#save a diabetic foot

[myacare]

Worldwide Statistics from the American Diabetes Association state that a person loses a limb due to diabetes-related complications every 30 seconds. According to a 2019 Statista report, Germany had the highest prevalence of diabetes in Europe among their adult population with 15.3 percent living with diabetes. Furthermore, it is estimated that about 15% of seven million people with diabetes mellitus in Germany suffer from Diabetic Foot Syndrome (DFS). Alarmingly, studies reveal that almost 50% of patients with Diabetic Foot Syndrome (DFS) have had major or minor amputations.

[cripplecharacters]

Alright, I'm just gonna bite the bullet. Worst that can happen is I make a fool of myself. I've been working on superhero stories, versions of the same universe since I was in 8th grade and what I want more than anything is to modernize superheroes, create a world where they act for all people's social good and take representation to the highest level I can think of. From your position of expertise, what can I do with the creation of disabled characters that would buck the trend, do some good, and show a good side. The non-prosthetic and non-corrected for disability rep in the genre is basically nil, I have no ideas and nothing to draw on. I guess I just wanna know what disabled audiences might like to see for once in their lives.

Hello!

Disabled superheroes are awesome. There's really few of them but the ones that we do have are often really important to us - you can look at the reactions to Sun-Spider being first introduced to the Spiderverse, back then I couldn't open my fridge without seeing that one panel where she explicitly says she has Ehlers-Danlos.

Here are a few suggestions of what I'd like to see in the superhero genre:

Superheroes with facial differences. Comics love to use us for their ugly disfigured evil villains but not much else unfortunately. I'd kill for a superman type hero who saves people with a smile and a facial difference on his face. Especially for superhero stories that are geared towards kids and teens, we just desperately need something to help with shifting the public perception of people with facial differences from "evil and ugly" to "people that can be awesome". A hero with burn scars, with Treacher Collins syndrome, Bell's palsy, neurofibromatosis... anything.

Superheroes who use disability aids (and still need them when doing their job!). Sun-Spider is an awesome example, she swings from her crutches and has a spider wheelchair. That's cool as hell. But even a less in-your-face aid would be great. A superhero flying above the city with her ankle-foot orthoses visible would go really hard. Also, superheroes who are concerned on how much these things cost and try their best to make sure they're still functional while they save the city.

Heroes with different causes of their disabilities! The vast majority of morally good disabled characters were involved in An Accident or some sort of Attack that disabled them. That's not bad or wrong at all, but I think in media is kind of oversaturated with this specific portrayal when a lot of people have progressive or congenital conditions. We need more stories that show those who were born disabled as heroes equal to those who were born abled and spent most of their lives abled. Superheroes with cerebral palsy, chromosomal disorders, congenital rubella, achondroplasia, all the disabilities that tend to get ignored despite so many people having them. Same for really common chronic illnesses, diabetes or COPD are criminally underrepresented.

Disabled superheroes that aren't saints because of their disability. This is the whole "disabled person can do no wrong" trope that appears sometimes. I'm mentioning it since superheroes are more "perfect" than most characters in other genres, so try to not make it so the disabled ones can do no wrong. Disabled people can still make mistakes that are their fault, make poor decisions, or just simply be angry sometimes.

When there's no active superhero action going on, show the normal human parts of the disabled experience. Depending on the demographic you're writing for it would be different things, but there are some fairly universal concepts like inaccessibility, microaggressions, or just boring things like the prosthetic leg no longer fitting well after the character gained some weight. If your characters are from the US, don't be afraid to mention that their insulin costs are barely affordable with their superhero pay. Show how the common everyday kind of ableism affect them when they're in civilian mode. This will make it much more authentic to disabled readers.

These are my suggestions, and I hope they are helpful. My last advice is to have multiple disabled characters, and in different roles. Maybe a character with late ALS can no longer do superhero fighting, but he can still be a wonderful parent. Maybe the character with Usher syndrome is more interested in the hero than being a hero themselves (disabled heroes in relationships!). Maybe the character with phocomelia can't be a hero yet because she's six, but she can train hard to be one when she's older. Keep it varied, have them come from different life situations and have different goals just like abled characters do.

I hope this helps!

mod Sasza

[createyourownnarrative]

Usually I try not to post too much about Long Covid on my regular FB feed. I’ve learned to just not do it. It’s best I save those posts for my support groups where I can get the support I need from people going through the same struggle.

But I need to get this off my chest.

I always knew I wanted to be an artist. I dabbled in many mediums over the years, photography, music, painting, film/media, writing, I’ve made sculptures. I truly enjoy expressing myself through various art forms, and connecting with others through that.

