Posts by Frank Jackson5

Hi there! My 6-year-old boy has been dealing with chronic hives for about two and a half years now. Since we're coming from Canada and don't have access to a pediatric immunologist here, I was wondering if anyone could recommend one in Miami who takes private patients? He’s actually off his medication right now because he’s been on it for way too long, so we really need to get him seen as soon as possible!
hvala!

I'm wondering how you all handled the uncertainty while waiting for a diagnosis? Did your loved ones share their fears and feelings with you? I've been waiting over three weeks for my biopsy results on a mole, and honestly, I'm convinced it's melanoma that has already spread. Here is why: it started growing upward, it had nodules inside, multiple colors, and was asymmetrical. All of that was happening six months ago. When I was pregnant, I saw a dermatologist who told me not to have it removed before giving birth—that I didn't need follow-ups or even to monitor it. I just trusted her like everyone else does. But after the baby came, it changed drastically. It turned soft, almost like a grape, faded, started stinging intensely, and developed more white patches. Then came the pain in my groin that spread down both legs to my knees and hips. Less than a month after giving birth, I finally went to get it removed, but even a month later, I still don't have the results.

I feel certain that it's advanced melanoma. I know surgery is the main way to handle it, and in this stage, I doubt chemo will do much either. How am I supposed to face my family while thinking like this, especially without an official diagnosis? I broke down crying in front of my husband once, and today, I finally told him my biggest fears...

It’s a shame there isn't a thread like this specifically for those who are currently sick.😢

I know about your Association and thought about posting there too, but it doesn't seem like people post much... should I just copy my post over there?

frozenpanther18 said:I happen to be prone to depression too, unfortunately... are you taking anything right now? My doctor prescribed some Ativan, but I'm a little hesitant to take it. She mentioned it’s more for managing the stomach pains and physical symptoms since it doesn't do much for the mental side of things.😕😕

It looks like you're going to have plenty of kids, huh?😍😍

I went through one really bad depressive episode before getting pregnant and was on antidepressants for three years. I'm not on anything now. I might take a Xanax here and there, but that's more for calming down—it's an anti-anxiety thing, not a mood lifter. It seems like pregnancy was actually my best antidepressant.🤣 😍

frozenpanther18 said:Pregnancy Depression
I’ve been stuck in this loop all day😢—one minute I’m on the verge of tears, the next I feel absolutely nothing, and then I just want to bolt because everywhere I go feels incredibly draining. It’s just exhausting, honestly.

Honey, this isn't the same thing as clinical depression. Honestly, my pregnancy hormones protect me from that—even from social anxiety, panic attacks, or those daily tension headaches that have me sobbing for days. There’s no weakness here, no shakes, no chronic exhaustion... sometimes things sting, sometimes I cry, but this period is honestly a trillion times better than not being pregnant. I'm home, relaxing, staying away from that job that was destroying my mental health. I only hang out with people I love, watch good movies or series, just total relaxation, and my husband is always taking care of me... how could it be any better? I'd stay pregnant forever if I could!😍😍😍

Some lady from my office—she’s in her late 40s—calls me "little one" and goes, "I heard you haven't gained much weight, you shouldn't let that happen, what's going to happen to the baby?" I was just like, wtf... 😕 I told her the baby is already half a kilo over the average. Then she asks if it's a boy or a girl. I said boy, and she goes, "Ohhh, it would have been better if it were a girl first." 🤦 Honestly, I completely forgot why I felt so nauseous about going into work today. 🙄

It honestly bugs me how much people stop asking how I'm feeling and just start asking when the baby is coming. Like, if I say ten months, everyone acts shocked because they think it’ll happen way sooner... It's not really their fault, though. Just my own bad luck and this baby 😁

rustyrider20 said:Insane comments from supposedly educated people when I’m looking for actual, sensible advice.... specifically:
me—the baby isn't hitting growth milestones, measurements are allegedly identical to two weeks ago, and we're still stuck in this "wait and see" limbo
most of them—just let him lie there and rest, and feed him tons of meat and veggies and fruit so he finally grows😲
Give me a break. Seriously, if you didn't spend six years in grad school for something, what was it for? This kind of nonsense makes a person genuinely worried... though I keep hoping they were just joking

Man, a friend once told me I needed to eat more fruit because her baby survived being born at 33 weeks just because she ate so much fruit🤦

It really gets under my skin when my husband won't let me clean, though I practically have to beg him for five days straight just to get him to touch the vacuum 🙂

plus the fact that my aunts are always sweating (God forbid they were bigger than my chest!)

