Seemingly out of the blue my fiancé (dating for 4.5 years) dumped me on a voice note lasting 2 minutes saying we cannot be together. No explanation was given, and he said he does not want to talk about it. My fiancé lives 2 hours away. I’m absolutely devastated and didn’t see this coming. He said on the note he did it this way because he just chicken and can’t face me. I am devastated and it’s been a week and I haven’t responded. I feel like I the way he ended things is the biggest disrespect ever and it truly shatters my heart to pieces. No explanation or anything. I have the wedding dress tailored to me.
A background of behaviour leading up: A month ago he kept talking about the wedding how he wanted to get married this summer and what kind of venue and all. Then I discovered that last year he took a trip out of town for business reasons and he never told me. (Lied by omission I guess) when I confronted him about this he shut down and proceeded to ghost me and give me silent treatment. Then he came back after I messed him and apologized, bought me flowers, told me he was sorry and that he loved me. Days before the dump: we went for dinner in my city had a good time but I brought up I wanted him to not ghost me like that again because it was super hard for me (I lost a bunch of weight, couldn’t eat). Anyways we didn’t really get into it. The next day he leaves to his city and he is telling me he wishes I was there and he will buy me a ticket to come. Then the day after: under 2 minute voice note that he loves me, he can’t face me, we can’t be together and he doesn’t want to talk.
I am still in shock and I don’t even know how to reach out. I could text? Feels so insane to me to text someone so important about something that was so so significant in my life. I am absolutely devastated. I think if I called he wouldn’t pick up to be honest. I want to talk, I want to return my ring too but I’m so scared of reaching out and having this person twists new knifes into my heart. I will not beg him to reconsider but I still feel so insanely hurt by the way he ended things after so much, looking at venues, buying a dress. This is truly a nightmare for me, I’m so broken. Please advice.

I went nc with my sister years ago for a multitude of reasons. One of the reasons being that she had mental health issues and claimed she was getting help but no one (including her then husband) was allowed to know what she was diagnosed with, what the treatment was, etc. No one was allowed to know what her physical medical diagnoses were and what meds they were being treated with. It started with random things like she was on a medication that requires her to take (per her…there is no proof she was willing to show proving what she said) 6 pills at once. She claims she asked her then teenage daughter to give her six of these pills while she was driving. (It was for a fever blister supposedly.) But her daughter gave her the wrong pills and she didn’t notice bc she was driving. I could understand a mix up (we do have SALAD drugs. Sound alike look alike drugs) but that wasn’t the case. Think of the meds being named something completely like shrimp vs chicken. The pills didn’t even look similar or have similar sizes. She ended up in ICU bc she overdosed since apparently her daughter gave her the wrong drug. BUT no one was allowed to ask said daughter bc (per sister) she was devastated and felt guilty. Once the initial shock wore off…my husband and I realized things didn’t add up. Then a few months later she randomly took FMLA from her job and left the state to do a 6 week in house mental health clinic. they wanted her to stay for 12 weeks but she would only agree to 8 weeks. After she came back she would only talk about movies (she tried to equate movies to every situation in life and it was exhausting), religion which was strange bc I never could tell if she would be 110% pro religion or thinking it was all an elaborate scheme, politics where she was in the far far far left (people should have a right to demolish anything if it made them uncomfortable. At one point I told her the sheer size of her house made me uncomfortable so I should have a right to demolish it…totally never would. I don’t think I have that kind of rights. To which she fought back that was her home and I had no right. I just looked at her and said…so people don’t have a right to demolish something bc it makes them uncomfortable or is it only your things that rule applies to), and jobs (at my then 3yo’s birthday she kept bringing the convo back to a client of hers who had been SA and how she had to teach the client what that meant and what intercourse was and what that situation was bad. People kept redirecting the convo but she kept going back to it). At that party I finally reached my breaking point and sent the kids outside to play and yelled. I yelled a lot, kicked her out of the house, and went nc. I did apologize to the other adults for losing my temper. She sent me a long crazy message about how I needed help bc I was mentally unstable.
Recently I read a post on Reddit and it made me curious…I looked her court records up online. I expected maybe another cc that went into the system bc it was 15k plus that she stopped paying on. (Not the first time or even second that would have happened.) Boy was I wrong. She had traffic violations for 15-24 over the speed limit. She had failure to yield tickets. She had a couple tickets for no tags. A warrant out for one of the vehicle tickets. And…a violation for a trashed yard due to excessive rubbish which also had a warrant out on her.
I don’t know if she has custody of her kids at this point. They are all older. One is a legal adult. I know she convinced my parents after all was said and done that I went to court and testified against her. I’m still left confused over that one bc…my parents were at court with her for the divorce. They were in the court room with her. I was never there. I didn’t even know when the court date was. I asked my mom if she remembered seeing me on the stand but she would never answer. Golden child can’t be questioned when holes appear!!! Must defend golden child!!! (We are no contact with my parents now for a multitude of reasons.) my parents defend her so much and all I can think is…you’re enabling her to be a total and utter mess.
Part of me wants to contact her to see if she’s ok. I feel the need to make sure she’s not on the verge of doing something bad. Just know she’s ok on some level. I won’t bc I’m not going down that sewer pipe. I just feel so bad for her. I want to wrap her up in a warm blanket and give her hot chocolate telling her it will be ok. I hoped the court records would have been empty. I hope and pray she’s moving on in her life and thriving. Instead it just feels like she’s getting worse. I feel horrible for my nibblings who are experiencing all of that and in all honesty I don’t even know if they have contact with her now. Ex BIL may have stepped in for the health and safety of the kids. I don’t know.
But yeah I feel total guilt. I remember when I told my BIL about the birthday party event (in case the kids said something to him I didn’t want to be the crazy person and he deserved the right to know what was going on) he told me I needed to find a way to fix the relationship with my sister bc she needed me now more than she realized. He was more right than anyone could have imagined. She has/had two best friends. Best friends for 25ish years. All lived in the same town. Neither were willing to show up and testify in her defense. One agreed to but then gave a bs answer to back out at the last minute. The other couldn’t bc she couldn’t get off work rofl. She didn’t even write a character reference letter to the judge. Who would have thought they would have abandoned her.
I know it’s safer for me and my kids (mentally, physically and emotionally) to stay away from all of them but I still feel guilty. What’s the best way to handle the guilt?

My French Bulldog/Pug mix puppy is about 8 months old. He was recently hospitalized (May 5 - May 11) and survived Parvo.
He was given 5 medications and finished the last one May 23. Since then, he has not been able to keep food down. He eats then vomits it about a minute later. He seems normal, not lethargic and still playful.
We took him back to the hospital May 26. They ran blood tests and did x rays and everything came back normal. They suggested he may be allergic to chicken so we changed his diet. They also sent him home with 3 medications. Nothing seems to be working.
We are feeding him slowly and smaller amounts. He is even vomitting water. He is so hungry and he even tries to eat his vomit. I just called the vet hospital and his primary vet.
They said to continue what we are doing. I just don't know what to do. We have already spent almost $15,000 on his treatment this month and I don't know if we can afford to hospitalize again.
Any advice is appreciated. We are desperate.

• Species: Dog
• Age: 8 months
• Sex/Neuter status: Male neutered
• Breed: Pug/Bulldog Mix
• Body weight: ~20 lbs
• History: He was hospitalized for Parvo May 5 - May 11 and seemed healthy after
• Clinical signs: He cannot keep food down. Every time he eats he regurgitates. We took him back to the hospital May 26, they ran blood tests and did x rays and said everything was normal. Suggested he may be allergic to chicken.
• Duration: 4-5 days
• Your general location: Central Valley, CA
• Links to test results, vet reports, X-rays etc. I have requested this, it is pending.

Edit: I just started giving him training treats. 1-2 every five minutes. He is able to keep them down so far. I am using Wellness Soft Puppy Bites. Will this sustain him?

My friend is 18 male from Delhi India.TB+HIV+HCV diagnosed and has completely lost his appetite after starting treatment. I am the ward appointed to him by the child welfare committee in dwarka new Delhi.
So I'm helping take care of a friend in Mumbai who has recently been diagnosed with TB, HIV, and HCV. He has ate non-vegatiren food his entire life. The Brahmin doctor at the government hospital has told him he can't eat non vegetarian food anymore and now he is barely eating anything. I know loss of appetite would be expected starting his treatment but I feel like I could get him to eat more if i brought him chicken, but not the greesey kind. I think the doctor telling him that was more of a religious thing than anything medically related. We are shifting back to Delhi after a few days and I'm hoping the new doctors will tell him he can eat non-vegetarian food otherwise I don't know what to do because he is barely eating 500 calories a day at the moment.
For some context, there are entire neighborhoods in Mumbai with RWA "resident welfare association" like an HOA in America that entirely ban non-vegetarian food and don't allow people who eat not veg food to even buy or move into their neighborhood. Where I'm currently at and where he is being treated is a very posh area with high cast Hindus and many jain and they have strict control over such things within their neighborhood. I just want to know if this is actually medical advice or just a reflection of this backward ideology.

