Blood alcohl level

I had general blood tests done about 5 months ago. My primary reassured me she would contact me if the results came back with anything dire and scheduled me for an appointment 3 months later.
Through some technology glitch or communication error, my primary didn't receive the results until I reminded her on my appointment 3 months later (1 months ago). At that time, she noticed elevated liver lipids (also high cholesterol). She requested I take an ultrasound and another round of blood work, presumably focusing more on my liver. The ultrasound came back with evidence of a fatty liver but no visible scarring observed. This was the best case scenario in my mind, frankly, due to my drinking regularly for 16 years.
The blood work came back today. I haven't seen my primary but sifting through the results on my own. I know I need to discuss it with her and have an appointment next week. But for now, there are three components of the test "out of reference range" but none were red flagged as "critical or alert."
-As expected, my platelets are elevated. In a reference range of 150-450, mine are currently at 507. Five months ago they were within range at 402. So it seemed to have elevated quite rapidly and I am not sure if that's completely concerning or not.
-5 months ago, my Neutrophils (Absolute) levels were high at 9.9 from a normal range of 1.4-7.0. This second test, the level is lower but still out of range. It is currently at 7.7 out of a normal range of 1.4-7.0.
-My test for Hep A Ab was positive and this part is the most confusing. I cannot recall if I have been vaccinated for this. If not, then I suppose I've either recovered from it in the past or am currently infected now.
Anyway, not sure why I'm sharing this. Actually, I do know why. This sub always seems to provide me comfort so I am just sharing my results.

Background info.
2023 - I was in a lot of radiating pain for three months and I start vomiting bile. Get to the hospital and I'm to unstable to remove my gallbladder. My gallbladder is about to rupture and my lipase is 5,500+ that was as high as the hospital could measure. Liver is fatty during this attack. Hospital said I must have had a stone block my bile duct and when I was vomiting so violently it shifted and I passed it. This is common with gallbladder issues. Great, now 4 days later of pushing fluids and not eating I get 6 am Sunday emergency gallbladder surgery. Lipase goes down to 550 and they send me home saying don't eat more than 4 grams of fat a day for a few months. Two more weeks of pain and I am finally heeled. Whoo
2024 - I get violently sick coming out both ends. If I try to drink or eat it goes right though me or I vomit in 15 minutes. 36 hours later I am sick with no vomiting but extreme diarrhea. My grandmother gets the same stomach bug I have and she is better completely in 36 hours. I still have everything going through me. I get so dehydrated I stop peeing, I just up my fluid in take. I go to a walk in clinic and they give me something to help that didnt work and im told go to the ER if not better tomorrow. After a week of being sick, I feel the pain. The exact same pain I felt in 2023 and I know what it is. I go to the ER laughing and talking with my family member so the doctor dismissed me as not really being sick and just an upset stomach. Until, lipase came back 3,000+. Doctor said it was much higher but they couldn't tell me since they can only test to that level. Transferred to a different hospital for a higher level of care. After pushing fluids for 3 days I have normal levels, the diarrhea stopped completely without medication and I go home. Doctors ran a lot of test (MRI, CT and blood work) and they are all normal. They think maybe I had another stone that I passed while vomiting. They are just not really sure what caused it. I have a fatty liver again. I had no pain this second time except for that first spasm that sent me to the ER. I was still eating normal and ate the entire time I was in the hospital.
More information: * White female - 29 years old. * I had a fatty liver and high cholesterol years ago but with a change in diet it went away. I was very surprised I had a fatty liver during both these attacks. Fatty liver went away the first time and my liver enzymes are already getting better after this second attack. Doctors said they think the pancreatitis is causing my liver enzymes to go up. * No stones or sluge found in any of the tests. * Doctors said none of the medication I'm on is known or reported to cause pancreatitis. -》Cymbalta, ADHD medication, Humira * Cholesterol is perfect and has been for years now. * Not a diabetic but almost everyone in my family is on both sides and multiple generations. - Type 1 & 2. * No history of family pancreas issues on any side or generation. * I do struggle with low calcium levels. * I am obese * I do not drink, even on occasion. * No tobacco or vabe or any kind. * I don't do anything illegal. * I take nothing over the counter, no vitamins, no herbs, supplements - Nothing. * I workout and eat my meats, fruits, and veggies. * I have Hidradenitis suppurativa and inverse psoriasis.
Have you seen this before? Any ideas? I by no means live a low fat life style. I enjoy my dark chocolate and southern cookin - nothing fried.
Thanks for the help. I just wanna keep from a third trip.

Background info
2023 - I was in a lot of radiating pain for three months, and I started vomiting bile. Get to the hospital, and I'm too unstable to remove my gallbladder. My gallbladder is about to rupture, and my lipase is 5,500+ that was as high as the hospital could measure. My liver is fatty during this attack. The hospital said I must have had a stone block my bile duct, and when I was vomiting, it was violently it shifted, and I passed it. This is common with gallbladder issues. Great, now 4 days later of pushing fluids and not eating, I get 6 am Sunday emergency gallbladder surgery. Lipase goes down to 550, and they send me home saying don't eat more than 4 grams of fat a day for a few months. Two more weeks of pain, and I am finally heeled. Whoo
2024 - I get violently sick coming out both ends. If I try to drink or eat, it goes right, though , or I vomit in 15 minutes. 36 hours later, I am sick with no vomiting but extreme diarrhea. My grandmother gets the same stomach bug I have, and she is better completely in 36 hours. I still have everything going through me. I get so dehydrated that I stop peeing, I just up my fluid in take. I go to a walk-in clinic, and they give me something to help that didn't work, and im told to go to the ER if not better tomorrow. After a week of being sick, I feel the pain. The exact same pain I felt in 2023, and I know what it is. I go to the ER laughing and talking with my family member, so the doctor dismissed me as not really being sick and just an upset stomach. Until, lipase came back 3,000+. The doctor said it was much higher, but they couldn't tell me since they can only test to that level. Transferred to a different hospital for a higher level of care. After pushing fluids for 3 days, I have normal levels, the diarrhea stopped completely without medication, and I go home. Doctors ran a lot of test (MRI, CT, and blood work), and they are all normal. They think maybe I had another stone that I passed while vomiting. They are just not really sure what caused it. I have a fatty liver again. I had no pain this second time except for that first spasm that sent me to the ER. I was still eating normal and ate the entire time I was in the hospital.
More information: * White female - 29 years old. * I had a fatty liver and high cholesterol years ago, but with a change in diet, it went away. I was very surprised I had a fatty liver during both these attacks. Fatty liver went away the first time, and my liver enzymes are already getting better after this second attack. Doctors said they think the pancreatitis is causing my liver enzymes to go up. * No stones or sluge found in any of the tests. * Doctors said none of the medication I'm on is known or reported to cause pancreatitis. -》Cymbalta, ADHD medication, Humira * Cholesterol is perfect and has been for years now. * Not a diabetic but almost everyone in my family is on both sides and multiple generations. - Type 1 & 2. * No history of family pancreas issues on any side or generation. * I do struggle with low calcium levels. * I am obese * I do not drink, even on occasion. * No tobacco or vabe or any kind. * I don't do anything illegal. * I take nothing over the counter, no vitamins, no herbs, supplements - Nothing. * I work out and eat my meats, fruits, and veggies. * I have Hidradenitis suppurativa and inverse psoriasis.
Have you seen this before? Any ideas? I by no means live a low fat lifestyle. I enjoy my dark chocolate and southern cooking - nothing fried.
Thanks for the help. I just wanna keep from a third trip.

