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ContriteErudite

@ ContriteErudite @lemmy.world

Posts
3
Comments
198
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • What's a better feeling?

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  • I have the same problem, and often wake up unexpectedly in the middle of the night. Sometimes I can fall back asleep quickly, sometimes I am up for a couple hours, occasionally I won't get back to sleep at all. Whenever it happens it ruins my energy and mood the following day. It started to impact my energy level to where I couldn't exercise the way I used to. I'd become fatigued so easily that I could barely make it through my routine. Sometimes I wake up with my joints and muscles feeling so sore that I could swear I was beaten with a stick while sleeping. I started gaining a lot of weight despite no changes to my diet. My mood and brain fog were the worse they've ever been. I had maybe one "good" day every month or so.

    A coworker and I were sharing our gripes about getting older, and I mentioned my sleep problems and the impact to my quality of life. They had gone through the same thing years ago, and ended up being diagnosed with severe sleep apnea; they recommended I get tested for sleep apnea, too. I talked to my doctor and scheduled a sleep study; turns out I also have severe sleep apnea.

    If you have any of the sleep problems like me, then I recommend you talk to your doctor about it. Here's a few things to keep in mind:

    • Insist on an in-lab study. Your sleep specialist may try to have you do an at-home test, but those are inaccurate and unreliable. An in-lab study will provide better data.
    • When you receive your results, make sure they're evaluated using the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) guidelines, not the insurance industry guidelines. My first sleep specialist diagnosed me with mild sleep apnea and said I didn't qualify for treatment. Poor sleep was affecting every aspect of my health and daily life, so I sought a second opinion from an independent sleep specialist who reviewed the same test results and concluded that I had severe sleep apnea; they said insurance industry guidelines underestimate the severity of most apnea patients. Getting that second opinion made a significant difference in receiving the treatment I needed.
    • If you do end up needing a CPAP, research which masks work best for the position and how often you turn over in your sleep.

  • Red Cross declares crisis over blood shortage in US for second time in history

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  • I'm not sure about plasma because I'm not a donor; I only know how much you can make in this area from coworkers who donate twice a week.

    Back when I used to donate platelets, I definitely noticed that I wasn't able to work out as hard and became fatigued more easily for a day or two afterward. I would usually eat a lot of beans and nuts, drink lots of water, and take a multi-vitamin right after my donation to help replenish my lost platelets. It's likely something similar for blood plasma: lots of water, protein, iron/zinc/copper.

  • CNN Poll: A third of Democrats now identify as democratic socialists | CNN Politics

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  • 99% of leftist stop infighting right before the movement becomes pure enough!

  • Red Cross declares crisis over blood shortage in US for second time in history

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  • In my area you can make over $400/month selling your plasma.

  • Red Cross declares crisis over blood shortage in US for second time in history

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  • Whole blood is not sold for profit, but organizations do charge hospitals a handling fee to cover operational costs... but I just realized as I was typing this that you aren't talking about the organizations that collect blood, but the hospitals.

    I looked up what it generally costs for a one-unit (1pt, ~470ml) blood transfusion, and it's over $2000! I'd like to think that all the blood and platelet donations I've made over the years had saved lives, which objectively they probably did. But now knowing how much hospitals and insurance companies are profiting off of the act of donating makes it feel less like a selfless act of compassion and more like cattle being herded into a milking parlor.

  • Red Cross declares crisis over blood shortage in US for second time in history

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  • I used to donate platelets every two weeks, but I haven't gone in a few years. The last time I went was beginning of 2024; at that time they still asked all the same questions.

  • How do you feel about learning?

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  • I've always loved math and sciences and could plug and chug numbers into formulae all day, but I would often feel frustrated because though I knew the formulae worked, rote calculations wasn't rewarding if I didn't know why they worked. The greatest feeling was when the connection between theory and practice would finally click. The dopamine dump would make my day, and made doing the math fun again.

    Sometimes I wish I could go back and finish my degree, but I chose to drop out put it on hold because I couldn't reconcile going >$120k in debt for a masters degree that could not guarantee me a career that paid well enough to take care of that debt without making the rest of life feel terrible.

  • If my N64 can pick up where I left off, surely a newer piece of hardware should be expected to and well

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  • I ask one of my friends to use their elbow for me.

  • Positivity

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  • Core memory unlockedOh man, I forgot about the singing!

    I remember we were taught several patriotic songs in first and second grades; I distinctly remember "America the Beautiful", "Battle Hymn of the Republic", and "My Country, 'Tis of Thee". Each day the school would choose one of the songs and were forced to sing it immediately after reciting the pledge.

  • Positivity

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  • My high school homeroom teacher allowed me to stay quiet during the pledge, but still made me stand up and put my hand over my heart. In 11th grade I moved to a more conservative area of the state, but oddly enough they had more students who opted to stay seated and silent, and the teachers let me do the same.

    It was around that time that I started feeling like there was something wrong with all the "America's so great!" stuff we had been taught since 1st grade. I completely deprogrammed when I had the opportunity to work alongside people from all over the world, learn more about their culture, their family, become friends. I began to see the world differently, and my perspective shifted as I learned more about the consequences of American policies and interventions that they don't tell you about in the evening news.

    So I guess what I'm getting at is that back then, I didn't say the pledge because part of me was beginning to question the reasons why it was (practically) compulsory. These days, I wouldn't say it because I cannot in good conscience support imperialism.