When I TNRd one of my bbs she got 3 month flea & tick treatment, but I've been seeing a couple (like 2 or 3 at a time) of these black dots on her ears and above her eyes. I thought it was some sort of tick at first bc when I tried to remove them they would not budge and they were teeenie tiny. I eventually got one out and as I was looking at it it jumped away which confirmed it was some type of flea, and then I found out about these chicken fleas. It might be something else but that's just what I've found.
Do any of yall have these on ur cats? Idk if the flea meds are working, 2 of the cats got the 3 month treatment and I still see them so idk if it wasn't applied properly or maybe they are dying and I'm seeing new ones? dunno
Also any suggestions besides flea meds I can't give them all flea meds bc it was pretty expensive for those 2😭 and the 3 months hasnt even run out yet....I know capstar exists but idk i dont see the point if they'll just get them again in a few days and I'm not gonna give em capstar everyday lol
I've read fleas dont like catnip so I was thinking of planting some for all the kitties. I know nothing will get rid of them permanently but just smthn to kinda keep it under control maybe

https://preview.redd.it/1obbzemq663d1.png?width=910&format=png&auto=webp&s=f60625d4697ba540300faa1f282342fec199f299
Votes:
Axel - 7
At the elimination ceremony, Chris goes through his usual speech before announcing that in a shocking twist, today’s vote is completely unanimous. He calls everybody but Axel to get a marshmallow, and Dawn asks her why she voted herself. Axel explains that she and Shawn thought that if she voted herself, the vote would come down to a tie so that Chris would decide who goes home instead of her.
Axel then bids farewell to her friends before walking down the dock of shame. After she leaves on the boat of losers, Chris hands Sammy a vhs tape telling her that it’ll give some closure and maybe cause some drama, giving her the instructions: “You’ll know who this should go to.” This leaves Sammy confused as Chris turns to the camera for his outro.
Chris: Will Max ever have a change of heart? How much longer can Zoey withstand the torture that is Heather? And what secrets does the vhs tape hold? Find out next time, on Total Drama Island!
In-world votes:
Axel - Trent, Dawn, Sammy, Damien, Axel
Brunch Of Disgustingness
The episode opens with the Killer Bass returning to their cabin after the elimination ceremony. Sammy asks what the vhs tape is for, but no one knows. Damien tells her that it has to be important considering Chris himself gave it to her, but he doesn’t know where they could even find a vhs player. Dawn’s more confused about what Chris meant by “You’ll know who this should go to.” and asks why he wouldn’t just give it to whoever needs it. Sammy breaks out into a yawn, so Trent suggests that they all get some sleep and worry about it in the morning, so the four of them say goodbye before going to their separate parts of the cabin.
In the morning, Chris summons the campers to the mess hall, and Owen complains when breakfast isn’t waiting for them. Chris reassures Owen that there’ll be plenty of food soon, before he and Chef mischievously laugh. After regaining his composure, Chris congratulates the contestants on being the last ten remaining in the game, and that next week the teams will become one. Chris announces that with this, the guys and girls will each have one cabin to themselves, and that today’s challenge will be a battle of the sexes. He then says that the campers will have some time to settle down before everyone gets a bite to eat, but he and Chef start laughing again.
Trent and Damien welcome the Gopher guys with open arms and they start bonding over immature jokes. Meanwhile, the girls aren’t as friendly, as Heather shoots angry glares at Dawn and Sammy behind their backs, much to the embarrassment of Zoey.
Confessional:
Zoey: You’d think Heather could at least go five minutes without starting something, but nope! Already she’s lined up Dawn and Sammy like they’re set for execution!
Chris announces that he has good news: No one will be eliminated this week, and instead the challenge is only for a reward. The contestants cheer, and Chris decides to let everyone move their belongings to their new accommodations.
As everyone heads to the cabins, Heather complements Sammy’s hair to get on her good side. Sammy thanks Heather for the compliment, but Dawn is all but impressed.
In the Gopher cabin, Owen hugs Katie goodbye, and insists Max join them. However, Max says that evil doesn’t do hugs. Owen forces Max into a bear hug anyway, much to his dismay. Katie then asks him if he’s feeling okay, and Max questions why she would be asking that.
After packing up his stuff, Shawn heads to the Bass cabin, but is stopped by Heather along the way.
Heather: Look, just because we’re not on the same team anymore doesn’t mean you’re done working for me.
Shawn: Our deal was that I’d work with you. I’m still not part of your alliance.
Heather: With, for, all in the same if you want me to protect you.
Dawn and Sammy arrive in what is now the girls cabin, and Heather continues to sweet-talk Sammy. Dawn asks Zoey how two-faced Heather is, and Zoey rates her a seven. Out of five. Katie comments on how they’re probably getting along way better than the guys, and we cut to them partying over music and pop. Owen lets out a burp, so Shawn responds with an even bigger one, causing one of the doors to shake off its hinges, and even knocking over some trees in the distance. The guys are blown away, and Trent suggests they make Shawn captain. They all agree and cheer Shawn on for a speech.
The contestants return to the mess hall where Chris announces the challenge. He is interrupted by Max asking if they finally made breakfast, causing him and Chef to laugh yet again. Heather is annoyed and asks them why they keep laughing, so Chris tells the campers that the challenge is called The Brunch Of Disgustingness. Everyone will be served a nine course meal, and everyone on each team must finish the dish to get a point, and of course, most points at the end wins. However, everything being served is to be extremely gross. Chris explains that the winning team will get to spend two days at a five-star resort being pampered to their liking, while the losers are stuck at Camp Wawanakwa with Chef.
The guys and girls are presented with the first course: meatballs. Literally. As Owen chows down on his plate, Chef explains that these are beef testicles, causing Owen to frantically spit the food out onto Damien. The girls are also grossed out, but the boys can’t muster up the courage to eat something so personal, so they begin to fall behind. Eventually it’s down to Dawn, who refuses to eat meat, and the rest of the guys, who eventually give up on the inhumane act. Heather tries to pressure Dawn into eating the testicles but Dawn won’t budge. Chris says that while neither team completed the meal, the females performed better, so he gives them a point. He then tells the teams that from now on, the entire team must finish the food to get a point, with no exceptions.
Confessional:
Heather: Dawn’s “morals” might cause us to lose the challenge. I can’t let that tree hugger keep me away from a pedicure.
Chris reveals the next meal to be pizza, which gets the guys excited. However, it just so happens to be that the toppings are live grasshoppers, jellyfish, and live anchovies. Zoey is worried about how dangerous eating jellyfish sounds, but Chris insists that the ones Chef put on the pizzas are completely harmless, causing Chef to look suspiciously nervous all of a sudden. Owen easily gulps down his slice, and reaches for a second, but Shawn stops him, explaining that everyone needs to have a slice. Katie takes a bite of the pizza, and ends up freaking out when she realises she bit a grasshopper’s head off.
Confessional:
Trent: When I was a kid, my parents used to hold me down and force feed me broccoli. They only did it because broccoli is… (Gags) Good for you.
Trent is the last member of the boys to eat the pizza, so he tells Shawn to pin him down while Damien feeds him the pizza, and to not stop no matter how much he panics and fights. Shawn and Damien exchange glances before agreeing, and we see Shawn holding down Trent as he explains that it was just a joke. Damien ends up feeding Trent the pizza slice, winning the guys their first point.
Confessional:
Trent: It wasn’t that bad. I was playing it up for the cameras, you know, to boost ratings. I don’t really mind beef testicles or live grasshopper pizza with jellyfi- (Throws up)
Next up, earthworms covered in snail slime and hairballs. And although the girls put up a good fight, the guys use blindfolds and clothespins to help them believe they’re eating spaghetti. Somehow, it works, scoring them another point.
Chris says that no multi-course meal is complete without soup, so he reveals the next dish to be french bunion soup with hangnail crackers. Sammy decides that if the boys can use blindfolds, the girls can use some tricks of their own. She grabs some funnels from Chef’s kitchen and uses them to down the soup without tasting it. The funnels outspeed even Owen’s appetite, so the girls tie it up.
We then go through a montage of the last five courses. Giant balls of pre-chewed gum, point to guys. Skunk stink smoothies, point to girls. Sandals with caulk icing, point to guys. Garbage can soup, point to girls.
Eventually the campers make it to the final round, and since the score is tied four to four, Chris reminds them that whoever wins this round gets the reward. The campers wait to see what horrible concoction they must eat next, but Chef brings out what looks like normal hot dogs. Chris announces that it’s actually dolphin wieners, but the news doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. However, Dawn is quite upset, saying that eating animals is horrible enough, but dolphins cross the line. Similarly, Damien refuses to eat the hot dog because he finds dolphins super cute and can’t stand to eat one.
Confessional:
Chef: I slave over a hot stove cooking dolphin, no appreciation.
Seeing as neither team gets a point to break the tie, Chris decides that they’ll go to an eat-off. He asks the team who they think has the strongest stomach out of them, and after some consideration, the girls pick Zoey while the boys pick Owen without a second thought. Chris says that whoever can drink more glasses of blended cockroach wins the reward for their team. The two start downing the disgusting drink, and are horrified at its taste. When there’s only three shot glasses left, something gets stuck in Zoey’s throat, giving Owen the opportunity to drink the rest, winning the challenge.
Zoey then pukes up the drinks, and finds what she was choking on. Being a completely intact cockroach. This display causes some of the other campers to hurl as well, which in turn ends up being a chain reaction of people emptying their bowels. Even Chris and Chef start gagging as they wait for everyone to recover.
Chris narrates the aftermath of the challenge, with the guys getting on a yacht while the girls are left behind. And as Chris does his outro, the cameras zoom in on one specific object: The vhs tape.
Returnee Candidates:
Duncan - 3
Leshawna - 2
Scott - 1
Lightning - 1
And the wheel of names picks…
https://preview.redd.it/ai31d0gw663d1.png?width=662&format=png&auto=webp&s=098c2b4772743ec30a3472ae1413d1af530d56bf
Immunity Nominees:
Shawn - 2
Damien - 2
Sammy - 1
Dawn - 1
Tiebreaker results:
https://preview.redd.it/lpq1zzu0763d1.png?width=641&format=png&auto=webp&s=20842c6a59b4a745b1067dbae5a833bbf80146a2
https://preview.redd.it/dw4vpx05763d1.png?width=910&format=png&auto=webp&s=0cbf9cd7416f4a82c877e427b1ab5fce0305044b
No Pain, No Game
The episode opens with Dawn and Sammy discussing strategy on the beach. Dawn tells Sammy that she can’t trust Heather, but she’s unconvinced. She explains how Heather’s been treating her nicely, and doesn’t listen when Dawn tries to tell her that Heather’s just getting on her good side in order to use her.
A yacht pulls up to the dock, and the guys are dropped off. They’re bragging to each other about how pampered they were, and end up inadvertently making the girls annoyed with them for showing off. Owen brings a tray of chocolates for Katie, but Heather slaps it out of his hands and into the water.
The contestants then hear Chris announce over the loudspeakers that they have finally reached the merge, and that it is every camper for themselves. He then says that he has a little surprise for them as they hear a horn off in the distance. Another, smaller yacht has appeared, carrying Duncan and Chase. Chris explains that they are back by popular demand, and will be returning to the game. Heather asks how they were ever favorites with the audience, and Chris admits that they aren’t, but he and the producers liked them. Shawn reminds Chris of how he always said that no one could ever return to the island, so Chris tells Shawn that he lied.
The yacht stops at the dock, and while Chase seems pretty happy to be back on the show, Duncan is not. He notices that Axel isn’t there and makes fun of her for being eliminated right after him. Shawn defends Axel and insults Duncan back, causing them to almost get into a fight. However Chase breaks the two up and tells them to save the fighting for the next challenge.
Confessional:
Shawn: I can’t believe Duncan insulted Axel like that! She’s such a great person- I mean such a great survivalist. I’m gonna make him pay for that.
Chase: Apparently, when Emma told everyone on national television that I cut her brakes, I lost hundreds of subscribers! So now that I’m back on this show, I’m going to pull pranks and do the most outrageous stunts! I’m sure Chris will thank me once this show's ratings go up.
Chris tells the campers to meet him at the outdoor amphitheater for the challenge, which Owen is excited for. He attempts to give Max a high five, but Max reminds Owen about how Chris said it’s everyone for themselves. On their way to the amphitheater, Damien asks Dawn to fill him in on what happened while he was away.
Dawn: Heather’s been acting nice to Sammy, but she’s just trying to manipulate her.
Damien: Aren’t you and Sammy friends? I’m sure she’d understand if you told her.
Dawn: I tried, but I guess that meeting Trent made her more trusting of other people, because she at least wants to give Heather a chance.
Damien: Great. With no more teams, there’s nothing stopping Heather from sabotaging everyone’s game. It'd be a nice change of pace if she turned out to be a good person.
Dawn: I highly doubt it. I can sense in her aura that her anger stems back to her childhood.
Damien: I always forget that you can do that soul reading thing. It still creeps me out.
At the amphitheater, Chris has set up some makeshift gameshow rafters out of household furniture. He says that today’s challenge will be a twist on the classic game of Say Uncle. Contestants will be put through tests of endurance, aptly named tortures. If they chicken out or fail to last ten seconds, they will be eliminated. The last camper remaining will be rewarded with immunity and a decked out trailer to take home after the show.
Chris picks Max to go first and spins the Wheel Of Misfortune to decide his torture. The wheel lands on turtle puck shots, so Max has to stand unprotected in a hockey net while Chef pelts him with very angry snapping turtles. Max dodges some turtles but gets distracted when he stops to laugh at one that's stuck in the net. Chef then hits a direct shot, causing him to let out a pained yelp. More turtles hit Max, and the final one nails him right in the kiwis, but he stays in the goal so he gets to move onto the next round.
Zoey gets marshmallow waxing, so she has to endure being waxed by molten marshmallows. Once the marshmallows go on, Zoey starts screaming, but she’s muffled from under the molten mask. She lasts the ten seconds, so Chef takes the marshmallows off to reveal that the wax had actually worked. And as a bonus, Zoey gets to move on.
Chris tells Zoey that since she did so well, she gets to choose who goes next. However, he says that if whoever she picks survives the ten seconds, she goes out instead. Zoey thinks for a bit, and Heather starts whispering something in her ear. After Heather finishes, Zoey sighs and chooses Dawn.
Confessional:
Zoey: Apparently Dawn is catching on to what Heather’s trying to do with Sammy, so she wants to keep Dawn from winning immunity. I didn’t like the idea but Heather’s threatening to kick me out of the alliance after I didn’t break up Owen and Katie, so I have no choice.
Dawn gets lake leeches, so she has to survive in a barrel of leeches for ten seconds. Damien steps up and asks Chris if he can do the torture instead of Dawn. Chris tells him that he can, but if he fails, both he and Dawn will be out. Damien gets in and it’s clear the leeches aren’t sitting well with him. Eventually he can’t take it anymore and jumps out of the barrel covered in leeches. As he tries to get the leeches off him, Chris says that he had just missed the ten second mark, so he and Dawn are out.
It’s montage time and we get to see each contestant’s torture. Shawn wears wooden shorts while a woodpecker chips at it, success. Duncan gets his nose hairs plucked, success. Trent gets constricted by a snake, failure. Chase wears a shirt of bees, success. Heather has to jump over some skunks, failure. Sammy listens to some new age music, success. Katie must get a haircut from Chef with a chainsaw, failure. Owen goes to town on ice cream and has to survive a brain freeze, failure.
This leaves Duncan, Zoey, Max, Sammy, Shawn, and Chase for round two.
First up is Shawn, who gets electric eel defibrillation. Chef grabs some electric eels and shocks Shawn with it. To everyone’s surprise, not only does Shawn last the ten seconds, but he also seems completely unharmed.
Confessional:
Shawn: When you’re setting up a live electric fence for the zombie apocalypse, you’re going to electrocute yourself. A lot. Thankfully it means that now I’m practically invincible to being shocked!
Seeing as Shawn was unfazed by his torture, Chris lets him choose the next person to go. Shawn chooses Duncan, who gives him an angry glare.
Duncan gets the bigfoot storage container, in which he must spend ten seconds in a crate with the fabled Sasquatchanakwa. The crate in question is shaking violently and there is growling coming from inside. Duncan shoots another look at Shawn before going in. We hear fighting and Duncan insulting Sasquatchanakwa, before he kicks down the crate’s door while dragging Sasquatchanakwa behind him in a headlock. Chris congratulates Duncan on not only surviving, but somehow beating Sasquatchanakwa in a fight. However, he tells Duncan that since he left the crate of his own accord before the ten seconds was up, he is still eliminated. Duncan is furious by this technicality and swears to Shawn that he’ll get back at him, but Shawn just explains that that’s what happens when he insults Axel.
Chase gets jellyfish scuba diving, so he has to swim in an aquarium tank while dodging a box jellyfish. Some of the contestants gasp at how dangerous the torture is, but Chase eagerly agrees to do it. While in the tank, he swims around the jellyfish and taunts it. The box jellyfish stings him, but he makes it the ten seconds. Chris asks Chase if he needs to go to the infirmary, but he refuses, despite clearly being in pain.
Chris lets Chase choose the next victim, and he chooses by closing his eyes and picking randomly. He lands on Sammy, and asks Chris if he can choose the dare. Chris lets him pick from the Wheel Of Misfortune, and Chase explains that he’s looking for the best, most unbelievable dare. He picks the poison ivy spa treatment, and is disappointed when Sammy chooses to be eliminated instead.
The last two to go this round are Max and Zoey, and both fail at alligator wrestling and literal waterboarding respectively. (The latter of which Chris says he’s doing behind the producer’s back.) This means that Chase and Shawn are the last two remaining, and Chase isn’t looking too good. Damien asks Chase if he’s doing okay and he explains that other than the fact that he can’t feel his spine, he’s great. After hearing that statement, Chris lets Shawn go first.
Shawn gets the grizzly bear log roll, so Chris brings him and the rest of the campers out to the lake where the torture will take place. Chris explains that Shawn must log roll against Molotov the Bear, who happens to be the European log rolling champion for the past twelve years. Plus, Shawn and Molotov will be log rolling over piranha infested waters. Shawn has a stare off with Molotov before he steps onto the log, and the two start going. Shawn has trouble keeping up with Molotov, but soon gets the hang of it. He jumps on the log, and upon landing gets it to stop rolling. This causes Molotov to fall in the water, meaning Shawn moves on.
It’s Chase’ turn, and the jellyfish sting is definitely kicking in. He passes out, so Chris has Chef send him to the infirmary to get treated for the sting. He then announces that Shawn wins immunity and the trailer. As for everyone else, Chris tells them to get ready to vote between themselves.
Later, Dawn thanks Damien for taking the leech challenge instead of her, even if he failed. Damien asks her if she made any progress on getting to Sammy, and her answer disappoints him. He then realizes that Trent would probably have a better time convincing Sammy and that they should tell him what’s happening.
Max, Owen, and Katie are chatting and Max tells them that while he appreciates their help, he’s going to work alone from now on. He thanks them for being his friends and says that he has more evil inventions to tend to. After he leaves, Katie tells Owen that going alone is probably going to go bad for Max in one way or another, and that she’ll miss him.
Duncan finds Heather near the mess hall and tells her that as much as he hates to admit it, he needs allies, and that she’s his best bet. She finds his desperation to be convincing enough and tells him he can join her, but that he must be useful to be worth her protection.
Confessional:
Duncan: With Shawn having immunity, it wouldn’t take much for him to get votes against me. I hate the idea of working for Heather, but it’s not like I have much choice.
Vote off someone other than Shawn, nominate someone for immunity, and come up with any plot points you want to see later.

