Posts by Samuel Morgan40

You honestly wouldn't believe it, but I actually got a call at my house just the other day. 😂
It’s all just a tactic to reel people in—they’ll offer you everything under the sun, from stock options to various little incentives, just to ensure you end up paying more in the long run.
It feels remarkably similar to those aggressive timeshare pitches or those jewelry scams you see popping up everywhere—just endless consumer nonsense, whatever.

There were certainly many more, all mixed together with various other segments within the show: for instance, Black and White in Color; the Electric Cowboy—though I think that was later replaced by that Pink Cadillac bit; the indispensable Hit Depot (you know, the charts, news, guests, etc.), and then there was either the Rock Club or the Hard Rock Club 🤔; Right Time, and then there was that guy—what was his name? 🤔 Branimir... he worked with Monophone, though I think they rebranded to Monoplus, or maybe it used to be called Jugofon, I can't quite recall—plus there was Top DJ Mag; Opera Box 😍, and back in the South, they had that Hit Day thing (or something similar)... honestly, there were as many as you could name.

Back then, the network had quite a few music shows; an entire afternoon could be dedicated just to music. They even had a segment from the American Association of Public Relations Agencies (I can't remember which specific channel it aired on anymore), and I distinctly remember during the summer, there was this show called something like "Summer on Third"—they’d play those old, legendary concerts, a mix of newer and classic music videos, hits, guests, news—it was honestly fantastic. There were others too, if anyone can remember, but most of them were 👍.

Edit: I suppose the shows have changed quite a bit, and the hosts presenting them now are... well, a bit bland 😬. Times are different, I guess, and frankly, I don't even follow the new stuff because it all feels like some sort of checklist where someone pops in to introduce various genres. There's just none of that intrigue, variety, or originality left.

Just my two cents.

dustyskipper12 said:The doctor didn't even really examine me at the ER—it was all just guesswork. She basically made a diagnosis in a single second. I suppose she figured that since I have a 104-degree fever, maybe I forgot to mention that part... though, arguably, it might be somewhat relevant.

Well, that sort of explains why they handed you those meds (which, if I recall, is also what Eric Wright29 mentioned)—even if it’s a shame the actual exam was essentially a shot in the dark. It’s pretty much what you come to expect from an ER visit, I guess. Anyway, I hope you're feeling better and that you've managed to ride out whatever this ended up being.😉

Eric Wright29 said:That's the systemic issue here. You always feel pressured to give a patient something—say, some Amoxicillin—just so they'll leave you alone. As for how that contributes to the spread of MRSA or VRE? Who knows, I suppose. If you don't prescribe anything, they'll just grab their paperwork and head straight to a clinic where doctors hand out antibiotics like candy.

True enough. I'd sign my name to that.👍

Perhaps you might find it more useful to ask over at this thread—it’s specifically set up for those kinds of inquiries. If you do, just be sure to mention your city or area, and whether you're looking for a private provider or someone covered by your insurance through the local health department.

Here we go, here we go 👋

I might be headed straight for bankruptcy this year—not that it matters, really—because Cocker never misses a beat!

boldridge92 said:My real concern—given the current state of affairs in this country—is that once everything is uploaded into the Medicare electronic system, anyone with network access could potentially stumble upon that data, even if it has nothing to do with them. It’s one thing to answer a set of questions, but it's quite another to deal with the fact that we've suddenly become such a judgmental society; people will find any excuse to weaponize information, and I fear the patient's right to privacy is what ultimately gets sacrificed in the process.
apologies if my question came off as misplaced, but I really do need some clarity

It wasn't misplaced at all, don't worry 🙂. I understand exactly where you're coming from regarding those concerns, though I suspect they'll eventually come up with some intelligent workarounds. I'm not entirely sure which stage of development this project is currently in or what the final version will actually look like, but I assume they will—hopefully—address the more sensitive issues surrounding patient privacy.

@Maria Booth96/">@@Maria Booth96, I’m with you on this one.

@NortWind, please—try not to act as her personal defense attorney; just because you feel you're always right doesn't mean you are.

First off, there are actual studies out there—and I suspect even you are aware of the most prominent ones regarding the link between abortion and breast cancer risk (specifically, a significantly higher probability)—not to mention all the other research available.
Secondly, any decent gynecologist or oncologist is going to ask about your pregnancy history, whether you've had miscarriages, or if you've had an abortion. Period. For a competent, thorough, and responsible physician, that information is vital—even if the patient feels otherwise.
Now, whether they choose to be judgmental about it... well, that’s a separate issue entirely.

