Bme pain olympics all rounds

Welcome to the Chroma Olympics!

2013.04.30 04:42 Ace2cool Welcome to the Chroma Olympics!

[link]

2024.05.16 12:45 AbidingStereo0330 Chest pain, elevated d dimer, no clot.

27F
No smoking, only drink once in a blue moon, no drug use.
Only medication I take regularly is Tylenol/Ibuprofen for migraines and joint pain.
Height/weight if that matters, I'm 5'3" and around 250lbs, haven't weighed myself in years tbh.
kind of desperate at this point, not sure if I'll even get a response but I'm willing to try anything at this point. For the past 3 ish years, I have been having major chest pains in the middle of the night. Main problem is there's no consistency with it. When it happens, what I've eaten, how bad it is, etc. Usually it's intense pain in the center of my chest that radiates through my ribs. Often have trouble breathing, often feel it around the sides or back of my ribs. I've been to the ER twice, and no one can find anything wrong. First doctor was positive it was heartburn before even looking at anything, and yes I'm fat and don't eat right, but in (at the time) my 24 ish years of being alive I rarely even had heartburn, and it was barely noticeable when I did. So for it to suddenly be so severe would be weird to me. Anyway, x ray showed nothing, blood test showed elevated d dimer. Did a CT scan, didn't find a clot so they ignored that. The elevated d dimer was the only thing either doctor found. I changed my diet based on the first doctor's advice even though I didn't think it was heartburn. Less greasy/fatty food, less seasonings, not eating after 7pm, only drinking water, etc. It didn't help. And again, the pain is not consistent. In the best case scenario, eating grilled chicken and white rice before 7pm and laying down to sleep at 11, I will wake up at 4am with severe pain that will last hours, no pain medication or antacids I've tried help at all. It has only continued to get more frequent, and when the pain is bad it's debilitating for days afterward at this point. When it started getting worse I went back to the ER, and the second doctor told me he was sure it wasn't heartburn, and did a bunch of blood tests but said everything came back normal. If it helps, they gave me a steroid in my iv that time, and the pain relief was so instant I almost passed out. He prescribed some pain meds that didn't help, but basically pushed me out the door when he couldn't find anything. At most he guessed inflammation of the tissue between my ribs, but he only put that on my discharge papers and didn't actually talk to me about it or how to manage it. I've just been living with this pain now but it keeps getting more frequent and more intense, I quit my job due to lack of sleep a because I can't function when more often than not I'm up all night in pain that's at best uncomfortable and at most has me gasping for air and sobbing. More info I thought of last minute, This started a few months after my second round of covid back in 2021. Doctors didn't think it was relevant.
This was longer than I thought so TLDR; Inconsistent chest/rib pain that lasts hours, blood test showed elevated d dimer but scan showed no clot. Change in diet, use of pain medicine and antacids did nothing for me.
submitted by AbidingStereo0330 to AskDocs [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 09:00 Mizzno [H] Games [W] Cornucopia, Headbangers: Rhythm Royale, art of rally, Games (Listed Below), Steam Gift Cards

N.B.: I'm mainly looking for the games listed in the title and at the bottom of the thread. Feel free to post other offers, but if I haven't responded to your comment(s) by my next posting, I likely wasn't able to find a trade that interested me.
​
For sale (for Steam Gift Cards or gifted Steam Wallet balance):
​
​
​
For trade:
*signifies that a game is tentatively up for trade, assuming I buy the bundle
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
WANT:
​
​
​
IGS Rep Page: https://www.reddit.com/IGSRep/comments/ti26nz/mizznos_igs_rep_page/
submitted by Mizzno to indiegameswap [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 08:45 VoidKiller826 Wonder Women #50 - Revelations, Part 1

Wonder Women

Issue Fifty
Written by u/VoidKiller826
Edited by u/Predaplant
Arc: Revelations
*************************************************************
Greetings, people of Gateway City. This is your new peacekeeper speaking. You might know me as the White Magician, a rather crude name, but I will accept it considering Man’s World's lack of creativity. However, you may also call me Circe, and I am here with an important message that your news station will deliver for all to hear.
SCYTHE is no more: their HQ is under my and the Red Centipedes’ command. The Commander and his soldiers are dead and buried, as you all wished to happen. I was more than happy to oblige you if it meant depriving your stupid President of her next chance for reelection. Any survivors of the prison break are being hunted down by the people they locked in cages, who are more than happy to round them up as they once had been themselves.
But none of that’s important, for this recording is only to be heard by one person: Olympos, Wonder Girl, or whatever the fuck new title name you want to be called. This message is for you: You are to surrender yourself to me here in SCYTHE HQ in the next five hours, and in turn, I will not destroy this piss-end of a city. If you fail, I promise you, I will make Coast City look like a picnic by the time I finish with Gateway.
That cow you call Wonder Woman is dead, and I will make sure everyone else will follow her if you don’t comply with my request.
Your mentor learned a valuable lesson when she tested my patience.
*************************************************************
Spears Apartment - Gateway City:
[...President Cale has announced the complete closure of all access to Gateway City following the prison break that occurred in SCYTHE’s holding facility hours ago,] said Cassandra Arnold from GateNews, the city’s main news station. [We still have an unconfirmed number of escapees following the message sent by the White Magician, but the President has assured GateNews a solution will be found.]
Vanessa Kapatelis watched the TV in dismay. Pacing back and forth in the Spears duplex apartment, she had the TV on to pass the time while Ares worked on helping Helena and Cassandra upstairs.
“Here,” Vanessa turned away from the TV to see Tanya Spears handing her a bottle of water. “Something for you to drink.”
“Thank you,” Vanessa accepted the bottle. “I would prefer a beer, but this will make do.”
“My mom has her wine collection in a locked cabinet,” Tanya noted, pointing at the kitchen. “She doesn’t know that I know that, but I can get you a bottle?”
Vanessa chuckled. “Thanks, but I don’t want a girl your age to be walking around with alcohol or to get you in trouble with your mom.” She twisted the bottle cap and slowly drank. “I needed that… it feels like I’ve been dry for months.”
“It’s actually been 3 hours,” Tanya said, sitting on the sofa and opening her tablet to look over the internet. “I hope what she said wasn’t true… about Wonder Woman not being around…”
Taking a seat by her side, Vanessa saw that Tanya was reading through the report on what happened to SCYTHE. The escaped convicts had taken control of the SCYTHE headquarters and equipment after killing many of the agents that had stood in their way.
Seeing the photo of SCYTHE HQ burning angered her. That place should represent the absolute shield of Gateway. Now, it had come under the control of the convicts that they were supposed to stop because of Aeeta Branwen. A name that had made her happy now belonged to a stranger who had lied to her all this time.
Memories of their most intimate moments came flooding back: their first conversation, their first date, their kiss, and the morning after their date in her apartment. It was a moment when she thought she could finally stop grieving and move on from what happened to Coast City. And now, that had been disintegrated into oblivion.
In anger, she crushed the bottle with her hand, spraying water all over the table and the floor.
“Shit!” Vanessa stood up, finally realizing her mistake. “I am sorry!”
“Oh, it's fine!” Tanya ran to the kitchen to grab some paper towels. “It’s just water.”
“I know it’s just…” Taking the paper towel, the two began wiping the floor and the table. “I have a lot on my mind.”
“I’ll bet with everything that happened,” said Tanya, giving Vanessa a supportive smile. “Your friends are getting hurt, and you can’t do anything but watch. It would piss anyone off. I know it did with me when the RedCent guys invaded EE Tower.”
“Yeah…” Vanessa sat back on the sofa. “But this… I not only possibly lost many friends, but I was betrayed by someone I loved, someone who I thought was the one for me…” she said, distraught, as tears ran down her face.
Tanya, without saying anything more, hugged Vanessa closely. Despite them knowing each other for only a few hours, Tanya knew that Vanessa was in pain. Watching her loved ones being hurt by someone that she trusted must have been a hard truth to accept.
The doors upstairs opening and closing caught the two’s attention. Looking up, they saw Somya Spears descending, looking exhausted, like she had gone ten rounds in the ring. As she reached the ground floor, Tanya ran up to her mother, hugged her close, and guided her to the nearest chair to rest.
“Is everything alright, mom?” Tanya asked, worried.
“Yeah… just felt that I might take that long overdue vacation…” Somya answered, leaning against the soft chair with a tired sigh. “Maybe we’ll go to Paris like you wanted, Tanya…”
More steps followed, and Ares, or Mars as he insisted to be called, followed Somya, pulling his folded-up sleeves back. Unlike Somya, he didn’t seem any different from when he went upstairs to help the Sandsmarks, but the few strands of hair on his face told a different story.
“How are they?” Vanessa asked, walking up to the former God of War. “Are they ok?”
Ares turned to Vanessa. “The girl has a lot of heart, far too stubborn to let a beating keep her down.” He said with praise, impressed with the former Wonder Girl’s willpower. “Her Sumerian blood will help her heal in only a few days, but it won’t help her mental wounds after I told her the news about her mother.”
Vanessa had a lot of questions about what he had said, especially the word Sumerian; perhaps Cassie was not simply half-Olympian. However, she focused on the most important detail in his explanation. “What happened with Helena?” She asked in a worried tone. “Is she-”
“She is alive,” Ares said, but his expression shifted, frowning, making her nervous. “Physically, she will recover, she has only a few cuts and bruises. Even a human like her can heal those.”
“But?”
“But it's the spell Circe struck her with. It is unlike anything I’ve seen because it is of her creation,” Ares explained, and Vanessa ground her teeth together when she heard the name belonging to the stranger who hurt her and her loved ones. “Whatever she used, it is affecting her very soul, slowly killing her.”
“Like a virus?” Vanessa asked, and Ares nodded. “Magic can do that?”
“It does,” Ares answered. “Magic can create a nuclear bomb if the user has the patience for it. And Circe is a master at it, one of the very best and most gifted witches on the planet, so making something like this would be as easy as making a cake for her.”
Magic had never been SCYTHE’s priority, but the Commander still made them study anything related to the subject in case they had to face it. Vanessa had never expected to see it at this scale.
“Can you break it?” Vanessa asked. “Find a way to break the curse from Helena’s soul?”
Ares took a deep breath, pocketing his hands. “It’s too complex to break. I will admit Magic is not my strongest suit, but even if you bring in someone knowledgeable, it would be a while for them to break her creation,” he explained. “You need someone at her level of knowledge when it comes to magic, and I am not the best person to face her in that department.”
“Then we call for a specialist, anyone, really,” Vanessa said in desperation. “If this is like a virus, a curse, then we bring a surgeon to cut it out! Maybe Cassie can use her Justice Legion connection, or maybe you can call someone for a favor.”
Vanessa's desperation was clear. She was willing to call for the Justice Legion, the very people she swore to go against for their vigilantism, if it meant saving Helena Sandsmark, her promise be damned.
“The spell is growing far too rapidly. By the time you find someone, it will be far too late,” Ares said solemnly. “The only person in the world who can break the spell without any problem or fear of failsafe is Hecate, the Goddess of Magic. She was Circe’s mentor, and she taught her everything she could about magic. No matter how complex it is, Hecate would understand it.”
“She can help us?”
Ares shook his head. “No, she has no interest in helping the world unless it is connected to her directly, and even then, dealing with her is the worst-case scenario because there is a chance she’ll side with Circe before she even thinks of helping us.”
“So what now?” Vanessa asked, sounding defeated. “Just let Helena die? Let Cassie suffer? Let Circe win?!” she shouted angrily, finally addressing Circe by name. All of this explanation from Ares told her one thing: that the Witch had them beat, and they couldn’t do anything about it.
Ares didn’t react to her outburst, while the Spears looked worried. Tanya, for her part, tried to walk up to calm Vanessa, but the War God raised his hand to stop her, shaking his head and giving her the silent sign to let Vanessa be.
“There is one way: it will be quicker if we act fast enough, but it would take everything from all of us for it to happen,” Ares said, beginning his explanation. “There is a chain link connecting the spell, from the spell caster to Circe. This means it can be broken if we force Circe to release the chain connecting her to Helena…” he explained, letting his words be understood by the occupants in the room before finishing with one last note. “Killing Circe would also break the binding if she didn’t leave any contingencies.”
Vanessa gritted her teeth. “So we have to make her break the spell, and hopefully she doesn’t screw us over… or we kill her, and hopefully she still doesn’t screw us over even in death?” she asked, and Ares nodded. “What kind of person is willing to put in all that work? Just for revenge? On Diana, who is long gone?”
Ares shrugged and turned to the Spears, his gaze focused on Tanya, his daughter. Someone whom he never thought he would meet again was facing him, without knowledge of their blood relations.
“Possibly,” Ares answered, taking a step back. “But if there is one thing I know for sure, Circe does not put these kinds of bindings without any reason. Whatever that reason is involves Cassandra Sandsmark and whether she will choose to make Circe break the spell or kill her, tainting her forever.”
Silence came to the room, letting Ares’s words sink in for all occupants, which might have been the same words he said to the Sandsmarks.
*************************************************************
The room of Somya Spears was quiet, with the only sound being the breathing of Helena Sandsmark lying on the bed sleeping. The room was spacious, with an expensive queen-sized bed as expected from an interim CEO of one the largest companies in the world.
Seated a few feet away on a chair was Cassandra Sandsmark, dressed in fresh clothes given to her by Somya after throwing off the bloody tattered ones she had arrived in. Watching her mother closely, Cassandra’s mind was racing, especially after what Ares told her about the curse Circe placed on her mother, slowly destroying her soul bit by bit until she was nothing but a husk.
“Dammit!” In anger at their situation, she crushed the armchair, tearing its arm off like it was made of paper. If she was stronger, faster, and had the heart for it, she would have stopped the Witch, stopped her from hurting her city, the people of SCYTHE, and those caught in the crossfire, stopped her from hurting her mother…
She buried her face into her hands, tears running down her eyes as she despaired. Everything she worked on after Coast City evaporated was ground up under a very powerful enemy out for revenge.
Considering Circe’s ultimatum, her city could well be gone by the time this was over.
“Artemis… please be safe…” she whispered. She had nearly had a panic attack when she heard the news of the Amazon heading to SCYTHE HQ to stop the prison break, and then… nothing. No matter how many times she dialed her phone, there was no one answering, and she feared for the worst.
She heard her mother coughing, and Cassandra was quickly by her side. “Mom!” she called for her, holding her hand.
“Cassandra?...” Her mother said her name weakly. Her skin was becoming paler, a clear sign that the curse spell was working. “Are you… ok?”
“I’m fine, Mom,” Cassandra answered, covering the bandages hidden inside her clothes. “We’re safe. You’re safe.” she said, tightening both her hands around her mothers.
“Did you… break something?” She asked, looking at the chair behind her. “You shouldn’t be… doing that… we are guests…”
Cassandra laughed, her tears falling away. “Sorry… it’s just… it’s been a hell of a week…”
Helena touched her daughter’s cheek, noticing the bandage on it. “You’re… hurt…”
“It’s alright, Mom. Just a few bruises,” Cassandra assured. “You shouldn’t worry, you know I can take it…”
“I am your… mother, Cassandra,” Helena said, facing her daughter. “Demi-God or not… I will always be worried… scared for my little girl.”
Cassandra’s tears came back. Seeing her mother remain strong despite everything made her happy, and she was terrified of losing her.
“So… my soul is cursed?” Helena asked.
“You heard all that?”
“Can’t not… with all the swearing…” Helena noted, giving her daughter a small smile. “You shouldn’t swear at people, Cassandra, especially those who are trying to help.”
“I know, I know,” Cassandra said. She had gone off on Ares after he explained what happened to her mother, and she might have overreacted when she put all her anger on the former War God. “It’s just… I don’t want to lose you… not while we can fix this.”
Helena sat up on her bed, fully facing her daughter. “Which is why… I don’t want you to make the wrong choice.”
“I won’t,” Cassandra said with a low tone. “I will make Circe free you from this curse-”
“No, Cassandra,” Helena grabbed both of Cassandra’s hands with hers. “That is not what I meant…”
Cassandra raised her brows, confused. “Mom?”
“I heard everything… from Circe’s spell… how it works… and how it can be broken…” Helena said, shocking Cassandra. “I know you already decided what you feel you have to do.”
Cassandra didn’t answer, avoiding her mother’s disapproving gaze accusing her. Ares said the quickest way to break the binding and the spell was either by forcing Circe to break it herself or by killing her, severing the connection.
But if what Circe said was true, that Diana decided to kill her instead of making her surrender like everyone else who faced her, that means there was no chance the Witch would submit willingly. She would rather die than give the satisfaction of admitting defeat.
Which left only one solution where she could save her mother.
Helena sighed, knowing what decision her daughter might have made. She held her hand tightly and changed the subject. “I have to tell you something…”
“No, mom. You’re not giving me the ‘Dying Speech’, not while there is a chance we can save you-”
“It’s about your father,” Helena cut her off, shutting Cassandra up. “Your real father…”
Cassandra remembered Circe calling her Daughter of Enlil, not Zeus. Ares said he was a friend of her father, which confused her because Ares hated Zeus, so it wouldn’t make sense that he would help out even if they were his siblings.
“Enlil…” Cassandra said the name aloud, and Helena’s eyes widened, her breath hitching when she heard the name. “Circe… she called me Daughter of Enlil… Child of the Sky...”
Helena took a deep breath, bringing her daughter closer. “Yes… that is true…” she began. “You are not Zeus’s daughter, Cassandra, nor you are an Olympian in any way… but you are in fact… Sumerian… Mesopotamian,” The elder Sandsmark brought her youngest closer and spoke carefully, as if worried that someone might hear them. “Your father is Enlil, the Sumerian God of Wind… and he was the kindest man I have ever known…”
From then on, Helena explained Cassandra’s origins as carefully as possible, pushing on even while the spell affected her. She explained how she met Enlil, a man with golden hair similar to Cassandra’s, who introduced himself as an expert in Mesopotamian history during an expedition in Iraq. They had become rivals at first due to their clashing personalities, but how that developed into respect, to eventually falling in love after a very lengthy adventure that sounded like the plot of The Mummy.
And that love resulted in Cassandra’s birth. He helped raise her with Helena for the first year and a half before he disappeared because he had Olympian enemies and had to leave them to keep them safe.
While she explained all this, Cassandra’s mind went to another piece of critical information. Her father’s true identity had never been the most important thing for her. But what made it important was what Circe told her about Diana’s true reason for coming to Gateway City. It wasn’t just settling in a ‘piss-end of a city’ the more she taught about it, the more she realized the terrifying truth behind her mentor’s reasoning for coming to the city.
Diana was sent to find Cassandra, a Sumerian Demi-God, the Olympians greatest enemy since the Titans, and eliminate her. The prophecy of the Godkiller that they had feared might have come from Cassandra, but all it did was start a long, personal, and bloody war between two women because of the gods' demands for blood.
And now, she, Artemis, and Gateway City suffered the consequences. Even after Diana’s death, Circe would not let her hatred for what had happened to her go, and if it meant destroying her mentor’s legacy, she would do it.
‘Diana…’ Cassandra thought in sadness.
*************************************************************
SCYTHE Sub Base - Industrial District:
“I am not sure how you were able to do it, but you somehow found an ever more depressing place than that HQ of yours. It makes the cell you put us in look like a five-star hotel room,” said one Pamela Isley, formerly Poison Ivy, seated in the middle of a large room behind a large table. Around her were what was left of the SCYTHE agents they had saved during the escape, all working to get the makeshift base they had hidden up and running.
Alexei Abramovici, the Bloodcrow of SCYTHE, glared at the former supervillain, not happy with her comment. He turned to one of his men and began barking orders, “You! Get the goddamn Black Room working! We are running blind here!”
‘Worker drones even without their Commander.’ Pamela looked on unimpressed at the agents. She had never been that sympathetic to the plight of cops getting killed, especially militarized ones. The once mighty and feared peacekeepers of Gateway, who went to war against all the crime syndicates and the Red Centipedes, were now a mere little squad that won’t be able to protect a mini-mart, let alone every escaped convict under the command of the White Magician.
“Man… the signal here sucks!” complained Miguel Barragan by her side, raising his phone and trying to catch any kind of signal. “Could barely talk to my boyfriend when I called him, and can’t connect to the internet,” he complained. He tried once again to call but he couldn’t find a signal. “Useless brick…”
“We are underground in a bunker previously owned by Neo-Nazis, Barragan,” Pamela noted. From what she had heard, this used to be an old RedCent hideout that SCYTHE took over after the war, using it as a smaller base in case of emergency. “Not receiving any signal is part of the appeal of the place.”
“Bunker, huh…” Miguel chuckled. The name Bunker reminded him of the super name that he picked out; the more time passed, the more convinced he was that it was the right one.
Pamela gave a confused look at his expression and shrugged it off. Turning to her right, she saw the silent Emily Sung staring off into the distance. Unlike Barragan, Emily had other matters on her mind. Whatever she sensed or saw back at SCYTHE HQ freaked her out, like seeing something she shouldn’t.
Just as Pamela was about to ask her how she was feeling, a knock on the large blast doors echoed around the base, loud enough for all to hear. Quickly, everyone felt tense, and the SCYTHE agents covered the door as Alexei signaled them to aim their weapons. After the news of the escaped convicts taking control of SCYTHE HQ and their equipment and weaponry, the agents knew that they were being haunted now by the convicts looking for revenge, so they were not taking any chances.
“Would you mind opening the door!” A familiar voice said behind the door, a voice Pamela recognized right away. “I have a bloody Amazon here, and I would like her off my fur!”
“Barbara?” Pamela realized.
“Minerva? As in the Cheetah?” Alexei asked, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “She could be working with them, with the White Magician.”
“She isn’t,” Pamela answered, glaring at the SCYTHE soldier for the accusation. “She would never ally with the psychos you had under lock and key.”
Alexei scoffed. “That woman got a cemetery filled with people who say otherwise, and she hurt the mother of someone I know.”
Before the two could argue, Miguel stood up and decided to take action. He extended his hand, forming a large arm construct from it, and grabbed the handle of the blast door. With one pull, he opened it wide. Barbara entered. Her feline form made some of the SCYTHE agents tense, and weapons were still trained on her.
“Quite the welcoming committee…” she noted in sarcasm. “Now, would you be dears and get this woman some help?” She adjusted the unconscious and bloody Artemis on her back. Her blood covered Barbara’s fur.
“Medic!” Alexei called for an agent nearby before turning to Miguel. “And you, don’t use your freaky powers until I order you to do so.”
“Sorry tin man, I don’t speak fascist,” Miguel responded with a smirk, and Alexei glared at him.
The medic quickly came to Barbara and guided her to a nearby makeshift hospital room, which had a bed and various equipment to help the SCYTHE wounded. Barbara went in haste, and gently, with the help of the medic, they placed the injured Amazon on the bed, her blood soaking the white sheets red.
“How the hell did you even find us?” Alexei asked as he and the others entered. “I made sure I covered all our steps.”
“You did,” Barbara noted, stepping back to let the medic check on Artemis. She turned to Alexei and pointed at her nose. “But one of you has a very special pheromone that I can smell for miles,” she said with a smile as she turned her gaze to Pamela. “Still with those rose scents around you.”
The redhead smiled. “Maybe it’s that mark you left on me.”
“More than you think, Pammy.”
“Christ…” the medic gasped, catching everyone’s attention. “How is she still alive? And how long has she been like this?” He asked, examining the injured Amazon.
Her armor was wholly wrecked, beyond repair. Her headpiece was half broken, and the gauntlets and braces on her arms and legs were dented and unusable. Her injuries were severe: open wounds, slash marks, and burn marks were all over her body, and judging from blows on her armor, she might have had a few broken bones as well.
“Didn’t bother to look at the time with some of the grunts that were sent after us,” Barbara answered, leaning on a nearby chair as fatigue finally set in for her. “But these Amazons are too stubborn to die, and I know that from experience…”
The number of times Barbara thought she had beaten Diana only for the Amazon to get back up and beat her back was many, and it frustrated the woman to no end, but now she couldn’t help but be in awe at the resilience of these warriors.
“Her Amazon gifts will heal her,” Barbara noted. “But I am not sure how long it will take…”
“I doubt it will take more than a few days at least…” the medic noted, bringing out some bandages and wrapping them around her arms. “She will need a miracle to even walk out of here on her own two feet.”
“Uhmm…” Everyone in the room turned to Emily Sung, who stood by the doorway. “I… I think I can help her heal faster.”
Barbara and the medic gave her an odd look. To better explain it, Emily brought her hands together, and a small flame began to form from her palm. However, they weren’t bright orange flames; they were blue flames, and they didn’t feel any heat from them.
“I developed this technique while training,” said Emily. “It's a fire spell that doesn’t burn, but it heals people. I first used it on Miguel when he hurt his hands, and it was instantaneous,” she explained, and Miguel showed his fully healed hand as if he was demonstrating it. “But this will be the first time I will heal someone with this severe of injuries…”
Pamela and Barbara looked at the blue flames with wide eyes. In Pamela’s case, she was told that Emily had powers, and from Miguel’s description, she had the power of all the elements. However, seeing it firsthand and feeling it from just that tiny flame made her sense there was power behind it, warmth, like the sun.
“Do it,” Barbara said, taking a step back. “At this point, if we need magic to get her back into the fight, we better get to it before we lose her for real.” She turned to the shocked medic. This was the first time he would ever see magic in play. “And you, guide her in whatever wounds need to be healed.”
The medic nodded. It was better than nothing. With his guidance and Miguel’s support by her side, Emily went to work to heal Wonder Woman, who was in a state of life and death if they didn’t work fast enough, all while Circe and her crew were out there terrorizing the city.
“What’s the news out there?” Alexei asked after the three left the infirmary room. “We are in the dark here, and I couldn’t radio in anyone with the pieces of junk we got. Not even my brother, who was trying to get as many agents as possible.”
“Brother?” Barbara asked before she realized who his brother was. Her expression became solemn. She remembered the Warhammer who stayed behind to slow Circe and her crew, giving Barbara a chance to escape with Artemis on her back. “The guy with the Hammer…”
Alexei furrowed his brows, noticing the change in her expression. “What happened to my brother?”
Barbara took a deep breath and began explaining everything that had happened: the White Magician’s true identity, her taking over SCYTHE HQ, her ultimatum to Wonder Girl, and finally, Anatoly Abromivici’s sacrifice to save them.
*************************************************************
Somewhere in Gateway…
With the loss of SCYTHE and their headquarters, the surviving agents didn’t have the necessary support from the intel agents in the Black Room to fight off against the newly revived Red Centipedes, now grown more powerful with the help of the escaped convicts, more than happy to exact revenge.
With the bridges closed off, SCYTHE’s weakened state, and Wonder Woman being presumed dead, the city had been thrown into chaos. Streets filled with criminals and looters taking full advantage of what had happened, stealing anything from everyone across the island.
Red Centipedes roamed the streets with military trucks, taken from SCYTHE after their HQ had fallen to the White Magician’s control, making full use of their hardware to hunt down any surviving agent, delivering the message that they were the new peacekeepers of Gateway.
“Let me go!”
A woman, a worker from Taco Whiz, was being dragged from the streets by a group of RedCent grunts. Taken into a nearby corner, the RedCent dropped the worker on the dirty ground. Their eyes had terrible intentions behind them.
“Come on, man,” one RedCent grunt said from behind to his buddy. “We are supposed to find those SCYTHE fuckers, not mess around.”
“You’re serious?” The buddy looked at his friend like he was crazy. “We’ve been locked for months in SCYTHE’s cells; we can have a few minutes of fun.”
“Please! Don’t do this!” The woman screamed, tears falling from her eyes, afraid of what they would do to her. She tried to stand up and run away but was quickly pushed back down on the pavement.
The RedCent approached the woman, who crawled away from them in fear. “Come on, girl, I just need to release all this stress after being locked up for so long!” He proclaimed, giving the woman a leery look before turning to his buddy. “Hey man, I can share! Maybe we can get someone else from the street-”
The RedCent stopped speaking, catching his breath for a moment after he saw his buddy lying on the ground face first, knocked out cold. Looking up, his eyes widened in shock when he saw the person standing before him. “You’re… you were supposed to be dead?!”
Covered in heavy bandages and wrecked NIGHT armor, and carrying a mace in his hand and a pissed-off look on his face, Commander Hector Hall stood before the RedCent grunt like a dark spectre coming back to life. Kicking the knocked-out buddy aside, the Commander looked between the grunt and the terrified woman before he hardened his glare at the RedCent.
“Stay back!” The RedCent grunt aimed his weapon, hands shaking in fear. “I said stay the fuck back-”
In a moment, Hall moved at such a speed he looked like a blur, cutting the distance between the two. With one swing of his mace, he smacked him squarely on the head, sending him to the ground.
Hall turned to the woman he saved, who looked at him in horror. “Go… get to safety…”
Without another word, the woman ran toward the exit and into the streets, away from the alley. Now alone with the two RedCents, Hall grabbed the knocked-out buddy and woke him up, making the man see the bandaged-up Hall looking down at him with hateful eyes.
“You… I want you to send your boss a message…” Hall began, making him face the Commander. “Tell the White Magician, Circe, that I am declaring war on her and on anyone who stands by her side.” He turned and walked up to the other grunt, who was crawling away from the Commander in fear, grabbing his bleeding head. He begged for his life, but Hall ignored his pleas. “And this, this is for my men that you Centipedes have killed…”
He lifted his bloody mace and brought it down like a hammer on the begging Red Centipede as his buddy looked on in horror. He lifted it up once more to reveal the man’s head was crushed like a watermelon.
Commander Hector Hall was still alive, and as long as he was still breathing, SCYTHE would remain standing to fight against all threats against Gateway City.
*************************************************************

