identity as a celebrity figure. Defendants and/or Brandon Harris Fishman, DO made the decision to remove him from oxygen and pursue a psychiatric evaluation instead despite his clear symptoms of cardiac distress and significant medical history.

13. Plaintiff had a valid identification on his person and could easily have been identified as a singer in the Four Tops group.

14. Brandon Harris Fishman, DO ordered a psychological evaluation for Plaintiff instead of ordering the emergency medical treatment he needed. Plaintiff was denied the emergency medical care he needed due to his heart condition and pneumonia, and instead a security guard was instructed to ensure he was placed into a restraining jacket and/or a four-point restraint mechanism, removed his belongings, and Plaintiff was told he was going to have a "psych eval" or psychological evaluation. Plaintiff was referred to Virjaya Gopal Kotha, MD for the psychological evaluation.

15. Plaintiff asked if he could prove his identity by showing his identification card, and the White male security guard ordered him to "sit his Black ass down." None of the nursing staff intervened to stop the racial discrimination and mistreatment of Plaintiff. Upon information and belief none of the nursing staff reported the mistreatment or use of the racial slur to a supervisor. Moreover, none of the nursing staff thought to simply ask for Plaintif's identification.

16. Plaintiff told medical staff he was having difficulty breathing and asked for the oxygen back but was ignored. Plaintiff asked to have the restraint device removed and asked for his personal belongings back so he could leave and seek treatment at another hospital, and he was told he was not free to leave; thus, he was falsely imprisoned and deprived of his personal property. During this time his medical condition continuously declined and he was denied the medical treatment he desperately needed.

17. Several security guards were called to surround the nursing station to ensure Plaintiff could not leave. During this entire incident Plaintiff was not being treated for his medical emergency, namely a severe heart condition and pneumonia. Defendant Hospital and Defendant Jackson blatantly refused to provide Plaintiff with medical treatment due to his race and/or perceived mental disability. Instead, Plaintiff received a deliberate misdiagnosis and received a lower standard of medical care based on his race that amounted to racial discrimination and delayed his actual diagnosis.

18. Finally, Plaintiff's wife came to the nursing station to collect his belongings and she saw what was transpiring and Plaintiff informed his wife that the doctors thought he was delusional. Plaintiff's wife informed one of the security officers that he was actually a member of the Four Tops, but he took no action on Plaintiff's behalf, and he was left in the restraints and denied medical treatment. A nurse came to Plaintiff's side, and Plaintiff asked to show the nurse the video of him performing at the Grammys. The nurse realized Plaintiff was a member of the Four Tops, and the nurse went and got the emergency room doctor to inform him. The emergency room doctor returned and said he was cancelling the psychological evaluation.

19. The restraint jacket was finally removed, and he was placed back on oxygen. Plaintiff was restrained for approximately an hour and a half or 90 minutes. As aforementioned, during his hospitalization, Plaintiff was ultimately diagnosed with a heart infraction that may require a heart transplant, pneumonia, and he suffered three seizures during his stay.

20. Plaintiff was offered a $25.00 gift card to Meijers as an apology for the dehumanization and discrimination he faced at the hands of the hospital. He refused to accept the gift card.

21. Subsequent to the incident, a security guard that worked at the hospital contacted Plaintiff and informed him that Greg Ciesielski the security guard that restrained Plaintiff and made the racist comment, made racist comments and jokes to him and other coworkers about African Americans, and that he frequently used excessive force with patients.

22. The security guard who called Plaintiff also reported that he witnessed employees tampering with the internal incident report made on the incident involving Plaintiff, and he believed the use of racial slur was removed from the internal incident report, and he stated that employees were instructed not to discuss the incident. The security guard also stated that Greg Ciesielski was not disciplined or suspended because of the incident.

23. As a result of the above actions and inactions of Defendants as described above and below, Plaintiff suffered injuries and damages. Defendants are sued jointly and severally."

[writing-nothing-but-spilled-ink]

Okay but like imagine Jason Todd living in Crime Alley and he has numerous safe houses in gotham some of witch just aren't for him and in fact are apartment complexes that he bought out for cheap possibly due to a little life-threatening scare by Red Hood and any time he's in crime alley and he notices that especially in the winter months that the kids are sick or don't have a dry place to live he just starts setting them up in the apartment complex, and none of the kids ever talk about where exactly that complex is because they love redhood... Also, I imagine that once a week Jason makes like a really big dinner and he just goes outside and serves it to the kids around crime alley, the kids all love him and feel safe with him. I imagine it gets to a point where if the kids are in danger or are worried or scared they just go running over to Red Hood some of the kids have taken to calling him dad, uncle, and other various family references.. And one day on the way back to one of his safe houses he just hears one of the younger street kids yelling dad and he turns to where its coming from and theres just this small kid holding another small kid in his arms and red's just like what happened and the kid just goes shes sick and idk what to do and red just kinda sighs and goes yeah alright follow me kid and he walks over to one of his main safe houses puts his bike away and gets the kids into the car but before continuing to the doc office he calls out through crime alley of if anyone's sick yall better come here i don't wanna do numerous trips and suddenly theres a small group of kids coming out of the shadows and he ushers them all into the car drives them all to gotham general and the receptionist doesn't bat an eye at the gaggle of sick kids or the fact redhood is checking them all in because he and the hospital have an understanding so he gets them all treated and seen and has to sit in with every nurse and doctor, at one point he gets a call from bruce asking why he's not on protrol and jason thinking nothing of it just goes i'm busy im at the hospital have dickface cover my patrol and then he hangs up to speak to the doctors and check on his kids..

bruce shows up at Gotham general just to find red surrounded by numerous children with various flu's colds coughs one of them has pneumonia and was just diagnosed with asthma and he's just taking notes while there's one child in his lap crying cause she's scared and he's just rocking her gently while writing down various treatment plans for each kid and what safe house he's putting them in because he'll be personally taking care of them... and one of the docs spot Bruce and is like excuse me mr. wayne you can't be back here patients only and redhood can be here because he's there acting guardian which makes Bruce's brain short-circuit entirely

Also alfred 100 percent knows about this and has helped red set up the rooms for the kids and everything and some of those big family dinners Jason has for the kids yeah he's using Alfred's recipes

How Jason got guardianship of these kids is because of Harvey dent he got the proper legal advice from Harvey

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

Not covid specific, but good to remember: Masking and other airborne disease prevention keeps you from getting other diseases like the flu too. Covid's not the only threat to your long-term health out there.

By Felicity Nelson

A study of around 500,000 medical records suggested that severe viral infections like encephalitis and pneumonia increase the risk of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Researchers found 22 connections between viral infections and neurodegenerative conditions in the study of around 450,000 people.

People treated for a type of inflammation of the brain called viral encephalitis were 31 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. (For every 406 viral encephalitis cases, 24 went on to develop Alzheimer's disease – around 6 percent.)

Those who were hospitalized with pneumonia after catching the flu seemed to be more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease, dementia, Parkinson's disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Intestinal infections and meningitis (both often caused by a virus), as well as the varicella-zoster virus, which causes shingles, were also implicated in the development of several neurodegenerative diseases.

The impact of viral infections on the brain persisted for up to 15 years in some cases. And there were no instances where exposure to viruses was protective.

Around 80 percent of the viruses implicated in brain diseases were considered 'neurotrophic', which means they could cross the blood-brain barrier.

"Strikingly, vaccines are currently available for some of these viruses, including influenza, shingles (varicella-zoster), and pneumonia," the researchers wrote in their paper published last year.