In 2010-2011, after years of working job after job trying to find my passion (when most of my friends were already college graduates with direction) and feeling a little lost, in the retail industry, I put my foot down, went back to school and chose a medium, & decided to pursue THAT. One medium I truly always loved: Photography. In 2012, I exhibited my work for the first time. In 2020 I opened up my first photo studio. A creative space where I can share and make memories. 1 month later, a global pandemic overturns our worlds and realities. I never would have imagined, that, in our lifetime. You just don’t think it could happen to you (to us). But it did. It’s still so surreal to me.

I got sick with Covid twice. I knew some people who had covid over 4-8 times. I had it twice. It only took that first bout with the virus to completely change my life. My body. My mind. My worries. My perspective. My whole world. And my future. I thought I almost had it figured out, my path, my plans, my goals. What I wanted to do, and where I wanted to go. Who I wanted to be. Now i’m grateful that I make it through my day, without collapsing. (which has happened and was very scary). My last two photography jobs, I couldn’t feel my hands. It’s why I’ve been so inactive, since I got sick. Whats going to happen when I can’t take pictures anymore?

When I tested positive for the first time, I cried in the cab ride home. I was beyond terrified. What will this mean? Will I survive this? What is going to happen. I thought if I can get through the virus and live, that’s all I could want. Some months before, I had lost a high school friend, a fellow musician, to Coronavirus. He was only 32 years old. We didn’t know what would happen. Who was at risk of death. After 9 or 10 days, with the virus. I tested negative, and returned to work. Feeling good, that I survived. Especially after day 4, when I woke up gasping for air in the night. I feared I wouldn’t wake up. I got blamed for testing positive by people around me. It was “my fault”. For “not being careful”. I felt so alienated. After I returned to work, I was preparing to move, packing, organizing, purging. One day, I could not get out of bed. And strange heavy symptoms. I thought I had Covid again. Of course the test came back negative.

But I would never be the same again. I never fully recovered from getting sick. Stuck back in 2020.

Do you know what it’s like? I see the world moving on. Almost like it never happened. Our government lying and covering up facts/truth. We are still sick. Still here. 18 million people in America are still sick with Post Covid syndrome. I’m left to feel like it’s my fault..I’m to blame. Because I “didn’t take care of myself.” Would you say that to someone with cancer? Or fibromyalgia? Or heart problems? Or Alzheimer’s? Or diabetes? Or any other illness? The stigma I’m (and we are) facing is unreal. People don’t believe me when I say “I still can’t taste and smell” and that I’m chronically ill now. “You don’t look sick”. “It’s because you party too much”. “you’re getting older” “it’s all those long nights you work on your feet”. I’ve heard it all. “But I see you at the bar working”. I have to work. There is no disability, go fund me, or assistance. I have to pay my rent. On my own. So I need to work. But just because you see me, at work, doesn’t mean I’m well. It just means I’m pushing myself to stay alive. It’s been true torture working through all this. I mourn and grieve for weeks and months at a time. It hasn’t stopped. It took me a long time, to accept that this is not going away anytime soon.

And my heart is broken. I feel left out in the rain. By our leaders, scientists, doctors, friends I thought I had. There is no community support. Even if someone believes you’re sick. No funding/fundraisers for LC. There is no cure, no pill, no treatment, no progress in finding treatment or biomarkers in the body to be able to even test for LC. The unpredictability of it. The symptoms. It’s really been torturous. Torture. A true nightmare. Having to sit in the shower so I don’t fall. Or hit my head (again) Doubling heart rate just upon standing. I get winded just talking and singing karaoke. I forget everything now. I slur my speech, sober. Tremors like Parkinsonism. My memory loss and constant issues feel like dementia-brain fog. I forget how to spell now. my hands turn purple red and blue when I step out of the shower. Migraines that last for months. Months. I take Tylenol like it’s medication. Neuropathy, nerve pain, nerve itches, tingling and numbness. My body temperature can’t regulate, so I often am cold and hot simultaneously. How do you remedy that? The discomfort and distress I feel is unbearable. Loosing clumps of hair. My hair is greying more and more rapidly post covid. Brittle nails. Skin issues. Digestive issues. Eye problems. Cognitive difficulties. Joint pain. Muscle pain. Muscle atrophy. Weakness. Severe severe fatigue. Almost like you worked out at the gym, full body then took a benadryl. Every. Fucking. Day. I’m tired of being so fucking tired. Before Covid, people would always have to tell me to slow down. Working full time, school, internships, photography, going to the gym full time. I always took on so much. I had so much energy and drive. It was a fire in me.

