Sharp pain in left side of oblique

I've been dealing with dental issues for the past 6 months due to some malpractice. Most recently I had a filling replaced because there was decay left untreated under the filling for years (didn't know). The new filling was done incorrectly in December so I had it redone correctly in December. Afterwards, pain to crunchy foods and severe sensitivity to cold remained, but it seemed to be improving over time. My dentist said the filling isn't deep enough to be experiencing these symptoms, but I very much am. It is now 5 weeks later and my tooth is suddenly in unbearable pain for seemingly no reason. Nothing has changed, I still wear my new mouth guard at night to prevent my teeth from touching at night so I can't grind, I didn't bite into anything hard and/or crack the tooth, there was nothing that happened to further impact the tooth in the last few days. Previously I was able to chew most soft foods on the tooth and gently could chew chips. But my tooth feels like it's about to BURST. The pain will come and go about every 10-30 minutes and will last roughly 5 minutes at a time. It's not responding to ibuprofen or acetaminophen and I can't even touch the tooth with my tongue without wincing as of this evening. It went from zero to one hundred in 24 hours. I can't eat or sleep. I'm crippling over and bawling on my living room floor in pain every 30 minutes. Can someone please tell me what is happening and what I need to do to make it stop and how soon should I expect it to take before it can be resolved?
My dentist wants to test the tooth by giving it anesthetic to see if the pain goes away because she isn't convinced it's the tooth, but rather a neurological issue. But I feel like I'm being tortured by being asked to wait and not sent directly to the endodontist same day.

I’ve been re-watching episodes where Dr Bailey started out as a mousey intern, full of shyness, and severely lacking confidence, and became the powerhouse that she evolved into when she initially taught each of the original five.
Bailey loved each of the original five as her own children, that’s why she gets so frustrated when Meredith puts herself in these kind of situations. It’s a mother’s frustration, a mother’s love.
Lets examine Bailey over the entire series run.
She loved each of original five as if they were her own children, and thats why she gets so frustrated when Meredith does something to put herself in these kinds of situations. Its a mothers love…is it not?
I mentioned Meredith’s trial as an example yesterday, and i re-watched it closely and revised my opinion.
She knew as far back as season 3 that Meredith was a pain in her side. Remember the panties on the bulletin board?
Remember her being protective of Meredith and laying into McDreamy when he caught them in a parked car?
She also knew that Meredith had the makings of an excellent surgeon. She knew that Meredith had to go through the refiners fire.
Heres a transcript of her speech.
Dr. Bailey: 'Ever since I first met Meredith Grey I knew she was going to be a thorn in my side. You're worried about her breaking rules? Well, that's not gonna stop. She's been doing that since day one.
And, yes, she broke a law to save a life. So she deserved to lose her job. She deserves to pick up trash. No one should be questioning her license.
She's too good at what she does. And she's worked too hard to get to where she is. And with all that she has survived, it hasn't made her hard. It hasn't made her mean or cold. It hasn't made her not care.
It's made her better. It's made her better than anyone in this room. Well, except me. I'm Dr. Miranda Bailey, chief of surgery at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, and I approve this message.'
—————— my reasoning of Dr. Bailey at the hearing————
Bailey doesn’t try to lessen what Meredith has done. She doesn’t try to get her off the hook. She explains why Meredith is such a good surgeon and states that everything she’s been through has made her an even better doctor.
Meredith may make some interesting choices, and some of them may drive Dr. Bailey up the walls, just like children often do. But given their relationship, Dr. Bailey hated Meredith’s actions, but not Meredith herself.
Have you ever been in a situation where someone you loved and cared about did something you you hated and didnt approve of? Did you hate them for it or did you hate *what they did* but not themselves?
You can hate what someone does without hating the person themselves. That is what I believe Bailey has done. In the beginning of the series, she was billed as a not-see (not typing it out)
This was Dr Bailey’s first speech to the interns in S1E1
"I have five rules, memorize them,” she told the interns. “Rule number don't bother sucking up, I already hate you, that's not gonna change, trauma protocol…nurses will page you, you will answer every page at a run. A run, that’s rule number two.”
“Your first shift starts now and lasts 48 hours. You’re interns, grunts, nobodies, bottom of the surgical food chain,” she continued.
“You run labs, write orders, work every second until you drop and don’t complain. On-call rooms, Attendings hog them, sleep when you can where you can, which brings me to rule number three if I’m sleeping, don’t wake me unless your patient is actually dying."
“Rule number four, the dying patient better not be dead when I get there, then not only would you have killed someone, you would have woke me for no good reason, we clear?”
She was responsible for turning out excellent surgeons.
You dont go easy on them and expect them to thrive and survive. You go hard on them. But you want them to succeed.
Otherwise you are just wasting your time, your resources, and the lives of the patients that they lost.
In the current season, Dr Bailey is back, doing what she did in the beginning, but this time she has 20 years experience.
We’ve seen Miranda go soft on people during the series and we’ve seen that doesn't turn out very well. Remember what BCB is an acronym for? What surgeons need is tough love. What surgeons need is someone to inspire them.
Bailey may be straightforward, tough, and full of wit and wisdom. Without a doubt, she is a really good physician and an independent one at that. However that independence has cost her personal relationships such as Ben.
She hated that Ben became a firefighter and is how in a very perilous environment day after day, but she doesn’t hate the guy.
If anything, Miranda has become more compassionate and more open hearted…not hateful
Not too long ago, Miranda started a women’s clinic at the hospital and as a result of her hard work in the face of adversity from the pro-lifers, she wins the esteemed Catherine Fox Award.
How can you do something like that while spreading hate throughout the hospital? You cant.

