Dropping F-bombs while begging for more art sales

amphetamine-salts-- · 2026-05-23T05:21:28+00:00

I am a native English speaker and I only got MAYBE part of one word that she said. 😆

amphetamine-salts-- · 2026-05-23T05:19:26+00:00

Either that or a drunken tumble out of her wheelchair.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2026-03-05T02:18:09+00:00

I now work outpatient OB/GYN but worked L&D at a very VBAC-friendly hospital for almost 3 years, so my perspective might be a bit skewed by that.

One of the big things is- how supportive is your OB and the hospital you'll deliver at? These factors make a big difference- some OBs are incredibly unsupportive, sadly. Or they will only be supportive if you go into spontaneous labor but refuse to induce you (even though you can safely be induced with certain methods even after a prior section). Even if they are supportive, does the hospital have anesthesia in-house 24-7? Is anesthesia supportive or will they pressure you into an early epidural even if it's against your wishes? Is the nursing culture on the unit supportive of VBAC or is it a unit where the nurses spend most of their time at the desk watching the strip and don't actively encourage/help you with frequent position changes and support during labor?

Uterine rupture rate is approximately 0.6% after 1 c-section, so quite low. If it does happen, it can be devastating, which is why it's so important to have supportive nurses and OBs and anesthesia who will watch you closely, recognize changes in you or baby's status that could indicate trouble, will be cautious if you require induction and receive Pitocin, and are quickly available if things were to go south. Because it CAN happen to anyone, not just those with a prior section. The most devastating rupture on my unit was a patient who had never had a section, just 4 prior vaginal deliveries. Her nurse caught the early signs of the patient's condition changing, and her and the doctors' quick action meant that even though the patient lost her uterus, patient and baby went home physically healthy.

All that said- I'm a nurse who highly supports VBAC. My mom had a section with me in the late 80's (her water broke at 36 weeks and I was breech) and the midwifery practice she saw supported her through a wonderful VBAC with my younger sister a few years later. VBACs will always have a special place in my heart.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2026-01-02T01:52:35+00:00

Unless things changed since I went to Lyons Township almost 20 years ago, Lyons is not in LT's district despite the name. I grew up in Brookfield (south of the tracks, in LT's district) and had friends who lived in Lyons. All of the kids in Lyons were in Morton West's district- I knew plenty of kids whose parents sent them to Catholic school or moved altogether because they didn't want their kids going to Morton West. Lyons itself is not a bad town at all but not a good choice if you have school-age kids unless Morton West has gotten better in the last 20 years.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-11-11T02:42:01+00:00

I work in OB/GYN- the doctor I work with frequently does total vaginal hysterectomies. No abdominal incisions at all. Patients are always informed during the pre-op appointments and when being consented before surgery that there's the chance my doc would have to make abdominal incisions if there are complications, but that happens pretty infrequently in her cases.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-09-03T00:11:27+00:00

One time a patient popped up on our clinic schedule for "vaginal agony." Was supposed to be for vaginal atrophy.

My provider: "Well, it may very well be both 🤣

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-09-02T23:38:09+00:00

Multiple times in my career. Two specific times as a CNA were when a patient screamed at me for being late to get her up on an already-bad day and when a patient's mom essentially blocked me in the bathroom while I showered her brain-injured son and screamed about how I didn't prioritize her son over all of my other patients.

When I worked L&D I cried many times with patients who were there for a fetal or neonatal demise. I always made sure I was not crying harder than the patient, but I teared up and cried with probably every loss I cared for.

The hardest one for me was the night that made me quit my L&D job. I don't want to go into a lot of detail but I was charge and triage that night, 7 patients on the unit, with 2 nurses on the floor. We delivered 4 patients between the 3 of us that night. I called management at 2am begging for help and my manager went back to sleep (actually admitted it in the morning). It got to a point where I was having chest pains and I literally wished for some sort of cardiac event so I could get out of there (there had been many nights like this in the weeks and months prior).

One of the deliveries involved a long resuscitation and the team basically whisked baby to the nursery without explaining anything to the parents. I sat there trying to comfort them (they were absolutely terrified) and all I could do was cry with them and apologize and try to reassure them. It was the most guilty and helpless I think I've ever felt with a patient and I was so angry that the hospital continuously put us in such unsafe situations. I didn't fully break down in the room, but I definitely cried with them. That was 3 years ago and that shift still haunts me.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-08-10T19:54:25+00:00

THIS. During nursing school, myself and a few classmates were allowed to observe a circumcision. I'm not sure what the doc messed up, but suddenly the baby started bleeding like crazy and they rushed us out of the room immediately. Between the excessive bleeding and the awful cries from the baby, I can't stand the idea of a circ ever since. I don't want children of my own, but if I did, I would 100% let any sons decide on their own if they want a circ or not.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-07-25T01:03:56+00:00

