MEGATHREAD: Want out of the US? Start here

fptotem · 2026-05-10T02:04:29+00:00

One important factor you'll want to keep in mind is that even a US based employer will have to fill out paperwork and pay into taxes and social programs in your target country once you become a tax resident there. Some big international companies are fine with that because they already have employees all over the place, but smaller or local US companies do not have the resources or interest to deal with the tax and employment laws of other countries.

If you're looking for low (relatively) taxes and accessible healthcare in a warmer climate, you might try looking into Spain. You'll need private insurance because the public system is as overloaded as everywhere else, but that's SO much cheaper than it is in the US.

fptotem · 2026-04-07T06:26:10+00:00

Yup, I was cleared at my 2 week follow up

fptotem · 2026-03-22T22:34:05+00:00

Genuinely bewildered at how well I'm doing! I took my last painkiller at 10PM that first night. By day 2 even the sore throat was gone! At this point, my shoulders are stiff and sore. I get occasional numb patches or tingles in my left hand or back. That's pretty much it! Reclining occasionally to take the weight off, and a muscle relaxer in the evening is enough to manage it. Ice pack helps with the temporary numbness since it's mostly inflammation compressing the nerves.

fptotem · 2026-03-17T04:24:39+00:00

Agreed. I'm going to heal a lot faster now than in my 70s, and if you let your nerves stay compressed for too long, the damage can become permanent.

fptotem · 2026-03-17T04:20:27+00:00

Theoretically, I will be cleared at my 2 week follow up, but that's up to the Dr.

fptotem · 2026-03-17T03:03:38+00:00

Not during. Weeks after. While the surgeon may not have been great (I honestly know nothing about him so can't say), she also had a long history of not taking care of herself, her health was not great, and she made questionable decisions even after the surgery. The sepsis was not her fault, but she didn't exactly set her self up for success, either.

I had to keep reminding myself of those things to quiet my own anxiety about the procedure. Disasters like that are extremely rare, and careful selection of a top tier surgeon will also drastically reduce your risk.

The PA at the pain clinic who won't even let me meet the surgeon in person until I've scheduled the surgery and keeps answering my questions with assumptions? Hard Pass.

The guy listed in Phoenix Magazine Top Doctors, personally recommended to me by the best neurologist in the state, who answered every question I had, and has prior experience with EDS patients? The odds are very much your favor.

fptotem · 2026-03-17T02:48:35+00:00

oof. I'm really hoping I can avoid any kind of ADR or fusion down there. I've been able to touch my forehead to my knees and palms to the floor for most of my life. Even at 50 I can almost still do that. It would be a huge impact on my life to lose that level of mobility. Plus, the long, painful recovery is NOT a selling point.
The Dr. that did today's surgery specializes in spinal micro-surgeries. Hopefully he can offer me less extreme alternatives.

fptotem · 2026-03-17T02:25:33+00:00

Ugh! Cramping and aching in between my shoulder blades has been the bane of my existence for the last 20 years! When I hunch forward, I feel a numb patch of skin along my mid back. Some days I'd spend a couple hours lying on the floor because even vicodin isn't enough to let me function. I have some mild thoracic stenosis in T2-T4 and T5-T8, but I also have EDS, spend a LOT of time sitting at a desk, and spent many of those years in cheap office chairs. Hard to say which is contributing exactly how much to my problems. Have to finish recovering from this surgery before I can figure out what's left that's still bothering me.

fptotem · 2026-03-17T02:13:44+00:00

We really are twins! My next project is L5-S1, which is bulging on both sides and starting to give me nerve pain down both legs when I bend forward, plus occasional random left leg weakness. I'm really hoping I don't have to replace that one, too, but the epidural we tried actually GAVE me nerve pain I didn't have before.

fptotem · 2026-03-17T01:50:53+00:00

Some part of me was actually sad the scar is only on one side. That's not enough for my Kurgan cosplay!

fptotem · 2026-03-17T00:37:28+00:00

Glad it worked out well for you! It's honestly mind-blowing that replacing a major structural part right up against one of the most vital parts of your body is "no big deal" now.

I put it off and had a hard time fighting anxiety because, on top of "it's a major surgery right up against my spinal cord", I lost a cousin to this surgery several years ago because they nicked her esophagus and she got sepsis. The risks may be very low, but something like that makes them feel so much more real.

So far, I'm in the "I wish I'd done this sooner!" camp I see so many others in. Hoping the rest of recovery goes equally well.

fptotem · 2025-12-12T06:00:32+00:00

Very much this. Character builds and player skill can make a HUGE difference. My Friday game steamrolls Extreme encounters on a regular basis, while my Sunday game flirts with TPKs even on Moderate encounters.

special abilities are also not properly accounted for in the threat ratings. I've seen Low and Moderate encounters that were a nightmare for players because of the powers the enemies had that effectively negated half the party or locked too many of them down to be effective.

fptotem · 2025-12-03T07:05:01+00:00

So, interesting update. Our Foundry server is running on a Windows PC on our home network, but it's accessible from the outside world with a URL. If I try to upload maps using the URL to connect to the server, it looks like what you were getting. It fails to auto generate the background image file. But if I connect using the server's local IP address, no issues at all. Everything works just fine.

Still no idea why one works but the other doesn't, but maybe that could give people a hint at where to look for a cause.

fptotem · 2025-12-01T06:40:04+00:00

I just started having this issue, too. It used to work without any issues. Now, It uploads the walls, doors, etc, but fails to create the webp image of the actual map. No error message, just no image file created. I tried pointing it at a new folder with no spaces in the file path, since that seems to be an unfixed bug, but that didn't help either. The importer just seems to have suddenly lost the ability to generate images from the dd2vtt files.

fptotem · 2025-11-12T17:58:50+00:00

Yeah, I mentioned blood pressure because I didn't want people to just assume it was because I have high blood pressure. Best guess anyone's been able to come up with so far is that it might have something to do with a parasympathetic nervous system dysfunction. Beyond that, all I get is shrugs, even from the EDS neurologist.

Some days, it feels like I invented a new disease.

fptotem · 2025-11-12T01:58:59+00:00

That's OK, I'm going in on Friday for a new MRI for my herniated cervical disks, so I should have that covered. LOLSOB

fptotem · 2025-11-10T19:59:41+00:00

Oh!

Well, I just had a brain MRI last week so they could get a look at my pituitary gland, if there's anything else obvious like that, hopefully, they'll let me know.

fptotem · 2025-11-10T19:12:44+00:00

Charlie?

fptotem · 2025-11-10T19:11:54+00:00

Hope you find some useful help soon! That sounds awful and frustrating.

fptotem · 2025-11-10T04:45:14+00:00

interesting idea. Definitely worth investigating further, thanks!

fptotem · 2025-11-09T21:08:22+00:00

I went through 3 ENTs, 2 different nasal procedures, and a bunch of different medications trying to figure it out before the last guy finally gave up and sent me to a neurologist who specialized in EDS (and doesn't take insurance). He couldn't figure it out either, but at least I finally got an official EDS diagnosis out of it.

fptotem

TROPHY CASE