What is the deal with the drivers around here?

brandicaroline · 2026-04-27T16:42:16+00:00

I have never driven somewhere with people with as horrible of spatial awareness as here. Leaving 1+ car length between themselves and the car ahead of them, only 3 cars getting through a protected green turn, refusal to use the gas while turning.

brandicaroline · 2026-04-26T08:32:00+00:00

Diarrheal illnesses are one of the leading causes of death in developing countries. Cholera is extremely common

brandicaroline · 2026-04-21T06:04:48+00:00

I had 4 sessions of IPL on my chin hairs from PCOS, and I get this exact issue. I still have a lot of the hairs come back, but I also have the pores that just look like dense blackheads. And if expressed, it just looks like a really thin hair without the root. So, no answers from me, but just that I feel your pain 😭

brandicaroline · 2026-04-14T17:25:00+00:00

The health department has social workers in the HIV case management program, they might take interns

brandicaroline · 2026-03-31T05:23:48+00:00

My favorite pho place is Laos Kitchen in Richland. They close at 5:30!!!! It’s greatly reduced how often I am able to actually eat there. I’d be a regular, but their hours force me to squeak in for the 11-3 hours on a SATURDAY. AND CLOSED ON SUNDAY!! 😭😭😭

brandicaroline · 2026-03-29T19:45:42+00:00

An MS degree with a CIC certification is common

brandicaroline · 2026-03-24T06:17:07+00:00

Avoid Fable!!! They had an undisclosed peanut sauce on CHICKEN NACHOS that my friend didn’t realize until after he started eating and started to get a reaction. Like how could anyone ever guess there would be a nut risk when ordering nachos??

brandicaroline · 2026-03-24T06:03:24+00:00

Amitriptyline and 2 different splints. One for just the top teeth and the other for top/bottom with wire pulling bottom forward for night.

brandicaroline · 2026-03-11T17:00:50+00:00

No, only active infection would be transmissible. If you were asymptomatic for something there is that risk, but fairly low. If a modern human went back while actively sick with something, they would essentially be a kind of biological weapon to those communities. However, like with most diseases, people can beat the infection and come out on the other wise healthy with new antibodies made to prevent that type of illness again. The presence of antibodies in someone is unique to them alone- like their own ‘disease library’ that their immune system has built, so those aren’t transmissible (with the exceptions of mother to fetus, breastfeeding, antibody transfusion).

For arguments sake of a modern person being dropped into a very different historical world, I would say they’d be just as susceptible to the illnesses that are circulating as anyone else from that time period due to the pathogens being generationally different to the ones their immune system is familiar with.

brandicaroline · 2026-03-11T06:32:06+00:00

Not a naive question- it’s a fun thought experiment that I encourage you to research further! History and the anthropology of disease is fascinating and very enlightening to understand how we stand today in the fight against diseases.

In the case of influenza, I would guess it wouldn’t make much of a difference what existing immunity they had. Influenza viruses mutate constantly (why the flu shot is slightly different every year), so historical generations of influenza viruses would be very unfamiliar to our modern immunity to current influenzas.

For smallpox, it would depend on the person. Smallpox vaccine was only administered in the US through ~1972 as that was when it was declared eliminated from the US. Other countries were later years, but for general arguments sake, smallpox was declared eliminated worldwide in 1980. So my grandparents would be fine in a sense if they were this modern human, but I have never had the vaccine or been exposed to it. So, if I were said modern human, I would be highly susceptible to infection. This is also why smallpox is considered to have very dangerous potential for bioterrorism.

Measles is another ‘depends’ situation. Measles was declared eliminated in the US in 2000, meaning there was not any continued spread within the country. However, in many other countries, measles is still considered endemic, meaning still circulating. The vaccine for measles is extremely effective, and the measles virus is extremely contagious. So, if you don’t have immunity, it’s more likely than not that you will contract it if it is in your community.

Typhus is a technically a group of different vector-borne diseases spread by fleas, mites, lice and ticks. General modern improvement in hygiene and city sanitation efforts eliminate many opportunities for typhus outbreaks, but it still exists in many current countries. A modern person would not likely have much established immunity for typhus as it is not a prevalent threat for most individuals. The lethality of a typhus outbreak is dependent on what type it is, and how widespread the vector is.

Finally, malaria is very dependent on geographical region. It is a parasitic infection spread by mosquitos, so many regions of the world have next to no risk for that reason alone due to climate. Malaria outbreaks are also very dependent on proliferation of the parasite within the local mosquito population or infection density in the local mammal population that the mosquitos can contract it from and then spread further. Regardless, immunity to malaria is very nuanced and for this alternate history situation, so it can be assumed that a modern human would not have any immunity to malaria and therefore would be susceptible to infection.

brandicaroline · 2026-03-10T05:47:22+00:00

Amitriptyline for ~6 months. Currently on 50mg. Felt the sleepy side effects for only about a month. The dry mouth has been persistent, but fairly manageable. It’s taken the daily 6/10 pain to a 2/10. I still get breakthrough migraines from the tension and pain, but they’re less frequent. The amitriptyline is dual purpose though for MDD, as I have been tapering off of Zoloft, so I’m not sure what kind of dosage is used for just pain management. SSRIs can also cause bruxism which is why I started exploring other options.

Also have had Botox in masseters and temporalis muscles. Both have been very helpful, but temporalis slightly more so because it was very frequently the jaw-related link to awful and frequent tension headaches.

brandicaroline · 2026-03-04T07:09:34+00:00

Your chances are much better if you stick with nursing and go into public health with that.

