Going to attempt to keep this short but I will likely fail, I apologize in advance.
32F: My journey sort of started in January - ended up in the ER twice for what I thought was a heart attack- ran a bunch of tests on that, heart is fine. Had been having really severe heartburn/reflux for a few months leading up to that - my GP literally instantly thought GALLBLADDER and referred me for a GI consult. Not so fast, this isn't where this story ends. Had consult with GI in February for my symptoms at that time- diarrhea, occasional nausea, loss of appetite, stomach pain above bellybutton and left side, occasional blood in stool. Ordered a battery of stool samples, blood tests, and ordered a Colonoscopy & Endoscopy. All stool samples came back negative, blood samples all came back good. (Still can't eat hardly anything though without having severe stomach pain triggered, in a self-imposed strict bland diet). Had scopes in early March; endoscopy showed mild gastritis and healthy colon aside from a single benign polyp. Next they ordered an ultrasound and pancreatic enzyme panel- both were clear. Next they ordered a CT with contrast - also clear and let me tell you the contrast did me about as dirty as the colonoscopy prep! All the while, my pain is becoming near constant and I still am on an obscenely strict bland diet. So far, I've lost over 25lbs since first onset. I actually am now having URQ pain although most of the pain is centralized/spanning across upper abdomen. I can't stand to have any tight clothes on my stomach and am currently typing this while lying down from fatigue and pain. I have my next follow up with the GI on Monday - I'm hoping they will finally order a HIDA scan. I can barely function due to the pain and fatigue. I haven't gone to the ER because the pain usually ends up subsiding in the middle of the night and I don't have a fever. I haven't eaten anything besides grilled chicken with no spices, rice, potatoes, green beans, ensure, gluten free crackers, kinninkinnik cookes, gf oatmeal, and bananas for the past couple of months. Have any of you ever dealt with symptoms and prolonged diagnoses like this? If it's not my gallbladder at this point, I literally don't know what it could be. They tried me on a medication for IBS which did nothing whatsoever and carafate for the gastritis- which did help with gastritis pain but not any of other stomach pain or symptoms. Any shared experience or encouragement would be greatly appreciated - I'm feeling so defeated.

so here are my symptoms. I say more at the bottom cause i’m concerned. please help. i’m terrified. I have a weird discomfort in my upper abdomen (left) and it’s not really painful? it’s just a vague discomfort. under my ribs just feels very very heavy when i stand up. I get really bad heartburn and nausea. I sometimes feel (this is gonna sound weird) bubbles in my stomach almost which scares me. and sometimes my right side hurts a bit but only a little. I also have only at chicken soup twice a day or once a day. so now i feel dizzy as soon as i stand up or weak. I also have back pain when the discomfort is. and now this is gonna me tmi but I had like orange specs in my stool. idk maybe it’s the carrots from the soup i’ve only been eating for literally days. and then I see these black specs in my stool as well but it looks like seeds? or like seasoning? which the sup i’ve been eating does have black seasoning it. it’s not every time I use the bathroom i see it. sometimes it’s normal but especially after i eat the soup its there? anyways here’s more at the bottom.
i’m 19 years old and I was diagnosed with gastritis a week ago. I can’t get an endoscopy because i’m like 3 weeks pregnant. so I have to wait. which scares me because I am so scared I have stomach cancer. mind you last month I thought I had a brain tumor because I had pressure in my head. had a cat scan and it was clear. so for the last month i’ve been having the WORST anxiety about having cancer or an illness. and the doctors say that the gastritis is either from me really stressing my body out (which i am finding it hard to believe that stress can actually cause this) or from the pain meds the last dr put me on for anxiety and headaches. I have really bad health anxiety and my life has been dark now. I am scared of dying. i’m not even excited about my pregnancy cause i’m too scared this is stomach cancer. Everyone is telling me it’s not but when I look up my symptoms it says it is:( I really am new to gastritis if it’s even that. I will say though I am starting to feel better after taking meds for a few days. not fully better but it’s less advanced like it was. so is that a good sign? AND the dr said she would’ve saw stomach cancer on the abdominal ultrasound she did. she also said i’m so young to even be thinking that. idk I lost my step dad 2 years ago to cancer which he always had when i was young and i think that is where my health anxiety comes from. i’m just really scared and stressed out right now. i’m starting to get in a very depressed episode from this and don’t know what to think. someone please explain gastritis to me.

