Gastoscopy dog stomach pain afterwards

Woke up after sleeping for like 4-5 hours, stood up went to the kitchen to cook and by the time I was cutting up some veggies, I was EXTREMELY light headed.
I felt my face getting colder, my stomach hurting and couldn't move my hands a lot. I was about to black out and felt like taking a dump. Sat on the can for a while, still light headed and came back and ditched the cooking.
Read up and I think it's vasovagal syncope & my stomach does kind of hurt when I wake up so just gonna lie down and see what happens for the rest of the day.
Worst part is I just twisted my ankle a day back so hard, that I am already limping. It didn't help when I almost blacked out. What a bad day.
TL;DR: Woke up early & fast, with a painful twisted ankle, almost fainted on the crapper and am lying down on the bed with a stomach pain whenever O stand up.

I need this surgery. I need my life to improve. I am so scared.
I had a date booked for surgery for the beginning of March and as soon as I booked my flights I got really scared and cancelled. I now regret this so much because I could be so far into my new life by now.
I am 34(f) 5’3 and 270 and it’s killing me.
I was gardening for 5 hours the weekend and I literally could barely walk from the lower back pain that evening (I assume from the weight of my stomach).
I love hiking and kayaking but it’s so difficult at my weight.
My biggest fears are acid reflux and needing a revision or bypass, and people saying they can no longer drink water.
Please let me know everything will be ok and that I should jump in with both feet and reschedule.
If anyone shares my interests of hiking and kayaking and want to share how this surgery made it better I would love to hear from you.

This is my dogs second time attempting to attack a porcupine.. luckily both times there was less than ten quils. I wish I had a picture I dont:/
Please do not come for me but I cannot afford a vet bill right now and its really weighing heavily on me.
After VERY carefully inspecting he did not have any in his throat or deep in his nostrils. Hes not coughing or sneezing either so im taking that into consideration as well. I took them out myself and got all but two tips out… one in his lip and one in his nose. The one in his lip has disappeared and the one in his nose is barely sticking out to where im afraid to try and pull anymore right now (waiting for minor swelling to go down)
Both tips are very very very small. I pinched around them and can feel that they are almost non existent.
Im going to attempt at the nose again but how worried should I be about them migrating? Especially with the size?
The first time it happened (last summer), I monitored hime closely for the next few weeks on any weird activity, pain, or swelling and nothing appeared wrong. My dog is everything to me and I just need hope that he will be ok. I would be able to pay for a vet visit in about 2 weeks but could he be ok or should I take him in asap?

so to clear things up before i say the story. i understand why this is all happening and i do regret it and i wish i could go back in time and just be a good person in general and treated her way better. every single day i live with this regret and it just pains me.
so me and her have been together for two years now and it really was all fun and romantic. it felt like we were meant for each other and it wasn't just lust. it was love. true deep love and i loved it so much. we fought a good amount but it was never relationship ending. we always overcame our disagreements and learned to apologize and recognize when one of us is wrong. but we had a big problem recently and it was very personal to her and i failed at being a decent human being and instead got mad and defensive and i let my emotion take over instead of understanding.
so one morning i woke up to a text from her saying she found two pictures of instagram girls in bikinis saved on my accounts folder from when i was in freshman year. she politely asked me to delete them. then i did tell her id delete them but i then proceeded to get upset as if this was a common thing to get mad at me about and i acted like it wasn't a big deal and i basically told her to get over it and that "it shouldn't be a whole day problem" without realizing how much those photos impacted her. i wasn't aware of those photos being there and instead of reassuring her and just being nice and deleted them i made a whole big deal about it and i regret it.
she's always told me she doesn't like the way she looks and that she accepted the fact that she looks "mid" and she isn't anyone's type of girl but she's told me before that i made her feel like she was my type and i made her feel pretty at times but that's all gone now. i really was into her and she's still so pretty to me and she kept getting prettier and prettier in every scenario i saw her.
i didn't even think in the moment on how it could affect her seeing those pictures saved on my account. she must have felt awful seeing that and it would make it seem like i had a type and i was attracted to those girls when in reality i didn't even know they existed and im not really attracted to women other than her. i know it sounds like bullshit but i just can't see women the same after being with her and she won't ever believe that. i understand now how she must've felt and how it must have shattered her self esteem and i couldn't even reassure her. and when we eventually talked about it like a day later, i STILL didn't understand how she felt and when i apologized i wrote the most wrong apology saying stuff like "i did nothing wrong" "get over it im sorry" literally no reassurance just anger and i hate myself for not realizing it in the moment. it wasn't until like a WEEK LATER that i realized how she felt and what i should've done.
our anniversary of two years was in like a week and after this bad apology and talk we basically took a break so she can have time to think. we still talked here and there but nothing romantically or about us. and we agreed that we'd try couples therapy one day so i set it all up and this is where i did the most stupidest awful decision ever.
i know it's frowned upon and stuff but my dad tried to raise me to be cold and not show emotion but in reality emotion is all i could show. i ended up being very needy and anxious and just needing her comfort at times.
the night before we were going to talk to the therapy lady. she was having a bad time and told me she didn't want to talk tonight or call. and without thinking i just started being needy and wanted her attention and kept texting her. then i did something so stupid and ruined what i loved the most. i don't know what my thought process was or how i thought it was a good idea but i got on a "second number app" that allows you to text from a whole different number and i texted HER number while she was feeling bad and in the text i acted like i was a coworker i had that was "looking for me" the coworker was a girl and of no importance to me but i used her name practically asking for "myself to catch up"
i wrote a paragraph for when i wanted to reveal myself and in it i tried to say that i did it because i wanted her to see that "i was always there" or that it always was just her and i and that she doesn't need to worry about anyone getting in between us because it was always her and i. that reason sounds like BS now i genuinely don't know what i was thinking. she says she knows that i did it just to make her jealous, but i don't feel like it was that way. i didn't mean to hurt her and i wish i saw how it could hurt her.
after coming clean about it like a few texts on there i sent the paragraph thinking we'd just laugh about it or something like the stupid delusional person i am. she didn't say anything in the first few seconds but i felt a sudden regret and i felt like i couldn't breathe because i suddenly realize how bad of a thing it was. i promised her i would lie to her and i tricked her with this. so i started panicking after sending it and saying stuff like "this was a bad thing wasn't it" and just panicking and apologizing so fast because i tricked her. i didn't even think about how she would be jealous about that coworker and i was stupid to not think that back then. she then didn't reply for a while and it sank in that i really did something so awful to her. so out of panic i got in my car and went to see a friend at 2 am because they worked night shift. and i talked to her about it and she agreed that it was stupid and i shouldn't have done it. i am so conflicted about this right now. i don't know if it was because i was needy or i just wanted her attention or im just plain stupid. i don't know now why i did it and i regret it deeply. she won't accept an apology thought because my reasoning doesn't make sense at all and i understand that now.
i felt sick to my stomach and later that night like an hour or so later she broke up with me. my whole world sank. i dented my car and went back to my friend to tell her and i just broke down for what i have done. and i've been paying for this with karma ever since this has happened. not even an hour later from this, i got fired from the job i was working at and i lost everything. i have this pain in my chest that hasn't gone away since that day and i've been having nonstop stomach problems and my relationship with my family is decreasing and they're resenting me and i even lost my dog i had for 7 years. so many things keep happening but i know it's because i have to pay and i understand that.
backstory on why this made such an impact: i grew up as a lie. i lied to my family i lied to my friends. i lied to be liked in school and i always tried to be something i am not. when i met her i tried to put these lies behind me and bury my past and what i was and i deleted alot of stuff and quit my porn addiction because i really wanted something with her. but she found out about my past one day and i lied to cover it up and these lies only came back and i ended up breaking her trust again and again to the point where she thought things that were never happening. i know im a liar and a bad person but i was never a cheater or unfaithful to her. i've always genuinely liked her and how she looked and i had everything i wanted. i didn't need to cheat or find other girls because i had one and she was all that i wanted. i even made it clear to here that the relationship wasn't about sex because if we ever stopped having it i'd still love her. but i couldn't be understanding and reassuring with her and i messed up so much and i made it seem like i was lying to her again even though i wasnt. and her last relationship was full of lies and she was manipulated and she regrets going back to him after the fact she knew how he was. and this is the scenario i am in right now. what we had was real love and it was beautiful but i messed it up and destroyed it badly. and she doesn't want to disappoint her past self by doing the same thing she did with her ex because she's afraid of getting hurt again. she can't trust me anymore. she doesn't believe that we could fix it again. she doesn't believe that i liked her and that i was attracted to her. she believes i was out there getting crushes and talking to other women and she believes i did it to make her jealous and that i have a type of girl i like and it's not her. she thinks i led her on this whole time but when i ask "then why am i still here" there's no answer because im not doing this out of pity or attachment. i truly loved her and how she looked. she doesn't believe attractions change and that people can change. she's so focused that we can't have what we had before because it's too different now. i just don't know what to do and im full of regret.
so sometime later i gave her her space and just rotted away in my room missing what i destroyed. one day something compelled me to go to the store and i saw her there. i went up to her and she wanted to talk so i agreed and we went to the park to talk. she tried to break up with me in person that day but couldn't and later that night she texted me that we'd break up in person rather than through text because we're adults. so some time later we kept seeing eachother a bit and talking. we even ended up going to the place i rented for our anniversary just out of a spontaneous decision because she felt a comfort in being around me even though it hurts her. that day we ended up doing a lot of stuff and being intimate with each other and acting like normal. the only words that came out while we were doing it were "i love you" from both of us and it was so passionate and real and it felt like what we had before. we acted normal after that and spent the night and watched movies and cuddled and just talked like nothing at all happened. we were smiling and cracking jokes and just having a good time. it was the same. i didn't want to take her home because i knew it would end though. and that it was all just a dream. and it did end. we decided to be on a break for now and we still talk and sometimes even have fun like we used to but nothing romantically yet. we even started making out the other day but then like a few days later she gets reminded of everything and doesn't talk to me again. and i get she's in her feeling and i understand what i did and that she deserves better but i want to be that better. i want to change for her and show her that i wont hurt her again. but she's afraid. she can't trust me anymore and she's afraid to try again because she loved me she genuinely loved me and she looks for me in the person i am now and she can't "find him" and she believes things will never be the same again and that it won't work but she can't leave because it's too painful. BUT i feel like it can be the same... all those moments we had they were like nothing happened. it's still there within us. our love is still there and i know it is but she's afraid of doing it again and disappointing her past self. like we've been calling and acting normal even though we keep thing the same thing and it keeps bothering us. i feel regret and pain and she feels the pain too because she loved me. i don't know what to do. i know the best for us is probably to just leave it and go our separate ways but i can't. i do love her still and i want to be better for her. for my family. a better person in general. i know i can be the better for her and i don't want to give up. and she doesn't want to give up because she loved me but she also doesn't want her emotions to get in the way of what she should do. i don't know. this is a just a big rant i don't know if its a good idea to post it or if anyone will read this far. i just miss her so much. i miss what we were. i miss how happy we were. this kind and good hearted girl loved me and has showed me so much. she was my first for a lot of things. and my first actual commitment to a relationship. she took my virginity aswell but those are not the reasons i want to stay with her. i want to stay because i love her. i really love her and it just begs the question "why did you do it?" and i don't know. it eats me up inside and i can't take it i DONT know and i wish i could take it all back. i want to start over. i want a time machine. i want her. she loved me and i destroyed what i loved the most. my life hasn't been the same since then and so many bad things keep happening to me but i know it's for a reason. how can i regain her trust? is that even possible? i dont know what to do. i know she needs time but will she ever see that i do want to change? that change is possible and i don't want to hurt her anymore? i regret it all. why couldn't i just be more understanding and reassuring and been good to her. how could i be so foolish. if i just kept my stupid thoughts quiet and kept my mouth shut we could've gone to therapy or something. i messed up really bad.
thank you for reading. i feel so lost