Hi,
Heads up - this is going to be a long post. I am posting for those that have followed my situation as well as any newbies that pop up. I am NOT insinuating that what is working for me will work for others - but I am posting in hopes that others can glean nuggets from my story that might help them. (which is what I did to get to this point!)
Also, I wanted to show how critical trial and error is when it comes to this nasty disorder.
My LPR started a week out from a major surgery that required the use of both narcotics and extensive muscle relaxers. I woke up one night with stridor that had me googling like crazy. LPR and stridor were linked closely together. I vaguely remember it dissipating for a while, but I was also loaded on so many drugs that I can't say for sure.
Over the course of my surgical recovery, I would get distinct LPR / pepsin gurgles in my throat. These often woke me up or wouldn't allow me to sleep. It was getting annoying.
I turned to reddit and started doing some of the common anecdotal stuff - alginate therapy + high dose PPI's. Neither did a thing for me at that time. (alginate therapy still barely does, but I still take it) I rotated PPI's and tried H2 blockers. I remained on the PPI for about 2 months, saw no difference and weaned myself off. The pepsin throat gurgles were inconvenient but they didn't feel life destroying at that time. It should also be noted that I was unable to change my diet at that time - I could barely walk, much less get to the grocery store and cook in my kitchen. I am a healthy eater, but definitely wasn't a low acid diet.
So I'm getting closer to healed from my surgery and suddenly I notice that I have a major bloated belly going on. I was also having crazy blood sugar crashes. I had just spent the last year in recovery trying to lose the surgery weight, so I was doing a lot of intermittent fasting. I have had SIBO previously and probably should have made the connection in my head, but I was focused on the blood sugar issue. I had weaned off of metformin before surgery and was now convinced my pre-diabetes was rearing its head. (Spoiler alert - I was wrong)
I start taking metformin again and immediately had severe stomach issues - even on a low dose. The bloating was intense but I kept thinking I would adjust. I had used the medication previously for a good year or so, so I assumed it was still okay. (Spoiler alert- it was not) It felt like my entire GI system came to a halt. No stomach gurgles, no motility, etc etc.
After about two weeks of this, it was like a dam broke inside of me. Suddenly in addition to the constant throat gurgling, I was having what I now know to be "water brash." It would only happen as I was falling asleep but literally happened all night long. I remember going 2-3 nights without any sleep at all because as soon as I was drifting off I would get that horrible rush in my throat.
I immediately started the low acid diet - going as hardcore as possible. I have had gastritis previously so I knew the drill. Plain baked chicken. Plain rice. Sweet potatoes, etc. I also elevated my head and bought a crazy expensive wedge pillow to see if it would help - it did not. In fact, even if I were sleeping completely upright it would happen. I immediately began to lose my mind.
I started taking medication to sleep at night just to get some sleep - but then had to deal with the groggy after effects every day. It was crushing me. (Keep in mind, the brash happens every time I start to nod off. This includes when I would take naps.)
I go to the Doctor and get an endoscopy done. (Nothing found) They prescribe PPI's - I am desperate. I try them again. My constipation gets immediately worse as does the bloating. I continue to lose my mind.
Eventually I wean off the PPIs and try HCL - that was a no-go. But at least I knew it wasn't low acid that was the problem! From there, I try famotidine again. (H2 blocker) While the water brash remains consistently bad, I notice that the pepsin related throat gurgles die down. I up the dose to twice a day - but after about 3 days it immediately begins to become ineffective.
Around this time, I start a very simple SIBO treatment. I was resistant to the idea that I had it again. I had been through that insanity before and was in no way ready to spend the money and energy on it. I went with Vital Planet's detox kit. I had considered it too "non-specific" the last time i had SIBO, but this time around I went with it. I also found some ethromyocin in my cabinet from my dog who has since passed. It is known to be used off label to stimulate the GI tract - perfect! I assume I found my cure. (Spoiler - I was wrong, although it did help!)
Meanwhile, I do more research. I try a different H2 blocker. (Cimetidine) I notice the throat gurgles and zaps at night are diminished.
I also discover that hyper salivation is a symptom of seasonal allergies. (This was also compounded into the problem. I was never able to discern if it was the water brash causing the hypersalivation or the other way around) I reluctantly start treating my allergies again. Hypersalivation magically goes away. (for the most part)
By this point, I know that i most likely have a leaky valve issue. I'm guessing the muscle relaxers started it and then the bloating from metformin exacerbated it. I'm praying inside that it's fixable without surgical intervention. I start doing every LES / UES strengthening exercise I could think of. (even weird shit! Like eating bent over)
I research some more. Apparently magnesium can help LPR. Something to do with it helping the pyloric sphincter opening up. Suddenly this makes sense to me. I typically never liked mag because it always gave me headaches. I am now so desperate that I no longer care.
This brings me to today. I still have water brash. I am still on a low acid diet. HOWEVER - knock on wood, the symptoms are sloooowly getting better. (Remember, all the literature states that LPR can require a long time to heal and symptomatic relief can lag.)
I can nod off here or there and have no water brash at all! Yesterday, I caved and wanted to celebrate so I ordered a bunch of carrot cake muffins. While I could tell my acid increased a little, it didn't throw me into a crazy wild flare like it would have previously. (When it was really bad, the brash would rise up even as I was awake!)
I also noticed this morning that as I was lying there, I felt a little brash rising up but this time I was able to swallow it down before it hit my actual throat. (I'm guessing that is thanks to the UES strengthening exercises)
I am no where near out of the woods - especially if the efficacy of the cimetidine begins to wear off again. However, this was the first morning where I woke up feeling / knowing that I was making progress. I was getting closer to relief.
Knock on wood it continues for me! If you read this far, thank you. As I mentioned, my intention is to try and help someone else that is navigating this awful thing.
TLDR: tried a bunch of stuff, several times, and some of it appears to be working

