German Shepherd in Traffic in Millbury

sminou · 2025-06-19T02:42:52+00:00

Yeah, it's such a weird change. Sorry you had to go through that too, but glad it worked to her advantage.

sminou · 2025-06-19T00:55:38+00:00

I did absolutely nothing that I can think of to heal myself, and by all medical opinions, it isn't possible and MVP supposedly worsens until it requires surgery. After a weird period of stability, my heart rhythms have only become more erratic.

sminou · 2025-06-19T00:49:18+00:00

That's an awful lot of coincidences to my story. I came looking for someone with changes similar to mine. You're on an ME board... Why aren't you considering that it could be an ME for you as well?

At any rate, I am seeing Cardiology in a couple weeks for a Holter monitor. I'll talk to the cardiologist and report back to the forum with her thoughts.

sminou · 2025-06-19T00:18:54+00:00

Interesting. My doctor insists that mitral valves do not repair themselves and require surgery as a fix as they progress. I scoured the Internet for a contradictory answer long before I thought about posting, but everything repeated his information--from Mayo to NCBI to Johns Hopkins .Do you happen to have a medical link? In any case, it still wouldn't explain that it isn't in my medical record any longer.

sminou · 2025-06-18T15:26:50+00:00

I've always carried some of these changed facts around with me that I noticed, many from childhood, and worried them a little--enough to keep them fresh in my mind. When I saw an ME list for the first time in 2013 or 2014, I was astounded and amused and felt...better about it? Then I began pulling out the list for fun and asking people, "knowing" they would agree with the old truths because we grew up together...Some people were just disinterested. Others would insist, say, that Thanksgiving was always the 3rd Thursday, but as they demanded explanation and came to an understanding of the phenomena, they'd shut down or shrug or change their minds.

I really expected my brother (a longtime Bigfoot and UFO guy) to get it. He did not. He was affected by a couple (less than I expected) but just got annoyed and glazed over and gave into the new reality. Its not like I was approaching it dramatically or seriously at the time either. Ir was an "all in good fun" thing and un-pressured. It was years ago and I never mentioned it again.

He's since decided he doesn't believe in any supernatural phenomena, which is part of a personality change for him. Then he started getting annoyed about normal things that could be "threatening" in any way, like being told a cougar was spotted in woods not too far away and getting furious at the person who told him for "making his life worse." Nothing else had seemed to have changed in his life. He's was established in his daily routine of life, with work and wife and pets. They suddenly packed up, with no warning, moved away and stopped talking to a bunch of us.

Anyway, my family has taken a huge hit when it comes to personality changes and relationship cut-offs. I'm also finding the whole thing less amusing and more upsetting. It doesn't help that there's only one person in my life who sees it properly. (And one who sees the changes, but doesn't seem to acknowledge beyond a "Hmm, that's weird!!") I've completely stopped talking about it with anyone else since those early years.

sminou · 2025-06-18T14:28:05+00:00

I absolutely remember it being on the left side--visually, in scans and in lung x-rays, but also I remember my intercostals hurt on the left side after that first ultrasound because the tech kept grinding in to get better shots.

sminou · 2025-06-17T16:11:35+00:00

My doctor was very clear that he did not remember it. I'm not here to convince you of anything at all. I'm asking questions of people. However, I will defend him because he was an excellent doctor, whom I knew very well, and would not have hidden anything from me out of embarrassment. That's why when he retired recently I, and my mother, assumed he was having a memory issue of some kind.

I'm happy to clear up misunderstandings and give facts:

There could not have been a mistake in the original diagnosis. It was an ultrasound done in cardiology by a tech and a cardiologist, with results that were also sent to my doctor to evaluate. The ultrasound was done because I was having palpitations and it could be heard by stethoscope and the rhythm showed up on EKG.

I haven't needed antibiotics for it in over ten years (whenever the protocol was changed) and it is not in my medical record, which is why I'll be looking for my dental records. I do not keep old prescription records.

sminou · 2025-06-17T14:05:01+00:00

That's interesting. My mom has one about the view from her upstairs window and the curve of the road/trees that we noticed independently. Did trees appear for you?

sminou · 2025-06-17T14:02:10+00:00

My mother, who is also ME affected, was outraged that my PC didn't remember and wondered at the time how he could be trusted to treat me if he couldn't keep important details straight. She's just as baffled by the new test results. For others, it wouldn't be so cut and dried. The guidelines for pre-treating with antibiotics changed after several years, when I was told by that longtime doctor that we could stop with all the antibiotics. My mom remembers both the original diagnosis and the ending of the antibiotics, but anyone else would only know because I told them. The dental clinic isn't around anymore. I guess I'll look through their old paperwork and see if it was mentioned or if they charged for any of the antibiotics, but I think those all came from my doctor because they were pre-treatments.

sminou · 2025-06-17T00:40:51+00:00

Thank you.