I’ve had so many tests done and tried so many supplements I’m about to just give up and accept it. I’ve also tried cutting things out of my diet, I don’t have any “safe” foods.
Gastroenterologists and gynecologists can’t find any cause.
I look 9mo pregnant 24/7. Last pic is me sucking in. It’s pretty distended and hard to the touch it feels like jello kinda I weigh 110lbs and have a pretty low body fat percentage and am a fit healthy person. I’m also only 21. It affects my self esteem tremendously and I’ve been insecure about my stomach since I was 14 and all of this started.
Does anybody have any tips on ANYTHING that helps? Not even looking for a cure atp
I’ve tried Xifaxan, ibguard, ginger, activated charcoal, digestive, enzymes, probiotics, fiber, gasx, tea, and probably a lot more I can’t remember.
I’ve had stool studies done, lots of lab work, a sucrose, breath, test, allergy panels, h pylori test, celiac tests.
I also have constant diarrhea and/or constipation and pain in my stomach pretty much every time I eat anything.

Look, I'm not a huge Hip-Hop head but I've been hooked by this beef since Like That came out. Back then, when MMTBS was released my love to Hip-Hop got reignited after being left unimpressed by most other contemporary rap artists. I don't fuck with all that bling bling, booze and bitches talk but MMTBS threw me back to the time MBDTF came out (I was like 14 and bumping Kanye, Kid Cudi, Black Eyed Peas, Outkast) so I naturally became a Kdot fan (shame on me on me for not listening to his discography earlier).
I still believe he is the best rapper of our time. Great lyricist, great flow, very versatile. I believe he won the beef by proving he is a rapper better than Drake. But what did it cost?
I've seen Kdots win being called pyrrhic. After looking up the definition I can see why. Was it really necessary to destroy Drake in this fashion? People say he will be fine, keep a large fanbase, not face being cancelled big time but how I see it he got absolutely assasinated by Kdot saying Drake is a sick man with sick thoughts, a pedophile that should die. Euphoria is a perfect disstrack: full of wordplays, display of writing skills, symbolic but not too vague, direct but with a warning undertone saying "don't come closer". MTG is Kenny crashing out. It's a psychoanalytical portrait of Drakes family with very very wild accusations and a strong effect on ones emotions upon listening. Not Like Us is just Kdot dancing on Drakes grave.
What does Kenny actually know tho? I ask this because I won't rule out he only knows as much as we do: Hollywood gossip, Millie Bobby Brown, Bakas case...maybe some additional insider information of Drakes hook up behavior. But not much! I strongly assume tho he knows that 1) music is very powerful and can move mountains 2) - if not before already - after his last album he is seen as an honest soul, introspective, truth seeking with almost prophetic attributes 3) Art can allow itself to be stretching or even deceiving truth. Being a product of phantasy is somewhat arts nature as opposed to say a police protocol.
With these points in mind Kdot should have known shit will go down after releasing the tracks. He should have known lots of people take him serious and will believe him. He should have known we want paper for what he says because it's about children and justice. But how can we believe him if all we have is the 17yo fan, the Millie Bobby Brown story, blind items and a bunch of wild theories? I want to use this moment to call out everyone taking theories for granted and not thinking critically. It's our duty to never rule out the possibility of assumptions being wrong and a lot of people here don't seem to care. Trust me when I say I spent way too much time investigating and I've seen a lot. I can believe Drake luring girls over Tinder. I can believe he has shady companys. But not everything is connected and I will also say for me it's a big difference if he has consensual sex with teens that he lured by being this impressive famous rapper or if he literally abused prebuscent children (or dogs).
I'm trying to find the point here but I guess what I want to ask you guys is if you think Kdot knows more than we do or if he let his phantasy create the most damning and vile story about drake for the artistic goal of making the most impactful disstrack possible? Cuz if it's the second option...I don't know...you can't just call someone a children trafficking pedophile when you don't exactly know that AND also incorporate so much talk about speaking truth, following morals being always faithful. I say that because horrible things really happen to people that get abused and to use this fact to destroy someones reputation doesn't sit right with me.
Kdot will have to answer what he really knows at one point. Before that I'm somewhat disturbed in my positive perception of him. He doesn't play the social media game like Drake does but this mofo can't tell me he couldn't anticipate how everyone will try to find evidence for his claims.
Kendrick is not perfect he knows that and doesn't claim to be. But it would only be right to see Drakes facettes too. He is not the devil. I'm sure he is not a thoroughly evil person. He has regrets and pain too. You could probably hang with him at times. He might be awful at times but alright at other times. Like everyone. I study psychology so I try to be fair and critical and I gotta say Drakes alleged psychopath intuition and narcissism doesn't seem that much out of the ordinary. I've seen worse.
How you all feel?
Additional context: I know most theories so don't assume I just don't know enough. I just try to always apply critical thinking.