Hi, I’ve been lurking these threads for months with so much valuable info and knowledge and would love some help as I’m at wits end regarding my symptoms and problems since long covid. 🤯
Unsure where to drop this as I’ve been jumping between the SIBO, HI, MCAS, Leaky Gut and so many other forums.
I have kept a log of my flare ups / health concerns with the diary below as well as any added supplements. Please can someone advise my next course of action.
Any help in the right direction would be amazing in order to pinpoint things as UK healthcare brands this all as IBS-C.
Background:
26 M, regular vaper (6mg) and social drinker (1x a week – I’ve found only vodka and gin agree with me). Collected a good few infections over the years, and a lot of antibiotics as a result. ☠️
Generally fit and active, night owl, low BMI, underweight & slim. Coffee x2 a day, no previous allergies.
Have had previous constipation for years on and off corrected with psyllium husk. Naturally candida style white tongue – assuming from antibiotics overload 🫠
Was taking 4000ui Vit D+K2 and psyllium husk for approx. 4 years no issues. Had pneumonia then COVID x2 and then took all 3 COVID jabs.
Diary -

August 23 NYC- food poisoning airplane food – more severe than any food poisoning I’ve had previously – bed bound for 11 days.
October 23 Thought I’d try correcting my abysmal gut situation with probiotics Bioglan Biotic Balance Ultimate Flora 20 Billion – for 3 weeks (caused severe bloating?) – assumed candida die off / HERX so powered through Insomnia & weight loss I believe it was this which made things a mess.
December 23 Constipation since starting probiotics Back to psyllium husk – made situation worse? Senna tea for constipation no help Coffee x3
2 weeks of severe constipation- no BM Belly swells up with any food / drink inc. water 1 small BM. Fatty stool- v thin/ blood. Sour smell
21 DEC 23 Allergic Reaction to Chicago town deep dish pizza- my favourite / milk? unsure Still bloating, servere distension Cut out dairy + pizza - RIP black/dark brown freckles on torso? MCAS? itching, hives, white tongue candida exasperated
Fatty stool/greasy film/bloody lower back pain/feeling full/heavy behind/back pain but fullness not pain
Jan 24 Dr appt FIT test +ve (cal- 400) Bloods: iga HIGH? / potential infection? unsure Given Lactulose by Dr – felt worse stopped after Day 3 Started omega 3 fish oil x1 Persistent bloating and distension Wheezing after heavy meal/eating out- tight throat?
Discovered the SIBO reddit lol AllicinMAX 400mg/day for SIBO and inflammation (Bowel empties betteregular bulkier stools/energy levels up) But still bloating?
1st Feb 24 Indian Food + night out – only on clear spirits(vomited) Woke up with bruising stomach? Cullens sign? Stopped AllicinMAX – blood thinner. Sharp stabbing pain left side/itchy/ after vomiting. BM -black tarry stool foul smell greasy oily film/no blood? EPI?
2nd Feb Dr said check with A+E for acute abdomen A+E said constipation. Given macrogol. Cullen sign was ignored amylase (80) normal 8 glasses water still feeling dehydrated/Dark urine Maybe Pancreatic insufficiency ?
6th Feb Still pain left side in waves and stabbing Sweet smell urine? Undigested food in BM Body anxiety kicked in
10th Feb Colonoscopy all clear sent off 2x biopsy-results – all clear H Pylori negative Tried Mg Supplement for constipation Very mild relief/relaxing bowels not as tense
22nd Feb Mg no effect. Stopped Mg Allergic histamine reaction again from Italian pizzeria Prickly fingers bloating and hives / tightness in throat Regular bloating after any meal inc. water Undigested BM, Still fatty stool /greasy film Maybe eat more fatty foods??
24th Feb Tried B vitamin complex – resulted in hives itching all over body, red patches Dr diagnosed with IBS-C - prescribed Buscopan Dr said get ultrasound - 6weeks wait
MARCH 24 3rd and 10th March – took antihistamine for reaction – v hesitantly Buscopan helps BM Low FODMAP diet helped – but bone broth elicited another reaction
Tried elimination diet 1 day at a time protein no bloat chicken no bloat Lamb no bloat beef no bloat chips BLOAT rice BLOAT carbs BLOAT muesli BLOAT veg BLOAT
Didn’t bother with dairy as it bloats.
April 24 Instagram panic buy – Rheal Gut Feel (prebiotic) This got rid of my bloating (temporarily) for a month. Drank on my birthday - Ears red & itchy - took antihistamine Added high quality multivit which helped energy levels
May 24 Bloating is back – less so, incorporated cheese and occasionally toast. Feel better Rheal Gut Feel helps but expensive - will break down the ingredients and source individually Anxiety on and off along with energy levels Still on multivit and omega-3. Dr prescribed fexofenadine hydrochloride for days I drink alcohol / flare up

Potential flag up with Dr: GI Map microbiome test DAO Test – however only shows serum
Symptoms: Dysbiosis/motility issues /distension/histamine intolerance/constipation/anxiety
Supplements to try: Glutamine - Leaky Gut Rifaximin - SIBO
I have purchased “Digestion Stack” as per recommendation of my friend with IBS as an all-round help. It contains DAO as well as digestive enzymes and HCL.
/Edit:Anxiety in the form of heart palpitations, nervous in public, throat tightening and lightheadedness which was never previously a problem for me. /
Any help would be genuinely appreciated,
supplements, protocols, advise, ways to approach Dr to get treatment aside from general antihistamines.
I’m leaning towards leaky gut which causes histamine to leak into my blood and cause a reaction. But the clusterf*** of symptoms are causing me to doubt where the root cause lies.
Tysm

Hello everyone. I work in a biogas plant in Central America. We process chicken manure and WWTP primary sludges. Our process, by design, was thought to recirculate all the AD effluent. We now added a physicochemical treatment with coagulation-flocculation process to separate the solid and liquid fractions, followed by a stage of aerobic treatment, settling and oxidizing lagoon before it is returned to the AD. The result of this process is an accumulation of TSS in the AD, the latest analysis are of 3.8-4.2% (38000-42000 mg/L) and it has started to affect de biogas production process. Is there any idea of another treatment we can apply to our effluent? I have thought of electrocoagulation, since the cost of the chemicals are super high ($2/m3 effluent compared to $0.6/m3 in the past). This exceeds my area of expertise and would really appreciate your sugestions. Have a nice day

Hi, I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed right now… I think I’ve slowly started realising and accepting that my dad might be a narcissist, or at least have narcissistic tendencies? I’m not sure… and I feel like I’m almost grieving the dad I should’ve had - a strange feeling… :/
I just feel so exhausted. He yells at me and says mean things all the time, he’s pushed me a few times when mad and throws the few sensitive things I’ve opened up right back in my face… every single thing… and most often out of nowhere, and I’ve just come to realise it’s a never ending cycle. I feel like the “problem child” that just gets hated for existing almost? Once he called me a fucking pig because I pushed chicken a bit too close to the back of the fridge. It almost makes me laugh how absurd it is but at the same time part of me questions myself - that maybe I am a “pig”.. idk.. He has never ever, not ever once apologised for anything, and always denies or gets angry at me for wanting to talk about it, which I have been trying to recently because I feel like I can’t pretend anymore. Then the next day after he yells at me he pretends everything is ok and expects me to be all happy. However, now he hasn’t spoken to me for 5 days after he came down out of nowhere to my room yelling at me for eating some chips saying I have a “fucking problem” and that I’m “fucking crazy” - I’ve opened up to him recently about binge eating and how it’s been difficult to control and makes me sad (mind you I’m a pretty skinny person, but it’s just started a bit because I’ve been feeling very overwhelmed), I had actually had a long period without bingeing (yay!!), but then he yells at me, making me feel guiltier and guiltier. I got upset when he yelled at me, which made him angrier and somehow now it’s all my fault and he’s giving me the silent treatment whilst telling my brother he’s “sad” we haven’t talked. I’ve tried making some conversation but he just seems angry, and I just hate that I’m starting to blame myself a feel guilty… Sorry, I went on a bit of a tangent there…
I don’t know why I havent realised it sooner - or maybe I have but a part of me just never wanted to accept it. I just always get hopeful and then hurt everytime something happens again - and it feels like the hurt is getting bigger and bigger each time. I think I just have always thought that there are nuances to every situation, that there’s always a reason people act the way that they do, so I keep forgiving because I don’t think he’s an inherently evil person… it’s just gotten really difficult and I’ve really felt my self esteem slip more and more - my brother (he’s the best) tells me to not let it affect me but it’s hard when someone tells you how terrible you are multiple times a week.
I don’t know where I’m going with this, but it’s just really difficult. If anyone has any advice.. I’d greatly appreciate it 💓 I just don’t know how to move forward and deal with this, my self confidence has never been this low, I don’t even recognise myself, I’m just a bit lost at the moment.

