Reminder that BEV boosters have gaslighted us into thinking that the grid can handle all of the BEVs they are imagining everyone will buy. In reality, there will have to be a massive amounts of infrastructure build-out. Both in terms of charging stations and grid upgrades. We will not save money by going with BEVs. We must look at alternatives if we want to be serious about green transportation.
Awhile back I went to a specialist for unexplained & painful lower leg swelling. His diagnosis?
“Maybe your legs are just getting fat.”
Horrified…I asked how many people gain weight ONLY in their calves. He shrugged me off. A 🧵 on knowing your body & advocating for care
This doctor did NO tests before deciding it was weight gain. Wouldn’t discuss it with me further & wouldn’t permit me a second opinion. I went home completely dejected and also worried because I KNEW something was wrong.
For the next few days I elevated my legs as much as possible and tried to gently massage them to see if it helped. They just kept getting bigger. Eventually they started weeping (fluid was seeping out of my skin) and my ankles were dislocating from the pressure.
So I went to the ER. I was actually nervous about going because I could only imagine what that doctor had put in my chart. Thankfully I had a doctor who took the swelling very seriously and ordered a wide range of tests (and immediately put me on bed rest to protect my ankles)
Turns out it was a combination of third spacing from my MCAS (when the fluid doesn’t stay in the vascular system & leaks out into the tissues - can be a big issue if you have POTS as well) and low albumin. Dangerously low albumin.
Needless to say I was suffering from malnutrition due to my extensive GI issues and that was causing the swelling. It most definitely wasn’t weight gain. I was underweight with the exception of my legs.
I never knew that low albumin could cause painful swelling like that - nor did I even think that I was suffering from malnutrition. But with both POTS & MCAS it makes sense.
Our digestive systems are controlled by the autonomic nervous system (the system malfunctioning when you have POTS) so it’s not uncommon to experience vomiting, diarrhea & other gastric complaints.
MCAS only compounds the issue by limiting the foods you can tolerate and also causing vomiting and diarrhea. The two conditions make getting adequate nutrition a challenge - especially if you’re on the severe end of the spectrum
I’m very grateful to the doctor who figured it out and helped me get homecare so I could get proper nutrition & stay off my feet while the swelling was at its worst. But it took a LOT of courage to go to the ER after being so rudely dismissed.
This is a lesson in the importance of knowing your own body & having an advocate with you whenever possible. I KNEW something serious was wrong but I had no one with me to challenge the first dismissive doctor. And he was completely unwilling to listen to me.
Don’t ever feel like you can’t get a second opinion or go to a different hospital if you feel you aren’t being taken seriously. And don’t ever apologize for advocating for your health. If you don’t have someone who can go with you - try & phone or video a friend.
Lastly can we please start listening more to patients? We know our bodies best and when you dismiss us it causes not only physical damage - but emotional damage too. You make it harder for us to seek care in the future.
Patients shouldn’t be dismissed without any tests being run. Had I not gone to the ER I could have ended up with life threatening cardiac issues from the electrolyte & fluid imbalance. A simple lab test would have confirmed the diagnosis had the first doctor cared to do them.
This experience was also an excellent reminder of the far reaching effects of dysautonomia & MCAS. It’s important to be as educated as possible in these conditions & the strange downstream complications they can cause.
And remember dismissal & gaslighting is often far worse for marginalized individuals. There’s a LOT of bias in medicine. If you’re someone in a position of privilege please call it out when you see it - and offer to be an ally to those who need support. Allies save lives
Doc: Are you sure? You look young. Maybe it was your appendix?
Me: I know the difference between my appendix and my WOMB.
Doc: Orders pregnancy test anyways
We really need to discuss how AFAB patients get treated by many doctors. If you need to do a pregnancy test on everyone as a matter of course - then just do the test. But don’t waste time arguing with me about whether I know the difference between an appendix and my LITERAL womb when I’m having a life threatening cardiac emergency.
#Republican-appointed judges raise alarm over #Trump attacks on #law
Federal DC Judge #ReggieWalton warned Trump’s attacks on #HushMoney trial judge & others could lead to #violence.
The Republican-appointed judge denounced Trump’s attacks against the judge presiding over his hush money trial in Manhattan & his daughter, calling them assaults on the #RuleOfLaw that could lead to violence & #tyranny.
Judge #ReggieWalton’s remarks came as several federal judges in DC appointed by #Republican presidents have spoken w/increasing urgency about #Trump’s disregard for historical #facts & alarmed at his increasingly #graphic & at times #violent description of defendants prosecuted in the #Jan6 riot as “political prisoners” & “hostages” who did nothing wrong.
