Medical Stuff - Tumblr Posts

So I’ve noticed a bunch of medical errors in fics I read, so I decided to post this handy guide to some of the most common errors and some background on basic medical things.

ps- they are not medical treatment or first aid advice. I’m not actually a doctor. yet. but I am certified in first aid. this is just so your writing can be more realistic.

Fellas is it gay to dress your girlfriend's wounds?

I absolutely fucking hate it when my parents or anyone is like “we’re just trying to help you” when in reality they’re just telling me shit I already know or are just straight up being ableist

I don’t need other people to tell me that the amount of pain I’m in isn’t normal.

I don’t need other people to tell me that I should lose weight.

I don’t need other people to tell me shit I already know about my own goddamn body.

I don’t need other people thinking they know my body better than I do.

I don’t need lectures on how using my mobility aids will hurt me in the long run. Like um excuse me these are keeping me from constant injuries and even more severe pain.

I don’t need other people to tell me I sleep too much. I fucking know that. I’m exhausted all the time and the only way to fix that is to sleep also get this I don’t feel my pain when I’m sleeping

I don’t need other people to tell me to exercise. Believe me I’m trying it just hurts too fucking much to do it regularly.

All I fucking did was tell my parents I’ve been dizzy all day because my heart rate has been up all day (thanks POTS) and they both fucking both start “talking” to me (really lecturing me) about all the shit I need to change and all the shit that they’re not comfortable with. What the fuck do you mean dad that you’re not comfortable with me being in pain??? And when I tell you that I use mobility aids to help alleviate that pain you say you’re not comfortable with that either. Who the fuck said you get to determine what’s best for me based on what makes you uncomfortable/comfortable??? It makes me, the person actually dealing with this shit (though if you asked my mom she’d say she deals with it too because I’m “an extension” of her), uncomfortable that they are imposing their opinions and ideas and feelings and ableism onto me.

Abled people do not get a fucking opinion about my goddamn body. I will take suggestions from people who actually listen to me and who have done the work and research to best help me and who aren’t obsessed with how I look to the outside world (my mom especially is obsessed with how we as a family look to the outside world absolutely obsessed and we have to be perfect and me being disabled doesn’t fit into her perfect little fantasy).

I honestly don’t even know how to engage in a productive conversation with them. They think they’re trying to have an “adult conversation” about it but when I tell them they’re not helping and that I already know everything they’re telling me and that what they see as helping me isn’t actually helping they just double down and call me out for being “immature” because I get really fucking frustrated because I’ve heard the same fucking things over and over and over again and again from them and myself and other people who quite frankly don’t get a goddamn say on my body. I told them if you think you can help tell me something I don’t already know or haven’t already tried and they just go “we’re just trying to help” like guys. You’re. Not. Helping. I’ve told you this so many times

Also this really hurt a lot more because I though my dad was more on my side than I guess he is. I thought it was just my mom who was so hell bent on being involved and giving me useless advice that quite frankly will just hurt me but nope it’s both of them and I fucking hate that.

All I wanted to do was help make dinner and now I’m alone in my room on the floor with my back against the door trying not to cry or punch something.

Also don’t get me wrong I love my parents and I’m super thankful for them but goddamn sometimes they’re so fucking infuriating

Fortunately I've never had a reaction, but this is good to know. Passing it on.

Injectable Testosterone Note

Hey Uh FYI--- If you're on injectable testosterone and your injection site *itches* and stays swollen like a bug bite for several days after you do your shot? That can be a sign that you either have an allergy to the carrier oil in your serum, or may not be injecting properly. Either way, please talk to your care team about it! If the itching spreads to random parts of your body, then it is very likely an allergy. Testosterone serums are made with three different carrier oils depending on the type: Cottonseed, Sesame Seed, or Grapeseed oil. Cottonseed is the most common carrier oil and the one most likely to trigger an allergic reaction.

Good news is, you can switch your serum! If you're allergic to one, ask your doctor to switch you to another one! Seriously, I itched like a flea bitten beast the first few months on T and then switched my serum and the problem resolved!