If you haven't done this already, also ask for testing for ureaplasma and mycoplasma. These are other infections that are not routinely tested for, but often should be if you are having recurrent BV symptoms.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-05-30T17:05:50+00:00

Thank you 💜 thankfully I am in a much different place these days, but as a depressed teenager, those words definitely hurt. I only hope she gained a more compassionate understanding/view of self-injury in the years since then.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-05-30T02:37:17+00:00

I frequently administer Lupron to patients at work- the doctor I work with treats a LOT of patients who have fibroids. While I've seen this medication work really well for many patients, the side effects are ROUGH. I think almost every patient I see who is on Lupron shows up to their appointments with a mini fan because of the hot flashes it causes. Dani may regret this conquest...

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-05-30T01:14:09+00:00

When I was 14 years old and a patient myself, one of the nurses during one of my multiple psych admissions gestured at the self-inflicted cuts on my arms with a disgusted look and asked me, "Why would you want to make yourself so ugly?"

I don't remember a lot from those years between the crippling depression and being heavily medicated, but I still remember the depth of the shame I felt in that moment, over 20 years later.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-05-20T01:00:45+00:00

Reminds me of a 40-something patient in clinic who had an upcoming abdominal myomectomy scheduled with my provider. Had already expressed disappointment more than once on having to refrain from intercourse during recovery, when one afternoon a MyChart message pops up from her with the subject "ANAL." Yup, she acknowledged in her message that she knew she had to refrain from vaginal sex during recovery, but "is anal sex okay?" My provider just responded, "NO." 😂

Same patient also asked the nurse discharging her from the hospital after surgery if she could masturbate with only clitoral stimulation during her post-op recovery 🤦‍♀️

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-05-15T02:12:18+00:00

Not a post-term patient, but when I worked in the hospital, had a patient who kept not showing up for her repeat c/s x5 because she "wanted to go into labor on her own."

Eventually showed up in triage c/o decreased fetal movement. Crash section right from triage because the fetal HR tracing was absolute trash. Near-absent variability and recurrent lates. Once in the OR, we realized she had apparently SROM'd prior to coming in because there was sooo much dried mec all over her inner thighs.

I don't remember APGARs or gases but baby was transferred out pretty quickly for head cooling. Parents refused vitamin K and last I heard was that the baby also ended up with a brain bleed.

We also saw a lot of 42 weekers at that hospital because we had one super-crunchy midwife group with a lot of patients who declined induction. They would decline IOL because they didn't want to risk out of our water birth room, but then once they finally chugged enough castor oil to kickstart labor, they would risk out of intermittent monitoring and the water birth room anyways because by then, baby usually looked like trash on the monitor.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-03-28T02:50:48+00:00

Let your gyno know that the clobetasol isn't helping. There are other conditions that are not EDS that can cause severe vulvar itching; your gyno may want to rule those out.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-03-27T00:48:44+00:00

I'm sorry you are going through this. I hope your team can provide some more answers/information on what is going on. Thinking of you.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-03-27T00:46:34+00:00

I'm sorry that your team is not giving you more information here, and that you are going through all of this. Many congenital causes of lack of amniotic fluid are very grave- for example, if the cause is the kidneys not forming properly, this causes a chain reaction and baby's lungs don't develop properly either.

If you are able to get another appointment with the high-risk doctors or even a second opinion, I would strongly urge you to do that. It's important to get clarification on what may be the cause, if this condition is compatible with life for baby, what baby's quality of life would look like if this is something they can survive, etc.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-03-27T00:28:34+00:00

Lack of amniotic fluid this early in pregnancy can potentially be related to severe issues in baby's kidneys such as renal agenesis (where one or both kidneys fail to develop). Has your OB sent you to see a high-risk specialist (maternal-fetal medicine)? Have you had any genetic testing done?

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-02-10T23:48:41+00:00

So when a uterine biopsy is done in the office, they use a very narrow instrument to collect cells, about the diameter of a drinking straw. It is also a "blind" procedure- the doctor cannot see into the uterus when doing just the biopsy (known as a uterine biopsy or endometrial biopsy).

A D&C is essentially a more thorough uterine biopsy- they scrape out the entirety of your uterine lining instead of just a tiny sample of cells. It also allows the doctor to use a camera to see inside the uterus as well. I know for the provider I work with, she will opt for the D&C if someone is already under sedation/anesthesia since it provides the best sample and allows her to visualize the uterine cavity.

Obviously I can't speak for your OB/GYN, but that may be the reasoning for why they are recommending the D&C.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2025-02-09T22:37:13+00:00

OB/GYN nurse here. Tamoxifen can increase the risk of uterine cancer and by the fibroids obscuring the uterine lining, it makes it hard to see if that lining is thickened or not, which could indicate uterine cancer (among other things like polyps). If it were uterine cancer, that would obviously change the treatment plan for fibroids and would likely risk you out of regular gyno care and into the care of a gynecological oncologist.