To start things off, I was always aware of our age gap and problems it may cause in our relationship.
My husband and I didn't meet until I was well into being eighteen, and he was twenty-eight. It didn't bother me much, as he doesn't act much older than me and I'd always felt older than I was due to having a ton of younger siblings, step siblings, and foster kids in and out of my mother's house growing up.
We got engaged when I was nineteen at a yungblood concert, and we originally planned to wait to marry until I was at least twenty. Plans changed when I decided to go into the air force, and we had to push up the wedding in order for him to eventually stay with me on base after basic training.
Fast forward a few months after we were married and I had left for Texas for training, I was injured during PT training and sent home. It was during the craziest parts of covid, so everything was on lockdown and they had strict rules about not keeping anyone on base for a long period of time if injured. I was medically discharged and sent home to heal and have potential surgery.
At the time, my husband was staying with his friend in the city we planned to move to. We already put down a deposit on an apartment when we found out I was going home, but due to Covid restrictions and eviction restrictions, it was returned to us and we were told we could no longer move in.
The first issue I was seeing when I got home was his disattention to me. I was gone for over a month and missed celebrating my twentieth birthday with anyone but the girls in medhold with me, so I was looking forward to spending quality time with my husband.
We went out to eat with his friend, his friend's girlfriend, and one of her friends. I felt like a fifth wheel during the meal, as I was sat at the end of the table instead of being at my husband's side where her friend was sitting. Most of the conversations didn't include me, and I ended up going back to his friend's place feeling let down.
The rest of the time we were staying with his friend, they wanted all of us to go mountain climbing, cliff jumping, and trekking through the woods as they lived in a nature-centered part of the area. (Keep in mind, I was just sent home for being injured, and I had both a knee and ankle brace on my right leg that prevented much movement other than some hobbled walking that was slower than a normal pace).
When I expressed that I wasn't comfortable doing those things and that I wouldn't be jumping thirty feet into a freezing lake when I could barely walk as it is, my husband got upset with me and eventually just left me there alone while they all went to hang out together.
Flash forward four years, it is now 2024 and we have a two-year-old toddler. I didn't end up getting surgery, and I spent nine months being sicker than I'd ever been in my life.
It was a really rough pregnancy for me, and I'd ended up in the hospital multiple times because I couldn't even smell food or step foot into our kitchen without throwing up.
That all went on until the beginning of my third trimester. We decided to travel back to his friend's place, and I was somehow roped into climbing cliffs, wading through treacherous water to climb another cliff on an island out in the middle of a lake, and sleep at the top of sand dunes in a tent on the ground a couple weeks before my due date.
I was then on antibiotics during birth, because my water broke and the hospital sent me home instead of keeping me. My son was born sick, and transferred to a children's hospital to be treated and receive a spinal tap. I ended up sleeping a week in a hard hospital chair in a leaking basement of the hospital because they didn't have enough space for us.
After we were home and everything was settled, my husband would brag about how difficult the whole situation was for him. He had to sleep on a futon during my labour, and he had to have food doordashed to the hospital because, due to covid restrictions, noone else was allowed in with us and he wasn't allowed to leave to get anything.
He ended up having steak, potatoes, and these other elaborate meals delivered to eat in front of me while I wasn't allowed to eat anything until the baby came out. He even thought about bringing his playstation into the hospital room, but I shut that down quickly.
The first year of my son's life, I went back and forth between staying home with him and working in the factory my husband currently works at while my grandma watched our son.
I won't get into too much detail, but at one point when my grandma moved back out of state (she lives in her camper and was only there for the summer), I had to switch to the afternoon shift.
There is a factory supervisor on that shift that is a male and close to my husband's age. Other than the other person in my same position and two maintenance workers, they only had migrant workers that didn't speak english. This limited the people I could talk to while working my twelve hour shifts (husband worked 3:30 am to 3:30 pm and I would work 3:30 pm to 3:30 am).
My husband got very jealous and territorial at this time. He would expect me to return nearly thirty minutes late from all my breaks, threaten to go up there if anyone told me I couldn't do that, and even punched a hole in the wall when I told him I had to get back to work.
Up until that point, my husband had shown no signs of aggression toward me.
Somehow, a rumour started to spread around the factory that I was sleeping with the production lead. This definitely wasn't true as a) how and where would I have done that? and b) I loved my husband and would have never done something like that.
My husband heard about it, and came home to confront me. He got in my face, screaming and calling me a cheater. He threatened to take our son and move back in with his mom without even letting me offer an explanation or defend myself.
To this day, it still bothers me that he is still so convinced that I cheated on him and that he has no trust in me whatsoever to not do something like that.
I ended up leaving that job and working at mcdonalds for a little while. I had worked there in high school, so it wasn't a big adjustment.
I only ended up staying there a few months to help us catch up on bills before we agreed it would be better for me to stay home with our son for a while.
Our son is two now, and it seems like our relationship has only become more strained. We used to be able to communicate most of our smaller issues and come up with ways to maneuver whatever issues we had. However, in June of last year, my husband's friend that we were staying with in the beginning moved across the state to be near us.
It was all fine and good in the beginning. He had proposed to his girlfriend, and they even asked the both of us to be in their wedding that has yet to happen.
However, once they got engaged, he'd began acting very sexist. Even though both he and his fiance work full time (he works down the road at the factory with my fiance, and she works forty minutes away at a hardware store and has to drive a long way at three in the morning to get there), he expects her to come home and clean up after him, also cook his meals before she goes to bed early to get up really early in the morning for work the next day.
My husband, now hanging out with him more often, started having some of these things wearing off on him.
At first, it wasn't a big deal and I brushed it off. However, I'd gotten a job as a property manager for an apartment complex and also work now. Instead of things changing to adapt our new lifestyle, my husband expects me to continue keeping up with all the chores and cooking.
He'd made a comment that, because he feeds our dogs, he expects me just to do everything that involves our toddler from feeding him, to changing his butt, to putting him to bed at night. It's like pulling teeth sometimes to get him to change his butt or even get pants on him.
We'd gotten into an argument over this, and I told him that it wasn't fair that he expected me to do everything. His response was that he made more money and worked more hours, so it was only fair that I covered everything else.
Sure, I don't work as much or make as much money, and my paychecks mainly cover our son's daycare and our car payments, but I feel like working doesn't excuse him from helping with the son we both decided to have.
It's gotten to the point where I told my husband that if any sexist remark is made, like I should be in the kitchen helping get dinner ready whenever we're at his friend's house, I will be leaving and going back home, and I won't be going back until it is resolved.
The friend's fiance and I have had private conversations about this, and we both agree that it has gotten out of hand, and we both believe they are feeding off each other as they'd never been that bad before.
Everything has only seemed to get worse from there.
We decided to go as a group, along with my brother and his girlfriend, to the draft in Detroit this year.
The whole point was to see players get drafted in person, and we'd managed to get into the crowd in front of the stage before the area was shut down and they weren't allowing anyone else in.
My brother is an avid football fan. He played in high school, and was even offered multiple scholarships to play in college. This was a once in a lifetime experience for the both of us.
At one point, my husband and his friend decided that they would rather stand at one of the screens out of the crowd and watch it instead of trying to get into the sea of people to see it live.
I was frustrated, and expressed that if we wanted to watch it on television that we should have just stayed home. After a heated argument, I thought we'd come to the agreement that we'd go back to the stage and watch it there.
My brother lead us through the crowd, and at the beginning my husband and his friend were following us. Somehow, we'd gotten separated and when I looked back once we found a spot to stand, they were gone.
My phone rang in my pocket, and when I picked it up it was my husband calling. As soon as I picked it up, he proceeded to scream at me for disappearing and called me a "stupid bitch" when I tried to explain that I thought they were following us.
He hung up, and I told my brother I was going to go look for them alone. I spent a good twenty minutes wandering the area that was barricaded, but they were nowhere to be found. I no longer had signal to get ahold of him, so I ended up just going back and watching the beginning of the draft with my brother.
By the eighth pick, texts started to come in from my husband. He had informed me that they all left, leaving the three of us alone. Luckily, I'd driven separate as I left work early to get there.
By that point, I was done with him. I felt disrespected and that hanging out with his friend was more important than making sure his wife was okay or even with him. After all, I was wandering downtown Detroit alone when it was starting to get dark out.
When the three of us inevitably got back to the car, I got ahold of my husband just to let him know we were on our way home. He tried to apologise and ask how everything was, but I was too exhausted and mad at him to try and hold a conversation. He was asleep by the time I got home, and I ended up sleeping in our spare bedroom on a futon.
The next day, my husband tried to act like nothing happened. When I expressed that I felt ignored and pretty much useless to him, he tried to play it off like his anger was warranted and completely ignored the fact that he was calling me names.
I told him that I was no longer going to any big events with him and his friend, and he just rolled his eyes like he didn't believe me.
A day later, I saw a message pop up on his phone from his friend. I guess he had told him what I said about not going anywhere anymore, and his friend said "women" with an eyeroll emoji and "she'll get over it eventually". I screenshotted these messages and sent them to myself, filing them away in a folder in my phone to keep for later.
I slept in our spare bedroom for a week after that.
After the draft, I've also kept notes in my phone with time and date stamps of all the times he went off on me since then. Whenever we get into arguments, my mind goes blank and I forget exact things like this so he likes to say it never happened if I can't remember it.
April 27th, we were sitting watching videos together on tiktok. When someone popular came on that he had been watching a lot recently, I exclaimed that I didn't understand how he got popular all of a sudden. He proceeded to get really agitated and yell at me for not understanding how the internet works. When I stood up to walk away because I was upset, this angered him more. He then expressed that my emotions were overrated and that he was sick of them.
May 2nd, I had gotten home from work and tried to show my husband an outdoor jungle gym on amazon that I thought would be cool to get our son. He claimed it was a waste of money and that we should just take him to the park. When I tried to explain that it was a better idea to get something like this, as realistically we wouldn't take him to the park every day, he freaked out and asked what was wrong with me. He then said "oh my god" when I tried to explain that it would be easier to watch him outside while getting stuff done around the house and decided to just go to bed without dinner and end the conversation completely.
May 5th, we went with his friend and fiance to a cinco de may party in the city. He was drinking most of the day, and on the way home he wanted us to stop some place and get ice cream. When he got out of the car, he hit it against the car next to us. When I told him he'd hit the car, he proceeded to yell at me in the crowd that I was crazy and acting like my mother. He then kept trying to go to the woman in the car and ask if he had, in fact, hit her car. After, he said he was done with me and I was on my own, that I would have to start paying my own bills from now on.
There's been many other entries in my notes similar to this, and I feel like I'm at the end of what I can handle. Divorce has crossed my mind, but I had divorced parents growing up and know how hard it would be on my son. I also don't think I'm in a well off financial position to go out on my own with our son and still provide the things he needs.
I also worry that, if we were to separate, he would push to take our son from me as he'd threatened in the past to do so.
Any advice would be helpful, as I don't know what else to do. Even getting this all off my chest online makes me feel a little better, but there's still the lingering thought in the back of my mind that I'm unhappy and don't know how much longer I can put up with this.
Thank you.