Kate Cox2 said:Oh goodness, I have to admit that this reality frustrates me just as much—especially since I am personally (as a woman, mind you😁) getting closer to my own delivery date...
It truly feels quite unfair...
I suppose we can blame Eve for all of this...😠

I say the exact same thing all the time! 🤣

It’s honestly so frustrating that men can't carry a baby! 🙂

Amanda Reed4 said:Those comments drive me absolutely insane too.
Whenever I mention we're waiting on a girl,
someone always chimes in with, "Well, at least you'll get a boy next time," or some nonsense like that...
It's constant... almost always coming from women...😲 Seriously, what is wrong with people??????????????????????????????😲 😲
And all I can think is...
"You complete idiot... if you actually knew how long we've been praying for this child, you'd shut your mouth and cover your ears..."
But instead, I just say...
"The gender doesn't matter one bit,
as long as they're healthy!!!!!!!!!!"

My cousin actually asked me if I was proud to be having a son for my husband.

I told him it doesn't matter what I have, I'd be just as proud if it were a girl!

God, people! 🙄

I’ve realized it might be best to just avoid people—specifically women. I don't know why, but the second I sit down, everyone wants to describe their absolute nightmare childbirth stories. It was pure horror... straight out of a movie. One lady tried to frame hers as a funny anecdote, so I laughed along at the time... but later on, it wasn't so funny. And this happened right when I finally stopped obsessing over the whole topic. Honestly, just leave me alone.

extreme said:Some older ladies were asking me about it too, so I asked my mom why everyone keeps bringing it up... it honestly feels like such an idiot question.
She told me that back in the day, feeling movement was like a "sign" that the pregnancy was actually established. Once you feel those kicks, the risk of miscarriage drops significantly, and usually, that’s also when most of the early symptoms—like nausea, exhaustion, dizziness, whatever—start to fade away.
It's still a silly thing to ask, I guess, but at least now you know why people do it.
And yeah... they didn't really rely on ultrasounds back then, right? So women didn't have a way to see the baby moving through an ultrasound scan weeks in advance like we do now. For them, that first little kick was a real, physical sign that everything was okay.

Whew, I wrote a lot there. 😁

Exactly! My aunt used to tell me that during both her pregnancies, she never even had an ultrasound; they just listened to the heartbeat with a stethoscope and called it a day. A lot of girls here use that terminology nowadays, and honestly, it drives me a little crazy because I know it's technically not being used correctly, but I guess that's just how people say it.

Jessica Ramirez said:Even my friend brought this up once. So what if it’s a mother-in-law or some grandma? Who cares? If the girl is just a little younger than me, she'd figure it out. 😱
Now she’s pregnant too. She actually told me once, "The baby came back to life," and I was just like, wtf? Like, the baby is alive. Was she talking about feeling movement or something?
Whatever. I still don't get it. 🙄

Oh, please. 😢
Maybe you shouldn't say anything at all?! I didn't tell a single soul in my family about the first time, and I still don't say much unless they specifically ask. I'd much rather just keep that stuff between me and my husband.

😲

Quincy:

Kate Cox2 Who says? My buddy told me she saw some women at a hospital out in California crying because they couldn't go home. Their husbands and mothers-in-law won't even let them through the front door. What kind of people do that? Another girl born.

Sadly, it's true.

I'm from California, and my parents come from deep in Florida. They tell me back then, it was totally common for husbands to refuse to let their wives into the house if they were having girls. Women actually ended up sleeping in barns and all sorts of stuff. 😠

Ali, there are still people like that today. A relative's husband mentioned some guy he knows who had four daughters—I think—and when his wife got pregnant for the fifth time, the ultrasound showed it was a boy. That guy was over the moon! But no, it was a girl. He said the man had a complete nervous breakdown.

What keeps me going is that it seems like there's less of this than before. I honestly think the younger generations don't care nearly as much about whether it's a boy or a girl.

And man, imagine how it is back home in the rural South. I know families with seven or eight kids... women would just keep going until they finally had a boy, or they’d just get too old to keep trying. And that wasn't even that long ago. Just recently, my brother's friend had a baby girl. Before that, all his buddies at work were constantly asking him, "So, what are you having?" and he'd just say, "A girl," and then—nothing. Total silence. No one said a word! It was wild. 🤦 😵Even now, if people hear it's a boy, everyone knows instantly. But if it's a girl, most people keep it quiet until the very last second. That's just the truth.

As for how kind others have been... I've actually felt that myself, maybe even too much. Everyone has been so protective and sweet toward me.

I'm not out in public enough to hear everyone else's horror stories about giving birth, but I have a few experienced friends who kept telling me it isn't as scary as it sounds. I don't know why everyone is being so careful with me, but they really are wonderful! 😍

I was honestly so shocked and frustrated when I was talking to my future mother-in-law about wanting an epidural. I couldn't believe she thought it was weird to even ask for one in this day and age. She just gave me this sweet, patronizing look and said, "Don't talk like that. There was once a woman who refused to go natural and insisted on a C-section because she was scared, and she couldn't even carry a pregnancy to term—she ended up with emergency surgeries where all three of her babies died." I mean, wtf... 😱🙂 I will never understand people like that!!!!!