Actually, it might be "better" to just show up for some future pelvic surgery or whatever and stay silent about the abortion. Then, when things don't go perfectly, they can turn around and blame the doctor for everything.
My mother recently underwent surgery, and it was strictly the surgeon's duty to ask certain questions, including those regarding abortion history.

Johnson & Johnson and the flu simply don't mix. Johnson & Johnson is an antibiotic, whereas the flu is viral—you can't fight a virus with antibiotics because they just don't work on them. My advice? Don't bother treating it with anything specific; just stay in bed and focus on managing the fever.
It honestly strikes me as a bit odd how generous those ER doctors were being with the Johnson & Johnson prescriptions—and the way they seemed to prescribe "therapy" entirely off the top of their heads, even though it’s something you absolutely shouldn't be doing for the flu. (Though, I suppose there are always those quiet "advocates" who claim it's perfectly fine to use antibiotics regardless).

Perhaps they were considering a potential, albeit possible, secondary bacterial infection—but as for the Ibuprofen, that's really just for masking the aches that come naturally with a virus or a nasty cold. It probably isn't the smartest move to keep loading up on meds while this passes; it's better to just ride it out.

Dana Barrett13 said:To my fellow members, I have a bit of a situation on my hands that I’d like to run by you all... last year, my gynecologist identified some genital warts. I had them removed, and the tissue was sent off for a pathology report. The results came back somewhere between CIN 1 and CIN 2. Now, I’m getting conflicting advice—two different doctors are suggesting I just stick to some herbal teas for about three months before repeating a Pap smear, but a third specialist is pushing for a conization. The most significant detail here, I suppose, is that I am HPV negative; I don't have any low-risk or high-risk types present. Honestly, my head is spinning—it feels like total chaos and I’m just lost on how to proceed. HAS ANYONE HERE DEALT WITH SOMETHING SIMILAR? Warm regards...

There are two massive, incredibly large threads—one old, and one new—that's currently active and serving as the absolute top-tier discussion hub over on the women's health board: So, I’ve been doing some digging into the whole CIN and HPV mess—because apparently, that’s what my weekend is now—and I wanted to lay out what I've gathered for anyone else currently staring at a lab report and feeling a bit overwhelmed. It's a lot to process, and honestly, the terminology alone is enough to give you a headache. First off, let's talk about HPV. It's the baseline here. Most people don't realize how common it is, but it’s essentially the precursor to everything else we're discussing. It isn't a diagnosis of cancer, per se, but rather the catalyst that can lead to cellular changes. Then we get into the CIN stages—Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia. If you're looking at your results, think of this as a spectrum of how much those cells have started to change. CIN 1 is basically the "low-grade" tier. In many cases, doctors might just suggest monitoring it because the body's immune system often clears these changes on its own. It’s less of an immediate crisis and more of a "keep an eye on this" situation—though I know that doesn't make the waiting any easier. CIN 2 is that middle ground where things start getting a bit more serious. It's considered moderate dysplasia. At this stage, the medical team usually starts weighing whether to watch it closely or move toward a procedure to remove the abnormal cells, just to be safe. It’s a bit of a gray area, I suppose. Then there’s CIN 3. This is the high-grade category. This is where the changes are significant and, if left unaddressed, could potentially progress to something much more severe. This is typically when doctors move more decisively toward treatment to prevent any actual malignancy from developing. It’s a heavy topic, and I know how unsettling it feels to see these acronyms pop up in your medical files. Just remember that these stages are meant to guide treatment and prevention—they aren't an automatic sentence. If you're navigating this, definitely lean on your specialist to help make sense of where you land on this scale..
You’ll find just about everything you need to know over there—if you know where to look.
Condylomas without HPV? Honestly, I’d say you should definitely go back for another screening—because that just doesn't seem possible. Condylomas are caused by either moderate or low-risk strains of HPV, so the math just isn't adding up there.
It’s entirely possible that they’ve cleared out and what you're seeing is just spontaneous healing—meaning the root cause might be something else entirely, perhaps just a bacterial infection. CIN doesn't strictly have to point to HPV; it isn't an absolute certainty. That’s exactly why those four different swabs exist—so you can identify the actual culprit once and for all. A Pap smear simply doesn't provide that level of detail. So, please, don't panic; it isn't the catastrophe it feels like right now, and it's actually a fairly common situation. As for the herbal teas, go ahead and drink them if you like, but you really need to focus on bolstering your immune system if it's currently compromised.

