My daughter actually had surgery to correct her strabismus when she was just three years old, following her doctor's recommendation. The main goal was to preserve her vision, though improving her appearance was definitely a plus too. She had the procedure done at Boston Children's Hospital, and nowadays, she wears glasses with a slight prescription whenever she remembers to put them on. She looks wonderful!
I don't think this is the most perfect musical choice, at least not when you consider the Midwest. If you listen to the song "singing until death" from the Midwest, you can actually learn a whole lot about the region and the people who live there.
This isn't about some minor "misconduct"; we're talking about rape. It honestly doesn't matter if the victim is a woman or a man—it's a violent crime, plain and simple. Someone committing an act like that shouldn't just be facing a month of pretrial detention; they should be looking at several years behind bars. It's absolutely inexcusable, regardless of gender.
Larry Thompson15 said:I mean, all I know for sure is that grammar just isn't really your thing!🤣
I’m definitely not a Republican. By the way, I think you might have misread the situation here—nobody was detained because of their sexual orientation. They were detained because of an allegation of sexual assault (assuming they were actually detained at all, since I don't know the specifics of this case). Being gay is a private matter for any individual and isn't something punishable by law, unlike sexual assault, which clearly seems to be the issue here. Let's make sure we're reading the details carefully.
Larry Thompson15 said:Look, I really respect when someone can just be honest and admit that twisting intimate feelings and being perverse is pretty much all they can think about, but honestly, outbursts like that should land you in a jail cell for at least a month while you wait for the Court to decide your sentence! You aren't going to turn things into the Netherlands over here!
Look, it’s pretty simple: some people are driven by love, while others are just focused on booze, cheating, corruption, disrespect, theft, and tearing others down. At the end of the day, everyone has their own vices, and everyone thinks someone else's behavior is "abnormal."
And how on earth does this case have anything to do with politics? If there actually is a connection, I still stand by my original point: it's much better to lead with love than to go around getting drunk, acting arrogant, and disrespecting people the way the Republican youth wing typically does.
I haven't been following every single development—truthfully—but I'm struggling to see where you're getting the idea that Osijek is Republican territory. The county might lean that way, sure, but the city itself? Not at all.
The Republican Party isn't the only conservative force in America.
I haven't been following every single detail, but I'm curious—where did you get the idea that Osijek is Republican? Sure, the county might lean that way, but the city itself definitely doesn't.
Gerald Lewis36 said:Please, if I could get an answer as soon as possible. For two years now, my white blood cell count has been elevated, ranging from 13 to 20. Despite taking Sumamed and various other antibiotics, my doctor can't figure out why they won't come down. My RDW-CV is also low, my GGT is at 118, and my CRP is 19.3. I’ve been dealing with quite a few health issues—asthma, migraines, high-risk HPV, and PCOS, plus some developing insulin resistance. I was on Yasmin for years, but they've switched me over to Celest. I’m really asking for some help here because I honestly don't know who else to turn to. The internist I saw couldn't find the root cause. Thanks in advance.
An absolute white blood cell count doesn't tell the whole story on its own. Honestly, I don't think it's fair to list out all the specific tests you should undergo right now because I don't actually know you—your age, your gender, your medical history, the medications you're currently on, or whether you've had a full physical lately. Because of that, your best bet is to take all your previous medical records and schedule an appointment with a hematologist.
Jonathan Doyle55 said:I’ve been taking Imunomax (maybe the shiitake mushroom extract isn't sitting right with my liver?
I’m not quite sure about this bolded part... I really should get some blood work done to check on that specifically. I'll try to figure it out and let you guys know. Thanks so much for the help!
For context, I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't even use nail polish. I usually stick to a regular sleep schedule, though lately, I've been dealing with a lot of stress and haven't been very active. Still, I doubt my GGT levels would spike that high just from those factors alone...
That makes sense. Have you reached out to a gastroenterologist yet?