Wonder Women Vol 3.

Previous Issue <> Next Issue
submitted by VoidKiller826 to DCNext [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 06:29 ah_yes-a_username Shanghai Olympic Qualifier Series B&L/S

**Please make sure to use SPOILER TAGS in this thread for broadcasted rounds and comment away in the chat channel and post-game threads!**
Chat Channel and post-comp thread.
Four days in Shanghai will feature the first of two events to determine who fills the open Olympics spots - 12 slots per gender for Boulder & Lead and 7 slots per gender for Speed! Inside Climbing has a thorough preview of rules, slot allocation, etc. For those with a good handle on the general OQS rules, see the OQS Point System for how results in Shanghai might translate to an Olympic slot.
Schedule (All times in China Time (UTC+8) Time zone converter):
Thursday 5/16
Friday 5/17
Saturday 5/18
Sunday 5/19
Startlist Live Results (also on ‘WC Series’ app)
How to watch:
Chat channels: RIP Live Chat. Say goodbye to our favorite feature and say hello to Reddit’s new beta feature, Chat Channels. Help page
Flair up!
submitted by ah_yes-a_username to CompetitionClimbing [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 05:09 Nuyturah Abdominal pain after doing a bar kip, with persistent pain in first few months. Currently, inconsistent pain increases with some physical activity or food intake. No diagnosis to date.

Background
Demographic: White, male, age 30, 5' 5", 175 +/- 5lbs.
Lifestyle: Active (workout 3-4x per week), Desk/Physical work split of 90/10%.
Complaint: Abdominal injury and pain (1 year and 8 months since injury), presently inconsistent pains levels between 3-5/10 and consistent lingering discomfort (1-2/10).
Medication: No consistent medications, no allergies.
Drug use: alcohol (1-3x per month), non-smoker.
History of the Injury
Late August of 2022, I hurt myself doing a kip on horizontal bar outdoors. Right after raising my feet to the bar and kicking my legs out I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen. (I've done this and similar moves many times before through my 20s, while exercising)
Bar kip example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRPFWdelsDY
I couldn't stop slouching and crunching my abdomen. Stretching backwards and straightening my posture was very discomforting. The severe pain subsided in a day but in the following months I couldn't stretch my stomach and had to sleep on my back with pillows under my knees to keep a flexed/crunched posture. Sleeping on the side was discomforting, because the stomach would hang to the side, bringing up the pain.
In 3 months, I felt better. However, there were always some flare-ups of pain.
Pain Description: The pain always feels along "horizontal lines", on 1-3 locations at a time, around the belly button level, below, or above it, with varying intensity of pain. Through my personal touch/observation, these horizontal lines of pain are always along tendinous inscriptions of the ab structures. Sometimes I feel lower 1 or two lines in pain. Other times it’s one of the upper line(s).
Tendinous inscriptions image: https://test.usabcd.org/courses/lk-native-ld2-basic-ugra/lessons/lknative-rectus-sheath-block/topic/3-anatomy-the-rectus-abdominis-muscle/
Causes of Pain from Movement: Pain flare-ups happen when moving heavy objects rapidly (without prior prep), pulling something heavy from ground, rapidly stretching the abdominal area, or a day after the occasional exercise. Jumping and landing on ground from 1 ft. or above can make me brace my abdomen, leading to some pain as well. Twisting my torso side to side could also make pain worse, stretching one side of the abdomen, especially if twisting in my full range. Slight turns are okay.
Causes of Pain from Food: Flare-ups also happen immediately after eating specific foods, like sunflower seeds, nutty bars, and when a bit bloated from eating. Trigger of this pain doesn't need to be a substantial amount of food either. Sometimes just a bite or two gets the sensation going.
Pain Relief: Often immediately after having bowel movement there is some pain relief. If pain is not too intense, and more of a discomfort, bowel movement can sometimes end the discomfort
Medical History and Pain Progress Timeline
Slow increase in physical activity and exercise. Some running. With a good warm up, stretching the abdominal area isn't too painful (though I did not stretch the area at this time)
Rare ab exercises can feel discomforting, and some pain returns the day after.
Jumping high or landing from high jumps/drops can bring about the pain or worsen it.
Bloated stomach, or consumption of some foods (as mentioned above) can feel discomforting or even painful along 1 or more " horizontal lines". Bowel movement often relieves discomfort and even pain.
Post colonoscopy I did not return to physical activities and PT as the pain lingers on and is too consistent and limiting to do much in terms of consistent exercise.
Self-medication: On a few occasions, I tried to apply heat or cold, which didn’t help with pain much. But the cold helped numb things down. Heat helped to warm the abdomen and make some movements easier for a short time.
Rare/inconsistent instances of ibuprofen use (around 400-600 mg). Can't remember how effective pain relief is.
Massage/poking: Generally, I do it when I feel pain or discomfort along the horizontal lines. Massage, poking, deep massage does NOT reduce the pain for me. Sometimes even makes me feel the pain more. But mentally feels good to do and feel out where I feel it.
Present day condition (May 2024)
Some pain flare-ups with physical activities, infrequent feeling of discomfort after food (for both, often relieved through bowel movement).
Concern: While pain level has overall gone down since 1.5 years ago, I am not certain what I should and should not do, given there is no diagnosis or clear understanding of cause of pain. The occasional pain increases made me curious if someone had an experience with pain like this. Doctor's appointment all have lead to little to no improvement.
Additionally, I sense a lot of dismissiveness in all the doctors and specialist for this entire timeline described above, where with no results to show on diagnostic tests, I am sent home to "rest" without any hypothesis or brainstorming, and telling me "come back if pain gets worse". It gets worse and I run another round of catching doctors for, what feels like, waste of time with more tests, same questions and same story being told over and over to each new referred specialist I see.
Note: I asked the doctors on multiple occasions to review the MRI images or query a radiologist to do so as there are 100s of frames. I genuinely don't believe that initial look at it was done properly, with only 1 page report showing "unremarkable" for all metrics they looked at. I don't sense that my pain patterns (which I described extensively to every doctor and the radiologist) were accounted for when looking through any of the tests done.
Thanks in advance for any feedback!!!
[Previously posted on with no luck so far.]
submitted by Nuyturah to DiagnoseMe [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 05:08 Jessicakxx 2 days post op - extremely bloated