33M, non-smoker, 68kg, 170cm, no previous medical issue
Conventional wisdom says that stress increases your risk for heart disease. However, if I understand the mechanism correctly, this is due to high cortisol levels contributing to increasing levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar and pressure, which is what is really causing the cardiovascular problems.
So if I have a lot of stress but my blood markers look excellent (e.g., because of healthy diet, regular exercise, not drinking, not smoking), am I really at increased risk?

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Ji Wuye's body materialized in a burst of blue flashes, his form slamming violently onto the hard floor.
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"Gasp!" A pained groan tore from his lips as he writhed, his muscles spasming uncontrollably.
‎
Deep crimson blood seeped from numerous wounds, pooling beneath his trembling form. Faint tendrils of azure radiance, his cultivated Qi, leaked erratically from the spiritual nodes in his lower abdomen and the newly-formed nexus blazing to life in his core.
‎
Using the potent Rejuvenation Pill had clearly taken a severe toll. Each of his Dantian, the metaphysical furnaces that refined his Qi, showed hairline fractures crisscrossing their surfaces like an intricate spiderweb, threatening to shatter completely.
‎
If this dire situation persisted, he would surely lose all his hard-won cultivation progress. However, before that calamitous outcome could come to pass, a warm emerald aura suddenly enveloped Ji Wuye's battered body in a protective cocoon.
‎
The ruptured meridians and cracked Dantian began knitting themselves back together with astonishing speed. Simultaneously, the newly birthed Middle Dantian pulsed hungrily, drinking in the seemingly infinite wellspring of Qi suffusing the chamber.
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[!] All temporary injuries had been healed! 

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[!] You have 30 minutes remaining before being teleported to the second floor! 

‎
Despite the miraculous healing, Ji Wuye remained frighteningly still and silent, his chest barely rising and falling with shallow breaths.
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The immense backlash from forcibly catalyzing the formation of his Middle Dantian had taken its toll, leaving him wracked with mental and physical exhaustion.
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...
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Time slipped by unnoticed as Ji Wuye's unconscious form lay motionless. Eventually, a translucent display flickered into existence before him.
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[!] You have 05 minutes remaining before being teleported to the second floor! 

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In that moment, Ji Wuye's eyes snapped open, the irises blazing crimson as they rapidly scanned his surroundings with a look of bewildered intensity.
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With deliberate movements, he rose to his feet, turning this way and that as he processed his situation. His gaze fell to his chest, and his brow furrowed quizzically as he registered the complete absence of pain or injury.
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Without a moment's hesitation, he channeled his Qi inwards, and his eyes widened palpably as he sensed the newly-solidified nexus of power thrumming at his core.
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A broad, triumphant grin slowly spread across his features. "It's a success!"
‎
Fully cognizant of the stark differences and heightened risks involved in transcending from the 2nd to the 3rd realm compared to his previous breakthrough, Ji Wuye had cleverly combined the restorative effects of the Tower's ambient energies with the catalyzing properties of the pill provided by the Elders.
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The potent tonic had fortified his physical form against the strain of forcing his meridians to restructure, while the Tower's intrinsic power had facilitated his body's subsequent recovery.
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Now that he had definitively advanced to the lofty 3rd realm, Ji Wuye immediately turned his focus inward once more, scrutinizing his status screen intently.
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STATUS SCREEN [->] Name: Ji Wuye [->] Level: 12 [->] Strength: 36 [->] Agility: 31 [->] Qi: 31 [*] Skills: - Quick Adaptation(F) - 

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A surprised bark of laughter escaped Ji Wuye's lips. "My level jumped from 7 all the way to 12, and every one of my core attributes increased by a staggering ten points!"
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He shook his head in amazement, recalling that his previous breakthrough to the 2nd realm had only elevated him to Level 5 along with comparatively meager stat gains.
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Now, standing at the apex of the Outer Disciples' power, Ji Wuye could rightly be considered one of the strongest amongst their ranks.
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"Though it's not a singularly remarkable achievement in the greater scope of things, it will more than suffice to deal with any annoying pests that cross my path."
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Having thoroughly inspected his updated status and with little time remaining before his impending transition, Ji Wuye swiftly accessed the enigmatic Shop interface.
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[*] SHOP [>] Skill [<] [>] Items [<] 

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"Item," Ji Wuye stated.
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[*] ITEMS TOG COINS: 900 Mana Potions - 50 coins Health Potions - 50 coins Training Wooden Shield - 75 coins Worn Farmer Boots - 25 coins Rope - 10 coins Healing Pills - 35 coins Cage of Light - 85 coins Stamina Potions - 50 coins 1-Year-Old Ginseng - 10 coins 

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A thoughtful frown creased Ji Wuye's brow as he rapidly scanned the list of available supplies. "For this floor's challenge, healing will likely prove crucial..."
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His gaze lingered momentarily on the health potions before he muttered dismissively, "But it would be wasteful to squander my limited coin reserves on such paltry restoratives."
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"Furthermore, I should conserve as much of my coin reserves as possible..." Ji Wuye murmured, his brow furrowing in contemplation as he surveyed the shop's wares with a calculating gaze.
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While the health potions represented a logical choice for their one-time restorative effect and immediate healing properties, he knew their utility would be fleeting at best.
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With a slight shake of his head, stray white locks swaying across his resolute features, Ji Wuye dismissed the potions from consideration.
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Just then, a shimmering notification materialized before him:
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[!] You have purchased item: Healing Pills! 

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[!] You have purchased item: 1 Years-old Gingseng x2! 

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"Hmm…" Ji Wuye nodded, a satisfied smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. The precious medicinal ginseng roots and concentrated healing pills would prove far more versatile assets for the challenges that potentially lay ahead.
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No sooner had the words left his lips than another ethereal display flickered into existence, its kaleidoscopic runes pulsing with a sense of urgency.
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[!] Time's up! You will now be forcefully transported into second floor! 