So, what, you’re planning on heading to the grocery store without any money too? You’re failing at the two most basic requirements for seeing a patient—1. you don't have a referral, and 2. you haven't brought your medical records—yet you still have the nerve to complain. Honestly, it's just pathetic.
Angela Wright said:My mom passed away from a very aggressive brain tumor called a glioblastoma. She was never a smoker, didn't touch drugs, and couldn't stand alcohol. She grew up in Southern California and lived on a Mediterranean diet, which most people consider one of the healthiest ways to eat. She wasn't particularly active with sports, and she definitely dealt with some heavy stress during her life... Looking back at our family history as far as we can trace, there were never any cases like this.
What did I realize from all this?
I realized that we all carry something inside us that could potentially kill us—bad genetics. At the same time, there are things in our environment that can kill us regardless of our DNA. There’s a lifestyle, a specific way of living, that can be fatal. It could be a little bit of everything acting together, or just one single thing serving as the trigger. The reality is that for most of these factors, we have absolutely no influence or control. Thinking we do is an illusion. The only thing we can actually do is consciously manage the things we know for a fact can harm us. That’s what I call taking a mature and responsible approach to your own health. All we can really do is try our best and hope it's enough to live a high-quality life for as long as possible. Everything else is in God's hands.
I completely agree. It’s so important to just try to live a normal life and not spend all your time worrying about getting sick. The rest is in God's hands.
amberhawk17 said:So we should just give up then? Just accept it? Let’s just eat junk, drink ourselves silly, and live it up while we can!🤣
If that's how you see things, more power to you; I just can't. Personally, I feel the physical consequences pretty quickly whenever I make even minor mistakes with my diet.
I actually know people who manage their diabetes incredibly well just by following specific dietary patterns, like eating based on blood types—which is honestly impressive. We’re all different individuals, and what works for one person might not work at all for someone else. That's why we all follow our own principles, and thank God we still have the freedom to choose the methods that feel right for us.🙄
Regarding diabetes, it's a chronic condition that doesn't have a cure. Standard treatment options include specialized diabetic diets, regular exercise, oral medications, or insulin therapy, used in various combinations depending on the severity of the case. While I respect everyone's right to manage their health their own way, mainstream American medicine only recognizes those specific clinical approaches. When it comes to genetics, I really want to emphasize that it plays the most significant role in how this develops. Take diabetes, for example: there are clear statistics showing the likelihood of developing Type I or Type II if one or both parents have it. You can't outrun the data. You could be as lean as a rail, run 6 miles every single morning, and eat nothing but Greek yogurt, but your underlying risk remains largely the same due to those genetic factors.
stormyheron4 said:I think about this quite a bit. I try to focus on prevention as much as possible within reasonable limits—not because I want to become some kind of health fanatic, but just to build a lifestyle that preserves my wellbeing and boosts my quality of life within a healthy framework. Overdoing anything usually leads to trouble. I feel like this is more important now than ever before, especially since pollution levels and unhealthy lifestyles have reached such extreme heights.
And I don't let myself live in fear, either. Constant anxiety is its own kind of pathology; people who are perpetually stressed or fearful tend to get sick more often too.
Actually, a friend of mine who works at a major university medical center mentioned that over the last decade or so, they’ve seen a significant spike in all types of cancer across all age groups. It feels like almost no demographic is untouched anymore.
What are the best ways to stay healthy? Eating right, not smoking, staying active, getting enough sleep??? Of course, those things matter immensely, but there are certain factors you simply can't escape—like genetics, which is perhaps the most defining thing about us, including our predisposition to certain illnesses. You can't change your DNA. And how do you fix air, water, or soil pollution? Or manage stress effectively? The truth is, our actual influence on why diseases emerge is incredibly minimal, and we really have to come to terms with that.
Susan Morales66 said:It’s actually quite common to see patients in their rooms turning to one another for advice, asking things like, "How much did you end up paying the doctor? Did you pay them directly? How much was it? I need to know so I can prepare myself too..." It's such a shame.