28 yo female who gets bad stomach cramps/diarrhea when I run. I’ve been unable to run for a few years due to knee surgeries but now starting back up my stomach pains stop my runs long before my knees do. I’ve tried taking Imodium but sometimes it doesn’t work. When it happens, I sometimes get dizzy and overheat and need to lay down. I have been an athlete my whole life and have played team sports and before my surgeries was an avid runner so this is a new and debilitating issue.
Any ideas on what it can be? I’ve monitored diet, waited hours before exercise etc and nothing seems to help

I’m supposed to take my shot today but I was really sick this morning. Not sure if it was a bug or something bad I ate…or if it was the semaglutide? Really intense stomach muscle cramps ended up with light barfing..and a bit from out the other end too. But I was miserable all day, just punk and wiped out.
I’ve seen others have issues with barfing here so not sure if it’s something else or the meds.
Should I wait a day or take it tonight?

really need some help easing my anxiety over this l'm a (Female age 21), I had intercourse on the 10th of may and the 11th, I started my period on the 13th of may (was light the first day and then heavy the second day enough to soak a pad and then light again but still needed a pad for it) fast forward about a week and a half I'm starting to get cramping in my pelvic area not sure if this is ovulation (I do track my ovulation and I stopped ovulating on the 24th but got awful cramps on the 25th, I now have the flu (stuffy nose, sore throat, dizziness and headaches), im feeling some nausea but l'm not sure if that due to me stressing and having alot of anxiety about not knowing if I am or not. I've taken 2 pregnancy tests both negative one being today and one being on the 20th may was probably to early to test but I just needed to try and ease my mind I start my period in 9 days at what point can I test for pregnancy am l able to test before I miss a period or does it have to be after? I also forgot to add he didn't finish in me as far as I know, we did the pull out method which I know is not effective and I'm not sure why I did it the first time he pulled out I made him wipe it and he put it back in, the next day he pulled out but we didn't wipe it. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. I AM NOT A TEEN BUT ALL THE GROUPS WONT LET ME POST IT IN THEIRS WITHOUT THEM ACCEPTING ME :(

Has anyone had norovirus with a young toddler at home? I can tell you it’s literal hell on earth. Thank goodness for my husband being on vacation this week or I literally wouldn’t be surviving… I’m barely surviving just taking care of myself while he takes care of our toddler. It’s day 3 of this crud and still no end in sight. Started as soon as I woke up Sunday morning with the nausea and projectile vomiting, ended up going to the ER later that night for IV fluids and something (anything) to help with the awful stomach pains, then even later that night after discharge from the hospital was the “other end” that started and hasn’t stopped for almost 48 hours straight now. Send help. Send prayers. Send good vibes. Send literally anything. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.

I really need some help easing my anxiety over this I’m a (Female age 21), I had intercourse on the 10th of may and the 11th, I started my period on the 13th of may (was light the first day and then heavy the second day enough to soak a pad and then light again but still needed a pad for it) fast forward about a week and a half I’m starting to get cramping in my pelvic area not sure if this is ovulation (I do track my ovulation and I stopped ovulating on the 24th but got awful cramps on the 25th, I now have the flu (stuffy nose, sore throat, dizziness and headaches), im feeling some nausea but I’m not sure if that due to me stressing and having alot of anxiety about not knowing if I am or not. I’ve taken 2 pregnancy tests both negative one being today and one being on the 20th may was probably to early to test but I just needed to try and ease my mind I start my period in 9 days at what point can I test for pregnancy am I able to test before I miss a period or does it have to be after? I also forgot to add he didn’t finish in me as far as I know, we did the pull out method which I know is not effective and I’m not sure why I did it the first time he pulled out I made him wipe it and he put it back in, the next day he pulled out but we didn’t wipe it. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I was a skeptic on if injection site makes a difference, but I'm now a believer. Let me tell you a atory...
For the first 4 weeks I was taking Triz I injected into my stomach. For 2 weeks, I felt like nothing was happening. No changes in anything.
Weeks 3 and 4 hit me like a ton of bricks- nausea, vomiting, all the things.
Weeks 5, 6, and 7 I used the thigh because I had heard about the lesser side effects in different injection sites. Voila! Very little nausea, but with a lot of food noise reduced.
I'm a skeptic by nature (you cant just tell me anything- i have to see it or get a good handle on the reasoning to listen to anyone), so I never really thought injection site mattered. It didn't seem to make any physiological sense to me so I thought, "well obviously my body just adjusted to the medicine in that time".
But the last 2 weeks I've been thinking that I might need to go up from 2.5 because I was eating a little bit more than I would have liked. Then I found the studies about injection site rather than just people repeating it on TikTok and Insta (thanks to this sub for sharing the study!), and it says that the stomach HAD been proven to have more side effects, but greater effectiveness. So I thought, "well let's give it a shot. Now that I'm used to the medicine, I'll just get more efficacy."
BLAMMO! This week I've thrown up two times and I can barely eat. No change in dose.
So needless to say, I will NOT be using the stomach again to inject. Thighs only for me from now on.
Does anyone know WHY injection site matters? Different fat composition that sucks it up more? Different metabolization? What is this sorcery??
TLDR: if your a skeptic like me, I encourage you to do your research! Ha.

