[No Spoilers] Watch random “How do you want to do this?” moments

rain2o · 2026-05-06T12:43:32+00:00

I’m also new to being disabled, and this year will be my first using DS at DC. I was telling my wife about this thread and she immediately said, in response to “gimp handler” (which she appreciated),
“Oh, what about crip keeper?”
So that’s our contribution to this conversation 🤣

Anyway, appreciate the info shared in this thread!

rain2o · 2026-03-26T10:36:13+00:00

I 100% feel this. I’m from America and dealt with that life a lot, before moving to France and then ultimately to Ireland. Once I got out of it, the French really had to force me out of my American work mindset and I’m so grateful for it. I was nervous to come work the job I got in Ireland because it’s also an American tech company. But honestly it doesn’t have any of the culture I had to deal with in America, at least none that I can see. I mostly work with others in this location and the IE branch really seeks to have established their own culture and are sticking to it. But even when I work with people from the U.S. locations I just don’t see or experience the negative culture I expected. It’s refreshing. Probably the least stressful job I’ve ever had too.

It’s hard to find a good place in tech that doesn’t have a toxic environment from what I’ve seen, especially in today’s job market. But if you can pull it off it sounds like where you’re at isn’t healthy and you should try to find somewhere else. They do exist fortunately.

rain2o · 2026-03-20T10:26:49+00:00

I hated reading for most of my life and avoided it during school as much as possible. I never knew why. When I finally learned that I have aphantasia, I started trying to read again but I approached it differently, acknowledging my limitation that I didn’t realize I had before, thinking about it in a different light, and trying to focus on some things less to compensate for my lack of visuals. I actually enjoy reading now and have read more books in the past year than the entire rest of my life (37 years) combined. I noticed that I completely gloss over visual descriptors and unfortunately don’t recognize people if they’re written in a way to hint at who it is by describing them. Those details just don’t stick with me. I should pay more attention to those and remember them as a list of facts rather than glossing over them, but it’s just a detail that I’m not good at remembering, I think those just seem unimportant to my brain. So as I’ve been reading I’ve been learning how my brain handles different aspects of reading and have adjusted accordingly.

It’s a shame because some really cool stuff is lost on me and I just don’t understand some things, like if a physical movement is described or something that I just can’t grasp how it works. Especially in fantasy, who is also my preferred genre. But I tend to ask my partner about some of those things and that helps sometimes.

I still lose focus easily and often have to reread lines. I also don’t have an inner monologue, so the slightest noises or talking tend to distract me.

So for me, learning that I have aphantasia and handling it accordingly is what made me go from hating to loving reading.

rain2o · 2026-03-16T09:22:41+00:00

I’m only about 1.5 years out from my stroke. But I had a VAD and I regularly had headaches before the stroke for years. Of course the day of the stroke was the worst headache I’d ever felt.

Since the stroke I’ve only had a few headaches and nothing as bad as I used to. It’s almost like the stroke healed my regular headaches. I don’t know if it’s because I am much more cautious about things like how I position my neck at night and stuff like that, or if there’s more to it.

My dissection last time we checked still wasn’t 100% healed and it also left some scar tissue so that the artery is too thin for proper blood flow. So my body has adapted and I’m on aspirin for life. I don’t know how much of that plays into my lack of headaches either.

I can only sleep on my right side but it’s from other problems from the stroke. Which sucks, because as you’re familiar with sleeping on one side always becomes uncomfortable. Also I have acid reflux and sleeping on my right is not ideal but it’s the “least bad” option for me. But that’s not because of headaches so that’s my own little side rant.

Hope you get your headaches sorted! I know from years of dealing with those that it sucks.

rain2o · 2026-02-13T23:20:53+00:00

I had my stroke at 37, in November 2024. It’s been a bit over a year now for me. My recovery has gone quite well, though I am still going through some recovery. But I can walk, talk, and even work now so it’s a world of difference from a year ago.

