I dealt with Group F strep. I know Group A is the real danger, though. Because I was dealing with chronic inflammation, I ended up having my tonsils removed about seven and a half years ago. Honestly, I can't say I'm completely out of the woods now. Maybe I waited too long to get the surgery done? On one hand, I’ve got these significant scars left behind, but on the other, there are these tiny little remnants—bits that weren't fully cleared out during the procedure—and some minor thickening. Right where those small pieces remain, I also have a slightly larger lymph node in my neck compared to the other side. Plus, that specific side of my throat tends to ache more often, even when I don't have a cold or a virus.
Does anyone else deal with something similar? I wonder if I should undergo a quick follow-up procedure just to get everything fully cleared out. My first surgery was under general anesthesia, so I would definitely want to avoid local anesthesia if possible; I've heard it can be absolutely miserable and might even wear off right in the middle of the operation. I went for a few follow-up checkups after the initial surgery, but it's been years since I've actually seen a specialist.
Where exactly did the jellyfish sting you? I guess I remember getting stung on my leg when I was little back in Key West. I can't quite recall how bad the burn actually felt at the time, but I know I definitely got off easy... I remember seeing other kids who ended up with stings all over their faces.
Not many goals in that final. I'm honestly glad Mexico pulled it off. Better them than Mexico, I guess.
As for our guys, they just can't seem to find the back of the net when it actually matters. If Miho Bošković had scored that late shot, we probably would have walked away with the win. And that foul against us near the end? When the ball went to the Canadians? In my opinion, that wasn't even a foul at all.
Personally, I’ve never really struggled with motion sickness. It doesn't matter if I'm driving, riding a bus, or even out on a cruise—nothing ever seems to bother me. Even during one particular trip where the weather turned nasty and we dealt with massive waves and constant tossing all night and through the next morning, I felt fine. I suppose those large cruise ships have built-in stabilizers to help with that.
Everyone always says you should pick a cabin right in the middle of the ship to minimize the swaying, and I guess that part is true since you do feel the movement less there. But, strangely enough, we had a cabin with a window toward the back of the ship, and for me, that actually felt much better than being in the middle. The vibrations from the engines were just so intense in the center of the vessel; it wasn't just happening on the bottom deck where most of the cabins are, either. You could really feel those engine tremors two or three decks up in the restaurant area too. Honestly, it felt so bizarre the evening I finally got home after a long ten-hour bus ride from Italy. When I walked into my place, I almost felt like I was still out at sea—it was as if my apartment was swaying just like a cabin does during a voyage. Maybe it was just pure exhaustion, I suppose. That sensation didn't last very long, though; by the next day, it had completely faded and everything felt normal again.
I guess her optimism and sheer willpower are what gave your sister the strength to fight such a heavy diagnosis. How did they even find out about the illness in the first place? Maybe if it had been caught sooner, the prognosis might have been better, though I've heard ovarian cancer is notoriously difficult to detect and often isn't found until it’s already quite advanced. Have you guys reached out to doctors abroad to show them her test results? I've heard you can sometimes consult with specialists overseas over the phone and then just fax the records over. I mean, I'm just speaking generally here. Still, I truly believe it's always better to actually travel abroad for an in-person consultation to get a second opinion from foreign physicians. Perhaps there's some new treatment available there that hasn't made its way to the US yet. Of course, if she is in a very critical state right now, there's no point in pushing her further; the focus should probably be on managing her pain, which I assume they are doing at Petrov's.
I feel so incredibly sorry about your sister. How old is she? I'm guessing she's one of the younger ones? It seems to me, I don't know, maybe just my impression, but doctors often seem to have more empathy for younger patients... and they tend to admit them to the hospital more frequently. Has your sister been dealing with this for a long time? What exactly is the diagnosis? I suppose it must be a little easier for you all, at least, knowing that the doctors are taking such good care of her.
Does anyone happen to know where Goran Vidović is practicing these days?
I used to see him back when he was at that private Dental Clinic over on Savska Street in Washington, D.C. I noticed other people were praising him here on the forums too, in some old posts from back in 2005. I personally went to him from 2003 until 2006, and I was honestly so happy with his work—he was incredibly friendly, attentive, and most importantly, everything he fixed turned out perfectly. I was really bummed when I found out back in 2007 that he wasn't working there anymore. I tried searching on Google, but I just couldn't track down his current location anywhere online. I even reached out to the old clinic to ask where he moved to after he left, but they told me they didn't know... though, I get the feeling they might just not have wanted to tell me. So, I was wondering if anyone might have the address or phone number for his current office? If you do, please send me the details—you can even just shoot me a private message.