‎ ‎[📖First ⏮️Previous Next⏭️]

I had general blood tests done about a month or so ago and my primary noticed elevated liver lipids (also high cholesterol). She requested I take an ultrasound an another round of blood work, presumably focusing more on my liver. The ultrasound came back with evidence of a fatty liver but not visible scarring observed. This was the best case scenario in my mind, frankly, due to my drinking regularly for 16 years.
The blood work came back today. I haven't seen my primary but sifting through the results on my own. I know I need to discuss it with her and have an appointment next week. But for now, there are three components of the test "out of reference range" but none were red flagged as "critical or alert."
-As expected, my platelets are elevated. In a reference range of 150-450, mine are currently at 507. Five months ago they were within range at 402. So it seemed to have elevated quite rapidly and I am not sure if that's completely concerning or not.
-5 months ago, my Neutrophils (Absolute) levels were high at 9.9 from a normal range of 1.4-7.0. This second test, the level is lower but still out of range. It is currently at 7.7 out of a normal range of 1.4-7.0.
-My test for Hep A Ab was positive and this part is the most confusing. I cannot recall if I have been vaccinated for this. If not, then I suppose I've either recovered from it in the past or am currently infected now.
Anyway, not sure why I'm sharing this. Actually, I do know why. This sub always seems to provide me comfort so I am just sharing my results.

Elemental Bane 4th level Range: 90 feet V/S Duration: 1min (c)
Choose one creature you can see within range, and choose one of the following damage types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. The target must succeed on a Constitution saving throw or be affected by the spell for its duration. The first time each turn the affected target takes damage of the chosen type, the target takes an extra 2d6 damage of that type. Moreover, the target loses any resistance to that damage type until the spell ends.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 5th level or higher, you can target one additional creature for each slot level above 4th. The creatures must be within 30 feet of each other when you target them.
Elemental Evil Player's Companion, pg. 155

Throughout 5e's multiple communities it's been repeatedly stated that Elemental Bane is considered extremely niche and weak, especially so for being a 4th level Concentration Spell that requires a Con ST.
How would one "fix" it? Would turning Immunities into Resistances a la amplified Blood Curse of Exposure work? Or would that be too strong? Maybe dropping it to a 3rd level Spell but leaving the rest as is would be good enough?

2023 - I was in a lot of radiating pain for three months and I start vomiting bile. Get to the hospital and I'm to unstable to remove my gallbladder. My gallbladder is about to rupture and my lipase is 5,500+ that was as high as the hospital could measure. Liver is fatty during this attack. Hospital said I must have had a stone block my bile duct and when I was vomiting so violently it shifted and I passed it. This is common with gallbladder issues. Great, now 4 days later of pushing fluids and not eating I get 6 am Sunday emergency gallbladder surgery. Lipase goes down to 550 and they send me home saying don't eat more than 4 grams of fat a day for a few months. Two more weeks of pain and I am finally heeled. Whoo
2024 - I get violently sick coming out both ends. If I try to drink or eat it goes right though me or I vomit in 15 minutes. 36 hours later I am sick with no vomiting but extreme diarrhea. My grandmother gets the same stomach bug I have and she is better completely in 36 hours. I still have everything going through me. I get so dehydrated I stop peeing, I just up my fluid in take. I go to a walk in clinic and they give me something to help that didnt work and im told go to the ER if not better tomorrow. After a week of being sick, I feel the pain. The exact same pain I felt in 2023 and I know what it is. I go to the ER laughing and talking with my family member so the doctor dismissed me as not really being sick and just an upset stomach. Until, lipase came back 3,000+. Doctor said it was much higher but they couldn't tell me since they can only test to that level. Transferred to a different hospital for a higher level of care. After pushing fluids for 3 days I have normal levels, the diarrhea stopped completely without medication and I go home. Doctors ran a lot of test (MRI, CT and blood work) and they are all normal. They think maybe I had another stone that I passed while vomiting. They are just not really sure what caused it. I have a fatty liver again. I had no pain this second time except for that first spasm that sent me to the ER. I was still eating normal and ate the entire time I was in the hospital.
More information: * I had a fatty liver and high cholesterol years ago but with a change in diet it went away. I was very surprised I had a fatty liver during both these attacks. Fatty liver went away the first time and my liver enzymes are already getting better after this second attack. Doctors said they think the pancreatitis is causing my liver enzymes to go up. * No stones or sluge found in any of the tests. * Doctors said none of the medication I'm on is known or reported to cause pancreatitis. * Cholesterol is perfect and has been for years now. * No history of family pancreas issues on any side or generation. * I do struggle with low calcium levels. * I am obese * I do not drink, even on occasion. * No tobacco or vabe or any kind. * I don't do anything illegal. * I take nothing over the counter, no vitamins, no herbs - Nothing. * I workout and eat my meats, fruits, and veggies. * I have Hidradenitis suppurativa and inverse psoriasis.
Have you seen this before? Any ideas? I by no means live a low fat life style. I enjoy my dark chocolate.
Thanks for the help. I just wanna keep from a third trip.

Hello,
So I’m constructing a mono black Erebos, God of the Dead control deck. It’s running all the black staples, strong tutors, mana doubling and ramping effects, big X cost spells, removal, strong creatures like Sheoldred and oppressive enchantments like Grave Pact and Painful Quandary. However I’m looking at the list and I have Exquisite blood slotted in already and just wondering to myself if there would ever be a reason to not auto include Sanguine bond from a practical perspective. It’s not really a life gain theme deck it’s just a good stuffs deck, meant for kitchen table decks around like level 7’s. But part of me wants to not run it so I’m not a combo deck and can instead use my tutors for more tactical decisions rather then rushing to get my infinite combo every game.
Thoughts?

Don't let this happen to you if you have a high BMI.
My clinic called my transfer a negative on day 9 and then found a sac after a progesterone withdrawal bleed weeks after my transfer. You can see my post history for more details. The thing is my beta was at 4.8 mIU/mL. Plenty of clinics would call that a negative, but with fat women HCG is lower in early pregnancy.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0015028218318867
Here's just one paper (there are more) I found after all this mess happened. It states that with a a 100 lb difference in weight HCG is about 34.8% lower in early pregnancy. Apply that math and my HCG if I weighed less would have been 7.4 mIU/mL. If you think about it, it really just makes sense. If you weigh more you have more blood and it will take longer for HCG levels to get to "positive levels." For every molecule of HCG someone of a normal body weight makes, I would have to make at least 1.25 molecules. That's not even counting what effects fat could have on HCG production, just simply considering how blood volume works.
There's no guarantee I would still be pregnant. My doctor keeps insisting I was magically breakthrough ovulating after a fully medicated cycle. I spoke to two fertility nurses who agreed with me though. I get why my doctor is sticking with breakthrough ovulation, if I caused a miscarriage I would want to grasp at any other straws I could to deflect from that extremely obvious conclusion.
I've known my whole adult life fat people do not get the same quality of medical care, but it hurts when it happens to you. What would have been our daughter survived a progesterone withdrawal bleed for as long as she could, but ultimately had no chance on a depleted lining. I'm so angry and sad and tired of this.