It's been almost four years, and she left two days ago. We're both early twenties. I know people say, and they mean well, like so many kind people on this subreddit, that you have plenty of time to live life, that you'll move on. And I am excited for all that's coming – I just want her to be my partner in it all. I understand that every person thinks their relationship is special, and in this I will probably come across as delusional and cliché. But sometimes you do find the love of your life at 19. Sometimes you do. We met on Reddit, funnily enough, which sounds sort of sketchy, but it was really the best thing to ever happen to me. She is the loveliest, brightest, kindest person in the world. I cannot feel any anger or resentment towards her, only regret that I hurt her. We thought things were over once before, because of me, and everything I needed to work on. Mostly this was related to my dependency on her, and my need to work on developing my own life outside of our relationship. After that, things improved substantially. We were happy and at peace, and life seemed so bright. I did make tangible changes, though, I think, I was not nearly as intentional or consistent with them as I should have been, and as long as we were both happy, I thought we were okay. She told me she was proud of me. It's been the sweetest time, the past few months.
She was happy, too, I think and hope, but also deeply anxious about our relationship. It would come in waves, at least as I understood it. She felt so much uncertainty about me because of what had happened in the past – patterns of behavior, yes, but centrally one thing, which is the worst thing I have ever done. I implied once, about a year ago, that her leaving would probably result in me hurting myself. It is a horrible thing to do to someone. It is so incredibly selfish, and that is exactly what I was. Of course, you tell yourself in the moment that it's different the way you're doing it. That you're telling this person that it's not their fault, that it's really about you, and that you probably won't do anything, but none of that really fucking matters. You're doing something awful to someone you love. And two days ago, when she left my apartment, she told me that it was not something she could ever get over. We had had a wonderful weekend, and just a couple weeks prior had celebrated what she told me was her best birthday ever. But she had also started crying the day before in the car, about how anxious she was. It was so difficult to know what to do. I cannot undo the thing I have done that is still hurting her, and it is not my place to tell her how she should experience the hurt I caused. I could only make better choices now, and be there for her as much as I can.
And then, the next day, she left an event she was attending early to come get her stuff (not everything - my apartment is still full of her, which is the most beautiful thing, and now the most painful - her clothes are still in the laundry) and leave. She was as kind as ever, and we both cried, and it was horrible, but I had to watch her go. I am in so much pain. She had talked before about getting help for anxiety over our past, that it was something she wanted to work through, because she was happy. I was hoping that with time, she would feel more and more at peace, and see through my actions that I have changed. It's so hard to reconcile everything – that she was happy, that we were both happy, watching movies and making taco salad two days prior, and now she is gone. It feels so wrong. I begged her when she left for something to hold onto - that in six months, a year, we could meet, reevaluate. She said she couldn't promise anything. I am in shambles. I take the smallest comfort in knowing I would never hurt her like I did before, and that I will not attempt to guilt her into returning. I understand that she's in pain, too, and if I were to try desperately to contact her, I'd only hurt her more. I wrote a letter, and will send that, and I proposed a meeting place for a couple weeks out, if she wants to pick up her remaining items and talk. I want her to come so badly. I am so scared she won't, and my heart will break again.
I understand, I truly do, that no matter what happens, I have to take control of my life and move forward. It's just impossible to imagine becoming this strong, ideal version of myself and not having her as my life partner, or to not even have the hope that someday she will be. It just feels right to me, it always has, and though I cannot know exactly what she is feeling, she is my best friend, and I know her – and I know how I come across, again, utterly delusional – and part of me believes that she feels it too, and that one day soon, we can live our lives together, adult women, healed, in peace. I miss her so much. I miss everything about her. She is the best person in the world and I can't bear to do anything right now. I just want to sleep, but I can't do that. I can't contact her, can't hear her voice, can't know how her first day at her new job went. I'm breaking. I can't move. I just don't know how to be without hope.
Thank you for reading, if you made it all the way through. I wish you all all the peace in the world.

So I've been struggling with dry eye (no proper diagnosis, ophthalmologist just calls it "mild") lately. Been on restasis for 3 months and while I still can't see out of my left eye a lot of the time, the doc says that my tears are starting to evaporate less. Also read on here that it's slow to see results.
In the meantime to help manage with my blurry eye, I was told to do warm compresses and to try ointment at night since I am a left side sleeper.
Whata a good order to do these things? Do you all usually warm compress and then restasis or vice versa? At night should I do it before the ointment or after?
EDIT: What about eye lid wipes too? There's too much stuff to use. Argh.

I finally published for the first time. Not the first time I've finished a novel, but certainly the first time I have actively published one .. one that I've been a little proud of. I know it's a long process to get noticed, or even start to see some traction in sales & downloads, but how do you go about promoting your novel? I feel like I'm stuck. 😕
Beginning of chapter one below - if anyone would like to provide feedback that would be lovely. 🙂
[2,310] It began like a surreal haze, a fever dream dancing with unknown figures swirling around her like a languid tornado, their movements seemingly slowed by some unseen force as she awoke to a world spinning out of her control. She found herself surrounded by strangers who moved like spectres in a dream, fragmented flashes who assaulted her consciousness - a woman gently pressing a cloth to her throbbing head, another offering sips of water while she coughed and struggled to swallow, a man peering down at her with a furrowed brow, and a mysterious figure lingering in the doorway with an unsettling glint of desire in his eyes.
The room buzzed with a quiet urgency as they hovered around her, their faces etched with concern and something else she couldn't quite place - an undercurrent of tension that seemed to pulse in time with her own racing heart. These disjointed images flitted in and out, creating a mosaic of fragmented reality. Awake, her body throbbed with pain; asleep, she plunged into a black abyss, time slipping away unnoticed. Each awakening brought the desire for oblivion as her mind plunged back into the depths of darkness.
Beth jolted upright, startled by the sharp bang of a car backfiring. A cry of pain escaped her lips as she attempted to sit up, her back and legs resisting her will. A woman, the same from her fleeting visions, hurried into the room with a damp cloth and a glass of water.
"Easy now," the woman spoke gently, her mild Spanish accent adding warmth to her sharp words as she pressed the cloth to Beth's forehead and helped her sit up, "you're weak, rushing won't do you any favours. The sooner you regain strength, the sooner you can move."
A man, the one with the odd expression in her visions, appeared in the doorway once again; "and the sooner we can leave this place, I'm sick of it." He grumbled, striding away with urgency and frustration. His steps were heavy and fraught with agitation, each one seeming to leave a deep imprint on the ground beneath him. His grumbling was like distant thunder, punctuated by the clenching of his jaw and the tightening of his fists.
"Don't mind my brother," the woman interjected sharply, "it's not you - he hates everyone." Hate, Beth pondered, wondering what she might have done to earn his disdain.
"Are you hungry?" The woman stood, walking to the other side of the room to adjust another pillow behind Beth's back. Beth nodded; "I'll get you some soup."
Left alone, Beth surveyed the room - beige walls, a shattered TV, torn brown curtains. She squinted at the notepad on the side table, revealing the branding - Mill Village Motel Eatonville. The coffee pod machine at the room's far end, covered in dust, hinted at a neglected past.
"You're awake," startled, Beth turned to find the man with the furrowed brow at the door - tall and dark, with piercing brown eyes, he appeared softer now, "how are you feeling?" Beth managed a brief smile before adjusting herself, wincing in pain. He rushed to offer a hand, and she took his arm to shift as he adjusted the pillow.
"Want to give walking a try?" The man's warm, brown eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled down at her, his features etched with concern, his furrowed brow now smooth and his brown eyes sparkled with an unfamiliar kindness.
She shook her head, and the woman returned with soup and water; "she needs to eat before attempting to walk, Austin," she said, setting the tray before Beth.
"Then we'll try again tomorrow," Austin expressed, heading towards the door, "the sooner we leave, the better - we've been here for too long." His footsteps echoed with determination and authority, less frustrated than the other man's but equally resolute.
"I apologise if it's cold. Heating options are limited here. Need a hand?" The woman offered. Beth shook her head, the pounding of her headache resonating through her body.
"Well I'll leave you to it then. Shout out if you need anything, if you can talk at all." Beth glanced down at her bowl of soup, parting her lips as if to speak, but no words escaped. A deep sigh escaped from the woman's mouth as she turned and left the room, leaving Beth alone with her cold, untouched meal. The silence in the room was deafening, broken only by the sound of muffed chatter outside.
The days stretched longer as Beth's need for rest diminished. Boredom and confusion settled in, intensifying as the people from her visions became tangible presences, moving in and out of her room. They attended to her needs but seldom engaged in conversation. At night, their muffled voices in the adjoining room became a distant comfort, and the faint echoes of their arguments a source of intrigue.
"We need to leave," a frustrated male voice pierced through the thin walls, "we have to head further south before winter traps us with little supplies and an extra mouth to feed - considering you're all so intent on keeping this girl alive."
"This woman," a familiar female voice retorted, likely the one who had been caring for her, "needed help - I distinctly remember a time when I wasn't doing well and needed it too."
"You're my sister, of course, I wasn't going to leave you behind."
"I'm not talking about you, Luis," she yelled, "I'm talking about before you came back from Minnesota and found me."
"Why can't we just leave her here with some supplies and a gun. Why do we need to bring her with us?"
"Jesus Christ Luis we're not leaving her here alone and you two can have it out later," intervened another man, "but Luis is right - we need to leave before the snow settles in."
The argument faded into muffled voices again, and Beth strained to catch the words exchanged between the trio. A knock at the door startled her.
"May I come in?" A young girl, the same from her visions, had opened the door quietly without her even noticing. "I thought the yelling might have woken you." Beth nodded, maintaining her silence.
"I'm Chantelle." Her soft Southern accent flowed like a gentle breeze through a cornfield. She pulled up a chair beside the bed. "Luis can get into it with everybody, but he means well. Well, no, that's a lie. I don't know why I said that. He's a dick."
"I gathered," Beth whispered and laughed a little, suddenly overtaken by a violent cough.
Chantelle rushed to hand her water; "so, you do speak. From the way Austin and Val were sayin' it, it sounded like you were mute. I thought, you couldn't be deaf because you've been nodding and smiling like a dang puppet."
Beth laughed and took another sip; "I didn't really have anything worth saying until now. No one has bothered to make conversation."
"Your accent, where are you from?" Chantelle sat down on the wooden chair, her long dark hair cascading down her back in gentle curls. Her bright brown eyes sparkled with kindness as she looked towards Beth.
"Australia," Beth paused, realising she hadn't thought about home for a while, "I'm from Australia," she repeated.
Chantelle pulled out a deck of cards; "well, I figured you might be bored and needed a little human interaction that didn't make you feel like you were in a hospital."
Beth's eyes lit up, and Chantelle smiled; "what do you want to play?"
— — —
"What do you think you are doing?" Austin stormed into the motel room.
"We're leaving. Today," Luis' words cut through the air.
"The van's still in bad shape, and we won't survive this winter on foot." Austin's arms were folded tightly across his chest, the muscles in his biceps and forearms bulging with tension. His jaw was clenched, and his brows furrowed in frustration.
"Then fix the damn van!" Luis yelled, the sound piercing through the walls and resonating outside the motel room for others to hear the heated exchange.
"Oh, sorry, I'll just take it down the road to the mechanic, shall I?" Austin raised a quizzical eyebrow, smirking at his friend. The men paused their argument, exchanging laughter.
"Luis, what's going on with you?" Austin softened his tone, taking a seat on the other bed. "We've been friends since high school, grew up together, served in the army together. This isn't you."
"I don't know, man." Luis sat on the other bed, facing his friend, his face buried in his hands. He rubbed his face hard, threw his head back, and sighed heavily. "This just isn't—" he paused.
"Isn't what?"
"Isn't life." Luis gestured around the room.
"We'll get to the coast, find a boat, just like we planned." There was a slight taste of bitterness in the air, as if Austin's mild frustration was tangible.
"And then what?"
"Do the best we can," Austin stood up, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder, "we all have our dark moments, brother. You helped me get through mine, I'll help you get through yours."
Austin walked out of the motel room into the crisp morning air. The atmosphere was fresh, with a subtle scent of dew and grass. The sweet aroma of winter's imminent arrival filled the air, mingling with the faint scent of burning oil from their broken down van across the parking lot.
"Ben thinks he can fix the van by tomorrow. He found the parts we need on the other side of town." Val caught Austin as he had walked outside.
"He went scouting alone?" Austin looked across the lot at Ben, deep into the hood of the black church van they had found a while back.
Chantelle bounded up before she could answer; "Beth seems much better today. She's eatin' and drinkin' more. I think she could try walkin' today."
"Beth?" Val and Austin remarked in unison.
"Mmm, she speaks - she might have a lot more to say if either of you bothered to converse with her instead of just talkin' to her." She walked off towards Ben, a light air in her hopeful stride.
— — —
Austin found Beth sitting on the edge of her bed, her feet bare and dangling idly over the side. Her toes were curled, squeezing them tightly as she wiggled them back and forth. Her face was tense with concentration as she tried to alleviate the tingling sensation in her feet.
"Beth." His voice was soothing and calming, his words spoken with a gentle tone as he tried to ease Beth's discomfort.
"Chantelle?" She looked up at him, as he nodded, smiling gently. "She's a good kid." She smiled and looked back at her toes.
"Do you want to try walking today?" He walked towards the chair on the other side of the room and sat down as it creaked underneath the weight of him.
"The sooner I can walk, the sooner you can get out of here." She said with a sarcastic air, mocking Luis.
"The sooner we can get out of here." He repeated sarcastically with a smile, a light spread of jest washing over him as he joined her in mocking his friend.
"Your friend Luis seems to be very against bringing me along with you." She looked back at him.
"I'm not in the business of leaving people behind. Especially in Washington in the middle of October," he sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees, "you wouldn't survive the winter."
"Then maybe you should have just left me to die." She turned her body to face him abruptly. He opened his mouth to speak, but she interjected before he could respond.
"Why did you help me? You don't know me, why did you even bother?"
"Like I said, Beth," he stood up, his wistful tone switching back to cold and dry, "I'm not in the business of leaving people behind." He walked over to her slowly.
"I've lost too many people. I've watched people kill others over a can of soup. I've seen friends leave friends behind to save themselves," he sat down on the end of her bed, "I don't leave people behind."
His brown eyes cut through his words like a thunderstorm. She looked at his face, tired and weathered from sleepless nights with one eye open to ensure his group's safety. She pegged him as their leader - strong and determined with clear military training.
"What happened to you?" She asked softly.
"What happened to you?" He countered; "I refuse to believe you survived a pandemic alone for six months in a foreign country."
She said nothing and looked back at her feet. They sat in silence for a while before he stood up and headed for the door.
"We're leaving the day after tomorrow. We need to head south before it's too cold, and we don't know how long the van or the car will last, so part of that might be on foot."
"I'll try walking today." Beth nodded obediently.
"I'll send Val and Chantelle in to help you." He replied, his voice maintaining the cold cadency.
"Thank you." She smiled, wriggling her toes as the numbness started to dissipate. Before he could leave, she looked up at him again.
"Austin?" He stopped at the door and turned to her. "I know you've all done a lot for me, including putting your friendship with Luis on the line, so thank you. But I have a favour to ask," her voice grew quiet, "before we leave."
"What is it?" He asked sternly at her audacity to ask for another favour.
She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. He noticed her green eyes glisten with the added layer of acridity and the change in her demeanour; "before we leave, I need you to help me bury my husband."

