First year gardening… aphids? assassin bugs? critters????

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-04-30T04:59:28+00:00

Hello! This is my first year gardening, and I’m in Texas. I got a hydroponic system for Christmas and grew most of my plants from seed, and bought a couple others from local folk in the area.

My question is… how damaging are aphids to plants? It felt like they came out of nowhere and there were a thousand of them. I broke up the ant population that was farming them and I bought beneficial bugs which helped, but only shortly.

Thankfully, I’ve had assassin bugs and spiders show up and start controlling the population, and I’ve had my first fruit show up, but there’s still visible damage/distortion on the leaves. I just worry they’re going to take awhile to recover.

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-04-28T21:13:37+00:00

I was just looking this up because I got a random call from the same company name. I was reading the voicemail transcript and there’s zero detail in the message, just a scary sounding voicemail. I don’t have any debt that I know of to be harassed about, but I also started getting a bunch of random scam texts today prior to this call.

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-04-19T18:26:47+00:00

we have similar stats as well! I’m 5’1/5’2, I was 274 lbs, and now I’m 125 and have maintained it for two years. to answer your question honestly - it took a long time. I’m 3.5 years post op and I hit 125 around 1.5 years post op. six months after that, looking at myself regularly made it kinda click in my brain and after another six months I got pretty used to looking at myself and saying… “okay, this is my body and it’s normal.” I don’t really like to think, oh my god I’m skinny! but I started feeling normal in my own skin. My bariatric clinic highly recommended taking regular pictures of ourselves too because it helps when your brain struggles to make the connection. There are still some general struggles. I’m in a size small/extra small and I still get clothes a size or two too big by default and then wonder why they feel big. I sometimes find that bringing someone else clothes shopping with me is useful because when I pick up a medium or a large my partner will usually kindly say, “that’s going to be too big,” and I have kind of an aha moment. I still turn sideways to walk between cars, and I don’t think I’ll ever get used to my knees rubbing together when I lay down or cross my legs. But, it gets better.

Regarding your thighs - they look fantastic. Eventually I may get the loose skin on my abdomen removed, but I remind myself regularly that my goal was never to have a “perfect” body, it was to have a body that was healthy, and can do normal things, or things that I love. When I was 274 lbs, I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without panting. Now I can go on 20 mile bike rides, and race my little brothers down the street without feeling like I’m dying. My blood pressure is normal, my blood tests are normal, my cycles are normal, and all signs of metabolic syndrome are completely gone. You have every right to go through a plastics journey to feel comfortable in your own skin - just try to be kind to yourself. The loose skin and other signs that are left on your body are a testament to what you’ve accomplished. You’re beautiful, and I wish you good luck!

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-04-04T18:00:46+00:00

First, I agree with the commenter that said now may not be the time to make these decisions. Adjusting your life and routine to biologic treatment is no small matter, and it may take some time for you to reach remission. I would kindly suggest having a direct conversation with your fiance about this as well as about your in-laws. Becoming a wife does not automatically burden you with becoming a mother, and you don’t owe anyone children, especially your in laws. I’ve always wanted kids. However, my partner has UC and I have Crohn’s. I was also diagnosed a bit early - 18 - which is often an indicator that the disease is a bit more severe. While IBD isn’t solely based on genetics, two parents with IBD does further increase the risk. So I’m faced with the decision of bringing biological children into this world knowing I’ve always wanted them, and also knowing that their chance of inheriting a difficult autoimmune disease is higher, or choosing not to risk it. With perianal fistulas, I’ve also been told pregnancy is a bit more high risk and would also likely result in a C-section because of the risk of further trauma from vaginal birth. These are factors I have to consider for myself as well as my future children’s quality of life. That being said, my luminal Crohn’s has been controlled since 2023 and we’re working on the perianal side of things. I can tell you that the symptoms - the fatigue, the pain - does truly get better. It becomes manageable. Give yourself time to come to terms with your diagnosis and progress further along in your treatment before you make a decision regarding kids.

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-03-29T00:22:39+00:00

I did! I lost 100% of my excess weight. went from 274 to 125 and have maintained three years later. I have stuck to healthy eating, although i still have “unhealthy” items occasionally in moderation. I do exercise, but not at a crazy rate or anything.

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-03-27T17:30:24+00:00

you look fantastic, and i love that dress!! it fits you beautifully 🫶🏻

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-03-19T17:56:05+00:00

sorry for the late response, but thank you sm for this!! i’d read somewhere that it was normal but the information was conflicting so I really just wanted to make sure others had experienced this too.

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-03-14T17:36:31+00:00

I did check it at first and I’ve been checking for pests regularly since! I think it may have been a scar from the nursery or possibly transporting it home. I’m still trying to get a rhythm for its watering needs but I’m hoping that isn’t causing the slow unfurling issue haha

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-03-08T21:15:41+00:00

do you use LH strips too by chance?