Tl;dr she’s had a rough childhood which had manifested in a lot of toxic behaviors she has trouble taking accountability for. I tried to stick it out for our kids but I just don’t want to anymore.
I had a similar (now deleted) post here before where I was trying to be a lot more, uh, impartial. It didn’t really get much traction, possibly because I posted at like, midnight, probably because I ramble a lot and am stupid/boring af, so I figured I’d lay out more of my perspective and see what people think. Also, sorry for a really long text dump. I am shit at being concise and this has been bottled up for a long time.
Basically, I(30m) have decided to leave my (31f) wife because of her anger issues and constantly making me feel unsupported/unimportant. We’ve been married for almost 9 years, and have two kids, 8 and 5. This entire time, I’ve been dealing with her and being on the receiving end of often really bad emotional outbursts. Sometimes directed at me, other times directed at our kids. Often times even little things will set her off extremely disproportionately to whatever “offense” actually occurred. She has a habit of also being really crass and not considerate of people around her. I do need to note that she DOES work really hard taking care of the house and stuff she’s not without effort on her part. I work a lot more and handle getting kids to appointments and stuff, but she puts in probably more than her fair share of housework. I get that this totally comes across as “Local deadbeat offended for being called out.” And I get that. In the beginning I deserved a lot of what I got. I wouldn’t blame anyone for still pinning this on me. I might if I were a third party.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve had faults in the past, and in both my old post and now, I don’t want to downplay her concerns/needs/boundaries and whatnot, but the responses often don’t feel proportional. She’s also had a rough childhood and by her own admission is just mirroring what she knows as parenting from her childhood. Many things have improved tremendously overtime, but not everything, and I don’t really want to wait another decade to see if things are finally at what I’d consider an acceptable level.
For instance, I am a gamer. I know the sort of mental picture that paints, and I’ll admit I wasn’t great in the past. We got married in college and I always had roommates, so I hadn’t mentally adjusted to being responsible as a husband. Totally my bad. Sometimes I would spend way too much time over at a friend’s, late into the night without really updating her on plans, because I didn’t really have one. Other times, I would ask permission to take part in a raid, and be very upfront about the fact that it would take multiple hours. Instead of asking when I’d be done, or for an update or anything, she’d just shout at me that she had been waiting for several hours.
Again, can’t really fault her here too much. We both could have communicated better, and I could have been more responsible with my time. The thing that frustrates me is that she has suggested stuff like trying to make a schedule or set aside time for either family days, or personal days ahead of time. Makes tons of sense. However, it’s a two person job. I can’t do it alone. This is where the stuff that frustrates me starts to come in. There is a lot of “wanting her cake and eating it too” or “rules for thee but not for me” that started to happen. She would suggest trying to plan out a weekly schedule, but because I worked fast food at the time, I had an inconsistent schedule. Not great, but workable. If we wanted to make a schedule, we totally could but it would have required us to sit down and work it out each week. She refused because “it was too much and she just can’t handle it.”
Ok, ALSO fair enough I suppose. It’s my job causing issues. More than fair that she has issue with that. What I found NOT ok, was her taking that and eventually threatening me with a lawyer (At a future point after we’d discussed separating at some point) saying, “Well you should really put in the effort to actually make a schedule, because what would a lawyer think of that?”
From there it just revolves into pettier and pettier things, like being upset at me for not changing out of my work uniform right away, but then also stalling me trying to talk about daily stuff and then yelling at me if I ask if I can change first, because I’m trying to ignore her. She is frustrated because she doesn’t really get days off, which is sort of true. I try to organize times for her to take a day off, but she declines saying she needs to spent time with our kids. I try to arrange zoo trips or something with our kids, and she’ll lag around until 10am, and then while only wearing a shirt and underwear, yell at all of us for not getting into the car to leave.
She’s been in individual counseling, and we’ve tried couple’s counseling, and the one consistent theme is how her mental bucket it always empty and I never do anything to help her. To some degree that is probably true, but I feel she also has a really hard time accepting help, or she digs her own grave half the time. Everything feels very binary with her. Someone has to be right, and if someone is right, then someone else is wrong. She also has to always be right, meaning I am always wrong. She can’t see any nuance to things. Why can’t we both be right or wrong?
Throughout all this time, my main problem has never been her lashing out or anything. I totally get that I cause this half the time. What I take issue with is her not taking accountability for her actions. I’ll bring something to her attention that was upsetting and I’ll get the classic “Well I’m sorry you feel that way.” No actual apology, even in the times where I am undeniably in the right.
She’ll also do stuff like walk into a situation and react in anger without actually bothering to figure out what was going on. One time, she asked a buddy to set up a portable AC unit when our main AC went down. He didn’t realize there was an outer double window that needed to be opened to vent heat outside, meaning the exhaust was effectively clogged. He did this whole setup while I was at work. I came home to find him getting ready to test which outlets were connected to what breaker, because one kept tripping. We were working on that when she came home and found the window. She proceeded to scream at me for almost ten minutes about how I almost broke the unit despite telling her numerous times I had absolutely nothing to do with the set up. Her response? “Well you were here, so clearly you had something to do with it.”
I also just don’t feel like she even wants me around half the time. The above sort of things makes me feel like the only reason I’m there is to do chores. Early on I expressed how I don’t want to be in a relationship where I am treated like this, the implication being that I want us to improve things. She just told me to walk out the door then, if that’s what I wanted. She did similar a few times throughout the years as well. Up until recently I have never actually mentioned divorce, but she keeps throwing in my face that I always just want to leave. There’s tons of other things like saying “If you wanted to be a real dad you’d do X” or “A real man would Y.” She even was talking shit about me to a friend who called while we were driving somewhere, while I was sitting right next to her, saying she was annoyed because her yelling upset me.
Even through ALL of that, I might not care, because again, things HAVE gotten better. But our kids get stuck in the crossfire too. She constantly yells at them over little things. Screaming and saying stuff lights she’s gonna beat their asses if they don’t listen. She’ll yell at them anywhere if they annoy her, even in public, and she doesn’t care if I try to bring up how that looks to onlookers.
It all culminated last October when we were visiting some family. I was downstairs with our kid who was sick at the time, and she yelled at our older kid for something. I don’t know the exact circumstances because I wasn’t in the room, but apparently my aunts confronted her accusing her of being abusive to the kids. She shut down and basically made us leave right away the next morning. She also yelled at me for not feeding sick kid because “He needs to eat something or his blood sugar can tank and he’ll end up in the hospital. Do you want that?”
Except he DID eat something. He had improved a bit throughout the day and went with me and my parents to Mt. Rushmore and had some ice cream and stuff. That’s ignoring the fact that sleeping and not eating for an afternoon will not kill him. She would have known he ate if she either went sightseeing with us, or bothered to ask, but she just assumed. She stayed home and rested because he was tossing and turning in the night, waking her frequently. I get that, but also, I had been up late into the night smoking a brisket, and I still got up and went.
It’s just tons and tons of little things like this, where I can sort of see why she’s frustrated, and so I don’t really feel justified in wanting to leave for my own selfishness. I was definitely not even mostly attentive early on, but I feel like I have learned and improved where it matters. I just am burned out and don’t want to maintain the relationship anymore. I’ve been staying in a separate room for a while, and even though we have officially legally done anything yet, and I haven’t moved out fully, I’ve been considering whether I want to ask someone out on a date. That’s how far done I am, though I KNOW I’d be the asshole if I went that far at this stage.
So, Reddit, am I overreacting? Have I made dug my own grave and need to deal with it?

