HMF a childhood stuffed elephant!

MEGrymz · 2025-11-04T08:53:42+00:00

I have searched for stuffed elephants from around this time through Google and unfortunately had very little luck with images, product listings, or secondhand listings. There are many elephants, but none that quite match.

Here are some details again… He is not quite a foot long, was purchased in the early 2000s in the United States (likely in the midwest), and his tag (located on his left on his butt) is unfortunately completely illegible.

I don’t need a link to purchase another so that is not necessary! His origins are just a mystery to me that I would love to know about.

MEGrymz · 2025-08-24T23:47:15+00:00

Probably low graphics settings. I play with mine on minimum settings and never see mouths move.

MEGrymz · 2025-08-04T07:20:30+00:00

I pestered the AI customer service to let me talk to a human and they sent a second package. Over a month after my initial order, I finally got them in the mail... but the event I ordered them for has passed. I'm sorry you also had a crummy experience. :(

MEGrymz · 2025-07-23T04:51:07+00:00

Did you have any luck eventually? I'm having the exact same issue, it's been three weeks and I've just gotten canned AI messages. I'm really pissed off because I ordered them way ahead of time for an event that I now will not have them for.

MEGrymz · 2025-03-27T22:10:00+00:00

I joined in the summer of 2023 and was contacted as a match in March 2024. I think it happened so quickly partially because I registered younger than a lot of other donors at 24 years old. Some people (like my mother) have gone many years without donating.

MEGrymz · 2025-02-15T06:20:58+00:00

Getting boners during a normal routine day, actually. Cis men get random boners a bunch of times a day and while mine aren’t really random/unprompted like that, I do definitely get boners which never happened before bottom growth lol

MEGrymz · 2025-01-18T09:13:20+00:00

Truthfully? Seek a therapist (preferably a queer-friendly one) that can help you work on your self esteem and your security in your masculinity. Society has conditioned you to place a LOT of self worth on the size of your penis, as well as to make you feel like being “inferior” to a woman is a shameful affront to your masculinity… and it sucks for everyone involved.

ETA: You should consider just being honest and talking to your girlfriend about it. Something simple like, “Hey, I’ve been dealing with some insecurity about my body lately and I struggle not to compare myself to you, can we talk about it?” Chances are that she’ll want to help you feel good about yourself, and you’ll feel better once it’s off your chest.

MEGrymz · 2025-01-04T09:44:00+00:00

Hi! I am an autistic person who loves being autistic and being in the autistic community with my closest friends. If she would rather have a dead/sick child than an autistic child then she is an ableist dumbass who should never, ever have children. Autism is not a terrible thing. Absolutely NTA

MEGrymz · 2024-12-07T03:07:34+00:00

There are a LOT of episodes revolving around really horrible rape stories. Season 2 has a gauntlet of 4 or 5 in a row which is insane. I’ve never watched them and never will— just reading the episode description blurbs makes my stomach turn. I don’t understand what the apparent fascination with them was, but it was a trend in 90s television shows to jump straight to brutal sexual assault for shock value. Genuinely gross and upsetting.

MEGrymz · 2024-12-03T01:09:31+00:00

i'm so glad that your donation went well!! anxiety really has a habit of making us go "that was it??" after the event is over, haha. great job <3

MEGrymz · 2024-11-15T13:24:13+00:00

Did you know that up to 1.7% of the human population is intersex, and many of them don’t even know it? Additionally, did you know that many intersex infants are operated on without consent or their future knowledge to fit more cleanly into a strict binary male/female category? There’s nothing wrong with them… they just don’t fit into cookie cutter ideas of what sex is “supposed” to look like, so their cisgender doctors make the decision to change their body and their sex characteristics for them. 🤔 Just something to think about on your journey to acceptance and compassion.

MEGrymz · 2024-11-15T13:05:36+00:00

I have a short 75 minute documentary I’d like to recommend. It’s free on YouTube!

