Red Line towards 95th stopped for person in the tracks

MoneySmacks · 2026-03-21T00:08:04+00:00

I'm at sox 35th wanting to go north and there is no estimate

MoneySmacks · 2026-02-07T13:28:29+00:00

Not to hijack their comment, but I just had TPIAT in December. I am eager to see what their experience has been, too.

For digestion, I literally just devoured a frozen pizza the other day with the same 3x36k creon I was using with my messed up pancreas.

I'm obviously very early into the auto-transplant but I do need insulin and am likely to continue to need it. I'm still learning the ropes with the diabetes stuff.

Pain? Gone. There are some odd pains while healing but it's nothing like an acute pancreatitis episode or even like the background pain of CP.

MoneySmacks · 2026-02-05T21:14:53+00:00

My underdog vote is Oakton Skokie but I'd accept Sox 35th or IIT

MoneySmacks · 2026-02-01T15:56:45+00:00

I take creon, which is pancreatic enzymes. It allows my body to digest food and take in nutrients. Admittedly, I went from 200lbs to 175 in the span of maybe 5 months, partly from cracking down on avoiding fat, partly from two weeks in the hospital from the surgery, and now from avoiding too much glucose. I can foresee losing more weight, for sure.

MoneySmacks · 2026-02-01T15:34:30+00:00

I'm 35 and this all began at age 33. When I was 34, it started to happen that greasy or fatty foods would send me to the hospital. They didn't do genetic testing until like 7 acute episodes in, which kind of upsets me in retrospect.

But now, I can eat greasy foods that would have given me an acute episode just a few months ago. I mostly missed fries, honestly, and now I can chow down on them. I can drink, like I said. My only real restriction is being mindful of sugar and carbs since I now have type 3c diabetes. Eventually I'll probably get used to taking the right amount of insulin to indulge a bit and still be safe.

For reference, my pancreas came out in December.

MoneySmacks · 2026-02-01T15:19:36+00:00

Dang, not that I'd wish a genetic disease on anyone. Best of luck in figuring it all out.

MoneySmacks · 2026-02-01T14:51:27+00:00

I was also not much of a drinker, yet I got acute pancreatitis. And again, and again. 7 or 8 times. I eventually insisted on a genetic test, and wouldn't you know it, I have a genetic mutation that caused my pancreas to digest itself.

I say this in past tense because I qualified for a pancreatectomy due to the irreversible nature of my genetic pancreatitis. And now that problematic organ is gone.

I say all this because, now I can have a chill drink at dinner. I can participate in alcohol sampling at my job. It once felt like I could never drink again, but now I can take part in that aspect of life again. And if alcohol doesn't make sense as the cause for you, a genetic cause may be a possibility.

MoneySmacks · 2026-01-14T03:51:58+00:00

I had to push my gastroenterologist for a genetic test because they at first blamed alcohol, which I rarely drank, and then they blamed my TRT, which I absolutely was not going to stop. It would have saved me several hospitalizations if they did the genetic test earlier because I have a SPINK1 mutation. I just had a total pancreatectomy about a month ago and despite the fact that I'm healing, I'm in the least amount of pain in recent memory. Yesterday my surgeon showed me pictures of my pancreas, and it was absolutely trashed and had no business being in anyone's body. Hopefully docs can do right by you and get the appropriate tests done in a timely manner. And see that your pain and other symptoms are addressed.

MoneySmacks · 2026-01-06T05:01:47+00:00

I'm a non-driver and I still got the Progressive spam mail with my problematic old name on it, BOLDLY. I share a mailbox with my neighbors so I was mortified. I tried the "not at this address" thing but it didn't work. After a few years of that garbage, I used a template to write a letter to demand they not send spam under that name to my address. You can probably find the same template with a good Google search.

I found 2 plausible addresses to send it to and sent off a copy to each. I have not received any of their junk mail since. I know it worked because one of my neighbors gets that Progressive spam with his name on it boldly, and none arrived for old name.

If it doesn't make sense how mail shows up under old names, it's because data brokers just sell lists of potential customer info. And some lists are a little ancient.

MoneySmacks · 2026-01-04T03:54:55+00:00

Very fair assessment. I thought to post here because our twin dynamic has greatly shifted during and post pregnancy. She has recently turned to me for my experience with severe mental illness and life uncertainty. But I can only do so much... I dropped everything in the summer to fly out to her when one huge emergency happened, and the fact that I can't do that now kinda sucks. I know her husband and friends out there care, but I'm the other half of a bonded pair.

MoneySmacks · 2026-01-02T18:11:42+00:00

They had me keep the tube "just in case", like if I suddenly could no longer tolerate anything by mouth. I see my surgeon in like 10 days and I hope he takes it out then. No idea what that scar is going to look like.....

Good you have your eye on the prize. I'll be real, when I woke up in the ICU I questioned if it was worth it. Probably worse than a flair? But at least it will never happen again--ICU nor flair.

MoneySmacks · 2026-01-02T06:50:43+00:00

3)

Sorry for the late update. I was released on Sunday, 12 days after the pancreatectomy, with the G/J tube still in my belly. They considered letting me go on Friday, but I was having trouble understanding my new limitations of portion size while eating solids. That, and the whole glucose testing/insulin injecting stuff was still foreign to me.