  • Wanted: Positive Vibes

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  • Thank you. I know that right now giving her love and affection is best and only thing that I can do for her. I am grateful for all the encouragement and positivity everyone has shown, and I hope the little girl pulls through so that I can share more of her with everyone.

  • Wanted: Positive Vibes

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  • This means a lot to me, thank you. I do my best to do that for everyone, for animals and for people, no matter how long or short our time is together.I'm not always successful, at least when it comes to people, but then again I've always gotten along better with animals.

  • Wanted: Positive Vibes

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  • Thank you for that, it means a lot. I haven't always been the best person I could have been, even if I thought my intentions were good. As I've gotten older, I've learned to slow down, to be thoughtful and patient; that kindness is something you have, not something you give.

  • Wanted: Positive Vibes

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  • I'm so sorry to hear about Tiger; pets can sometimes be their own worst enemy, but I'm glad to hear that even through that, Tiger pulled through and lived a happy life. It makes me more hopeful for the little one.One of my current cats is named Mochi, and much like his namesake he is soft, fluffy, and can be sometimes be a big dumb pile of goo. More than once I've had to chase him around the house to pull something dangerous out of his mouth, and despite catproofing the house as much as possible I'm afraid that one day he'll put something dangerous in his mouth and I won't be there to stop him. Thankfully, he's calmed down as he's gotten older.

  • Wanted: Positive Vibes

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  • Thank you for your kind words and positive vibes. FL is a terrible disease, and I'm sorry for what it put you and your kitten though. I hope a cure is found soon. An old coworker of mine adopted an FL+ kitten, but didn't know he had it until the test results from the first vet visit. His condition deteriorated quickly, and they only had a few months together.

  • Wanted: Positive Vibes

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  • Thank you for your kind words. I'm hopeful that the little girl pulls through and gets the chance to grow up in our home; I wish I could give the same chance to every cat.

  • Wanted: Positive Vibes

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  • Feral cats can be dangerous and belligerent under normal circumstances, I imagine that the stress and fear of being in a warzone just makes that worse, both for the cats and your friend! He is equally brave and kind to be doing what he does under those conditions, and I hope that he and the rest of Ukraine find the peace and the justice they deserve on the other end of it all.

    Is there a charity or shelter that he works with? If they have a donation link that accepts international funds, please share the link and I'll happily send some support. Слава Україні!

  • cats @lemmy.world
    ContriteErudite @lemmy.world

    Wanted: Positive Vibes

  • Also waiting on insurance to tell the hospital that they won't cover it.

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  • Currently, emergency rooms are bound by law to provide care to all patients, regardless of insurance status. Busy emergency rooms will triage patients, ensuring those who need care the most get it first. Unfortunately for uninsured patients, the hospital will hand them a bill as they leave; something simple as wound cleaning and a few stitches will run upwards of several thousand dollars. That total can exceed tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on level care and length of stay.

    A family member of mine recently had a medical episode while we were at a restaurant. Spontaneous syncope followed by prolonged lightheartedness and loss of balance. The ambulance ride to the hospital alone cost over $7000. They arrived at the ER around 4pm and was released shortly before midnight. Within a couple hours of arriving my family member felt and that they had fully recovered, but the ER would not release them until a doctor was available to discuss test results. Around 10pm the doctor finally called them back; they found nothing out of the ordinary in the blood work, heart seemed to be working fine. We waited two more hours before they gave the okay for release.

    The bill for the ambulance, ER care, and about a baker's dozen of various fees and incidentals, was over $23000. Thankfully they had insurance, which covered most of it, but they still had to pay several thousand out of pocket for going to an "out of network" hospital. That alone is infuriating because not only is the entire concept of in-or-out of network medical providers a predatory practice, the choice of which ER to go to was up to the paramedics, it was never up to us. Even if it was up to us, we had no way of quickly knowing which local hospitals, if any, were "in network."

  • How do you feel?

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  • These days I also avoid engaging. Not just because I realized that arguing on the internet is a waste of time, but I grew tired of having the same arguments over and over. More people today believe the world is flat than people did back in the middle ages. I honestly believed when I was younger that the internet was going to put the sum of humanity's knowledge at everyone's fingertips, making the world overall a smarter, more enlightened place. Instead, the internet is broadly just a bigger soapbox for the brash and self-righteous.

    These days, you could spend 30+ minutes writing a thoughtful reply, deliberately avoiding an argumentative tone, only to be accused of using or being an AI.

  • Found this relic cleaning my car's trunk

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  • Sorry to hear about your friend, it sounds like you meant a lot to each other. I second that our friends all deserve to know how much we love them.

    One of my favorite gaming memories is playing MW4: Mercenaries with roommates circa 2002, where I won the grand championship piloting a Cougar.

    EDIT: Just remembered my "Daishi Pepperbox": assault-class Daishi fitted with nothing but machine guns and as much frontal armor as it could carry. My strat was to charge straight at opponents, let the armor soak up incoming fire, then drop an alpha strike as soon as I got into machine gun range. Watching their mech turn from green to red to black on my HUD in just a handful of seconds was glorious.

  • Bonsai @discuss.tchncs.de
    ContriteErudite @lemmy.world

    Help with starting a Hawthorne bonsai

  • Science Memes @mander.xyz
    ContriteErudite @lemmy.world

    I've got a fever...