Took my tampon out earlier today, noticed it had a purple tint to the blood. What does this mean? I googled it, says it’s could be high estrogen levels. I’m a little freaked out!

I am 53 years old and recently had a mri and the PiRad score was 2. Lots of blood tests and the psa levels came back at 5.8 . And I have recently been scheduled for a biopsy for next week. It makes me wonder if the PiRad score is so low why do a biopsy. Or just to verify the presence of cancer or not.

Hi guys, I’ve been lurking on this sub for the past few weeks while I am going through all these steps. You guys seem to have a wonderful and supportive community.
I (25F) was getting a wellness visit with my OB, when he noted a lump on my neck. I had never noticed it before, but now I realized it’s definitely visible if you’re looking for it. I’m graduating medical school at the end of this month and was actually bothered that I hadn’t noticed it myself. Anyways, he recommended I get an ultrasound just to make sure it was nothing. I felt anxious before the ultrasound, but I let my medical knowledge take over & told myself that thyroid nodules are so common, and it was going to be nothing on the ultrasound—probably just a cyst. TIRADS 4, solid, hypoechoic, blood flow centrally and peripherally, 2.1 x 0.9 x 2.3 cm. Plus another small (mm) solid nodule with blood flow on the other side. Got my FNA, and again, tried to assure myself it would be okay. Went through waves of reading all the academic articles on thyroid cancers and then trying to forget it was even happening. I’ve had terrible trouble sleeping ever since this started. FNA results were Bethesda III. Micro- & macro-follicular cells with nuclear grooves, crowding, and overlapping cells. I was so prepared to finally have an answer after sitting on the fence for the past couple weeks. I’m now waiting for my ThyGeNEXT & ThyraMIR testing to come back in 2 weeks.
I guess my newest worries involve getting another “borderline” test and having to make the life altering decision to get surgery or not. I’m about to begin residency training and do not know when I will have time to have surgery/be off for a week or two. Much less struggle through the effects of low thyroid hormones until my levels get right (with meds or if I keep half). I also don’t have kids yet, and that was in the plan for the next couple years, and I’m worried about that timeline getting pushed way back while my hormones sort themselves out as well.
Also, I guess this means it would be a follicular cancer (rather than papillary or anaplastic) based on the FNA description/not being able to diagnose it solely based on FNA. Is that a correct assumption?
Is there anyone in here that’s choosing to monitor their nodules even after getting molecular testing?
In general, I’m just feeling anxious.
TLDR: 25F, TIRADS 4 nodule, Bethesda 3, awaiting molecular testing and very anxious about upcoming decisions.

Male aged 29.
I've been so stressed lately. My anxiety is at an all time high. I've honestly never been this anxious in my life with so many life changes.
I also had an illness a few weeks ago so not sure if they caused my slightly elevated white blood cells count.
My neutrophils and monocytes were slightly above the normal range. Everything else on the blood test was normal.
My overall WBC was 12.4
This has freaked me out so much. I have to get another blood test in a few weeks to check the levels and can't stop stressing.
Can stress and anxiety elevate white blood cell levels above the normal range?
The doctors didn't seem worried and said these things normally resolve themself and that blood cancers are rare in 30 year olds.
I can't stop thinking I have cancer now or something and would appreciate some advice. I don't have any symptoms and the rest of the blood test was normal.
Am I completely overreacting from what I gather is a common finding on blood tests?

Got routine blood tests at Kaiser yesterday. Fasting glucose, cholesterol, iron levels and so on. Been doing this for years. No big deal.
Today I saw something new in my test results. A Drug Pain Panel. It tested for opiates, Amphetamines, cocaine and other illegal substances.
I'm not worried about the results. I'm 63. Non drinker and non smoker since 1980. I legally take CBD/THC for RLS the last 4 years.
I am concerned a health insurance company is illegal drug testing without my knowledge or consent.

• I did not authorize these Drug Pain Panel tests.
• I was not informed these tests we added to my routine blood tests.
• There is no way for me to know about data security. Actuarial data (like being given the test, let alone the results) could effect my ability to get insurance down the road.

I asked for grievance papers to be sent to me. I'm not expecting much of the process.
Can insurance companies like KP give unauthorized tests for illegal drugs?

I've read Overgeared, The Game That I Came From, Great Estate Developer, and a bunxh of others that I've purged the titles from my mind. And I love the worlds, the ideas in them, and the systems.
But dear lord I'm sick to death of MCs with lousy personalities. I'm tired of the greed assholes. I'm bored with the idiot whiners. I'm done with the brooding edgelords who reincarnate and have all the personality and character growth of a clump of mud.
The perpetual grim of Revenge of the Iron-Blooded Sword Hound does not appeal to me. The Beginning after the end is taking way to long to do ANYTHING. Tower of God i hate the MC. The tutorial tower of the advanced player just sucks as an MC.
Hell, even solo leveling to a point got dull because he's just this over powered guy, and nothing more.
I'm looking for MCs like Omniscient Reader, SSS-Class Suicide Hunter, or Jungle Juice. If anyone knows anything that has like... at least 50 chapters at this point, please tell me.

I'm in my 20s and generally healthy. Recently the doctor felt cysts in my breasts, after I complained about soreness/heaviness after my period had ended.
I did a hormone blood test and an ultrasound, am just waiting for results.
I'm scared because even if this isn't breast cancer, it might mean I'm more prone to developing it. :( I really don't know what caused it...my diet and workout habits have been the same. The doctor thinks maybe my estrogen levels were elevated from stress.
Anyone else here had / have breast cysts? Do they eventually just go away on their own?