As a huge Jaws fan I've studied a lot about Jaws along with studying the actors and actresses from Jaws...and what you are about to read is based on a 14 year research study based on Susan Backlinie.
Susan Backlinie...the first actress to play the first Victim in Jaws who became the ultimate scream queen was in a few other things than we thought. First off lets start off with some facts, She was a swimmer who was skilled enough to play a mermaid at the ''Weeki Wachee Springs State Park'' in 1965 to 1966...until afterwards she went into acting and did some dangerous stunt work in the present of dangerous animals like Lions, Cheetahs, cougars, and grizzly bears, But also Susan did some modeling for magazines like penthouse and Mayfair and she would appear in some magazines from Asia.
https://preview.redd.it/2zhf150yxa0d1.jpg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fcd80e81f66a20fea007a85d4789bdd188db4f2
https://preview.redd.it/n4zqnhmkva0d1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d8775169130f4a35f311c39fa30e2b5f04653cf7
Without most people knowing it she used one of her bears that she owned for sound designer ''Ben Burtt,'' to record the noises from the bear in order to create the Chewbacca growling sounds for star wars. And because Susan was also an animal trainer this gave her the opportunity to be on the set on Blade Runner 1982 with an ostrich.
https://preview.redd.it/35gojegl1b0d1.jpg?width=602&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e02228bddf3eae5f7cf35f1185263a380d3cdf54
https://preview.redd.it/7rfd7f0uwa0d1.jpg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60fadf92c2fece656d7294e6260b60b7ddf18fa9
And here is a few other things you may not know...she was in an episode of the 70s ''The incredible hulk'' including one episode of ''The Fall Guy'' from the early 80s, And she starred as one of the swimming divers within a musical scene from ''The Great Muppet Caper'' which was part of the Muppet franchise. She also worked on Men in black 2 although you don't see her within the movie but you hear her voice within the background saying ''Newton...Newton is that you? ''...''would you like some mini pizza?''...also hear her talking to Agent K in the background and quote said ''Are you one of newton's friends from group therapy?''.
https://preview.redd.it/zdw926w3xa0d1.jpg?width=959&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2dd455e9360681669ccc7cca3a89b3c16796a0c1
Susan made a cameo scene for a movie ''Two Minute Warning 1976'' which is about a crazed sniper is set to kill spectators at an L.A. Coliseum football championship game and the police race against time to eliminate him, during one scene we see Susan within the Coliseum on a screen of her posing for the cameras but what we did not see from Susan within the movie is that she took her top off which revealed that she was braless...and she showed her bare chest to the audience buy trying to put on a show for them...we don't know if this was her being herself or if this was a deleted scene but photos were taken when this happened that made it to magazines at the time.
https://preview.redd.it/sjm1yhh8xa0d1.jpg?width=1156&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dd735fd340dcfee99ebbef7960ecd9d202ba5b4c
Let's talk about her Iconic scene from Jaws...the death of her character was such a shock to the audience it made the audience spread false rumor's by people saying that she actually died during the scene but we know that did not happen...and people pointed out that when she screamed ''It Hurts'' it made the viewers believe that she was in real pain although we are not 100% certain if she was or wasn't in real pain during the scene...rumors say it was just part of the act that she did so darn well and within the documentaries of this movie they mentioned that she did practice before the scene by putting water at the back of her throat without swallowing and trying to scream at the same time...and when she was ready to film the death scene she basically wore a harness with cables while in the water and the crew on the shoreline didn't tell her when she would be yanked back and forth so that her terrified reactions from the jolting would be genuine...and because her reactions looked genuine this is what made the viewers spread false rumors about her during the death scene...but also the death scene encouraged hundreds of thousands or possibly millions of people at the time to not swim in the waters which is something that still happens till this day for people who just watched Jaws for the first time...and in my opinion when Susan was around she deserved a medal for this because she possibly saved many lives by encouraging people to not swim in deep waters where there would be risks...this is what makes Susan one of the most or greatest scream queen of all time because not only she's just a scream queen but a hero.
https://preview.redd.it/tvy37p9mxa0d1.jpg?width=627&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e7a6b577503d8636e00293537a452547efc22d7
2 years later after 'Jaws' she once again put back on her scream queen mode in another movie called ''Day of the Animals 1977'' but this time she wasn't eaten by a shark but this time getting attacked by a real cougar within an intense scene which she survived from that moment until later on within the movie she was killed off by these real huge eagles where she was getting eaten and dragged off by a cliff by these eagles where we see her scream to the top of her lungs then die, And another 2 years after that in 1979 she put on another decent performance from another movie directed by Steven Spielberg called ''1941'' which was a spoof of world war 2 and within this movie she recreated her iconic jaws moment that was a parody of Jaws...after that she had done 4 more roles then there was an announcement that Susan had retired from stunt work in 1982 which finished her off being in movies and shows but mind you she showed up in little projects after that like being in Documentaries based on movies she starred in and that little moment in men in black 2 where we only hear her voice. So yeah if you wanna share these stories to other people then please go ahead because Susan truly is a legend.
https://preview.redd.it/leiedsxqxa0d1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b43ec5cf1aba0c10b00a3c349f85c27c81b6dc42
As I've managed to collect tons of rare photos of Susan over the years and I'll share one photo that I have for you guys which you can see below...I'm sure she's now in a paradise looking something like this or better. RIP Susan Backlinie
https://preview.redd.it/rq6nb0kz1b0d1.jpg?width=1068&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=178c712d0041b451a39cdbe1cb09502e73792c70
list of Susan Backlinie's known roles

• The Fall Guy 1982
• Catalina C-Lab 1982
• The Great Muppet Caper 1981
• ''Steven Spielberg's 1941'' 1979
• Quark 1978
• Day Of The Animals 1977
• A stranger in my forest 1976
• Two Minute Warning 1976
• The Quest 1976
• The Grizzly & the Treasure 1975
• JAWS 1975
• Men In Black 2'' 2002
• The Incredible Hulk 1978 -1982
• Blade Runner 1982

I have always had these watery cysts. Sometimes they would rapture in the middle of the night, where I would not be able to walk. It would be sharply painful and would feel like it's hurting from my bum. I would need to go to the ER for this. Fast forward to a year ago where I had laparascopy because of a bloody 6 cm ovarian cyst that had to be urgently removed because I could literally not walk (I even went to work in the WAREHOUSE with that pain). I never got official reports of the cyst, but my family doctor told me there is no endometriosis. I suffer with heavy bleeding and cramps every period for 7 days, first 2 days being the worst. Ever since then I have pain that feels like of that when I had that big cyst, like it is in my bum. I cannot walk properly, so many times each day I get these "shocks" which are painful shocks that go from my "bum" to my stomach, where I cannot walk without feeling like there is a baloon in my bum, I had an ultrasound couple of months ago and they told me there is nothing seen. I always have painful ovulations and pain in general every day. For the last year and a half I have been having gas, bloating and painful abdominal pain. I would run away from people in order for my stomach to not make sounds and to not accidently pass gas. My anxiety has worsened because of this and for my bloated anxious stomach they keep on prescribing me pills that do not work and I keep on wasting whole lot of money on these useless pills. I am writing to you right now from my floor because I CANNOT GET UP and cannot walk from all this pain, especially on my left side (where I used to have that big cyst), went to pee after first being on the floor for 10 minutes crying in pain, I peed in pain and now I cannot get up to go to bed and idk if I will even be able to sleep tonight. So far I was given the worst treatment from the doctors as the public healthcare does not care, just wants to get rid of you and go next. I am not only crying because I am in pain, but because I am emotionally sick and tired of living with this and literally BEGGING to be alright while some, such as a fellow woman herself, my mother, thinks I am just too sensitive. It's all told that this is normal for women and they release me. TELL ME IF YOU HAVE BEEN IN A SITUATION SUCH AS ME AND WHAT DO I DO ANYMORE?! I am tired of living. I feel like trash being here on the floor, helpless and alone. Btw I also have to find a new job which is, with my situation, extremely terrible since I feel isolated, anxious and terrible and in pain because of my.."condition".

