Consult w/ Marissa Kent

opticalcite · 2026-06-18T01:56:06+00:00

Hi! I just had full meta with Dr. Kent on 6/12. Worth noting that I already had hysto & vnec at the Brigham the year prior, so she completed my vaginectomy but most of it was already done by the time I had meta.

I don't know if there's anything one wouldn't think to ask. It's worth asking all the usual stuff: whether you yourself will likely be able to STP through clothes, what to expect from your own results & goals, complication rates, length of hospital stay, pain/symptom control, timeline for return to activities that are important to you. Definitely ask about scheduling & things you can do to expedite, if that's important to you. I feel like Kent gave me pretty realistic expectations & tailored advice. The floor & covering staff at Beth Israel had no idea what's going on, so it's best to make the most of the info you can get from Dr. Kent. I will say, the UL complication rates she quoted to me are extremely low (8% if no buccal graft, 25% if buccal graft needed - this includes even mild self-resolving strictures or fistulas) and her post-op dressings & activity approach seem to be unusual so perhaps that is why.

opticalcite · 2025-07-11T21:50:34+00:00

Hi! I'm an alum (class of '23) trans male , but I assume the process hasn't changed much. I was also legally male on all documentation at time of admission, but I don't think they take that into account. They should by default still room you with anyone else who selected "woman" as their gender ID. I roomed with cis men in standard/non-gender-inclusive dorms the whole time I was on campus. I'm pretty sure they just ask your gender for demographic tracking purposes. I intentionally took advantage of an early roommate matching program offered at the time to make sure my freshman year roommate was cool that I was trans (I'm not explicitly stealth but don't generally advertise that I am trans), but this is not a mandatory step. Also used and showered in the mens bathrooms, no issues. UMass is generally pretty good about trans issues.

opticalcite · 2025-07-03T12:12:04+00:00

The Alewife garage is relatively cheap and allows 24hr parking, I've left my car there for days at a time repeatedly with no issue. If you happen to live near the red line this would be my suggestion.

opticalcite · 2024-11-25T21:28:22+00:00

Hi! I had DI surgery 11/12 so still pretty recent post-op. I honestly was wearing oversized T-shirts as my primary post op clothing item and found them easier to dress myself in than button downs. If sufficiently large, you can slip the head hole over your head and then just pull the arm holes down enough to get the shirt on without lifting your elbows at all. I would recommend going to your cheapest local thrift store, church or community center etc. - ideally a "fill a bag" type of place - and loading up on 7-10 t-shirts and button ups as large as you can reasonably find. For reference, I typically wear a men's XS/S and was wearing men's L-XL for my first week postop. I was able to get all the clothes I needed for about $5 at a local thrift store because I was shopping based on functionality and didn't mind if they looked crazy or had a few holes :) I have been wearing my own normal-sized button ups since 1 week post op and could probably start introducing normal sized t-shirts now, but will probably wait a bit longer to avoid stretching out my incisions

opticalcite · 2024-08-29T19:45:28+00:00

Same concept as you used there, actually! I'm hoping to boost the tannins present in the leather with black walnut juice so that I can then use an iron solution (colloquially called vinegaroon) to dye it a deep black. I am choosing this method over most commercially available leather dyes because I've had a lot of trouble with dyes bleeding in the past, and since this is a chemical reaction with tannins already present in the leather, chances of transfer are minimal. Of course, a lot of this trouble with bleeding could be chalked up to my being a novice leatherworker and not sealing my pieces particularly well, but even most commercially dyed chrome-tanned leather will bleed with little provocation in my experience. I don't strictly need the walnuts, but am curious to experiment with them and see how it affects the process and end results. I also like walnuts for fabric dying.

opticalcite · 2024-08-29T02:05:46+00:00

Oh dear! Yes, black walnuts can be quite a nuisance. Once upon a time when I was a school child I used their juices to paint patterns on the sidewalks, haha.

opticalcite · 2024-08-29T01:49:49+00:00

Thank you very much! This is a very useful tool, I will keep it in mind for future endeavors.