I honestly don´t know how to go about this... I have never posted anything before but when things happen I tend to start writting things up. This time, this time something told me to ... dunno share? I'm rambling Im sorry. I´ll get to it.
Well, you're scared now. There is a hollow sensation in your chest that feels like both a deep dark hole and like a needle is being pushed in you. Suffocating.
Is ok to be scared, you'll show them.... you HAVE showed them. What a sweet thing, no? To find who you are. Why must you quiet it down? For whom? Have we not shown... Have I not shown myself just how strong I really am? Being odd is fine. Scared is fine. Mad or confused is still fine. You deserve to cry, I deserve to cry.
I feel like I just entered a Cristal Maze, and I do not know if there is an ending.
What if there is not? What does it matter? Does it matter?
Even tough I'm lost I still travel with me. How others take my news is how they take them.
For better or for worse, I am still with me every step of the way.
What If I you tought you were a tree but you're an Ocean? What if I did?
Even if so, they both need each other. And how privileged, what a privilege to walk this path with me.
To know that I am an ocean.
What blessing is to be doubly exceptional.
I/we wouldn't have it any other way.
This is not the first time, this is not the last time. And how fortunate I am, to be scared, overewhelmed, to stand across the door.
Are you not proud, am I not proud, to know I have the strength of crossing it?
Are you (am I) not excited to meet the (me) you on the other side?
We both know she is waiting for us; waiting with open arms.
So what if I thought I was a tree but I am an ocean? I don't mind. From this Pain and this tears a flower is blooming.
Even if the labrinth is eternal, it doesnt matter at all. I am walking with myself, every step of the way.
And with every step of the way I'm blooming.
(I wrote this all in postits which is the reason the lineas are so strange, also English is not my first language and I was having a mental breakdown and I dont know why I am making excuses, thank you for listening(?) to me.)

You look around until you see a small animal looking at you. It looks like a cross between a lion and a unicorn. It's a bit smaller than a standard house cat. So small, you're not even afraid of it. It's actually cute. Looks like a pokemon.
"Yeah, you. Come here." Her voice is friendly and childlike. You walk over to her and ask what she wants. She tells you that her name is Phoebe, she's a demon, and that she will grant you wishes if you feed her.
You ask her what she wants. She asks for a house cat with a broken neck. You protest, but she tells you the reward will be worth it. Reluctantly, you accept.
Your neighbor's cat is always pooping on your property. You stepped in cat poop this morning. You catch the little bugger, but you let it go. You're not a killer.
Unfortunately, while running away from you, the cat gets hit by a car, is flung a good 50 feet, and is then struck by another car coming from the opposite direction.
Phoebe happily trots over and starts devouring what's left of the poor kitty. You ask about your reward, and she asks you what you want. You ask for a million dollars, but she only gives you $10,000, saying you "didn't do it right."
The money instantly appears in your bank account and you go on a shopping spree. The next day, you wake to Phoebe standing in your windowsill. She's a little bigger now. About the size of a small dog.
She asks you to bring her a dog with all its legs cut off. You're sickened by the request, but given the reward earlier, you consider it. You ask her if it can be a stray. She says it has to be a pet, saying that she "doesn't eat worthless meat."
With your stomach turning, you oblige. After the deed is done, you ask for ten million dollars out of sheer frustration. To your surprise, she gives you 20 million because she says she "likes how eager you were to accomplish your task."
You immediately purchase a large home, a nice car, and some new clothes to replace your blood soaked ones. You have a nightmare that night about what you did to that dog, but it's interrupted by Phoebe.
She's now about the size of a medium sized dog. She asks you to bring her a human finger. You couldn't possibly do that. You offer one of your own, but she refuses, saying that you're "worth so much more whole."
Once again, you reluctantly agree. You find a sleeping homeless man and, using a cigar clipper, quickly snip off his pinky finger. The man screams in pain as you run off with the severed digit.
In your haste to get away, you run right in front of a dump truck and get wrapped around the tires. You die instantly with your guts on display for all to see. That is, until Phoebe comes by, accepts her gift, and puts you back together like humpty dumpty.
You ask for a hundred million dollars, but she refuses, saying that you being resurrected was your reward as she "thought that's what you would have wanted."
You're angry, but there isn't anything you can do, so you just go home. The next day, Phoebe wakes you again. She's the size of a black bear. She asks you for a severed human head.
This time, you put your foot down. No way in hell you're going that far. Even with Phoebe's promises of a worthwhile reward, you stand your ground. You're not killing anyone.
Disappointed, Phoebe takes a few steps forward, getting uncomfortably close. "Well, I guess I'll just have to find something else to eat, hmm?" she says, looking you dead in the eyes.
Your heart drops and you start to shake. You should have known you'd get burned playing with fire. "Wait!" you shout. You agree to get her a severed head, but you don't even believe yourself.
Phoebe pauses for a moment. "Okie dokie, then. See ya soon," she says as she trots off. You leave the house, but don't even make it off the porch. You're frozen in fear. You still haven't stopped shaking.
You look to your right. Phoebe's standing on your roof, staring directly at you. You walk to your car and drive off.
What now? Do you try to run and hide? Perhaps you're in too deep and you'll just comply? Or maybe you're feeling daring and will try to kill Phoebe?
What will you do?