I hate to ask for things but my mother and I had to move to Lethbridge with our 3 small dogs on emergency short notice due to abuse and are now living in our car as we don't have any money since we're both unemployed and disabled. We discovered we could move our stuff into the front at night so we could sleep properly (horizontally) in the back, however it is extremely painful (I have bruises on my ribs and Hips from how hard the folded seats are) and we don't have enough blankets so we are cold at night. We have tried local shelters but we dont fit their criteria, especially with our dogs. I'm adding a list of chores/jobs i could do and things we could use, if anybody has these items and are willing to part with them for free or for the completion of a task or chore, please comment or message me!
Suggestions for jobs I can do: - mow lawns or pick up dog Poop - vacuum/sweep/dust - wash windows - walk/wash/lightly groom dogs/cats/other pets (I'm very good with animals) - wash cars - babysit (my mother ran a day care most of my life and I grew up naturally learning how to care for kids as well as babysat most of middle/high school) - Help move furniture - And more! If you have a job I didnt list, let me know and if I'm capable I will do it!
Things we need: - Air mattress or mattress topper. This is a big need for us, absolutely high priority item. We are both in a lot of pain from the hard, uncomfortable seat backs of the car, but it's still better for our disabilities than to sleep in the front seats, even reclined. - Air pump (if we recieve an air mattress) - Portable charger batteries to charge our phones when the car is off at night - camping gear, such as a tent, heater, tarp, camping stove, cooler, etc. - sleeping bags or blankets, believe it or not, it gets quite cold still at night when you don't have indoor heating haha - car chargeplugs with USB ports - sun reflectowindshield and/or window covers, to keep the sun out so we and the dogs can stay cool - 2 peoples worth of plates, mugs/cups, and cutlery. We can't keep a lot of dishes but a couple plates and cups would make eating a lot less messy, 1 dish and mug for each of us is perfect - Cash or gift cards especially for gas or dollarama (you'd be surprised what we can find there) - in exchange for helping you with a task

My biggest gastroparesis problem lately has been stomach pain, like my stomach just hurts most of the time. It's not a burning sensation (I get that, too), but just pain.
Does anyone know what exactly causes gastroparesis-related stomach pain? My theory has been that most of my pain stems from excess gas, as my digestive system seems to produce much more gas since the GP started. But, I don't know for sure if that's true and if there are other causes.
And, has anyone experiencing stomach pain found any relief? And, if so, what helped?
The pain has been so constant the last few days, it's really getting depressing.
TIA for any help!

What kind of gastrointestinal issue do you all think this may be? My friend has intense pain in her stomach after she eats which she describes as: intense/uncomfortable/painful/bloating. She told her primary care doctor about it and her only recommendation was to drink kefir, which personally I feel was a lazy response to something that seems so intense and painful. She claims she thinks eating food slower and walking after she eats helps. Her pain gets to the point where she has to lay in the fetal position after she eats. She misses plans with friends because she feels so horrible. We got ice cream tonight and after 3 bites her stomach was in pain. I just feel for her, and I don't know whether to research certain probiotics, or just try to convince her to go see a gastroenterologist. Help!

What kind of gastrointestinal issue do you all think this may be? My friend has intense pain in her stomach after she eats which she describes as: intense/uncomfortable/painful/bloating. She told her primary care doctor about it and her only recommendation was to drink kefir, which personally I feel was a lazy response to something that seems so intense and painful. She claims she thinks eating food slower and walking after she eats helps. Her pain gets to the point where she has to lay in the fetal position after she eats. She misses plans with friends because she feels so horrible. We got ice cream tonight and after 3 bites her stomach was in pain. I just feel for her, and I don't know whether to research certain probiotics, or just try to convince her to go see a gastroenterologist. Help!