"Although vaccines do not prevent all cases of illness, they are known to dramatically reduce hospitalization rates. This evidence suggests that vaccination may mitigate some risk of developing neurodegenerative disease."

In 2022, a study of more than 10 million people linked the Epstein-Barr virus with a 32-fold increased risk of multiple sclerosis.

"After reading [this] study, we realized that for years scientists had been searching – one-by-one – for links between an individual neurodegenerative disorder and a specific virus," said senior author Michael Nalls, a neurogeneticist at the National Institute on Aging in the US.

"That's when we decided to try a different, more data science-based approach," he said. "By using medical records, we were able to systematically search for all possible links in one shot."

First, the researchers analyzed the medical records of around 35,000 Finns with six different types of neurodegenerative diseases and compared this against a group of 310,000 controls who did not have a brain disease.

This analysis yielded 45 links between viral exposure and neurodegenerative diseases, and this was narrowed down to 22 links in a subsequent analysis of 100,000 medical records from the UK Biobank.

While this retrospective observational study cannot demonstrate a causal link, it adds to the pile of research hinting at the role of viruses in Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.

"Neurodegenerative disorders are a collection of diseases for which there are very few effective treatments and many risk factors," said co-author Andrew Singleton, a neurogeneticist and Alzheimer's researcher and the director of the Center for Alzheimer's and Related Dementias.

"Our results support the idea that viral infections and related inflammation in the nervous system may be common – and possibly avoidable – risk factors for these types of disorders."

This study was published in Neuron.

Study link: www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(22)01147-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0896627322011473%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

[nightmaretour]

(Image descriptions are in alt text due to taking up most of the post and making people less likely to read and reblog, a fully screen reader friendly version can be found here: https://www.tumblr.com/nightmaretour/761524737363099648/this-is-the-fully-screen-reader-friendly-version)

With everything going on, it's easy to miss that September is sepsis awareness month. As a sepsis survivor myself, I feel a great responsibility to spread awareness of this greatly underestimated killer, in hopes that this information might help some of you to save a life in the future.

Sepsis is a disease that affects around 49 million people worldwide every year, and responsible for around 20% of all global deaths, claiming approximately 11 million lives per year. It's estimated that one person dies of sepsis every 2.8 seconds. Around half of those who survive sepsis are left with physical or cognitive disabilities for the rest of their lives. On top of that, it's the most vulnerable of us that are most likely to develop sepsis.

Despite being one of the global leading causes of death, very few people know much about sepsis or how to spot it, which is what makes it all the more deadly. Sepsis kills approximately 1 in 6 people who contract it, but spotted early, patients with sepsis are around half as likely to die as those who have been allowed to develop into the later stages.

Sepsis is always the result of an existing bacterial, viral, fungal or even parasitic infection, usually due to a serious infection such as pneumonia or meningitis, but it can also be caused by something as small as an infected papercut or bug bite. Almost half of all cases occur in children.

But most importantly, it's all about time. If you or someone you know is experiencing any symptoms that you suspect might be sepsis, get to a hospital. It's far better to be wrong and live than it is to be wrong and die. I sincerely hope that you will never have to use this information, but if you do, I hope that it will help you to save a life.

Sepsis is incredibly time sensitive, even a few hours could be the difference between life and death. If you spot any of the signs in yourself or someone else, do not delay. Seek emergency treatment immediately.

For more information, visit:

Worldsepsisday.org

Globalsepsisalliance.org

Sepsisresearch.org.uk

Sepsis.org

[whencyclopedia]

Discovery of Penicillin

The age of antibiotics began in September 1928, with the discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming (1881-1955), then a professor of bacteriology at St. Mary's Hospital in London. Previously there were no effective treatments against a range of bacterial infections from pneumonia to sepsis.

Penicillin became the basis for curing bacterial infections including smallpox, cholera, tuberculosis, scarlet fever, pneumonia, gonorrhea, meningitis, and diphtheria. Later antibiotics would form a class of medicines designed to combat, and cure, bacterial infections but also prevent the further growth of such infections.

Background

The use of fungi and molds, which contain antibacterial substances, to treat bacterial infections can be traced back to ancient cultures around the world, but these early attempts were unable to identify the component that provided the medicinal effect. Joseph Lister (1827-1912), an English surgeon and the "Father of antisepsis," recognized the antibacterial component of mold, but did not publish his findings. In the 1870s, Robert Koch (1843-1910), a German biologist, and Louis Pasteur (1825-1895) and Jules Francois Joubert (1834-1910), two French biologists, discovered the germ theory, which established that particular bacteria cause specific diseases. Additionally, they proved that the effects of introducing certain bacteria to various cultures inhibited the growth of more deadly bacteria.

The discovery of penicillin represented a turning point in medical history while Fleming would later be recognized by Time magazine as one of the most influential people of the 20th century:

When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928 I certainly didn't plan to revolutionize all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer. But I suppose that is exactly what I did.

Continue reading...

[herbs-and-poultices]

That pneumonia hit me pretty hard, but I am on the mend now. And I have, indeed, been taking notes 😉

Cmmon symptoms, treatment, etc can be found online from health organizations that actually know what they're talking about, so these are just going to be a few little things from my personal experience.

Feel free to use as inspiration in anything whump-related. Enjoy!

CW: irl illness and a bit of medical stuff

In general:

When they say it can come on fast, it can come on FAST. After a bit over a week with lingering cold symptoms and the occasional low-grade fever, my temperature went from normal (98.7F / 37C) to 102.4F / 39.1C in an hour, to 103.7F (39.8 C) in the urgent care half an hour after that. Fatigue, dizziness, and shortness of breath all hit all of a sudden about half an hour in.

I had lower left lobe pneumonia (inflammation in the lower part of my left lung) and for about 3 days I had what felt like a constant stitch in my left side, in my lower ribs, that hurt to lean against or lie on.

Breathing about halfway in felt fine. Breathing more deeply than that hurt and made my lower ribs and mid-back seize up.

I'm addition to being a lovely variety of colors, the gunk I coughed up tasted foul. Really bitter, in addition to about triple the usual clingy sickly taste of mucus. And it took a few minutes for the taste to go away.

In a chair, sitting straight up was alright, but it stretched my lower ribs and made it more tiring to breath deeply. Leaning forward elbows-on-knees was sometimes better. In a bed, lying flat made breathing a lot of work, even breathing shallowly; it felt like only the top 1/4 of my lungs was functional. Leaning back at an angle felt best. Any sort of turned/twisted position hurt and made my breathing shallower and more work.

Even after the congestion/inflammation in my lower lungs cleared out and I could breathe completely pain-free, my upper airway was pretty irritated. It felt like my trachea for a few inches above and below my sternal notch was made of tissue paper. Breathing into my lower ribs felt ok, but breathing into my upper chest felt tight and made me cough.

For a modern hospital setting:

Personally, how my IV felt was directly correlated with my fever, which went up and down several times. No fever, no pain as long as I didn't move that arm too much. Fever, and the whole inside of my elbow ached.

The nebulizer treatments made me feel like jumping out of my skin. Jittery, shaking, heart palpitations, heart rate up into the 120s (when it wasn't there already), for about three hours each time. My short-acting asthma inhaler gives me a little bit of that, so I wasn't completely thrown for a loop, but this was way more intense.

If you want to add in a little more hurt-to-help / it's-for-your-own-good, you might consider acquainting your character with an incentive spirometer (aka medical self-torture device). It's a benign-looking plastic apparatus that taunts you into taking painfully deep breaths, and then usually painfully coughing. I don't know what the standard is, but I was sentenced to 10x every hour.