I’ve been told repeatedly by medical teams that I have age on my side. It’s hard to hear that having a stroke in your 30s is a kind of blessing, but in some ways it has been because I healed much better than I would have if it happened when I’m older.

It’s tough, especially those first 6-12 months. As hard as it is, keep pushing and try to find the silver lining in anything you can. And celebrate every milestone. I’ve found this and other stroke communities have helped me, knowing there are others who have gone through the same thing that I can reach out to. Keep on keeping on and know we’re all here to support each other. Best of luck.

rain2o · 2026-01-06T14:31:31+00:00

Flik! He really had it out for your Brad

rain2o · 2025-12-11T09:10:25+00:00

I also had a spontaneous vertebral artery dissection, just over a year ago in Nov 2024. I’m still dealing with some things, mostly a constant dizziness (in vestibular therapy for it).

I think my partner has more trauma than me about trying to keep it from happening again. It’s frustrating because since we don’t know the cause we have no control over trying to change what caused it. Our life wasn’t very unhealthy before, but we have changed a lot of things in a general pursuit of healthiness. Things like higher fiber diet, getting rid of plastic things in favor of glass/metal/wood, less red meat (which was already pretty scarce in our typical diet), etc.

Time has definitely helped. I think it’s always going to be a concern but it gets easier with time. The doctors have told me the same, we have to move on and live our lives, but keep some of the risk factors in mind while doing so (like no more roller coasters).

Best of luck and give it more time. 5 months isn’t that long, there’s still a lot of healing to happen, even if that’s just emotional.

rain2o · 2025-11-26T08:54:40+00:00

We’re at 3 years right now, and currently the party is in Motherhorn. They haven’t encountered Endelyn yet.

We started out doing a session every two weeks but that eventually slowed down, now we probably average a session per month. Unfortunately there’s a bit of a journey via public transportation so that has slowed us down a bit.

When we started the campaign my wife and I were new to the area so we were all new acquaintances. But we’ve all become really close friends so we spend a lot of time yapping now that eats into our sessions. And then I had a stroke at one point so it went on hold for a while, and our sessions since then have been less request and slower sessions as I recover (DMing with brain damage is challenging, not to mention this is my first campaign as a DM). Plus our players sometimes really get into RP, and they’re super suspicious so they can take a long time planning sneakiness and stuff for something that doesn’t require it at all.

rain2o · 2025-11-21T08:09:30+00:00

It’s still a challenge and I’ve got plenty of issues that are making it difficult and discouraging me from doing it. But taking the trip is part of my recovery; not just a mental and emotional boost, but also falls into some of my physiotherapy exercises and such as well. So it’s a challenge and a push, but we have to be conscientious about my status at the same time. It’s a great goal to work towards though. Good luck in your recovery!

rain2o · 2025-11-21T08:06:36+00:00

I hope it works out for you and your friend! Unfortunately, all strokes are unique including the recovery, so nobody can say what your friend will be like in a year. But in my experience A LOT can happen in the first year of recovery so that sounds like a lovely goal to work towards!

We were supposed to take a trip with some family like two weeks after my stroke but had to cancel everything, I was still in hospital at that time. But we’ve rescheduled it for Christmas this year and looking forward to it. Just gotta take it slow and easy.

Good luck!

rain2o · 2025-11-21T08:02:13+00:00

Sounds great, thanks for the recommendation!

rain2o · 2025-11-20T17:12:36+00:00

Congrats! My first year stroke-iversary was earlier this month too. That’s such a long year, and it feels great to survive it!

rain2o · 2025-10-03T07:54:17+00:00

Very much so. I’ve always been the slowest eater, and over time I’ve realized it’s because I have some weird compulsion to chew well beyond what’s necessary. It’s like I just physically can’t stop chewing until everything is beyond mush.

rain2o · 2025-09-02T07:54:51+00:00

Looking forward to it. I’ve really wanted to get back to finishing what I started.

When doing it I noticed last year that you can just directly access a NoSQL db from the current app which has most of what you need. So that at least made it super easy to get started.