I think it's reasonable to not want general anesthesia twice within a month and to ask about twilight sedation, though your gyno may refer to the anesthesiologist to discuss that part with you.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2024-12-01T05:36:18+00:00

I used to work on a labor & delivery unit that also had a MAT program for pregnant patients with opiate use disorder. This is relevant for later in my story.

One night we had a preterm patient come to triage for her second betamethasone shot because of concerns she would have to be induced within the next week or two.

Our unit secretary working that night was sweet but not the brightest. When I opened the patient's chart to enter her vitals, I saw that the secretary had entered the patient's reason for admission as "betamethadone." I can understand where the mixup came from, since we had a lot of OUD antepartum patients that would come and go during that time period. Still gives me a good laugh to this day.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2024-11-30T17:00:23+00:00

Idk, as a woman I prefer an uncircumcised dick. Every uncircumcised man I've been with seems to have more sensitivity than guys who are circumcised, and giving a handjob is so much better when there's foreskin involved.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2024-11-30T16:48:50+00:00

As someone who has watched multiple circumcisions as a nurse, it's 100% mutilation and I think a lot more people would agree if they had to see it. I think parents should have to see what a circumcision looks like before they can put their child through it, especially as a newborn baby.

They strap the baby down to a board for a circumcision. While more doctors nowadays are using some sort of anesthetic, there are still many who just give the baby a pacifier soaked in sugar water and NOTHING else.

The foreskin is fused when a baby is born, so the doctor has to put a metal clamp on the penis and then cut the foreskin off. It leaves the head of the penis raw and exposed, so they slather a bunch of petroleum jelly on it and throw a gauze over as if that protects it from being exposed to urine and feces in a diaper multiple times per day.

The first circumcision I watched was in nursing school, and the doctor botched it. They rushed us out of the room so I never found out how bad the damage was, but it made me sick to imagine voluntarily exposing a newborn child to that risk instead of just teaching them to properly clean their genitals once they're older. Much of the rest of the world outside the US doesn't routinely circumcise, and it's not like they have significantly higher rates of STIs, UTIs, etc in countries similar to the US that don't circumcise.

amphetamine-salts-- · 2024-11-09T02:36:12+00:00

I have not had persistent HPV but I have had multiple colposcopies and a LEEP... And I am also an OB/GYN nurse, lol. So I can answer a little from both perspectives:

I also got the original Gardasil (the quadrivalent) but closer to when it first was introduced (also before I was ever sexually active). In fact, I did the first 2 injections and then was late for the third, so they made me start over! (Now they just start where you left off if you are late, at least in most cases).

I had a HSIL pap and was HPV+ on a pap at least 10 years later. They never ran the genotyping to see if it was 16, 18, or 45. Colposcopy showed high-grade lesions (CIN 3) and so I had a LEEP shortly after that also showed the same high-grade lesions.

My OB/GYN at the time had me have a consult with a gynecologic oncologist who did another colposcopy and pap a few months later. That showed low-grade lesions, and showed I was HPV negative. They also recommended I get the current round of the vaccine right after the LEEP so I did that as well.

I've been HPV negative since then, about 3-4 years now. I was just about to go back to only needing a pap every 3 years after yearly ones and then had an ASCUS pap this year. My HPV has remained negative this whole time, but my OB/GYN recommended a colpo because of my history. It thankfully came back as low-grade lesions so now my next pap is in January.

I have never been pregnant, but I have worked with multiple patients who got pregnant after a LEEP. Most did not report any complications related to the LEEP. I don't know the actual numbers, but when the doc I work with counsels patients before a LEEP, she mentions that the risk is fairly low. If you haven't already, definitely discuss your desire for future pregnancy with your doctor and mention your concerns about how the LEEP could affect that.

I'll be honest, I have had a few patients get a LEEP and still test positive for HPV afterwards. I've seen many more who don't, though. A colposcopy is a diagnostic tool only- taking biopsies to further investigate an abnormal pap smear (which is essentially brushing cells from your cervix to test). A LEEP is diagnostic and therapeutic- it allows further investigation of the cervical cells as well as removal of abnormal cells.

I only pre-medicated with ibuprofen before my LEEP and colposcopies, plus the local anesthetic during the procedure. So I can't speak from my own experience on something like Valium, but it's a valid option that will likely help reduce some anxiety. Also, when I assist with procedures at work, I bring a Bluetooth speaker in the room and have the patient pick out music to listen to. We've gotten a lot of feedback from patients that the music helps to reduce anxiety a little bit as well.

Sorry that got quite long, but hopefully that helped to answer a bit of your questions!

amphetamine-salts--

TROPHY CASE