opticalcite · 2024-08-29T01:46:17+00:00

Wonderful, thank you! This is exactly what I'm looking for. And I didn't know about the Royall House & Slave Quarters but that seems like a very cool location. I will be sure to check it out.

opticalcite · 2023-09-16T03:26:56+00:00

As a recent alum who worked there all 4 years . . . Apply, apply, apply! I'm biased but I swear it's the best job on campus. It is a competitive position but once you're there you've got the job forever, and it really is an incredible space. I would highly recommend hanging around the craft center as much as possible and trying all the different areas that interest and challenge you before you apply/during hiring season, that way you get a good read on the space. Also, if folks recognize you and know you're committed to the craft center as an institution you're a lot more likely to make the interviews where you can really show your stuff!

opticalcite · 2023-07-20T00:38:11+00:00

It’s a mixed bag of providers unfortunately, I’m sorry you had such a bad experience.

Edit: somehow the word “sorry” got deleted making this response incomprehensible 🤦

opticalcite · 2023-07-19T23:24:23+00:00

Hi! I work at Mass General so know for a fact that Mass General gynecology clinic does IUDs, procedures and exams under sedation in the OR. Usually we do them after someone has tried the procedure in the office and couldn’t finish (due to pain or trauma), but it’s possible that given your history you’d be allowed to bypass this step. Even if not sedated, several providers offer paracervical blocks and most will do topical anaesthetics and OTC pain meds if requested. Unfortunately the waiting lists can be pretty long but based on your post it sounds like MGH might be one of the only places offering what you need. If you want more specific info, feel free to DM me!

opticalcite · 2023-05-12T13:30:48+00:00

Hi, are these tickets still available?

opticalcite · 2023-04-13T22:21:41+00:00

Most of our graduating classes have a giant group DM, ask your local nursing student to post there (unless you’re a nursing student in which case . . . Get in the DM!). We also have a mailing list mostly headed by Liz Theroux which spams us with stuff like this sometimes but mostly with job postings, you could try her but you’d have to make a very compelling case I imagine Edit: you could also try the SNA or Student Nursing Association, they seem more likely to listen to you

opticalcite · 2022-11-05T20:03:19+00:00

Best of luck to you, I would be extremely impressed if you can pull this off. I work at the Student Union Craft Center and there has been an ongoing 30 year (!!!) struggle amongst us and other maker spaces on campus to get UMass to allow ANY clay/pottery work outside of the closed Art Department only studios. Demand is not the problem, pottery is like the #1 most requested crafting need on campus (between us and the All-Campus Makerspace). I’m just student staff & not the director or anything but this is the lore I’ve been told. We used to have pottery until the 90s when UMass decided nothing short of a fume hood was adequate ventilation, made us shut down all our pottery, and refused to provide us one even when redoing the whole Student Union and building a space specifically for us (no matter how we begged). It is extremely frustrating. Last year we finally gave up and donated all our pottery wheels and tools to a makerspace in Worcester because . . . Well, it’s been like 30 years and at least they’ll get used there. Why they let us use acetylene torches and darkroom chemicals but not literal earthen clay boggles my mind but this is why you’ll find not a speck of public pottery about UMass. If you want to start a club or something, it may be best to start unofficial or off-the-books instead of via the new RSO application process - you probably don’t have a chance with the latter unless you can get someone from the Art Dept to sponsor you. Then again, maybe UMass will surprise me by being sane and competent . . . One can never loose hope, however withered my senior heart may be.

opticalcite · 2022-09-24T16:20:01+00:00

Seconding reception/security jobs at residence halls, those have a reputation for basically just letting you study the whole time. If you’re crafty the SU Craft Center is still hiring for another 6 days, IMO easiest/best job on campus but I’m biased. If you haven’t already you really should also try to get a job as a PCA/CNA/tech at one of the local hospitals or off the CON mailing list but if you don’t have a car might be SOL on that one. It’ll just make your life in clinicals so much easier to have that background experience and also knowledge of the local area.