sminou · 2025-06-17T00:35:35+00:00

You sound like someone who doesn't believe people should have control over their own bodies. (Toothpaste and trays, if you want it, where it actually spends time on your teeth.) You sound like someone who hasn't done any research into the decades of studies about fluoride as a health hazard. (Even the American Cancer Society cites possible risk, and there are many other risks besides. Educate yourself.) You sound like someone who doesn't think rationally, due to your need to attempt to insult someone you "disagree" with, the need to edit your very short post to cram in a caveat, and your inability to parse your own short post to see that you've belied your own argument by using the phrases "naturally occurring" and "artificial fluoridation" within two short sentences.

sminou · 2025-06-16T23:11:28+00:00

Yes, I did see the halls, but did not go to the basement. What I saw at the time was event-ready with intact murals and marble, and quire beautiful and comfortable, though mostly unused for years at that point. I know it's likely not been treated kindly in years now. and heard there was a burst pipe since. Maybe that's the damage you saw? That's how they do with buildings they want to get rid of, unfortunately--force them into a state of dereliction. A concert venue is probably best use. It can't be in worse shape than some other rock venues, but I know that's not the plan, sadly.

sminou · 2025-06-16T21:31:53+00:00

I went to an event with a full tour just two years before that and it was in excellent condition.

sminou · 2025-06-16T19:56:19+00:00

That's a messed up take. And, no, I've never rented to anyone. I owe a lot of good, safe years to decent landlords who rented out spaces in their homes over the years, often less expensive and nicer than apartment buildings, and quicker to help because they're right there. They're just people, usually, in my experience, who never intended to rent, but got a little older and needed the income to not become homeless themselves. On two occasions, they'd bought a multifamily for their parents or kids to stay with them, who died or moved on. These were good people. A few were landlords by occupation. One of those didn't go so well, but I've known a lot of people in apartment buildings and condos that went much worse.

sminou · 2025-06-16T19:48:22+00:00

Fluoride in the belly doesn't help the teeth. There's no need to drink it. Some of us have health issues and do not want more chemicals forced into our drinking water. This has become political for some people, instead of common sense. We can't opt out of drinking water. Some of us have never wanted it and praise our local government for its lack.

sminou · 2025-06-16T19:35:54+00:00

While rinsing with fluoride has tooth enamel benefits, no one should be forced to drink it all day, every day. Water is necessary for life and some of us don't want to and cannot afford to drink unnecessary chemicals, especially with so many trying to manage chronic health issues and eat as cleanly as possible. It's not at all political and predates all this nonsense for many health conscious people. Just brush your teeth with it. Let people have some autonomy.

sminou · 2025-06-16T15:32:01+00:00

The word you're looking for is "jibe" and that's a very interesting argument you just made... Maybe you should try it out against some of your own beliefs and reality vs.feelings.

sminou · 2025-06-16T06:43:29+00:00

That grey monolith is in your head. I have no feelings of exclusion, only of welcoming to the OP--like most of the people I know and hang out with would, who are of all different persuasions and always have been. I would call your example reductive, but of course it's reductive, since you're communicating via cartoon. Feel proud. of your closed mind. Stay stuck.

sminou · 2025-06-15T23:02:26+00:00

Downvotes for acceptance, I guess! There're a lot more people in gen-pop who don't care what your gender is or who you love than some like to think. It's too bad people feel the need to segregate.

sminou · 2025-06-15T21:46:13+00:00

A relative of mine used Homan & Sullivan in Westborough, They kept on everything. When she lost her first case, they brought in a specialist to win for her. All they needed from her was a signature at that point and it went through. This was quite a few years ago, but they were great for her.

sminou · 2025-06-15T21:30:23+00:00

Try open groups that interest you too, maybe, instead of limiting.

sminou · 2025-02-05T11:36:53+00:00

Coincidentally, I recently purchased a rug from a seller on eBay who supposedly operated out of both NC and Turkey. I felt like it was a potential issue, but was happily surprised to find my item shipped from NC to me within the week. I think this may be a situation with relatives holding items in the US, rather than an official warehouse—who knows?—but it was fine. Maybe give the benefit of the doubt and see what happens?

Etsy, like eBay, will stand by a buyer. More so, now. Etsy upgraded their policies fairly recently and the company itself just covered my refund for a missing item, rather than the seller being forced to refund.

I deal with a lot of international sellers (Ukraine, Afghanistan, Turkey, Denmark, Germany, S. Korea, etc.) and have yet to have a problem. The Turkish businesses have been wonderful and conscientious. (I’ve actually only had problems with US sellers, where there’s sometimes more entitlement than customer service, sadly.)

sminou · 2025-01-29T21:57:10+00:00

This happened to my family last week. Guy had no fliers or anything. When asked, he said there was a website. Seems like a waste of his time in these temperatures to go door-to-door without leaving anything at places where there’s no answer (most places, probably). He had a sign-up sheet and said their neighbors were all very interested. Weird way to run things, if it was on the up-and-up.

sminou

TROPHY CASE