I used to be part of a college film club with a small group of friends. We spent most of our time making amateur home movies of varying success. Some of these films got us support from professors and online critics, while others were mostly just made to screw around. Take Josh for example. His idea of a movie was his filming himself perform inane pranks around the neighborhood. Heard he even got arrested after one time he got caught causing a scene inside Walmart.
The others and I took filmmaking much more seriously by comparison. Our movies were low-budget performances that tried to tell an engaging story with what little resources we had. Being a director can be stressful at times, but there's no greater feeling than bringing your vision to life. I've been obsessed with movies ever since childhood. It's crazy how directors have to juggle so many different elements and variables together just to make one story. They have to worry about the budget, the actors, the producers, and several other factors most people take for granted. That deserves a lot of respect.
One day, we were greeted with news of an upcoming film festival. Film clubs from several different colleges were to submit their movies to an official website and the winning team would receive a generous cash prize and get to workshop their movie with a Hollywood pro. Needless to say, this was extremely exciting for us. This was finally our chance to take our careers to the next level and enter the mainstream. We all began brainstorming the plot of our movie and where the location could be.
Ryan, our unofficial leader, decided we should try out this abandoned cabin near the woods a few miles away from campus. He said it would be the perfect spot for a good horror movie. True to his word, there was a vacant cabin that was ideal for what we were looking for. Heavy layers of dust coated every surface and the furniture was thrown around like a bomb had gone off. I figured this place must've been ransacked by looters before we got here, but there were still a lot of expensive looking items there. It was like the owners just trashed the place and left for no reason. With a good cleanup, it would've made a nice hangout spot, but we decided to leave things alone to add to the horror vibe.
We all surveyed the area as we went over the plot. It was going to be a slasher movie about a group of friends who discovered a satanic grimmoire and accidentally summoned a demon who possessed them one by one. I was pretty excited about it since the occult was another hobby of mine. Ryan even brought in an authentic looking book filled with mystic runes.
The filming went well at first. We all naturally played out our roles and did a good job of bringing the script to life. Too bad Ryan didn't feel the same way. He's the most enthusiastic one about movies so he had no shortage of barbed commentary on what we were doing wrong.
" You need to emote more!"
" Your body language isn't showing enough fear!"
" That line is gonna need another retake!"
His insistent barking was getting on our last nerves so we told him we would all quit if he continued acting like such a prick. He tried defending himself by saying he was only doing what was best for the group, but we weren't hearing it. Defeated and royally pissed off, Ryan stepped outside to cool off his head. Ryan usually found a way to get the final word in every argument, so it was incredibly satisfying to get him to shut up for once.
There was hardly any cell reception in the woods and I didn't have anything to do until Ryan got back, leading me to pass the time by exploring more of the cabin. I went upstairs where I found several documents callously thrown about. I picked one up to see this strange picture of a tree-like creature. It had a large lanky body with dried skin that looked like wood, arms as long as its body, and, most striking of all, two sirens in place of a head. It took me a moment to process what I was seeing, but I eventually realized it was sirenhead!
I've heard stories about this creature and how it preys on people in desolate areas to eat them up. It was one of the most popular urban legends in recent years. I looked over the documents again and found even more sirenhead images. There was also text placed next to them describing the lore of the creature, going into detail about its several possible origins. The final document was a letter where the author described how he came to this cabin to track down sirenhead after their brother went missing in these woods. They went on about how they were certain that Sirenhead was responsible for their dissaprence and they would make it pay.
It felt like I was reading the ramblings of a madman and would've passed it off as such until I saw the newspaper clippings. Several articles were pinned to the wall detailing a series of mysterious disappearances in the area. One of the missing people eventually returned back home with extensive cuts and bruises. He said that he was held captive by a giant monstrosity and managed to take a picture of it before escaping. Attached to the article was a blurry image of what appeared to be the sirenhead. Suddenly, the cabin's disheveled interior was beginning to make more sense.
I was about to alert the others about my discovery when an ear splitting siren noise rang in our ears. It felt like my eardrums were about to explode at any moment. The horrid noise went on for a couple of seconds before it was replaced by Ryan's bloodcurdling screams. His screams were impossibly loud. It was like he was being broadcast on a giant megaphone.
We all scrambled out of the house in pursuit of Ryan. I wasn't too familiar with the lore of sirenhead, but it didn't take much foresight to know that it was probably responsible for that loud siren sound from earlier. If it was out there, there was a good chance Ryan could be one of its victims. I didn't want to see him get killed even though we butted heads often. We were still friends in a way. It's not like I wanted him to die.
Fear hung in the air as we ran in the direction of Ryan's screams. They grew more anguished with each passing second. My heart pulsed like a volcano on the verge of erupting. Our group stopped in the middle of an open forest area where Ryan's screams were the loudest until they came to an abrupt end. We called out to him and searched the area, but found nothing. Unnerved by his disappearance, we wondered to ourselves where the hell could he be.
The answer we got is something that will always haunt me.
A warm liquid dropped on the bridge of my nose, startling me from my thoughts. A faint iron odor invaded my nostrils and my finger was dyed red when I wiped my nose. A couple more droplets landed on my face, prompting me to look up.
I wish I hadn't.
Gorged on a tree branch above all of us was Ryan... or rather, what remained of him. The bottom half of his body was completely gone, leaving only a corpse which profusely spilled blood on the ground below. His right arm was gnawed at to the point there was more bone than skin. The expression on Ryan's corpse could only be described as unimaginable anguish. His face was so contorted that it looked outright inhumane. I barely had time to process what I was seeing until the last remains of Ryan forever vanished from my sight.
That's when it hit me. Ryan wasn't imapaled on a tree at all. I just witnessed sirenhead devour my friend. In my panic, I didn't pay much attention to them, but I got a clear view of the eponymous sirens as the creature gazed down on us, fresh blood dripping from its mouth.
I bolted the hell out of there while screaming my head off. The others weren't far behind me as we all desperately tried to outrun that damned monster. One by one, I heard the anguished screams of my club members as sirenhead scooped them up with its hideously long arms and chomped down on them. The bastard dug the knife deeper by broadcasting their deathacreams throughout the entire forest to make sure I could hear their final moments no matter how far I ran. It honest to God broke me having to experience that. I remember balling my eyes out and vomiting on myself during my dash back to the city.
Through what can only be described as a miracle, I made it back to town. I looked back and saw sirenhead standing near the forest trail, but he didn't dare go farther. I learned that day that sirenhead doesn't enter open spaces and prefers to camouflage itself with nature. It usually isn't seen in urban areas.
Two weeks have passed since that incident and my life hasn't been the same since. With most members of the film club missing, the group disbanded while their family and friends investigated their whereabouts. A mass disappearance like that naturally made local news and now our small town is abuzz with worried gossip. Police questioned me on if I had any leads , but, I of course played dumb. It's not like they would've believed the reality of what happened so I kept the truth locked away. The complete opposite of what a director is supposed to do.
Late at night, I sometimes hear a siren alarm in the distance from my bedroom. It grows louder with every few days and along with it, I can faintly make out the voices of my departed friends begging me to save them. My house is surrounded by a colony of large trees, making it the perfect camouflage spot for sirenhead. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be safe here, but I'm uploading this document for anyone who has any doubts. Sirenhead is very real and it does NOT like it when it's prey escapes. It always finishes its meal.