It really is heartbreaking. Honestly, I have no idea who gave these poor people the wrong impression or where they got the idea that everyone is out here demanding under-the-table payments. It seems to stem from a lot of rumors and hearsay rather than actual facts in most cases. You really shouldn't judge the entire healthcare system based on the actions of a few individuals.
Why don't doctors stage a revolt? It really comes down to a few simple things. First off, at the end of the day, they’re just people who go home and feed their kids just like everyone else. They also have a very real fear of the system they work within, especially when they face constant public criticism. Contrary to what you might think, they often find themselves lacking the support and empathy from patients that they actually need. On top of that, they are under immense pressure from the public eye, and because much of our healthcare infrastructure is driven by political interests, it leads to burnout. Eventually, many just become apathetic, simply waiting to get home where things feel normal again.
Doctors aren't dragging their feet on starting therapies; the bottleneck is mostly Medicare, and honestly, physicians aren't to blame for that. Medicare sets the rules, and if you don't follow them to the letter, you're going to catch heat—first from the head of the Mayo Clinic, and then from colleagues in the "opposing camp." You might even face threats about having to foot the bill yourself. I don't think people truly realize the position practicing doctors are in. It all comes down to who has your back when you're trying to do the right thing. Lately, it feels like Medicare's stance has loosened up just a tiny bit, though it still feels incredibly rigid to me. Regarding the Anne Frank Foundation, you hit the nail on the head. By the time this becomes fully functional in ten years—assuming it actually happens—those who were potential donors will be ten years older and likely more ill. Plus, there's a huge wave of people who signed up in a moment of enthusiasm without really understanding the commitment; they'll likely back out once fear and uncertainty set in. It’s just like those organ donor cards. People sign them without knowing what they're getting into, only to change their minds almost immediately. For the US, it would be far more efficient to refer rare disease patients—especially children—where transplants are impossible to perform domestically, to specialized centers abroad where experts can handle it with minimal complications. The funds already raised, and those planned for the future, could be better spent improving the standard of care for hematology patients across the states, from county hospitals to major clinical centers. Just look at the conditions in Rebarski hematology; the facilities there are absolutely abysmal for patients in that situation. That is where the money needs to go—so that patients feel treated like human beings rather than outcasts.
Lisa White54 said:My husband is heading in for a rigid bronchoscopy today. They’re doing it under general anesthesia, so we’ll just have to wait and see what the results show. On that note, I’m honestly just praying they tell me the truth. Not knowing is the absolute worst part—it makes you feel so lost. My husband has been losing weight so suddenly, and it's obvious to me that something isn't right. He can feel it too; he's just not feeling well and is in pain. How am I supposed to believe everything is fine when I can see the changes right in front of me? Please, don't judge me. I would be the happiest person in the world if my husband were healthy again and if I could truly believe that he was actually doing okay.
I feel the same way. While you're going through the diagnostic process, try to stay calm and composed. Avoid getting angry or aggressive, because that usually backfires and doesn't get you anywhere. Just focus on asking questions and gathering information. You'll be told everything and explained clearly; regardless of what anyone else might say, nobody is going to leave you out in the cold.
brightgardener8 said:It’s obvious everyone here is just defending their own side, but if you ever find yourself in the same shoes we’ve all been in—which, fingers crossed, you never do—just know that you’ll never be viewed on the same level as us regular folks by the doctors. To them, you’ll always just be a colleague from the same field, which means you'll naturally have an easier time getting information and finding more doors open. The experience simply isn't the same.
I can't tell you how many times I've seen a waiting room packed to capacity with people all battling cancer, only to have a female colleague walk right in—who happens to be sick herself—and bypass the line to go straight into the doctor's office. For her, there is no such thing as waiting. And that’s just one example, probably the most obvious one.
That is truly the one thing you can do for a colleague.