Hey all! I’m new here but I was diagnosed with endometriosis back in 2019 after laparoscopic surgery.
However, I just had my second surgery as my ovaries got attached to my pelvis and the surgeon also found endo in 3 places. He removed everything and managed to detach my ovaries without any damage. I know this round was far more invasive than my first surgery, but I’m experiencing an insane amount of bloating. To the point I can’t stand or sit it’s so painful.
Has anyone got any tips of how to improve this? My stomach has never looked so swollen and it’s rock hard. I don’t know what to do with myself right now 😢
submitted by Jessicakxx to endometriosis [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 05:04 Virtual_Switch6996 2 years long hauler 95% recovered in less than 2 months

I want to start by saying I am aware everyone's case is different. I'm not stating this is the ultimate cure for everyone since long covid is a unique case for each individual.
So I started experiencing long covid since Jan 2022 after an infection that passed fairly quickly, i got the vaccine a few weeks after. By July 2022 I starting experiencing strange symptoms which I know now to be long covid. I had two symptoms: A pressure throbbing facial pain 24/7 behind my nose, eyes and forehead and an elevated temperature 99.5-100F. I did the initial rounds like we all have and everything kept coming back normal, got on nerve medications but they failed. They told me I had atypical facial pain trigeminal neuralgia type 2. I was pretty much left in the dark. I didn't know what I had could possibly be long covid until March 2024. After finding people similar to my case, I talked to my doctor about it and started researching.
March 2024 I was put on Nurtec ODT this helped me manage my pain to some level, its used for migraines
April 2024: I started targeting the viral load and spike protein degeneration via supplementation and prescriptions.
Prescriptions:
  1. Ivermectin - every other day for 6 days, now once a week. I will keep doing this for many more months regardless, and if i get infected again it will be first thing i take for 3 days straight. I saw this work first hand on my dad in 2021 but I didn't take it when i got infected.
  2. Clarithromycin - Currently finishing up my 2 week course i got this for SIBO overgrowth from covid immune suppression. Its showing up on long haulers, overgrowth can cause brain fog and headaches. You can ask your provider for a test.
Supplements:
  1. NAC - 500mg 2x a day for spike protein denaturation
  2. Vit C - 1500-2000mg a day
  3. Glutathione 250 mg once a day for spike protein denaturation
  4. Nicotine gum - 2mg 2x a day (To bind to the acetylcholine receptors covid binds to, so it can be released and broken down with supplements)
  5. Quercetin - 1x a day
  6. Antihistamine - Allegra D 1x a day with a low histamine diet.
  7. Vitamin B complex (therapeutic doses for nerve regeneration) - Brand: Nuphoria.com
  8. Oregano oil - Antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral 2x a day for 3 weeks with a one week break in between.
  9. Gut repai recover supplement - Brand: Mybrainco.com
  10. Licorice root tea - Natural blood thinner that got recommended to me for possible covid microclotting
  11. ashwagandha - 1x a day at bedtime, helps with covid.
Honorable mentions I didn't try: Nattokinase (for spike protein denaturation)
****IMPORTANT: STOPPED TAKING MAGNESIUM. I see people reacting to food even on low histamine diets. I had to even stop my multivitamin. Why cut magnesium off? My provider told me that mRNA strand was cut using an enzyme that is activated with magnesium, and deactivated with NAC, EDTA, high doses of vitamin C or glutathione. IF anyone knows how enzymes work, they help chemical reactions by catalyzing them to completion. I suspect this is why I still was reacting to food even on a low histamine diet.
Also could be why carnivore diet helps long haulers bc there is less magnesium in red meat, higher concentrations are in fruits and even higher in vegetables. Still some amount of magnesium will enter your body its in most foods and impossible to get 100% around it, but lowering it as much as you can could really help in your recovery.
Through out this whole process i started developing other covid symptoms I didn't have the past 2 years, I knew this was a good sign because they would only last 24hrs max. For example: Chest tightness, shortness of breath going up steps, fatigue. Recently I developed strange rotten smells and a metallic taste in my mouth. ALL of these were signs I was well on my way to recovery because my atypical facial pain and elevated temperature was 95% gone. Now I don't have ANY symptoms at all.
submitted by Virtual_Switch6996 to covidlonghaulers [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 05:01 Clear_Ad_4894 Fell on my knee

Fell on my knee
I fell on my knee really hard getting launched by ye ole toepick. Now there's this moveable tiny lump on my knee that stings so bad when you touch it. Skin isn't broken, I was on knee pads, but holy shit does it hurt. I had something similar a few months ago from another fall where I got diagnosed with a bone bruise. I went to 2 regular doctors and they said I most likely bruised my bone and it was swollen for over a month before I could even see what was going on and there was these same weird movable bits. Any time I put pressure on my knee since that first fall I get this same stinging pain with these lumps. I can’t kneel on this knee because it feels like someone is sticking a tiny hot branding iron on it if I do. Idk if I broke something off (cartilage or something) when I hit my knee the first time with no padding (why I wear padding now and it's just getting reaggravated and it’s just stuck under the skin or what. The lumps aren't round at all, l'll include a picture, I’m sure people here have had the same thing hahaha I have an appt with ortho soon but figured the skating besties would know what I’m talking about
submitted by Clear_Ad_4894 to FigureSkating [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 04:56 beargrylls1349 Golf with my Dad

I’ve recently seen some emotional posts on here that given me the case of the feels. My situation is a bit less tense than others.
My dad taught me how to golf but he also taught me how to regulate emotions and staying calm in tense situations. He taught how to navigate politics at work. How to prioritize true relationships through shared interest. All this through the sport of golf. Neither of us were ever any good. I think both of our best round is a 91 at separate times.
My issue is that we never played often and now that he’s getting older, I know his rounds are limited. And I’ve recently made a priority to play golf more so any time we get together I want to play. He’s not always up for playing. The other caveat is my brother.
My brother is a bit emotionally helpless, to say the least. 1 bad shot and he’s cussing and throwing clubs (literally tee shot on hole 1). He can be a pain to play with on some occasions. If he’s in the right mood, totally fine.
So my question to the community is this: how do I convince my dad who only wants to play sometimes to play all the time? I absolutely cherish those moments with my dad and want more of them. I think, because of my brother, he’s apprehensive to play at all but I love playing with him. He’s getting worse but I don’t care. I want the 1:1 time. What do I do?
submitted by beargrylls1349 to golf [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 04:55 CaptainChristopher02 My Floridian Arxur Daughter (Part 30: A Visit to the ER)

Memory Transcript Subject: Carlos Jose Rodriguez, Mechanical Engineer, Florida Man
Date [Standardized Human Time]: December 29th, 2136
When Yalga passed out on the couch I sent a message to the family group chat making sure everyone knew of the situation.
I needed to get Yalga into the hospital, but I didn’t want to do it myself. Pyon also needed a sitter, so I was waiting for mom to come back so Salisek and I could focus on Yalga.
Me: Yalga burned herself on the heat pad. We’re taking her to the ER. Mom, could you come home to take care of Pyon.
Mom: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BURNED HERSELF?! We’re coming home!
Tarvik: On our way. We’ll help you take her.
I didn’t want to bother them, but I couldn’t complain. I needed help. While I waited for them to arrive I poured a cool glass of water for Yalga so she could hydrate herself when she gets up. I gently nudged her awake, which made her groan in discomfort as her eyes opened.
“Dad? What’s going on?” She asked weakly. Her voice was a little rough.
“I’m gonna take you to the doctor,” I answered bluntly. “I am aware, you don’t love doctors but these people can help you much better than me. I’ll be with you as much as I can, holding your hand. Can you be brave for me?”
My daughter nodded yes, so I got up and went upstairs to grab something we’re definitely gonna need. I also made sure Salisek got the news. She probably saw through the chat, but I needed to be sure.
I peeked into our room, or at least the room the girls were staying in together. “Honey?” I called the mother of my children. Salisek was cradling Pyon, trying to calm him down. Pyon was holding his teddy tight enough to cause some visible rips and tears. I need to ask mom to fix that later. “How is he?”
Pyon buried his face in Saliseks chest fur, and made some small whining sounds. “He’s scared. We heard Yalga scream and didn’t know what was going on. He soiled himself when he heard Yalga and has been crying for a while now. He only just stopped. He can sense I’m worried too.”
“You changed him right?”
“Yeah, although I didn’t think now was a good time for potty training. What are you getting?”
Salisek followed me to my mom’s room and watched me search around the closet. “Almost a decade ago, my dad was hit by a car. Something about the sensors being screwed up. He’s obviously fine now, but the car didn’t stop just in time so he broke a leg. Thank God that’s all he got. Anyway, he bought a wheelchair and kept it- Aha!”
I freed the simple contraption buried under a mountain of clothes dad considered put away and carried it downstairs.
“We’re gonna need this. It’s gonna be way easier to move Yalga.”
Salisek continued to cradle Pyon, rocking him back and forth, as she talked to me, “What do you need me to do?”
“Stay with Pyon.”
“No.”
“We’re not arguing about this. I need you to stay-”
“Pardon me, could you repeat that!? Have you forgotten that despite that fact we aren’t married yet we both signed as the legal guardians of both Pyon AND Yalga. Or did you want to call your barber for help?”
Hearing Salisek use her angry voice when talking about anything other than Exterminator and Federation bigotry felt like a punch in the gut.I tried to defuse the situation. That worked about as well as it did when dad tried it.
“Hun, that’s not what I mea-”
“MY-” Salisek paused when she remembered she was still carrying Pyon who was looking at her as if she yelled at him. “Oh, I’m so sorry pup just…” She shifted Pyon's position so he could bury his face into her fur to distract her. She softened her voice, but made it stern as steel. “My daughter is in an incredible amount of pain. She is scared, she is tired. I will be there. Pyon will come with, so he can see his sister being taken care of. I. Will. Be. There. For. My. Daughter. Am I clear?”
I help up my hands in defeat. “Okay. We’ll leave as soon as the family gets here.”
Saliseks voice and posture softened. “Okay. Again this time. What can I do?”
Seeing how serious she was, I realized doing this on my own was a stupid idea from the start. “Pack some snacks. I’m not getting overcharged for crappy hospital junk. And while you’re in the kitchen please grab more water for Yalga. I gotta make sure the bandaging is on well and she’s okay.”
“Okay.”
Salisek walked to the kitchen, still carrying Pyon. At times like these, I know I made the right decision marrying her.
“I love you sweetheart!” I called out.
“I love you too hun!” She called back.
I pulled the wheelchair out so Yalga could get in it. I could try and carry her, but unfortunately with her size and weight it would be better to transport her like this. Even if it’s a short distance.
“Daddy,” Yalga called.
“Yeah.”
“Are you and Mommy mad at each other?” She asked innocently. “Did I do something wrong? I heard Mom say my name.”
I knelt down to give my daughter an assuring kiss on her head. “No kiddo. We had a disagreement like all adults. It’s solved now. We still love each other.”
Despite her monotone voice, it couldn’t hide the tears building in her eyes. “Okay.”
I ignored it for the moment because she was probably gonna cry more in a moment. I opened the chair as much as it could go and gave the seat a nice solid pat.
“We’re gonna put you here, then we’re going to the Emergency Room.”
“Do I have to get up?”
“Yeah. You do. Grab my hand. We’ll go slow.”
Yalga held my hand and grasped it tight. I need to remember that she has a very strong grip. To keep her even I used my other hand to push her up from the other side so she didn’t have to do the work.
I’m so glad I go to the gym.
We slowly worked together to lift her up so she could sit straight.
“Ow, ow!”
“I know it hurts. Take your time.”
Once we got her up we had to get her into the chair. I thought about the best way to put her tail. Through the hole in the back? Would it just drag to the ground? Wait!
I went to the side of the couch where there was a thin blanket for me and Salisek when we slept here. If I can tie the blanket on the handles it can keep her tail up without squishing it. I just need to get her on first.
“Okay Princess. Let’s get up. Can you stand?”
“Y-Yeah. Um, Dad?”
Yalga awkwardly clutched her tail. “I need to use the bathroom.”
My eyes darted from the bathroom to the couch and back. “No better time to test the wheelchair.”
[Memory Transcript Time Skip: 40 Minutes]
Even though it was getting late the traffic was still a lot. Once Salisek was ready we both called our parents and they both said that traffic was heavy. With it being the last Saturday of the year, Florida residents and tourists alike were enjoying their day.
We decided to just meet at the ER. The blanket trick for Yalga’s tail worked well and it didn’t hurt too much for her to walk once she got up. However, sitting down hurt her a lot unless it was in the wheelchair. Her tail probably played a factor since it didn’t have a place to sit except on the side when dealing with regular chairs.
Once we got to the hospital I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t that packed. Because of increased tourism and parties things can get crowded this time of year. Thankfully that wasn’t the case today. I didn’t want my daughter waiting more than she had too.
When I opened the side door, Yalga was already half up just so she could get into a chair with room for her tail. I helped carry her down and rolled her through the hospital's parking lot.
Salisek was having a difficult time carrying Pyon. He was pretty nervous. “Mawmy, I don wan to gow en.”
I didn’t understand why Pyon was scared but Mawmy was able to calm him down. “It’s okay pup. This place is filled with very nice and smart people who can help your big sister.”
My daughter didn’t say much, instead she looked around the large hospital and took in all the architecture and bright lights at the front. The front and lobby areas were clean and comfortable which helped a little to ease the tensions of anyone going in with something they believe is serious.
I rolled Yalga straight to the front desk and we were greeted by the medical receptionist. “Hello, how may I help you?”
I smiled politely and spoke calmly, “Hello, I’m Carlos Rodriguez and this is my daughter Yalga. She was using a heating pad and unfortunately suffered some burns. I was able to patch her up a little, but the gels and methods we have are for humans so I want to make sure she can heal properly. I would also like a professional to look at other areas of concern dealing with her limbs and back.”
“Any pain, shortness of breath, chest pain, profuse bleeding?”
“Her back usually causes her pain and the burning made it worse.”
She gestured to my fiance and son, “Are those two with you?”
“The tall Venlil woman is Salisek, my fiance, and she’s holding our son Pyon. They came for emotional support and to assist with anything Yalga may need.”
“We’ll get you someone right away. Please wait in the lobby.”
“Thank you.”
I knew they probably wouldn’t rush us in since even though Yalga is in pain, there’s no direct threat to her life. The most they’d do is probably a tetanus shot. I suppose I’ll have to worry if Yalga reacts to needles. I’ll try to calm her down because I could tell Yalga was still tense. I rolled her to a seating area with a TV playing Tom and Jerry.
Peak Fiction
With all the stress Yalga was going through, there’s nothing like cartoon violence to ease the mood. What would also ease the mood is having the family visit which according to a message they just sent, they were already here just finding parking.
Soon everyone entered the hospital and after a quick chat with the receptionist, along with me flagging them down, they joined us in the lobby. Helen and Chalta ran to Yalga the quickest.
“Yalga, are you okay?!” Chalta asked. “We heard your back got hurt!”
Helen was about to tackle Yalga into a hug before I stopped her. “Helen, Yalga isn’t feeling well. Please be careful she’s in a lot of pain.” Helen was visibly worried but still gently gave Yalga a supportive hug.
“Get better soon please.”
Talice and Tarvik were surrounding Salisek, asking questions on how they could help.
“Mom, it’s fine, really.”
“No, it’s not fine. Your father and I are here to help so please be honest with us. We’ll help with anything you need. We’ll take Helen home soon but the moment you need anything we’ll be right there.”
“Why isn’t she seeing a doctor yet? What kind of place is this?!”
Mom went over to Salisek who was still holding Pyon. “I can take him sweetie, get some rest.”
Salisek cradled a stressed Pyon in her arms, “Do you wanna go with Grandma, little pup?”
“Gwandma.”
Salisek gently handed Pyon over to my mother who instantly knew how to calm him down. Salisek fell into the chair next to me. She was pretty exhausted and it was getting late. The stress of everything is what really made her worry. Seeing your child in pain isn’t fun. My father put a hand on each of our shoulders.
“Is everything alright?” he asked.
I looked over to my daughter who was trying to watch the cartoon with her sisters but still had a hard time focusing because of the pain, as evident by her trying to adjust herself. I gave her a tap on her shoulder and mouthed “how are you feeling?”. I could only hear a little whisper, but it was enough to understand she was saying “It still hurts.”
Dad could overhear what we were trying to say and knelt down next to Yalga. “What would you like to do when we leave?”
“I’m a little hungry. Can we go eat later?”
“Of course, anything you want.”
I was grateful for my dad, that we remembered to comfort Yalga in all this. I was so new to everything, not to mention the speed at which everything was happening.
…
Where’s the doctor!
“Carlos Rodriguez,” She called just as my patience was wearing thin. “We’re ready to see you now.”
“Thank you. One moment.”
I quickly talked with my parents and in-laws about who is going home and who is staying. My mom offered to take Pyon home and to tuck him in, Salisek agreed. Talice decided to go with and made sure to bring Chalta and Helen back since they knew they might get bored or cause trouble. Tarvik and Dad were conversing for a bit about who should stay before settling on Dad since he’s more familiar with the hospital.
Salisek gave Pyon a strong nose nuzzle, “I’ll see you later, okay Pyon? Mommy will be home soon. Be good to grandma, okay?”
“Owkay Mawmy.”
“I love you.”
“I wuv yu tu.”
Helen and Chalta gave Yalga a big, but gentle, hug.
“Get better soon.”
“We’ll play lots of games together when you get back.”
Everyone quickly said their goodbyes so it was just me, Yalga, Salisek, and Dad. We followed the nurse to a room and were asked to wait until the doctor arrived. Yalga was really on edge.
“Dad, are you gonna tell Odin about me?”
“It hasn’t crossed our minds. Do you want us to call him so you can talk for a bit?”
“No thank you, I don’t want him to worry.” My daughter fidgeted with her claws in shame. She didn’t want Odin to see her hurt. The moment she’s okay, I’m planning a date for her and Odin. With chaperones of course. “Are the doctors here nice?” Yalga asked nervously.
“Of course they are, Princess. Just answer honestly and they’ll help you get better.”
They’ll help you get better… I hope.
[Memory Transcript Time Skip: 60 Minutes]
“So the spray will help heal and clean the burn so it doesn’t get sick?” Yalga asked curiously.
“That’s right,” Dr. Brown stated. “Soon we’ll give you a small shot to help protect against tetanus. It’s a very dangerous condition that can happen when you get a cut or burn. But you’re being very brave, I’ll see if we can get you a treat later. That is, if your parents are okay with it.”
“gasp Can I daddy?! Pleeeeeeease, I’ve been soooo good.”
I smiled brightly, “Of course you can.”
Dr. Brown was a huge blessing. The guy had been working with kids for a while and was great with Yalga. He was really good at relaxing her and explaining to her what was going on. He was honest and genuine. Salisek really liked him too, and even asked some questions herself. I also remembered him during my reckless years. He recognized me too.
“You’re daddy was quite the troublemaker back in his day.”
“Really?”
“Yup, when he was small he proudly came to me with a broken wrist.”
“Why would he be proud of that?”
“He got it trying to impress his crush.”
Seven-year-old me told you that in confidence.
I awkwardly looked at Salisek, but all she could do was stare and slowly smile while turning to my dad for more information.
“Do you happen to know the full story, dad?” Salisek teased.
“Well daughter, Carlos had a small crush on this girl named Jessica in the second grade and he tried to impress her by jumping off the swing set. He succeeded and flung himself so far into the air that when he landed on his wrist he needed a cast for months.”
“H-Hey! You laugh but it worked. She sat next to me at lunch and gave me her lunchables, that’s like… the pinnacle of love in second grade.”
I earned a laugh from everyone in the room, which almost made me forget that it was at my expense.
“Um, what is a lunchable?” Dr. Triva asked. She was a Zurulian working with Dr. Brown, trying to work with and understand the Arxur biology. While she was important in treating Yalga’s burn with her experience with Harchen Exterminators she would be even more important in trying to understand her condition as a whole. Zurulians have the best medical understanding compared to… pretty much everyone.
“It’s a children’s meal kit for both vegan and non-vegan foods, it’s popular for kids in school lunches.” Dr. Brown took his eyes off his colleague and gave me a sly look. “But let’s be honest, there was never any real meat in those things.”
Yalga’s interests also peaked. “Were they tasty?”
“Back in my day they were the best part of school. They were also a status symbol. Having the best lunchables meant you were the coolest kid.”
“What was the best one, Daddy?”
“Pizza.”
Of course it was pizza. It’s always pizza.
Pizza is God’s gift to the world.
Dr. Triva grabbed the syringe for the shot while Dr. Brown prepped the area. The sight of the needle made Yalga nervous.
“D-Daddy, do we have to…”
“Hey Princess, look at this.”
Yalga took her gaze off the needle and onto my phone where I showed her my favorite distraction.
[Behold Distraction]
“What is that?” Yalga asked. “I like the sounds.”
The legend Zach Choi, his legacy continued by his descendants, loved making short videos of him just cooking. This one was one of the rare ones that didn’t feature meat. Yalga was fully entranced into the process that she didn’t even react to the needle or the bandaid.
“Good job my beautiful pup!” Salisek cheered.
“Yeah… in a minute, mom.”
Dr. Brown chuckled, “I think I should start using those for nervous patients, right Dr. Triva?”
“Yeah… in a minute, Dr. Brown.”
I took my phone away before everyone forgot why they were here and we were ready to proceed. The doctors wanted to really get a look at Yalga and her condition. On the promise of peanut butter cookies and meat lovers pizza Yalga bravely went through all the X-Ray’s, bloodwork, medical history, and any other examinations they needed.
It took a while and she was starting to get frustrated with all the tests, but she persisted, and soon it was over. They allowed us to stay the night to monitor the burn area in case complications arose. So we all stayed in the hospital room, enjoying our time together as if it was a little adventure.
“Mommy look, the bed moves!”
“Pup, please don’t break it.”
Yalga went crazy when she saw how many buttons the hospital bed had, and needless to say, she was enjoying it. She kept Dad occupied with all her questions both about the hospital and about anything else her mind could think of. She was happy to be done with the tests.
“Grandpa, do you think they’ll let me see my bone pictures later?”
“Sure, but they need someone who is trained to look at them first and show them to the doctors.”
“There’s someone who knows how to look at pictures of bones?”
“Yup, they can see things we can because they’re bone smart. Do you wanna be a doctor when you grow up?”
“I dunno. Maybe I can be a doctor for bones, a bone doctor!”
It was nice seeing her happy, but Salisek and I were still worried about what they would find. What would it take to heal Yalga? Could they do it? I think so, but how long will it take? I don’t care about the financial cost, I care about the physical and mental toll it would take on Yalga. But would we have a choice?
I looked to my fiance who was rapidly tapping her foot onto the ground, impatiently waiting for the doctor to come back in and give us the news on Yalga’s condition.
“It can’t be that bad right?” she whispered. “With aid from the Zurualians they must have a way to easily fix Yalga’s condition. So what’s taking them so long?”
“They’re probably just double checking some things. I’m sure it’s nothing.” I could tell she was still stressed, so I held her hand and kissed her cheek. “Our daughter will be fine.”
Salisek tried to keep herself from crying for Yalga’s sake, but had the doctors not finally arrived she might’ve broken.
“Carlos, Salisek? You’re the parents correct?” Dr. Trivia asked. “I’ll just need to see you both very quickly to discuss some things.”
Finally ready for some answers we quickly got up, kissed our baby goodbye for now, and followed the Zurulian to a small room with Dr. Brown.
“Mr. Rodriguez and Mrs., do you prefer to be called Salisek or are you fine with adopting Mrs. Rodriguez?” The doctor politely asked.
“I’m fine with either, but I would like to get used to Mrs. Rodriguez.” I could feel her hand strengthen her grip in mine.
“Wonderful,” Dr. Brown took out a small folder that showed some of Yalga’s X-Rays, notes, and documents. “First things first, your daughter's burns should heal very soon.”
“Courtesy of Zurulian medicine and Harchen Exterminator Accidents.”
“Yes, thank you Dr. Triva. But of course this is not the only information you wanted to know about. The condition of your daughter is concerning. Not only because of the condition of her injuries, but also her condition that allows her body to grow at an exaggerated rate.”
Dr. Triva put the X-Ray slides on a projector for us to see. Seeing Yalga’s bones and how badly they were broken made my stomach turn, and my heart sink. I could hear Salisek’s gasp from how shocked she was.
It looked like a child had rearranged the right side of her body like a poorly constructed jigsaw puzzle. What made things worse was that the other side of her body looked nearly untouched meaning we could see all the damage her sperm donor did. I know how it felt to have broken a few bones as a kid. Her life would’ve been torture for me. I have know idea how she could live like that.
Why didn’t I take her here the moment we got home? How long has she been suffering like this?
“As you can see the limbs that didn’t grow as much were the ones that were injured the most. Trauma can be a factor in how limbs develop,” Dr. Triva explained. “You can see here how the bones didn’t heal correctly. Upon questioning your daughter it’s no question her back holds the most problems, but looking at her arms and legs it’s possible they’re also providing an incredible amount of discomfort and pain.”
Salisek wrapped her tail around my leg nervously. “So, what does this mean?”
“It means,” Dr. Brown continued. “That before we even think about her back we should address what’s going on in the rest of her body. If you look at her pelvic bone you can see it isn’t straight due to her walking on uneven legs for lord knows how long. So we think it would be best to first start realigning the bones as well as doing the appropriate extensions. My only concern is that her accelerated growth may cause complications, so she’ll need to visit here frequently.”
My fiance’s grip tightened as she looked deeper into the X-Rays, “I see. How long will it take for her to recover?”
“Several months, due to the severity of it. We can do the arms and legs separately, but that would be up to you. There’s a possibility it could take longer. We just can’t be certain with her growth, but we’ll have experts working round the clock on her case.”
“I-I see. But you can help her right?”
“We will do all within our power to make sure your daughter is healthy and lives a pain free life.
“Thank you… could you give us a moment. We would like to let our daughter know about it before we make arrangements.”
“Of course. Please let us know when you’re ready.”
We politely walked out of the room and turned around the corner away from where Yalga was.
“Honey?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”
I almost fell over when she pulled me in for a hug. I could barely hear her through her bleats and cry’s. “Look at what that monster did to her.”
First Previous
submitted by CaptainChristopher02 to NatureofPredators [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 04:52 Commercial_Swim2906 Compromised Skin Barrier with a Complicated (But Once Happy) Complexion - Please Help!