i had ultrasounds & biopsies a couple years ago & confirmed i have a benign fibroadenoma in my right breast. it has not caused me any issues until recently, i noticed the right side of my right breast will hurt & ache! at first i thought i must be getting a clogged duct, but it feels so different… i just left it and assumed it was a strange clogged duct. however now it’s been over a week of off and on pain, and just now it clicked. it’s exactly where my fibroadenoma is! has this happened to anyone else?

I was playing with my friend, he did every single side objective, I did every main objective with a random. The random was host, and invited his friend to play, the friend left on accident, and someone else joined to replace him. We were about to extract, and the random (host) kicked my friend who did all side objectives, and was here since the beginning, instead of kicking the new guy who just joined to replace the friend of the host who left. (The friend was trying to rejoin, a random joined right after he left)
What do I do since my friend was kicked? I dropped my samples in a volcano hole thingy, (dived in) and teamkilled the host 2 times, this ultimately led me to getting kicked, but I was to leave anyways.
Should I have done that? He could’ve kicked the person who just joined right after (the person who just joined barely joined and did nothing so far)

March 25th: Prelude Raid • P diddy’s houses (Cali/Fla/NY) get raided by the FEDS.. all I remember is his neighbor said it be so bad.. that when I play basketball the ball go over the fence I don’t go over there, I let the ball B. (Referring to diddy house being crazy weird)
MARCH 26th: The Diss (Intro) • Kendrick sends a diss in like that verse.
APRIL 5th: Sorry, plead the 5th situation. • J Cole, drops a good little warm up the beef album. Got everyone enticed like what’s poppin? What’s going on? Then sorry I’m not playing video games with y’all no more going outside to ride my bike in the city. Ye droppin soon…. • Kanye tries to make a diss record but gets ignored by everyone - says F it - randomly opens up a porno company… telling us this is what y’all about to be watching a rapPorn-reporting beef battle.
APRIL 19th - MAY 5th: BEEF • Drakes replies to Kendrick a month later with push ups. Then Kendrick droppin diss hits. Then Drake droppin diss hits. These two start PANDEMIC LEVEL beefing’ 100%.
MAY 5th - MAY 13th: WEIRD SHIT TURNOUT • Someone shoots at Drake crib & bReachin’ • No more beef or disses, everyone no longer spoiled. • TDE says beef is over then the riddler Pops up with all this crazy stuff say he gonna end careers • Labels, Estates & Studios start doing smear campaigns, lawsuiting & BOT attacking • Randomly the riddler (don’t even wanna say his name anymore) keeps showing up with fraud antics, extorting attempts, and spiraling rabbit hole gimmicks all this, care about why I got fired from my hotel job. • AK all over the place, can’t figure out the riddler or crack the case. Also catching cases couple allegations deletes his Instagram. • Bunch of a people affiliated with either side start deleting their Instagram & twitters accounts.
OUTCOMES: Bottomline • Not like us billboard #1, followed by euphoria & then Drake with Family Matters all in top 10. • KDOT caught twofer off the billboard. • Tons of PGlang Promo for KDOT no more TDE • People still left with NO information either these beef’s lying or rappin about. Theres no solid paperwork style verification or validation. Still all just word of mouth, hearsay, I know he did but I don’t know. • Kanye not droppin album or is he? • Drakes on vacation summer vibes. • KDOT become a mute vanished. • Diddy aka Mr. FreakOff trying desperately to avoid courts & lawsuits meaning this dude is in some serious HEAT. This whole time diddy been in flames someone need to go check on him make sure he show up to court like trump when the time comes.
That’s my understanding of all this from 10,000ft view like.. that’s all I know fam, is there anything else?

5’9 180lbs recently got a scan for my scrotum and groin area for a soft tissue lump that appeared. These were the results can someone here please interpret this to me? Specifically “indolent inguinal lymph nodes” aspect?
Doctors Notes:
“There is a single tiny calcification seen within the right mid testicle without adjacent soft tissue abnormality. Both testicles otherwise have a normal appearance with uniform echotexture and no other focal lesions identified. There is preserved flow to both testicles with Doppler evaluation.
There is a small cyst in the right epididymis measuring 3 mm maximally. There is a small cyst in the left epididymis measuring 9 to 10 mm maximally. The epididymis is otherwise unremarkable bilaterally.
There is a small right-sided hydrocele with debris. There is no definite left-sided hydrocele. There is however a left-sided varicocele.
Directed evaluation above the scrotum at the base of the penis demonstrates an area of prominent soft tissue measuring up to 1.8 x 4.3 x 5.3 cm with vascular flow.
There do appear to be a few small but morphologically indolent inguinal lymph nodes bilaterally.”
Please help me interpret these results, any response would be super helpful in relieving anxiety! 5 months of tachycardia, hypertension and palpitations and then this.

I know I post a lot about this ISFP friend but it’s been a while since we became friends and he’s come so much out of his shell. I would really like to know my chances with him.
We’ve hooked up and make out when we met but it was ages ago and we were quite drunk. Since then we’ve gotten to know each quite well. We live close to each other so there were several times we cooked for each other and he helped move luggage when I went on a trip.
When I came back we went to a festival together. There were moments where he offered me food, put his hand behind my waist, and pull me close to dance and do spins. He definitely had the choice to go with his sports friend but he decided to wait even when I was about an hour and a half late to anything. He knows I’m seeing others on the side but he just teases me about it and isn’t too bothered. He bought drinks for us to pregame and spent all night together, and when I step away he definitely tried to find me and he hasn’t usually before.
We took some time away from our larger group of friends and just sat and smoked on the side a bit. He felt unwell but I stayed with him and encouraged him to recover and he actually took my advice and we had lots of fun. He tends to leave parties early and I was surprised he ended up staying so long.
When we left he let me sleep on his shoulder and gave me his jacket when I felt cold.
More recently he came to a party that meant a lot to me and stayed a long time from the beginning til the end.
I also became really sick and was vomiting and laying on the toilet floor unable to move. I tried calling several people and he was the first one to respond. He called people up to help and stayed with me for hours while I was on the ground and sick. He got me to my room and cleaned everything, and when I fell asleep he stayed for an hour then went to grab food for me.
It’s confusing for me because he’s also just a very kind person in general. Whenever I tell a friend to ask him how he feels he just says he’s not sure or likes me more as a friend. He’s also hinted that he sometimes doesn’t know what he wants, or that his last girlfriend was only his girlfriend because she initiated. I told him I wanted something serious a couple months ago and he said he just needed time to think. Never got back to me. He did hint that he’s no longer talking to some of the girls he was seeing.
He also has put his arm around me on a bus or hinted that I don’t make enough moves (I flirt very openly.)
TLDR: ISFP is doing a push and pull and idk what to do.