[killed-by-choice]

Amber Thurman, 28 (USA 2022)

Amber with her beloved son

Georgia’s Pro-Life laws have reduced abortion and protected women. Amber Thurman, who died because of a legal abortion from out of state, is the only person in Georgia for years of records to die from septic shock from “retained products of conception.”

Amber, a healthy 28-year-old single mother, learned she was pregnant with twins in 2022. Scared for her stability and feeling unable to provide for them while attending nursing school, she and her friend Ricaria Baker scheduled a legal surgical abortion in North Carolina.

After leaving her son with a babysitter and making the long drive to another state, Amber and Ricaria were delayed by heavy traffic. They contacted the abortion facility only to find out that the facility had crammed in so many clients that they wouldn’t let her have more than a 15-minute delay or they would cancel her appointment. However, a facility worker gave Amber a “counseling session” and sold her the abortion pills. Tired from the journey and frustrated at the idea of making the long trip for a second time, Amber agreed. She took the first pill at the abortion facility on August 13. She was nine weeks pregnant.

Ricaria later told media that Amber wanted to get home before the abortion symptoms started. The two of them went home and Amber took the final dose.

Amber would soon learn that chemical abortion was not as safe or convenient as the facility claimed. She was in intense pain and bleeding much more heavily than she was led to expect. Her boyfriend called 911 after she vomited blood and lost consciousness.

At 6:51 P.M. on August 18, Amber was brought to Piedmont Henry Hospital in Stockbridge, Georgia. Her condition mirrored that of others killed by “safe and legal” use of the abortion pill. A pelvic exam and ultrasound indicated that the legal abortion left tissue inside of her, where it decayed and caused sepsis. Her blood pressure was dangerously low from bleeding, her white blood cell count was elevated, and while attempting to use the bathroom she fainted again and hit her head.

After assessing Amber’s condition, doctors started her on an IV drip and antibiotics to combat the sepsis, The OB-GYN who was caring for Amber noted the possibility of doing a D&C the next day. However, her condition badly deteriorated. By 5:14 the next morning, she was having trouble breathing and her blood pressure was still dangerous even after five liters of fluids. Realizing that Amber was even sicker than previously thought, her doctors continued to gather information and increased her antibiotics. They also tested for STDs that could potentially complicate treatment and for pneumonia, which can easily develop in patients with sepsis.

With her blood pressure so low, Amber’s doctors tried to save her by giving her Levophed. This was a powerful blood pressure support medication given because she desperately needed her blood pressure to be stabilized. But even with Levophed, Amber’s blood pressure kept falling. She was admitted to the ICU at 6:45 A.M.

By 7:15, doctors discussed a D&C. However, because of her critical condition and because of how the Levophed affected blood flow, surgery was very risky for Amber. Still, after a specialist in intensive care examined her, it was decided that the risk had to be taken.

In the OR, it was discovered that the sepsis was causing her organs to fail. Amber’s bowel needed to be removed, but because of how her blood flow was affected, it was too dangerous to do so. A surgeon carried out the D&C as planned, but the infection was so bad that Amber also had to have a hysterectomy. Despite the hospital’s efforts, Amber went into cardiac arrest during her surgery. A maternal mortality review noted that her death was preventable.

Once Amber’s case became publicly known, some pro-abortion sources tried to claim that the Georgia abortion ban was what actually killed her. They claimed that Georgia law had criminalized D&C so absolutely that doctors were limited in what they could do to save her life.

This is not true.

First, Amber’s twins were already dead. A procedure to remove a dead baby’s remains or other retained tissue is not medically or legally qualified as an abortion.

Second, the legal text of Georgia’s abortion ban clearly states that even if a treatment could be considered an abortion (which, again, does not apply to removing the remains of a corpse), it is unambiguously legal if needed to preserve the life or health of the mother. The text of the law allows doctors, not politicians, to have the final say in what qualifies. Legally, Amber’s doctors were allowed to give her a D&C at any time— which they did. The claims that the abortion ban forced the doctors to delay the D&C or criminalized it are unfounded. Even ProPublica themselves admitted that “Doctors and a nurse involved in Thurman’s care declined to explain their thinking and did not respond to questions from ProPublica.” In other words, they were only guessing what they thought might have been the motivation.

Amber’s D&C was also performed on the day it was planned. There was no refusal to treat her, and in fact even the article that attempts to paint her as a “victim” of abortion bans admits that surgery was dangerous at that point because of the blood pressure medication— the medication given because her legal abortion made her lose so much blood. Surgery may be delayed for extremely fragile patients, and seeing that multiple experts were being brought in to analyze her case and help the best they could, it is extremely likely that she did not receive surgery sooner because they thought it was more likely to kill than save her. This is especially relevant in a patient with respiratory distress, organ failure and extremely low blood pressure— surgery on someone with highly impacted blood flow poses risks of its own.

Lastly, there is no denying that Amber died from a legal abortion. She was not a criminal— she underwent something she was told was “safe and legal” and still died. The blame for her death rests on the abortion facility that packed in as many women as they could and then risked their lives.

It is also worth noting that in a case like this of abortion pill-induced sepsis, treatment can fail even when everything can be attempted. Given that she was already in severe sepsis when admitted to the hospital, even an immediate D&C (had she been stable enough for one) may have been too late. A similar case, the death of “Jayden Roe,” records an immediate D&C being done on a patient who was much less sick and still died.

But even if, hypothetically, Amber’s doctors delayed an aspect of her treatment needlessly, that would be their fault individually as practitioners, not the fault of a law that clearly allows them to use their own judgement and decide for themselves.

Although Amber was afraid of financial instability, she loved being a mother and frequently posted about how much she loved being with her young son— a son who lost his mother and two siblings to “safe and legal” abortion.

Since becoming publicly known, Amber’s death has been exploited by abortion supporters. All of the social media posts claiming that abortion bans killed her miss a very crucial fact: she died of complications of a fully legal abortion.

[hayatheauthor]

A Writer's Blueprint for Realistic Drowning Scenes

This guide is designed to help writers depict drowning scenes with authenticity and detail. I’ll walk you through the step-by-step process of drowning, the physical signs to look for and clear up some common misconceptions. With this information, you’ll have the tools to craft vivid, compelling, and believable drowning scenarios that will captivate your readers and add depth to your narrative.

Fair warning; this is a comprehensive and pretty explicit guide, so if you're uncomfortable with those topics, please just scroll away. 

The Stages of Drowning

1. Initial Entry

When a person first enters the water, especially unexpectedly, their initial reaction is often one of shock and panic. The sudden change in environment, temperature, and the feeling of being submerged triggers an immediate response from the body.

Shock Response

Cold Water Immersion: Sudden immersion in cold water can cause a cold shock response, which includes involuntary gasping, hyperventilation, and a rapid increase in heart rate and blood pressure.

Panic and Disorientation: The person may become disoriented and panic, struggling to stay afloat and breathe normally.

2. Involuntary Breath-Holding

As the person struggles to keep their head above water, they instinctively hold their breath to prevent water from entering their lungs.

Burning Sensation in Lungs

The buildup of carbon dioxide in the blood creates a burning sensation in the lungs, which intensifies the feeling of panic.

Increased Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

The body's stress response causes an increase in heart rate and blood pressure, further depleting oxygen reserves.

3. Uncontrolled Breathing

When the person can no longer hold their breath, the body's reflexes take over, leading to involuntary attempts to breathe.

Aspiration of Water

Water enters the mouth and is aspirated into the lungs, causing coughing, choking, and a strong gag reflex.