CAUTION: LONG!
So this has happened to me once before (over a decade ago) and the whole ordeal seriously left me with PTSD. Back then, a vitamin recommended to me by a physio to treat a pinched nerve broke out what was great skin so I made the mistake of throwing all kinds of things at the issue. I learned my lesson and have kept a gentle, simple, natural routine ever since. My skin has been lovely, calm and clear as a result - even downright glowy and dewy.
Ironically, it was an oil for a recent ear infection (when antibiotics failed) which dribbled onto my skin that I believe must've done this. First, it gave me clogs which I only massaged a bit of jojoba oil into and I exfoliated twice in, oh gee, two weeks rather than my usual 4-6 weeks because, twice-over, I noticed some skin peeling in the area where the oil would land (I would wipe it and/or wash it off, but would awaken to find more had come out and onto my temporary (used a different one while this was going on) pillow so my skin was resting against that stuff for hours). I haven't taken an antibiotic for 9 or 10 years prior to this. Indeed, I always get a little stinging blotch by my right eye, on-off, for awhile after taking them and this time was no different. I'm wondering if they even messed with my skin's microbiota, contributing to this some and for what?! They didn't even cure the infection (which I thought could be viral since it lead on from a cold)! I understand there are barrier creams which contain probiotics/prebiotics and these interest me.
For said exfoliation, I always use ground oats mixed with a hydrosol or spring water which I then gently massage over my skin. This is what I have done for years and which a Garden of Wisdom skin consultant who worked with me back during the first round of an impaired skin barrier, okayed. I usually only do this every 4-6 weeks - sometimes going for longer, I'm just not a strong believer in exfoliating the skin on the face often, ironically.
So, last week, after the second exfoliation followed by my usual (gentle!) skin routine, my face flipped out within hours. I use no acids, no other actives, no alcohol-containing products or harsh, stripping cleansers. Hell, I don't even use masks anymore! I wear no makeup and my sunscreen for my face is a solid 50 SPF hat and a little raspberry seed oil.
I have sensitive skin - mostly normal - but it can be prone to clogs when it comes to heavier stuff. Last time my barrier got nuked, I was recommended a moisturizer with beeswax and I knew better than to use it but was desperate. I then paid with 60 clogged pores all over my face and neck which led to a summer of broken out skin while the mess purged. Since entering perimenopause (I'm 46), I've had perioral dermatitis rashes which I've learned to control and heal up, wholistically, within a day or two (they're also usually pretty mild). But, I know many of you are going to suggest I slather Vaseline or diaper cream on my face but with PD (which I'm more vulnerable to now with my messed up barrier), you can't use anything too occlusive and, frankly, I clog up and break out when it comes to heavy creams and ointments. Heck, even light ones can break me out which is why a combo of oil ( SIBU Sea Buckthorn Seed Oil)+ Avene Thermale Water spray +Caudalie Grape Water + hydrosol (helichrysum or frankincense) has worked so well for me for many, many years now.
My hydrosols sting and sometimes also the pure aloe vera gel I've cleansed my skin with for ages - even plain water does. My favorite faciil oil seems to be doing didley-squat to help this. I'm still using Avene and Caudalie (also has prebiotics) sprays because they mostly soothe it for a little bit. Do I just keep pushing on through the stinging (because most everything friggin' does!)?
Before and in being an herbalist, I made certain herbal concoctions and they were a huge saving grace then but now - they either soothe me or, alternatively and oddly, make my skin itch in my lower cheeks. I hadn't needed to be on one for 9 or 10 years prior to this. Indeed, I always get a little blotch by my right eye on-off for awhile after taking them.
Right now, I'm using products from Garden of Wisdom's soothing line plus their ceramides serum, but I just don''t know if they're helping or hurting. It's only been a week since I started that routine and they really seemed to soothe me for a couple of days but now, I think a couple items could be irritating me - not sure. They were suggested to me by their rep (who also suggested I use a product with tea tree and oregano oils for the zits I'm getting with this ordeal! Hell to the no! She also didn't steer me in the direction of their ceramides serum which some reviewers say healed their barriers, or another barrier-healing serum which I was considering, but I got another she suggested instead which I find sticky and possibly irritating).
I have an excellent whole foods diet, take certain skin-supportive nutrients (and have for years) and try and drink plenty of water every day. To make things even more complicated, I'm having hormonal night sweats which are, no, doubt, not helping this due to the loss of fluid. If I leave sweat on my face, I break out and here I'm trying to keep my face cleansing to one to two times a day (using just lukewarm water in the day, aloe vera gel or, occasionally the GoW cleanser at night). Normally, I go and give my face a quick rinse when this happens, but normally my moisture barrier isn't disrupted! I'm newly onto a wild yam cream which was a life-saver for me in my 20s so we will see how it works now.
I am open to not-so-natural things just to get this healed, but I'm not open to stuff that's just gonna leave me with other problems like multiple clogs, zits and PD flare-ups. I'm hearing just a simple, gentle cleanser (am highly allergic to sulfates! I also cannot do denatured and other drying alcohols!) and a good barrier cream might heal the compromised barrier in 2-12 weeks (and I'm already at 4, having had a few setbacks, unfortunately). Last time, it took far, far, far, FAR longer and my skin was reactive for quite some time afterward. I just don't have the patience for that, or the emotional/mental stamina to cope with it taking that long again. I'm really going to miss my hydrosols for however long this is going to take. Last time, helichyrsum soothed me so what the hell with this time?!
This ordeal has me in a lot of pain, distress and I'm mucho depressed as this is the 'straw that broke the camel's back' when it comes to my life at present. Frankly, my whole head is a mess at this point: chronic eye and ear issues (have ETD now since the infection now), the return of migraines after several years without, three lost dental fillings in the space of a few months and now my facial skin health is screwed!
With me, it's different because it's not like I need to pare things back since I normally have such a simple, gentle routine anyway. It's more like I still need a simple routine, but with certain added healing and soothing factors which are going to help, and get, my skin to recover, a.s.a.p. I've also thought of just using water to cleanse my skin with and spritzing with just some Avene - nothing else - and seeing how that goes for a couple of weeks. But I worry how my skin might feel in the process.
Thank you so much for any advice.
submitted by Commercial_Swim2906 to 30PlusSkinCare [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 04:48 MyNi_Redux Commentary: Gamma Squeeze and 39-Month LEAPS

Commentary: Gamma Squeeze and 39-Month LEAPS
I'm going to comment on two option-related topics today - the possibility of a gamma squeeze, and the 39-month LEAPS. As the first is relevant since monthly opex is in 2 days (5/17), and the second has been making its rounds, and needs some fact-checking.
As always, not financial advice - I am sharing what I am tracking and what I think. You're welcome to contribute to the discussion.

Gamma Sneeze

The table below gives us the current situation with OI for all AMC options expiring in 2 days (my calcs). This tells us how much of the float each OI is equivalent to as a %, and how much it cumulatively is, too. We can surmise the following:
  • Given closing price of $5.48, current call OI that is ITM is equivalent to 3.5% of the float, and put OI, to 1.4% of the float. This is nor negligible, but it's not massive either. Hence, I think there's a potential for a gamma sneeze where price movement can be helped, but not a squeeze where it dominates price movement. That would need OI equivalent of floats of 10X higher, from experience.
  • This table also tells me how much additional amount of the float may come into the money. E.g. if price increases to over $5.5, an additional 0.3% equivalent of float will come into the money from the call side. Similarly, if price decreases to $5, an additional 0.4% of the float will combine into the money from the put side.
  • The reason this is important is dealeMM hedging. Assuming they hedge fully, this means that:
    • if price moves up to 5.5, they will have buy an extra 1,097,800 shares (10,978 contracts x 100).
    • if price moves down to 5.0, they will have to short an extra 1,610,300 shares (16,103 contracts x 100)
  • This is a super simplistic view, and needs the following caveats:
    • MMs/dealers will hedge by delta, and so the deep ITM OI are hedged fully (because delta close to 1), while the ATM (delta = 0.5) and OTM (low delta) ones are hedged partially. I'm sparing us the details as it doesn't significantly change what I'm showing here, but if anyone really wants it, I can run those calcs.
    • MMs/dealers have the discretion of hedging how they want, including not at all. In the latter case, they will hedge over the entire portfolio, and/or over time.
    • MMs/dealers will have hedged the net amount - since they would need to be long 1.27M shares, and short 0.51M shares, they will just have a net long exposure of ~0.77M shares for hedging purposes, with the above caveats.
    • The green and red regions are absolute (vs probabilistic hedging a la delta) just before the options expire, i.e. Fri 4pm EST.
  • Remember, gamma effects work both ways - it exacerbates both price rises and falls.
Nevertheless, this gives me a general sense of how much hedging is required. So if anyone is claiming there'll be a gamma squeeze, I will give them a handkerchief and ask them to sneeze their gamma into it.
OI as of start of day, May 15, 2024
By the way, I make no mention of "max pain". That's because it's not a thing. A useful thing, anyway.

