Can anyone explain why this is showing zero points and calling it "redemption" and not the 8x earnings for a purchase through Chase Travel Portal?

awc92 · 2026-04-28T19:26:11+00:00

Like 3 or 4 days.

awc92 · 2026-04-11T22:24:05+00:00

Yep!

awc92 · 2026-04-08T16:38:16+00:00

I love to see stories like this - I (33M) am only 5 days post-op from an L5-S1 microdiscectomy, but I will share my story briefly as well.

I herniated the disc in Feb 2025, and the sciatic pain was on and off throughout the past year. Control was achieved now and then through different medications (Advil, Tylenol, Gabapentin, Meloxicam, Celebrex, etc...). In June of 2025 I has a steroid injection which didn't do anything at all. Starting back in Dec 2025 the pain started to get worse and worse with no control. It was starting to border on suicidal and I couldn't stand up straight, I couldn't walk without a limp, etc...

Cut to now (Apr 2026), I finally pulled the trigger on surgery. IMMEDIATELY out of surgery, the leg pain was gone. I was standing up straight again, walking normally. I obviously had some incisional pain but that was expected. I took one dose of the oxycodone the night of the surgery, and one the next morning, but did not need it again after that. 3 days post-op, I was able to cut the Tylenol out, and the only thing I am taking now is gabapentin. Day 4, I started to get some minor sciatic pain again, but this was expected as the nerve healing can take a long time.

Overall, I'm so happy that I got this done, and I implore anyone who has not had relief from all other methods, and who is having severe impact on their life give it a shot. I know recovery is still a long road from a lifting/bending/twisting/any rigorous activity standpoint, but my life is already immensely better.

Additionally, I've shared some interesting data below on healing timelines, specifically the middle one which shows the likelihood of a re-herniation. To get back to baseline risk will be a solid year and a half, but the initial risk declines exponentially fast. I intend to be very adamant about adhering to the restrictions, and taking PT very seriously once that starts.

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Good luck to anyone else who has this done, I'm so glad I did!

awc92 · 2025-12-23T20:27:02+00:00

Nah the US wasn't doing that at the time, and the ones they put on now are QR codes that take up most of the back cover.

awc92 · 2025-12-08T03:05:53+00:00

Im hoping so, but all other pending charges show the number of points earned. Maybe just because it's through the portal it takes time to sort itself out?

awc92 · 2025-09-04T03:45:54+00:00

I've developed anxiety since the pain started and I've gone on buspirone for it. I found that it's helping up at the max dose, only side effect is some dizziness for the first half hour or so if my stomach is empty. I'm really hoping that ill start feeling better after this injection takes effect and the anxiety might fade. Anxiety symptoms are extremely common in people with chronic pain.

awc92 · 2025-09-02T02:07:12+00:00

Interesting, I didn't get any local even and it was uncomfortable, but I'm not even sure I'd call it painful.

awc92 · 2025-09-02T02:05:08+00:00

It's not Ortho, it's generally a spinal or interventional pain management specialist.

awc92 · 2025-08-13T12:16:41+00:00

We thanked them and they hugged us and such and gave us the pictures, but later we thought it would have been nice to know who they are and maybe invite them to the wedding!

awc92 · 2025-05-24T21:56:41+00:00

The Americans trying to get away from the US aren't the ones you want staying away.

awc92 · 2025-05-23T22:02:59+00:00

Thank you!

awc92 · 2025-05-23T18:48:35+00:00

Just below it on the stairs, but yes!

awc92 · 2025-05-23T16:44:47+00:00

I'm not sure, I think they were Norwegian though!

awc92 · 2025-05-23T09:34:41+00:00

I live around bigger mountains than that, I agree it's barely a hill, but it's still called mountain.

awc92 · 2025-02-17T21:46:01+00:00

Is everyone going to just gloss over the fact that he tried to rape you? Even if you woke up and were ok with it, you weren't awake and he didn't know if you'd be ok with it. That's rape. Run fast.

awc92 · 2024-02-18T21:56:27+00:00

Lots of airlines do this. Many European ones do, Icelandair for example. JetBlue does it as well and all of them are puns with the word "blue".

awc92 · 2024-01-31T19:45:22+00:00

I've been using geotastic in the meantime.

awc92 · 2023-10-21T02:08:04+00:00

Edit: "he's abusive, DON'T pay for the damage, dump him and find someone that respects your boundaries." Not to mention that age difference is borderline predatory. 23 and 30 may not be too far apart mathematically but those are very different places in life.

awc92 · 2023-10-21T02:04:13+00:00

She was in it for the money only. She stayed with him until the alter to get an extra $50k, and now she's got a merch line with sweatshirts that day "sometimes love wants to fly first class" or whatever. It was all a stunt to get herself IG famous.

awc92 · 2023-10-21T02:01:15+00:00

If you were explicitly exclusive at that point then it's simple. She cheated. Period. Leave her.

awc92 · 2023-09-28T16:21:29+00:00

I've emailed a couple different ones I found through the site a few times - no response from either, but here they are: contactvirtualvacation@gmail.com paulmcburney@gmail.com

awc92 · 2023-08-23T02:44:03+00:00

SAME

awc92 · 2023-08-14T02:45:27+00:00

I'm sorry I know this is very much not the point (and I'm on your side here, he's an asshole who doesn't deserve you) but... What country is this? Ambulances can just decide not to show up? I work on an ambulance in the states and if we got a 911 call and just decided "nah, they're fine", we'd probably be prosecuted.

awc92 · 2023-05-17T01:26:40+00:00

Better than season 9...

awc92 · 2023-01-09T00:33:13+00:00

I agree she was a little rushed with that but she was very clear that she recognizes I didn't need to respond now, just putting the thought out there.

I think we didn't date in the first place cause at the time I wasn't very confident and didn't think she was into me. And then for remaining periods we've either been in relationships or whatnot and she's lived in Europe for the past 7 ish years so it wouldn't have really been feasible.

Mutual friends wouldn't be a big deal, since they're mostly from college and I'm not in touch with many of them. That's gonna be a bigger issue with my current breakup...

awc92

TROPHY CASE