I’m going to lock this thread—you can jump over to that link instead to keep the conversation going. 😉

analogrider13 said:As I mentioned before—cancer can present with various symptoms, including lung cancer...

Oh, give me a break! You've got to be kidding me. 🤦

You shouldn't worry too much because if it actually were cancer, you'd feel pain in that part of your lung even when you aren't smoking!

Pain isn't necessarily a requirement for a diagnosis—especially in those early stages. It’s perfectly reasonable to say there's no need to panic if nothing is felt, but if there is even the slightest shred of doubt regarding anything at all, one would likely end up going for a checkup regardless.

Thankfully, I’m not in that position. I’ve been in a long-term relationship for quite a while now, and I happen to be lucky enough to have a partner who actually understands how this works—he’s well-informed and takes his responsibilities seriously.
At least I have that sense of relief and mutual understanding.
There isn't that constant fear of him making those typically chauvinistic, uneducated comments about how women are always the ones catching some random infection from "who knows where."
It’s as if these things don't happen to men, but only to poor women just because they’re the ones actually visiting a gynecologist! It happens to them too; it’s just that they don't bother getting checked out or going in for regular screenings, so the women end up being the ones treating everything—and then they're expected to act surprised when they both have to take medication together because "she has THAT," while he plays the victim saying he "caught it from her." 🙄

Honestly, I can't even imagine how difficult it would be if I were with someone new (though I certainly hope I won't have to 😛). Because let's face it, there is zero chance that either sex is perpetually sterile and free of any bad bacteria... and then you're stuck trying to explain biology to someone who is completely clueless or, even worse, riddled with prejudices stuck somewhere in the era of gonorrhea and syphilis, treating something like a yeast infection as if it were the absolute end of the world or some highly contagious plague. 😂 🤣 🤷

And look, I really don't want to scare anyone with this—though, full disclosure, I once accidentally swallowed half a toothpick myself and, surprisingly, nothing happened 😁.
But just a few days ago, I was actually at the hospital and witnessed a situation where a woman was hospitalized because of a toothpick. Apparently, it got lodged in some rather awkward spot, and there was a fair amount of panic regarding potential intestinal damage. I’m not entirely sure what the outcome was, but I assume the toothpick either worked its way out naturally or the doctors managed to extract it successfully.

Tasha, you are honestly going to be fine, so please don't worry 🙂. I am truly sorry about your diagnosis, but I really hope you're finding some way—even if it's just through physical relaxation techniques—to catch your breath and push all these worries into the background for a moment. 🙂

It’s actually a good sign that you’re self-aware enough to recognize the pattern—that tendency toward health anxiety—because that’s something that can be managed, or at least mitigated, by working with some actual professionals.
Perhaps you could start moving in that direction, just a small step at a time, trying to address the issue head-on.
If you don't, I fear that this constant state of high alert—all that nervous energy and overthinking—will eventually manifest into real physical ailments, starting with your stomach and moving through the rest of your system, which is something you really don't want dealing with down the road.

melloworca6 said:Edit: Sophia Wells72, I think we were typing at the exact same time. 😘

we simply couldn't function without one another🙂

Women are definitely uninformed—we all know the media, our laws, and society at large are lagging behind, but let’s be honest, some women are just as bad about it (and men even more so!!). I have someone close to me—someone I care about deeply—but I swear I’m going to lose my mind when I have to explain things regarding illnesses, infections, and transmission for the 55th time. Don't even get me started on testing—she needed a swab once, but she just refuses to go. She simply won't learn, won't retain the info, and frankly, doesn't seem to care. She just deadpans that she knows nothing about it because, in her mind, she's perfectly healthy! And then she expects me to whisper all the necessary details in her ear for the 56th time while she's getting ready for her gynecologist appointment. What makes it worse is that she’s a young mom. She worries constantly about the baby, health, and hygiene, yet she has absolutely zero clue about STIs or testing; she's one of those people for whom hormone levels might as well be science fiction. And the story doesn't end there—her sister is currently battling unknown, and they talk about it every single time, yet she remains completely indifferent. I try to explain it persistently, but it just goes in one ear and out the other. Then, probably for the 30th time, she asks me the same questions about her sister's unknown condition, claiming she doesn't understand how it happens because "it only happens to other people." Then she actually acts surprised that it happened to her sister—who had only been with two guys in her life and always used protection! Well, newsflash: having fewer partners and using condoms isn't some magical guarantee. Of course, that's not an excuse to ditch condoms entirely and swap partners like socks—we all know the risk skyrockets—but women, and especially MEN, really need to grasp the basics.