39-month LEAPS

Tl;dr: This "theory" is a complete and utter horseshit.
The most glaring error is that the smooth brain that came up with this did not actually check if those LEAPS even existed in Feb 2021 (39 months ago). These are the farthest out OI at that time - only the Jan 2023 chain existed then:
Farthest out expiries on Feb 28, 2021
691 days is 23 months. That's 16 months short. Those alleged 39-month LEAPS didn't even exist at that time.
I'll do you one better - here is the option chain from Jan 2022 - still no May 2024.
Farthest out expiries on Jan 1, 2022
And no, we cannot have private derivative transactions show up on a public chain, so any claims of "this was a private transaction" are also moot.
That those claimed expiries don't exist makes perfect sense, of course. Equity LEAPS are only ever there 24 months out any given time, with very few exceptions. Only ones which will have 3+ year chains are indices, like SPX.
A related claim is that somehow LEAPS were used by shorts to hedge. Apart from the lunacy of hedging for 39 months (lol), LEAPS are an absurdly inefficient way to delta hedge. If under pressure, shorts will hedge with short DTEs, so that the cost is not that high, and the higher gamma works in their favor. (And no, shorts are not and have not been "stuck," which is often the hope and basis for many of these absurd claims.)
Clearly this 39-month LEAPS claim was the product of a moron masquerading as a market commentator. They didn't even know what they didn't know to know how wrong they were. Hilarious and sad at the same time. But not surprising, given where it came from, and their track record of pumping out horseshit that has almost never passed the test of time.
​
Looking forward to your thoughts.
submitted by MyNi_Redux to amcstock [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 04:48 DNJxxx Close call

Hey folks, I thought i share my story
So for a couple of years I’d have sporadic bouts of what I though was indigestion, pain around the center of my chest moving to the right and around to my back that would be painful for an hour or so then pass, no further thoughts given “ate too much junk”. So it was a Monday, this happens to me again but the “indigestion” seemed a lot stronger than usual , caused me to vomit and didn’t pass, the pain radiated in the normal place and wouldn’t go away it just stuck. I took some pain meds which seemed to dull it for a time but it would just come back when they wore off. So this went on for 4 days with me basically being bed bound with pain and discomfort, hardly eating or drinking until Friday when I woke up drenched in sweat with a significant fever. I went to the ER, they did many tests and established that I had a severe gallbladder infection and I was going to need immediate emergency surgery to avoid sepsis and further complications. So from the moment that the doctor reviewed the ultrasound scan to the time I was on my back in surgery was 30 minutes.
Surgery took 3 hours laparoscopicly, the surgeon warned I may have had to have the full open surgery but I guess I was lucky in that respect. She said it was the worst gallbladder she had ever seen and that I was lucky I came in when I did, another 24 hours could have been fatal. It took 3 rounds of IV antibiotics just to clear the infection.
I at home recovering now, I’m sore but I’m feeling good, I’m eating and getting better so alls well that ends well…
If you’re feeling pain it’s most likely time to have it sorted out, don’t wait as long as I did!
submitted by DNJxxx to gallbladders [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 04:28 thatbitchfrm617 Brigham Women’s hospital wrongfully treated my father resulting in his death.

Brigham Women’s hospital wrongful treated my father. My dad has had cancer for two years, he was treated by a women named Dr. Summers, Operated on by a man name Dr. Abrams and his pain management team was the team that does rounds when you go up the elevator near the chapel to the fifth floor. In the end of the month of february to the beginning continued ging of March, my father had become severely confused. He was sleeping in and out of it, could not walk on his own, or do much for himself. My mother and I took him to Brigham on multiple occasions continuing to tell the doctors that something was wrong, but Dr. Summers SPECIFICALLY continued to tell us it was because of meds. (it was not) We went to the ER the first time on March 2nd, they gave my father fluids and said this was due to dehydration. then we went home, again had to go back because the confusion was worse than a person who has alzihmers, Again they gave him fluids and said it was fine. My dad left our home for the last time on March 6th, 2024 at 10:17 am. My mother brought him to the ER at Brigham In Boston, MA for the FOURTH time. They were sat in the lobby for hours, then moved to the fucking hallway. before finally around 11 pm they got him a bed in the ER bay. Mind you, me and my mother know how my father acts and we KNEW something was wrong. They were keeping him overnight for observation (finally) and giving him MORE FLUIDS!!??? Fast forwards to the next morning, me and my mother get to Brigham bright and early. We walk into the ER room that my father is still in? He is soaked in his pants due to unable to walk to the toilet, extremely low blood sugar, and NO one has helped him get any juice or food for it. No nurses have been in to see him at all that night. my dad was not seen by doctors untill the afternoon, they came and told us he had a UTI. which tracked the confusion and the other symptoms. We were in the fucking ER room untill that night, my mother wrote a complaint to the higher ups about what had happened in the morning, it was about 20 minutes after this that my father got moved to a room upstairs, we knew that he would be staying there because of the meds for the UTI that were injections because of the severity. My father was treated better upstairs, he was fed and monitored, he seemed to be getting better. it is now SATURDAY. March 9th 2024. (We have seen the doctors ONCE in the ER BTW ) My mother and I get to the hospital later that day becuase of another death in the family, we had a funeral that morning. When me and my mother get there, we see that my dad’s stomach has become enflamed. As soon as we tell the nurses that, doctors rush up becuase they think he has gotten to much fluid. Doctors come up, “NO it’s not bigger” “yes it is” BACK AND FORTH. Doctors tell me and my mother that in a FEW FUCKING DAYS he can get an ultrasound, why the fuck would a man as sick as him wait.. They tried to convince us that his stomach had not grown, they told us it looked the same… later that night, an xray tech comes in. we leave. Sunday morning, We find out that due to how badly the UTI was in his system, His bowel got a tear. Because of this, he would not be able to live at all longer. he was too weak to operate. he would die. if the doctors had checked and seen that he had a UTI sooner… My dad would still be with me. My father passed away on March 12th, 2024 at 3something pm.
Overall, i would not trust to bring myself or any family members to this hospital. The doctors and nurses are rude.. They are understaffed. They take on too many cases and are unable to help people untill on there death bed. I want to protest this hospital untill i’m dead, my dad should be with me. He was only 56.
thanks for reading
submitted by thatbitchfrm617 to protest [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 04:08 tehlulzpare You know, I think small trays are ruined for me now….this is the way.

You know, I think small trays are ruined for me now….this is the way.
I got another box of 20 Stormvermin on the way to make up models to replace the excess command, so that this has proper halberd block goodness.
8x8 tray. Biggest I had available to print. And while squares are king, the rounds definitely make them easier to rank up.
Painting all of those will be a pain but the sight it will present once done will have to motivate me.
submitted by tehlulzpare to WarhammerFantasy [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 03:50 Ultima_8 Bloodborne - Prologue 5 - TW: Blood, Gore

“Beasts all over the shop…You’ll be one of them, sooner or later…”
The strange Hunter turned around and exhaled. His breath was visible against the night’s air.
He’s bloodlusted. Aegis, I hope you have a plan.
Shimmer saw Elpis step back slightly, with a shocked expression on her face. She shakily raised a claw and pointed at something on the ground.
No. It… it can’t be.
That’s… horrible.
A shattered red jeweled necklace lay strewn across the ground, beside the mangled corpse of the Silkwing.
The Hivewing in front of the three swung his axe to the side. As it was a trick weapon, he was able to change its form on command. The axe had two forms: a shortened form that acted sort of like a sword, and an extended form specialized in crowd control and reach.
He extended his axe and Shimmer heard a low snarl from his throat.
“Do we kill him?” Elpis asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
“We don't have a choice. Steel yourself.” Aegis muttered and brandished his silksabers. The blades gleamed in the soft light of the three moons.
The hunter was taller than all of them, one head taller than Aegis and two taller than Shimmer and Elpis. Black tattered robes clung to him, marking him a Shadowhunter. Blood from tonight’s hunt stained the black fabric, showcasing his expertise and experience in the hunt. He wore a rounded dark-gray hat, and bloodied bandages covered his eyes. Shimmer wondered if he could even see.
Corpses of both beasts and dragons were scattered about the square-shaped courtyard, an equal amount of gravestones breaking up the open space. His teeth were uneven as if he had been eating and chewing rough bones. Blood dripped from his mouth down his neck, and his Hivewing stingers flexed in anticipation.
“Be careful,” Aegis started, “He’s going to use magic. Elpis, don’t use any of yours.” He told the hybrid dragon beside him, and she nodded.
The hunter walked slowly around them, searching for a weakness in their structure, and then spat out a lump of coagulated blood.
“That stench of squalid blood. No beast will be spared.” He half-muttered and half-growled. He tipped his hat respectfully, before lunging at Elpis. She dove to the side, and tried to retaliate with her scythe, but just slightly missed.
This hunter was agile, surprisingly so considering how old he looked. Shimmer gripped the handle of her silkhammer, knowing it wasn’t the time to strike. She stepped backward, seeking cover behind a grave, while Aegis leaped forward with the intent to pierce the frenzied hunter’s heart. Once again, the hunter rolled to the side and sent his axe hurtling towards the smaller Silkwing. Shimmer felt fear grip her heart, but Aegis avoided the blade. He fell back and motioned for Elpis to stay back.
“A sporting hunt. But alas, I’ve forgotten to ask your name.” Aegis growled, and the hunter laughed a sick, disturbing laugh.
“The name’s Gascoigne.” He shot back, and jumped into the air, slamming his axe down where Aegis was a split second ago. Shimmer’s ears rung from the sound of the impact. Her antennae subconsciously curled in defensively.
“Gascoigne. That’s a nice name. I’ll tell Ludwig you were a proud hunter till the end.” Aegis replied and sent his twin blades slicing into the hunter’s thigh. He recoiled, and a gleeful laugh escaped his bloodied mouth.
“Hehe… the sweet stench of blood. Just… just marvelous!” He exclaimed and raised his off-talon towards Aegis.
“Aegis! Get down!” Shimmer called, and a burst of flame erupted from the hunter’s claws across the courtyard. The limited magic the Hivewing had that he was willing to use in this hunt.
Aegis fell back, hissing in pain as a few stray flames singed his tail. The hunter chuckled under his breath, and Elpis took advantage of the opening he had presented her. She thrust the blade of her scythe toward him, opting for its sword form as of now, and the hunter knocked the blow aside. He countered with a kick to the Ice-Hivewing’s ribs, and she was sent to the ground. She coughed up a spurt of blue Icewing blood, and the hunter lifted his axe for a finishing blow.
Shimmer roared out and swung her hammer toward the hunter. The silk connected it to her wrists as it flew through the air, and it hit the hunter square in his side just as his axe was falling. He was sent into the opposite side of the courtyard, coughing and sputtering, but with a faint smirk on his face. Shimmer was in disbelief; how was he not dead?
“Ooh, what’s that smell… the sweet blood, ooh, it sings to me! It's enough to make a dragon sick.” Gascoigne laughed hollowly. He raised his talon, and Shimmer quickly rolled to the side as a ball of flame soared past her horns.
He’s going to turn at this rate.
Shimmer hid under a gravestone as a tree behind her erupted in flames, and Aegis jumped into the air. He beat his four wings ferociously before diving into the hunter. He caught both of Aegis’ horns, and he twisted his head. Aegis fell to the ground, and Gascoigne slashed his axe down across the Silkwing’s leg. Aegis cried out, and Shimmer’s heart ached. She pushed herself up, ignoring the raging fire around her, and she threw her hammer up in the air and aimed it towards the hunter. He narrowly evaded the heavy impact of the stone before Shimmer heard a metal clang behind her.
Elpis, scythe in one talon, approached Gascoigne. She had the little music box in her other.
Elpis played the music box and a song of eerie notes filled the courtyard.
The hunter stumbled back, clawing at his face, and Elpis shot Shimmer a look, her face telling her to make sure Aegis was okay.
Elpis advanced on the struggling hunter, and Shimmer leaped over to her Silkwing partner, who was injured on the ground. She felt tears welling in her eyes, but she knew this wasn’t the time to cry.
“Aegis. Look at me. Look at me.” She repeated, and he lifted his head weakly. His leg had a massive gash in it, but he could probably still walk, just with a limp.
“Ah, Shimmer. I’m alright. I’ll be back in the fight. Go, help Elpis. I’ll join back soon enough.” He groaned, and the pair heard a roar behind them.
Elpis was locked in a duel with Gascoigne, and the hunter’s stray fireballs met with blasts of frostbreath. For the first time in the battle, the hunter had a slight look of fear on his face. Elpis was relentless, her burial blade swiftly countering and stopping any attempt Gascoigne made at advancing. Aegis crawled back and attempted to stand, using a grave for support.
“Shimmer! I can’t hold him for long!” Elpis called, and Shimmer nodded. She took the hammer in her claws and swung it around her side, and in a clockwise circle in the air. It was the perfect counterweight to her body weight. She hoisted it up further into the air and then brought it crashing down onto the hunter.
It struck Gascoigne directly on the spine, and he fell to the ground.
He screamed in pain.
And then, a bright light flashed from his body.
His screams deepened in tone, morphing to be more animalistic. His posture fell forward, and his muscles rippled through his body. He grew in size, and more of his bloodied garb ripped from the size change.
Fur sprouted from seemingly random places on the Hivewing’s body, and his claws extended. His face shifted, his features becoming more and more distorted. His black hat fell to the ground.
The bandages around his eyes stayed, as well as the black-tattered garb that marked him as once a Hunter.
He was no longer a Hunter. Moons above, he wasn’t even a dragon anymore.
He was now a beast.
Shimmer’s heart pounded in her chest. She stared at the transformation for a split second, before reeling in her hammer. She took it in her right talon and dove behind a gravestone, wary of the spreading flames.
Elpis, on the other claw, held her blade in front of her. Shimmer heard a rasping cough escape the Ice-HiveWing’s throat, but she didn’t break her stance.
The beast that was once Gascoigne whipped around toward Elpis, and launched himself at her, with a ferocity Shimmer had never seen even in beasts.
Elpis sidestepped quickly. The beast slammed into the wall with a loud roar, and Shimmer spied Aegis in her peripheral vision struggling to stand. He winced as he stood on his injured leg, but didn’t cry out. He brandished his two blades as the beast charged at him.
“Aegis!” Shimmer cried.
He’s going to get hit. That beast will kill him.
Aegis ignored her, and as soon as the beast was within a wingspan from him he twisted his body in such a way that he narrowly avoided the savage charge. He elegantly sliced his twin blades across the beast’s hide, and the creature howled before rapidly turning to face him.
Shimmer flew into the air. “Get away from him!” She yelled before bringing the weight of her hammer down on the beast. It flattened part of his ribcage, but it seemed impervious to the pain. It did knock him to the ground, though, giving Aegis a moment to cut through what was once two of the hunter’s wings.
The beast quickly got back on its claws before sending a flurry of swipes towards Shimmer. She dodged to the side and readied her hammer for another strike.
That was before the beast kicked her square in her chest, its sharp, ravenous claws digging in and tearing her scales. Shimmer fell back, a slight gasp escaping her mouth, and she stumbled back into the wall. She lost her footing and fell to the ground, and gazed up at the beast locked on her.
“Aegis! Help!” She yelled, and not even a second later her Silkwing partner crashed into the beast. They fell to the ground, grappling with each other before Shimmer heard a familiar song fill the courtyard.
Elpis was cranking the music box, its ominous lullaby breaking up the noise of the fight. The beast stopped attacking Aegis and instead clawed at its face. It growled and screamed in pain, drawing blood from its very own fur and scales.
“Now! Kill it!” She yelled through the song, and Aegis nodded before driving his two blades through the beast’s skull.
They stuck, and the beast roared before throwing him off. It crawled and thrashed about on the ground, clearly not dead, and the two new blades stuck to his head pointed out like new horns.
Now’s my chance.
Shimmer stumbled to her claws and wound her hammer up into the air. With every last bit of her strength, she brought it down on the flailing beast.
It crushed what was left of the hunter.
Silence filled the courtyard, only broken by a few stray notes from the music box, the pained breathing of the three hunters in the area, and the howls and screams from other places in the Hive.
Shimmer breathed a sigh of relief, before collapsing.
I did it. We did it.
Gascoigne was free.
…
“I brought you water.”
Shimmer opened her eyes and found herself in her familiar hospital room.
The morning sun’s rays lit the room, and Shimmer felt very little pain from her chest.
It had been three days since that night.
Shimmer fixed her gaze on the purple-orange Silkwing sitting beside her and smiled.
“Thanks. I’m feeling much better, we should get going to Bloodworm soon. It’s today, remember?” Shimmer asked, and he nodded. Of course, he remembered.
The summons for every hunter to come to Bloodworm Hive. Ludwig, The Holy Blade had requested them all. He no doubt planned an attack. A shame really, the hive was only newly rebuilt. And now it was going to be the site of a horrid, savage warzone.
“I remember. Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Ludwig would understand if you couldn’t come,” Aegis asked, and she spied a hint of worry on his face.
“I’m fine. I need to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. I’ll come.” She sighed and took a sip from the canteen that Aegis had brought. It tasted wonderful, he had put something in to flavor it.
“Honeydew?” She guessed, and Aegis smiled.
“Yep. It’s your favorite, right?” He asked, and she nodded. She opened her arms, and he hugged her tight.
“I love you,” Shimmer whispered in his ear.
“I love you too. I pray to Clearsight that we’ll both be safe today. I can’t bear to lose you.” Aegis replied. He pulled away and gazed out the window.
Shimmer quickly drank the rest of the honeydew-flavored water before getting out of bed. She joined him at the window and was slightly surprised by what she saw.
Almost all of the hunters of Jewel Hive were preparing, some of them already flying in the direction of Bloodworm. They were all sharpening their trick weapons, mixing poisons, or saying goodbye to loved ones.
“We should get going. It’ll be midmorning when we get there, I don’t want to be late.” Shimmer suggested, and Aegis put a wing around her.
“Now? I need to get my stuff, and you do too. Join me at the workshop.” He asked, and she slid her head in the curve of his neck as he led her out of her sick room.
…
Shimmer beat her wings strong and fast against the morning savanna winds.
She saw what looked to be several hundred, maybe even a thousand dragons gathered around a hill. All of them had a colored garb fluttering proudly from their neck. Around ninety percent of the garbs were white, and the rest were black.
They were all different tribes and a fair amount of hybrids were scattered about as well. The gathered hunters were mostly Pantalan, but a good few were from Pyrrhia as well.
Shimmer and Aegis landed a short distance away from the hill, and all around them the sounds of dragons conversing and laughing with each other.
The sun was high in the sky, but it wasn’t quite noon yet.
“You see anyone you recognize?” Aegis asked, and Shimmer shook her head.
“There’s too many dragons here. It’s too much.” She whimpered, and Aegis pulled her close. He knew she didn’t do well in crowds. That was partly why she became a Shadowhunter. To work alone or with no more than a few other dragons.
“You’re safe with me.” He comforted her, and she leaned against him.
She had always hated being with a lot of other dragons. Aegis said it sounded like she had anxiety, which made sense. It didn’t do much to alleviate that fear, though.
None of them are thinking about you. They’re all busy with their own stuff.
Just take deep breaths.
“Do you want to move away? There’s fewer dragons over there,” He asked and pointed a claw across from them.
“…No, no I’m fine.” She whispered, and Aegis sighed.
“Alright. If you want to move, don’t be afraid to ask. I don’t mind it.”
Shimmer shook her head quickly, before the pair heard a loud voice from the top of the hill. They both looked up and saw the legendary hunter himself: Ludwig.
The menacing Nightwing stood proudly, his holy silver sword slung across his shoulder. His partner Memoria stood beside him, her tail twined around his. She had a bored look on her face as she stared at the crowd. The voices of the dragons fell silent, and Shimmer felt like she could breathe again.
The Nightwing’s loud voice echoed through the plain. “Dear Hunters.” He paused, his heroic voice inspiring pride and triumph in Shimmer, even though he had barely started.
“I’m sure all of you know why we’re here. Behind me, Bloodworm Hive stands proud against the horizon. Yet I am more than certain you all know what lies inside.” He paused and pointed his sword toward the dark shape of the Hive.
“Beasts. A few thousand. I think it’s time we put them out of their misery. That is why we are here. A battle of the ages, one that will go down in history. We, the brave heroes, fighting against evil. We will be reveled, we will be honored. We will protect the dragons we hold dear to our hearts, and save those we can yet save.” His speech roused the crowd, and Shimmer felt herself stand a little taller.
“The plan is simple. The Hunters of the Sun will lead the charge from the front. I have already talked to the leaders of the charge. The Shadowhunters will pick the stray beasts off from behind. We will attack at dusk when half the sun is hidden from the eye.” He gestured with his sword at the rising sun, and he extended his wings. His massive wingspan seemed to fill the sky, and Shimmer's heart swelled with pride.
He held his sword up to the heavens, and it transformed. It grew larger, into the shape of a claymore, and it turned a shade of sacred jade. It glowed with an otherworldly light, and the crowd was enamored by the display.
“Now, hunters. Spend the rest of today preparing. The hunt is on tonight. Ludwig, The Holy Blade will be with all of you in spirit.” He bellowed, and the crowd erupted in applause and cheers.
Shimmer saw a proud, triumphant look in Aegis’ eyes, and she felt the same. Ludwig’s blade captivated her. The blade of legend, inspiring all who lay eyes on it.
Ludwig would be with them tonight. The best, the greatest, the strongest hunter ever.
Tonight, the hunters would not know defeat.
Nor would they ever, with Ludwig alive and at their side.
May the good blood guide your way,
Ultima_8
submitted by Ultima_8 to WingsOfFire [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 03:38 No_Cauliflower_7245 Ovarian cysts/ovarian pain