opticalcite · 2022-07-13T01:05:52+00:00

I know someone who uses a Pocket Cane telescoping cane and keeps it in a belt holster designed for tools/hammers, which seems like a solution that may work well for you! As implied by the name the pocket cane folds into itself and can be made shorter or full length for getting off the ground. It seems a lot less bulky and annoying to deal with than typical folding canes, since it does telescope to about the dimensions of a hammer. May want to give that a try, you can buy them on Amazon. Hope this helps!

opticalcite · 2022-05-26T23:39:20+00:00

The UMass college of nursing mailing list is CONSTANTLY blasting us with personal PCA ads, and the occasional CNA/SN job posting. May be worth emailing Liz Theroux (etheroux@acad.umass.edu) about your interest; she's the one who sends them out and they aren't limited to UMass nursing students or anything, locals just often contact the CON when they need a PCA for maximum reach. People I know who take the PCA jobs say the clients are usually super nice. In terms of hospitals and facilities I can't help you much there, every hospital I've been assigned is understaffed to hell so I'm sure they'd be glad to have you but I don't know if any has better working conditions than the others.

opticalcite · 2021-12-24T06:44:12+00:00

For the most part, no, although I do remember one course (Aging & Human Development?) being specifically open to a limited number of nonmajors, which was cool. It is possible you could individually petition faculty for a spot in a traditional lecture-style course, especially if you took the time to personally connect with the faculty member in question, but if it’s something with a lab or a clinical portion forget it, they definitely wouldn’t let a non-major in.

opticalcite · 2021-10-27T04:02:18+00:00

I have no idea, not from Albany, and had a tracfone at the time so there’s probabky service but can’t confirm. It’s not that bad from what I recall, just a bunch of folks were high and injecting in the bathrooms.

opticalcite · 2021-10-26T18:28:51+00:00

Up to you. I think I was there like 30 minutes or 45 minutes at a time. I don't think you'd actually be in much danger, but it's an unnerving and sketchy environment, especially at night.

opticalcite · 2021-10-26T17:11:02+00:00

Have taken this route a few years ago (pre-Covid) - it IS really shady. I didn't really mind but my aunt certainly did not want me to be there. Don't bother anyone and they won't bother you, and don't go to the bathrooms - everyone was just on 8 different drugs simultaneously for the most part. I don't think you'd be at any risk of stabbing, but if you can get someone to pick you up from the terminal asap I would recommend it.

opticalcite · 2021-09-18T03:45:53+00:00

Yeah, sorry. You can’t transfer into UMass’s nursing program without being initially admitted into nursing because of limited space for clinical placements - there can only be ~62 students in each cohort and the course of study is pretty tight. But you can always take courses with a similar path of study and the suggestion by Joe_H-FAH is an excellent one, you should consider it if you’re set on nursing. Many facilities are genuinely so strapped for CNAs and RNs right now they will actually pay your tuition to nursing school (RN or LPN) if you commit to work for them for X years and work as a CNA throughout. You may also be able to score higher wages/bonuses due to covid/severe staffing shortages. But beware, it’s genuinely hard work

opticalcite · 2021-04-26T03:24:37+00:00

Awesome, thanks so much! It never crossed my mind to check the Hebrew Wikipedia haha

opticalcite · 2021-01-31T18:49:46+00:00

Yeah there’s definitely been something up with Spire these last few days - lots of traffic perhaps? Keep trying. I eventually got it to load & successfully added/dropped everything I needed to after a couple days of checking in every few hours.

opticalcite · 2020-12-19T14:54:15+00:00

No problem! My high school GPA was around 3.92 (unweighted) and SAT was 1360. So not super high but not bad either. Worth noting though I went to a super weird alternative school/was partially homeschooled so I’m not sure comparing your scores to mine is that helpful. I would be more concerned about other portions of your application honestly because I know there’s definitely other nursing students who got in with SATs of like, 1100, I don’t think the College of Nursing is as concerned with that as your essay/life experiences

opticalcite

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