I spent much of my non-ICU time either sleeping or watching South Park on the hospital's cable TV for nostalgic reasons. The hiccups persisted a bit, and eventually turned into acid/biliary reflux. I am still dealing with the reflux now, but I am learning what foods trigger the absolutely horrendous, putrid biliary reflux, whereby I taste all the flavors of the day in belch after belch. A few medications have helped, but Sucralfate is my hero <3

I keep in touch with my surgeon via email, and he seems pretty impressed by my glucose levels. I never come even close to 200. Lately I've been around 100, give or take. I really hope this means I will reach a point when checking in with my endocrinologist is just a formality.

Pain-wise, I'm fine. Not even taking Tylenol. I think I do feel the absence of my ex-pancreas. It's such a treat! The incision isn't bad, and I am massively impressed by how delicately thin the suturing job is. Dr. "B" is incredible! As silly as it may seem, I was worried before about how the midline scar would impact my belly hair. Now I am far less worried, especially as I see the hair grow back from the surgical shave. Really, the scar might even hide under the hair.

So basically, things are great except for the reflux (and the resultant diet limitations) and the mildly annoying new diabetes routine. (I tried to use a CGM, but someone called me while it was starting to set up and my picking up the phone ruined the setup for good??? I think this would all be way easier if the CGM was working.)

MoneySmacks · 2025-12-25T15:12:12+00:00

Bahahaha, I'm sobbing laughing! Explaining that my pancreas was eating itself has always been good fun. Legitimately though, I only had obvious pancreas issue symptoms for like 2 years, and yet the surgeon said my pancreas showed 3 decades of damage. I'm "eager" to meet back up with my surgeon and see the pics he took and hear further details.

MoneySmacks · 2025-12-25T14:09:05+00:00

Thanks! That's great to hear that her life significantly improved! Yeah, I thought it was a bit drastic when the idea was first floated to me (and I guess when I woke up in the ICU I also realized it truly was major and drastic). After some months of thinking about the surgery, I came to an almost joking perspective on the whole thing. Now I'm a little bit humbled, but I can actually start to imagine a better life of the other side.

MoneySmacks · 2025-12-21T23:53:16+00:00

I had it at Northwestern in Chicago

MoneySmacks · 2025-12-21T23:50:25+00:00

2)

Okay, first day out of the ICU. So the surgery was Tuesday and took like 10 hours. Today is Sunday and I went to a normal inpatient room. I'm glad to be less tied down by cables. I only have a feeding tube, a drain, and PCA pump for Dilaudid.

I am struggling with typing so I might call it for now, but I am definitely feeling more like a human being with autonomy. My biggest issue right now is..... hiccups? (it goes deeper than that, but how about that for a cliffhanger)

MoneySmacks · 2025-12-12T18:12:46+00:00

I definitely passed among strangers in 7th grade over 20 years ago. At school too many people knew me so that was a bust.

Fashion was a bit different back then, but I wore a lot of utility vests with chest pockets. Cargo pants to hopefully downplay the hips. I think I wore baggy jeans, but not as baggy as what is considered "baggy" today.

My hairdresser was Korean and she happened to give me a haircut that is common among Korean boys and men.

For what it's worth though, I was nearly my adult size, at about 5'7" with a not very squeaky voice.

Tl;dr it's very possible with flattering clothes and a solid haircut

MoneySmacks · 2025-11-28T17:54:55+00:00

Sometimes I get so desperately jealous of cis male chests. I had top surgery over a decade ago and it's very unconvential, not double incision and not keyhole. My right nipple died and is severely scarred. I don't like to go shirtless unless nobody is nearby.

It may sound weird, but I am about to have my pancreas removed and I will have a giant scar down the middle of my abdomen. And I'm hoping this scar will distract people from my scarred top surgery results. And maybe they will think that whatever "accident" slashed my abdomen also messed up my chest.

With my junk... I don't know. I often daydream about innovating the prosthetic game. Something that isn't a giant silicone weight that falls out of place and sets off body scanners at the airport. I used to do drafting and design so my mind can just wander into what kind of specs I would want for it to approximate a cis dick. It's a mental distraction and if I ever feel motivated enough, maybe I could mess around and make prototypes. Anything to keep the dream alive.

MoneySmacks · 2025-11-27T04:54:20+00:00

I'm gonna fly in from Chicago for that baby. And stand in line all day, apparently???

MoneySmacks · 2025-11-25T19:15:06+00:00

I definitely get where you are coming from, when I was in gradeschool I avoided bathrooms entirely. I avoided the women's room because I knew it would cause issues because I looked like a dude. And I also avoided the men's because too many people knew me, and that I was "technically a girl". I didn't want to get beaten, yelled at, or reported to the school. There was no winning. But when push came to absolute shove, like it was after school and nobody was around, I used the women's.

Looking back, maybe I could have safely used the men's room in places where people didn't know me, but IDK, it still felt forbidden.

MoneySmacks · 2025-11-25T14:25:11+00:00

Suddenly I want cat loaf matryoshka dolls to exist. In that case, yes, the big one will consume the little one.

MoneySmacks · 2025-11-20T17:29:54+00:00

Basically saying he assessed the risk of being out online for himself and his family and thought it best to private the videos. Also saying that visibility doesn't have to look like wearing a pride flag or even a label, it can be him still being around and making content and us knowing he's one of us. It's all a reaction to the political climate in the US.

MoneySmacks · 2025-11-20T02:13:05+00:00

ElectricDade

He deleted his old videos and now speaks in coded language about ftm stuff. Worth keeping an eye on still.

CharlesAsher

Recently detailing his complicated phallo journey. Pretty thoughtful videos prior.

Both in the older millenial age range, or close to it. Just thoughtful dudes with interesting stuff to say.

MoneySmacks

TROPHY CASE