I need advice if you can help. Last month I took one round of letrozole. I ended up taking it late into my cycle due to bleeding and the doctor getting back to me late. After I was done taking the letrozole they checked in on my follicles for any signs of it working. I had two on my right ovary that were about 15mm and one on my left at about 14mm. I was supposed to take a trigger shot to make sure I ovulated but was told that I couldn’t due to my lining being too thin.
Fast forward about a week later, I start experiencing throbbing pain in my right ovary and stabbing when I did certain movements. I waited like 4 days to see if it would go away before contacting my doctor. When I finally did contact my doctor they said I was just most likely ovulating and I need to come in for blood work to check (pee strips are always negative for me). Bloodwork came back that I ovulated. However, the pain never stopped and kept getting worse to the point where I had to hobble when I walked because moving my right leg made it hurt. After about 2 weeks of complaining to my doctor about the pain they finally took me in for an ultrasound and found a 3 almost 4cm cyst on my right ovary. They never checked in on it after that.
Fast forward to when I was at work about a week later, the cyst bursted while I was working. I ended up going to the ER and that doctor made me feel like I was stupid. The ER doctor told me there is no cyst so idk why you are in pain. I told my doctor about how I had that pain and they told me it was likely it had bursted. Ever since then sex has been painful and I get extreme cramping after orgasms.
Fast forward to this week, the cyst-like pain is back but on my left side (day 5 since the pain started). I went to my doctor yesterday to get it checked out but all she told me was that it most likely just pain from my cycle (I have not taken letrozole this month nor did she even do an ultrasound to check). She prescribed me anxiety meds because she thinks I have too much anxiety involving my health. Now here I am hobbling around work trying my best to keep this thing from stabbing me. I need help I feel like I’m being disregarded from my doctor.
submitted by No_Cauliflower_7245 to TTC_PCOS [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 02:46 OrganizationFalse668 [WTS] Good Silver and Coin Deals!

Shipping and Payment
USPS priority box /envelope $10
USPS 1st class $6 up to 7 oz
“ Risky “ 1st class 🫧 envelope non-machinable $2 -
I take Zelle , Venmo , Cash App , Mailed Cash and trades for gold, goldbacks , platinum and palladium.
I make excellent packages but after I drop it off its the responsibility of USPS.
Please ask for photos or if I have multiple of the same item!
Date Proof:
https://imgur.com/a/0rTs7b6
$100 army man rainbow 🌈 lot
1oz cannabis silver and copper
3 90% half
A Morgan and a mercury dime
$100 shipped
You can have the army man.
PRE-33 GOLD
https://imgur.com/a/MNAYZip
1908 D $5 Gold $1300
https://imgur.com/a/xINXuM0
1927 2.5 gold $800
https://imgur.com/a/diOJZvh
1914 D 2.5 Gold $700
https://imgur.com/a/PX94LL9
1901 2.5 Gold $650
https://imgur.com/a/mExBjEn
SILVER COINS AND ROUNDS 🕰️
Niue 1oz silver Aerosmith 1 oz $31
1oz silver 5 mark Germania “ witchcraft “ - $60
Homer Simpson 2019 donut $70
Simpson family Christmas $55
1oz silver Superman Samoa 🇼🇸 $5 coin $38
Spider-Man 1oz $45
St. Lucia 2020 1 oz silver lizard 🦎 $33
2021 Wonder Woman 1oz $70
Batman 1oz $70
Scarface 1 oz $40
🥤 Coca-Cola 1 oz silver round 1 oz $33
Grogu Star Wars 1oz silver $33
🇺🇸 Army 1 oz silver bar / round $33
Bar 1
Bar 2 digital camouflage
Street fighter chun lee 1oz 🇯🇵 - $33
Wolverine 1oz 🇨🇦 $50
The Godfather 1oz silver $40
Silver Bart Simpson 1 oz $60 🛹
2023 Homer Simpson carded 1 oz $60 📷
SWAMP THING 1oz colorized- $75 📷
2024 silver shield 1oz silver cannabis round $38
ET 🪐 Niue 1oz 2 dollar movie poster bar $45
1 oz trump wanted rounds $32
Beavis and butthead 🔥 🧻 1 oz silver
$80
Intaglio Mint 1oz “ the 4 seasons “ nude art 🖼️ round $60
Donald Duck $40
1991 liberty lobby 1/2 oz round - $14 each 4 available
This is under spot slightly ⭐️
FRANCE 🇫🇷 10 franc 1965 silver .8134 asw
$26
1oz Silver Camel Cigarettes Joe Camel 🐪 - $65
Disneys snow White doc 1 oz $70
1 oz proof ablum
https://imgur.com/a/tYA9NDZ
Silver $1 commemorative
Capsule only
Baseball $1 proof $28 !!!
Lewis and Clark proof $28
2011 infantry no box $33
1992 Columbus $1 - $28
D-day $1 bu $28
Wright brothers $1 $28
Capsule proof:
https://imgur.com/a/9sCzhiP
In original mint packaging 📷
1993 WW2 2 coin set $1 - $35
1993 WW2 2 coin set proof $33
1994 World Cup 2 coin set $27 !
1995 civil war battlefield 2 coin proof set $30
1995 Olympic cyclist 🚴 proof $30
1995 Olympic track and field proof $30
1996 national community service proof $27
1996 Smithsonian $1 proof $27
1998 Robert f Kennedy $1 proof - $35
1999 Yellow stone national park $35
2003 wright brothers first flight $1 proof - $29
2006 San Francisco old Mint $1 proof $28
Benjamin Franklin founding father proof $35
2012 Infantry Soldier $1 $40
Comm proof:
https://imgur.com/a/iaF31xI
Silver Dollars 💵
1883 o $100
2007 ASE certified $38
2006 ASE certified $38
Nicer 1921 Morgan in cap $38
1926 D peace dollar $33
1887 $1 - $70
1921 Morgan plastic flip $45
1886 $1 $70
1922 peace dollar $26 !!!! 🔥
Better 1922 peace dollar $26
Nice 1922 peace dollar $26
1925 peace dollar $26
Proof:
https://imgur.com/a/fBk2WiY
1921 Morgan MS $60
1896 Morgan $65
1885 Morgan $90
1878 CC $1 $170
1897 $1 $85
1890 O $1 $80
1921 MS $60
Proof;
https://imgur.com/a/jJbdBJa
Glass Panther Art pours and more,
🥤🍔🌎🦩🌞🧊
Fallout New Vegas
Lucky 38 1oz silver “ platinum chip “ $45
Vintage 1977 Coca-Cola 1oz silver bar
Nashville TN $70
Norfolk Va $70
Atlanta $70
Contemporary Coca-Cola 1oz silver bar $35
Contemporary Coca-Cola 1oz silver round $35
Coca-Cola Christmas 2019 Fiji Santa Clause 1oz - $50 🎅
Fiji 🇫🇯 1oz coca-cola bottle cap $149 📷
10k gold coca-cola pin 📌 $150 📷
7.5 oz 1:1 scale .999 silver derringer - $400 ⭐️
3oz M4 🐆 $199 ! 🔥
1oz army man $90
Sunshine 1oz $140
Cyborg 1oz $140
Smurf 1 oz $35
Art cola Proof ;
https://imgur.com/a/mlUyEQZ
HALF DOLLARS and more 💵
1822 Bust half dollar $75
1825 bust half dollar $70
1876 seated half $50
1896 O Barber half $60
1895 p barber half $30
1952 Washington/ carver half $25
1877 seated half $45
Booker T Half $25
1964 MS 50c $14
1963 D 50c unc $18
1955 Canada 50c $15 🔥
1992 silver 50c proof $15 🔥
2005 s silver proof $15 🔥
1858 50C $70
Canada silver 5 cents $6
1857 dime $20
1923 mercury dime $3
1937 mercury dime au $12
1936 AU mercury dime $13
1927 mercury dime $4
Barber dime coa $4
Ohio silver quarter $12
1XX3 seated quarter $18
1955 ms quarter $12
1964 ms quarter $9
1904 p 25c $8
1908 O 25c $10
1912 d 10c $9
Metal detector dime $5
1909 p barber dime $19
1903 p 25c $9
1916 p barber $4
1912 D $5
1916 $6
1907 $8
1914 10c $12
1832 half dime $90 📷
Proof
https://imgur.com/a/PhO1Bhq
SETS 📺 📷
Silver war nickel set $8
Dimes of the 20th century $6
Bill of rights silver 50c young collector set
$19
Buy all for $25 . Great deal.
Jewelry 💍
1 gram 10k earrings $25
7 gram. 925 bracelet $7
Take both for $31
https://imgur.com/a/H4Nrark
Rarities 🦜 📷
1/4 oz art bar gilded Halloween $35
1/4 oz art bar gilded Pug $35
COPPER 📣
Copper Cannabis Leaf 🍁 Round $2
2023 year of the Dragon 🐉 copper round $2
Lincoln Wheat Cent 1oz COPPER $2
Copper proof;
https://imgur.com/a/b6dcW1Y
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 GOLD 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
0 - 2021 New Hampshire 1 GoldBack $5 each - free ihp with purchase and ground shipping limit 4 ihp
I’m out of these, sell me or trade for cheap.
https://imgur.com/a/JBEAJ4j
Bank of America 10k pendant with seed pearls , I think it’s 3.6 grams. $120 📷
Bank of America 10k pin 📌 no pearls, $100
📷
Fractional silver
1 gram silver in card $1.70
📷 https://imgur.com/a/x4CsSMR
CANADA SILVER 🇨🇦 🍁
Canada 1955 50c $20 📷
Canada $1 1987 proof $20 📷
Superman $20 silver $25
Batman vs Superman Canada $20 silver coin $29
Bugs Bunny $20 silver $35
Star trek 2016 silver $20 coin. $35
2016 Canada $20 silver T-Rex $25
2014 Canada $20 Snowman $22 2014 Canada $20 silver summer swimming coin $22
Canada proof
https://imgur.com/a/bUSuicI
Bank bag assortment lot that I forgot:
Futurama Shut up and take my money 1oz - $45
From glass panther
vintage coke bar 1oz $65
2014 icg panda $38
St. Lucia 1 oz lizard 🦎 $31
Trump wanted $32
https://imgur.com/a/q8pR7c3
USPS priority box /envelope $10
USPS 1st class $6 up to 7 oz
Risky envelope shipping $2
I take Zelle and Venmo Cash App and Mailed Cash and small gold or 1 goldbacks @3.75
I make excellent packages but after I drop it off it is the responsibility of USPS
Proof:
https://imgur.com/a/0rTs7b6
submitted by OrganizationFalse668 to CoinSales [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 02:45 OrganizationFalse668 [WTS] Good Silver Deals !