Hi, I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed right now… I think I’ve slowly started realising and accepting that my dad might be a narcissist, or at least have narcissistic tendencies? I’m not sure… and I feel like I’m almost grieving the dad I should’ve had - a strange feeling… :/
I just feel so exhausted. He yells at me and says mean things all the time, he’s pushed me a few times when mad and throws the few sensitive things I’ve opened up right back in my face… every single thing… and most often out of nowhere, and I’ve just come to realise it’s a never ending cycle. I feel like the “problem child” that just gets hated for existing almost? Once he called me a fucking pig because I pushed chicken a bit too close to the back of the fridge. It almost makes me laugh how absurd it is but at the same time part of me questions myself - that maybe I am a “pig”.. idk.. He has never ever, not ever once apologised for anything, and always denies or gets angry at me for wanting to talk about it, which I have been trying to recently because I feel like I can’t pretend anymore. Then the next day after he yells at me he pretends everything is ok and expects me to be all happy. However, now he hasn’t spoken to me for 5 days after he came down out of nowhere to my room yelling at me for eating some chips saying I have a “fucking problem” and that I’m “fucking crazy” - I’ve opened up to him recently about binge eating and how it’s been difficult to control and makes me sad (mind you I’m a pretty skinny person, but it’s just started a bit because I’ve been feeling very overwhelmed), I had actually had a long period without bingeing (yay!!), but then he yells at me, making me feel guiltier and guiltier. I got upset when he yelled at me, which made him angrier and somehow now it’s all my fault and he’s giving me the silent treatment whilst telling my brother he’s “sad” we haven’t talked. I’ve tried making some conversation but he just seems angry, and I just hate that I’m starting to blame myself a feel guilty… Sorry, I went on a bit of a tangent there…
I don’t know why I havent realised it sooner - or maybe I have but a part of me just never wanted to accept it. I just always get hopeful and then hurt everytime something happens again - and it feels like the hurt is getting bigger and bigger each time. I think I just have always thought that there are nuances to every situation, that there’s always a reason people act the way that they do, so I keep forgiving because I don’t think he’s an inherently evil person… it’s just gotten really difficult and I’ve really felt my self esteem slip more and more - my brother (he’s the best) tells me to not let it affect me but it’s hard when someone tells you how terrible you are multiple times a week.
I don’t know where I’m going with this, but it’s just really difficult. If anyone has any advice.. I’d greatly appreciate it 💓 I just don’t know how to move forward and deal with this, my self confidence has never been this low, I don’t even recognise myself, I’m just a bit lost at the moment.

Alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss, can be challenging to treat. While medications show mixed results, many people turn to natural approaches like dietary changes to manage their condition. For those seeking professional treatment, visiting a specialized hair fall clinic in Coimbatore can provide advanced therapies and personalized care. Here’s a closer look at how diet can potentially influence symptoms and improve overall health.

The Role of Inflammation in Alopecia Areata

Alopecia areata is driven by inflammation, which causes the immune system to mistakenly attack hair follicles. Because of this, researchers have been looking into whether anti-inflammatory diets can help ease the symptoms. Some studies indicate that eliminating certain foods and adopting anti-inflammatory eating habits might be beneficial for those with alopecia areata.

Promising Dietary Approaches

Whole, Unrefined Foods: A 2020 case study highlighted an 8-year-old boy with alopecia areata who achieved complete remission after five months on a diet rich in whole, unrefined foods, along with supplements of vitamin D, zinc, and other micronutrients.

Gluten-Free Diet: Another set of studies found that most patients with alopecia areata saw symptom improvements on a gluten-free diet rich in raw vegetables, soy, and protein. While this review included people with celiac disease, other research suggests that a gluten-free diet may also help those without celiac disease by reducing inflammation.

Anti-Inflammatory Diets: Diets like the Mediterranean diet, which are high in anti-inflammatory foods, have shown benefits for other inflammatory conditions like psoriasis and could similarly benefit those with alopecia areata.

Foods to Focus On

Incorporating nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory foods into your diet can offer numerous health benefits, including potential improvement of alopecia areata symptoms:

● Vegetables: Broccoli, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, garlic, cauliflower, spinach, carrots, asparagus, peppers.
● Fruits: Citrus fruits, cherries, apples, berries, peaches, pears, pineapple, grapes.
● Healthy Fats: Olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, nut butter, coconut oil, unsweetened coconut.
● Whole Grains: Brown rice, rolled oats, farro, quinoa, brown rice pasta, barley.
● Legumes: Chickpeas, lentils, black beans.
● Protein Sources: Seafood, eggs, chicken, tofu, turkey, beef.
● Spices, Herbs, and Seasonings: Rosemary, turmeric, basil, sage, cinnamon, ginger.

These foods are rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds that help regulate inflammation, protect against cellular damage, and promote immune health.

Foods to Avoid

To manage alopecia areata, it’s advisable to avoid foods and drinks known to contribute to inflammation:

● Added Sugars: Table sugar, sweetened drinks like soda, cookies, ice cream, pastries, candy, sugary cereals, and sweetened yoghurts.
● Fast Food: Fried chicken, French fries, hamburgers, chicken nuggets, pizza.
● Refined Grains: White bread, white pasta, instant noodles, bagels.
● Ultra-Processed Snacks: Chips, some frozen dinners, sugary granola bars, boxed mac and cheese.
● Processed Meats: Bacon, lunch meats, sausage, hot dogs.
● Gluten-Containing Foods: Breads, tortillas, wraps, cakes, crackers, and other items containing gluten.

nbsp;

nbsp;

The Importance of Nutrients and Supplements

People with alopecia areata often have low blood levels of key nutrients, such as vitamin D, zinc, and folate, which could exacerbate symptoms:

● Vitamin D: Essential for immune function and hair health.
● Zinc: Important for hair tissue regeneration and immune function.
● Other Nutrients: Anti-inflammatory supplements like fish oil might also be beneficial.

Consulting with a healthcare professional like Keva Hair Care is crucial before starting any supplements. We can run tests to assess nutrient levels and recommend appropriate doses.

Conclusion

Alopecia areata is a complex condition that may respond well to a multifaceted approach, including dietary changes. A nutrient-rich, anti-inflammatory diet can improve symptoms and boost overall health. For personalized guidance, it's best to consult a registered dietitian or healthcare professional.

Take control of your hair health today! Schedule your appointment with a Keva Hair Care specialist to start on a personalized journey towards healthier, stronger hair.

For those ready to embark on a transformative journey to restore their crowning glory, Keva Hair Care awaits. With a promise of unparalleled excellence, it is the beacon of hope for many.
Keva Hair Care Best Hair Transplant in Coimbatore

Stats: F33 / H:5'6 / HW: 247 / SW: 236.3 / CW: 220 / GW: 165 / Lost: 16.3 lbs / PCOS / MJ Start: April 30 2024
Hi all!
I've faltered a bit in providing updates as work has been manic - that said, with the first month down, and all 4 2.5mg doses taken, I thought a quick update would be nice for those interested.
As my previous post mentioned, I did start on a Tuesday, however, I injected the second dose the following Sunday (2 days earlier) as I decided weekends would be the best time to dose. That said, I have officially completed my first 4 weeks, as of yesterday.
I've been really very lucky in terms of side effects, I've had no negative side effects at all. I did the first 2 injections on the L Stomach, then R Stomach, and then finally Lower Stomach. No difference overall in terms of side effects - though, I can definitely eat more overall throughout the day since taking dose 4. That could be due to the fact I have gone back to the gym (2-3x a week, weight training, 1 hour, approx 400 active calories burnt per session) in the past 2 weeks, so calorie expenditure and muscle recovery are requiring more calories, making me hungrier, or, my body is getting used to having the medication in my system, and therefore parts of 'normalcy' is coming back.
I find I gravitate towards the same meals now. I quite literally only eat chicken with salad. I struggle to eat most veggies, no because I don't like them, they just seem to make me feel quite bloated. I'm okay with onions, peppers, mushrooms. I'm doing a low-carb diet (under 50g net carbs/day) as I've learn what's best for my body over a period of years, and low-carb seems to work best for me. Due to struggling to eat on a few days, I've inadvertently done keto (under 20g of net carbs/day for my weight). As I enjoy protein, cheese, butter etc, it's a sustainable lifestyle choice for me. I sometimes eat eggs as well which helps with protein intake.
I have had a varied 4-weeks in terms of hungecalorie intake. the first 2 weeks, I was struggling to get in 800 calories a day. the last 2 weeks, I've felt hunger in the morning so I ensure I eat something, and then I eat again around 4pm, other days, I'm hungry at 1pm, and force myself to eat at 6pm to meet 1200 calories. The last 3-4 days have been my most active days overall - and I've noticed it's quite easy for me to reach my 1200 calorie goal. I hope it stays this way - I do enjoy eating, and I would never 'not want to feel hunger'. That said, I feel like this is going in the right direction as I feel a bit more like myself, but making better choices in terms of food, and portion sizes.
I don't think I'm experiencing delayed gastric emptying at all. By that, I mean most days, within an hour of eating, I'm on the toilet, and, except for maybe 2 or 3 days this past 4 weeks, I always have a bowel movement as soon as I wake up. So in that sense, it's very regular, which I'm grateful for!
Pros and Cons over the course of treatment so far:
PROS:

• I drink way more water, easily 2-3L a day, where as before I was probably consuming closer to 1L a day. I drink water, one 500ml bottle of electrolytes (i use Liquid IV or these electrolyte tablets I got at H&B). Coffee when I can stomach it, and green tea. This isn't a huge change from pre-MJ, as I very rarely drank fizzy drinks or juice or squash etc.
• I struggle to finish my morning/late morning coffee. THIS IS HUGE. I' m an avid coffee drinker, usually 3-5 coffees a day on average. So this is a really strange feeling for me.
• I am definitely still not able to eat the portion size I'd usually have - EVEN if it's a chicken salad. My brain automatically sends a warning as if to say, eat on more bit and you'll be uncomfortable for the rest of the evening.
• I am unintentionally fasting for periods of time. I've done IF in the past, usually eating within a 6 hour window, but it's been a while since I've done that. Currently, on most days in the past month, I've started eating around 1pm, and the last meal around 6pm. No snacks in between, just water and electrolytes.
• I love a Gin and Tonic. Well, not any more. I've had 3 work do's in the last month, and I've been able to down 1 G&T each time. Save for earlier this week where I had 3 - and while I wasn't tipsy, I could feel it the next day. I also think that due to MJ having the effect of feeling full, that much fizzy liquid just doesn't sit well. This is absolutely fine with me tbf, I'm not a huge drinker, just really used to enjoy one after work, or after the kids are in bed and I can unwind a bit.

