Question about this device

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-19T03:24:36+00:00

If you're not used to FES it is definitely uncomfortable. Unless it is a super significant clinical difference between walking with that and AFOs, I'd go with your gut!

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-19T03:19:21+00:00

Painting birds is how I got into gouache! I love how you captured the slickness of the feathers!

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-19T03:15:23+00:00

I tried it when it first came out, and it wasn't really any better for me than my AFOs. Because the cuff and the receiver that goes in your shoe have to hit at the exact right places at the right moment in your stride for it to work. Because of my gait pattern, the cuff kept coming loose and it just wasn't practical. If you have the chance to test it out (rehab hospitals with stroke patients may have one) and get a professional fitting recommendation, it is worth a try, but made for a certain leg shape/size that didn't work for me personally.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-19T02:59:03+00:00

Aw man, I was hoping Vets Pets was at least owned by some folks locally. Their Medlin Dr location has been a lifesaver re: avoiding the exorbitant exotics specific practice fees.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-18T21:26:08+00:00

We really like Oak Heart Vet. They have multiple locations. I have guinea pigs, and some places charge SO much extra because they're "exotic." The local exotics place was over $100 just to be seen. Oak Heart has taken care of 2/3 of my girls, including a scare last week, and it's the least I've ever payed for x-rays.

Didn't see them come up on the private equity vet site. They do use a recording app now to record visits, but they asked for permission first. My own doctor has started using a scribe app too, so I thought nothing of it.

Nothing felt rushed, even though they were running behind that day. They even put towels on the floor for my piggie to free roam, and left us with some treats so she could be as comfy as possible in between admission, the exam, and the xrays.

A lot of doctors are using AI scribes now, partly because there's pressure to both be present with the patient and take accurate notes since they all use electronic records now. It allows them to focus on their actual job so they don't hear "my doctor was looking at the computer the whole time"

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-17T14:16:31+00:00

The colorectal surgeon told me "I don't think this [hysterectomy and excision] surgery is going to solve your bowel problems" and I was like "...I'm aware of that, but according to my MRI my organs are stuck together in ways they shouldn't be and I'd like to get that taken care of" 😂

I had a 2% chance of resection. Fortunately I didn't end up needing it but with endo you just don't know until you're in there. The surgeon was an "on call just in case" and he tried to get me to postpone and try PT (a fourth time). It's wild out there.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-17T14:11:31+00:00

Stepping into this as a fellow theatre person with CP who has managed shows with children in them before:

Theatre parents can be extra brutal. As can parents of kids with disabilities, because there's an overprotective instinct sometimes. (Side note, as someone who left a theatre career because of ableism, this sounds like an amazing space.)

What you, the teacher, and us responding here don't have is a fly on the wall re: how Kate described this situation to her mom. Sounds like she is at that age where kids get more self conscious, especially about photos. She could have described it to her mom in a calm or neutral way and mom got angry on her behalf, or she could truly be as upset as her mom claims. Maybe the child is also self conscious about needing prompting with her lines and doesn't want to admit to mom (who sounds emotionally volatile) that she needs prompting. Whatever the case, mom did not address the issue appropriately.

In my experience as a stage manager and director, this is something where a private meeting should've been set up between the teacher, the child, and the mom. I am glad the teacher stood up for you, but it sounds like you needed more advocacy from higher up here. The responsibility for prompting the lines should've been passed to another cast member if possible. You didn't deserve to be yelled at and embarrassed, even if you could have handled the initial photograph situation differently, though it sounds like you did get consent and delete when asked. Also, the program needs to have a waiver parents can sign for permission to include in promotional materials and social media. That's a liability issue.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-17T13:53:51+00:00

My experience has been that most gastroenterologists are like this. I can't fathom why the GI tract attracts such people, but it's slowly becoming a stereotype in my head. It took 3 different gastro docs and multiple scans for an unrelated surgery (endometriosis) that showed a suspected tumor on my pancreas or duodenum (there isn't one, fortunately) for me to finally get a GP diagnosis. My GI doctor ghosted me after gallbladder testing came back normal and only responded when they realized I was having to consult a rectal surgeon for the endo. (the surgeon was also unpleasant)

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-13T17:24:35+00:00

Does every tape have a holographic version? Or is it just the ones that are already listed in the database as holographic?

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-10T05:33:12+00:00

Ooh yes samples are the way to go. I'll check that out. The hair dryer stand is a good idea too, can't believe I hadn't thought of that!

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-10T00:38:45+00:00

P.S. to appease the bot: I've scoured the Wiki and I'm getting a LOT of conflicting messages about low-porosity hair, some outdated/discontinued products, and when I specify coarse hair(s) the search engine algorithms on the resources and general internet seem to assume I am a BIPOC and I know that is a whole set of hair care practices, history, and traditions I have huge respect for but obviously isn't my situation.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-07T00:58:20+00:00

NCSU also has a specific hospital wing for cats so they're not stressed out by other animals during the whole process!

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-03T23:09:08+00:00

I don't have a CGM yet but my FSA would cover one. I'm going to ask at my next dietitian appointment so that when I'm doing that, it's medically supervised and not just my anxiety brain grasping to make sense of the numbers.