Ok. Ok this, but for HRT injections. I do my own injections, and I've been given several different needle lengths with different refills. There is definitely a difference. I am under 200lbs, but the fat layer at my usual injection sight (thigh) is thick enough that the 1in needles don't seem to work as well. I get considerably more leakage, and the area is often sore for longer. The needle just isn't getting down to the muscle properly at all, or only just barely reaching it. 1 1/4 needles work better, with leakage only if I've done something wrong like forget to z-track. And 1 1/2 needles almost never leak at all. If you have less body fat, a longer needle might go too deep, but if you've been having a lot of problems with medication leaking or if you're going on injectable HRT for the first time, maybe look into needle length.

reminder: if you're getting an intramuscular injection (e.g. a covid booster or flu shot) and you're above 200 lbs with estrogen-based body fat distribution or 260 lbs with testosterone-based body fat distribution, you should be requesting a 1.5-inch/38mm needle. you might want to print out this sheet and bring it with you, because I have had pharmacy employees blithely tell me the 1-inch needle is fine for everyone, and I find a clear directive from the CDC just makes life a little easier.

HRT INJECTION TIPS!

Just did my T injection, and I wanna share some things that I find useful! I usually do my own shots, so some of this might not apply if you have someone else do it, but hopefully some of it will help anyway. Have something to remind you about your schedule! I have my injection dates marked on my calendar. I'm super bad at remembering timing and dates, and I would miss stuff like this all the time without an actual reminder I could look at. The one I've just done was actually a day late, because I just looked and realized I was supposed to do it yesterday. I have all the stuff I need for it in one place. Med vials, needles, disinfectant, Band-Aids, sharps box, ect. Makes it easy to keep track of. If you have trouble remembering all the steps, write yourself a list! I'm familiar enough with the process that don't always need it, but I still forget to z-track sometimes. Pop a painkiller half an hour before hand. It helps. I've gotten in the habit of doing this, but I was in a rush for my last one, and just did it without the Tylenol. And there's definitely a difference! Even with a painkiller, you'll still feel it, but it dulls it down just enough to make it easier. If you're over or even close to 200lbs, make sure you're getting a longer needle. An IM injection needs to get all the way down through your body fat and into your muscle tissue. Using a needle that isn't long enough will result in more medication leaking, less effective absorption into your tissues, and a more painful injection site afterword's. I use inch and a quarter needles. One inch works, but not as well, and three quarter inch is way to short. You can ask for different lengths at the pharmacy. If you've never done this type of shot before, and/or are nervous about using a longer needle, it might be surprising to learn that you can usually only feel the first quarter inch or so after piercing the skin. Once you've gotten down through the Hypodermis, there are way fewer nerve endings, and you'll barely be able to feel the needle at all. I usually do my own injections, and I've only had to get help with it because I balked once. But I have to fight with the instinctual "NO WANT STAB SELF" feeling every single time, and there's a lot of stuff that makes it easier. I can work myself up to start fairly easily, but the hardest part is AFTER I break the top layer of skin. I almost always get the needle just far enough in that the pain registers, and THEN the self preservation reflex tries to kick in.

This is why painkillers can be so useful. They slow down the pain signal enough for me to make it slightly deeper, and by that point, I'm almost always in past the point where the sensation stops. The one time I had to get help, it was because I had just barely pierced the skin and then pulled out several times in a row, and the mental block strengthened until I couldn't make another attempt. If you can brace yourself long enough to get that first quarter inch, the rest is much easier. If you have trouble pushing down the plunger for the actual injection, try asking the pharmacy for different syringes. I've tried out several kinds, and some are definitely way easier than others. One type I was given was so hard to push down that I lost most of a dose because I pulled the whole needle out while trying to depress the plunger. I'm fortunate enough to not have any allergies that interfere with my shots. But I've heard a lot of stuff from people who do, so I'll pass it on. The injection should hurt a bit, and might be sore for a day or so afterword's, but it should NOT be excruciating. It should also not swell, turn red, itch, or burn anywhere around the injection site. If it hurts a lot or starts acting weird, you might have done it wrong, gotten an infection, or be allergic to something you're using. Some people can have allergies to the oil used as a base for the hormones, the adhesives on bandages, or the needles themselves. Most injection needles have nickel in them. If you have reactions to piercings/jewelry, the needle might be a problem for you. Fortunately, you can usually swap out whatever's causing the problem for an alternative. There are several types of oil used for the injections, so you should be able to request one that won't cause a reaction. And nickel free needles are available. Feel free to add onto this! I'd love to hear anything people think might be helpful.