Now it’s gone. A piece of me has died, undoubtedly. And I question everything now. Most days I’m afraid to leave my house. And don’t. Unless it’s to work. If I do leave my house, it’s because I’m pushing myself, and I’m not well. My anxiety and depression are much worse. Chronic illness has also taken its toll on my mental health. It’s been draining trying to keep up with the world. I feel left behind. I’m not only mourning my health, and my abilities, but my passion in life, the one thing I worked so hard for. My future. And Photography. What do I do, if I can’t create anymore? What purpose do I have?

No one believes me, or think LC exists. And if I don’t “show up”, it’s because “she’s a flake”. I’m in such a dark place you may never understand. How do I navigate this life? Being sick every day.

[futchmemes]

vetted palestinian fundraisers in urgent need of donations!!

consolidating the palestinian fundraisers who have reached out to me recently. all of these campaigns are vetted and need urgent help to support their families.

Mohammed Ayaad @mohammedayyads-blog reached out with this vetted campaign, he has been displaced to southern Gaza with his wife and kids and they're currently living in a tent with very few resources. the campaign has raised 5,132/35,000 euros.

Hadeel Makki @hadeelmekki reached out with this vetted campaign. she is 7 months pregnant and is displaced with her husband and her two 6 and 7 year old daughters, and has already lost several family members to the bombing. the campaign has raised 17,980/35,000 euros.

Jana Abunaji @janaabunaje reached out with this vetted campaign. Jana is 11 years old with 2 younger brothers (9 and 5) and is displaced with her parents. her parents have lost their work and are struggling to keep the family together and access medical care for their children. this campaign has only raised 280/50,000 euros.

Ashraf Alanqar @ashraffblog reached out with this vetted campaign. his home and farm were destroyed and he is currently trapped in northern Gaza with his wife and 1.5 year old son, who is struggling with skin infections. this campaign has raised 26,135/30,000 euros and is close to meeting its goal.

Fadi Ayyad @mayadayyad81 reached out with this vetted campaign. Fadi is an 18 year old student whose 8-person family has been displaced from the north to the south of Gaza. he is trying to raise money to help his family escape to Egypt so that he and his siblings can not only get to safety, but resume their educations that were disrupted by the bombings. this campaign has raised $43,243/50,000 USD.

Mohammed Khalil @ahmed0khalil reached out on behalf of his 6 year old brother Ahmed Khalil with this vetted campaign. Mohammed is 19 years old and has taken responsibility for his 5 younger siblings. many members of his family have serious health concerns, including his father (diabetes) and three of his siblings (one blind, one autistic, and one with an injured foot from shrapnel), and they've been struggling severely to access medical care. Mohammed is trying to raise money to get his 8 family members evacuated to Egypt. the campaign has raised 9,511/50,000 euros.

Abood Al-Quadra @aboodalqedra-9 reached out with this vetted campaign. Abood is a 24 year old business owner and bachelor's student who lost his business and his home in the bombing, and has been displaced with his family. his father is elderly and he needs medical treatment urgently. his account has been deleted several times and he's been struggling to get reach. the campaign has raised 3,761/25,000 euros.

Hadiah @hadiah1111 reached out with this vetted campaign. she has children, including a 5 year old and a 1 year old baby, and is in need of stomach surgery. she is trying to rais money to evacuate to Egypt where she can receive medical care and provide for her children. this campaign has raised 8,160/50,000 euros.

Hazem Shawish @hazem-suhail reached out with this vetted campaign. his family lost their family business, their home, and their father in the bombing. he is trying to raise money to evacuate his mother, 2 sisters, 4 brothers, and 3 nieces and nephews to Egypt so that they can get medical treatment for his brother with severe bipolar disorder. this campaign has raised 16,108/50,000 euros.

i've donated or plan to donated to all of these campaigns and would be thrilled if anyone who sees this could donate as well, or at least reblog. thank you for reading!!

[justyourtypicalwriter]

ask game ✨ for uhh everyone you wanna answer these for: 👿🧸🏳️‍🌈 :3

Omg this didn’t save before

👿-How do they cope with ableism?

Wendy:

“You don’t look like you’re disabled.”

“Mmmm well by saying that *proceeds to go on a thirty minute rant about how that harms the community by making more people believe stereotypes*”

Stan:

I feel on a good day he’d just ignore, ignore, ignore until the problem goes away. On a bad day he might have a bit of a panic attack but it is what it is

Kenny:

He’d laugh, maybe make some semi inappropriate jokes about it for the most part. That is until someone tries to grab at his dog, I feel like he’d have a complete mood switch and start spewing out their full name and address and doxx them or something😭

Kyle:

“You don’t look like you’re disabled.”

