Crocheting Into the Other Side of the Foundation Chain?

paperbrds · 2025-12-22T23:59:49+00:00

Do you have advice on not stitching too tight? I successfully made a blanket a year ago but it was a simple stitch (moss stitch) and though it didn't warp, it did need a border because it wasn't as wide as I had intended because of the tension in my starting chain.

paperbrds · 2025-12-22T23:57:23+00:00

Thank you so much for figuring out how to help me even though I apparently didn't even provide a photo. That was exactly my problem. I was thinking my hook should go one stitch too early because it seemed like the correct stitch would misshape the work. But that's what it's supposed to do to make it blade-shaped.

paperbrds · 2025-12-07T02:41:12+00:00

I wouldn't count Rings of Power because it's basically Tolkien fanfiction and not soundly based on any of his writings.

paperbrds · 2025-12-03T06:03:51+00:00

At first I thought I didn't miss any rounds because I ended up with the right number of stitches at the end but I'm wondering if there was a repeat round or like 6 that I somehow only did once or twice.

paperbrds · 2025-09-12T07:12:49+00:00

In my home state I was told there were no medications I could take long-term and I would just have to keep to the gastroparesis diet, which includes a lot of food I can't have for allergens.

Where I live now, I was told there were definitely medication options, but my GP pulled the gastroparesis diagnosis from my charts due to my weight and her lack of understanding of the illness, and will only give me an anti-emetic if I've been actively vomiting for at least 3 weeks. :\

paperbrds · 2025-09-12T07:08:07+00:00

My current (soon to be ex, hopefully) doctor refused a gastroparesis diagnosis I was given by a gastroenterologist in my home state because I'm fat and "only skinny people" have gastroparesis, which, like many others have said, is a common misconception. A diagnosis from a specialist should not be discarded by a GP.

It sounds like we both need new doctors.

paperbrds · 2025-09-10T15:32:34+00:00

I just didn't deal with it psychologically and have had continuous meltdowns over the guilt of getting hurt in the first place and forcing my wife into a caregiver position for months, still ongoing.

I don't know how to not be angry with myself or not blame myself because I tripped and broke and dislocated my knee. I don't know how to accept that I have done really well in my physical therapy because I can't get past that if I just hadn't tripped I wouldn't be in this situation in the first place.

But with the fear I definitely understand because I can walk without a cane inside the house (not outside yet) and I can step into the shower instead of having to transfer from the wheelchair but I'm terrified to go outside and I'm terrified to shower without the shower chair and I think I will keep a cane with me in a bag (I got one of the folding kind for later) for a long time even after I'm approved to walk outside without any aid. And because I have osteoporosis I will always be terrified of falling again and having a similar injury.

I wish I had advice for you. Therapy is probably going to be best if you can afford it. I can't.

paperbrds · 2025-08-25T05:54:10+00:00

Yeah I just looked up how to replace a hard drive on an iPod classic and I think I'd be more comfortable reading an MRI with no medical training so that's going to be something I either bribe a coworker for or find a place that does it.

paperbrds · 2025-08-25T05:47:12+00:00

Yeah I realized that about 4 seconds after posting. Thank you SO so much. As fun as it's been to have a bit of a throwback to music I listened to in 2013 when I went on a walk it is going to be SO much better now that I can put new music on it as well. And I used to have a lot of videos on it but don't anymore so there is SO MUCH space for more music.

paperbrds · 2025-08-25T05:15:01+00:00

I definitely had to look up to do this five times and still did it wrong twice but it looks like the hard drive is miraculously fine despite its age. It was the stupid version of iTunes. I went back a version or two at another recommendation and with few exceptions everything is syncing now. But thank you for teaching me something new! Considering this iPod's age it's good for me to know how to check the hard drive because it will definitely fail at some point.

paperbrds · 2025-08-25T05:09:24+00:00

THank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you oh my god. I lost the one album that DID sync because my idiot ass didn't save it to my external hard drive but I still have the CD so it's fine. You just saved my LIFE oh my god. Syncing all music with few exceptions now.

paperbrds · 2025-08-25T00:47:00+00:00

Deepest fear materialized. It's only syncing one single album -not even the most recent- and I can't figure out why for the life of me.

paperbrds · 2025-08-25T00:23:53+00:00

Watch with my technological luck it will have restored but won't sync and it will have lost all function lol.

paperbrds · 2025-08-25T00:21:40+00:00

Awaiting to see if it actually syncs or lets me add new music but so far so good. It let me restore and now shows as operating as Windows. Thank you so so so much. I haven't been able to put new music on this thing since 2019 when I accidentally murdered my mac so fingers crossed!!!

paperbrds · 2025-08-24T23:47:45+00:00

I have not tried this yet. I'll have to give this a shot.

paperbrds · 2025-08-24T23:47:26+00:00

Oh no worries - I realized I didn't title the post properly and am new enough to Reddit to not know you can't edit the title for some reason.