Shipping and Payment
USPS priority box /envelope $10
USPS 1st class $6 up to 7 oz
“ Risky “ 1st class 🫧 envelope non-machinable $2 -
I take Zelle , Venmo , Cash App , Mailed Cash and trades for gold, goldbacks , platinum and palladium.
I make excellent packages but after I drop it off its the responsibility of USPS.
Please ask for photos or if I have multiple of the same item!
Date Proof:
https://imgur.com/a/0rTs7b6
$100 army man rainbow 🌈 lot
1oz cannabis silver and copper
3 90% half
A Morgan and a mercury dime
$100 shipped
You can have the army man.
PRE-33 GOLD
https://imgur.com/a/MNAYZip
1908 D $5 Gold $1300
https://imgur.com/a/xINXuM0
1927 2.5 gold $800
https://imgur.com/a/diOJZvh
1914 D 2.5 Gold $700
https://imgur.com/a/PX94LL9
1901 2.5 Gold $650
https://imgur.com/a/mExBjEn
SILVER COINS AND ROUNDS 🕰️
Sale!
1922 peace dollar $26 !!!! 🔥
Better 1922 peace dollar $26
Nice 1922 peace dollar $26
1925 peace dollar $26
Smurf 1 oz $30
St. Lucia 1 oz lizard 🦎 $30
Trump wanted $30
Niue 1oz silver Aerosmith 1 oz $31
1oz silver 5 mark Germania “ witchcraft “ - $60
Homer Simpson 2019 donut $70
Simpson family Christmas $55
1oz silver Superman Samoa 🇼🇸 $5 coin $38
Spider-Man 1oz $45
St. Lucia 2020 1 oz silver lizard 🦎 $33
2021 Wonder Woman 1oz $70
Batman 1oz $70
Scarface 1 oz $40
🥤 Coca-Cola 1 oz silver round 1 oz $33
Grogu Star Wars 1oz silver $33
🇺🇸 Army 1 oz silver bar / round $33
Bar 1
Bar 2 digital camouflage
Street fighter chun lee 1oz 🇯🇵 - $33
Wolverine 1oz 🇨🇦 $50
The Godfather 1oz silver $40
Silver Bart Simpson 1 oz $60 🛹
2023 Homer Simpson carded 1 oz $60 📷
SWAMP THING 1oz colorized- $75 📷
2024 silver shield 1oz silver cannabis round $38
ET 🪐 Niue 1oz 2 dollar movie poster bar $45
1 oz trump wanted rounds $32
Beavis and butthead 🔥 🧻 1 oz silver
$80
Intaglio Mint 1oz “ the 4 seasons “ nude art 🖼️ round $60
Donald Duck $40
1991 liberty lobby 1/2 oz round - $14 each 4 available
This is under spot slightly ⭐️
FRANCE 🇫🇷 10 franc 1965 silver .8134 asw
$26
1oz Silver Camel Cigarettes Joe Camel 🐪 - $65
Disneys snow White doc 1 oz $70
1 oz proof ablum
https://imgur.com/a/tYA9NDZ
Silver $1 commemorative
Capsule only
Baseball $1 proof $28 !!!
Lewis and Clark proof $28
2011 infantry no box $33
1992 Columbus $1 - $28
D-day $1 bu $28
Wright brothers $1 $28
Capsule proof:
https://imgur.com/a/9sCzhiP
In original mint packaging 📷
1993 WW2 2 coin set $1 - $35
1993 WW2 2 coin set proof $33
1994 World Cup 2 coin set $27 !
1995 civil war battlefield 2 coin proof set $30
1995 Olympic cyclist 🚴 proof $30
1995 Olympic track and field proof $30
1996 national community service proof $27
1996 Smithsonian $1 proof $27
1998 Robert f Kennedy $1 proof - $35
1999 Yellow stone national park $35
2003 wright brothers first flight $1 proof - $29
2006 San Francisco old Mint $1 proof $28
Benjamin Franklin founding father proof $35
2012 Infantry Soldier $1 $40
Comm proof:
https://imgur.com/a/iaF31xI
Silver Dollars 💵
1883 o $100
2007 ASE certified $38
2006 ASE certified $38
Nicer 1921 Morgan in cap $38
1926 D peace dollar $33
1887 $1 - $70
1921 Morgan plastic flip $45
1886 $1 $70
Proof:
https://imgur.com/a/fBk2WiY
1921 Morgan MS $60
1896 Morgan $65
1885 Morgan $90
1878 CC $1 $170
1897 $1 $85
1890 O $1 $80
1921 MS $60
Proof;
https://imgur.com/a/jJbdBJa
Glass Panther Art pours and more,
🥤🍔🌎🦩🌞🧊
Fallout New Vegas
Lucky 38 1oz silver “ platinum chip “ $45
Vintage 1977 Coca-Cola 1oz silver bar
Nashville TN $70
Norfolk Va $70
Atlanta $70
Contemporary Coca-Cola 1oz silver bar $35
Contemporary Coca-Cola 1oz silver round $35
Coca-Cola Christmas 2019 Fiji Santa Clause 1oz - $50 🎅
Fiji 🇫🇯 1oz coca-cola bottle cap $149 📷
10k gold coca-cola pin 📌 $150 📷
7.5 oz 1:1 scale .999 silver derringer - $400 ⭐️
3oz M4 🐆 $199 ! 🔥
1oz army man $90
Sunshine 1oz $140
Cyborg 1oz $140
Art cola Proof ;
https://imgur.com/a/mlUyEQZ
HALF DOLLARS and more 💵
1822 Bust half dollar $75
1825 bust half dollar $70
1876 seated half $50
1896 O Barber half $60
1895 p barber half $30
1952 Washington/ carver half $25
1877 seated half $45
Booker T Half $25
1964 MS 50c $14
1963 D 50c unc $18
1955 Canada 50c $15 🔥
1992 silver 50c proof $15 🔥
2005 s silver proof $15 🔥
1858 50C $70
Canada silver 5 cents $6
1857 dime $20
1923 mercury dime $3
1937 mercury dime au $12
1936 AU mercury dime $13
1927 mercury dime $4
Barber dime coa $4
Ohio silver quarter $12
1XX3 seated quarter $18
1955 ms quarter $12
1964 ms quarter $9
1904 p 25c $8
1908 O 25c $10
1912 d 10c $9
Metal detector dime $5
1909 p barber dime $19
1903 p 25c $9
1916 p barber $4
1912 D $5
1916 $6
1907 $8
1914 10c $12
1832 half dime $90 📷
Proof
https://imgur.com/a/PhO1Bhq
SETS 📺 📷
Silver war nickel set $8
Dimes of the 20th century $6
Bill of rights silver 50c young collector set
$19
Buy all for $25 . Great deal.
Jewelry 💍
1 gram 10k earrings $25
7 gram. 925 bracelet $7
Take both for $31
https://imgur.com/a/H4Nrark
Rarities 🦜 📷
1/4 oz art bar gilded Halloween $35
1/4 oz art bar gilded Pug $35
COPPER 📣
Copper Cannabis Leaf 🍁 Round $2
2023 year of the Dragon 🐉 copper round $2
Lincoln Wheat Cent 1oz COPPER $2
Copper proof;
https://imgur.com/a/b6dcW1Y
🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 GOLD 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
0 - 2021 New Hampshire 1 GoldBack $5 each - free ihp with purchase and ground shipping limit 4 ihp
I’m out of these, sell me or trade for cheap.
https://imgur.com/a/JBEAJ4j
Bank of America 10k pendant with seed pearls , I think it’s 3.6 grams. $120 📷
Bank of America 10k pin 📌 no pearls, $100
📷
Fractional silver
1 gram silver in card $1.70
📷 https://imgur.com/a/x4CsSMR
CANADA SILVER 🇨🇦 🍁
Canada 1955 50c $20 📷
Canada $1 1987 proof $20 📷
Superman $20 silver $25
Batman vs Superman Canada $20 silver coin $29
Bugs Bunny $20 silver $35
Star trek 2016 silver $20 coin. $35
2016 Canada $20 silver T-Rex $25
2014 Canada $20 Snowman $22 2014 Canada $20 silver summer swimming coin $22
Canada proof
https://imgur.com/a/bUSuicI
Bank bag assortment lot that I forgot:
Futurama Shut up and take my money 1oz - $45
From glass panther
vintage coke bar 1oz $65
2014 icg panda $38
St. Lucia 1 oz lizard 🦎 $31
Trump wanted $31
https://imgur.com/a/q8pR7c3
USPS priority box /envelope $10
USPS 1st class $6 up to 7 oz
Risky envelope shipping $2
I take Zelle and Venmo Cash App and Mailed Cash and small gold or 1 goldbacks @3.75
I make excellent packages but after I drop it off it is the responsibility of USPS
Proof:
https://imgur.com/a/0rTs7b6
submitted by OrganizationFalse668 to Pmsforsale [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 02:08 Figuarus [OT] The Things We Left Behind.