I used to be part of a college film club with a small group of friends. We spent most of our time making amateur home movies of varying success. Some of these films got us support from professors and online critics, while others were mostly just made to screw around. Take Josh for example. His idea of a movie was his filming himself perform inane pranks around the neighborhood. Heard he even got arrested after one time he got caught causing a scene inside Walmart.
The others and I took filmmaking much more seriously by comparison. Our movies were low-budget performances that tried to tell an engaging story with what little resources we had. Being a director can be stressful at times, but there's no greater feeling than bringing your vision to life. I've been obsessed with movies ever since childhood. It's crazy how directors have to juggle so many different elements and variables together just to make one story. They have to worry about the budget, the actors, the producers, and several other factors most people take for granted. That deserves a lot of respect.
One day, we were greeted with news of an upcoming film festival. Film clubs from several different colleges were to submit their movies to an official website and the winning team would receive a generous cash prize and get to workshop their movie with a Hollywood pro. Needless to say, this was extremely exciting for us. This was finally our chance to take our careers to the next level and enter the mainstream. We all began brainstorming the plot of our movie and where the location could be.
Ryan, our unofficial leader, decided we should try out this abandoned cabin near the woods a few miles away from campus. He said it would be the perfect spot for a good horror movie. True to his word, there was a vacant cabin that was ideal for what we were looking for. Heavy layers of dust coated every surface and the furniture was thrown around like a bomb had gone off. I figured this place must've been ransacked by looters before we got here, but there were still a lot of expensive looking items there. It was like the owners just trashed the place and left for no reason. With a good cleanup, it would've made a nice hangout spot, but we decided to leave things alone to add to the horror vibe.
We all surveyed the area as we went over the plot. It was going to be a slasher movie about a group of friends who discovered a satanic grimmoire and accidentally summoned a demon who possessed them one by one. I was pretty excited about it since the occult was another hobby of mine. Ryan even brought in an authentic looking book filled with mystic runes.
The filming went well at first. We all naturally played out our roles and did a good job of bringing the script to life. Too bad Ryan didn't feel the same way. He's the most enthusiastic one about movies so he had no shortage of barbed commentary on what we were doing wrong.
" You need to emote more!"
" Your body language isn't showing enough fear!"
" That line is gonna need another retake!"
His insistent barking was getting on our last nerves so we told him we would all quit if he continued acting like such a prick. He tried defending himself by saying he was only doing what was best for the group, but we weren't hearing it. Defeated and royally pissed off, Ryan stepped outside to cool off his head. Ryan usually found a way to get the final word in every argument, so it was incredibly satisfying to get him to shut up for once.
There was hardly any cell reception in the woods and I didn't have anything to do until Ryan got back, leading me to pass the time by exploring more of the cabin. I went upstairs where I found several documents callously thrown about. I picked one up to see this strange picture of a tree-like creature. It had a large lanky body with dried skin that looked like wood, arms as long as its body, and, most striking of all, two sirens in place of a head. It took me a moment to process what I was seeing, but I eventually realized it was sirenhead!
I've heard stories about this creature and how it preys on people in desolate areas to eat them up. It was one of the most popular urban legends in recent years. I looked over the documents again and found even more sirenhead images. There was also text placed next to them describing the lore of the creature, going into detail about its several possible origins. The final document was a letter where the author described how he came to this cabin to track down sirenhead after their brother went missing in these woods. They went on about how they were certain that Sirenhead was responsible for their dissaprence and they would make it pay.
It felt like I was reading the ramblings of a madman and would've passed it off as such until I saw the newspaper clippings. Several articles were pinned to the wall detailing a series of mysterious disappearances in the area. One of the missing people eventually returned back home with extensive cuts and bruises. He said that he was held captive by a giant monstrosity and managed to take a picture of it before escaping. Attached to the article was a blurry image of what appeared to be the sirenhead. Suddenly, the cabin's disheveled interior was beginning to make more sense.
I was about to alert the others about my discovery when an ear splitting siren noise rang in our ears. It felt like my eardrums were about to explode at any moment. The horrid noise went on for a couple of seconds before it was replaced by Ryan's bloodcurdling screams. His screams were impossibly loud. It was like he was being broadcast on a giant megaphone.
We all scrambled out of the house in pursuit of Ryan. I wasn't too familiar with the lore of sirenhead, but it didn't take much foresight to know that it was probably responsible for that loud siren sound from earlier. If it was out there, there was a good chance Ryan could be one of its victims. I didn't want to see him get killed even though we butted heads often. We were still friends in a way. It's not like I wanted him to die.
Fear hung in the air as we ran in the direction of Ryan's screams. They grew more anguished with each passing second. My heart pulsed like a volcano on the verge of erupting. Our group stopped in the middle of an open forest area where Ryan's screams were the loudest until they came to an abrupt end. We called out to him and searched the area, but found nothing. Unnerved by his disappearance, we wondered to ourselves where the hell could he be.
The answer we got is something that will always haunt me.
A warm liquid dropped on the bridge of my nose, startling me from my thoughts. A faint iron odor invaded my nostrils and my finger was dyed red when I wiped my nose. A couple more droplets landed on my face, prompting me to look up.
I wish I hadn't.
Gorged on a tree branch above all of us was Ryan... or rather, what remained of him. The bottom half of his body was completely gone, leaving only a corpse which profusely spilled blood on the ground below. His right arm was gnawed at to the point there was more bone than skin. The expression on Ryan's corpse could only be described as unimaginable anguish. His face was so contorted that it looked outright inhumane. I barely had time to process what I was seeing until the last remains of Ryan forever vanished from my sight.
That's when it hit me. Ryan wasn't imapaled on a tree at all. I just witnessed sirenhead devour my friend. In my panic, I didn't pay much attention to them, but I got a clear view of the eponymous sirens as the creature gazed down on us, fresh blood dripping from its mouth.
I bolted the hell out of there while screaming my head off. The others weren't far behind me as we all desperately tried to outrun that damned monster. One by one, I heard the anguished screams of my club members as sirenhead scooped them up with its hideously long arms and chomped down on them. The bastard dug the knife deeper by broadcasting their deathacreams throughout the entire forest to make sure I could hear their final moments no matter how far I ran. It honest to God broke me having to experience that. I remember balling my eyes out and vomiting on myself during my dash back to the city.
Through what can only be described as a miracle, I made it back to town. I looked back and saw sirenhead standing near the forest trail, but he didn't dare go farther. I learned that day that sirenhead doesn't enter open spaces and prefers to camouflage itself with nature. It usually isn't seen in urban areas.
Two weeks have passed since that incident and my life hasn't been the same since. With most members of the film club missing, the group disbanded while their family and friends investigated their whereabouts. A mass disappearance like that naturally made local news and now our small town is abuzz with worried gossip. Police questioned me on if I had any leads , but, I of course played dumb. It's not like they would've believed the reality of what happened so I kept the truth locked away. The complete opposite of what a director is supposed to do.
Late at night, I sometimes hear a siren alarm in the distance from my bedroom. It grows louder with every few days and along with it, I can faintly make out the voices of my departed friends begging me to save them. My house is surrounded by a colony of large trees, making it the perfect camouflage spot for sirenhead. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be safe here, but I'm uploading this document for anyone who has any doubts. Sirenhead is very real and it does NOT like it when it's prey escapes. It always finishes its meal.