“You’re nose doesn’t look broken-“

He then proceeds to get them both kicked out of the store

Bebe:

Would call the ableist person every slur under the sun and record herself doing so to post on TikTok…or stomp on their foot if she’s in heels

Cartman:

Doxx them but also make death threats against their families. Where do you think the doxx list came from?

Clyde:

Probably show off some kinda goofy ass thing he can do because of his hyper flexibility like the hEDS king he is to scare them off…then whine about it later-

🧸-Do they have a comfort item?

(THIS IS CREEPY BC I WAS JUST WRITING ASSIGNING THE KIDS COMFORT ITEMS😭)

Wendy:

This big ass fluffy hoodie that’s honestly big enough to cover her like a blanket. It’s one of those fleece lined ones with a hood too

Stan:

Oof uhm I was gonna say Sparkys dog tags because he wears them a lot after he dies but I have a feeling he should have something else too…

Kenny:

I’m surprised I haven’t mentioned this one before but it’s a little odd. It’s a hand sewn stuffed possum made from scraps from his friends old clothes. Kenny got hand-me-downs from them on occasion and knew that they weren’t exactly Karens style, so he repurposed them

Kyle:

Soft things. Preferably stuffed animals (in specific this stuffed fox he has). He seems like someone who’d appreciate soft things like that

Bebe:

A plush deer she was gifted from Wendy! It’s cute and has a pink bow!

Cartman:

His goofy ass dolls and stuffed animals. Live laugh love Clyde Frog

Clyde:

Idk he seems like a weighted blanked type guy. When he was little he probably tried to used one to build a blanket fort or something. But it didn’t fucking work because they’re WEIGHTED and Clyde’s a dumbass, instead it collapsed the whole fort and probably knocked a chair ontop of him

🏳️‍🌈-A random headcanon about them and their disability

(I’m just gonna answer more from the list lmao😭)

Wendy:

😺 - Is there anything they enjoy about being disabled?

Designing gear designs for Nike! Especially if it’s a bad day and she can’t really do anything

Stan:

❤️ - Would they have any advice for someone else struggling with their disability?

‘Someday you’ll find someone who wholeheartedly believes that you matter’

Kenny:

🌞 - What does a 'good day' look like for them? Is there anything they like to do on their good days?

Picnics with the rest of the m5 at Starks Pond! Just being able to look at the animals with Butters, or swim in the pond with Stan, or listen to Kyle point out all the different types of plants or roughhouse with Cartman is what he cherishes the most!

Kyle:

📋 - Are they diagnosed? Do they want a diagnosis?

Kyle is diagnosed! Not like he wanted it, the motherfucker just wanted to be treated normally

Diabetes at 4, PTSD & ARFID at 11, and POTS at 13

Bebe:

🌻 - Do they do anything that helps manage their disability? (Ie medication, hot and/or cold patches, set sleeping times, ect)

Salty snacks EVERYWHERE. I kid you not there’s some kind of salty food stashed in almost every room of her fucking house

Cartman:

🧑‍⚕️ - Do they have a carer or anyone who helps with their disability? What are they like?

I guess I’d have to say Dolly. She’s a little rat shit but she adores him and he adores her

Clyde:

🦾- How does their disability effect their daily life? How do they overcome some of the struggles thrown at them?

I’d have to say random dislocations although there’s plenty of shit his ass has to deal with every day

[joelletwo]

hey can i. hey. can i. hey can you come in close real quick just for a moment so i can show you something. in this month/summer/year of me losing my absolute mind trying to navigate labyrinthine bureaucratic systems that want me to kill myself. one of which was my previously qualified-for government healthcare benefit, the limit of what they felt like extending me, Free Sterilization. now back once again with great hits like

[image text: ending the following benefits: chiropractic care, circumcision, diabetic foot care, electric breast pump, healthy kids club, cell phone program, diabetic management program]

hey man thats really great i love that for you. fuck the diabetics and the kids and moms and poor people, right? save that money ahahaha i love it here. and hey while i got you. WHY WAS CIRCUMCISION COVERED

[2lemon4lyfe]

💢 PLEASE DON'T SKIP 💢

Hi , I am Nesma From Gaza ,I apologize for what I am going to ask. I am with a heavy heart and  exhausted. I want you to help me spread our story and the link to our campaign. I have tried a lot, but I am not  getting support, and unfortunately the situation has become difficult after my father and brother were injured, and my father’s health condition has become devastated. I want you to help me spread our story.