CONS:

• I find I'm not sleeping well - I have very broken sleep and wake up multiple times during the night. I feel like I am suddenly an extremely light sleeper. While I was never a deep sleeper, usually the only sound that wakes me is my kids calling me. Aside from that, I'm oblivious to almost all sounds if I'm sleeping.
• Whether this is associated with the above - I find I am overall more fatigued than usual. I've boiled it down to plain old science - my body is suddenly taking in lower calories than usually, and like anything, it takes time for bodies to adapt. I'm not fatigued enough that I must stay in bed, but I definitely have felt the want to get into bed and take a mid afternoon nap.
• It's been very hard to limit weighing to once a week. I was weighing myself multiple times a day for the first 2-ish weeks, and actually found that this was worse for me mental health than I expected (even though the bulk of my loss was in the first 2 weeks). I've had to work really hard ad trusting the process, and being PATIENT.

I think that's all! I've put a simple breakdown below of WoW weight loss:
Start: 236.3 lbs
Week 1: 228.2 lbs / 8.1 lb loss
Week 2: 224.4 lbs / 3.8 lb loss
Week 3: 223.3 lbs / 1.1 lb loss
Week 4: 220 lbs / 3.3 lb loss
Total 4 week loss: 16.3 lbs
I decided to go ahead and take the 'extra' 2.5mg dose today. I have a 5mg pen in the fridge, however, I'm actually quite okay with the 2.5, and I think I ordered the 5 out of panic more than anything. I think I'll see if I can order a 2.5mg pen to come before Sunday next week, and I think I'd like to do a second pen on 2.5 and keep the 5mg for the month after as the expiry date is 2025. I've seen a lot of people say to stay on the lowest dose for as long as possible, and realistically, I am definitely feeling the effects of the 2.5 mg. I probably do get hungrier over the course of the week, and the very odd craving for something 'unhealthy' on occasion, but, this isn't a starvation tool - so I'm going to eat when I'm hungry.
I think I read someone mentioned they look at their calorie intake over the course of a week, as opposed to daily and I think that's a fantastic way to look at it. It's hard to force yourself to eat, and on the flip side, I'm sure it's a little anxiety inducing for some when they figure they've eaten 1500 or 1700 calories one day - but honestly, listen to your body, and I'm sure over the course of the week it all averages out to 1200ish/day! That's definitely something I've learnt over the past month.
Also apologies for the long post! I do enjoy doing these updates as I feel like it holds me accountable and allows me to review my feelings and thoughts while on MJ - but I will definitely try to do these weekly moving forward!

I was diagnosed with stage 4 via MRI at UCSF last year, and was given a list of treatment options including meds and surgeries. The doctor said I could pick one and let her know, and while I appreciate the autonomy, I'm so overwhelmed!
I have multiple other chronic disabling illnesses, including celiac disease, POTS, ADHD, some variant of hypermobility, and a worsening GI issue with no concrete diagnosis yet (you're welcome to read my post history to learn more but basically vomiting, absurd acid reflux, diarrhea and constipation in a cycle, abdominal pain, trouble swallowing, joint pain, skin problems, high calprotectin, but clear colonoscopies). I tried low FODMAP, low histamine, food tracking, etc, with no success, lots of different meds, and at this point I'm literally only eating chicken and potatoes. So my next path to explore is that this GI stuff may be tied to endo, but I don't know enough about it to say for sure.
I've had a mirena for about 3 years, and it's done a decent job suppressing my periods (I am nonbinary and get major dysphoria, so stopping them is ideal). But that makes it even harder to connect my GI issues because while everything is certainly worse during a rare period (~4x a year), it's bad all month, every month with plenty of other fluctuations. And honestly while the pain is bad, it is manageable with tylenol. But because of the GI issues, I can rarely even swallow a pill or liquid meds, so that's my priority in trying to treat this!
Previously I was prescribed norethindrone on top of my IUD to further suppress any more fluctuations and bleeding, but I felt like it increased my joint subluxations so I stopped. My doctor said there wasn't any data to suggest that would happen, and it could've been coincidental for me, so I'd be open to trying that again.
But that brings me to my original question - how do I decide? Where do I start to learn more about everything? I'm sure many of you are unfortunately familiar with the "medical admin fatigue" that comes with chronic illness, and I feel like I just can't start this research on my own. I know excision is considered the best option, and some type of hysterectomy would be the most gender-affirming for me, but I really want to at least understand my options. I have another appointment with the nurse practitioner in a couple weeks and I want to ask questions, but I don't even know what to ask.

Had Inbrace for 18 months. My teeth were almost ok but i still opted the treatment to get that perfect set of teeth.
Took inbrace off 2 months ago. but since then sadly it's a been a struggle chewing meat- gums around my top molars get bruised everytime i eat like chicken.
My orthodontist has been trying to help by giving me invisalign-style retainers to bring my molars closers but it's a few weeks and not much help. and now i am losing all my hope.
my teeth are better but if i can't eat my meals without feeling pain then i regret my decision to opt for orthodontic treatment.
I wonder if anyone has some advise.