So I (20F) have known this girl, let's call her Em (fake name, 20F), for a whole bunch of years.
To be precise, we actually first met when we were little, but neither of us remembers it.
My mom has been friends with my "aunt" (not biological) since they were in high-school. As they grew older, of course, their families expanded. My aunt had three kids, who would be my cousins. Her mom's side of the family is from a another country that shares borders with ours. Her brother, who lives in said country, had 5 kids, four girls and one boy. We're unrelated. They're my "cousins" actual cousins.
Most of my family (this aunt and cousins included) live in another part of my country, so when I was a kid I used to go over the summer and stay most of it there to see everyone. It seems that when we were kids, we all hung out once, there's even a picture to prove it, but again, no one bellow age 25 remembers that.
Well one of those summers, when I was 14, I went to visit and went over to my aunt's for dinner. That's when Em and I kind of really met, and boy do I remember that.
We all said our hellos, and we sat down at the table, she was sitting across me. All night we made small talk, and I really liked her.
I was always openly gay, never really had a "coming out of the closet", since no one in my family cares. They've always been supportive of me. Her family, though, it's a different story.
Her siblings are great, and they're also cool about that, but her parents (specially her mom) are catholics (if I remember correctly, her dad or one of their uncles is a preist) soooo yeah we weren't really openly flirting at the dinner table.
But then, us young ones went away to play cards. She was playing against me, 3 vs 3, only this time she was sitting almost beside me.
The stolen glances, the grazing of hands, the little smirks. I remember the way she looked at me, like she didn't understand what or why she was feeling something, but she knew she was. She found me attractive, but with the not-really-but-just-met situation and her parents, we just stuck with that. I only saw her once again that summer, same thing, only for a whole day. And then back in my hometown as they were passing through to go back to their country
We exchanged numbers, and when we talked she confessed she liked me, a lot, but didn't know what to do in that moment. It was new to her, though that didn't really bother her much. I remember she said something along the lines of "It’s like I was so mesmerized by you and at the same time so confused that I just froze, but I would've kissed you if we had seen each other again, and if it happens I will".
Well, six years passed.
With not really the space or time to establish a relationship, and living in two different countries at that age kind of made it impossible and of course, naturally, contact faded and every once in a while we'd talk again as if no time had passed.
Eventually, she got a boyfriend, I had a few relationships two. Long term and serious on both accounts, but we never not talked at least a couple times a year (respectfully, of course).
I guess I never really stopped liking her, but it was more of a distant thing than anything else. Every time we talked though, it was great. We would catch up, open up about things we would otherwise keep quiet, etc. It's like we always gravitated back to each other, both in thought and in speaking terms (on both accounts).
Some time later, when she finished high-school, she followed her older siblings footsteps and moved to a city near mine to attend college, that was around a year or two ago.
She broke off her relationship a few months back, I did so too.
And a few days ago, I replied to a story she had uploaded on her insta and, well, here comes the best part.
We started talking, catching up, and I can't really remember why but the conversation eventually led to me saying I found her pretty. She replied it was mutual. I'll try to recall the conversation below.
"Wait, do you still like me after all these years?"
"Well, yeah, why wouldn't I?"
"I mean, we didn't see each other again, grew older and you even had a boyfriend, I thought maybe the feeling had passed for you"
"Yeah I mean I isolated myself a lot in that relationship, it sucked, but I never not liked you, nor forgot about you, it was just impossible"
"Well, it's not anymore. I still like you too, and I've been wanting this for years"
"So have I, I want to go see you"
I remember I told her that when I saw she had a boyfriend I didn't really wanna force or ruin anything cuz she seemed happy and I liked that, and she told me she would've left him in a heartbeat for me the second she'd known I still liked her.
We also talked about her family. She told me her mom actually found out about our little chat back in 2018 and got kind of mad, but Em told her to screw off and not go through her phone again, and that's the end of it. One of her sisters noticed then too, but just told her good for her and also never mentioned it again.
Then the same day I replied to her story, she was hanging out a while earlier with her older sister and a friend of theirs and eventually told them about me (her sister knew me, of course, but not how we actually felt about each other) since they were reminiscing about summers, told them she was still into me. That even after all those years I still caught her attention when I wandered my way into her head (and it's definitely mutual). She mentioned that although she had found other girls pretty, the only one that ever stuck out to her and really had her head-over-heels for, was me. I felt so flustered when she said that.
The rest of the conversation was one I'd never had with her. She told me she liked me, and what things. She thinks I'm pretty, she thinks I'm funny. Smart, talented, good. I honestly don't know if all of it is true but to hear her so talk about me that way, so starstruck, just like when we were 14, made my heart skip a beat. It was adorable. And then, well, it derailed into a more... uhm... mature conversation about plans we had for each other? If you get what I mean lol.
And that's where we are now. We're both having exams right now so we're planning to meet up next week when we're done.
IM SO EXCITED!
We miss each other, and we've wanted to hang out for ages. Not only that, but her now openness to be with me and enjoy it is so both refreshing and adorable. She calls me names, compliments me, tells me she wants me.
I never would've thought it would actually happen, not at least for a few more years. I also wouldn't have thought that shy girl I met would be so openly flirty with me, even on voice messages.
She's told me about a hundred times already how much she's wanted this, that's she's so glad it's gonna finally happen, that she's wondered what it's like to kiss me ever since she met me. That she wants all of me. Every last bit.
It's mutual, it's all mutual.
I feel giddy, excited, and I definitely feel wanted, and it's amazing.
Just wanted to rant about it and her, she's honestly amazing and beautiful. Kind, smart. Her accent drives me crazy and when she speaks her native language I literally feel weak.
Six years. Six years always thinking about each other (and many of those times it's like we mind-called each other beacuse we'd end up talking again). The girl I've had a crush on for the longest and never got, and we finally have the space, place and time to do it. This is it, it's our moment. And I definitely plan to enjoy every minute of it. She's worth it. So, so worth it.
Have a nice day everyone, Imma go talk to her lol bye

I had a total hysterectomy the end of January and it's like every single month since then I've had a UTI.
The third time I went to urgent care about it, they gave me the same antibiotic even though I told them it hadn't worked for me before, and the antibiotics didn't feel like they helped at all this last time. They supposedly tested it for cultures yet they never gave me the results. (The first two times I did a virtual appointment for antibiotics because I didn't think anything of it and I know that was a dumb move. But at least those times it seemed to help).
Now I'm getting concerned by how I'm getting more noticable symptoms yet again just two weeks after finishing the antibiotics.
I even said this is the third UTI I had and they didn't care and just asked me "do you know how to wipe right"? It felt so insulting.
I tried to chug a lot of water this weekend and that seemed to help but of course that's not doable to just be going to the bathroom all the time. I tried my best though to drink as much as I could to follow the 8 cups a day, yet I STILL feel pain when peeing. Sometimes it still smells weird too (like bleach or sweet). I know drinking a lot of water helps and I really try to but sometimes it's just not doable. I feel like I get UTIs or worse symptoms the second I don't drink 8+ glasses a day.
And today I've been noticing some lower abdominal pain on the right side of my stomach (not pelvic pain). I'm just starting to get so irritated and concerned because I'm told "you need to treat your UTI" yet nobody seems to care that I've BEEN HAVING UTIS FOR 4 FUCKING MONTHS.
I can't be in the bathroom every hour for the rest of my life and I'd like to have sex again eventually (I'm cleared for it). This doesn't make me feel like I can even wear thongs again either because I know it can increase the risk of UTIs (from what I've heard).

A relative of mine had their failed dental implant removed. Had to find an oral surgeon to do an emergency removal since it was infected.
The Doctor rushed giving her papers to sign since the office was going to close and then rushed giving her injections. He didn't wait long before the Novocain or whatever injections he gave her time to kick in.
She was screaming in pain and it was not fun hearing her from the waiting room. And, after it was done she noticed a light pain on the side of her throat where the tooth was on. She called him a number of times to ask about it and he said to come in to chat. He won't tell her anything on the phone? (I'm guessing for legal purposes and in the event he damaged any kind of nerve he knows he is in the clear cause of all the documents she signed)
But, more than that I was wondering if you are pulling an infected dental implant should a person be in that much pain? My thinking was the doctor just wanted to go home and rushed it? My relative had every teeth procedure in the book and I never heard them in so much pain in the dental chair.
PS- Recently read a horrible review on the doctor from a few years ago where a woman's mom died in his dental chair cause she had asthma and he blew off her symptoms to her daughter and didn't call 911. He didn't do chest compressions or anything. It was a sad read.

I was at work when I suddenly felt really bad heartburn and feeling really bloated and gassy. I had two bowel movements at work and was still in extreme discomfort and pain so I went home thinking I had to just get it out. I hadn’t eaten anything all day except the pre workout drink I mixed with an “essential greens” powder before I went to the gym at 6am.
It wasn’t until 2p that I remembered I had added apple cider vinegar to my pre workout drink (my estimate is I probably used at least three teaspoons. Eventually got the gassiness under control and now the only symptom I have left is consistent with severe GERD. I feel like the apple cider vinegar probably burned the lining of my stomach. I’ve since taken some Tums and drinking plenty of water. I also wear a rib brace around my stomach and ribs tightly during my workout and I feel like that contributed by letting the pre workout sit up “higher” in my stomach from the compression.
If I go to urgent care would they be able to prescribe something that would help with the burning? I have no history with heartburn and don’t normally consume ACV. TIA. This is miserable!

