When we talk about biohazardous waste, we aren’t just talking about tissue samples or organs. It includes everything from blood-soaked gauze to all the leftover scraps from an outpatient surgery center or a lab—stuff like used syringes and needles too. All of this has to be packed into specialized heavy-duty plastic containers that are much tougher than your average trash bag. They then get tossed into specifically marked bins to make sure there isn't any biological contamination leaking out into the surrounding area, before finally being sent off to high-heat medical waste incinerators. There are actually specialized disposal companies that handle all of this, and man, they don't come cheap. They charge a premium because handling anything that poses a biological hazard is strictly regulated by federal law here in the States.
It looks like it’s pretty much a given that your grandpa will be off life support within a day or two, but he’ll still be stuck in what's essentially a vegetative state. To put it plainly, his vitals and breathing will be stable on their own, but he won't be able to move, talk, or do anything without someone there to feed him, bathe him, and basically handle every single aspect of his care. In my experience—and I think most people would agree—that kind of situation is actually way harder on the family than when a patient is still hooked up to machines and everything feels uncertain. But, like Scott Allen10 pointed out perfectly, we’re really looking at a massive ethical dilemma here. I mean, if you really sit down and think about it: is a life where someone is just existing, unable to interact with the world, truly the same thing as a full, active, emotionally vibrant life? Where do we draw that line? And more importantly, who gets to decide when the music should stop? Honestly, I don't see us reaching any kind of solid, universal agreement on those questions anytime soon.
I’m guessing you’re referring to circumcision 😈 Honestly, using the term circumcision might actually sound a bit more natural here, especially since it seems like you aren't quite familiar with the Latin derivative 🙂
And man, if you don't even know how to handle yourself down there, it’s pretty easy to tell 🤮
Yeah, I’d say I hit the beach maybe 15 times a year on average. I usually try to catch some rays between 8 and 10 in the morning or during that 5 to 7 PM window... honestly, after a full day at work, I just don't have the energy to head out, so it's mostly just when I'm on vacation or hanging out on the weekends 😈 But, surprisingly, I don't have any wrinkles or sunspots at all 😬
I'm really not a fan of self-tanning—you use those high-end, expensive lotions and you still end up looking like a patchy mess 🤮
Honestly, I’ll just give you my two cents on this: I am pale as a ghost. I mean, seriously, unless you count that nasty sunburn I picked up last Saturday near the beach boardwalk—I was wearing a low-cut top while grabbing coffee, and the Sun absolutely cooked me. To prevent that, I head to the tanning salon about four or five times every year right before summer hits. I only go for five minutes at a time, and I always slather myself in SPF 60 first, just enough to jumpstart some melanin so I actually have a tiny bit of protection. And that's it! 😍 I’m still pretty fair, but at least I don't get fried the second I put on short sleeves during those first few days of summer. 👍
gentleridge17 said:Is there actually a tanning salon out there specifically for guys, rather than just being women-only??
Honestly, why would you even need a separate tanning salon for men??? What, is there some special kind of UV ray designed to target a guy's junk and, I don't know, make it bigger? 😈
At the salon where my esthetician works, both guys and girls walk through the door... and so far, I haven't seen any brawls or physical fights breaking out just because of gender differences. 🙂
As far as I know, the Sun doesn't care about that either... 😬
Or maybe it’s the sternum... but honestly, it feels more like just some nasty bruising to the skin, fat, and muscle, probably with a little hematoma kicking up. Leda and DeepMind... 😍
Way to go, Jamie Clark74, I am totally with you on this one! 👍 🙏 At the end of the day, it’s not about how many pills you’re swallowing; it’s about whether they actually work. If you've got the condition under control and you can actually get out and enjoy your life without feeling miserable, then you've won. That's what really matters—your quality of life.
There isn't some kind of magic pill out there that's going to be the perfect fix for every single person, so you've just gotta find the right mix that works for you.
Btw, I deal with high blood pressure myself, and even though it's my only issue, I'm already on a combo of three different medications to keep things steady. 😎
Honestly, we deserve better—especially for all of us who actually put in the work, play by the rules, and give it our absolute all without ever even dreaming about asking for a single extra cent... yet they just throw us all into one big bucket with people like him and his crowd, and then have the nerve to spit on us.