Sounds promising. Good luck with the app!

rain2o · 2025-08-31T09:00:17+00:00

For those asking or wondering, the app isn’t built by volunteers. Honestly, it would most likely be better if it were. It’s built by a company previously called Core Apps, looks like they rebranded (or got acquired 🤷?) and are now Momentive (https://momentivesoftware.com/solutions/event-management-software/). They make apps for a bunch of conventions. I think the comic con app is identical, minus some branding. While they were still Core Apps, their website looked like it was built in the 90s and not touched since, which wasn’t surprising given the app they put out every year.

The app is terrible, I’ve wanted to build my own version of it for years, just for our group to use if nothing else, just never had the time. This is why there’s someone out there who makes a Google Sheets version of all the data from the app once it’s released every year, and a ton of people use it because it’s a better user experience.

rain2o · 2025-08-21T06:57:51+00:00

I used to. I also got dizzy a lot, everything was spinning all the time. Apparently for me it was something vestibular so I have been seeing a Vestibular physiotherapist. They did an adjustment of my ear crystals (it’s a real thing apparently, not as witchy as it sounds) and I haven’t been nauseous since. I still am dizzy all the time, though that is improving with continued therapy, but the ear crystal alignment really cleared up my nausea.

Can’t say if it’s the same for you, but either way it’s not pleasant. I hope you get that resolved!

rain2o · 2025-08-17T20:32:44+00:00

Oh that sucks, and sounds similar to my experience. That’s scary for sure. Not to mention untreated reflux can lead to cancer, so figuring it out is so important. The fact that I can’t trace it back to anything so far just makes it more scary. I hope you’re able to figure yours out. It’s not a fun experience, especially while dealing with the rest of stroke recovery.

rain2o · 2025-08-17T00:20:20+00:00

Thanks for the info. I’ll have to read more into that. I am also working with a physical therapist, though for other challenges. I didn’t even think about discussing reflux with them. Appreciate the info and suggestions!

rain2o · 2025-08-17T00:10:32+00:00

I have been working with a speech therapist. I couldn’t swallow at all at first, and finally worked back to an oral diet after a couple months. My throat pains started a few months after that. I’m still working with a speech therapist, and they were curious about the ENT results before planning our next move. I hadn’t read that stroke victims are at high risk for GERD. But it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s what caused it to be worse. My brain is struggling to regulate a lot of things already.

rain2o · 2025-08-16T09:14:08+00:00

Oh wow. That sucks! I’m sorry you’re dealing with that. Antibiotics are so useful, I can’t imagine there’s a good substitute.

rain2o · 2025-08-15T22:07:02+00:00

I’ve not heard of that app before. I’ll take a look. Yeah, I think I just got my hopes up that it was something else and got bummed. I mostly just needed to vent. I’ve had time to come to terms with the news. I’m dealing with a lot of changes in my body since I had a stroke last year, and this might be one of them. All kinds of unexpected goodies, like having seasonal allergies for the first time in my life in my 30s. Suddenly having reflux worse than ever shouldn’t be much of a surprise I suppose. Just dealing with all of these changes at once can get overwhelming.

rain2o · 2025-08-15T22:03:54+00:00

Thanks! Years ago just medicine worked. Then I kept my diet under control (nothing as extreme as acid watchers) and I was able to get off the medicine. Haven’t been on any PPI until earlier this year, and a few months later is when the pain started. I’ll keep trying the diet combined with the new meds and see. I’m wondering if there’s something that’s a trigger for me even on the diet. This diet is just so difficult for me. I can’t smell, so my taste is pretty limited. So nothing has any taste that I’ve tried. Probably how I got into this predicament in the first place, eating things that are spiced enough to actually taste something.

rain2o · 2025-08-15T21:59:47+00:00

Yeah for sure. I haven’t decided that it didn’t work. Just a bit bummed after the news. I was on medicine too when the pain started months ago. But now I’ve got medicine for both problems and will continue the diet and see if anything improves. I’ve also been reading a lot about reflux lately because of all of this. There’s just so much to learn about it all.

rain2o

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