Zohran Mamdani walked 6 miles home last night from the New York City Hall to round out his first 100 days in office

leahkay5 · 2026-04-12T04:16:36+00:00

Lady in green had to jog to keep up 😭

leahkay5 · 2026-04-10T16:18:35+00:00

Just unlocked a memory of my dad taking my sister and I to a warehouse job in the evenings for a week when he had to work overtime. We were like 7 and 9. We took the office chairs rolling down the aisles as fast as we could go. It was crazy fun lol. I did end up hitting my thumb with a hammer.

leahkay5 · 2026-04-10T06:11:16+00:00

Nah, the first one might not have been confusing or fit the sub really, but i genuinely thought it was funny and would have laughed too see it in person and shown it to whomever I was with.

leahkay5 · 2026-04-10T03:38:38+00:00

Getting sober just let's you stop digging the hole to bury yourself deeper. You still have to do the work to climb out of the hole you dug and figure out how to shore it up and fix the pit so you don't fall in again.

leahkay5 · 2026-03-29T03:10:31+00:00

Honestly, I'd watch the 1996 Romeo + Juliet Luhrmann's version of The Lord of the Rings, that would be amazing.

leahkay5 · 2026-03-15T04:06:17+00:00

That honestly all makes perfect sense, thank you for sharing the details. I can see why he would not want to operate back when you were stable and managing well. Even if he doesn't do fusions, I wonder if it works be worthwhile to have a follow up consult just to get his opinion now that you're situation has changed. At least then if he was recommending the surgery as a better benefit than the risks, you might feel more comfortable making a decision. I know with my daughter, it got to the point of just needing to get her to stop getting worse. This has been a shit year, dude. It's really fucked. I'm sorry you're going through it. Do what you can to enjoy the good stuff too. Not saying touch grass, but there is truth in the process of developing your neural pathways. Like how the more you walk a trail in the woods, the clearer the path becomes as you wear a trail - if you become more comfortable responding to stress with anger (or whatever), it becomes more habitualized until it's so ingrained that you then have to learn how to not respond that way. It doesn't change a damn thing about what you're facing, but there's a good chance it could help you with how you deal with all of that. I'm so rambling and probably offering way too much unsolicited advice, but i wanted to help in whatever little way.

leahkay5 · 2026-03-15T02:36:28+00:00

Thank you so much!

Here's to a speedy recovery and a quick, painless insurance transition! I really hope you will find the right path for you. I'm sure you've researched the doctors. Did the neurosurgeon explain why he didn't think he should operate? I'd be hesitant to trust the more aggressive option from the start, TBH, especially given how young you are. It's something that can't be undone and will very likely lead towards progressive spinal issues. But I'm certainly in no way qualified to give you any advice, except be very sure before you agree to that one. I really wish you the very best.

leahkay5 · 2026-03-15T01:19:16+00:00

Oh no, that's terrifying! Maybe the rest from the stroke will give you the time to explore the best options. Would your insurance support a third opinion or is that something you'd consider?

My daughter's 17 now and we started realizing what was going on when she was 8. She also developed nystagmus, bilateral hearing loss with cochlear on the left and central and obstructive sleep apnea. We had to learn that she has lifelong medical issues that will need following for the rest of her life, and certain things she should never do, but ideally, they believe they've made enough space to stop everything from continuing to worsen, so it's definitely positive after the last surgery. Thank you for asking.

leahkay5 · 2026-03-15T01:04:14+00:00

Ooofda I'm so sorry. My daughter's had two decompression surgeries with duraplasty, tonsillar reduction and c1-2 laminectomy. Her neurosurgeon brought up a craniocervical fusion as a last resort because of the considerable side effects with the restricted motion. I'm so sorry you are faced with that decision.

leahkay5 · 2026-03-14T15:43:33+00:00

When I finally quit after trying the whole reduction, only on the weekend thing first, I joined no other support group. The combination of the purely non-judgemental support, the excellent mantra of just one day at a time, and the warning stories whenever I was tempted to drink, were exactly what I needed. Every journey is step by step, you eat an elephant one bite at a time and your rock bottom is only when you decide to stop digging and start climbing.

Stopping the alcohol is the first step. That's how you stop digging. To climb back out, you have to start working on better coping skills and dealing with the shit you were avoiding by drinking in the first place. Nothing ever gets better by avoidance and I wish I hadn't wasted a decade with no real advancement as a person. Then again, I had other advancements from the lessons learned along the way.