Morris stayed hidden for days, of course he wasn’t the only one left behind. A burned drone who would not wake up, a student named Kerr, and a drone seemingly losing all touch with reality named Luther. They barricaded the room of the patient, and stayed in there for weeks as the room was well off the beaten path. One day, Kerr asked “So what are your stories?” when there was nothing to do. “I was part of the WDF at one point, as I was part of the military grade drone experiment. The others left me to die, but I didn’t and now here we are…” said Luther. Morris decided now was a good time to reveal his crimes, “I was part of a test of drone software stability against viruses, unfortunately I never regained complete stability. The parts of my software that were for sympathy and morals were corrupted, along with a thirst for violence appearing… have you heard the stories of the drone named Morris? That’s me, and most of them are true… I also killed several drones here. I was gonna torch the bodies but the undead stopped me, and the events up to here were (Go read the last couple chapters except for Fade to Gray).”
[Malkor hosting enabled] I saw the shocked expressions on their faces, and smiled slightly… I then told them of the transmission I got from the teacher. “What’s your story Kerr?” I asked calmly, knowing very well the free oil supply that was the burned drone wouldn’t speak. “Well… I was studying to reinforce the doors, and also founded a little group called ‘Delta Company’ which basically was enforcing military restrictions on the other students…” I cracked up, “Alright we got a drone in white plaster, a fascist, Yossarian, and a psychopathic killer… well this should be a great group for Delta Company.” Kerr rolled her eyes, “Sure, it didn’t become a thing because the zombies had to show up… also you and your friends lit up most of the members and the others… well you can probably guess what happened to them.” I thought for a second, “What’s stopping us from rebuilding it? I mean we can head to the dead zone, which is in need of leadership anyway, and start recruiting people and drones.” Kerr snickered, “Well if we even survive this bunker…” Luther was seemingly able to comprehend what we were saying, “I could be security…” he said off handedly. “I probably won’t join you though, I’m already a member of a faction in the zone.” I lowered the neck of my shirt to reveal a tattoo on my shoulder, two sideways Vs intersecting each other. “Well, it never hurts to have an ally… especially with the Invisibilia.” The sound of banging on the door was heard, considering the somewhat frantic banging along with the smell of gasoline it’s probably Uzi and N. “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the enhancements that came with the software corruption… I can alter the perception of reality to an extent.” I got up and started to bend reality just a bit, and slung my AK over my shoulder with a tire iron in my right hand. They gave me good luck or rather, the illusion of Morris good luck.
This will probably be a good test to see if those undead feel fear, or have some semblance of their old selves in there. My intuition of N and Uzi being at the door was right, and I try to hit them through the crack of the door. After getting them off I use my schizophrenia giving powers to their fullest extent, I alert V of my presence but that is subsided by the hesitation to come close. Apparently they do feel fear from me, now let’s see if they have memories. “What’s wrong N? Couldn’t deal with having to fight your girlfriends? You’re almost as pathetic as Nori… correction moreso, you just had to steal the kill from me.” This of course sends Uzi into what I can only describe as shock, so that answers that. Either way I turn all of them into slices of swiss cheese, however the bunker is still full and the others opt to leave the injured drone behind as their practically dead weight… no matter, for the dead won’t stay down for long and we have to keep moving. I stare in disgust at Uzi, a painful reminder of my past… I would spit but drones physically cannot (unfortunately?). No matter, through the forest the three of us unturned go…
We make it through the forest, and into the dead zone. Thankfully I was not exiled, and rather went outside on a significant purpose (which I will not disclose as of current), and Kerr immediately runs off to go recruit the entirety of the refugees of the outside to Delta Company. She’s off and away, then me and Luther are left to our own devices… Luther goes and wanders off, possibly to get drunk on coolant though I wouldn’t judge him for doing so. [Morris hosting restored] I walk over to one of the Invisibilia hideouts in order to communicate all the shit that went down within the past week, and considering I think in English I’ll transcribe the conversation afterward in English; “Hey P4! Why the hell didn’t you kill the admin while you had the chance?” said a Russian colleague of mine, “I have a name you know… also that fucking bitch would probably have gotten the upper hand, that surprise you fleshbag?” did I just call him a slur for human? Yes, yes I did, but we’re actually on good terms so the insult is very lighthearted, “Yeah Morris I know, you also brought a fascist clanker over here… hope to god they aren’t in a ‘Kill all humans and native drones’ phase”, so yeah we basically shit talked each other. Pretty good considering Copper-9’s only safe space is a dead zone which was more devastating than Chernobyl, but hey that’s better than turning into a zombie right?

