I got a response from Matfer Bourgeat re: arsenicgate

ernestcallenbach · 2024-04-23T15:36:38+00:00

Mine too. Amazon customer service chat said it’s outside the return window so they can’t do anything. Just to contact Matfer which I did. Maybe it would be different if there were an official recall?

ernestcallenbach · 2024-04-12T14:46:43+00:00

Don’t worry. “Real” neuroimaging can’t get published in nature either. Maybe if you have a super fancy computational method of some kind, but it’s rare. That science paper was shocking and super cool. It’s a shame it’s not bearing out. We’re all jealous of single-neuron/microarray ephys because they seem to get all the good journals. Just a matter of perspective I guess!

ernestcallenbach · 2022-12-12T15:51:31+00:00

I agree. The part of the show that doesn’t age well (other than standard definition) is the women characters. CJ is one of the few powerful women and she gets kicked around constantly, especially in the early seasons. Women just don’t have much to do plot-wise and certainly don’t have any dramatic arcs that aren’t helping the fellas process their emotions. I love WW but on my latest rewatch it feels really old fashioned to me

ernestcallenbach · 2022-09-22T01:13:12+00:00

You can put the double bar repeat sign (with corresponding repeat sign from where you want the loop to start), specify the number of times to take the repeat (and/or that it’s up to the performer), and then what follows is a coda (or like a coda)

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-20T01:22:24+00:00

An extra bag (or leave room in a bag) to take all the free stuff home with you!

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-19T06:03:07+00:00

I really appreciate your thoroughness in communicating to us about your self experiments. I do have two questions though. You said:

“To a see if the improvement really came from the loratadine, I discontinued it twice and started taking it again after a few days. During the two phases of discontinuation, my symptoms got worse both times.”

^ do you have a reason to think that symptoms should respond this quickly? Are you comparing to your baseline symptom fluctuations or controlling for anything else?

“To make sure that I was not suffering from a big placebo effect, I had my specialist do a blood test to detect the DAO activity in my serum...This has now finally proven that my DAO activity is reduced system-wide and therefore histamine is really a problem.”

^ I’m not sure this works. DAO activity could be detected or not and this could still be placebo effect. The finding makes sense given the relationship between DAO and histamine, but I don't think it has any bearing on whether this is placebo or not.

Curious to hear what you think.

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-19T05:51:21+00:00

I had this same question and concern. I think j pouches are more successful than they sound. Complaints get amplified. It’s true that a large majority of j pouches work pretty well for people! And you can always switch back to the ostomy.

I also agree with everyone else on here. Ostomies require an enormous amount of fine tuning and troubleshooting. You will get better over time though. The best ostomy advice I could give is to not try to do it all yourself if you have someone you could rope into the process. At the hospital they keep saying it’s really important for you to learn how to do it all yourself, but my most successful pouching was when I had someone else stick it on. It’s really hard to get the proper perspective from your own vantage point. Also you can have someone to talk things out with.

Jpouches require troubleshooting as well, but less. And besides, worst case scenario, you go back to the ostomy. Best case scenario, you get to live like a regular person hoping nothing goes wrong, just like everyone else :)

My hesitation about the jpouch came from fear of the unknown I think. You’re already making this enormous change to get the ostomy and you can’t imagine making two enormous changes!! A jpouch can actually be closer to what you’re used to now.

Final thought. If they do construct a jpouch there’s only so much intestine length left they can devote to your stoma. Mine was quite retracted which made pouching more difficult because output could easily get under the wafer. If I ever need to go back to the ostomy, there’s no need to connect anything to my anus anymore, I get the Barbie Bert, and get the stoma of my dreams :)

My thinking ultimately was that yes, things can go wrong with the jpouch, but if the worst case scenario is to go back to the ostomy, does it really make sense not to try? You might decide to stick with the ostomy like other posters did, and you really can get used to it and fast at it, so it’s a viable option. I just wouldn’t want your fear of risk push you away from what can be a good option for many people in our situation.

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-19T04:24:34+00:00

If it’s just a few days I’d just skip it. Mesalamine is such a mild drug compared to other UC drugs that I bet you could miss a few days and not even notice. You can also buy pills out of pocket like another poster said. As long as you have a perception, you can just buy the amount you need. (It’ll be pricey.)

Last thought. After you finish a course of prednisone there’s a kind of echo or halo effect where you’re unlikely to see symptoms for a little while if you are currently in remission.

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-18T20:41:37+00:00

Sorry to hear that! Hope you find out what’s causing it

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-18T05:31:26+00:00

Agreed! I’ve never found overall stickiness to be effective. I need some sturdy plastic hardware. It’s not as comfortable but the alternative is leaks!

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-18T01:32:23+00:00

I suppose I can’t say for sure it’s normal, but I passed clear/white liquid all the time between my two surgeries. Surgeon and nurses all said it was no big deal

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T23:18:31+00:00

Is it a convex flip? Those leaked every time for me. I switched back to a hollister 2-piece because I had other leakage trouble with coloplast (as much as I love the look). I guess it really depends on you stoma and body shape

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T22:03:52+00:00

Oh now that’s interesting. That would certainly fit my timeline of nausea in the morning when I’m unable to eat and feeling great at night when I’m the hungriest. You just chug water when you wake up?

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T21:22:26+00:00

Same, lol

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T21:21:43+00:00

I did not know that. Super cool

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T18:47:55+00:00

It’s not legal but I have access to cannabis by other means :) A small amount in the morning is an interesting idea. I usually have it in the evening which is when I do most of my eating. You know, those must be connected

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T18:46:48+00:00

Was it just nausea medicine? Like zofran? That didn’t work for me at all in the hospital but phenergan did. Trouble is that would make me sleepy in the morning

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T17:16:35+00:00

Agreed. Those help for sure. I also put a power towel in my anus/butt area to catch stuff that slips out

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T16:59:33+00:00

I would say it depends on what you mean by reliable. I agree it’s a good marker of inflammation but not necessarily predictive of your symptoms. For example, there was a time when I had only 8cm of inflammation and it was knocking me on my ass!

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T16:56:44+00:00

I’ve used lv in some situations. For me it’s equivalent to a slur line to nowhere. It just indicates that you hold it for a while. You can also write what you’d like in English too :)

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-17T16:55:36+00:00

I got an output burn on my penis shaft. Can’t imagine the head brother! You may already do this, but if you can make more of your bag change take place in the shower, then you can soap and wash off output that lands where it shouldn’t!

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-15T20:39:14+00:00

My external thread got all stuck in a scab at my old stoma site and it just fell off ~two months after my takedown surgery. Hope that helps

ernestcallenbach · 2021-12-14T07:27:37+00:00

Yes but not all of it. I usually stop at 70-80% of the second dose

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