Coughing and Choking

The person may cough and choke as water enters the respiratory tract, leading to more panic and struggle.

Gasping for Air

The body's desperate attempt to get oxygen leads to gasping, but often results in inhaling more water.

4. Laryngospasm

The body's protective reflex to prevent water from entering the lungs can cause the vocal cords to spasm, temporarily sealing the airway.

Temporary Airway Closure

The laryngospasm closes the airway, preventing both water and air from entering the lungs.

Increased CO2 and Decreased O2

As carbon dioxide levels rise and oxygen levels fall, the person becomes increasingly hypoxic.

5. Loss of Consciousness

Due to the lack of oxygen, the person loses consciousness.

Hypoxia and Hypercapnia

Hypoxia (lack of oxygen) and hypercapnia (excess carbon dioxide) cause confusion, dizziness, and loss of motor control.

Fading Senses

Vision blurs, hearing diminishes, and the sense of touch becomes numb.

Blackout

The brain, deprived of oxygen, shuts down, leading to unconsciousness.

6. Cardiac Arrest

Prolonged oxygen deprivation leads to cardiac arrest, where the heart stops beating.

Cessation of Breathing

Respiratory effort ceases as the brain's control over breathing is lost.

Heart Stops Beating

The heart, deprived of oxygen, stops beating, leading to complete circulatory failure.

Brain Damage and Death

Without intervention, brain cells die from lack of oxygen, leading to permanent brain damage and eventually death.

7. Aftermath (if Rescued)

If the person is rescued and resuscitated, there are immediate and long-term consequences to consider.

Immediate Aftermath

CPR and First Aid: Immediate resuscitation efforts, including CPR and the use of a defibrillator if necessary.

Hospitalization: The person will likely need to be hospitalized for further treatment and monitoring.

Long-Term Effects

Lung Damage: Inhalation of water can cause damage to the lung tissues, leading to conditions like pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Neurological Damage: Prolonged lack of oxygen can result in brain damage, affecting cognitive and motor functions.

Psychological Impact: Survivors may experience PTSD, anxiety, and a lasting fear of water.

Physical Appearance During Drowning

1. Initial Entry

Shock Response

Wide Eyes and Gasping Mouth: Eyes are wide open, and the mouth is often open in a gasp or scream.

Flailing Limbs: Arms and legs are moving rapidly in an attempt to regain balance and stay afloat.

2. Involuntary Breath-Holding

Tensed Muscles

Rigid Body: Muscles are tensed, and the body may appear stiff as the person tries to maintain control.

Strained Facial Expression: The face may show strain, with furrowed brows and tightly closed eyes.

3. Uncontrolled Breathing

Coughing and Choking

Reddened Face and Eyes: The face may turn red from the effort of coughing and choking.

Foaming at the Mouth: A frothy mixture of saliva and water may be visible around the mouth.

Gasping for Air

Open Mouth and Wide Eyes: The mouth is open wide in an attempt to gasp for air, and the eyes may be bulging with fear.

Erratic Movements: The person’s movements become more erratic and uncoordinated as they struggle to breathe.

4. Laryngospasm

Silent Struggle

Mouth Opening and Closing: The person may appear to be gasping silently as the airway is temporarily sealed.

Clenching Throat: Hands may instinctively clutch at the throat in a futile attempt to open the airway.

5. Loss of Consciousness

Limp Body

Floating Limply: The body becomes limp and may float face down or sink slightly below the surface.

Pale or Blue Skin: Skin may turn pale or blue (cyanosis) due to lack of oxygen.

Relaxed Facial Features

Closed Eyes: Eyes close as the person loses consciousness.

Slack Jaw: The jaw may go slack, and the mouth could be partially open.

6. Cardiac Arrest

Unconsciousness

Still Body: The body is completely still, with no voluntary movements.

Gray or Blue Skin: Skin color becomes ashen, gray, or blue, particularly around the lips and extremities.

7. After Drowning (Post-Rescue Appearance)

If the person is rescued, their appearance post-drowning can indicate the extent of their ordeal and the immediate aftermath.

Immediate Aftermath

Waterlogged Clothing: Clothes may be heavy and waterlogged, clinging to the body.

Coughing and Vomiting: The person may cough up water or vomit as they are resuscitated.

Shivering: If the water was cold, the person might be shivering uncontrollably due to hypothermia.

Long-Term Appearance

Bruising and Cuts: There may be bruises or cuts from the struggle in the water or the rescue process.

Pale or Blue Skin: Skin color might still show signs of cyanosis if oxygen levels are low.

Labored Breathing: Breathing may remain labored and shallow as the lungs recover.

Ways to Drown

Being Tied Down with a Stone

An ancient method where a person is weighted down with a heavy object, preventing them from surfacing.

Pulled Under by a Strong Current

Strong currents or rip tides can overpower a swimmer, pulling them away from safety and making it difficult to stay afloat.

Trapped Under a Capsized Boat

In the event of a boat capsizing, a person can become trapped underneath, unable to reach the surface for air.

Caught in Underwater Vegetation

Dense underwater plants can entangle a swimmer, restricting their movements and preventing them from surfacing.

Unable to Swim in Deep Water

Lack of swimming skills or fatigue in deep water can lead to drowning if the person cannot keep themselves afloat.

Falling Through Ice

Falling through thin ice can trap a person in freezing water, with the ice making it difficult to find an exit.

Getting Caught in a Riptide

A riptide can drag a swimmer out to sea, making it hard to swim back to shore due to the strong current.

Swimming Exhaustion

Overexertion while swimming can lead to exhaustion, making it impossible to continue treading water or swimming to safety.

Diving Accident

A diving mishap, such as hitting one’s head or getting disoriented underwater, can result in drowning.

Shipwreck

In a shipwreck scenario, a person may be stranded in open water, facing potential drowning due to exhaustion, exposure, or lack of flotation devices.

Common Misconceptions About Drowning

1. Drowning is Always Loud and Dramatic

Many people believe that drowning involves a lot of splashing, shouting, and waving for help. In reality, drowning is often a silent and quick event.

Instinctive Drowning Response: When a person is drowning, their body prioritizes breathing over waving or shouting. The struggle to get air means they can’t call for help.

Quiet Struggle: Drowning individuals might be bobbing up and down, with their mouths at water level, making little noise as they gasp for air.

2. People Always Recognize Drowning

It's a common belief that drowning is easily recognizable. However, many drownings go unnoticed until it’s too late.

Subtle Signs: Drowning can look like someone treading water or trying to swim. Signs can be subtle, such as bobbing up and down, head tilted back with mouth open, or eyes glassy and empty.

Misinterpreted Behaviors: Bystanders might mistake a drowning person for someone playing or simply floating.

3. Only Weak Swimmers Drown

Many assume that only those who can’t swim well are at risk of drowning, but even strong swimmers can drown under certain conditions.

Fatigue and Cramps: Strong swimmers can become exhausted, suffer from cramps, or panic, leading to drowning.

Environmental Factors: Strong currents, cold water, and underwater hazards can overwhelm even the best swimmers.

4. Drowning Happens Immediately

There’s a misconception that drowning happens instantly. While it can be quick, it often takes a few minutes for a person to drown.

Struggling Phase: The initial struggle can last for 20-60 seconds, during which the person is trying to stay afloat and breathe.

Silent Submersion: After this, they may silently submerge, often unnoticed.

5. Drowning Only Happens in Deep Water

Many people think that drowning only occurs in deep water. However, shallow water can be just as dangerous.

Shallow Water Drowning: Drowning can occur in as little as a few inches of water, especially with young children or if someone is unconscious.