His ex sent me this message. Sorry it’s so long! Has anybody else gotten a similar message in the past? How did you react?
Message below: “It’s been over a year of me wondering whether I should just come out and ask you or message you… but being afraid that if I do, and I’m wrong, it’ll be a the biggest mistake of my life. I have begged and begged him to tell me what you are to him, and he denies having anything more than a platonic friendship with you.
I want to preface this message with, I have no ill will towards you, I just want some answers… answers I don’t believe I’m going to get from Jared. I don’t know if he’s mentioned anything about me. So here goes…
November 2022, I sent Jared an email, telling him I loved him, missed him, and though I didn’t require a response back, I wanted him to know how sorry I was for everything that had happened and things had ended. He responded with a lengthy email telling me he still fervently loved me and how he too was sorry for how things had ended. That email lead to the last year and a half of events.
December 2022, I drove down to Roanoke and surprised him at the Carilion garage. He left the hospital as fast as he could that night, and we spent the rest of that evening together, catching up, and he left for Key West two days later. Two weeks later, he came up to DC and we had a late birthday celebration for him at Clyde’s in Georgetown and went to see A Christmas Carol at the Ford Theater. A few weeks later we drove to Jersey to see Matchbox20, by now it was the end of January 2023. Almost every week off, for the last year, he would come up and see me, if even for only two days, or I would drive down to Roanoke and spend the week with him. We spoke about our past, the hurt, and future, he told me numerous times that when he pictured marriage and children, it was only with me, but he needed time. This part is important, and I’ll come back to it later. We celebrated my birthday at a restaurant in Navy Yard, two weeks before you guys left for London. Chris video chatted with that night while we were at the restaurant eating Wagyu, and they discussed the new shipment of sunglasses Chris had gotten for Miggieswear.
The weekend of the Super Bowl, he had come seen me earlier that week, the day after he left I came to Roanoke and left the day of the Super Bowl. He told me his parents were having a viewing party and he had to go home and cook. I’m now assuming he left my Airbnb and came to your place.
That February he planned a trip to London, with Nicole, Ryan and Chris, and what he told me were, Nicole’s “friends.” Nicole happened to post a picture of you guys sitting on the plane and I was shocked, why would Nicole’s friend be sitting between him and Ryan. I sent him a message while you were on that 6 hour flight, telling him that if he had been seeing somebody, then why didn’t he tell me? There was no point in us spending time together if he had moved on. His response to me was “do you even know what you’re looking at? I’m surprised you don’t recognize her, that’s Nicole’s friend. You’re jumping to a lot of conclusions right now and don’t know what you’re talking about.” Something in my gut didn’t believe it but I wanted to trust that, so I did. I put you out of sight, out of mind. When he got back, he told me how he wished I’d been there with him, we both love history and old buildings, it’s a place we would have found magical together. I don’t know who came up with the idea of going to London, but part of me always thinks I’m the one who put it there when I shared the pictures i had taken when I went there the year we had been no contact.
We went to a Kenny Chesney concert in Charlottesville that March when I got back from my family trip to India, and he got back from London. Between work, us both traveling with our families, we were excited to see one another. We were going to go to St Augustine, but because of the weather, we stayed in Roanoke and saw Kenny Chesney in Charlottesville. The original plan had been to spend the night in Charlottesville at a hotel, but we couldn’t get one last minute so we ended up driving back to Roanoke and sneaking into the basement at his parents house and sleeping in his bed at 3am.
A few months later, we went to Richmond, and stayed the weekend, exploring the city, and watched Hamilton at the Altria Theater. A few months after that, we went to Savannah and Atlanta, where he got a flat tire driving into the garage, and spent the rest of the weekend at a yoga retreat. July, he asked me to go to Boston with him and his brother, for 4th or July weekend, but I couldn’t because my siblings were in town. Every single week, he came down and either stayed with me, or made a quick trip to spend time with me…
This past September, I found out he took you to Justin’s wedding, and I broke. I needed more from him. I have known him, been intimate with him, shared my every fear, worry, I have brought him home cooked meals from DC and surprised him at work with dinner, I’ve made him care packages. I’ve made Ryan Easter baskets and sent him birthday presents and encouraged Jared to put him in academic classes, I’ve helped Jared look into private schools for Ryan, and weighed the pros and cons of the options. I had no expectations in return from him other than, at the very least, a mutual respect and HONESTY.
I’ve seen him quite a few times since September and I last saw him in Roanoke at the beginning of March 2024. We sat in front of each other, in his car before he went into work that Monday night, and he told me, again, that when he thinks of marriage and a future, I’m the only one he pictures a marriage and children with. I’m not saying this to hurt you, or to make a point, I’m saying it because i don’t know what to believe anymore.
I became suspicious of his relationship with you, when he mentioned going to Macchu Picchu and hiking through the mountains. As all women have the ability to find out details they might later regret, I did the same thing. Except I didn’t believe he had actually gone to Macchu Picchu. I knew his passport had been long expired since around or before COVID, and I knew he had renewed it before he went to London. But that was when I realized you were the girl in the photo that Nicole posted. When I confronted him about Macchu Picchu, he told me he had been joking and he had also already told me he’d been joking. He had NEVER told me it was a joke, he had actually refused to show me photos when I asked him for pictures from the trip… he had then proceeded to change the topic, which is what had even raised red flags in my head.
My point is, I have asked him point blank so many times whether you two have a relationship. You tell me you still love me, that you picture marriage and a family with me, but this girl is a part of your life, and you took her to a wedding with you, while I was on a trip with my siblings, you took her to London with you, and you continue to tell me she’s just a friend. I asked him again on Tuesday night/Wednesday Morning after he left work, if you two are dating, and he said no. He asked me why I’m so hyper-fixated on somebody who’s just a friend when he has a million other female friends.
In September, he told me he needed a month to clear his head, that he wanted to commit to me, but he was afraid and that he needed to get over the fear and roadblock of our past break up. I gave him grace and understood. So we took a 4 week break. Some time during that time period, he sent me a snap of doves, and said “doves, and swans mate for life.” He sent me Ed Sheeran songs telling me he wants to find his way back to me. “No Strings Attached… you are the one I love”
In November, he messaged me and told me he had a surprise for me and to look for something in the mail. He loves the Count of Monte Carlo, it’s one of his favorite movies, and he told me it was in reference to that. A few weeks later I got a candle, a silver 400 dollar Buddha candle from Thomson Ferrier. I didn’t understand the reference to the Count of Monte Carlo, but it was a beautiful gesture and present… especially because he knew how much little gestures from him mean to me.
Fast forward to January, I got another 350 dollar black skull candle from him, from Thomson Ferrier. At this point I was upset, angry and livid. I called my sister in tears that evening. I had come back to him because he told me he loved me, that he “has a fire that burns so deeply” when he thinks of me. If i had known that wasn’t true, i would have closed the chapter a year and a half ago. I don’t want $700 worth of gifts and candles, I want more. I want marriage, I want children, I want our lives to move forward, I want communication. Out of anger, I packed up the candle, his sweatshirts and clothes that he had left at my place this past year, and mailed them back to his house. I’m sure it’s sitting somewhere in his basement closet/ bedroom… along with his white Huq sweatshirt, a picture of us I had up in my house, and various articles of clothing.
What upsets me is that he didn’t just involve me this year, he involved my family. He sent my mom presents, my parents in return sent him gifts. My sister, parents and cousins messaged him asking him to come around more. There was no point in involving my family, if he was going to involve himself with you. There was no point in involving himself with me, if he was going to involve himself with you. Those leather Indian shoes sitting in his room, my dad bought those for him. That blue sweater, those green pants and that maroon shirt, my parents bought those for him just this last year.
I don’t know what he’s told you about me, but I will say this. I was your age when we started dating. I was 29 years old. He was single, that’s what everyone in our residency program thought. He would tell everyone how Shari left him one day, all of a sudden just got up and left. “I saw the look behind her eyes just change when she looked at me.” He would tell everyone his horrific dating stories. When i started dating him, there was no doubt in my mind he was single… but I was wrong. He wasn’t single, he was dating Devon, one of the nurses from Carilion, and he had been for the past 4 years prior to that. At one point when he moved to Norfolk, she had even moved in with him. Even Shari was visiting him in Norfolk during this time period. I would have never suspected it, nobody in our residency program did. It wasn’t until one day, when he told me his friends were visiting from home, and they were all going to a concert together, that I found out. Her profile picture was of the two of them together, and her Facebook relationship status said “in a relationship.” Out of my own naivety, i believed him when he told me she was crazy and obsessed with him. He told me, to him, they were just friends but she wanted more. Women do a lot of things, but no woman is dumb enough to think she’s your girlfriend when she’s not. When we moved back to our hometowns, Devon was there waiting for him. He disappeared one day for 24 hours, told me that he was helping his dad’s friend who was stranded in NC. A year and a half later, i would find out that was a lie and that he had been at a concert Florida Georgia Line concert with her. She had been visiting his grandmother with him, staying at his parents home. The irony is that a few weeks after he took her, he took me to the same concert in Scranton. Him and his family didn’t bat an eye when a month later, I showed up and was the “new girlfriend.”
Eventually Devon found out about his lies and left him, but again, stupid me thought she was a crazy girl who just wanted so badly to be with him, that she built their relationship up in her head.
Dignity, respect for humans, empathy, are the most important qualities in a human being.
What I don’t wish is for you to be in my spot in 5 years. He will paint you in his colors, make you fall in love with MB20, and take you to Augustana concerts, he’ll tell you that you understand him, and his heart in a way that nobody else does. He’ll bond with you over music, and send you songs that make you feel he’s talking about you. He is so good at making you feel seen, and involving you with his family. He’ll say he had a vision of a girl that looks like you, coming into his life, and here you are, his soul mate. And one day, the same way that Shari, Devon and I got lost in him, the reality of everything will come pouring down on you. Be careful, there are signs between the lines, and the smiles, and good times. Make sure you don’t miss those, whatever you decide.
My relationship with him, started off just like yours. Another girl on the periphery, and teetering the line of inappropriate. Everything you call him out on, will always have an excuse, and you will believe him because he’s the “good guy” who goes above and beyond for people.
I don’t wish for any woman to go through the pain I’ve gone through, the manipulation, the lies and the emotional abuse. I can’t tell you what to do, but I will say, be careful and don’t be blind to the small things that will one day become huge. The novelty will fade, and though Jared isn’t the devil, he has a lot of growing up to do at 40. It was not okay to toy with me and drag me through the mud this year. It wasn’t okay to minimize his relationship with you and lie to me about it. It’s not okay to, to this day claim to see a life with me and not commit to it. I deserve better, and you deserve better.
How men talk about their ex’s and other women is an indication about how they will one day talk about and treat you. That is the worst and best lesson i have learned. I’m 34, years of my life wasted, and he took another year of my life knowing full well, this is how it would end. He’s sat on the phone with me for hours talking about how stupid PA’s are and if you were going to not be a doctor, at least become an NP, who has better bedside knowledge. Why would he say that, because i suppose you’re a PA and it minimizes the significance of even having a relationship with somebody who isn’t as intelligent as he is. The lack of respect will always be there, you just have to look for it.
Dishonesty, and manipulation are a plague, and if that’s who you are at 40, it is who you will always be unless you recognize that something needs to change. Where there is no accountability, there can be no change. I’m not the exception, I’m the same as the two girls before me. He’ll show you text messages where he never responded to me, even though he replies on Snapchat where every thing is erased. I cannot believe i didn’t see the signs. He will make me look crazy and laugh at me, the same way he showed me messages from Jen, and Elisabeth, and Devon, and made them sound crazy to me. I guess that’s his MO. The same way he told me you were nothing to him.
I was going to send you this message, two months ago… i then decided not to because he convinced me he wasn’t dating you… I saw him less than a month ago in Roanoke, i begged him to tell me that he was in a relationship with you. He said he wasn’t, again, he told me he was going to a wedding alone with only Ryan and that he wasn’t taking you. I then begged him to tell me that we were done and that he didn’t love me anymore. His response was idk what’s going to happen a year from now, i know I’ll see you again. His response every time has been when im ready for a relationship, emotionally, do you want me to finally let you know? I don’t care to be with him anymore. I’m so over it but i really think you should know the type of person you’re dealing with.
He has put me through so much hell for a year and a half of my life, stringing me along acting like he’s doing me a favor while he works on his own mental health and claims to still love me when we are together.”
TLDR: my SO’s ex messaged me saying he’s been seeing both of us for the past year and a half. Has anybody experienced this before. She sent me pictures from the past year of them and their text exchanges

Okay so I just wanted some advice on this and sorry for any typos. me and my bestfriend recently stopped being friends me and her have been friends since 6th grade this year we have had some tension and some weirdness but my mom is the guardian on both of are cards and she locked both of are cards I got a new guardian (it takes anyone over 18) she didn’t and kept asking me about it I tried to fix it I didn’t know how she orders a new card but keeps it under my mom as the guardian then was mad it was locked and texted me about it this about 3 months give or take after my mom locked the card I told her to get a new guardian like I did I also told her this months about she proceeded to tell me I’m to busy with my boyfriend anyways (side note we have had talks about me not spending enough time with her) I tell her sorry I’m in a relationship but I cant hang out with her every weekend I had literally seen her the day before and we hung out 1 weekend before this I say I’m allowed to be in my relationship she decides to go deep and say all my boyfriend wanted me for is my body in the first place we have been together for 10 months.. then I kinda just cut off the conversation and the friendship a day or so later I ask for my AirPods I left at her house and whatever clothes she has of mine and I know she has because I had been asking for a few shirts she told me she didn’t know where the AirPods were and ignored me about the clothes then told a mutual friend that she’s not give me clothes back and I owe her from nail sets she’s done for me in the past that I pay for all most all of in way way or another maybe other then my birthday set a year ago.. yea a discount price but she was my best friend I just said whatever and put it behind me but I just want to know if I’m the asshole in the in some short of way or handle it different this is the short version so I can clarify things need be

About 2 days ago, I had what I believe was indigestion pains plus some BH contractions. I’m not 100% sure but I had constant stomach cramping and belly tightening for over half the day. It finally got better and now today my whole uterus/stomach area feels extremely sore. Any movement baby does and any movement I do is pretty painful. My stomach has stayed consistently tight today and it feels very irritated. Also having sharp pains along the side of my uterus with movement. I have some menstrual cramping pain throughout the day but that has been going on for a week now. I am basically miserable and the pain is consistent and doesn’t stop. Has anyone experienced this? What could it be? Is this worth reaching out to my OB, I don’t want to be a bother.