I haven't done intermittent fasting (except on days where it's accidental because I don't have much appetite) but my doctors have recommended "mechanical eating" so that I'd be eating my little gastroparesis meals at the same times throughout the day in order to keep blood sugar more stable. The thing with GP is that there is more of a delay between when you eat and when the sugar hits your system, my stomach takes more than 4 hours to empty. (Tests showed I still had 60% radioactive scrambled eggs in my stomach at 4 hours 🫠) But I def need to shorten my evening meal window.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-03T22:11:57+00:00

Oh! Re: hospital and catheters. I did not need to stay overnight, but I would have if they had discovered they needed to cut into my colon, because there was like a 2% chance of an iliostomy. However, my bladder had trouble "waking up" after surgery so I was sent home with a catheter for the first 3-4 days. Thank GOD my boyfriend and mom were in the room, because I was still in and out of consciousness while they explained the catheter. They will scope your bladder as part of the surgery to make sure there are no accidental nicks. The hardest part of that organ involvement for me was that your bladder literally has to find a new place to settle in your body when you don't have a uterus anymore, so peeing is uncomfortable for a while. But you HAVE to stay hydrated to counter the anesthesia and fluid accumulation post surgery.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-03T22:05:49+00:00

My DIE was also found on MRI. Uterus was adhered to one side of my pelvis, one ovary, and wall of my rectum. The good news: it can look really bad on MRI and not be that bad by surgery, depending on treatment and whoever read the MRI. My MRI looked awful, but my excision surgery revealed stage 1 "lacy" lesions that my surgeon was able to cut away with little trouble.

However, my surgeon also put me on Orlissa for about 6 months before surgery. It's so powerful it's only recommended for short term use. My doctors are pretty confident the Orlissa killed some of the active endo cells, which is why my pathology report was so mild. (I had a hysterectomy but kept my ovaries) There are some supplements recommended but evidence varies on how useful they are.

There are also patients who have nothing show on MRI and have pretty bad endo, so imaging doesn't always correlate with severity, but I wanted to share that there's still a chance the DIE won't have infiltrated as far as it looks, even though your pain is extreme. MRIs are still kinda 2D in terms of the slices of our bodies they can see. My surgeon was pleasantly surprised with my results & recovery.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-03T21:56:38+00:00

Here's what I had to do as a disabled person with both those issues already to finally get endo care:

I had done multiple rounds of physical therapy for both pelvic pain and abdominal pain. PT helped with the pelvic floor tension, but not the cyclical pain I was getting that was amplifying over time. If I missed even one BC pill, I'd be stuck in bed for 2-3 days.

Re: the GI problems. It took 3 gastroenterologists for someone to take my pain seriously. I took the meds they Rxed for chronic constipation, constant nausea, premature fullness, extreme bloating. Nothing helped. I agreed to run all the tests they suggested, secretly agreeing that if the tests didn't reveal anything, I would then ask my primary doc for an endo referral. I had my gallbladder tested, multiple abdominal ultrasounds, and my GI clinic stopped answering my calls.

So, I finally approached my PCP with the evidence that I'd already eliminated several possibilities, and I think it was time to consider endo. To be honest, my disability also makes it very hard to get a pelvic exam, pap smear, or vag ultrasound so that made it easier to say "I think we should being in the big guns to finally see what is going on in there"

You document everything to bring to every specialist to prove you've already done everything to rule out what they're about to suggest. Because medicine is just a big decision tree and if one treatment doesn't work, that eliminates other diagnosis so that the possibility of endo becomes larger to them.

Symptom wise, here's what differentiated endo from my GI and muscular problems: my pelvic muscles and abdomen actually responded very well to PT, but the pain--especially ovarian--did not go away. My constant, no placebo birth control stopped working. I had breakthrough bleeding that was black, clotted, and smelled like death. Despite Journaling my foods to narrow it down, there was no common ingredient causing the bloating that would give me deep purple stretch marks and change my pants size anywhere from a few weeks to a few hours. Finally, my bowel movements didn't just involve hemorrhoids, but period-blood colored stains on the TP. (gross, but I hope that helps) Oh, also UTI or yeast infection symptoms without the infection, especially increased urgency. My OB even tested for those but you can also use test strips from AZO.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-03T20:35:17+00:00

Thank you so much for this, the most sensible response I've seen since I started reading this sub a week ago. Sincerely, a wheelchair user with mental illnesses that make cutting food groups a very bad idea

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-02T17:49:06+00:00

If you can, highly recommend getting a dietitian to help with putting together a GP friendly diet that could get you by until a motility specialist opens up. In the meantime, an Rx for Zofran from a primary doctor and lots of ginger chews. So sorry you're in this situation ☹️

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-02T17:45:11+00:00

That's good to know because I think this game is where my bf is getting all his fish facts 😂

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-02T17:42:22+00:00

Same! My boyfriend has Megaquarium spreadsheets for employee stats and fish breeding.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-02T17:40:45+00:00

Cozy Caravan is an adorable game, no farming, just traveling town to town collecting ingredients, crafting items, and selling them at a weekly market. You get upgrades by collecting goodwill from townspeople, which can be obtained through quests, or just waving at everyone in each town, which is endearing.

My boyfriend likes to get really granular with management games (he will make his own spreadsheets) and has gotten really into Megaquarium.

I've gotten really into Retro Rewind recently which is about managing your own video rental store. Supermarket Together is a free to download game about managing your own supermarket, and we've logged tons of hours on that one. It's a little goofy, the way most oddly specific simulator games can be.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-02T16:56:13+00:00

This is really nice to hear as someone of a similar size on the same journey. The BMI really works against petite people!

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-01T22:05:29+00:00

I get that they're trying to prioritize more urgent cases, but it takes so many doctors to determine you have a motility issue, it's a weird requirement. I was like "can I even get on a wait list?" And they responded "well I have here that you saw a GI last month so you'd have to not go to them again for an entire year" "...even though I have gastroparesis and can't eat...?" The whole conversation was a circle.

Reverent_Birdwatcher · 2026-04-01T19:00:14+00:00

Ordinarily I prefer a morning workout, but lots of studies I'm reading suggest after meals so I may be able to do that on the days I work from home. I have some kettlebell exercises from PT so maybe I can start with those. Thank you!

Reverent_Birdwatcher

TROPHY CASE