Bathtubs and Pools: Many drownings occur in bathtubs, kiddie pools, or even buckets.

6. Life Jackets Are Only Needed on Boats

It's commonly believed that life jackets are only necessary when boating, but they are crucial in many other water-related activities.

Swimming and Water Sports: Life jackets provide essential buoyancy and can save lives in swimming pools, lakes, rivers, and during water sports.

Unexpected Situations: Wearing a life jacket can prevent drowning in unexpected situations, like sudden falls into water.

7. People Float After Drowning

A prevalent myth is that drowning victims float on the surface after they die, but this is not always the case.

Initial Sinking: Initially, a drowned body may sink due to the density of the tissues and lack of air in the lungs.

Later Floating: Bodies often float later due to gas buildup from decomposition, but this can take days.

8. Drowning Victims Always Look Distressed

People often think that drowning victims will look distressed or visibly in danger, but many can appear calm and quiet.

Passive Drowning: Drowning individuals may appear to be calmly treading water or just floating.

Lack of Visible Struggle: There may be no visible struggle, making it hard to identify the danger.

9. CPR is Ineffective After Drowning

Some believe that once a person has drowned, CPR cannot help. However, immediate CPR can be life-saving.

Restarting Breathing: CPR can help restart the victim’s breathing and circulation, buying crucial time until emergency services arrive.

Rescue Breathing: Effective rescue breathing can oxygenate the lungs and increase the chances of revival.

Resources

Books

"The Science of Drowning" by Sports Aid Intl

“It offers a significant departure from how drowning is traditionally treated by combining discussions about medical, prevention, and intervention issues.”

Link

"The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea" by Sebastian Junger

A gripping account of the 1991 storm that hit the North Atlantic and the fishermen caught in its deadly grip, providing insights into the perilous nature of the sea and drowning.

Link

Articles

"Drowning vs Aquatic Distress" by Crunderwood

An article detailing the science of drowning + some interesting points.

Link to article

"Drowning Victim" by SLRG

How to identify a drowning person besides the typical flailing. 

Link to article

"Drowning Treatment" by WebMD

Guidelines and tips for healing/treating a drowning person.

Link to article

Websites

American Red Cross: Water Safety Tips

Provides extensive information on water safety, drowning prevention, and emergency response.

Link to website

National Drowning Prevention Alliance

A dedicated organization focused on preventing drowning through education, research, and advocacy.

Link to website

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Drowning Prevention

Offers statistics, prevention strategies, and safety tips to reduce the risk of drowning.

Link to website

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Quillology with Haya Sameer; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors! While you’re at it, don’t forget to head over to my TikTok and Instagram profiles @hayatheauthor to learn more about my WIP and writing journey! 

[btsficsandsuch]

Hey ,hope you are doing okay. I wanted to request a taehyung × reader where she gets hurt or something when he was on tour but she tries to hide it from her but he finds out eventually. angsty with happy ending

Here you go. I hope you like it!!

I’m Alway Worried About You

This is not how you planned your Tuesday night going. Thankfully the emergency room wasn’t too packed and they were able to get you seen pretty quickly. “Okay Y/N. It seems you have a bad case of pneumonia. Everything will be okay and you’ll make a full recovery but we do want to keep you for the next 24 hours to give you some breathing treatments and make sure it doesn’t get any worse.”, the doctor advises you. You simply nod your head in agreement and watch as we walks out the door.

“You should really call Taehyung and let him know what’s going on.”, your best friend speaks up. “No I can’t do that. He’s on tour and he’ll freak out. He’ll be on the next plane back.”, you say shanking your head. She laughs, “And that would be a bad thing why? It’s obvious he loves you.” “I know he does but he’s already given up so much for me. I don’t want him to get in trouble. Plus the doctor said I’ll be fine so there’s no reason he ever has to find out about this.”, you reply. After convincing your friend that you’d be okay and didn’t need her to spend the night you said goodbye and settled in for the night.

The following morning you woke up extremely tired and with a massive headache. When the doctor told you that you’d be getting breathing treatments you didn’t think he meant every hour. You just finished yet another treatment when your phone started vibrating on the table next to you. Checking the screen you saw Taehyungs name flashing. You’d already ignored two of his calls so you knew if you did it a third time he’d have someone looking for you so you had no choice but to answer.

“Hello”

“There you are Y/N! I was getting worried.”

“I’m sorry Tae. I was in the shower.”

“It’s okay. How are you? I miss you so much!”

“Aww babe I miss you too! How much longer until you get back?”

“Umm like two weeks.”

“Oh that’s not too ba-“

You’re cut off before you can finish. “Here you go Miss. These are your discharge papers. The dr will be in shortly to give your lungs one final listen.”, the nurse says before turning and walking away. You’re glad they weren’t currently checking your blood pressure because the machine definitely would’ve blown up. You were praying Taehyung didn’t hear that but before you even continue he asks,

“Discharge papers and doctor? Y/N are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine Tae. It was in the drama I’m watching on tv. The female lead was in the hospital.”, you said hoping he buys the lie.

“Alright. Well I have to get going. I’ll talk to you later. I love you Y/N.”

“I love you too Tae. Be safe! Tell the boys I say hi.”

After the call ended you let out a long sigh thankful that he didn’t ask any more questions. The doctor came in shortly after and checked your breathing. He said you still sounded a little sick but much better than yesterday. He gave you a prescription for an inhaler to use if you felt like your breathing was getting worse and signed off on your discharge. Your best friend was waiting in the lobby to take you home.

The next couple weeks went by fast. Every day you felt a little stronger and you only had to use the inhaler twice. Today was an exciting day because Taehyung was finally coming home after being gone for the last couple months. As soon as he walked in the door you ran and jumped into his arms, “I missed you so much Tae.” He spun you around the living room before giving you a kiss, “I missed you too Y/N.”

After spending some time catching up you both realize that you’re starving and decide to check out a new restaurant that just opened up. The meal was great. Taehyung told you all about the tour. He showed you all of the pictures and videos he took. You couldn’t stop the smile that was on your face. As the two of you made your way back home you held his hand close, just happy that he was finally there. You both walked from the car over to the elevator ready to get upstairs and cuddle and watch the newest drama everyone keeps talking about. You went to press the button on the elevator when you noticed a big yellow sign taped to the doors ‘Out Of Service. Please Take the Stairs. Sorry For The Inconvenience’.

Taehyung scoffs next to you, “For how much we pay to live here you’d think they could keep everything in working order.” You nod in agreement but have no choice but to take the stairs. Luckily your apartment is only on the fifth floor but it’s still quite a few stairs to take. With each staircase it gets harder and harder to breathe. Taehyung notices, “Are you okay Y/? We can take a break.” You shake your head, “No this is just a reminder that I have to start working out more.” The two of you continue up and finally reach your floor. You never thought you’d be so happy to see the tacky green carpet of the hallway leading to your apartment.

Now it seems that with each step your lungs are getting weaker and weaker. Sure you’re not the most physically fit person but you’ve never been this exhausted before. Then you remembered how the doctor told you that your lungs could be weaker for the next couple months as they fully recover from the pneumonia and that’s why he gave you the inhaler. You had stuffed the inhaler in the back of your nightstand drawer thinking you’d never need it again and wanted to make sure Taehyung never found it.