Does anyone happen to know where Goran Vidović is practicing these days? I used to see him back when he was at that private Dental Clinic over on Savska Street in Washington, D.C. I noticed some other people praising him here on the forum in old posts from 2005, too. I personally went to him from 2003 to 2006, and I was just so happy with his work—he was incredibly friendly, really attentive, and most importantly, everything he fixed turned out great. I was honestly so bummed when I found out back in 2007 that he wasn't working there anymore. I tried searching on Google, but I couldn't find anything about his current location. So, I was wondering if anyone might have the address or phone number for his new office? If you do, please send me the details—you can even just DM me.
If your cycle is regular and you know exactly when it’s coming, I guess you could have planned your vacation five months ahead of time to hit that specific week where you won't be dealing with your period. That was kind of my point. It seems like people at your company coordinate their time off incredibly early. At my mom's place—she works for a huge corporation like GE—they don't even start discussing vacation until May, and the first employees head out in early July. Then there was this small family business I worked for once; they didn't even talk about summer breaks until mid-June, and the first person wouldn't leave until the middle of July.
Jack Flores4
I know Dabroston is similar to what you'd find at a pharmacy like CVS. You take the medication for two weeks, and then, after a few days, your period arrives... though it might not be exactly two days later. Usually, people use something like that if they haven't had a period in months and want to jumpstart things. If your cycle is already regular, I'm not sure it's really recommended to take those kinds of meds, since you likely have enough hormones already and that extra dose probably isn't necessary. And if you're trying to time your period specifically while taking them, I guess I'm not entirely certain if it will work as planned, because that high hormone count might actually make it come much earlier than you expect.
Maybe you could just look at scheduling your vacation for a different week during that same month, especially if you already know you won't be able to get in the ocean during that time.
As for me, I’ve had two surgeries so far. They weren't exactly major procedures—they didn't even last more than half an hour—but they were both under general anesthesia. At one hospital in Washington, D.C., they were incredibly strict about everything. They actually checked in with me two days before the surgery, and then again on the day of, just to make sure I hadn't eaten anything. I heard about this one girl whose scheduled surgery had to be pushed back entirely just because of that. In other places, they don't seem to check at all. And I guess since you're wearing hospital scrubs during the procedure, you might feel like you can say whatever you want, but personally, I would never lie about something like that.
A few months after my first procedure, I went to a different hospital in Washington, D.C. for a quick surgery, and the nurses there didn't ask me a single thing regarding my fasting. I actually know of a girl who was on her period and still went through with a general anesthesia surgery, even though her procedure lasted at least an hour and wasn't really that simple.
My mom actually went through that bone marrow biopsy too. It isn't exactly a grueling procedure; she had hers done as an outpatient, and she just had to lie still for a few minutes afterward. I guess you really do have to do the bone marrow biopsy to get the full picture. After my mom’s biopsy, they told her she had benign monoclonal gammopathy, so it wasn't cancer. Looking at what you mentioned about your mom, it sounds like it might be multiple myeloma—or plasma cell myeloma, which is basically the same thing—which can develop right in the bones. So, it's not really metastases; instead, the myeloma itself shows up in the bone and causes changes that make them brittle and easy to break. It isn't technically leukemia either, even though it involves blood cells. I think the prognosis is tougher if more bones are affected. There are effective ways to treat this disease here in the US, too. Just... please try to stay positive and don't lose hope. You can find quite a bit of information about myeloma on www.myeloma.org. If you can, maybe help your mom when you're with her, just to help her stay on her feet or take a few steps. I know how it was with my grandmother. Once she stayed in bed too long, she just couldn't walk at all anymore.
So, I tried this Clear Water brand, specifically the half-liter plastic bottle with the Guarana and aloe vera flavor. It comes in a clear bottle with green lettering. I picked it up at Dione over on 190 Savi Avenue, right by that intersection near Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Honestly? It’s terribly bitter—just a really unpleasant taste. I guess if you freeze it, maybe the Guarana flavor wouldn't be so overwhelming. There's also this other new version of Clear Water, I think it was peach or something similar; it's a half-liter bottle too, but with orange lettering. Personally, I found the peach one much better, though it was maybe a little too sweet for my liking.