Please, my father needs treatment. He is slowly dying before our eyes

https://gofund.me/5ab6d135

You are my only hope of survival

My campaign has been previously verified

@\sayruq @\nabulsi @\el-shab-hussein

I do not know whether I will survive or die in this war, but know that your help for me will contribute to saving my family from death.

Nesma, thank you so much for reaching out!

Everyone, Nesma was on the verge of graduating from university while living with her 12 members family in Gaza City when the bombardment and occupation began. They once lived in a spacious house in a nice neighborhood peacefully with their cat and bird, but now are now a family of mostly children sheltering in a tent in Rafah with no water, food, electricity or healthcare. They had to flee their on foot while being hunted by Israeli soldiers while her brother and father were severly injured. Her father suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart problems (all of which require regular intense treatment) and her brother has been disabled from walking. If that is not enough, her father was arrested in Khan Yunis where he was tortured, starvedm and abused to the point that he can no longer move. She has also lost one of her brothers, and desperately wants to save the lives of her other siblings and parents. They have nothing and live in abject misery, and as /@buttercuparry mentioned in a post, they are threatened not just by famine, a lack of healthcare and medicine, bombings, shellings, israeli soldiers and the ever incrasing heat, but also poisonous SNAKES. Their fundraiser is stalling at $65,273 of $80,000 goal, so please donate, follow her tumblr, click on the links below to learn more and share to everyone you can! They ask only for your most basic humanity in these apocalyptic conditions so they may restart their lives together without more loss in their family.

Follow her at @nesmamomen, donate, and boost her posts!!!!

Video of their house being shelled from Al-Jazeera

[alleyesonrafah]

“Hi, My name is Hala, I'm 18 years old, I live with my family in Gaza. I have finished my high school in 2023 with a grade of 94.9 in the scientific stream and began studies at the university,

which was destroyed at the beginning of the war,Unfortunately, my dreams and ambitions were completely destroyed.

We have all been displaced more than seven times to seek safety , We escaped death several times،When we were displaced to the south, this did not mean that we fled to safety, but rather the opposite. Everywhere around us there was bombing all around us and fire belts all the time. And also the malnutrition we suffer from. We have been here for 6 months, haven’t eaten something healthy.

All had dreams but they were completely destroyed after October 7th.My father was snacks merchant and his store was completely burned when we fled south to find safety, My uncle Was working in a hotel Which was completely destroyed and has no source of income left now , My grandfather and grandmother are diabetics and unable to walk. When we were displaced, they found it very difficult to move. They need wheelchairs, which is impossible for them to have now, and they need a lot of medicines that are indispensable, but we had to replace them with very low quality and perhaps inappropriate alternative medicines. We cannot afford to pay the money to get out of this devastating war. We have survived death several times and have been displaced several other times from one place to another to search for safety. We now do not have enough to pay the money to leave Gaza.

My grandfather's condition deteriorated during the war. He was very tired, and we discovered that he had water in his lungs, water in his foot, and swelling in his feet. There is no necessary treatment for him, and there are no highly qualified doctors and no hospitals. Now, I only want to save my grandfather's life as quickly as possible.

Why did we think of this fund raising?

This is the only way to survive as we have to pay $5000 for each person to cross borders to safety.

Wish you could help us.

I wish you help me and save us.”

(Note: 11 SEK = 1$)

[istra-ish-sucha-geek]

Question:

Do people talking about public transit cities/walkable cities walk regularly?

I was seeing some discourse started by @amtrak-official about walking cities, and then some people talking about 15-minute cities and someone said a FIVE minute access to groceries and work and everything.

I’m disabled; I have chronic pain.

I walk EVERY DAY (for the diabetes.)

After walking EVERY DAY for more than a year; I have a fairly average walking pace.

5 minutes is the end of my driveway and back. It’s like 600 steps.

Even a 15 minute walk (for me, and I’m slow-average) is barely any distance at all.

I can see how 15 minutes could work in an urban setting - especially if you stretch it a bit, since an average mile pace is about 20 minutes (although if the mile is the diameter of a circle from a central point, you’re gonna get a lot more bang for your buck, but you could also end up being 40 minutes from your desired destination if it’s on the wrong side of town).

But it’s all gonna be VERY. CLOSE. TOGETHER.

And 5 minutes is right out. RIGHT out. It’s just not enough area. Even if you’re working from home!

And if everyone is working from home, who is picking up all the garbage, and who is running maintenance on electricity, water, internet and other utilities? Plumbing?! Are manual labor jobs also getting to work 15 minutes walking from home, or do they still commute places? That’s too many people living in too small space.