When it comes to the money side of healthcare, we’re actually way beyond being just a welfare state. When I posted something along those lines on my blog once, people absolutely lost it—everyone was acting like I was some heartless monster for lacking empathy. But honestly, I have a mountain of examples where, for the amount we pay monthly, people get way more coverage here than almost anywhere else in the world. Okay, you’ll probably tell me, "That's just the principle of collective solidarity: everyone chips in, and whoever needs it uses it." And look, that sounds all lovely and wonderful on paper, if we didn't have these totally unrealistic scenarios:
Example 1—there was this patient, somewhere out in California, maybe around 70 years old (oops, typo there), who had surgery for GIST and needed Glivec. A single monthly dose costs about $12. But because she had to pick up the medication at the hospital pharmacy in San Francisco, and she wasn't living within 62 miles (based on the old Regulation that was in effect back then), Medicare wouldn't cover her travel expenses. My Grandmother and her whole family were absolutely livid with the government and how the system was run. In the "real" world out there, in that beautiful white-picket-fence society, she might not even get this medication at all. Since she's in that age bracket (>65), they don't typically prescribe Glivec post-op for GIST; instead, they use a combination of cheaper (and yeah, less effective) chemo drugs "on the taxpayer's dime." And in those places, if you don't have the cash and haven't paid into premium health insurance—you basically die, and nobody treats you.
Example 2—this was also from my blog—a woman working as a retail clerk making minimum wage, paying $67 a month into health insurance (it's not her fault, I'm just using her to show the ratio of cost to income). She had surgery on her wrist. While she was in the hospital, she took photos of peeling walls, falling ceiling tiles, windows that didn't even seal properly, and even a 96-year-old lady who, after hip surgery, was causing a total ruckus in the ward, pathetically wondering aloud: "Where is all the healthcare money going???" When I told her that a single box of sutures containing 12 packs for 12 or fewer patients costs $917, she called me an inhuman doctor. She insisted she'd heard that 75% of healthcare funding goes straight to doctors' salaries.
"Over there," insurance doesn't pay for the exact same treatment for the same injury if it happened, say, because of a car crash versus jumping from a 5th-story window for a suicide attempt. That's always been the deal; it's just tucked away in that tiny fine print in insurance contracts that nobody ever bothers to read.
Forget what people say about the US being expensive; we’re still basically El Dorado. Politicians tell patients they have a right to everything, while telling us we aren't allowed to give them this or that based on their referral...😈
Casey Palmer5 said:Basically, if you're dealing with recurring ankle sprains, you really need to focus on dynamic foot stabilization. It’s just some straightforward exercises designed to build up muscle strength, improve your balance, and get those proprioceptors in your foot firing properly again.
A physiotherapist is the best person to walk you through that.
Scott Allen10, seriously, go ice your foot. Do it a few times a day for a couple of minutes at a time. Use an ACE bandage, keep the leg elevated, and please, don't mess around until this acute phase passes.
Exactly, spot on!!! 🙏 Five stars! 👍 Also, definitely stick to ice massage and rest while you're in that initial painful stage, keeping the limb elevated above heart level until the bruising and swelling start to clear up.
In plain English (since apparently I was being too technical for everyone 😈 ), that means icing it and keeping your foot up for two or three days.
After that, just use an elastic wrap when you're being active and follow all that advice Lark gave us. 😎
There’s one harsh reality we have to face: unfortunately, many people who attempt suicide once will try again, and for a huge number of them, they eventually succeed. You never truly know when you might hit a breaking point where everything feels hopeless. Personally, I’m not the suicidal type at all—not even close. But if something catastrophic happened to me, like losing my loved ones or having my entire world crumble around me, who’s to say I wouldn't feel like there was nothing left to live for? (And no, Arslan, your insults don't even come close to that kind of thing 😈). Every single suicide attempt needs psychiatric intervention. The worst-case scenario is when someone who has attempted to take their own life convinces themselves—and everyone around them—that they’re perfectly fine now and don't need any more help. So many people are too ashamed to see a psychiatrist; even here in the States, seeking mental health treatment can still carry a heavy stigma in certain communities, especially in smaller towns. A few years back, there was this well-known anesthesiologist from a city in California who took her own life. This was her third or fourth attempt, and she had never actually been in formal psychiatric treatment (just talking things out occasionally with a friend who happened to be a psychiatrist doesn't count). During her last failed attempt, her boss threatened to suspend her if she didn't seek professional help. Instead of being supported, everyone turned on him, accusing him of being heartless or making things worse... he was under so much pressure that he ended up rescinding the suspension. He told them all that they would eventually regret that decision. Two months later, she succeeded. She used a combination of morphine and potassium chloride, just like in her previous attempts, but this time, no one in her family was able to get to her in time....