What if mass shootings were reported the way vehicular manslaughter is reported?
Headline: 13 People Dead and 4 Injured After They Collided With Bullets.
Story: According to police 13 people died and 4 were taken to the hospital after they collided with bullets at a café on Main Street.
A 22 year old male was walking past the café and his gun began to fire bullets at the café. Several bullets hit the café damaging a coffee machine before more bullets hit some of the diners in the café. According to the police, none of the diners were wearing bulletproof vests or military body armor when they ran into the bullets.
Of the 13 dead, 9 died at the scene and 4 died later at the hospital. The 4 injured diners were treated for non-fatal wounds and released from the hospital.
The 22 year old male gun owner is uninjured and returned to his home very shaken by the incident.
Their comments come a day after #ChuckTodd pilloried #NBC execs moments after #RonnaMcDaniel’s 1st network appearance, an interview w/ #KristenWelker on “Meet the Press.”
“I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd told Welker. “There’s a reason why there’s a lot of #journalists at #NBCNews uncomfortable w/this, because many of our professional dealings w/the #RNC over the last 6 yrs have been met w/ #gaslighting, have been met w/ #CharacterAssassination.”
Men never do evil so completely as when they do it in the name of religion
Jews attack truth again .
Now we are to believe that an evil
war criminal , blood sucking parasite taking lives,cannot be correctly criticized as a vampire because he is special, a Jew, above the laws of man and God
I see far too many chronic illness patients being dismissed from the ER for “faking”. Is there not a duty to run tests to ensure something isn’t missed before discharging someone as a fake? Given the consequences could literally be their life?
This happened to me years ago -
I had major OB GYN surgery and a week later was getting worse not better. Weak, in pain, swollen, loss of appetite etc. Went to the ER and was treated like a “nuisance” and asked what I “expected” after major surgery. I tried to explain I expected to improve a little each day - and I was clearly decompensating.
They decided I was faking and sent me home. This repeated 3 times over the course of a week - each time I was sent home without any tests.
Finally my then boyfriend took me in for a 4th time - literally carrying me to triage because I could no longer stand up. They got angry and said “we’ve already told her there’s nothing we can do.” He said he wasn’t taking me home to die. He demanded they run tests. The situation escalated but they finally acquiesced to the most basic blood work and an ultrasound. I’m incredibly fortunate they listened to him - and incredibly angry it took a man causing a scene to get me care.
Turns out I had a hugely elevated white blood count, a ferritin of zero and a hemoglobin of 63. I had a massive infected abscess in my abdomen that had been caused by an internal bleed left unchecked for weeks. I was rushed to emergency surgery and needed multiple rounds of blood transfusions and spent weeks in the hospital.
Had I gone home - I more than likely would have died. Had I been alone - I would have died. It should never be this way and from what I’m hearing from other patients it’s only gotten worse since Covid.
Please listen to your patients. We KNOW our bodies. Listen to women & marginalized individuals… don’t make us bring someone else to tell our story. Listen to people who come back over and over again - they clearly need help. Have some compassion and don’t assume someone is faking just because you don’t see an obvious issue.
The corporate overlords are Covid minimizers🚨(& yes, governments are too), but Facebook may be worse than TikTok this week, flagging long Covid news as violent or graphic content. It's ironic because #Covid infections/LC are disturbing & tragic.
"I posted the Guardian story about the rise in Americans with long covid on Facebook and they de-boosted it as violent or graphic content. The capitalist ruling class definitely wants to keep covid reality from people's screens."
-Nate Bear #LongCovid
@KimPerales Disgusting! Those of us with #LongCovid are sick & tired of being sick & tired. And we are angry that our suffering is being swept under the rug & minimized to the point that it’s not unusual for us to hear that our condition isn’t even real. The #gaslighting is next level.
#Hur, the special counsel, who is appearing …at the request of… #JimJordan, has arranged to resign from the #DOJ …one day before he is scheduled to appear….
#Burck is a fmr federal prosecutor who served …as an Asst US Atty in SDNY. But he left the dept in 2005 for a position in the White House, where he served as a Dpy Counsel to then-president George W #Bush, then later as a Special Counsel to Bush & a dpy WH Staff Secy.
Though he has been in private practice since Bush left office in 2009, Burck has retained ties …& remains well-connected in #Republican#political circles.