I used to be part of a college film club with a small group of friends. We spent most of our time making amateur home movies of varying success. Some of these films got us support from professors and online critics, while others were mostly just made to screw around. Take Josh for example. His idea of a movie was his filming himself perform inane pranks around the neighborhood. Heard he even got arrested after one time he got caught causing a scene inside Walmart.
The others and I took filmmaking much more seriously by comparison. Our movies were low-budget performances that tried to tell an engaging story with what little resources we had. Being a director can be stressful at times, but there's no greater feeling than bringing your vision to life. I've been obsessed with movies ever since childhood. It's crazy how directors have to juggle so many different elements and variables together just to make one story. They have to worry about the budget, the actors, the producers, and several other factors most people take for granted. That deserves a lot of respect.
One day, we were greeted with news of an upcoming film festival. Film clubs from several different colleges were to submit their movies to an official website and the winning team would receive a generous cash prize and get to workshop their movie with a Hollywood pro. Needless to say, this was extremely exciting for us. This was finally our chance to take our careers to the next level and enter the mainstream. We all began brainstorming the plot of our movie and where the location could be.
Ryan, our unofficial leader, decided we should try out this abandoned cabin near the woods a few miles away from campus. He said it would be the perfect spot for a good horror movie. True to his word, there was a vacant cabin that was ideal for what we were looking for. Heavy layers of dust coated every surface and the furniture was thrown around like a bomb had gone off. I figured this place must've been ransacked by looters before we got here, but there were still a lot of expensive looking items there. It was like the owners just trashed the place and left for no reason. With a good cleanup, it would've made a nice hangout spot, but we decided to leave things alone to add to the horror vibe.
We all surveyed the area as we went over the plot. It was going to be a slasher movie about a group of friends who discovered a satanic grimmoire and accidentally summoned a demon who possessed them one by one. I was pretty excited about it since the occult was another hobby of mine. Ryan even brought in an authentic looking book filled with mystic runes.
The filming went well at first. We all naturally played out our roles and did a good job of bringing the script to life. Too bad Ryan didn't feel the same way. He's the most enthusiastic one about movies so he had no shortage of barbed commentary on what we were doing wrong.
" You need to emote more!"
" Your body language isn't showing enough fear!"
" That line is gonna need another retake!"
His insistent barking was getting on our last nerves so we told him we would all quit if he continued acting like such a prick. He tried defending himself by saying he was only doing what was best for the group, but we weren't hearing it. Defeated and royally pissed off, Ryan stepped outside to cool off his head. Ryan usually found a way to get the final word in every argument, so it was incredibly satisfying to get him to shut up for once.
There was hardly any cell reception in the woods and I didn't have anything to do until Ryan got back, leading me to pass the time by exploring more of the cabin. I went upstairs where I found several documents callously thrown about. I picked one up to see this strange picture of a tree-like creature. It had a large lanky body with dried skin that looked like wood, arms as long as its body, and, most striking of all, two sirens in place of a head. It took me a moment to process what I was seeing, but I eventually realized it was sirenhead!
I've heard stories about this creature and how it preys on people in desolate areas to eat them up. It was one of the most popular urban legends in recent years. I looked over the documents again and found even more sirenhead images. There was also text placed next to them describing the lore of the creature, going into detail about its several possible origins. The final document was a letter where the author described how he came to this cabin to track down sirenhead after their brother went missing in these woods. They went on about how they were certain that Sirenhead was responsible for their dissaprence and they would make it pay.
It felt like I was reading the ramblings of a madman and would've passed it off as such until I saw the newspaper clippings. Several articles were pinned to the wall detailing a series of mysterious disappearances in the area. One of the missing people eventually returned back home with extensive cuts and bruises. He said that he was held captive by a giant monstrosity and managed to take a picture of it before escaping. Attached to the article was a blurry image of what appeared to be the sirenhead. Suddenly, the cabin's disheveled interior was beginning to make more sense.
I was about to alert the others about my discovery when an ear splitting siren noise rang in our ears. It felt like my eardrums were about to explode at any moment. The horrid noise went on for a couple of seconds before it was replaced by Ryan's bloodcurdling screams. His screams were impossibly loud. It was like he was being broadcast on a giant megaphone.
We all scrambled out of the house in pursuit of Ryan. I wasn't too familiar with the lore of sirenhead, but it didn't take much foresight to know that it was probably responsible for that loud siren sound from earlier. If it was out there, there was a good chance Ryan could be one of its victims. I didn't want to see him get killed even though we butted heads often. We were still friends in a way. It's not like I wanted him to die.
Fear hung in the air as we ran in the direction of Ryan's screams. They grew more anguished with each passing second. My heart pulsed like a volcano on the verge of erupting. Our group stopped in the middle of an open forest area where Ryan's screams were the loudest until they came to an abrupt end. We called out to him and searched the area, but found nothing. Unnerved by his disappearance, we wondered to ourselves where the hell could he be.
The answer we got is something that will always haunt me.
A warm liquid dropped on the bridge of my nose, startling me from my thoughts. A faint iron odor invaded my nostrils and my finger was dyed red when I wiped my nose. A couple more droplets landed on my face, prompting me to look up.
I wish I hadn't.
Gorged on a tree branch above all of us was Ryan... or rather, what remained of him. The bottom half of his body was completely gone, leaving only a corpse which profusely spilled blood on the ground below. His right arm was gnawed at to the point there was more bone than skin. The expression on Ryan's corpse could only be described as unimaginable anguish. His face was so contorted that it looked outright inhumane. I barely had time to process what I was seeing until the last remains of Ryan forever vanished from my sight.
That's when it hit me. Ryan wasn't imapaled on a tree at all. I just witnessed sirenhead devour my friend. In my panic, I didn't pay much attention to them, but I got a clear view of the eponymous sirens as the creature gazed down on us, fresh blood dripping from its mouth.
I bolted the hell out of there while screaming my head off. The others weren't far behind me as we all desperately tried to outrun that damned monster. One by one, I heard the anguished screams of my club members as sirenhead scooped them up with its hideously long arms and chomped down on them. The bastard dug the knife deeper by broadcasting their deathacreams throughout the entire forest to make sure I could hear their final moments no matter how far I ran. It honest to God broke me having to experience that. I remember balling my eyes out and vomiting on myself during my dash back to the city.
Through what can only be described as a miracle, I made it back to town. I looked back and saw sirenhead standing near the forest trail, but he didn't dare go farther. I learned that day that sirenhead doesn't enter open spaces and prefers to camouflage itself with nature. It usually isn't seen in urban areas.
Two weeks have passed since that incident and my life hasn't been the same since. With most members of the film club missing, the group disbanded while their family and friends investigated their whereabouts. A mass disappearance like that naturally made local news and now our small town is abuzz with worried gossip. Police questioned me on if I had any leads , but, I of course played dumb. It's not like they would've believed the reality of what happened so I kept the truth locked away. The complete opposite of what a director is supposed to do.
Late at night, I sometimes hear a siren alarm in the distance from my bedroom. It grows louder with every few days and along with it, I can faintly make out the voices of my departed friends begging me to save them. My house is surrounded by a colony of large trees, making it the perfect camouflage spot for sirenhead. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be safe here, but I'm uploading this document for anyone who has any doubts. Sirenhead is very real and it does NOT like it when it's prey escapes. It always finishes its meal.