“Y/N are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look that good.”, he says pushing open the door to your apartment. You try to respond but realize you don’t have enough breath in your lungs to speak. You start to panic and begin pointing at your chest. “What’s wrong? Do I need to call for an ambulance? Y/N, try to breathe.”, he says clearly upset. Still unable to speak you start briskly walking back to your bedroom, Taehyung following close behind. Once you get to your nightstand you start pulling out item after item throwing them on the floor until you get to what you’re looking for. The navy blue inhaler. Quickly you follow the directions and push down inhaling the medicine and holding your breath. You Wait 10 seconds and do it again. After another 10 seconds you take one more inhale. Closing your eyes you sit on the bed and wait for the medicine to take effect.

Thankfully it only takes a couple minutes for the medicine to start working and slowly you can feel your lungs taking in more air. When you finally open your eyes you search for Taehyung and see him standing in front of you with wide eyes. “Y/N, what’s going on? We’ve been together for five years and you never told me you had asthma and I’ve never seen you use an inhaler.”, he asks with hints of fear and anger in his voice.

Taking another deep breath you grab his hand and pull him next to you. You decide it’s best to come clean. “I don’t have asthma. A few weeks ago I was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. They gave me this inhaler but I didn’t think I’d need it so I didn’t bring it and I’ve been feeling much better but I think taking all of those stairs overworked my lungs. I’m sorry if I scared you.”, you said unable to look at him. “Of course you scared me Y/N. I thought you were dying. Why didn’t you tell me you were in the hospital? That’s not fair to keep something like that from me.”, he said trying but failing to hide the anger in his voice. “I’m sorry Tae. The doctor said I was going to be fine. If it was something serious I would’ve called you. I just didn’t want you to worry about me.”, you said squeezing his hand.

Taehyung lifted your chin so you were looking at him, “Y/N, I’m always worried about you when I’m not with you. I worry if you’re safe, if you’re healthy, if you’re happy, if you’re eating and sleeping well. Just like you’re always worried about me. If something happens and I’m not here I need to know about it. Even if it’s a paper cut you got while opening the mail. Even if I’m on the other side of the world. Promise me if something ever happens again you will call me, no matter what.” You nod and kiss his cheek, “I promise. I’m sorry.”

He gives you a big boxy smile, “Good. Now let’s clean up and then meet me on the couch. We’ve got a whole drama to binge watch in one night so we better get started.” You laugh and begin placing things back in the drawer except for the blue inhaler you can’t seem to find anywhere. Panic sets in until you see Taehyung in the living room holding the inhaler and talking on the phone. You bite your lip trying to hide the smile that forms as you hear him say, “Yes the prescription is for Mrs.Y/N Kim. I was wondering what would be needed to be able to get enough of these inhalers to put one in every room of the house and to have one on me at all times.” You laugh at his concern. You know they’d never give you enough to do that but for the time being you’ll let him have this moment and you feel your heart swell at how much he loves and cares about you.

[woso-fan13]

Sicktember 2023: 18 (USWNT)

“Wear Your Coat, You’ll Catch a Cold”

It’s funny, really, how a refusal to admit a minor mistake can change everything. Because you had gotten cold during the team walk, but you couldn’t admit that. Everyone had warned you that it was freezing out, but you had insisted that you were okay in just a sweatshirt. 

Christen had fussed at you as soon as you appeared in the lobby, “why are you in just a sweatshirt? Wear your coat, you’ll catch a cold.”

You instantly corrected her, saying that being cold doesn’t cause you to get sick. You did omit the fact that being cold can significantly increase your risk of getting sick, but she didn’t need to know that. You just protested, saying that you would be fine. 

And if only one person had said something, you may have admitted to needing a coat when you stepped outside. But almost every one of your teammates had stopped you, asking about your lack of a coat. You couldn’t admit to being cold now, you just had to pretend to be fine. 

Really, though, maybe none of this has anything to do with not wearing your jacket that day. Maybe everything would have still happened the exact same way if you had worn the heaviest jacket you could find. There was no way to know now. 

You were grateful that camp had ended the day after the fateful walk, as you were able to make it home and hide from your teammates before you got sick. It wasn’t bad in the beginning, a basic cold. 

But you couldn’t admit to being sick, and you couldn’t explain to your teammates that you had become deconditioned because you didn’t practice while you were sick, so you ignored it. You ignored it until your symptoms progressed so far that you couldn’t ignore it any further. 

You had, it appears, ignored your symptoms so well that you didn’t notice your cold turn into pneumonia. You also didn’t notice this infection leach into your bloodstream. You didn’t really notice anything until you were admitted to the hospital for septic shock. 

So you stayed, alone, fielding every form of communication from your teammates besides text messages. You couldn’t answer any calls or video messages, in case they notice your surroundings. You simply texted them updates as if everything were fine at home. 

Your teammates were unaware as your kidneys failed. They got a little mad that you hadn’t responded to any text messages, unaware that you were fighting for your life in the hospital. 

They only became aware when Christen’s cell phone rang in the middle of the night, an unknown number. She almost didn’t answer, but something in her gut told her it was important. 

It was. He was calling to inform her that your condition had progressed to the point of you needing to be intubated, and, as your medical contact, they needed her consent for various treatments because you were unable to. 

Christen was, ironically, shocked. She woke Tobin quickly, explaining what the voice over the phone had told her. And, only then, she allowed herself to cry. 

She cried for the little girl that she thought of as a daughter. She cried for the little girl who had made her a medical contact without her knowledge. She had cried for the little girl who felt too scared to tell her that she was the closest thing to family that she had. 

She cried for the little girl, alone in the hospital, machines keeping her body alive. 

And she cried when the earliest flight wasn’t for 3 hours. 

—-

The news spread quickly through the team, and, thus, through the whole NWSL. Within the hour, it seemed that everyone knew that the funny, constantly happy young player who had wormed her way into everyone’s hearts was currently in the hospital, her own heart working to keep her alive. 

6 hours- a quarter of a day- later, Christen and Tobin rushed into your hospital room. This time, it was Tobin who broke down, crying for her surrogate daughter. 

—-

And the only thing that the two could do was sit and wait and pray to whoever may be listening that you would be okay. 

This time, they had to wait 3 days until the next change, as the doctors began weaning you off of your sedation, seeing if you would wake up. 

This time, it was 6 days before your eyes were opened and you were breathing on your own. You were still very out of it, but the presence of the two women comforted you and allowed you to rest. 

One week after Christen received that awful phone call, she was making a different phone call. She held the phone steady as familiar faces joined the call, your teammates anxiously waiting for Christen to update them. 

One week after Christen received that awful phone call, she sat on the edge of the hospital bed and tilted her phone screen. 

One week after Christen received that awful phone call, she couldn’t help but smile as she watched the relief wash over her teammates when you appeared on the screen. 

You were awake and sitting up. You were smiling and talking and alive. 

Two weeks after Christen received that awful phone call, you were walking out of the hospital tucked between Christen and Tobin. Your coat was on and tightly zipped. 

[straight-from-gaza]

Fadi Alzant, a 6-year-old from Gaza has endured months of inadequate nutritional and medical care for his Cystic Fibrosis. Stranded in Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, his chronic condition steadily worsened with each passing day leaving him acutely malnourished and suffering from pneumonia.

Fortunately, Fadi's situation took a turn for the better when PCRF's Treatment Abroad Team, Fadi was first evacuated from the north of Gaza to the South of Gaza by our team. Once he was in the south of Gaza with PCRF's team on the ground, we were able to facilitate his evacuation to Egypt, where he received immediate care to stabilize his condition. Once he was deemed fit to travel, Fadi was transported to the USA with his mother where he will finally receive the comprehensive treatment he desperately needs. This journey marks a beacon of hope for Fadi and his family, offering a chance at a brighter and healthier future.