It is a man, old and scraggy. He wears a jacket that lays over the red plaid button shirt and blue jeans. He wears an old baseball cap and a pair of glasses. He yelled something to Dad, holding his hands up like he was pleading, although we couldn’t hear it over the truck engine. They talked, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying.
“Hey, what are they saying”, I asked, while petting Matt’s hair, calming him. The old man then put his hands down and came close to Dad in a cautious way. They seem to start having some kind of conversation.
“I don’t really know, hopefully, something good”, Mom answered. They talked for a little while, with daylight beginning to disappear, giving us a sense of dread, and making me more worried about what weird creature was going to show up. Eventually, the old man turned and pointed toward what I think is the northeast. They then shook hands and walked back to their respective vehicles. “What’s going on”, Mom asked as Dad got into the truck.
“Well, our new friend here invited us to dinner at his farm”, Dad replied.
“Does he have supplies?”
“Well, he says has supplies for us to make the journey.”
“Should we even trust him? We just met h-”
“Relax, he’s just an old man, living alone at his farm, feeding his cows. What could go wrong”, Dad countered. The old man then entered the truck that was running and drove slowly, expecting us to follow him.
“Alrighty then, but we have to be cautious”, Mom said, with her suspicions of the old man. We then followed the old truck along the dark, frozen road. It just feels like something is going to show up along the road, but nothing happened. Matt did eventually stop crying, but he is still upset about the Joe escape thing.
“Where are we going”, Matt lamented, with the prior series of events in mind.
“I guess somebody is offering us dinner”, I answered.
“Why can’t we just go home?”
“It’s only going to be a stop, like a hotel. After that, we go to our new home, I guess”, I said, taking another look at Matt and cradling to comfort him. “It’s going to be okay.” I stared out into the darkness. I looked to the sky from the window and I faintly saw something in the clear, dark sky, lit up by the waning moon. They were brilliant, green auroras that defy the bright moon, dancing across the sky like ribbons in the wind. The truck eventually took a right-hand turn into another road, with us following suit. I can see a bright, orange light emerging from a patch of tree. When we passed by, it seemed it was a house, at a farm, burning in a massive flame.
“I guess those people aren’t so, uh, lucky”, Dad said, taking a quick look at it before looking at the road. Passing by, we went on and continued to follow the old man’s truck. We passed onto another intersection until he turned into a driveway to what I believe to be his farm. Going into the driveway, I can see an old house, along with a dilapidated farm further away, barely visible by the headlights. The old man parked by the house, where there were a few other trucks there. We parked alongside the truck and we got out into the cold, near-silent night.
“Welcome to sanctuary, where all are welcome”, the old man bellowed. This is the first time I’ve heard his voice. Matt was the last to get out of the truck, slowly and clumsily climbing out of the truck.
“What’s your name”, my Mom politely asked the old man.
“Oh, I guess your husband didn’t tell ya. My name is Steven, but you can call me Steve”, the old man said, with some crackling in his voice. “I am very proud to host a dinner for you and your family”, he continued. “What’s your name, ma’am?”
“Oh, my name is Janice”, Mom replied, quite pleased at his politeness.
“Hello, Janice, and what are their names”, Steven asked, pointing to me and Matt.
“That’s my daughter Kate and my son Matt”, Dad said to Mom.
“Oh, what wonderful names for a couple of beautiful children you have”, Steve grinned. “Come, it is dangerous out here.” We followed him to the house, which looked like it had seen better days. He entered through the double-set door, the first a solid door and a screen door behind. Entering the house, it smelled like what you’d expect, old man. Looking onto the floor is made of glossy wood and walls with cracks, likely caused by the earthquake. It is dark in there, lit by candlelight from many candles, yet it’s fairly warm here. I don’t know why we went into the house, but Dad was right, Steve is just a lonely, old man. Matter of fact, there seems to be nothing wrong here, other than the cracks in the walls. “Sorry, the power went out. Had to resort to the candles. I knew my wife would come in handy”, Steve explained as he took his coat off. “Oh, supper will be ready right away. Had to use the fireplace to cook. Also, can you take your boots off?” We took our boots and set them aside. We went into what seemed to be a living room, with dusty old-style furniture.
“So, where do we sit”, Mom asked.
“Oh, well, follow me”, Steve commanded, leading us to the dining room, with a long, wooden table and six wooden chairs, along with their corresponding old-fashioned plates, glasses and cutlery, lit up in the candlelight. We noticed that everything on the table was covered in a thin veil of dust. “My apologies, the recent shocks dropped a bit of dust on the table”, he explained as he noticed us looking at the plates and moved into another room nearby. “Take your seats if you like.” We all settled onto the chairs, and blew off our plates of the dust settled there.
“When will we eat”, Matt impatiently said.
“Once Steve comes out with the food”, Mom answered. Matt sat there with a tired look on his face. Dad seemed to be in a better mood than before and it looked like he wanted to start a conversation.
“Hey, should we talk about something”, Dad asked. I then see Steve with a bowl and a silver plate.
“Here we go, may not be much, but at least it’ll fulfil the soul”, Steve said, smiling when he served us mashed potatoes and meatloaf. “So, shall we pray?” That came unexpectedly, as we are not too religious, but we were in his house and gave us shelter and food.
“Sure, we can do that”, Mom said and we all bowed our heads and put our hands together. Steve cleared his throat
“Thank you, Lord, for this good food to feed the soul in these hard times. I shall pray, in the name of the Lord and Jesus Christ, that these hard times shall be over, so we can get on with our lives. Amen.” We raised our heads and grabbed whatever food there was onto our plates. “Oh, there’s no gravy, so we have to deal with bare potaters and meatloaf.”
“Oh, not to worry. Thank you for the food”, Dad thanked Steve. We began to eat the food once we got it sorted.
“So, what brings you here”, Steve asked.
“Well, there is an evacuation order in effect for this area, so we had to go to Regina”, Dad explained, with Steve taking in every word. “So, we came from Strasbourg, we tried going south towards Regina, but we hit an obstacle in the way and we had to take another route, leading us here.”
“And we encountered a few odd things along the way”, Mom added.
“Huh, interesting. What do you guys think is going on”, Steve inquired.
“By the things we saw, we have no idea. Dinosaurs, devil dogs, hell pigs, the whole deal. I shouldn’t forget the earthquake. They told us a pipeline leak caused by the earthquake”, Dad clarified to Steve.
“Hmm… is that so”, Steve wondered. “Wonder what I think is happening? The Rapture is happening. Do you know how the Bible tells us of the end times? Good people sent to be with God and his kingdom, the rest here to suffer the Hell unleashed by Satan.” By this point, he was beginning to rant, but we couldn't stop it as we all began to feel tired and powerless. “So, the Devil will send his demons in the form of these illusions so that they can torment the sinners. It is happening, it is-” Steve manically continued as I drew towards blackness and his voice becoming less coherent. My vision is now all black.
I saw those same lights, but more rapidly than before. I then emerged onto the same clear sky, but something felt different. I can smell something in the air. I can smell what seems to be chemicals in the air. Looking down, I was terrified. Dark, grey rock in the shape of ropes and folds, similar to those I saw of lava flows on a volcano in pictures. This went on as far as the eye could see. I can see no tree this time, just the cooled lava everywhere. I then walked, feeling every bump and crag. I thought I walked forever until I heard a rumbling sound and woke up.
I am in total darkness. It is cold and it smells like cow manure. I tried to move my hand, but it seemed to be bonded behind my back by a rope. I tried to move my feet, but they were also bound by rope to the legs I tried to speak, only to realise my mouth was agape by a cloth in my mouth. I heard shuffling nearby but I could not see. It was then shone in light when Steve entered the door, holding a candle, revealing all of us in the same situation. I then can see what we are in. We are in that same wooden dilapidated barn we saw earlier and seems to be more damaged than the house, wood creaking can be heard.
“These sedatives are more effective than I thought. Maybe I should use them more often”, Steve smoothly explained, like he’s some kind of agent and began pacing. “Wonder why you are here? Well, I wondered the same thing to myself, why didn’t God take me to his heaven? When I first heard of the government telling us of those evacuation plans, I thought it was that, a leaking pipe. I began to notice things I couldn’t believe myself, at least at first. Earthquakes, weird creatures showing up, people disappearing, the whole spiel. I connected the dots. The Rapture is happening, for sure, but why me? Why was I the one left here on this Earth”, Steve calmly ranted, pacing around the barn, but it seemed to sound crazier and angrier the more he paced. “I thought I had lost my way. I’ve been unfaithful to God and his son. But, I realised that God always has a plan and he left me on this Earth to serve a purpose. I wondered what my purpose was until I had a moment.” He then stopped in place and calmed down. He turned to look at Mom with accusing yet crazed eyes.
“I’m supposed to keep the sinners here in line, to earn a place in God’s kingdom, or suffer in Hell. I know you are a sweet woman, Janice, but your treachery with Satan is over and I am going to do what’s right.” Mom then looked at all of us, with assuring eyes like that of an innocent yet caring mother we all know knew. I began crying and trying to speak through the cloth, but I was helpless to watch by. “Forgive me, Father, for what I am going to do.” He then pulled a knife from his pocket and plunged it into Mom’s neck with no mercy. I looked away once he did that, trembling, with tears pouring out and my vision glazed and I fell limp. I could see my brother tearing up, but he did not look away. I can hear Dad behind me, with his screams of agony and anger covered by the cloth. It felt like I was in slow motion, taking in every moment.
I then heard the chair, screeching as Steve dragged the chair containing Mom’s lifeless body towards the door, leaving behind a trail of blood. I couldn’t bear to see my mother like this. I shut my eyes very hard and hoped it would go away. The door then shut, leaving us alone with a candle, fearing what would come next. I stared at the candle, seeing it dance in the flames like a woman dancing in the darkness. Is this how it’ll end, I thought. End up dying to this sick man? My Mom was killed in front of me. I sobbed with that thought, then I began to think about the inevitable death of me. I hope there’s something after I die. Maybe I’ll see Mom again.
It was silent for a while, nearly no sound other than our moans. Dad seems to be fidgeting at the back of his chair, rocking it slowly. Looking past him, I shuddered at the glistening pool of blood, where Mom was last alive, could be my fate. I then see Dad release his arms from the back of the chair and remove the cloth from his mouth. He silently stood up and bent down to untie his legs from the chair legs. He then went to me and removed my cloth.
“H-h-how did you do that”, I silently wept, fearing that Steve would show up at the door and kill us all.
“My binding is loose. The old man probably took a liking to me”, Dad whispered. “I should remove your binds.” He untied them, releasing me, doing the same for Matt. “Now, we need to be quiet.” We then walked, quietly, along the painfully creaking wood in the near dark, following the blood trail, glistening in the candlelight. We cringed and dreaded each sound we made and watched the door in case it began to creak open. A few silent steps later, we made it to the door and we slowly opened it so as not to make any noise. What was revealed to us is nothing new, other than the blood trail continuing in the snow directing towards the back of the barn. “Okay, Kate, Matt, you guys run to the truck.”
“What about you”, I sobbed.
“Don’t worry about me”, Dad responded, giving me his keys and forcing them into my hand. “If I’m not back in a few minutes, leave. Don’t look back, take care of your brother, okay? I love you, no matter what happens.” He then kissed me on the head and ran to follow the blood trail. We quickly walked towards the black truck, stranded there for maybe hours. Getting closer, freedom is getting closer. When we got to a fair distance to the truck, I heard footsteps behind me and, the next thing I knew, I was knocked over to the ground into the hard snow on my face. A hand turned me over to give me a glimpse of a crazed Steve, his eyes wilder than before.
“Oh, yes, trying to escape”, he bragged. I looked at him, frozen in fear, like a deer in headlights and he caressed my face with his bloodied blade. “You do have a pretty face, but I’m afraid you are just one of Satan's creations, made to pull me to lust.” He then raised his knife in the air when a familiar side emerged, out of the blue.
Joe came and bit him in the arm that was holding the knife. Steve screamed in agony the moment he realised what happened. He shook Joe off and stood up to stand his ground. I stood up as Joe hissed and walked around the crazed being he wounded, not in fear but in aggressiveness. “Is this one of your pets, demon”, Steve screamed as Joe came in for another attack, but Steve countered that with a slash to the snout. Joe then ran away, whining, into the darkness. This sequence of events gave me the chance to enter the truck on the driver’s side. I had some trouble starting it, besides this is my first time driving a truck.
Steve menacelily walked towards the when Dad came barreling and tackled him to the ground. Dad was on top when he went limp. I finally put the keys in the engine turned it on and backed out, with memory serving me the instructions on such a vehicle. Steve pushed Dad’s body and stood up, but by that time, we left the farm.
“Turn back, we have to get Dad”, Matt cried, but I was very emotional, accepting what happened. I felt that, without my parents, I feel… useless.
“Dad’s dead”, I screamed at Matt and he began gagging uncontrollably in tears. I began to feel sorry for him. “Sorry, I, I don’t know.”
“It’s okay”, Matt sniffled. “I guess Mom and Dad are dead anyways.” It was silence for a few more minutes, tears welling in our eyes.
“Hey, our parents are in a better place”, I said, trying to make the situation positive.
“But we are stuck here, without them? Don’t we deserve to go to a better place?”
“Don’t say that”, I huffed and I paused for a bit. “I know we are in the, uh, right place now. Let me tell you something, once we get to Regina, I will take care of you, no matter what life throws at us.”
“What about Joe”, Matt asked.
“He’ll be fine. He probably found his girlfriend already.”
“Hey, don’t you have a boyfriend?”
“I, uh, I don’t have one. That I know of”, I spoke, bringing me back to Sam, remembering that she’s the only friend that I ever knew, and I left her. Without her, I felt alone, no one would ever relate. I began to tear up. “I don’t have any friends. I am alone,” I sobbed.
“What do you mean? I’m your brother!” I looked at Matt, and smiled, happy that he acknowledged that we were in this together.
“Thank you”, I thanked him. I slowly stopped on the road, just to hug Matt hard, crying my eyes out. We then heard what sounded like an elephant in front of us. We looked up to see a walking snow-covered brown fur wall with four pillar-like legs in front of us. Its curved tusks gleaned in the light and the eyes reflected in the light. The furry trunk waved around like a searching snake from a tree. We both knew what it was.
“Hey, look at that, a woolly mammoth”, Matt said, excitement running through him. At this point, we weren’t surprised.
“Yep, that is a woolly mammoth”, I added. The mammoth turned to us on the road, seemingly confused about where it was. It looked at our truck and seemed to growl, like an elephant. We are starting to realise this thing is becoming aggressive.
“Uh, should we move”, Matt asked. I remembered hearing something about standing your ground in case of an encounter with an elephant. I hoped it would work for a bigger, furrier version of one.
“No, we have to stand our ground.”
“But, it’ll attack u-”
“Trust me!” I then honked my horn and it backed up. It then rushed, then stopped, a mock charge. Eventually, it moved out of the road, disappearing into the darkness. We sighed in relief.
“That was close”, Matt sighed. I then continued to drive in the night, headlights leading the way. The road is bumpy, as noticed by every ditch and peak we hit, but surprisingly, Matt was fast asleep. I began to get comfortable driving and used to the road by that point. It was silent for a while until we hit a smaller intersection. That is when the truck shut down, completely and stopped. I tried the gas many times but with no effect. There is no light, nothing. It is near-darkness here, shone only by the moonlight.
“Shit”, I yelled, desperate to turn the truck on without much success. Matt woke up, confused.
“What happened”, he yawned.
“The truck turned itself off. I can’t get it back on”, I fretted and at that moment, Matt was just as panicked as I am.
“Why?”
“I-I don’t know. One moment, we were driving, another it just-”, I quavered, when I heard something rustle in the distance. We stood still, hoping whatever it was didn’t find us. I looked around, hoping to see something in the moonlight. I then see a long, walking animal. It looked like some sort of alligator at first, except for a dinosaur-like head. Once I strained my eyes to the darkness, my fear levels rose as I could see it walk on its hind limbs, with its forelimbs dangling nearly touching the ground.
It was wandering around on the road when I heard a near-crocodilian growl at Matt’s side of the truck. Another of those creatures appeared, seemingly looking into the window like a hungry bear, giving us a chance to see its scaly head. Its exposed alligator teeth gleaned in the light like knives, but more terrifying was the eye. Its serpentine pupil shone brilliantly in the light like eyes in the dark. It then ducked down, gave a hiss, and moved towards the other one. A few more showed up and formed a group.
“What should we do”, Matt asked. “Should we stay?” I looked around, hoping for another way to escape them without them noticing. I further strained my eyes and mentally mapped out the area. There is a cemetery on my right-hand side, a grain bin storage yard on my left and a series of trailers on the other side of the highway, which is ahead of us, from the storage area. There, I see a series of white, storage buildings, something we can go to and wait it out inside.
“Okay, so slowly open the door”, I instructed Matt. The click of the doors opening cringed us. We looked at the group, but there was no response from them. We then, as slowly as we could, opened the door and stepped out. Still no response. Matt then quietly ran to the other side, towards me. “Okay, we are going into the storage yard and go to the other entrance”, I said, pointing to the other right-hand corner. I wanted to get as far away from these things as possible before making a safe crossing. “Then, we cross the highway on the other side, run into the buildings and stay there for the night. Are you ready?”
“I guess”, he whispered, looking at me in fearful doubt.
“We are going to do this”, I whispered back. We then silently ran over, having to rely on our night-adapted eyes, to the corner, walking past the bins. We made it and nothing behind us so far. “We’re good so far.” We then crossed the road and noticed nothing. We noticed a tanker truck, leaking some sort of fluid across the road. I easily recognized it as fuel, based on its distinctive, sickly smell. I wouldn’t be worried about it if it weren’t for a collapsed light pole that is somehow still flickering with electricity near the area where the fuel would be flowing. We quickly avoided the fluid when I froze to see the group of the walking alligators, running towards us. “Run!” Matt tried to run, but one of those things appeared and clamped its jaws at the back of his neck. He yelped in pain and it took him down to the ground. “Matt”, I yelled, helplessly watching as the creature tore into him.
Matt reached out his arm before the others came to him, then a flash of fire came. At this point, I knew what happened, but I couldn’t even think before it exploded. It blew me towards the building, far away. I was knocked out for a few seconds before I regained consciousness, groaning in pain on the ice. I noticed something especially painful just below my chest. I reached towards the area with my hand. I pressed on it, more painful than ever and raised my hand, only to see blood, brightened by the fire. I realised I was wounded, maybe by shrapnel made by the explosion.
I looked toward where the truck was and all I saw was a blaze. Those things weren’t there, at least. I also noticed something else, too, there’s no Matt. I tried to look around for something, some sort of sign of my brother within the fire, but I saw none. I then wept, realising I had failed. I have failed to keep him safe. I have failed to give him a better life. I failed him as a sister. I could’ve done better. The thoughts poured in as tears glazed my eyes. At that moment, I failed to look around me.
I noticed a dark thing beside the blaze. I thought it was Matt, preparing to greet him back, even though I knew he couldn’t survive the explosion. The image became clearer and clearer as I noticed it was one of the walking crocs that, glazed by the fire, was coming towards me.
“Just kill me”, I screamed, preparing to painfully die to meet my maker. The creature was about to attack me when something large, silent as the wind, came charging and clamped down its massive jaws, filled with conical teeth on the hapless creature and raised it. The crocodile struggled before going limp with a crunch within its strong jaws. The big, dark and scaly monster that it is towered over me and is as long as a bus, possibly longer. Its large legs are a contradiction to its small arms that hide beneath its scarred, bulky body.
It turned to look at me with an oddly bird-like expression, revealing in the firelight numerous scars from battles I could never know and looked at me with its beady bird-like eyes, breathing out wisps from its nostrils like a dragon in the cool air. I recognized it as a creature I know too well, a T. Rex. I breathed heavily and sickly, looking at the thing, nearly expecting me to drop the body and go after me. Instead, it simply walked away, carrying its bloody prize with it, and steadily retreated into the darkness.
I then lay down in agonizing exhaustion on my back, thinking of the next step of action like I'm on a suicide mission I would never come back from. I looked in the direction of the graveyard and had one thought. I guess I am dying. a graveyard will do. I struggled to stand up, noticing my blood-soaked clothes and felt a broken left leg. I grasped my wound, limping step by step and enduring the sharp pain while shaking in the cold. Every step I took, I remembered all the memories, good or bad, that I had with my parents. My brother. My friends. My family. I eventually reached the cemetery and slouched at a tree.
“Guess I’m joining you, guys”, I said, speaking to the snow-covered gravestones, only to hear something. A familiar sound of chirping emerged and, lit by the blaze, it was a sight I can hope for. “Joe, what are you doing here”, I depressingly cheered as Joe went to me and curled up in my lap as if he were a cat. I noticed the new-found scar he had on his little snout, but I paid no mind as I petted him. “I guess you came back. Thank you so much for what you did”, I thanked him, not expecting such a loyal creature would be with me, comforting me, to the end, like what my mother used to do when I was a newborn. I heard another noise, this time a deep rumble.
I thought it was another earthquake coming, but it got louder the closer it got to me, becoming more animalistic only felt small vibrations I barely felt. Joe stayed put, oddly enough, as T. Rex, different from the first one, came. It walked towards us until it stopped short of us. It began to produce a low-pitched, bird-like purring, attracting Joe. I realised something, that this T. Rex is Joe’s parent. He joined the rest like him, whom they showed up and all chirped around.
The grown Rex then brought its snout closer to me, not to kill me, but to look at me. It did not reveal its teeth and was still purring. I put my hand out and its nose came close to it. It rubbed it against my hand and started to pet its cold, scaly skin as it breathed through its nose and put it on my chest. I rested my head on it before it pulled away. It gave out a hiss, but I knew it wasn’t that of a threat, but more of a thank you for bringing its small, sometimes immature, child home.
That gave me relief, as it felt like I at least did something for once. They walked away, along with Joe, towards the darkness amongst the gravestones in the cemetery. I glimpsed one last desperate look at Joe before walking beside his parent. I looked up at the sky and I could see all the stars, twinkling, and the dancing green auroras. I began to feel limp and felt the cold embrace of death coming over me, tears pouring out of my eyes. The sky then grew brighter and brighter, the stars faded into the light and I could see my family welcoming me to a new home. It then slowly went black, darker than a cave.
You would think this is the end of me. It wasn’t, or else I wouldn’t be writing this right now. I eventually woke up in a hospital in Regina. I was told I was rescued by a team that transported me while I was in a coma. The doctors said I was very lucky to be alive, as the shrapnel narrowly avoided my vital organs. After that, I was adopted into a new family, but I was only with them for a couple of years before finding a new job and moving out.
As for Sam, I don’t know what happened to her. I would like to think she is safe, somewhere else. As for my family, I think of them all the time. I was in a depressive period right after that. Eventually, over the years, I accepted that they were gone and went to a better place. For Joe, I would like to think he is all grown up, like his parents, and becoming the king of the jungle. I hope we meet again.
As for the evacuated area, it wasn’t some pipeline rupture that caused an evaluation, but an anomaly, with the exact reason not known. There are excuses for the claims of weird stuff going on in there, from disease to chemicals, to eventually a previously unknown geological event, but I saw through it all.
You may ask how, it's because I've been there. Take it or leave it, this is the story I have. As the decade came by, cover-ups were made to hide it, even walls were put around it. Since the incident, the exclusion zone grew from a mere 80 kilometers in diameter to 460 kilometers in diameter, emptying entire cities of the likes of Regina and Saskatoon. I had to move to North Battleford, by the recommendation from the same government covering it up, making me think that time will tell before the floodgates of truth open.
The anomaly didn’t have a name initially, however, over the years, everyone agreed on one name in particular: The Saskatchewan Anomaly.