And where is the PARK? And GARDEN? I can’t live without my garden.

Where is all the infrastructure like SUB stations going? Is that within 5 minutes?

Even in like Jane Austen time, walking to get places was more than 15 minutes.

Maybe I’m taking all this way to literally - I have a tendency to do that - but …

The maths ain’t mathing. Even just thinking of building footprints ALONE - what about religious communities?

And sure you can build UP, but the more people you have in 15 minutes, the more people you NEED in 15 minutes. Like say you got 20 people, maybe one doctor a nurse and an office person can deal with all their daily medical needs, but what that means you actually have 17 peeps + 3 medical professionals. Then you stuff 40 people in, but you really need 3 more medical peeps, so it’s 34+6.

What about religious spaces? What about religious spaces for different religions?

And how are we feeding this many people? Is all the food being commuted in? Or are we saving space for chickens and gardens and things?

(I May be weird for thinking of that, since I know most food in urban places IS commuted in; I just live in the country, we grow some of our own fruit and veg, and if I WANTED, I could buy eggs and milk and even all kinds of meats from farmers within about 5-8 miles.)

Saving space for chickens and gardens is going to cost space for humans and building UP cuz sunlight + fresh air.

My point is:

THERE IS NOT ENOUGH SPACE.

Transit and travel is still NEEDED.

And not everybody can WALK.

Heck some days *I* can’t walk!

Some days it’s not SAFE to walk outside because of FIRE or WEATHER or things.

I just.

Look: I really want BETTER than what we have. WhT we have is garbágê. But it’s not gonna get better unless we sit down and figure out how to DO IT *with* each other.

And I’m just a middle aged, disabled white lady who lives in the country with four cats, a dog, a hobbit, a 20x20 foot garden while their sibling does horse archery on three acres (animals need a lot of room. Do country places and animals just not exist in this walkable utopia?).

[bigfatdenial]

2 of my childhood friends ended up with (preventable) type 2 diabetes.

One is on multiple medications, is always sick and in massive pain (neuropathy). She complains constantly that she calls out sick a lot and can’t afford the meds she’s prescribed, but continues to visit the fast food drive through.

The other just had part of their leg amputated (below the knee). They injured the side of the foot (a small wound) and, due to the beetus, it wouldn’t heal. They tried to save the foot by amputating a few of the toes, but the infection was too deep and now, after 2 months of hospital visits, they have no foot at all.

Both are in their mid 40s. Both still eat like shit and continually fail to manage the condition that was preventable in the first place.

Wake the fuck up.

[istherewifiinhell]

https://archive.is/M2UW1

Children Born During the War in Gaza Will Never Truly Escape It

Jan. 9, 2024, 5:01 a.m. ET

By Alice Rothchild

Dr. Rothchild is a retired obstetrician and gynecologist, an author, a filmmaker and a former assistant professor at Harvard Medical School.

After Israel began its invasion of Gaza shortly after Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7, Aya Khrais — a pregnant 26-year-old dentist, wife of a doctor and mother of a 2-year-old girl living in Gaza City — lost contact with the doctors and health services she needed for prenatal care and for managing her diabetes.

She and her family were forced to leave home and move five times to flee the constant bombings, sometimes trekking several miles on foot. When we spoke in early December, she was staying at her sister-in-law’s home in southern Gaza. Dr. Khrais was 32 weeks pregnant and sleeping on a thin mattress directly on the ground, sharing a house with 74 people from 11 families. They lacked water, adequate food, medications, electricity and the tools for basic hygiene.

For the past two months she has had no prenatal care and no vitamins and has not gained any weight. She found a private obstetrician on Dec. 10 who informed her that she had excess amniotic fluid and needed an immediate C-section. She found a private hospital with an opening on Jan. 16. The estimated cost will be $4,000; the family has lost all of its savings as well as its bombed-out home. She has no baby clothes, diapers or formula and no proper place for postpartum recovery. “I am really frightened,” she told me over WhatsApp.

Dr. Khrais’s account is far from uncommon. There are approximately 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, all struggling with a lack of stable shelter, inadequate nutrition and polluted, salty water. Prenatal, postnatal and pediatric care are difficult to obtain. U.N. agencies have dispatched lifesaving medicines and equipment to Gaza but it’s not enough to meet the needs of the population. Extreme shortages of pain medications, antibiotics, seizure and diabetic medications and blood are common. According to the World Health Organization, of the more than 180 women delivering babies each day, 15 percent are likely to encounter complications and be unable to obtain appropriate obstetric and pediatric emergency services. All the while, the threat of injury or death from bombings and military action looms, as does unimaginable emotional trauma.