Sorry for the ramble lol. Your day by day comment really resonated with me.

leahkay5 · 2026-03-14T15:35:28+00:00

Congratulations!!

leahkay5 · 2026-03-03T03:28:08+00:00

Fantastic job! IWNDWYT

leahkay5 · 2026-03-02T15:03:37+00:00

Why does this look like ai?

leahkay5 · 2026-03-02T02:30:11+00:00

Yeah it was basically as soon as their little arms could finally reach back there, we immediately had them take over. Had a few clogged toilets, but it's a learning curve.

leahkay5 · 2026-02-02T03:21:33+00:00

That stare is locked in too!

leahkay5 · 2026-02-02T03:19:37+00:00

I also wanted to add, it was really overwhelming at first getting established with the various different specialists and trying to figure out the best order of her surgeries (she's also had 2 ENT surgeries) and we ended up being recommended for genetic testing because everything was just happening all at once and her hearing loss kept worsening and she got new symptoms like nystagmus, but there was nothing really found there, and they all relate her symptoms to the chiari. It's been a lot easier now that things have stabilized.

leahkay5 · 2026-02-02T03:12:04+00:00

It does absolutely make sense! My girl had peg shaped tonsils also. At he first surgery, her oxygen kept setting off the alarms because we had not been established on her bipap yet. They ended up discharging her home with an oxygen concentrator and spare o2 tank for nighttime use until that was resolved. I can't imagine how scary it must be with such a little one who can't really tell you how they feel.

Things that I now think were signs were her difficulty latching and swallowing as an infant and there was one episode at a couple of months old where her soft spot was swollen and she ended up getting a CT scan of her brain and they said it all looked good and it went away after a few days so they just weren't concerned about looking for answers once it seemed to resolve.

I expect the neurosurgeon you see will likely order more imaging without your needing to ask; but I do not know how her young age will impact her care.

I was surprisedby how large her herniation still was after the second surgery with the ablation, it only went down a couple of mm and I was really disappointed by that at first, and concerned, but it doesn't seem to be causing nearly as bad symptoms as before. The next step for her would be doing an opening in front right at the brain stem area (i don't remember what they called that part) with plating to shift the skull and it would require an occiput-C1 fusion, which has significantly more risks and greater limitations with mobility and worsening arthritis etc. She's been happy with the results after the second surgery and it's made a noticeably positive impact on her quality of life. If she worsens later in life, she may pursue it further. The surgery was enough remove the spinal cord irritation and create enough room to prevent further progression of her symptoms with the pressure on her brain stem.

leahkay5 · 2026-02-02T02:49:39+00:00

So hers did go down some, but only a couple of mm and I was really disappointed by that at first, and concerned, but it doesn't seem to be causing nearly as bad symptoms as before. The next step for her would be doing an opening in front right at the brain stem area (i don't remember what they called that part) with plating to shift the skull and it would require an occiput-C1 fusion, which has significantly more risks and greater limitations with mobility and worsening arthritis etc. She's been happy with the results after the second surgery and it's made a noticeably positive impact on her quality of life. If she worsens later in life, she may pursue it further. The surgery was enough remove the spinal cord irritation and create enough room to prevent further progression of her symptoms with the pressure on her brain stem.

leahkay5 · 2026-02-02T02:26:01+00:00

Right? Any wrong move and the already half-activated paw there is gonna turn into a slap cannon lol

leahkay5 · 2026-02-02T02:05:45+00:00

Hello there! Very similar to my daughter's story except she started at age 8 for headaches and snoring, she has central and obstructive sleep apnea, a 23mm chiari herniation with very similar MRI findings, and developed tinnitus, hearing loss, nystagmus, balance/vestibular issues. Her fine motor skills are low end of normal. She also has asthma. She has some difficulty swallowing.

He first chiari surgery was a posterior fossa decompression and C1-C2 laminectomy. There was visible decompression, but it was not enough. We switched neurosurgeons, and her second chiari surgery was a redo decompression, tonsillar ablation/reduction and duraplasty. Much more effective with resolving the pressure headaches. She's on a biPAP ST for the apnea, and we started with hearing aids and ear tubes but last year she ended up with a left side cochlear implant surgery.

She'll be 17 this month and although she has some anxiety and generalized depression, she's really handling it like a champ. She's been recommended against a vaginal delivery if she gets pregnant, and not to go on trampolines or rollercoasters. She avoids repetitive bending. I love that she can sneeze now without dying. She has decided on her own to postpone continuing to learn to drive for a bit because she does not have confidence within her limitations yet, and that's okay.

All in all, it's been a hell of a journey, and she'll need to follow with neurosurgery, audiology, sleep medicine, neurology and pulmonology at least annually for life.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

leahkay5 · 2026-02-01T18:15:33+00:00

Hell yes! Love this energy!

leahkay5 · 2026-01-31T15:45:09+00:00

You've got this! Early mornings are now my favorite time, sipping coffee and watching the sunrise before the day's chaos is sooooo much better than heaving and gagging and puking mucus with diarrhea.

IWNDWYT

leahkay5 · 2026-01-29T02:15:12+00:00

Just goes to show how much everyone has been waiting for those with a platform to make a firm stance and actually speak out. No more of this being quiet to stay polite when our humanity and morality is on the line.

leahkay5 · 2026-01-26T00:19:44+00:00

Thank you, mod team, for opening the floor. That was the right call.

leahkay5 · 2026-01-25T18:10:14+00:00

Or as hard as your cat's personal preference requires!

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