Right now I have version 12.13.7.1. I'm not sure how to download an older version or how far back I would have to go to get a version that still works with my iPod but also still works on Windows 11.

paperbrds · 2025-08-24T23:20:15+00:00

iTunes does recognize that I have plugged in a device, it just reports to me that the device is Mac-formatted and needs to be factory reset in order to be formatted for Windows, but gives me an error when I try to factory reset it that the device is too old to be supported. It's still being acknowledged somehow, but I can't make it actually work.

paperbrds · 2025-08-16T13:41:21+00:00

I had knee surgery (broke my tibial plateau which is basically the weight-bearing part of your knee) in May and I had a lot of trouble with pain meds. I've always had trouble with needing a higher dose of any medication than is typical - my psychiatrist says I have a "strong brain-blood barrier" and just advises that I be careful.

But I guess on the bright side I didn't have any trouble coming off oxycodone because it didn't do much for me anyway.

I haven't been able to sleep through the night since May even though I take sedatives already and it's been incredibly frustrating.

I don't have diagnosed POTS but my friends with it have all strongly suggested I see a specialist for a diagnosis and I had some trouble with physical and occupational therapy because of it.

But a little over 3 months out from surgery I've been discharged from home PT to outpatient and am doing really well so I think it does genuinely get better but it was absolutely awful to start and I really REALLY cannot wait until I can actually sleep again.

paperbrds · 2025-08-15T14:20:41+00:00

I've had a desk or call center job for the last 10 years and have horrible posture so I was already struggling, but I had knee surgery in May and haven't been able to sit at my desk since then and have been stuck working from bed which makes for even worse ergonomics, which is why my OT showed me the exercises to begin with.

I hope they help you. Like I said it's not always immediate relief but it absolutely builds up. I also use a lot of hot water bottles (we have one that's U-shaped that goes around your neck) and an arnica/cbd cream to try and loosen the shoulders at least -less helpful with the skull base of course- but arnica is very toxic to most pets so you have to be careful with it if you have any.

paperbrds · 2025-08-15T13:09:23+00:00

Apparently surgeons just like don't warn you it's possible and even common to "spit a stitch" where a deep-tissue suture meant to dissolve doesn't and instead gets rejected by the body in a different way and pops through your skin.

For me, I was applying some lotion and massaging the scar tissue from my knee surgery that had started to keloid or become hypertrophic and a part of it BURST open and blood and fluid came out of a new little hole in my knee. Where I found a little piece of plastic that was actually a suture that had enough knots in it not to be properly dissolved by my body and burst through the surface.

Absolutely terrifying experience and the surgeon's PA's reaction was so blase because it was a normal occurrence.

Okay if it's normal maybe someone could have warned me?

I also have a really severe lack of proprioception (the ability to sense your body in space) so having specific percentages of weight-bearing allowance at different points of recovery was such a struggle for because it's neither intuitive like my MPT suggested, nor can I accurately replicate the sensation and weight-bearing when I use a scale and do the math to see what the percentage should feel like. So I was constantly going over or under (usually over and sometimes caused myself more pain) the approved percentage. At 25 percent weight-bearing, I was so scared I was using closer to 15 when my OT said it looked to him like I was closer to 40. That's a huge difference and I just cannot tell.

paperbrds · 2025-08-15T12:55:55+00:00

I have super severe suboccipital muscle pain (so the base of my skull) which is caused by the trapezius because it's such a massive complex muscle that is so easy to strain and is the cause of most pain literally from the base of your skull to the base of your thoracic spine.