Essay ahead. TW: Animal abuse, child abuse and neglect, fire, and mention of illicit substances. Please don't read this if you are highly sensitive. You might not sleep tonight.
My mom ran a puppy mill starting when I was about 9. Until I was 24 I worked for her, her dog grooming and breeding businesses. Toy breeds. At one point we have over 200 dogs and the same amount of puppies, but when I left she had about 50 of each. She was a narcissist and I was trapped trying to make things better for the puppies. She also used money to control me. Starting at around 13 and maybe earlier, I stayed up with puppies some nights, getting up every two hours to feed them and turn the heating pad back on. I have narcolepsy now, and I often wonder if messing up my sleep schedule so young contributed to it.
We were selling these puppies for $600-$2000 but she told me we couldn't afford better equipment to take care of them. A lot of the money went down my dad's throat, up his nose, in his veins, and in his brain. He's gone now, passed before he reached 50.
I've seen parvo and other viruses run through her kennel due to bad decisions. My mom lamented each time about the amount of money she lost, not at the horror of the death. I've held countless puppies in my bra and in my hands as they breathed their last breath. I've seen puppies and fully adult dogs be thrown in the trash with the dog shit. I watched in utter heart break as weak puppies pushed aside by their mother's were removed and left alone to squeak and squeak until they squeaked their last breath. I always picked them up and comforted them. They didn't squeak and cry so much if I was holding them next to me. The end was easier if I was with them. So I stayed. And died tiny deaths with them.
I've seen more dog fights than I care to think about. Dogs torn apart by other dogs then throw in the trash. Even now, part of my consciousness stays awake at night because I have to be able to hear if there is a fight in the kennels. I don't live there anymore. This definitely contributes to the narcolepsy.
About 4 months ago her kennel burned down. My grandmother and medium support needs autistic cousin saved as many as they could, but the three of them saw the kennel burn and the dogs with it. Less than half survived. I will never forgive my mother for owning the mill that allowed such a horrific thing to happen. It was due to improper wiring and having so much wood. Wooden runs in a wooden building. I will never let go of how much she has hurt my cousin. He is precious and loves those animals.
This has also caused a rift in my family. My uncle was the one who told me that day, and when I called him back he told me that he couldn't comfort my cousin because he was my cousin's dad. I lost it on him. I watched this man neglect his son during my childhood and immediately pawn him off on my grandmother the night my grandfather died. My mom basically raised my cousin because he was so neglectful. The neglect got to me and I made sure he knew it was his decisions that led to this, but that's not what my family heard.
My brother also texted me that day to tell me to call my grandmother. I was trying to reel my emotions in and not make any of this more difficult on her, as I was ready to do not nice things to my mother. When I explained this, my brother decided that that was the straw that broke the camels back and went no contact with me very abruptly after an unnecessarily mean message. I didn't know there were any straws on the camels back, being as he lives states away and has since he was 21. The words in his message made it clear that he thought very poorly of me for a long time. We aren't even 30 yet, but you really only get one time to tell me I don't contribute anything to the world and mean it before you are cut from my life forever. I thought I would have my brother until near the end.......
This has, predictably, been wildly painful for me. I'm cleaning out infected wounds that tell me that products have feelings or that I can't be sad over puppy death. I hate that my brother didn't free himself of my mother's influence and get out of this empathy crushing system we were raised in. I worry about his husband often.
The silver lining, if there is any, is that my family was bad for me and now I've gotten out. I've got a slew of disabilities that they blamed me for, but I don't have to be there anymore. I'm happily married to the amazing man I've been with since highschool and we have a house of our own with two pets. I'm cleaning the wounds, been going to therapy since I was 18, and know that I need to get my psyche cleaned up so I can live a happy, fulfilled life. It's a process, but I've made a lot of good progress. If you made it this far, thanks internet stranger. It's a long, painful read.
Be good. Be safe. Have fun. You deserve goodness.