Okay

I am not Dragon Ball fan. I watched some parts of it but didn’t get into it. But to hear that Akira Toriyama died was… really not something I expected to hear today.

And as a medical student I wish his death happened in a different way. (My dad agreed with me.) If someone here has medical knowledge I think understands what I mean.

Rest in peace.🪦💔

This user has Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Send me an ask for the userbox you'd like to see next!

Forgot to post day 4 here, so you're getting complimentary day 4 & 5 at once!

Betrayal and Awakening, featuring recom OCs Sylvester Orlov and Hunter Meadows!

CW : Medical trauma, emotional turmoil and distress

@recom-week

If you don't mind me asking, what ARE the right codewords to use on doctors and such?

I’ve thought, many times, about writing a book or something that was basically How To Negotiate Your Disability Without Curling Into A Ball And Weeping More Than Once Or Twice A Week *Or* Murdering The Entire Universe (More Than Once Or Twice A Week).

Here are some highlights:

1) On acquiring adequate pain medication.

Never actually say “I really need strong drugs here doctor, because the drugs you and every other doctor gave me for this injury/illness didn’t work, and also I’ve been in pain for years and I’d like that to stop.”

While there are some doctors who speak human languages and will understand what you’re saying, most, when you say that, will hear:

“I am a ravening junkie werekaiju, and I will come to your house and EAT YOUR BABIES IF YOU DON’T GIVE ME HEROIN.”

You think I’m kidding? Watch a healthcare professional’s eyes when someone else says something like the following. Watch them shut down and back away and tighten up and generally stop treating the person like a human. So what do you say?

Try this:

“Well, I hate these drugs that make me *stupid*, you know? One of these so-called doctors — they gave me some pill that made me feel like I was on a whole separate planet for *years*, but I was still in pain! I have things to *do*, doctor. I have a job/family/projects. I wouldn’t be here if I could get my work done the way I am now, but if I can’t do them with the drugs you give me, then what’s the point?”

Make sure to translate this into the appropriate dialect for your area, but note the important points:

a) Reassures the doctor that you’re not one of those ~*eeevil*~ junkies.b) Reassures the doctor that you’re not one of those ~*eeevil*~ non-productive members of society.

c) Reassures the doctor that you’re not one of those ~*eeevil*~ weak-willed disabled people.

Remember not to use too *much* *correct* medical jargon — they get suspicious about that.

Yes, all of this is necessary a *lot* of the time.

With the above code, 95% of the time the doctors begin *cooing* at me and treating me like *royalty* — and *100%* of the time I have gotten the effective medication.

Pro-tip: If you can add a true (or true-sounding) story about how much you *hate* one *particular* opiate (“Percocet is useless! All it does is make me stupid!”), then you’re probably in the bag.

2) Acquiring mobility devices.

Never actually say “I need a walker/wheelchair/scooter, because I have trouble getting around, and also I have a great deal of fatigue and pain when I try to do so.”

While some healthcare professionals speak human languages and have souls… well. A lot of them? Will hear this:

“I am a fat, lazy, Fatty McFatFat, and I will continue to expand, much like the universe, until I am a drain on the resources of this great nation and a proof that you, doctor, are a failure. I will never use the mobility devices, ever, and they will gather dust in my home — a mockery of everything you, Morally Healthy Person, holds dear.”

Yes, I know this makes even less sense than the former, but I’ve interrogated these people — the ones who have still have partially-functional souls and minds — and this really is how it works in their adorable little pinheads.

They really do think we’re asking for these devices for… no reason at all.

Or, as my otherwise sane GP put it, she has an honest fear that people like us will  take one look at our new mobility devices and throw all caution — and sense — to the winds. That we’ll stop stretching and exercising. That those of us who *can* walk for short distances will — somehow! — decide to *never walk again*. That we’ll decide to — gleefully! cheerfully! blithely! — let every last one of the muscles we’ve been clinging to with our *fingernails* *atrophy* to *nothing*, because…

Because they think we’re idiots, that’s why. So, try this instead:

“I have a lot of pain and fatigue when I try to walk for any kind of distance, at all, and that’s getting in the way of my ability to have anything resembling an active life. It’s even hard to get to my doctor’s appointments sometimes! I want to do at least some of my own shopping and other errands, and go out with my friends, and at least try to hold down a job, but unless the weather is really good and I’m having a good day in other ways, it’s just not going to happen. I don’t want to stop using my cane/walker/whatever completely — and I *won’t* unless I *have* to, just like I won’t stop doing my PT and OT exercises — but I need something that will let me actually have a life.” Note the similarities to the pain management code — and yes, do make sure you put this in your own words.