Is this the place?” I asked Gomez as he put his patrol car into park at the side of the road.
“Yeah. Just walk off the road right between the start of the little bridge and the Hook’s Cutoff sign,” Gomez said nervously, as he pointed out into the darkness of the forest. “It's an immediate steep drop-off that runs off to the river and the old shack.”
Gomez looked over at me in the passenger's side and handed me a hefty metal Maglite. I tested its brightness and almost blinded both of us with the onslaught of lumens in our eyes.I yelped and turned it off.
“Gil, are you sure you want to do this?” Gomez asked with earnest, while he blinked away the spots in his vision from the blinding flashlight.
“What if you get hurt down there?” Gomez continued. “You said it yourself about how you theorized Dante gets more powerful the longer he haunts that damned shack. You know he has been out here for so long! The flames could hurt you now! He could hurt you! And I'm on duty right now so-”
“Gomez,” I said, stopping the older deputy in his train of thought, “ I know you don't want to go down there with me. I know there is nothing anyone could do that would get you back down in that shack again. I never expect you to accompany me. This is just between me and Dante.”
“And there is no way Dante would intentionally harm me,” I added.
Gomez looked relieved by my words, and physically relaxed his shoulders and released his death grip on the steering wheel. He held the expression of a man spared his execution right in the nick of time.
“I'll wait here on the road as long as I can,” Gomez said once color returned to his face. “If I get a priority call I'll be back as soon as I can, or I'll send one of the rookies to come pick you up if I'm taking too long with what I'm out on.”
I knew Gomez wouldn't leave me out here. He was scared shitless of whatever was in that shack in the woods, but he was as solid as they come. He had proved himself a standup guy during his long career in law enforcement. He was scared of no man, but had no time for ghosts and the supernatural. This was the call that haunted him from his rookie years almost as much as it haunted me.
I gave Gomez a knowing pat on his shoulder before I opened my door to stepped out into the night. I walked towards the spot he had indicated between the sign and the beginning of the bridge’s railing.
I felt butterflies in my stomach as I made it to the edge of the road and looked out into the pitch blackness of the woods where the ground seemed to drop away into nothing. I remember having the same butterflies in my stomach the night Dante had first called the S.O., and now that I was physically here, I felt silly for being scared all the way back then.
Gomez’s flashlight illuminated the forest with brilliant white light as I slowly made my way down the steep incline. I could see the roofless metal shed next to the reflective creek.
It took me longer than I would've liked to admit maneuvering my way down towards Dante's final resting place. But I was getting weaker, and I felt like one good fall would shatter me like a porcelain doll.
Once I finally made it down to the creek bed I noticed all sound in the forest had stopped. Only the trickling water and the silver bloom of the full moon painted the still night as I approach the infamous shed.
As I pushed the metal door open I half expected to see a man shrouded in flames, screaming his screams I’d heard so many times. But I was greeted with the same silence from outside. It was just a dingy, dark shack, with the same ominous moon glaring down through the open ceiling.
I went and stood in the middle of the shack, and closed my eyes as if in prayer. It was past midnight. The call should be coming soon.
“Dante,” I said aloud, eyes still closed. “I need to speak with you.”
Only quiet replied to my summons as I felt for any change in my surroundings. Finally I thought I could feel the temperature drop from a humid night to a chilly breeze across my bare skin.
“Back! Get back!” I heard Dante yell, making me jump in fright. I looked down immediately to my right and saw an upside down man reaching out a window of a car, trying to grab my leg. I jumped back instinctually out of the reach of the grabbing hand, and realized the man was trapped the upside down car. Both he and the smashed car had just appeared out of nowhere.
“Get back! You're too close! When the fire starts you'll be in it!” He screamed in warning at me, as I backpedaled in a frenzy all the way backwards to collide against the opposite wall with a clang.
After the moment of shock faded I realized that the distraught man in the vehicle was Dante. My Dante! He was pale skinned, with loose black hair dangling everywhere as he struggled in his pinned position. His eyes were wild, but he was more handsome than I had pictured in my mind.
“Dante,” I called out to him calmly.
“You can't be here! The fire will burn you! It's gotten stronger! You have to call 911! Ask for Gil! She knows what's gonna happen!” Dante continued his tirade at me.
“Dante, it's me! I am Gil! I'm here to see you! I came to see you in person!”
Dante stopped and just hung there for a moment, awkwardly jammed against his steering wheel while inverted. His face went from shock to a thin smile.
“You finally came to see me in the flesh, well, figurative?” He asked.
At this moment I ran to him and dropped on my knees to move closer to eye level with him. His smile widened and so did mine. I was finally meeting the friend I had been talking to for so many years. I instinctively reached out to help him.
His eyes bulged in surprise and I jerked my out-stretching hands back with a gasp of pain. My two outgoing arms had instantly gone from room temp to a sharp freeze.
The peculiar feeling reminded me of the sensation I once gotten as a child when I started a bath and accidentally turned the hot all the way up. After I let the tub fill a moment I would put my hand in to check the temperature of the running stream, expecting either cold, or lukewarm. Instead the extreme temperature jolted my senses, and almost felt like a ‘cold’ sensation before the scalding water sent a heat message racing through my pain receptors to my brain.
I looked at the tips of my fingers. They were numb and throbbing red. They already began to swell. Was it cold or burning that I felt coming from them?
“I don't think the living and the dead were meant to touch,” Dante said, sympathetically. “ I guess I have to be honest with you and tell you the truth,” he gave a timid smile, trying to lighten the mood. I was still processing the fact that my hand was inflamed and I was talking to a ghost trapped upside down in a wrecked car feet in front of me, but I guess this was just his reality.
“It seems news of our little talks have gotten around,” Dante said, almost sheepishly.
“Well, it's been literal years, and the Sheriff’s Department has had so many employees come and go,” I replied. “ Plus, rumors spread like wildfire in this county, no matter how well we tried to keep it ‘need to know’.”
“Well, uh, a paranormal investigator would come out here,” He continued. “She said it was for an internet thing.”
“Oh, Dante, is that why you got so quiet on me for a couple of full moons?” I laughed.
“Actually, yes,” he said back with a bigger smile. “ I couldn't appear to her at first. It took practice. I had to focus. But I never should have done it. I should have never drug her into my hell.”
A sense of dread hit me. Maybe Deputy Gomez was right. Maybe this was a mistake to come down here. But I quickly squashed those thoughts and pushed through. I was here for a reason, and I was going to stay true to my purpose.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Her name was Kyler. At first I wouldn't appear. But she was stubborn and would just sit here all night and ask questions into the air with the recorder between her legs. Or she would light candles and draw symbols to summon me like I was a demon or something. She even pulled out a ouija board like she was at a highschool sleepover. I was so dumb to talk to her. She was just a young college kid and I was being a selfish loser.”
I just waited patiently. This wasn't exactly the answer to my question. It was just more of Dante’s typical self loathing that I had become so used to. He would get to the point eventually.
“But I finally did break down and begin to show myself to her. I learned how to manifest myself. Yes, it used to be random, but now I had better control. Especially on full moons, just like tonight,” he said.
“I learned I could fully manifest and maintain myself on this physical plain of reality. I only did it once with her, and she almost died. So you have to go! Before it’s too late!”
“No Dante, not before I tell you something,” I said.
“Gil, we can talk later about it! If you stay here the cycle will happen, and the fire will consume me! The fire engulfed Kyler like she was tinder wood! The poor girl ran and collapsed outside still aflame. Her friend put her out and ran her to the hospital!
“If Kyler didn't have a friend too scared and waiting outside, the poor girl would have burned to death just like me in these damned woods! Just another victim of my hubris!” Dante began to yell.
“I care for you too-”
“Dante!” I interrupted. Dante quieted, hanging silently in his seat. “You must let me speak my peace then, because this will be the last time we will ever talk!”
“Gil! What do you mean?”
“It's been years, Dante. And I'm getting older. I wasn't a spring chicken when you first called me. I was going to a smaller department to round out my retirement.”
Dante looked at me in complete bewilderment. I could see in my eyes he never considered my side of our relationship before.
“Hell Dante, I retired from the S.O. years ago. I’ve kept in touch because of my love and friendship with you!” I said to him.
“Gil, I'm so sorry!” Dante finally said, snapping out of his shock. “I haven't paid you any attention. I mean I'm stuck- I'm d-dead. I just see myself. I just see this moment, I mean that night! I've neglected you. I don't want to chase you away!” Dante pleaded. “Don't leave me!”
“No, my friend, it's not like that,” I said, holding up a hand to stop his begging. I scooched closer to him on my knees and looked him in the eyes. I reached up slowly and removed the scarf from my head.
It took Dante a moment to recognize the significance of the moment. This was the first time he had seen me. But I could see that it clicked on why I put so much grim attention on my bald head.
“It’s that damned cancer! Oh God, Gil! You got it to,” he said, with shock. “H-how long? Why, I mean, what do we need do about it? I've been such a fool. I've never ask you about your health-”
“Dante, it's fine,” I said. “I have a plan. It's in remission right now. Since I'm widowed, I'll be moving closer to my son and daughter a couple of states away. They both have a place set up for me, and the treatment facilities up there are top notch.”
“We don't know how all this works,” I said, motioning around to the shed and the ghostly wrecked car. “But I remember when I went on vacation out of county, dispatch couldn't transfer your call to my phone. Somehow your presence has a ‘local calls only’ range on it. I don't think we will be able to have our full moon chats anymore.”
I saw the despair wash over Dante’s face as he realized what was happening. He would truly be alone in the woods again. He would be stranded by himself to face his demons by himself. Alone and and burning in pain and guilt over and over.
I began to cry. It wasn't fair. None of it was. The cancer in my body, the wreck that took Dante and Bea’s life, all of this! I had to make it right. I couldn't live in a world that allowed the things to be so broken!
“I won't abandon you,” I said, as tears blurred my vision of him. “If the sickness takes me, I'll find my way back to you. Even if I live a full life, I'll find my way here, to this shack! We will face the darkness together. I'll sit with you for as long as you need me to. I'll sit until you're ready to cross over. The fire doesn't scare me, okay?”
Even with my vision dulled due to my tears, I saw Dante's expression change. I didn't understand his response. I had just shared my heart with him, and I truly meant what I said, but Dante looked furious with me.
“What did you just say to me?” He demanded, as he struggled fruitlessly with the seatbelt that held him suspended inverted in the driver's seat. “Tell me again what the hell you just said! Just so I'm clear.”
“I said,” I started nervously,” I wouldn't abandon you in these woods. Once my time is up- I-I would find you! I would find a way to make it here instead of moving on to whatever afterlife awaits me and-”
“You would sit with me?” Dante interrupted, with a tone almost like an accusation.
“Y-yes,” I stuttered. “I don't see how this-”
“You would burn with me!” Dante stated more than asked.
“Yes, for as long as you needed!” I snapped back. “I won't leave you out here alone, Dante! I'll sit with you and weather the storm with you until you are ready to move on! What is your problem?”
Dante closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. I didn't understand how I could have insulted him. What I said was honesty from my heart, and meant a lot to me.
“Enough is enough,” Dante said quietly with his eyes still closed. “The only way out is through, right? That's your favorite thing to say to me.” He opened his eyes and looked at me with that same slight smile.
“I don't know what I said to upset you,” I said. “Please help me understand.”
“That's the problem, Gil, it's always been all about me, hasn't it?” Dante said with a strange calmness that was new to him. “You give and give, and I take and take. I seem to do that in a lot of my relationships.”
“For heaven’s sake, I never asked you about your own health. Or about your family. I never stopped to realize you had a life I was interrupting!” Dante said, as his calm demeanor began to falter. “You even are fighting the cancer that almost took my Bea, and I was too selfish to notice!”
“It's okay Dante, your situation is not a normal situation. I don't fault you for being a little hyper focused on your trauma. I mean it literally killed you and a bunch of people,” I said.
“Yes, yes, but nobody else should have to pay for my actions. Nobody else has to be burdened with my pain, or die for my sins. I have to end this. The only way out is through,” he said.
I felt a mixture of emotions washed over me. This is what I wanted for Dante for years. I just hoped he was ready and not going to be wishy-washy on me. I had to make sure he was ready.
“We still aren't sure where you're going after you leave these woods,” I added solemnly.
“Yeah,” he replied just as solemn,” I'm like Schrodinger's cat out here in these woods. I'm both alive and dead, forgiven and punished, going to heaven and hell.
“No,” he continued, “there has been to much death brought on because of me. You must focus on your own life, Gil. As you fight your own monsters you shouldn't have to think of defending me from mine.”
“Dante-” I couldn't help it and reflexively reached out to my friend just a couple of feet away from me. The sharp burn made me pull my hand back quickly.
“I don't know about you, but it's getting hot in here,” Dante said with a slight quiver in his voice. “ You need to leave the area for your safety.”
“I can stay with you this last night,” I said. “I'll stay at a safe distance. But I'll camp out with you during this last cycle. I can at least give you that!”
“Not necessary, my friend. I won't stay in the fire long,” he told me with a worried smile, and a look barely disguising immense fear. “This will be my last night too. I'll let Bea take me. She can show me whether it's heaven or hell.“
“Are you sure?”
“It's not my story anymore, Gil. It's about the living, not the dead. I won't hold you back anymore. You have to be strong for yourself.”
Before I could say anything back to Dante, ghostly flames began sprouting up around him and an intense cold sucked all the breath out of me.
“Out now!” Dante screamed at me as his whole body erupted in horrible blistering flames. I ran back to the shed door as he screamed in pain. The scream was so much worse in person.
I happened to get outside and slam the shed door behind me and not get burnt by the preternatural cold flames. After awhile I could hear that Dante had turned his scream of anguish into a controlled moan.
“Are you hurt?” Dante asked through the pain.
“N-no! I’m fine. It just scared me, is all,” I said. I put my ear up to the icy shed door to hear Dante on the other side. I sickened myself as I imagined him talking to me while the spectral flames scoured through his hanging body.
“Ahhg…just stay for me for now, p-please,” he almost begged me through his pain. It seemed like a pain that made forming a coherent thought almost impossible “Last…time! Ahh…swear!”
“Yes of course!” I yelled back, through the door.
His screaming went on and I kept telling him I wasn't leaving him. Finally after a couple minutes of Dante burning, I heard what we were waiting for.
“Come and see, babe. Come and see,” invited the melodious voice of Bea, his wife.
“Yes!” Dante breathlessly yelled. ”Come get me wife. I will go with you. I am ready. I am ready for whatever the consequences of my actions are.”
Tears rolled down my eyes as I realized a saga was coming to its end. I still dare not open the shed door, because the strange cold was causing frost to freeze around it's cracks. I knew something momentous had taken place in the shed. I believe Bea had taken Dante up on his offer to take I'm to the after life.
“Gil?” Dante’s voice came, more gentle.
“Yes! What's happening?”
“I'm standing and there's a light at the end of a tunnel sort of deal.”
“Are you serious?” I laughed.
“Yes, but it's not funny! Bea’s at the end with something, but everytime I step forward it gets hotter. It gets hot like… hell.”
“Or a cleansing fire.” I said. “You can't stay here forever, Dante.”
“Yeah,” he sighed. “The only way out is through, right?I'll except hell if its deemed necessary," then quieter, "Oh, please God forgive me.”
And with that Dante went quiet. I rubbed the tears out of my eyes and the temperature around me began to return to normal.
I trekked my way back out to the road and Gomez wasn't there. I called him and he told me to wait while he sent a rookie to come get me. So I just stood in the dark and looked up at the moon and thought of my friend.
But then one more message came through from the other side.
“Come and see,” Bea asked in her familiar sing-song voice.
“It's beautiful, Gil” Dante’s voice spoke up.“ She's holding my baby daughter."