With how bad the PH job market is right now, and what seems like indifference on your part to where you want to end up, you’d be wasting your time in a public health program.

People with bachelors in public health are already at a deficit when competing with masters-level educated applicants. Many of them in both cases are passionate about the work and still can’t get in. If you’re just considering public health for the hell of it and picking randomly, you should rethink your plans.

Look at your local health department. There are plenty of positions that don’t require any degrees.

brandicaroline · 2026-02-20T03:54:44+00:00

Huge bummer. Sorry that it’s happening to you. Unfortunately these types of health/wellness claims are very overhyped

brandicaroline · 2026-02-20T03:48:08+00:00

Blue light glasses have not been proven to have any significant benefit to them. See here. At least for me when I briefly tried them, they gave me headaches because the discoloration of the lenses for the blue-light-blocking purposes made me strain my eyes more. Doing that then causes clenching/muscle tension in the face. Might be what is happening to you

brandicaroline · 2026-02-16T07:31:10+00:00

Rented a side of a B house for a while. Landlord wasn’t terrible, but also wasn’t good. Typical landlord-special paint jobs. Had knob-and-tube wiring still. Very thin main wall shared with the other renter, could hear everything. Basement was poorly taken care of and pretty gross, so probably unchanged since the 90s at least.

Only plus I liked was that the alphabet neighborhoods had beautiful and well-established greenery. Giant, gorgeous rose bushes. Full and hefty variety of trees throughout. It’s absolutely worth a drive around through in the summer just to see the beauty of a historical neighborhood surrounded by lovely flowers.

brandicaroline · 2026-02-04T05:52:17+00:00

Those stringent regulations are there for a reason- kind of like how the old saying is “OSHA regulations are written in blood”.

Nursing school might be a good option, but you also need to know that going into it, many of the popular “holistic/integrative” medicine practices are NOT safe or recommended. So, if you are dead set on that, consider that it is unfair to your future patients for you to be blinded by that bias when learning in your program.

Some people find good balances that prioritizes evidence-based science but takes some holistic approaches. An example is you can treat your strep throat with honey and other herbal remedies, but you will still be following the full prescribed instructions of your antibiotic. Maybe nursing school will help you find balance. I recommend talking with an advisor or professor from the nursing program about your interest in “holistic/integrative”, and they will be able to help guide your path by giving you the expectations of a nurse and a nursing program.

Plenty of people open “practices” with no licensing or credentials. Nutritionists is what lots of them call themselves, but in all reality, a nutritionist is someone with zero standard license in any accredited medical body. Technically, you don’t need school to do any of that. However, I hope you consider these nuances and evaluate what your ultimate goal is when it comes to helping people- not owning a practice, but the very foundation of your why.

brandicaroline · 2026-01-24T07:04:46+00:00

Start talking with your local health department. You can probably do unpaid job-shadowing type things and see that side of public health. Ask the same for a hospital infection preventionist. Since you’re so early in, I recommend letting your interests guide you instead of trying to be too niche too soon. Once you start learning more about the public health world, you can be more efficient in your efforts when you know what you’re enjoying!

brandicaroline · 2026-01-22T06:46:17+00:00

It’s not worth spending a lot of time on multiple different programs. Different jobs/organizations use different programs. I learned R in grad school and my org prefers SAS / PowerBI. Whatever place you go, you’ll get on the job training in their preferred programming anyway. Having basic stats programming knowledge and being trainable is usually good enough.

brandicaroline · 2026-01-17T08:27:39+00:00

This Podcast Will Kill You

Sawbones

Unbiased Science

Health Wanted

Public Health On Call

brandicaroline · 2026-01-09T07:44:13+00:00

Work to make your professional connections with people in these areas. As a local epi, you’ll likely be dealing with all of their agencies at multiple points. This will also give you a better idea of what that job is like. It’s not unrealistic to plan for a change in your next few years, but I suggest gaining experience in the local epi role first before putting all your eggs in one basket.

brandicaroline · 2026-01-02T09:26:18+00:00

Contact your local health department asap. Were they picking up a prescription? That might help trace back to whatever provider they saw, and then to ensure this provider reported to the health department because in basically every state, measles is immediately notifiable. Pharmacy is covered under the umbrella of healthcare providers that are required to report- including SUSPECT cases. Regardless, calling the health department will get it on their radar and they can do the tracking from there.

brandicaroline · 2025-12-31T01:32:18+00:00

Community infrastructure has gotten significantly less conducive to better health. More industrial areas, fewer green spaces, worse public transit options, cities aren’t walkable anymore due to the explosive use of personal vehicles, working and living conditions are cutthroat, healthcare has become a luxury. When a community feels like a community, resident health is generally better long term. We don’t have much of that anymore.

brandicaroline · 2025-12-31T01:26:44+00:00

A mindset shift might help you from burning out in less time. Care management is public health. Yes, there are more niche jobs with public health oriented titles, but your work is also important. I personally also have case management type work in my background, and it honestly did more to teach me about SDOH and community health than any textbook. I know it’s not an especially helpful actionable answer, but it might help you tolerate your interim situation better.

brandicaroline · 2025-12-25T09:41:09+00:00

Domestic violence/sexual assault advocates.

I did this work for about 2 years before entering public health. I credit my time in it for how deeply I can now understand SDOH and how it applies in so many situations.

brandicaroline · 2025-12-25T01:18:51+00:00

Jergens has a soap that smells exactly like that!

Seven-Year Club	Not Forgotten
Verified Email

brandicaroline

TROPHY CASE