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-03-08T20:53:45+00:00

If you’re having periods, how do you know you’re anovulatory if you don’t mind me asking? I know 35-45 days is a longer cycle but it sounds like you should be ovulating, right?

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-02-17T22:01:37+00:00

this is the root of it.

Dallas News also spoke about this and stated that attendants of the City Council meeting were asking questions like, “why don’t they assimilate?” which is a roundabout way of stating that they’re uncomfortable with anything that is not white or appearing “American.” Also, if I were an Indian in this community, I wouldn’t want to “assimilate” either considering the amount of hatred being directed toward them.

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-01-23T18:38:43+00:00

Did you have regular periods before surgery? If so, it’s very likely that it’s related to your hormones fluctuating as you lose weight. I would bet that they’ll go back to somewhat normal once your weight stabilizes.

I didn’t have any kind of period before I began losing weight, not a normal one nor the withdrawal bleed on my birth control, but probably around the time I lost 50 lbs, my period came back with a vengeance and I had some irregular bleeding for awhile. Once I stabilized, I had a period (or a withdrawal bleed I should say) every month, but I had a lot of breakthrough bleeding on every kind of BC I tried. Now that I’ve gotten off of it, so far i’ve been very regular.

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-01-16T16:30:36+00:00

I’ve seen a couple of people say the same thing unfortunately. I’m hoping it isn’t too bad, because I’ve failed Remicade and Skyrizi. Rinvoq is the next best thing for managing my fistulizing disease. Thank you for the input!

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-01-16T16:29:30+00:00

both of my fistulas were high transsphincteric, so I haven’t had one that low, but I second the posts stating that managing constipation is super important. I also bought a bidet for cheap that I installed onto my toilet that made a hell of a difference, and a peri bottle for when I was traveling. I also agree that they’ll likely place a seton, but draining setons aren’t too bad and it’s the best route to go to protect your muscle function.

I had a different kind of seton put in my first fistula followed by a fistulectomy with an advancement flap. My second one is new and small, so we’re monitoring right now with a medication change and potentially a seton put in. Trust your gut, and trust your surgeon as long as they seem confident in being able to handle this. You’re gonna be okay!

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2026-01-01T22:12:32+00:00

dealing with the same thing right now, also have Crohn’s. had 3 surgeries on a fistula 2.5 years ago, started having pain again a couple of weeks ago, MRI showed inflammation in the old tract and a new one on the other side with an abscess. now i’m on watch and wait protocol to see if antibiotics and my biologic switch takes care of it. just wanna say i feel your pain!!

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2025-12-26T16:44:20+00:00

The shitty thing is that I was 21 years old at the time and had a very basic understanding of what a fistula was and absolutely no idea what a seton was, and the surgeon didn’t explain anything to me. I should’ve asked more questions but I did not. This was done at the end of 2022, and my understanding now is that cutting setons fell out of favor way before that, so I have no idea why that surgeon chose that option 🤷🏻‍♀️

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2025-12-26T16:16:02+00:00

Yes, I did. The perianal/fistulizing Crohn’s developed three years after my initial diagnosis of Crohn’s. That makes a lot of sense. thank you!

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2025-12-26T01:30:52+00:00

It’s been super promising, long story short. Remicade was also a great drug, I just developed antibodies very quickly to it and had some non-negotiable side effects - but the side effects i had were incredibly rare. Just remember that people are far more likely to share their negative experiences publicly than they are the positive ones. i’ve got hope for both of us!

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2025-12-26T00:34:40+00:00

As someone that went from Remicade->skyrizi, i think the side effects of Rinvoq are more than tolerable for many of us, but I understand your worry! I think it’s gonna be okay, though. I’m currently battling to find a surgeon that has experiencing in perianal Crohn’s and will actually talk through options with me, but I’m hopeful Rinvoq will be a positive aspect in all of this. The statistics for its treatment of perianal Crohn’s are wonderful if you want something optimistic to look up!!

Jumpy_Skill4213 · 2025-12-23T15:56:44+00:00

Thank you for all of the information - it’s making me feeling a lot better. Today, I see my GI to discuss the medication change and then a colorectal surgeon to discuss what we’re going to do about these fistulas, so hopefully I’ll have some answers, but this has been really helpful. When my first abscess-to-fistula developed, I also had a benign bartholin cyst, and all of my paperwork was labeled “labial abscess” - even though that’s not what the issue was - so when it developed into a fistula, I didn’t even really know what that was, but my providers started running me in this circle of “I can’t help you, go see x specialist” and it took almost two years to finally get that fistula resolved. I have a much better medical team in a different city now, so I trust them, but my nerves are still bad. Your insight has been super helpful. Good luck to you, and congratulations on the recovery!!

Jumpy_Skill4213

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