I tried that new Clear Water with Guarana, and honestly? The taste is just awful. It’s incredibly bitter... I really don't know how anyone could actually drink that.
Maybe your ear is just plugged up? You might need to have a doctor flush it out. I had something similar happen once while I was vacationing down in Florida after swimming and snorkeling, and man, it was such an uncomfortable sensation... just this heavy blockage and constant ringing in my ear. But once they rinsed it out, everything cleared right up.
I’ve noticed quite a few people praising King for their eyewear, so I assume they carry high-quality lenses. What kind of soft contacts do you all usually pick up there? Their website mentions that exams are done by an optometrist—it even lists a specific professional title—but he isn't actually a specialized ophthalmologist. I guess I'm just not sure how reliable that really is; he can determine my prescription, sure, but he might not be qualified to perform a full, comprehensive eye exam.
Lately, I’ve been getting my lenses at the Mayo Clinic over by Central Park. I was using these annual soft Johnson & Johnson lenses with 42% water content, which cost $173 for the pair. Those were honestly great. When I went back about a year and a half later, I asked for the exact same ones, but they didn't have them in stock. Instead, they tried to give me these six-month lenses as a substitute for the same price. They were different Johnson & Johnson lenses with 56% water content. I really didn't like them; they felt much thinner than the first pair, they kept sticking, and they were so much harder to get into my eyes. To make matters worse, I think one of the lenses was actually the wrong prescription because my vision was blurry in one eye. I didn't even realize it until I got home, and I didn't bother trying to return them because, well, I didn't think I'd actually get anywhere with it.
I feel like they probably should have just told me to wait for a new shipment to arrive. I mean, if anyone is planning to go there, just watch out. I honestly got the impression they were just trying to offload whatever they had on hand just to clear out inventory. When I first went in for my original lenses, they gave me plenty of options to choose from, so I'm not sure why there wasn't any variety the second time around, other than that one specific type.
Does anyone know where I can find annual soft lenses with 42% water content in Chicago, somewhere that also offers a complete, thorough eye exam?
My mom is dealing with some really serious arterial circulation issues in her right leg. It actually landed her in the hospital last year. The doctors decided against doing a bypass surgery because she’s so prone to blood clots; they’re terrified a thrombus would just form on the graft itself. She’s had deep vein thrombosis in both legs several times, so she’s been on Warfarin continuously for years now. About a year ago, things were pretty scary—she was in constant pain, dealing with nighttime claudication even while resting, and her pinky toe turned completely blue, which looked like the start of dry gangrene.
After several months, things have improved somewhat. Her pinky toe is fine now, but she still gets those sharp pains whenever she walks. Thankfully, the pain at rest has stopped. Some collateral vessels have formed to help out a little bit, too. I guess I’m just incredibly worried😢 because I’ve read that this inevitably gets worse over time. Since she has kidney issues, high blood pressure, and a major tendency toward clotting, she isn't really considered a candidate for surgery. Specifically, her popliteal artery—the one running down from the knee—is blocked. She can't walk very far; after maybe 300 or 400 yards, her calf starts hurting so badly she has to sit down for a few minutes just to catch her breath. On top of all this, she went back to working full-time last year, even though she’s technically eligible for Social Security based on her age and years of service. Most of her job is sitting, but I suppose even that is more taxing than staying home.
I’ve spent a lot of time researching this online. Most of what I found in American sources was pretty general, so I had to dig through some specialized medical journals in English to get a real handle on things. She sees her vascular surgeon every three months for checkups, and she gets blood work done even more frequently to monitor her clotting levels. The last time she had an arterial Doppler and pressure index test was nine months ago, since her surgeon hasn't ordered a follow-up yet.
My question is, does anyone know someone here in the States who has undergone a leg bypass surgery? I'd love to hear how the procedure went and if their condition actually improved afterward. I get the feeling that maybe these cases aren't super common, so I'm wondering if this is considered a routine procedure at major hospitals like the Mayo Clinic or Johns Hopkins. I'm looking for real-life experiences. Also, what would you say are the premier medical centers in the world for vascular diseases and surgeries? Which cities or countries should we be looking toward?
Thanks so much in advance for any insight you can share.