What kind of gastrointestinal issue do you all think this may be? My friend has intense pain in her stomach after she eats which she describes as: intense/uncomfortable/painful/bloating. She told her primary care doctor about it and her only recommendation was to drink kefir, which personally I feel was a lazy response to something that seems so intense and painful. She claims she thinks eating food slower and walking after she eats helps. Her pain gets to the point where she has to lay in the fetal position after she eats. She misses plans with friends because she feels so horrible. We got ice cream tonight and after 3 bites her stomach was in pain. I just feel for her, and I don't know whether to research certain probiotics, or just try to convince her to go see a gastroenterologist. Help!

I do get some of the HI symptoms, but it’s mostly the adrenaline surges that cripple me. They can be brought on my anxious thoughts or just on their own. I’ll shake for hours and my muscles are weak and tired after. It aggravates my stomach and that pain is a lot for me. Can last for hours and hours. Does this sound like a part of HI?
Also out of curiosity what happens if you exercise to “get rid of the adrenaline” or is that not a thing. Haha.
For sure this could be actual anxiety. Every time I read about MCAS I get symptomatic ironically. Thanks a bunch!

What kind of gastrointestinal issue do you all think this may be? My friend has intense pain in her stomach after she eats which she describes as: intense/uncomfortable/painful/bloating. She told her primary care doctor about it and her only recommendation was to drink kefir, which personally I feel was a lazy response to something that seems so intense and painful. She claims she thinks eating food slower and walking after she eats helps. Her pain gets to the point where she has to lay in the fetal position after she eats. She misses plans with friends because she feels so horrible. We got ice cream tonight and after 3 bites her stomach was in pain. I just feel for her, and I don't know whether to research certain probiotics, or just try to convince her to go see a gastroenterologist. Help!

Anyone else deal with this/have ideas on ways to manage? Whenever I’m stressed or triggered I get random chronic pains in my stomach, back, shoulders and hips. Some of it is related to physical trauma I went through, but I’m so tired of my entire body feeling inflamed whenever life isn’t going well for me :( I regularly exercise, go to therapy 2x a week currently, take medications, sleep 6-8 hours a night, eat pretty healthy (I try to limit gluten, dairy and I don’t eat any meat) and I maintain a relatively low stress/low trigger lifestyle, outside of normal work stresses and random interpersonal things that come up, nothing super traumatizing though. I’ve looked into acupuncture but I’m kind of scared because of the needles, open to any and all suggestions.

Been suffering for about two decades before getting diagnosed, now waiting to see the neurologist. They have gotten very frequent and the aura is pretty much a temporary blindness. I don’t always getting head pain, but when I do it’s kind of a dull ache. I feel absolutely drained with the episodes, get dizzy, speckles in my vision even when I don’t get an aura. I also get lots of stomach issues and nausea. Does anybody else in here have this type, and do the new CGRP inhibitors help much?