(Source: eye on Palestine)

Reported on may 5th at 15:36 MST

[hollybrooke]

Excerpt from Steve vs the World with cool enderman anatomy

[one of my fav scenes to write hehe]

“I'm leaving now. Have fun with the rest of this exam Nightingale. Fair warning, this one throws punches,” Steve snipped with a bitter expression.

Nightingale lifted his intense gaze from his patient`s wounds and his face morphed into something akin of ill masked panic. Steve turned on his heel towards the exit but came to face with a woman knocking at the slightly opened door. He startled at the intrusion.

A drowned nurse with a neat braid and powder blue scrubs presented a sheet of paper to the phantom with a green hand. “Doctor Nightingale, the blood panel came back for this patient.”

The doctor promptly stood and crossed the room. “Steve, stay,” he ordered as he passed the indignant human frozen from almost bumping into a member of the hospital staff.

“Nightingale, are you serious?” Steve murmured to him in frustration.

He placed a hand on Steve`s shoulder and leaned into his ear. “I have an idea but I need you to stay put,” he whispered.

Atticus blinked rapidly. He seemed to be recovering from the shock.

“You took my blood?” Atticus incriminated after recovering from the revelation that he had yet again been violated in the eyes of medicine and the law. He struggled to sit up again with a scowl. He didn’t get very far.

The night doctor accepted the document and scanned the report. “Not the only samples I took. Been checking your blood oxygen content regularly and we took radiographs shortly after you arrived, found a cracked rib, nothing too severe so don’t you worry about that, and then signs of acute pneumonia which is pretty common in endermen experiencing humid climates or rain for the first time. It's nothing we can’t treat. I’ve already started you on oxygen, which you are going back on, by the way.” The doctor pointed at the respiration machine and its face mask. He continued to study the pages.

Atticus seemed…overwhelmed, but Nightingale didn't let this cease his medical jargon rambling.

“We've started you on an antibiotic via IV so your lungs should be free and clear of fluid soon. The antibiotic is called azithromycin and we have you on a pretty hefty dose so don't be alarmed if you start to experience nausea, G.I. upset, loss of appetite, headaches, or dizziness. These are all normal side effects, but just let me know if they happen. This med can be pretty heavy on the body but it's better than going septic so we're gonna cut our losses, yeah?” the doctor rambled at the downed soldier trapped in the confines of his temporary bed.

Atticus looked horrified at the unknown treatments. “What’s a radiograph?”

Nightingale ceased his scrutinizing of the results to address the room once more. He nodded and began to take a more gentle approach to his explanation.

“Right, new to the overworld, I always forget our improvements in modern medicine are a bit more, shall we say advanced? Then the End or Nether. In short, our redstone engineers and leading researchers, I was on the team actually, created an ‘X-Ray’ machine that generates electromagnetic radiation and channels it through the body to create an image. Essentially, it helps us see what’s inside of you without having to cut you open to find out. Just the wonders of devoting research into its practical applications as opposed to a war effort I suppose. And very helpful for your diagnosis might I add,” the doctor spoke animatedly with his hands. He returned his gaze back to the paper to further interpret the findings.

“And you did that to me?” Atticus’ eyes were wide with distress and his mouth hung open. The enderman was panting. He was hyperventilating. Steve recoiled at the pitiful sight. He kinda felt for the guy. Probably because once upon a time he was in the same boat, a terrified patient of Dr. Nightingale’s in an unfamiliar city with an uncertain future.

“Oh relax,” Nightingale dismissed his anxieties with a nonchalant wave of his hand.

He flipped through the pages and scanned the data. He hummed at random intervals. Nightingale clicked his tongue as he traced a finger down the paper to follow each of the levels printed on the page. His finger paused at a number and the clicking ceased. He looked solemn.

“Low CBC,” Nightingale enunciated. He tapped the page with the pen several times. He was stalling.

The doctor looked up at the enderman, making eye contact with the respirator next to his head instead of his eyes. “I had a hunch.”

“And?” Atticus pressed through his unsteady breaths.

“I was debriefed by the proper authorities when you were taken into custody and I was informed I would be treating you,” the doctor began apprehensively, “each account said that one of the enderman, I’m referring to you, by the way, didn’t teleport out of harm's way. Your results indicate cytopenia, low CBC if you will.” Nightingale chose his next words with utmost care.

“An Enderman’s cardiovascular system, unlike other species, contains an extra organ. Their ender pearl is connected to their heart by an extra vein stemming from their superior vena cava.” The doctor pointed a finger at his own chest in a demonstration. “The pearl is responsible for much of the enderman’s hematopoiesis instead of relying on bone marrow. It’s also responsible for an enderman’s ability to teleport via a blood process where the blood cells go through a semipermeable membrane to the outside of their skin, then evaporate, except this happens at light speed. Similar to osmosis in other species with water but in enderman we get something similar with their blood, and this is the fun part, this quick process of moving blood cells from one place to another triggers a quantum reaction.”

Nightingale snapped his fingers. He was getting more excited with each sentence. It was candid that Nightingale was passionate about his work. He loved spilling science lessons into a room and always has. The phantom continued his ramble, “hence, the ability to teleport. With your pearl being damaged, your body is being deprived of blood cells and your cardiovascular system can’t function without that pearl being in tip-top shape. This explains why you’ve been experiencing fatigue, headaches, lightheadedness… But it also explained why you didn’t teleport. You couldn’t.”

Doctor Nightingale pushed his glasses up with his pointer finger then tapped the ballpoint pen onto the stack of papers again. “Science,” he added proudly.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved on our archive

Do you have $32,000 for covid treatment? Neither did Nannette, and now her whole family is paying the price for her covid hospitalization. This is why we must mask up: You may be able to afford that cost, but you are just as likely to spread covid to dozens who cannot if you refuse to take precautions, especially when ill.

By Noah Zahn

CHEYENNE — When Nannette Hernandez got COVID in 2021, she didn’t realize how long it would take to recover. Although she was released from the hospital after only a few days of care, she is still suffering from the financial burden that has led to the loss of her job and her home.

At 45 years old, Hernandez and her son, 26, moved in with her mother when she lost her home. The three of them now live together in a mobile home south of Cheyenne. The walls and tabletops are decorated with photos of family members, many of the frames containing photos of her three grandchildren.

Papers were strewn across the coffee table in the living room: bills from the hospital, letters to the hospital, research on how to get financial assistance, one letter denying financial assistance.

Although Hernandez says she tries to keep a positive attitude, her smile faded when she said she often feels hopeless as her debt continues to grow and she is considering filing for bankruptcy.

“They garnish my wages every week, and I owe them more now today than what the judgment was for, and that’s all due to the interest,” Hernandez said. “I’m never going to get through this, you know.” Toys are neatly put away in a corner of the room, behind the couch, for when her grandchildren come to visit on her days off work.

Hernandez has a new job and has health insurance. In addition, she contributes a portion of her wages to life insurance. She said she does this so that she at least has something she can pass on to her family.

Before interest, Hernandez’s bill from Cheyenne Regional Medical Center was around $32,000 after three days of care for COVID and related pneumonia and reduced to $22,000 because she was paying uninsured and out-of-pocket. Between garnished wages and paying for insurance, Hernandez says she only sees at most $12 of her $17.30 per hour wage from working at a deli in a truck stop.

Hernandez said she now suffers from depression as a result of the stress caused by her medical debt. It is difficult for her to work full 40-hour weeks at her job.

However, her smile returned as she talked about how she gets to spend time with her grandchildren, aged 2, 4 and 8, on her days off.