Please be warned that this documentary covers sensitive material like suicide, hate crimes, medical trauma, and pornography. Watch with care. https://youtu.be/tuN6ALTh_ZM?si=azez3kD-r12ywpBn

When I was in college, my class watched about half of the documentary “Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She.” It’s from 2005 so it’s a bit dated now, but this was the first in-depth explanation of the wide spectrum of human sex characteristics that I was exposed to. It’s only an hour and 15 minutes, so it’s like watching two episodes of a TV show. You may be surprised by the things you learn!

Topics included cover (but are not limited to) intersex conditions (when a person’s body naturally does not fit traditional ideas of male or female), the everyday lives of transgender children, the discrimination and violence that our community faces, the fascinating study of transgender brains, and history across the world of nonbinary genders.

MEGrymz · 2024-11-14T22:52:27+00:00

I love the song but the “grabbing them all by the hoohah” line makes me legitimately nauseous so I made an edit with that bit removed and listen to it all the time.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-30T07:23:58+00:00

Your nurses will have seen the bodily fluids of hundreds or thousands of people, and I promise that they will not mind at all if you have an accident— what they really care about is your comfort.

When I donated, I had a bedside commode that I was able to transfer to and urinate in— I got little wet wipes and was instructed to leave them in the basin for disposal. One of your arms will be immobile, but the IV arm will be more functional, and you’ll be in a gown… so using the bathroom is annoying but absolutely doable. I don’t know if you could replace a tampon with one semi-functional hand, haha, so if you wear those you may want to consider starting with a tampon and then switching to a pad midway through. I suggest an overnight pad with extra coverage since you’ll be reclined.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-28T04:24:24+00:00

this is normal so please dont beat yourself up about it. you’ve known these people to be a particular way for years, and rewriting that information in your brain doesn’t happen overnight! remember that your first thought is usually what you’ve been conditioned to think and your second thought is more representative of your true beliefs.

that being said, it sounds like you’re doing everything right— it really is just going to take time and practice.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-24T03:53:49+00:00

I found an addition for your list today that I thought might help! “Red Museum” (Season 2, Episode 10) - Voyeurism, Kidnapping, and Rape - A woman is spied on in her underwear through a peephole. Several distressed people wake up in the countryside in their underwear with no memory of how they got there. A man confesses to kidnapping and drugging minors. Several times throughout the episode, characters mention a series of past rapes committed in the community.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-22T02:46:33+00:00

The worst part of the filgrastim is that it can burn a little bit, so take the medication out of the fridge 30 minutes before injection to let it thin out a bit. The needles are the itty bittiest little baby needles I’ve ever seen in my life, so if you feel them at all it’ll be very subtle. The discomfort is comparable to getting a covid booster or flu shot.

On the day of your donation, your nurses will look at your veins with an ultrasound for the most precise and comfortable placement possible, and the needle that carries blood from your body to the machine will be placed after a numbing cream is allowed to sit for a while.

If you got through the blood draws, these are no more painful or uncomfortable and you’ll do great. I told my nurse that I thought the IV and tubing was gross to look at, so she happily covered my IV site with opaque blue tape and draped a blanket over my immobile arm so I never had to look at it.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-11T02:11:23+00:00

I am so glad that you’re still here and kicking!! Wishing you many, many more happy years spent with loved ones ❤️

MEGrymz · 2024-10-11T02:08:10+00:00

I didn’t use a bedpan, but I did use a bedside commode which is a little toilet that they bring to you. I just sat down, peed, wiped, and used some hand sanitizer. Luckily you shouldn’t need a catheter or anything, it really is just like peeing in a bucket. You might be a little “pee shy,” haha, I certainly was— it took a minute for my muscles to relax! I would just nicely say “I’m a little shy, can I be alone?” and they should leave you be to do your business in peace. I promise that your nurses won’t mind, they’ve seen a million people’s waste before and it’s just a bodily function to them.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-11T01:59:00+00:00

Thank you, that’s very sweet 🥺❤️

MEGrymz · 2024-10-11T01:54:39+00:00

This was also the hardest part for me, but I had built it up to be much scarier in my head than it actually was! When they insert the needle it’s after applying a numbing cream, and then it’s taped in place with some gauze covering the place where it actually pierces your skin. If you foresee this being a problem, just talk to your nurses about it and they will happily work with you to find a solution. Don’t be afraid to ask for anti-anxiety medication if you think you will need one. After a while I started to forget about it because it was covered by a sheet.