Two years ago my rapist was found guilty of second degree rape in St. Mary's County, MD. Little did I know, that the neat end to my tragedy would hardly be over.
Sentencing, is the act in which the judge determines the punishment of the convicted felon. Usually felons are taken into custody and the time they spend in jail will later be considered part of whatever jail time they are issued. For me? The Judge allowed the man to have a ankle monitor until sentencing and rest at home. How did he spend his time? Well, he showed up to the soccer games I would've been at (luckily abroad at the time) and he got picked up at a party he lied about attending and was then held in jail until sentencing.
The sentencing happened nearly two months after the trial--but no one told me. The State's Attorney contacted me and informed me I had to drop everything to rush to the court to give my statement. I went first and because I was not prepared--didn't say half of what I wanted and wasn't nearly as eloquent as I wanted to be.
Afterwards, the judge allowed the Defense attorney to comment on my mental health because I had a therapist and then asked if I had ever been sexually assaulted before. Yes, this is not trial--he was already guilty--but the judge allowed me to be crossed anyway at the sentencing. Thankfully the States Attorney objected to that line of questioning and I got to listen to all his supporters sum my rapist up: He's good at soccer, he translates for the community, and he never raped them--so how bad was he really? And my rapist? Well, since he was found guilty he found god, saw he had an alcohol problem, and realized he would never get the life he wanted. Apologized to the judge, his parents, and supporters. Oh yea, and me!
The Judge deliberated and despite the Maryland minimum guidelines being 5 to 10 years--she gave him 18 months and included whatever time he already spent in jail. 10 months later, he was out reoffending against young girls. By the time the warrant went out, he knew he was done for and took his life in the parking lot by my apartment complex--did I mention he only spent three months out of jail and most of it was spent in my apartment complex with his significant other?
Thankfully, a corner apartment, locked doors, and a big, big dog made me feel a lot safer. Remember to get therapy! My therapist was crucial in my mental recovery. But to be honest, his death was the most freeing aspect of it all.
I'll never see him at the soccer field. Never see him turning the corner of a store. Never see his distinctive car flying across an intersection.
But it's never over. The uninformed from soccer mourned his suicide; I didn't have the heart to say he was a convicted rapist who raped me. His obituary was glowing--a loving, helpful, generous community man taken too young.
Then the judicial election. 1.5 years later I am still being dragged into this. When there was a question of the judge's competency in going so far below minimum guidelines for someone who immediately reoffended potentially multiple people/times--the judge's response was a mass text saying I was older than the victim, I had previously been consensual, and I was hiding it from my boyfriend.
??? I would very much like to be excluded from this narrative. After all, my boyfriend was my biggest support in all of it--I just didn't want him listening to me describe my rape? Also, last I checked a large portion of rapes are from former consensual relationships that don't take closed doors as an option.
Regardless, I wrote an Op-ed, connected with the Maryland Crime Victim's Resource Center to coordinate a release...and...nothing. No one wants to post it. I got one response that they claimed they researched for 7 hours but took only a quote on how disappointed I was about the outcome.
Why? Because politics are running behind the scenes. This judge was appointed by former governor Hogan who is running for Maryland senator and his daughter recently took post in the State Attorney's office.
Is my outcome common or to be expected? I guess not. But the next time you tell a rape victim go ahead and report your crime--this is what they get. Silenced.
That being said? Even with tape over my mouth and my hands tied behind my back, I don't regret a goddamn thing--except that I wasn't more vocal sooner.
Nevertheless, persist my friends.

Hey there! I just wanted to weigh in with my personal experience taking wellbutrin for 2 years to manage depression, for anyone else out there who may find this helpful.
Before going into details, I want to emphasize that for managing my depression, wellbutrin was absolutely incredible and saved me from a really dark and heavy period in my life. Further, while stomach issues with wellbutrin are not uncommon, I believe my reaction was likely exceptionally severe (so I don't want to fearmonger).
The Good:
Wellbutrin was a huge help for me. I was on 150 mg for ~5 months and then 300 mg for ~20 months. It helped my depression a lot (though not my anxiety). I noticed on 150 mg my mood was quite unpredictable in a way that was really uncomfortable for me, but going up to 300 mg leveled things out.
The Ugly:
How it Started
While I was on wellbutrin, especially after going up to 300 mg, I slowly started to develop stomach issues. I had struggled with IBS-like symptoms on-and-off for a long time, but after about 3 months on wellbutrin it started to get much worse, and within 1 year of being on 300 mg it became horrifically unmanageable.
Stomach Pain & Diet
I lost over 10 pounds within a month last summer and, for context, I am already someone who has been "underweight" my whole life. I lost the weight really rapidly, none of my clothes fit, and I had no energy. I would take my wellbutrin in the morning (as is generally advised) and by around 2 pm would start to feel really bloated, and it would just get worse and worse until the evening, to the point where I could never eat dinner, or even leave the house much, and would just sit on the couch with a hot water bottle. At one point the pain was so bad a family physician sent me to the ER thinking I had appendicitis! I had multiple ultrasounds that came back clear.
I became gluten intolerant (not even a bite of bread was okay) and developed a pretty severe intolerance to soy (even small trace amounts of soy lecithin in things like granola bars and chocolate would take me out for an entire day)
Ultimately, doctors classified it just as IBS and put me on the low-FODMAP diet. It certainly helped, and it helped me identify my 'trigger' foods, but with being vegetarian, on low-FODMAP, and unable to eat soy, my diet felt impossibly restrictive. But, I felt better and stuck to it.
Eventually, the low-FODMAP diet stopped working, and this past January I had another flareup. This time was even worse. No foods were safe foods, and I was constantly in pain and bloated (to the point of looking 6 months pregnant on a regular basis). Eating became something I feared, but not eating would trigger stomach pain as well. I couldn't eat so much as a salad without taking multiple IB-Guard capsules beforehand and ginger gravol after, and even then it was painful.
Menstrual Cycle
While my stomach issues were constant, they definitely became significantly worse around my period and around mid-cycle (ovulation) for about a week at a time (so 2 out of 4 weeks, rip), and it was debilitating. For 2 days before my period and around ovulation, it felt like I had the flu. I couldn't eat, I would have the chills, throw up, be nauseous, and virtually unable to eat. This lead doctors to think I may have severe endometriosis, despite the absence of period cramps or heavy bleeding (which is possible, but unlikely).
Figuring It Out
I went to yet another doctor and she sent me for some tests, but I live in Montreal, Canada, where the wait times for those specific tests were ~8 months each, and I just couldn't handle it anymore. So, I decided to do an experiment on myself. Keep in mind that because the stomach problems evolved slowly while I took wellbutrin, I never realized it could be what was causing my issues-and for some reason no doctor suggested that either.
I realized that I took my medications in the morning, and by lunch I would start to feel unwell. So I did a trial where one day I didn't take the other prescription medication I take (sprionolactone for hormonal acne)-no difference. The next day, I didn't take my wellbutrin. I had the best day I had had in well over a year. No stomach pain whatsoever. I thought it could be a fluke, so I skipped a second day. No pain. Day 3, I took half my usual dose (150 mg)-horrible pain. So, I did what doctors would definitely not recommend and went off it cold turkey. Stomach problems=gone. It was incredible, and I felt like I had my life back.
Today
Today I feel amazing. I have virtually no stomach problems at all, and I have started to re-introduce foods that I could not tolerate a small bite of before. My gluten and soy intolerances completely disappeared, which was shocking. Last week I had pasta for the first time, today I had tofu for the first time again. Having a restrictive diet was not super bothersome to me after I got used to it, and I know many people live their whole lives with eating restrictions like that. But it is nice to be able to expand my diet again (especially as a vegetarian, being able to eat things like tofu and seitan is sooo helpful). I don't feel horrible around my period at all. I feel like I have my life back-I can go out with friends at night and just enjoy myself and not be in pain, not have to take 3 different supplements to eat a meal, can eat whatever I want on occasional restaurant outings, etc. My stomach problems felt like they took up 90% of my thoughts and energy, and now I have that all back to put towards myself and the people I care about <3
Important: Now, for the first few weeks wellbutrin withdrawal was kind of no big deal. I was definitely tired, but it was manageable and went away after a short while. HOWEVER, a month after I had a full nervous breakdown that was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I was inconsolable for 4 days, and eventually went to the ER, and ended up taking Ativan to get through the couple days that followed. However, I was put on Lexapro (just 5 mg) and have been 100% fine and thriving since, and my anxiety is way better than it ever was on wellbutrin. I should also note that I left a very, very difficult relationship during this time, and it went quite horribly, and so while I would be amiss to not say quitting wellbutirn cold turkey didn't contribute to this "breakdown", I think context is really important.
I should also note that I have a history of having a hard time with prescription medications (so before anyone else says it first, myself or a doctor probably should have guessed wellbutrin was the culprit long before the 2 years). In any case... I had to stop taking Zoloft a few years back because it made me horribly nauseous and bloated, and the same was true for oral contraceptives (I tried 5 different ones over 4 years and all caused horrible nausea)-I now have a copper IUD.
TLDR: Wellbutrin help my anxiety but caused horrific stomach problems (severe and painful bloating, constipation, stomach cramping, nausea) and lead me to develop intense food intolerances (to gluten and soy) and made a strict low-FODMAP diet the only way to keep myself going. Stopping wellbutrin cured my stomach issues within a month, but quitting cold turkey lead to an intense emotional break.
Sorry this was so long, but I hope it helps someone