“They’re my light. Oh, they’re wonderful,” she said. “… I stay happy. I don’t let it give me misery, that’s one thing. I might carry it, and I might be right here, always talking about it, but very blessed, very happy, though, still, no matter what.”

Available funding The Provider Relief Fund (PRF) was established in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to reimburse eligible health care providers for increased expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID care.

A companion fund to the PRF is the Uninsured Funds, which made $10 billion available nationally to reimburse providers for treatment, vaccines and vaccine administration costs for care provided to uninsured individuals.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, CRMC received $3,145,097 in Uninsured Funds for COVID treatment, accounting for nearly 30% of the Uninsured Funds received by care providers across the state. It is unclear whether these funds were what reduced Hernandez’s bill from $32,000 to $22,000. Her itemized bill notes the reduction as a discount for “self-pay, uninsured.”

Hernandez received her $22,000 bill shortly after she was released from the hospital and was summoned to court when she did not make payments. She did not appear in court, as she said she felt hopeless and afraid and knew she would be unable to pay. As a result, the court ordered the hospital to garnish 25% of her wages and any argument she had that the government should have assisted her financially was nullified.

After her hospitalization, Hernandez was forced to leave her job of 10 years, where she worked as a waitress, and was unable to work for three months while she stayed at home and was on oxygen 24 hours per day, due to COVID complications.

“I would like to see if they could reverse this, it’s not that I didn’t seek assistance. Now I’ll never get out of this, I’m never going to get out of this,” she said. “It started at $32,000. I’ve been paying on that this whole time. I had started working, they started garnishing right away. I owe them more now. What am I paying for? What am I working for?”

Additionally, Hernandez said she applied for and was denied CRMC’s financial assistance program. According to CRMC’s policy summary, CRMC determines whether patients qualify for financial assistance based on their income and household size compared to the Federal Poverty Guidelines from the HHS. In 2021, those guidelines stipulate that the threshold for a one-person household is $12,880 annual income.

“If being an uninsured waitress making $350 a week doesn’t qualify a person for financial assistance under your hospital’s charity policy, I’d like to know what does,” Hernandez wrote in an email to CRMC officials.

Hernandez sent this email to CRMC, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Wyoming government officials. In nearly two months, she only got a response from CMS, which informed her it never received an application submitted on her behalf for Wyoming Medicaid and she was not on Medicaid at that time.

Hernandez: “The prices, they’re outrageous”

In this letter, she also claims she was overcharged. On her itemized bill, she was charged $2,124.20 per 100 mg vial of Remdesivir. Gilead Sciences, the drug’s manufacturer, set the price of Remdesivir at $390 per vial for uninsured patients. Hernandez was charged for five vials for a total of $10,621 instead of what would have been $1,950 for five vials directly from the manufacturer.

Hernandez was charged $8.01 for each 20 mg tablet of famotidine, an acid reducer. This medication is commonly available over the counter and a pack of 225 20 mg tablets is available on Amazon for just under $9, equivalent to about $0.04 per tablet. At this rate, CRMC’s price for the medication is 19,825% higher than what can be purchased in store or online.

CRMC charged her the same price for each 100 mg tablet of thiamine mononitrate, more commonly known as a B1 vitamin. These can also be purchased in the pharmacy section of most grocery stores. A pack of 100 tablets can be found for $7, or $0.07 per tablet, more than 114 times less than the hospital’s price.

It is common for hospitals to charge more for medications, even if it can be purchased at a CVS or Walgreens, for charges associated with administering the drug to the patient. This may include factors like the doctor’s prescription, the pharmacy charge to fill the order, the transportation of the drug from the pharmacy to the medication unit, administration of the medication from the registered nurse to the patient and documentation that the correct medication was administered on the patient’s record.

However, Hernandez believes an 11,343% upcharge for a B1 vitamin may be a bit too much.

When she initially went to urgent care and got an X-ray scan, she was told to go to the emergency room immediately, and the providers at the urgent care said it was a matter of life or death. Without financial assistance or price transparency as her bills continued to grow, Hernandez felt disenfranchised and marginalized and is now fearful of the system that is supposed to provide care for her and the community. She said she is now afraid to ever get sick again.

“I feel it’s unjust. I should not be living every day with a heavy burden like this,” Hernandez said. “… I’m sure I’m not the only person this has happened to. I know there has to be so many more.”

Price transparency In 2022, the White House reported that one-in-three adults in the United States — nearly 100 million people — have medical debt. It is now the largest source of debt in collections — more than credit cards, utilities and auto loans combined. Data from the 2020 U.S. Census also found that Black and Hispanic households are more likely to hold medical debt than white households.

The U.S. spent 17.8% of gross domestic product on health care in 2021, nearly twice as much as the average economically developed country. However, the Peterson-KFF life expectancy tracker shows that the average American lifespan is nearly five years lower than those in the comparable country average and was about the same in 2022 as it was in 2004, while most other comparable countries’ life expectancies have increased since then.

Marni Carey is the president of Power to the Patients, a nonprofit organization advocating patients’ rights to upfront price transparency from hospitals.

“I get letters every day from people who are fighting medical debt, burdensome medical debt,” Carey said. “… It’s just a horrible place to be driven to. And if hospitals could tell patients in advance what their financial responsibility is, or if patients could look online and see what the cost of care is, they could choose providers that were affordable to them and competition could enter the marketplace and Tylenols wouldn’t be $80, they would be $5. That’s why we need transparency, so patients can have financial certainty when they go into the medical system.”

A February 2024 report from Patient Rights Advocate, a nonprofit advocating systemwide health care price transparency, found that nearly two-thirds of American hospitals were not compliant with the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule, which took effect in January 2021, including CRMC. This legislation requires hospitals to make their prices publicly available and easily accessible online to help patients understand the cost of care before they receive it.

According to the report, CRMC is compliant with all transparency rules except for negotiated rates, which Patient Rights Advocate measured by whether the hospital posted the charge that the hospital has negotiated with a third-party payer for an item or service. They found CRMC lists 89% of its negotiated rates as “N/A.”

“I couldn’t go into the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center machine readable files and find out if (Hernandez’s) bill was at all correct, because the hospital doesn’t have that, they don’t comply,” Carey said.

CRMC officials declined to comment on this story, citing patient privacy.

“For privacy reasons, we can’t disclose patient medical treatment or billing details. We recently received a letter from Ms. Hernandez and we will review the medical and billing records and provide a response,” CRMC told the WTE in a statement. “As a general matter, please note that sending a bill to a collections agency and potentially sending an unpaid bill through a court process are last resorts, used only when someone does not respond to offers of financial assistance, billing statements and phone calls.”

At the time of publication, Hernandez said she has yet to receive a response from CRMC and never got any offer of financial assistance. The only correspondence she has received after her release from the hospital has been her bills and a letter stating she did not qualify for the hospital’s charitable care program.

No savings left Hernandez said she believes she would have been in a better situation now if she had more savings before she got COVID more than three years ago. She said she did have savings, but she had to burn through those savings when her father, who lived in California, passed and her grandmother, also in California, passed a month later. Between several trips to California and multiple funeral services, she said she had little savings remaining when she got sick.

“My dad’s burial cost took all my savings, everything, because I just wanted my dad to lay in peace, you know, I wanted to bury my father, and that took all my savings,” she said.

“It’s just like a train of events, such an unfortunate train of events in life that people go through. Everybody goes through it, and that was mine. I said, ‘Man, if I would have had all that money held just a little bit longer, I would not be in this right now.’”