brisknomad6, I’ve seriously been wondering—how on earth do you manage to get anything thicker than a toothpick in there without the owner's eyes popping out of their head or them ending up swinging from the ceiling fan? 😈
Eeee... but honestly, if you're looking at this as preventative maintenance while everything is still working perfectly fine... it actually helps. :v A little exercise works wonders; it really boosts that elasticity, wooow... 🙂
😠 Red wine is packed with tannins—just like dark berries or certain veggies—which can basically make those veins in the hemorrhoidal plexus stiffen up and become prone to bursting. Once they get inflamed, you’re looking at what doctors call florid hemorrhoids: swollen, painful, protruding, and sometimes even getting thrombosed. 😈 Then there's peanuts. They don't always digest perfectly, leaving little bits behind in your stool 😬 which, man, if those bits scratch against those swollen lumps... let's just say it's a total nightmare. 😠 In my opinion, peanuts and other seeds are generally fine because they add some bulk to your movements, provided you chew them really, really well... though I wouldn't touch them if you're currently in the middle of an acute flare-up.
As for relief, you can pick up some Hemophilin ointment at any local CVS or Walgreens; it usually runs you about $30-$13...
Look, man, I hate to say it, but I know plenty of colleagues whose main goal is just to look like some kind of hero in front of the patient. They act all super attentive and caring just hoping the patient will feel obligated to tip them or show some extra gratitude later 🤮. Not too long ago, I had this one patient who was skiing in Canada and took a nasty fall, breaking his clavicle. It was a classic fracture right at the border of the medial and lateral thirds, but the displacement was huge—about 4 to 5 cm. He’d been treated in Charleston, but they basically just gave him some basic taping instead of actually fixing the bone with plates and screws. Clinically speaking, it looked terrible—there was about a 7 cm defect in the shoulder plateau, the whole shoulder was drooping, and he'd lost about 90% of his range of motion on the injured side. He ended up seeing me just by chance (the guy's originally from California) through an acquaintance of a nurse who works with us, and it was about a week after the injury happened. Since my focus is mostly on small joints and hands rather than major trauma, I tried to reduce it myself, but it just wouldn't budge. I put him in a Cellacare Clavicula rigid brace and tightened it as much as I could to see if we could gain any length back... but I was honest with him. I told him I really thought he’d need surgery because, honestly, without it, there was almost no way it would heal properly without forming a pseudoarthrosis. So, I suggested he go get some X-rays in San Francisco and see a trauma specialist. Anyway, the guy got his scans done, and two weeks after the fracture, there wasn't even a hint of callus formation—just accelerated resorption at the broken ends. The orthopedic surgeon who saw him (who, to be fair, had recently been in a bad car wreck and was in a coma for fifteen days—so you can forgive him a little bit, though I guess the alcohol didn't help matters either) basically yelled at him: "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? WHAT KIND OF IDIOT TOLD YOU THIS WASN'T A PROBLEM??!!?? EVERYTHING IS FINE, GO HOME, AND COME BACK IN TWO WEEKS..." The guy came back to show me the results, but clinically, nothing had changed. I eventually recommended he head over to Carmel-by-the-Sea, where he finally ended up getting the surgery. After that, I have no idea what happened. 🙂
Man, it’s such a toss-up... In the US, you basically just roll the dice on whether you'll land a doctor who actually gives a damn about their patients, or if you'll end up stuck with some local grease monkey who happens to have a medical degree and a permanent case of PMS... 😠
Look, honey, it doesn't work like that everywhere in America either. If you took a little trip around the world, you'd realize we aren't any better or worse than anyone else out there... 😈 Honestly, I’d go as far as to say we’ve got it pretty easy, considering the circumstances most people are working under.... 😬
Hey everyone, thanks so much for all the kind words. Big shoutout to Jamie Clark74 for passing along that post from Justin Fox over on the Diaspora site. Anyone who’s followed me around this Forum knows I usually stick to the Health and Beauty sections. As for the Diaspora crowd, I don't have any beef with them personally, but honestly, Justin Fox really outdid himself there... any praise being thrown his way is just a complete waste of breath. Those of you who've been hanging around the Forum for a while probably know exactly who our resident "handyman" is: MacGregor (along with a bunch of his other handles over the years) is basically leading the charge here, headfirst and all. 😍
So, a quick public message for Justin Fox: man, you are just pathetic. It’s beyond repair at this point—you don't even need to bother trying to fix your reputation. No matter how much bitterness and venom you try to pour into your posts, they don't carry an ounce of weight with anyone sane. Amen. 🙂
And finally, instead of a thumbs up, let's go with: Justin Fox, :2up:
Honestly, we should just send in our elite task force to track him down and tear through those barriers he’s built up. Then, we can stitch everything back together properly—you know, the right way—maybe even with some local anesthesia 😂 😂 😂 just to take the edge off. That way, the guy might actually start talking and finally write about this topic based on what he's actually been through 😵 👋 🙂