A colleague of mine—well, he was an 18-year-old kid, so I can give him a pass—once told me that his cousin (who lives in Sweden) picked up Chlamydia from some girl over there because apparently, it's just "common" there, unlike here in the States. 😂
Ugh, people need to realize that national borders aren't exactly aerobic, anaerobic, or Chlamydia-proof boundaries.

copperraven53 said:Let me share a bit of my own history here. I've been in a monogamous relationship for about seven years now—I’m faithful to him, and I trust he’s being just as faithful to me. About two years back, I picked up some kind of cervical infection that required a round of antibiotics. Since then, things have honestly just gone downhill; for nearly a year and a half, I've been dealing with one bacterium after another in my tests, and it seems like no antibiotic can actually get the job done.
....

Well, you're essentially a textbook case—perhaps even a more extreme version—of what happens to those of us stuck in the "monogamy trap." It's just one infection after another, then a third, then a fourth... it’s an endless loop. I’ve been following your situation since almost the very beginning, so I think I have a pretty good sense of what you're going through.

There is, however, another side to this coin—specifically regarding antibiotics (not just for reproductive health issues, but in general medical use). Nowadays, we have these increasingly potent antibiotics that, while they target the bad stuff, tend to wipe out the beneficial bacteria we actually need to function. This destruction of healthy flora is particularly problematic for women, specifically when it hits the vaginal microbiome, which is precisely why these new infections keep cropping up. It becomes this vicious cycle. When you factor in stress, sheer frustration, diet, a compromised immune system, environmental factors, and everything else—well, you end up right back at square one with a whole new beast.

Taylor Thompson68 said:Exactly... they judge everyone else, yet they aren't even aware they might be carrying it themselves... I’ve been practically hounded by my gynecologist ever since I found out I had HPV, but no, apparently I’m the idiot, she doesn't have it, she doesn't even have a way to catch it......

👍 Yes, precisely that. And honestly, that’s the absolute worst part.
I suppose I should mention something I did once (though I'm not exactly proud of myself 🙂).
I sort of planted a seed in the heads of two close friends—both of whom were adamant that "it couldn't be me, I don't have any issues, my Pap smear is always perfect" 😂—so they decided to go get private testing done at a clinic 😉. Do I really need to state the obvious? BOTH of them tested positive for HPV (low-risk strains). I’m not saying this to gloat, far from it; it was more of an eye-opener for them. Everything turned out fine, mostly transient stuff, though one ended up with a few warts internally without having any clue. But then again, how would she know?... And both of them started with the usual, "But how? I've been in a long-term relationship, I'm not promiscuous, blah blah blah," followed by those classic lines like, "I'm going to kill him, he gave it to me, it must be from some girl he was with before me" 😂

I mean, hello? You can't just walk in and claim you have NOTHING because you aren't showing symptoms, aren't feeling discomfort down there, and your Pap smear came back clean while being in a monogamous relationship. As far as I'm concerned, that whole argument is a total joke, because until you've actually cleared everything else, you can't claim you're in the clear. Period. And a long-term relationship or having only a couple of partners isn't some kind of magical shield against all of this.

Actually, what irritates me even more is how much time people spend online—on Facebook, on forums, whatever—yet they won't spare a single minute to actually learn about STIs and how to manage them. I can give older women a pass, I guess, since that information wasn't just a click away back in their day. Many of them still haven't a clue when one of their neighbors or coworkers ends up in the hospital with cervical cancer. It didn't just fall from the sky.

I really hope this current push for better screening progresses and that we see some actual legislative changes—starting with better education in high schools, mandatory check-ups at set intervals, and of course, making things like the HPV test a "must-do" rather than an option.

Because the situation today is just tragic. Take my former colleague, for example... she's only 30 and only went to see a gynecologist when she got pregnant for the first time. In the 21st century. If you ask me, she has more luck than sense, because she luckily only dealt with some less dangerous bacteria, but things could have gone terribly wrong for the baby, especially since she was actively planning the pregnancy 🤦. I once literally had to hold a friend's hand and give her some Norma before she even stepped into the doctor's office. I couldn't control her once she was inside, and clearly, neither could the doctor, because she was so terrified she was practically climbing the exam table 😂 and she's 29 years old 😲

It’s honestly pretty depressing

Michael Kelly11 said:It isn't theft—if anything, a well-executed sample is actually superior to the original track it was pulled from.

Are you really just making such a sweeping, broad-stroke generalization there?