If these mothers and their children manage to survive the war, they will grapple with its effects for the rest of their lives. Health research into multiple areas of armed conflict (such as Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Kosovo) reveals that these kinds of conditions are linked to an increase in miscarriages, congenital abnormalities, stillbirths, preterm labor and maternal mortality. Other studies of armed conflict from 1945 to 2017 show that children exposed to war are more likely to suffer from poor living conditions and sanitation, and multigenerational poverty caused by the loss of educational and economic infrastructure...

[bitchliteraria1906]

My name is Noor, I am a second-year university student and I live with my family in North Gaza. My father was the owner of a gift shop for years, as our main breadwinner, with the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip, our lives completely changed 10 months ago.. My father's warehouse was destroyed. It is the source of our main livelihood, our stores, and the destruction of our house. We miraculously escaped death, my uncle was martyred, and my brother was seriously injured. Then displacement became a necessity, and we were displaced more than 8 times, and we live in tents. Adapt to this terrifying sound! Instead, this war is the most difficult, my university studies, it was my dream, as I was studying English at the Community Training College of Gaza, affiliated with UNRWA. Our business, I stopped studying because my university was destroyed. I'm lost now, I see nightmares every night and I can't sleep.. My father suffers from disease (diabetes, pressure, gout and "osteoporosis"). My 17-year-old brother Mustafa was in high school, was supposed to be ready for high school exam, sitting on study seats, he was very active and diligent, and was eager to study, to get the franchise rate, to be able to enroll in the Faculty of Engineering. His dream was always, our house was bombed and his foot was wounded as he tried to escape death. He fled with his soul, leaving his dream and writing it behind. Before being bombed, my sister Heba joined the web development and software development at the Islamic University, and is supposed to graduate this year, but because of the war she was unable to do so.. Gaza dreams are not complete, my 5-year-old brother Ahmed has contracted hepatitis and has become dehydrated due to a lack of adequate food, and he suffers from anemia. We were affected by diseases, because we are displaced in a "tent" and there are no ducts or infrastructure, and the necessities of life are zero. Simply we are a family from Gaza who has her dreams, work, home.. Suddenly everything has disappeared from her life, from a family that loves life, to a homeless family trying to survive. From the cold, all roads lead to death..! We dream of our quiet life before the seventh of October and I hope that the return to Gaza will become a reality. I hope to see a glimmer of hope to help you escape death and leave the Gaza Strip and get a chance to complete my university career. Exit from Gaza requires that I have a minimum of $5,000-7000, depending on the person's exit price, and I will go out with my family, we are all 9. Those who responds to my message and to every heart open the doors of hope. Share my story and support me as much as you can until we reach our goal together. Not every euro will be just a number...! It will be the basis for rebuilding the family's dream and achieving hope for a better tomorrow.💔😭😭😭Please guys help us donate and share so that everyone around the world can see the tragedy we are experiencing

Donate 1110kronfor each person who saves my family, please

😞😭🍉🔗

Don't forget every 1110kron=100$😭❤️‍🩹

https://gofund.me/5be510a9

Share this, donate if you can!

[shoutmonishere]

My name is Noor, I am a second-year university student and I live with my family in North Gaza. My father was the owner of a gift shop for years, as our main breadwinner, with the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip, our lives completely changed 10 months ago.. My father's warehouse was destroyed. It is the source of our main livelihood, our stores, and the destruction of our house. We miraculously escaped death, my uncle was martyred, and my brother was seriously injured. Then displacement became a necessity, and we were displaced more than 8 times, and we live in tents. Adapt to this terrifying sound! Instead, this war is the most difficult, my university studies, it was my dream, as I was studying English at the Community Training College of Gaza, affiliated with UNRWA. Our business, I stopped studying because my university was destroyed. I'm lost now, I see nightmares every night and I can't sleep.. My father suffers from disease (diabetes, pressure, gout and "osteoporosis"). My 17-year-old brother Mustafa was in high school, was supposed to be ready for high school exam, sitting on study seats, he was very active and diligent, and was eager to study, to get the franchise rate, to be able to enroll in the Faculty of Engineering. His dream was always, our house was bombed and his foot was wounded as he tried to escape death. He fled with his soul, leaving his dream and writing it behind. Before being bombed, my sister Heba joined the web development and software development at the Islamic University, and is supposed to graduate this year, but because of the war she was unable to do so.. Gaza dreams are not complete, my 5-year-old brother Ahmed has contracted hepatitis and has become dehydrated due to a lack of adequate food, and he suffers from anemia. We were affected by diseases, because we are displaced in a "tent" and there are no ducts or infrastructure, and the necessities of life are zero. Simply we are a family from Gaza who has her dreams, work, home.. Suddenly everything has disappeared from her life, from a family that loves life, to a homeless family trying to survive. From the cold, all roads lead to death..! We dream of our quiet life before the seventh of October and I hope that the return to Gaza will become a reality. I hope to see a glimmer of hope to help you escape death and leave the Gaza Strip and get a chance to complete my university career. Exit from Gaza requires that I have a minimum of $5,000-7000, depending on the person's exit price, and I will go out with my family, we are all 9. Those who responds to my message and to every heart open the doors of hope. Share my story and support me as much as you can until we reach our goal together. Not every euro will be just a number...! It will be the basis for rebuilding the family's dream and achieving hope for a better tomorrow.💔😭😭😭Please guys help us donate and share so that everyone around the world can see the tragedy we are experiencing