This is the first time I have written something of this length, and is more of an exercise in self-therapy than anything else. Disclaimer: This story contains conversations about child abuse. Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy it.
Nathan’s number appeared on my phone screen. I debated whether or not to answer it. We hadn’t been on speaking terms for a while, and while we did keep in touch sporadically, it was usually because of important family issues. I didn’t know of anything happening with mom or dad, nor with Talia or Rio, so I let it go to voicemail. I could always call him back later. I placed the phone back in my pocket, and returned to cleaning my camera. The phone buzzed again. A text message came through. I read the preview line from the home screen. “The city declared eminent domain on the house” I unlocked my phone, read the full text message, and dialed my brother.
I wasn't able to get any closer to the house than a few blocks. Most of the area was blocked off with chain link fencing and construction equipment in preparation for the demolition that was supposed to take place within the coming days. The barriers didn’t prevent people from walking in to the neighborhood, but it hindered scrappers from coming in and stripping the houses of copper wiring and plumbing.
I grabbed my camera bag out of the trunk of my car along with my tripod. I shouldered it and hooked the tripod to my bag. I pulled my water bottle out of the center console and shut the door. I stood next to my car surveying the neighborhood. 12 city blocks of old single family homes comprised the neighborhood where I grew up. Some of the houses had been empty for months, others for years. There was an eerie silence that permeated the still air. I could not hear the familiar sounds of people, pets, or cars. I locked the car and put my keys in my pocket. I patted my jacket down to ensure I had what I needed. After a quick check, I started my walk.
The sidewalk of the old neighborhood streets still bore the familiar cracks and grind marks from years of buckling and remedy. Leaves dropped by the trees still lay scattered all along the pathways and sidewalk. Korina’s house was the first house I encountered as I made my way through a gap in the fence. The yard was overgrown with tall grass and thistle. I could see the faded blue paint of the old house contrasting the green and browns of the lawn. The chain link fence that marked off the corner property was nearly invisible through the thick brush. As I continued walking west towards 110th, I started to feel something was off. The streets seemed wider than I remembered. It took me longer than I’d like to admit, but eventually I realized what was different. There were no cars.
The streets here typically had cars lined bumper to bumper in any spot available, and were visible from block to block. The absence of all these vehicles made me realize just how deserted the neighborhood really was. House after house, yard after yard, the telltale signs of desertion reinforced what I could see from the moment I passed the construction fence: This was no longer my neighborhood. There were no signs of life, and no one I could expect to find still here. Abandonment was the new normal here. I continued on, glancing at houses and recalling memories of summer bike rides, and daily walks with dogs I used to have. I remembered walks home from school, and chasing after ice cream trucks when they passed our houses. I smiled a bit as I remembered more and more of my years spent here. I don’t quite know just why I was smiling. There were plenty of bad memories here too. Fights, yelling, being beat up, being robbed. I could remember failed friendships, lost loves, and bitter feelings of failures too.
Still, I felt a certain amount of nostalgia despite the weight of these negative feelings. I almost wanted to experience everything again, although I wasn't sure why I was feeling this way. Concrete, asphalt, billboards and liquor stores were the normal vistas of everyday life. Occasionally, after a good rainstorm, the grey haze of smog would lift, and the mountains would be visible to the north. At least, they would be visible until mid-morning when the exhaust from a million cars covered them behind a veil of pollution.
It wasn’t until the first time I travelled out of the city that I realized there was more to see. Traveling up the coast north along the Pacific Coast Highway introduced me to scenes of deep blue ocean water spanning the width of my vision. Driving up Highway 3 introduced me to the permeating scent of Pine and Fir trees. The two-lane stretch of highway from Portland to Tillamook introduced me to lush green forests that I had only ever read about. When I came home to the same old dirty, dusty concrete and boiling summer asphalt, I had made up my mind. I would do everything it took to leave this place. I would not spend another day longer than was necessary living in cramped quarters and fighting for parking space.
I arrived to the house, and paused at the gate. The house sat in contrast of what the rest of the neighborhood looked like. Instead of overgrown grass and tall weeds all over the place, the landscaping showed signs of relatively recent work. The guava tree in the front lawn still had some fruit ready to be picked, and the avocado tree on the other side of the pathway was still weighed down by its own fruit. Flowers still bloomed in the raised bed in front of the house. My brother had clearly tried to keep up on things until the last possible moment. The house, too, looked better than what I expected after walking up 4 blocks and seeing nothing but dilapidated houses and unkempt yards. I opened the gate and walked up to the small porch. The metal gate that enclosed it was gone having been removed by my brother when he took over the property. It looked nice to see it open instead of the cage it once felt like.
I turned the knob on the door, but it didn't give. Ever a creature of habit, my brother had locked the door when he left. Of course, he did. I sighed and prepared to find another way in when I remembered my parents hiding a spare key. I wasn’t sure if it would still be there, but after running my hands along the back side of the gutter downspout, I was rewarded for my efforts. I unlocked the front door and stepped into the front living room, the sounds of my footsteps and the closing door echoing in the empty space. The room felt both larger and smaller than I remembered it. I suppose it was lack of furniture that made it feel larger, but it still felt smaller than I remember. The result of growing taller throughout the years I suppose. I slowly walked along the slate tile floor towards the central hallway that connected the front of the house to the back bedrooms. I wasn't entirely sure that just because the front door was locked, that there wasn't some squatter looking for a little temporary shelter within the back rooms. I carefully and silently crept step by step towards what used to be the bedroom shared by my sister and me. I stuck my head in and gave the room a cursory glance. It was empty, thankfully. I moved back into the hallway and peered into the bedroom across the hall. This is where both of my brothers had shared a room. It too, was empty save for a few boxes holding hardware and doorknobs from the closet doors of the bedroom. I walked back towards the back of the house where my parent's bedroom was. The walls in the hallway bore the dusty signs where picture once hung. The bedroom door was open. I stepped inside, and looked around. The old avocado paint that my mom had picked out years ago still adorned the walls. Walking further towards the addition that was the small room my grandma and grandpa lived in showed that there was no one here. I breathed a sigh of relief as I set my bag down and set up my tripod. I reached into my bag a pulled out an envelope of old photos. These were old snapshots that we had all taken at some point in time in the house. There were pictures of all of us sitting at the dining room table playing a game of Monopoly. There was a picture of my brother and sister sitting on a couch in the front living room. There was a picture of me hanging on the bars of the front porch. I looked through them all and held them in place in front of me as if I were holding a window to the past.
Each picture made the lump in my throat grow as I started to struggle to control my emotions. There was history here, and soon it would all be gone. This is the place where my parents had raised four kids. They had taken care of my grandparents in their twilight years here. My Aunt and my grandmother had both died in this house. Birthdays, graduation parties, and anniversaries had been celebrated here. The echoes of life had reverberated within the walls of this place. Now, the house sat silent. It would never again know happy screams of kids having a water-balloon war out in the front yard, nor would it hear the cries of anguish as the matriarch of the family passed away surrounded by her family. What once was a home full of life was now just an empty house made of drywall and paint. I sat there for a moment contemplating just how much family history was actually made here. As I thought hard about my siblings and my parents, I felt pained at the thought of our strained relationships. We had all scattered once we had the opportunity to be free of each other. My oldest brother had married and moved away as soon as possible. My sister now lived in northern California. My parents too had moved away. I was now living in Utah. Only my older brother had remained behind. The lump grew larger in my throat as tears welled up in my eyes. I held back sobs of anger and pain. Why was I hurting? Hadn’t I dealt with these issues already? I walked back to my old bedroom and sat down under the window. I pulled my head down into my knees and cried. I could hear yelling and screaming in my head. Shouting matches between siblings and parents, brothers and sister, rattled inside my brain, making the pain grow. I sat there and cried. I hadn’t cried like this in a long time. Eventually I ran out of tears and tired gasps of sorrow and regret washed over me as a blanket of drowsiness enveloped me. I leaned my head back and fell asleep.
I woke up to the sound of footsteps. It took me a moment to realize what I was hearing and hurriedly stood up. Had someone followed me? I knew the police were patrolling the area sporadically. Had they seen me enter the house? I knew there would be a possibility of getting a trespassing citation, but I figured I could either talk my way out of it seeing as to how I was a former resident, or I could probably fight the citation in court if the judge knew why I was there in the first place. Ultimately, passing through the gate had been a calculated risk that I was willing to take for the sake of my art. I got up from my corner of the room and moved towards the door. If there was someone in the house, I needed to know. I didn’t want my gear to stolen, and if there was a cop in the house, I wanted to ensure I didn’t get shot.
I was greeted by the sight of a startled chubby boy standing on the other side of the door. His round cherubic face was crowned by a head of short curly hair. His hazel green eyes stared widely back at me. He clearly didn’t expect someone to be here in the house. His body recoiled in fear as he cowered back towards the hallway. “Wait, what are you doing here?” I asked as non-threateningly as I could. The boy muttered something that I couldn’t quite make out. “What did you say? I couldn’t hear you” I replied. “Are you here to rob us?” he timidly responded. “Rob you? What are you talking about?” I asked as confusion set in. “What are you doing here?” It was his turn to be confused. “Uh…I….live here?” he replied. “What do you mean you live here? No one lives-“I stopped midsentence. I hadn’t noticed in my initial shock but the room wasn’t the same. A familiar blue couch caught the corner of my eye. In front of that was an old console TV with a partially broken antenna hanging on the wall behind it. I walked further in to the living room to notice wood paneling on the walls. A large mirror hung on the wall to my left. Familiar yellow lamps sat on round drop-leaf tables on either side of the couch. A large hutch sat in one corner, a collection of letters and bills, mail advertisements, and a phone book covered scattered over it. “What just happened?” I asked out loud to no one in particular. I was thoroughly mystified by what my eyes were seeing. I had walked into the house from the front door and had stepped into an empty white room with slate floor tiles, but somehow now found myself in a furnished room with brown carpet that was all so familiar to me, yet was nothing but a distant faded memory. I turned to look at the boy still startled by the intrusion of a strange man looking wildly around the room in total shock.
“You can take what you want, just please let me go. I don’t want problems.” He stated his voice still shrill with anxiety. I blinked a few times as I tried to process just what the heck was going on. I gathered my thoughts as best I could and tried to reassure him. “Kid, I’m not here to rob anyone. I was just-“I shook my head “Where the hell am I? Am I having a dream?” I asked myself. “I must be dreaming. I’m just tired and still sleeping. This is all a dream. Yeah, that’s it.” I needed to sit down. Being back in the old house must have overtaxed my senses, I told myself. I’d having a dream about an old memory. I walked over to the chair next to the couch and sat down. I sunk into it and rested my head back towards the wall.
The boy kept his distance, but sensed I wasn’t there to hurt him. He looked me over with anxious curiosity. He stood at the far end of the couch, examining me while he played out scenarios in his head in preparation for a quick exit. “Why are you in my house?” he asked me. “Dude, this is all just a dream I’m having. I’m not really here.” He reached over to the couch and picked up a pillow. He reared his arm and threw it at me. It landed in my lap. “I don’t know, man. You sure seem to be here.” He said to me. I opened my eyes, startled. I looked down at the pillow he tossed and examined it. I ran my hand over the fabric and felt its texture. I remember this pillow. This was the pillow I would roll under my head as I lay on the couch and watched TV as a kid. A sudden realization hit me as I looked around the room with fresh eyes. No longer was I blinded by the fog of confusion. I knew exactly where I was.
I was home.
I looked at the boy still standing at the edge of the couch. I looked him over and realized who he actually was. I stared in disbelief as I smiled and tried to put him at ease. “It’s ok Johnny. I’m not here to hurt you. No one is going to hurt you. Please, sit down” I told him. I motioned to his end of the couch. “Who are you, and why are you here?” he asked me.
“This will be hard to believe, but I’m you” I said with an incredulous tone, “I’m not sure how I ended up here, but I’m here.” He looked at me as I had grown a second head. “That doesn’t make any sense. How could you be me? Did we invent time travel? Oh! Are we secret government agents with the CIA?”
I chuckled. “Wait, wait, wait. Let’s start at the beginning. I’m you at 38 years old. You’re…what, 11… 12 years old? It makes sense. I fell asleep under the window in my- our old bedroom. I didn’t come here on purpose or in a machine. And no, I’m not a government agent.” His face contorted to display understanding, disappointment and finally suspicion. His eyes narrowed as he leaned in towards me. “How do I know you’re really me?” he asked. I thought about it for a moment. How could I prove to him that I was who I said I was? A few seconds of silence settled between us. I stroked my chin, thinking of a solution.
“I have a better idea. Ask me questions that only you know the answers to.” “Okay” he responded. He glanced around the room trying to come up with something. His eyes fixated on the Nintendo sitting under the TV cabinet. “What game do me and Nathan have a map of?” I looked over at the NES. I hadn’t thought about this for years, but I knew instantly what he was asking. “YOU don’t have anything. Nathan is the one that made the map for Section Z” His jaw dropped. He tried to trick me, but his plan failed. He knew well and good that Nathan never let him play. It was always ‘I’ll let you play when I die’ or, ‘you can play when I’m done’. The problem was that he never followed through. Usually by the time Nathan was done, the NES was overheated, and the game would no longer load until it cooled down. By that point, it was time for bed.
“How do you know that?” he asked in astonishment. “I know these things because I’m you. Just like I know that you wear t-shirts to the pool because you’re embarrassed by what others will think of your body. I know that you used to think that people that die off in movies were prisoners that were set to be executed from death row, so they used them for making movies. I know all about you because I’m you”
Johnny sat on the end of the couch in bewilderment, his mouth slightly agape. He had never told anyone any of this. He didn’t have any close friends to talk to about such things, and those friends he did have were more acquaintances than friends. There was only one way he could possibly know these things. He was talking to his future self.
I could see Johnny’s mind completely explode. There lay endless possibility and the answers to a million questions he could ask about his own future. He started to ask a question, only to stop, close his mouth, and try asking another. I knew if he kept this up he would have a stroke or something. “Dude, calm yourself. Let’s talk this out rationally, otherwise you’ll end up stroking out or something.” I told him. He took a deep breath and I could hear him muttering quietly. I knew he was trying to form a coherent sentence before he actually spoke it. I did it all the time. “Ok, first of all, are we rich?” he asked with tempered expectation. I chuckled and grinned back at him. “No, not at all. If I was rich, would I be dressed like this?” I replied as I motioned to my beat up brown Vans and worn out jeans and T-shirt. “We-, I – make enough to get by. I’m not poor, but I earn enough to pay the bills.” His face grew a smirk as he commented “Yeah, I figured. What do I do for work? I mean, what do you do for work?” I thought about it for a second. I wondered how much information I should divulge to a younger me. I still didn’t think this whole situation was really happening, but if it was, I probably should proceed with caution. “Well, it’s complicated. I do a little bit of everything. You know how you’re constantly taking things apart? Let’s just say that it’s good to put them back together in order to keep them working. Take good notes on paper if you need to, and make sure you have a clean work area so you can keep track of all the parts.” He gave me a sheepish look. He knew exactly what I was talking about. I had spent countless hours sneaking dad’s tools to my room so I could figure out how something was built and try to figure out how it worked. I had gotten myself into some pretty bad trouble with dad over a drill, his timing light, and other stuff I had taken from his room. His belt had become quite familiar with my butt cheeks.
I gave him a knowing smile. “What else do you want to know?” He thought about it for a second. “Do we have a girlfriend?” I laughed, probably a little more than I should have because his face contorted into a sour frown. “You don’t need to be a jerk about it” he scowled. I continued to chuckle. “Yeah we have a girlfriend. We have more than a girlfriend” I could tell he was irritated with my vague indirect answers. I knew what he was asking. I remember the crush I had on my neighbor across the street. We had been friends since kindergarten, and had been classmates for 1st, 2nd, and 4th grades. We got along really well, and I knew from around 12 or 13 that I wanted to be her boyfriend. Unfortunately, things never progressed beyond the ‘just friends’ stage of things. It wasn’t from lack of effort on my part. We had just grown up together most of our lives that she didn’t see me as anything more than a brother and friend. “Dude, look. You just started to go through changes and you are starting to notice girls, but that doesn’t mean that you need to love every girl that shows you a little kindness or subtle interest. You need to slow down and let things happen naturally. You can’t force a relationship with someone.” Johnny pondered these words for a moment. I sat back and put my feet up on the coffee table. I looked around the room some more while I waited for another question. There was so much I had forgotten, but being back here had unlocked more and more memories that continued to wash over me. I was trying to hold on to my cool as not all those churned up recollections were pleasant. I stood up and walked over to the front door to peer outside the small central window embedded into the center of it. I could see the old neighborhood as I remembered it all those years ago. The lot across the street that served as a parking area for those that worked at the wheel works at the end of the block was empty of cars. I furrowed my brow as I thought for a moment. An empty lot meant it was afterhours or the weekend.
The gears in my own head started turning. “Wait, where is everyone?” I asked Johnny. Johnny turned to look at me still processing my last response. “Uh..oh, Mom and dad are out of town. They took a trip east this time. I think Rio said they are in Arizona right now. Rio and Nathan went out to get some food and to rent some movies from Video Showcase. Knowing them they’ll eat out first. Talia is staying over at Tia Rosie’s place today with her friends.” I grunted at his response. My mind was wandering as he mentioned Talia and Tia Rosie.
A sudden sharp pain pieced my heart. The pain of a thousand memories now unsealed spilled out from the box I had locked them away in. Tears welled in the corners of my eyes as I turned back to look at Johnny. He felt it too. He stared at the floor with an intensity that made me think it would burst into flames at any moment. I walked back over to him and sat next to him. He didn’t move. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and he threw himself into me. I could feel the tears dripping onto me as he sobbed intensely. “Hey man, its ok. It’s going to be ok.” I said as my own tears started to flow uncontrollably. I pulled him close and draped my other arm around him.
I knew the pain he was feeling. It was such a heavy burden, and I knew there was no one he felt he could talk to. I remembered it all so vividly. We sat there for what seemed to be an eternity. When we finally stopped sobbing, and our noses ran dry, we tried to breathe our way through to calmness. I got up and knelt in front of him. “Johnny, listen to me and remember what it is that I’m about to say to you. You are stronger than you think. You are stronger than you believe. NO ONE should ever have to go through this. Just because it happened to Talia, doesn’t mean you have to put up with it any longer. I know you didn’t think it was wrong, but I’m telling you that what she is doing to you is wrong. Talking to mom and dad isn’t going to make them hate you. You are not doing this to her, she is doing it to you. I’m not making excuses for her, but she is also more damaged than anyone realizes, and she is also dealing with the same level of pain you are. Remember that we do unto others what has been done to us. That doesn’t mean we need to continue the cycle of abuse” The lump in my throat grew immense at my own statement. I swallowed it as best I could and continued “You are going to deal with this pain a little bit at a time, and you’ll slowly get over this. It’s like a broken bone. When it happens, you don’t realize how bad the pain is until the adrenaline wears off, but then the immense pain is there. Just remember that this will pass. Just like a broken bone, you will heal over time, and one day, you will realize that the pain is gone and the bone is no longer broken. You’ll remember the pain, but it won’t hurt anymore.”
Johnny sat there in stunned silence. I knew he didn’t have anyone to help him through this. He couldn’t talk to Rio or Nathan about what was going on. Mom and Dad were constantly working to keep the family fed and sheltered and while they provided materially for their kids, emotional help was less available. Perhaps it was due to their energies being divided into 4 kids, a mortgage and multiple jobs, or perhaps it was also the culture of not talking about problems. Either way, they needed to know what was happening. They wouldn’t be able to fix it otherwise. “They’re going to be mad at me” he finally said after a few moments of silence. “No they won’t be. They love us all. I know you’re not used to hearing it, but they do love you. Everything they do is because of their love for us. This isn’t your fault. You didn’t do anything wrong. Telling them isn’t going to cause them to be angry.” I thought for a moment to find a good analogy. “You love Odie and Lady, right?” He nodded in agreement. “Ok, how would you feel if you knew someone you trusted was coming to the house and beating up our dogs when we weren’t around?” He thought about it for a second before his face changed to anger. “I’d want to kill them!” “Yes, but would you also feel sad that you weren’t there to try to protect them?” I reasoned. His face changed again. He understood what I was saying. Mom and Dad would be angry, but not necessarily at him. They would also feel a great sadness knowing that someone was hurting their child.
I smiled at him. He understood. I nodded. “Dude…You’re going to come to understand that life is not what you think it will be. Life is messy and can change in an instant. The plans you make today may not make it to next week. A lifelong goal can be derailed because of something out of your control. Mom and dad have spent their life protecting us with the goal of keeping us safe, but circumstances out of their control have affected their kids, and now we- you all have to deal with the fallout. Just remember that you are not the culprit. Yes, mom and dad will be hurt and angry, but not at you. Trust them. They don’t do things to hurt us” Johnny hugged me. I- He didn’t have many people he could trust and open up to. He liked to talk a lot about everything going on in his life, no matter how trivial. Everything, except this. This was a shameful topic, and he didn’t feel like anyone would understand why he didn’t go to an adult sooner. The problem was simple. He simply didn’t understand that it was wrong. Now that he had an adult that he could talk to, himself no less, he wanted to lift this burden off his shoulders. He was happy to have found someone and he hugged me tightly. I hugged him back just at tightly. It wasn’t every day that I could meet my younger self and help to comfort them. “Thank you” he said to me.
The world darkened, and everything faded to black.
I lifted my head out of my knees and looked around. I was sitting under the window in my old bedroom again. Had I fallen asleep? I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. I was emotionally drained and incredibly tired. I hadn’t had sleep like that in years. I got to my feet and looked around the room briefly before walking out to mom and dad’s old room. I grabbed my camera and slowly walked the house, snapping picture after picture. The only sound to be heard was the sound of the camera shutter and my soft footsteps. I thought about my dream as I took pictures.
Upon entering my room, a random memory hit me.
The stash.
I was pretty sure I had taken the hidden box when I moved out all those years ago, but since I was here, I should double check. Heading into the closet, I pushed the panel that led to the attic space out of the way and peered in. I couldn’t see anything, so I reached up there to feel around. The box was indeed gone. I felt around for a few more seconds and was surprised to feel what felt like a thick envelope. I didn’t remember leaving anything up there, but after pulling it down and giving it a cursory glance, I figured it was an old envelope of lost love letters. It wasn’t until I blew off the thick layer of dust that I realized what I was holding. It was a letter. Not just any letter. It was addressed to me.
Under the now semi-cleared layer of dust were the words “To be opened by future me”. I looked at it for a few moments before opening it. I couldn’t remember making this at all, much less storing it up in my secret hiding spot. If ever I hid something, it was in the stash box. My hands shook a bit as I started to open the envelope and pulled out the yellowed pages inside. I started reading.
"Dear Future John. I have spent the last few years remembering a dream I had when I was younger. Life was…difficult at that time, and I spent a lot of time escaping my reality by reading a lot of books and watching a lot of TV. On the off-chance that what I think is a dream really happened. I wanted to write some things down in an effort to give you my thanks. I merely consider myself a conveyer of thanks, although I will pile on my own thanks to you for your words of encouragement. I remember finding a stranger in the house one day while I was home alone. I was afraid he was there to hurt me at first, but after a few moments, I came to realize I was meeting myself. Well, I was meeting me, but from the future. I think he said he was in his 40’s, but I couldn’t tell you with any certainty. Either way, we talked. We talked about life, and what the future held in store for us…
Mostly though, we talked about the abuse. Well, Talked is being generous. We cried, and then we talked. I don’t remember exactly what he told me, but I remember how he made me feel. He made me feel safe. I felt like I could trust him. Trust myself. In the end, he gave me the courage to stand up for myself both at home and at school. He also gave me the courage to talk to mom and dad about what was going on between me and Talia. I do remember being afraid that I would be punished, but he reassured me that they wouldn’t, and that they loved me.
It was a difficult and awkward conversation, but in the end, arrangements were made for me to share a room with Rio and Nathan. I didn’t have much of a relationship with Talia for a long while, but after some years, we managed to patch things up. She apologized to me, and I came to understand the abuse she herself was subjected to by so-called family friends. She didn’t tell me this in an effort to excuse it, but to merely help give me closure to a difficult time from my own childhood. Mom and dad promised to be more attentive to us and we sort of established what I guess you would call an open door policy. We talk more about stuff that’s happening in our lives. Mom is much easier to talk to now. Dad is a little more patient with us too. I apologized to them for not coming to them sooner, and dad gave me a “nugget of wisdom” that I think I’ll live by: We can’t fix what we don’t know is broken. I’ve tried to make sure I talk to them when something is wrong, and I’ve tried to implement that in my life so I don’t have problems with other people.
I’m trying to grow up to be a good guy. I want to have good relationships with people. Nathan says I’m turning into a people pleaser, but I don’t necessarily see that as a terrible thing. I know when to say no to someone. Well, either way, I wanted to make sure I thank you for the help you gave us. I probably won’t remember writing this, but I hope I do find it again someday. Here’s hoping I turn into the man I feel you are. -John Age 16."
I stared at the letter, the words blurring as tears welled up in my eyes. I quickly brushed them away as I quietly spoke to no one in particular. “Thanks guys. I hope I live up to your expectations” I folded the letter, placed it in my pocket, and walked out of the room. After picking up my backpack and tripod, I silently walked towards the front door, my footsteps echoing in the empty house. I turned to look back at the empty living room one last time, and after a moment, I walked out.
submitted by Figuarus to shortstories [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 01:50 Pyxil Death poops

So I've had colitis since I was 18, 29 now and recently something new has started, but I've also started on new meds: gabapentin and acetaminophen-hydrocodone for ongoing hand surgeries I take all my meds as prescribed at the same times, I started in January but since end of March something strange started happening.
I felt what felt like a mild flare but nothing else, then some blood, then....the death poop...
There was no urgency, felt like the normal need to go number 2 but about 5 minutes in I started hearing the Jaws theme song and then....my insides locked up like the fingerprint reader on my phone after a round of garlic Parmesan wings.....and cramp like my calfs after trying to do a tiktok dance.... I was bearing down so hard and so aggressively my "innie" started to become an "outtie" and I'm NOT talking about my belly button. I was in spain but the "s" was silent, my legs were aching, I was hot then cold back and forth, getting dizzy, grabbing a hold of anything around me, texting my roommate that I might need an ambulance (yes it was THAT bad) I was getting chest pain that shot through my back, arm and neck, breathing heavy and dreading every push that came up. For a moment flashes of the show "I didn't know I was pregnant went through my, a 29 year old sexless anime video game nerd who hasn't been laid since the dinosaurs, head. The weird thing was, while I was fighting for my life trying to avoid my rendezvous with Jesus where id show up with my pants down wondering why its called a "REST" room if I'm fighting for my life...there were moments where it would all just stop completely...I'd feel like I was done, that little piddle of pee that signifies youre almost free would come out...and then...IT WOULD START ALL OVER AGAIN the cramps and urge to push would rush in and id once again be dueling a swift visit to our Lord and Savior while my intestines did the mambo no.5 Again with cramping, aching legs, chest pain, pushing, sweating, splashing water on my face dizzy...it would just go on...oh and it BURNED even my PEE WAS HOT...this would go on for about and hour till I limped and penguined my miserable way out of the bathroom praying my brown eye would return to its socket, id climb into bed, one heat pad on my tummy the other on the blast site...and just sit there shakey, weak and traumatized...no really I'm TERRIFIED of these poops to the point where the first time they happened in the words of Dean Winchester "I didn't poop for a week" I stopped eating basically...
So...this sound familiar to anyone? Some things to consider...about 4 months ago I found out I have MILD celiacs disease and apparently had had it for a while but this never happened before...I'm not lactose intolerant but this has me scared I may have some new things to discover about myself and my affairs with cheese...other than that I'm just a girl with a poop problem like all you other porta potty passengers
Any suggestions would be wonderful! I wonder about constipation but I've been constipated before and it never tried to john wick me while in the porcelain prison 😩
So...this sound familiar to any of you
submitted by Pyxil to UlcerativeColitis [link] [comments]

2024.05.16 01:39 DownOnDeadst Can I get a bugal call for my 10yo thumb drive!!!!

Today was the day, changed some smb credentials and she finally gave out!!!! Bought this in probably 2013 or 14 used it in college constantly wrote unraid to it in probably 2016 (a literal sh** ton of times) been bullet proof over the years. And let's give a round of applause to the unraid team for unraid connect!!!!!! Thank you for making it so easy to replace the usb!!! I have been dreading this day for a long time ( because I used what I thought was just an old crap thumbdrive and have kept putting off replacing it). All I ever heard was how painful it used to be to replace. Crisis averted and we are back up and running after only 30min of downtime!!!!!
submitted by DownOnDeadst to unRAID [link] [comments]

http://swiebodzin.info