But also make sure you keep everything that makes you sound like the Virtuous Handicapable Person you totally are.

Because that’s necessary.Yes, it is.Yes. It. Is. Just as it will be necessary, in many states — make sure you check — to add in this little number:

“It’s just… well, you know that I don’t really have any bladder or GI issues, doctor, but I still… sometimes… on bad mobility days… you know.”

Here’s where you look down.

“Sometimes I don’t make it… you know. In time.”

Understand that you’ll have to repeat this to, like, four different people. At least.Understand that some of them will make you get specific.

If it helps, pretend you’re Steph Brown, doing her level best to gross the everloving bejeezus out of her P.E. teacher with graphic stories about her period so she can get out of class and fight crime.

*I* certainly found that helpful.

"are you okay?"

i'm crying over dead gay wizards and my chronic illness is acting up also my best friend got expelled so... what do you think?

also its kinktober

The average nurse: Mmm, veins.

Wheel-talk

I'm flaring, severely. Everything hurts, the world is spinning, nausea is overwhelming, and I'm dizzy from blood loss, along with a myriad of other things: it's not fun. But I went to a museum with mum today, and instead of being stubborn and walking it on a cane, asked if they had a wheelchair that I could borrow.

It was amazing.

As embarrassing as it is to be a teen in a wheelchair (I got some stares and commentary from strangers), it was so freeing. Instead of hobbling around, leaning on things and trying not to faint, I could explore. Look at things. Read. Do wheelies (much to my mother's horror). Spin around and move at a speed I hadn't in years, as my body usually wouldn't let me, and I wasn't tied to leaning against walls and feeling sick.

and I had energy left over to complete chores.

I wouldn't be able to visit a museum, or for that matter.. anywhere, during a flare. But today? Because I had wheels? It was amazing.

It was nice having that freedom. So much so I talked to my mother and asked if we could discuss getting a wheelchair for when the pain is bad…

That went less well.

// slight ableist talk //

She doesn't want me relying on it to get around. She doesn't want me to rely on wheels to get around because she doesn't want me being bed bound, to lose muscle or something like that.

I understand where she's coming from, but… it's so frustrating when that was the first time I felt good in weeks… and having that option might actually give me more time to do things I enjoy.

but she doesn't want me being “that disabled”

a cane is bad enough in her eyes

(and don't get me started on how my father would react if he knew I'd used a wheelchair)

and I don't know what to do...

help?

The sad thing about being chronically ill, especially as a teen: how many of your own boundaries you have to jump over to gain support.

I had my first invasive pelvic exam done by a gynecologist at the age of 13. Age of consent is 16 here. I wasn't old enough to consent to having sex but I had no choice but to accept the pelvic exam, including a transvaginal ultrasound, if I wanted any kind of further treatment - I didn't want to let a random stranger feel around inside my body but to for them to continue to testing, I had to. They gave me the illusion of free choice, but realistically, I only had one option if I wanted my pain to go away.

Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I had the exams when I did, and that they meant I got diagnosed with endometriosis in four years rather than the usual seven.. but that's not to say they haven't affected me in the long run.

Me and @ayay-captain doing art trade. I love her HIAF and she deserve 2 draw o (^‿^✿)ｏ

Chapters: 3/11 Fandom: Rammstein Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Richard Kruspe/Paul Landers, Till Lindemann/Christian Lorenz | Flake Characters: Till Lindemann, Richard Kruspe, Paul Landers, Christoph Schneider | Doom, Christian Lorenz | Flake, Oliver Riedel Additional Tags: lot of angst, Member death, Heavy Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Psychological Drama, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Dissociative Identity Disorder, And that's why half the internet hates me, paulchard, In some scenes, Rammstein AU Summary:

When they had just returned from long tour. After a short break, they're back with a new album. But that never happened. The members of Rammstein are victims of a horror accident and because of this the band is temporarily disbanded. Richard Kruspe remembers nothing of that day and is forced to take the band back together again. Up until the point when Till revealed his dark side. Which almost cost Richard his life. (This is not a prophecy) !AU