Donate 1110kronfor each person who saves my family, please

😞😭🍉🔗

Don't forget every 1110kron=100$😭❤️‍🩹

https://gofund.me/5be510a9

↑↑↑

[raventheteentitan]

My name is Noor, I am a second-year university student and I live with my family in North Gaza. My father was the owner of a gift shop for years, as our main breadwinner, with the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip, our lives completely changed 10 months ago.. My father's warehouse was destroyed. It is the source of our main livelihood, our stores, and the destruction of our house. We miraculously escaped death, my uncle was martyred, and my brother was seriously injured. Then displacement became a necessity, and we were displaced more than 8 times, and we live in tents. Adapt to this terrifying sound! Instead, this war is the most difficult, my university studies, it was my dream, as I was studying English at the Community Training College of Gaza, affiliated with UNRWA. Our business, I stopped studying because my university was destroyed. I'm lost now, I see nightmares every night and I can't sleep.. My father suffers from disease (diabetes, pressure, gout and "osteoporosis"). My 17-year-old brother Mustafa was in high school, was supposed to be ready for high school exam, sitting on study seats, he was very active and diligent, and was eager to study, to get the franchise rate, to be able to enroll in the Faculty of Engineering. His dream was always, our house was bombed and his foot was wounded as he tried to escape death. He fled with his soul, leaving his dream and writing it behind. Before being bombed, my sister Heba joined the web development and software development at the Islamic University, and is supposed to graduate this year, but because of the war she was unable to do so.. Gaza dreams are not complete, my 5-year-old brother Ahmed has contracted hepatitis and has become dehydrated due to a lack of adequate food, and he suffers from anemia. We were affected by diseases, because we are displaced in a "tent" and there are no ducts or infrastructure, and the necessities of life are zero. Simply we are a family from Gaza who has her dreams, work, home.. Suddenly everything has disappeared from her life, from a family that loves life, to a homeless family trying to survive. From the cold, all roads lead to death..! We dream of our quiet life before the seventh of October and I hope that the return to Gaza will become a reality. I hope to see a glimmer of hope to help you escape death and leave the Gaza Strip and get a chance to complete my university career. Exit from Gaza requires that I have a minimum of $5,000-7000, depending on the person's exit price, and I will go out with my family, we are all 9. Those who responds to my message and to every heart open the doors of hope. Share my story and support me as much as you can until we reach our goal together. Not every euro will be just a number...! It will be the basis for rebuilding the family's dream and achieving hope for a better tomorrow.💔😭😭😭Please guys help us donate and share so that everyone around the world can see the tragedy we are experiencing

Donate 1110kronfor each person who saves my family, please

😞😭🍉🔗

Don't forget every 1110kron=100$

😭❤️‍🩹

https://gofund.me/f70d872d

Spreading your fundraiser ❤️🇵🇸

[bakedbakermom]

lolololol my doctor's office just sent me an email asking me to take a survey regarding my opinion of medical chatbots. they have no idea the hell of opinions they are unleashing on themselves.

a medical chatbot will absolutely kill someone. it'll tell a bulimic teenager to take ipecac to induce vomiting and then she'll fucking die. it'll advise a diabetic to cut back on insulin and he'll lose a fucking foot. it will tell a scared mom whose toddler has a fever that the rash is just an allergy, and then the kid will die because it was fucking measles.

the absolute best possible outcome they could hope for is that it will be the equivalent of one of those unbearably frustrating phone trees. the thing that will actually happen is it will fucking kill someone.

i can think of very, very few ideas that are worse than letting ai give medical advice. it will not save time. it will not save money. it will cause death.