Before my diagnosis, my lifestyle was one I considered healthy. I used to drink matcha everyday with moringa powder. I ate organic/garden-grown vegetables. Didn't use any seed oils, and bought high quality ingredients. I was a total saint, I did eat out every now and then, things like fried chicken and burgers, especially when I traveled for work. I also did exercise, playing basketball 2-3x a week along with walking and pickelball. I'm also relatively young (39/m), especially for one to get this diagnosis.
It all started when I played basketball, I got quickly winded out of nowhere and stopped playing. I went home, and I was super tired and nauseous. I then vomited blood out, along with bloody diarrhea and went to the ER. The GI doc found and clamped a bloody ulcer, about 5 mm in size, located in the front upper part of my stomach. I was in the ICU for a couple of days and got discharged. A week later, the doc says they found something in the diagnostics that said it had a high likelihood for being cancerous (where the site of the ulcer is), it had a signet ring structure. A follow-up biopsy confirmed it. After CT and PET scans, the oncologist said there wasn't any evidence of metastasis, and believe it would be stage 1. They will do an ultrasound to confirm how deep it went into my stomach, and whether they will recommend chemo or not. Best case scenario, they will remove 80-90% of my stomach, and worst case scenario, all of my stomach and chemo.
Now here's the choice that has me very conflicted, as I'm sure all cancer diagnosis folks go through. What treatment plan to go through. I've been talking to an alternative/holistic healer who has 30 years of experience working in clinics and M.Ds, and trained in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine. After watching "The Truth About Cancer" by Ty Bollinger, it makes sense. To treat the cause, and not the symptom. To build up the immune system to recognize the cancer cells, and have it eradicate it. I've heard stories from my parent's home country where folks cured it with things like sour sop, and from other people on the Internet, apricot pitted seeds.
My healer took all my biomarkers, as well as a GI Map to see that my stomach has been inflamed for awhile, and created an environment where cancer could thrive. So, they propose to use Ayurvedic herbs, diet, and mental changes to heal my gut, because the gut is where diseases start, and to remove the biofilm that cancer cells are able to cloak from the immune system. From what they told me, removing the stomach plays a key role in the immune function, so if that gets removed, I'll lose a key organ in my immune protection in the future. It sounds great but I don't want to gamble with my life either. I'm wondering if anyone has gone the alt/integrative route with the sort of targeted therapy that I went through. Not so much just trying "random things that seem to work" but someone who actually knows how the immune system works and get you back to health, and how that worked.
Surgery and Chemo carries their own risks, and I heard some are not the same after chemo, with the cancer coming back worse than before. So, it is a very hard choice,

I took on a now 5 week old foster kitten last week. He was found on the railroad tracks and has a minor upper respiratory infection, and a very gnarly eye infection caused by what my vet thinks might be the herpes virus.
He has seen a vet twice so far. The first vet was seen Monday (not my regular vet), did not prescribe antibiotics for the secondary infections and only gave Sub-Q fluids, a B12 shot, and tobramycin for the eye. They also gave us nutri-cal to supplement because he wasn't eating well at first.
After about 4 days of seeing no improvement in the eye with the tobramycin, I brought the kitten to my regular vet on Friday who proceeded to prescribe him antibiotics for the secondary infections and terramycin for the eyes since the infection was spreading to his right eye as well. His right eye now looks fantastic after only a few days with the terramycin, but his left is still showing no improvement. His URI is clearing up on the antibiotics and he's now eating well and full of energy.
My question is this: how likely is it that this baby will lose his eye? I've fostered plenty of kittens and this is the first time I haven't seen an improvement after a few days of treatment when it comes to an eye infection. Should I bring him back to my vet tomorrow? I'm really worried about him getting more sick because of it.

Hello.
So I have just started the treatment with pylera. Any recomendations on what products to eat safely during this treatment? So far it has been 24 hours, I feel fine, besides some headache and i feel kinda mellow.
So far im eating: -gluten free bread -chicken breasts -rice -carrots -broccoli -Green veggies -banana -fish
Im not supposed to eat alot of calcium. Stuff like milk, cheese, yoghurt and so on. Any advice please?specifically when it comes to carbohydrates. Im really running out of ideas.

I'm not sure where to post this, I posted elsewhere but this one has updates lol. It's half rant half cry for advice. Sorry it's really long.
I was diagnosed with celiac in 2020 in my late 20s after a lifetime of GI issues, and for 6 blissful months after going gf I felt great. Then in mid 2021 I started having diarrhea 6-8x a day, often with blood, worsening joint pain, and stabbing lower right pain (they thought it was my appendix at first), so I got a colonoscopy in 2022. They diagnosed me with "mild Crohn's" found only through biopsies in my terminal ileum, so I did 4 months of a budesonide taper. Also advised to limit NSAIDs due to chronic gastritis. I was also diagnosed with POTS around this time.
Things were fine until I finished the budesonide. I had worse and worse stomach pains, stabbing twisting in the lower right and upper left, food started getting stuck when I swallowed, vomiting daily, and the diarrhea came back 3-5x a day. I got a new GI because of insurance changes, and they said my Prometheus test showed it wasn't Crohn's, just microscopic colitis, and ordered a pill camera in late 2022. This showed slow gastric emptying and non-specific redness in that same ileum area. My calprotectin was 163 at this point and I was prescribed nortriptyline, but I had far too many side effects so I stopped and they said the GI issues must be a passing bug. I lost about 30lbs over 4 months, but I only received praise from doctors because I'm already fat.
My symptoms continued at least unchanged until 2023 when swallowing got MUCH worse and I had acid reflux just drinking water. I vomited every time I ate. Then my GI put me on pantoprazole 40mg once a day, which immediately calmed the vomiting and swallowing issues. I had a gastric emptying test that was normal, but they wanted to do a repeat endoscopy and colonoscopy just in case. It was all clear except for the expected celiac damage, so I was again told to wait it out. The vomiting came back in summer, along with a new cycle of constipation turning to diarrhea every couple weeks, plus increased nausea, the same lower right pain and twisting upper left pain, and I lost another 20lbs.
I saw an allergist and had all negative tests, so they suggested a low histamine diet, and GI told me to go low FODMAP, so over the course of a few months, I started tracking which foods led to which symptoms and slowly cut those out. Except by October, that meant I was eating rice, milk, and broccoli, and that's it. And I was still vomiting multiple times a day, still cycling through constipation and diarrhea, worsening joint pain, extreme fatigue, everything was bad. I tried many different combinations of PPIs, H2 acid reflux meds, tums, mylanta, and nothing worked any differently or better than just pantoprazole once a day. Zofran helps when I'm nauseous, but the vomiting is usually more like an "inflammation" in my stomach, like the food is stuck sitting there, so it's more like regurgitating than vomiting, and nothing helps it go down.
At one point I had an MRI to look at that lower right pain and was diagnosed with endometriosis, but didn't get much info. I have an appointment with a specialist in a couple weeks to ask if all of this could be endo. My symptoms do change throughout the month but not on any sort of schedule that seems to match with a cycle, but again, I don't know much.
By December my allergist thought maybe it was a mast cell issue and put me on singulair, but by that point I was vomiting so intensely every day that I started vomiting blood. After 5 ER visits, multiple "it's just anxiety" comments, and down 15lbs in a week, I finally was able to eat potatoes. I moved in with my mom to get full time care (I couldn't even hold myself up on the toilet at this point), and yet another new GI suggested another endoscopy to check for eosinophilic esophagitis. I was on 10mg of prednisone for all of January and felt halfway decent, but of course couldn't stay on it too long. Then in February my calprotectin was 448, so the GI ordered a colonoscopy as well.
Got that done in April and...all normal. No EOE, no inflammation, no celiac, even. Now in May my calprotectin is 64, so they've decided it's severe IBS. They did order a second pill camera just in case, and said depending on the results, they can refer me out to a research hospital, but it all feels useless. I've tried a range of allergy treatments, I've done multiple psychiatry meds, I'm in therapy, I'm seeing a dietitian (she is the only one concerned about my weight loss and appetite changes and is trying to get me Kate Farms drinks), my dysautonomia is managed with meds and lifestyle changes. I'm eating baby food because I still can't swallow well, and it's been 5 months of only potatoes and chicken. I've tried adding small bits of new foods, but any bit of fiber causes extreme cramping for days, and I get acid reflux just from drinking water most days.
I'm still going through cycles of diarrhea 4-5x a day for a couple weeks, then a couple weeks of very few BMs (not difficult or hard, just only once a day) with abdominal pain leaving me screaming on the floor, sweating, low grade fever, nausea, vomiting, I just drink ginger tea with honey for a couple days because eating is too painful, my joints feel stiff and swollen, I have some sort of worsening itchy eczema, my tongue is cracked and bleeding, my teeth are destroyed from all the vomiting...and the fact that my doctors shrug and literally say "that's so weird!" just makes me feel like I must be overreacting.
It feels like it's not worth my time and energy to keep looking for answers. I'm still living with my mom, can't buy my own groceries, can't participate in any hobbies or hang out with friends, can't work but also have been denied for disability 3x. I'm fine if it is IBS and it's a matter of managing my symptoms with meds, but nothing has worked! I'm taking sucralfate now but I'm having troubling swallowing it and worse stabbing pain so I'm barely sleeping. I'm down 70lbs in the past 3 years, but no one cares because I'm fat in the first place, so they see it as a win. Yep, vomiting daily while I eat baby food at age 31 is a win! I'm doing everything within my power to fix this, but I'm at a loss. I'm just so tired and don't have the energy to keep chasing down doctors.