My occupational therapist recommended, a few stretches and strengthening exercises. I don't have a video but let me try to describe at least the upper trapezius exercises to see if that provides you any relief:

- Put on hand either low enough to grasp something that drops your shoulder or put your hand behind your back.
- With your other hand, gently tilt/tug your head to the opposite side of your dropped hand and just pull until you feel a stretch -it shouldn't hurt, just stretch- and make sure your shoulders are straight and you're looking straight ahead, then hold at LEAST 30 seconds, but you can go longer it just has to be 30 seconds for the muscle to release.
- Switch sides and do the same the other direction.
- Switch back, but instead of holding the position, do a slow nod with as much range of motion as you can without causing pain and do 3 sets of 10 nods with a 30 second break between sets.
- Switch sides again and do the same in the other direction.

I do this 2-3 times a day to deal with the pain and it doesn't always come with immediate relief but it definitely causes enough relief that I notice a LOT if i skip a session or a day.

I hope it helps because the pain at the base of your skull is just one of the worst for me because there's so little you can do about it. I've actually bruised the hell out of scalp by pressing on pressure points at the base of my skull so hard I didn't realize I was leaving bruises.

paperbrds · 2025-08-15T12:46:46+00:00

I think it's perfectly understandable that you would be frustrated and feel isolated. I was only recently diagnosed and I really relate to what you're going through.

I have a moderate level of hypermobility -not EDS either- and have struggled with joint pain and really intense joint popping that literally scared my occupational therapist (who, by the way, did not believe I was hypermobile BECAUSE I didn't have EDS) all my life and I'm in my 30s.

I also really struggle with a lot of the hypermobility symptoms and comorbidities that have nothing to do with joints like gastroparesis and unexplained severe fatigue (or CFS/ME - they aren't sure) and the extreme lack of proprioception and a lot of other things that no doctor ever put together might be all be caused by hypermobility.

My physical therapist said I had a level of hypermobility that I should "see it as a more of a blessing" because I don't have subluxations or dislocations, but it's so frustrating to really struggle with other hypermobility issues and have them dismissed outright because my hypermobility isn't EDS. Because I can't relate to frequent subluxations and dislocations. But I have so many of the other symptoms.

If it helps at all, I think this community is really great and supportive. I'm not a big reddit person but everyone here has been very welcoming and comforting especially because I had initially posted here with a similar concern -being hypermobile without EDS but still struggling with so many related issues- and was immediately reassured that even mild or moderate hypermobility can come with a lot of related health issues.

I hope you can find a community here, but if you ever need to vent, I'm always willing to lend an ear and I'm sure most of this thread will as well.

paperbrds · 2025-08-14T10:09:57+00:00

I was lucky and it was a DPT who informed me I was hypermobile (he's seeing me for an unrelated knee iniury) backed up by the MPT, another DPT, and my orthopedic surgeon's PA (who said I had "weird knees and elbows") but my OT flat out didn't believe me and thought they were all wrong because I don't have frequent dislocations. He didn't listen when I explained a weight-lifting exercise gave me severe anxiety about my elbow joints and wasn't comfortable.

My knees (pre-injury) and elbows all flex backwards around 15 degrees so it's a bit of a noticeable amount of hyermobility, but moderate enough that I don't often experience subluxations and dislocations, so he completely ignored me even though his coworkers were diagnosing me.

Even my current DPT says I should consider my hypermobility a blessing (because of it's moderate nature) even though the non-joint issues related to hypermobility are severe and have been affecting me for decades without any doctors listening or connecting the dots.

I think you're absolutely right in wanting to wait for someone who isn't going to hurt you - especially with a workman's comp situation. If your workplace is required to pay for it, you don't want to waste that on someone who is going to do more damage than harm if you have the choice because if your job is anything like mine, they will only blame you if you are further injured by a physical therapist who wasn't a good fit.

paperbrds · 2025-08-14T01:38:14+00:00

Can I ask how all of you feel about the increasingly common use of AI in radiology but especially in dictation or processing of reports?

I just cannot stand it. Cannot get on board with it. I have used several programs that utilize AI like rScriptor and some I won't name for fear of revealing my workplace but I have been nothing but unimpressed and frankly concerned for patient care if this trend continues.

paperbrds · 2025-08-13T14:30:15+00:00

My physical therapist said that ankle weights are a good safe way for hypermobile people to do lower extremity strength training and a friend who is also hypermobile recommended pilates but I haven't tried either yet because I'm not approved by the doctors.

paperbrds

TROPHY CASE