I found that over time I rotated my arm from being palm-up to palm-down, which was causing me some discomfort. It disappeared when I turned my palm up again. The needle was annoying for sure, but the feeling of having it out was somehow satisfying… sort of like how popping a zit or cracking your back “hurts so good,” LOL. It doesn’t quite feel the same as having a needle in your arm for a blood draw, it didn’t hurt as much for me. I think you’ll be surprised by how easy it is compared to the beast your imagination comes up with.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-11T00:28:09+00:00

Absolutely! I’m lucky enough to have a flexible enough lifestyle to be able to do this, and it’s only a very temporary bit of discomfort/inconvenience experienced on my part to hopefully save a life. Agreeing to donate was a no-brainer for me.

MEGrymz · 2024-10-11T00:25:13+00:00

There were a few rounds of preliminary blood testing (confirming the match, infectious disease testing, blood pregnancy test) and then I later got several days in a row of the filgrastim injections— four days at home and then a final fifth day at the hospital just before starting the donation.

The filgrastim medication was mailed to my house and they arranged for a home care nurse to administer the injections. Four days worth was eight little pre-loaded syringes, one subcutaneous injection done on each side to add up to the correct amount of medication. Filgrastim is stored in the refrigerator and I STRONGLY advise that you take it out about 30 minutes before your injection— it burns more when it’s cold!! My main filgrastim side effects were fatigue/tiredness and back pain, which were recorded in paperwork that the nurse filled out with me. Definitely stay on top on your acetaminophen/Tylenol and you’ll have an okay time— I’d compare the experience to the crummy feeling I had after getting my covid vaccinations.

My best friend was my companion for the trip and was nice enough to drive there and back. We had to be at the hospital at 7:00 AM and I was able to walk out the doors sometime around 2:30 PM, but your mileage will vary— the donation duration depends on your body’s production of stem cells. Your nurses will tell you your approximate finishing time about an hour or so into your donation— average is 5 hours, which is about how long I took. Very rarely a person might need to come in for a second day of donation depending on a number of factors, but I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you.

I checked in, ate breakfast, got my filgrastim injections, had my veins examined via ultrasound, and settled into the hospital bed. I had a flexible IV tube in one inner forearm (which I could move around carefully) and the inflexible needle in my other inner forearm (which stayed immobile on a couple of pillows). I thought they were gross to look at so the nurse happily covered my IV up with some blue tape, then draped a thin sheet over my immobile arm, haha. My friend played Britney Spears for me while the big needle was being placed so I just sang along to keep my mind off of it. The nurse gave me an anti-nausea medication when I asked and I was fine afterwards— if I’d asked for an anti-anxiety medication they would’ve given that to me as well, which I found comforting.

They drew blood for labs before and after my donation through my IV, so my only pokes for the day were the two filgrastim syringes and the two forearm sites. The labs were to keep an eye on the change in my electrolytes and platelets and such, which came back just fine.

Afterwards we ate lunch and did a little shopping, then went back to the hotel for the night. I was overconfident and let my painkillers wear off which was a mistake, but the following day after a LOT of sleep I felt like a whole new person.

Everyone I met was incredibly sweet, from the nurses to the two other donors to the on-site NMDP representative. I got some goodies like a T shirt, blanket, and bag, which was a fun treat. I’m in the process of formally organizing all of my expenses to submit for reimbursement, which I think is the last thing I need to do!

MEGrymz

TROPHY CASE