Anthony Lopez3 said:Girls, I am completely lost.... I feel like I'm going crazy... 😢
So, on January 15th ( 🙂 ), I had unprotected sex.... I went to a private OBGYN the very next day to get a prescription for those emergency contraceptive pills.... but she refused to give them to me, saying there was no need because I hadn't ovulated yet, so fertilization was basically impossible.... I thought, okay, great, no need to deal with those pills and no worries.... but I guess my gut wouldn't leave me alone. I tried to wait until my next period, which came on February 12th, and it was really weird.... I mean, I thought it was fine, and my doctor told me my period might be a little strange because of the vaginal suppositories I was using, so she said not to worry.... after that weird period, I took a test and it was negative. I figured, okay, I'm definitely losing it....
But this feeling that something is happening inside me just won't go away... I’ve had these sensations where it feels like my throat is tightening, or like something is stuck there, then I'll get hit with dizziness, then my heart starts racing.... nothing constant, just random throughout the day.... so I waited for my next period on March 15th. That one was totally normal. I didn't really feel like I was having my period, but it was pretty heavy, just like before I saw the doctor. I took another test.... negative again.... I thought, alright, you are officially insane... and whatever...
Then, about 12 days ago, I get my period again and everything seems fine, except my ovaries ache, my back hurts, and the bleeding is really heavy.... but even after the period ended, the pain hasn't stopped. It's not constant, but it comes and goes, and just thinking about being pregnant gives me a headache, and my nose is all stuffed up... so I take another test (honestly, I'm about to lose my mind), and this is the last one I'll ever do... I promise... so I take it this morning.... and it's POSITIVE... I don't know whether to cry or laugh, or just scream... I have no idea what to do with myself.... I called my boyfriend... I told him we need to see each other urgently... he just says, "well, what happened? just come over and we'll talk." Once I'm with him, I tell him everything and show him the test. He says, "let's go to the doctor, I'll drive you, let's not wait around." We go to the OBGYN and he does a full ultrasound, checking the uterus and everything outside of it, feeling around, but he sees nothing of the fetus... he tells me, "I don't see anything, it's impossible that you're pregnant, there's nothing here..." hmmm.... before the exam, I told him that if I am actually pregnant, I must be at least 3 months along... because every single time after that, we used protection...

A friend said to me today, "Sweetie, are you pregnant? You've been acting so weird lately, you even have this glow in your eyes... I don't know, you're just different..." And I was just like... 🤷

On Monday, I'm going to get a blood test for HCG levels, just so I can finally put this to rest once and for all...

Ugh, girls, I know I've probably been venting more than anyone else ever has... but I am seriously so confused, I don't know what to think... I'm probably going to lose it... please, tell me what you think...

I'm pretty sure you aren't pregnant. Tests can show a false positive sometimes—people talk about this on the forums all the time, and I actually know a girl who went through the exact same thing. But if, by some crazy miracle, you actually are pregnant, there's no way you're three months along. An OB-GYN would have definitely seen something by now.

boldheron48 said:Hey everyone, I’ve been lurking here for days, and after a long time, I finally decided to jump in. We’ve been trying for so long now with nothing to show for it yet.....
But I’m not giving up. This month, I’ve armed myself with LH strips, and I’ve been tracking my Basal temperature for two months now.... My partner has been traveling a lot, but he managed to be home at just the right time this time (at least, I hope so)...... I’m not expecting Vjestic on February 19th, and I’m praying to God, the universe, and sending out all the positive vibes I can to bring this little one into our lives!
I keep imagining everything, though I barely feel any symptoms..... my stomach feels tight, almost like I’m constantly holding it in...(it's a strange sensation)........ The only thing giving me a tiny bit of hope..... is my temperature this morning, which hit 98.6, whereas during my other phase it usually maxes out around 97.9..... so... that's what's keeping me going!
I just wanted to share this with you all, and hopefully, in a few days, I'll have even better news to share!!!
The women on this forum have been such a huge support to me, and I want to thank you all once again!

Wishing you all so many, so many plus signs!!!!... and just one for myself!

Hey girl! Honestly, there's just so much ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ and 🙂 already for this month. You haven't checked in lately, how are you holding up? I'm doing great, actually—finally off my antidepressants, no depression or anything! lol. This is totally off-topic, but whatever, the vibes here are good enough. 😍

casualowl32 said:Just take another one tomorrow. Honestly, if your cycles are usually all over the place, go ahead and do it.

But look, if your period is usually clockwork, you would have seen a positive by the first day you were late. If that's the case, don't bother wasting money on more tests—you aren't pregnant. At that point, you're just stuck waiting for your appointment or for your period to finally show up.

That’s not really true. Every woman is different. My friend, for instance, didn't get a positive result until she was a full week late!

mistydrifter55 said:We seriously need to rebrand this forum as a pregnancy test service.
Picture this: you just spit on the screen, we run a quick DNA and beta-hCG scan, and voila!
😁

We'll go all out. Ultrasound, swabs, full panel testing—we'll even tell you the gender!

It kind of feels that way sometimes, looking at what people expect from us... I mean, even I started out searching through PDFs for answers like this, and look at me now. Totally hooked! 🤣

I finally got mine. 🙄