Hello! FTM here and riddled with anxiety all the time.
I am pretty early on in my pregnancy. Anywhere between 6-7 weeks. Last week I went to the ER for some severe cramps and was basically told I was constipated and to get some laxatives and take it easy. They told me baby was measuring 6w3d and contacted my OB to push up my first appointment for today. (5 days later)
Last night my husband and I had sex and I started to bleed bright pink afterwords. It did go away about 2 hours later and everything was fine I thought. This was the first time I had any sort of spotting or bleeding.
I get to my appointment today and they do an ultrasound and we got to hear baby’s heartbeat. It settled my nerves immediately and I thought we were in a good place. When the doctor came back into the room to discuss it with me, he said baby was measuring about a week smaller than my period suggested and that the ER report from 5 days prior, they couldn’t even see baby. Just a sack. He also told me I have a Subchroionic Hemorrhage that wasn’t to concerning, but they would like me back in 2 weeks to do another ultrasound and a Pap smear. For now, I’m in pelvic rest and no sex for 2 weeks.
I’m trying to figure out how I’m going to take it easy at work as I have a very intense job at a barn riding horses. On top of that I feel terrible that the sex probably caused the bleeding in the first place. I feel like I’m messing things up and I’m doing everything wrong at this point.
Does the hemorrhage just heal itself with rest? Am I at a higher risk for miscarriage? I feel sick to my stomach with anxiety and I’m surfing every thread I can find about this. Thank you

Yesterday had my second retrieval. I’m 29 and doing egg freezing. I only have one ovary. I got 17 eggs retrieved and 9 mature. Mt first retrieval only 11 retrieved 7 mature. I felt a lot better after that retrieval but now this retrieval I feel horrible.
Yesterday I came home and I couldn’t lay down without feeling like pressure in my shoulders and chest and upper abdomen. My estrogen was 2900 before I went into ER. I took Gas X and Tylenol and it eventually calmed down. But I didn’t feel better until this morning.
Woke up this morning and my stomach feels like someone punched me 5000x. I’ve been trying to walk more today. But my stomach is so sore (muscles)
Now I’m getting a little nauseous. I’m getting a little nervous because I don’t want OHSS. I didnt’t feel this way after my first retrieval but this retrieval has been wayyy worse…. Atleast the pain is slowly decreasing.
Did anyone else have nausea after retrieval?

I've already contacted my doctor and am waiting for a response, but I am hoping to feel less alone and maybe get some recommendations.
I've had chronic migraines for over decade. They're genetic. My siblings get them.
Five nights ago, my son superman lept on top of me and smashed his had into my right eye socket. (He's fine.) As soon as his head made contact with mine, I was smelling cigarette smoke, my ears were ringing, stomach ache, nausea, pain, all of my normal migraine symptoms. Over the next few days (it's not abnormal for them to last days for me) the symptoms lessened and went away, EXCEPT I still have blurry vision in that eye, and on and off pain, as well as an on and off stomach ache.
I would just write it off as a normal migraine (and did for a few days) except 1. I'm reaching the end of a normal length for me, 2. I've never had one come on so quickly, and 3. I've never had symptoms on only one half of my head/face before.
Do I need to worry about a concusion or eye injury? Has anyone else ever been bonked into a long migraine? And not as the origin of all migraines, just a migraine.

38F SW 101kg CW 97.8kg GW 60kg UK based
Hello lovely community! This is my second time writing on this forum. I am extremely happy to have found this and can say I am going to keep going as long as I can.
Tomorrow is day 6 of my first week, I have lost 2kg! I know this must be watemuscle but it feels good to see the scale moving down. Though I am much more about body size than the numbers on a scale. I have started using Mounjaro as a weight loss medication, I do not have any other conditions other than being fat. I am active and will get back in to more exercise but at the moment I am looking to see how my body reacts to the new drug. This is my experience thus far:
Did the injection in my right thigh 11:20am. The jab was painless, did not feel it. I had a surge of energy for the rest of the day and did notice by the night I was not that hungry. I usually am fasting until 1pm most days, I have been doing intermittent fasting for the last 3 months with slow steady progress. Mounjaro is to help kick me in the backend a bit more.
The next day I felt good but I began to have a bit of nausea and stomach pain. It got worse through the day and my appetite was not there. I did eat at 12pm some sourdough bread and cheese. I didn't over eat, just two slices. By 2pm I was in a lot of discomfort and it got progressively worse. I ended up doubled over in pain on the floor by 5pm. I was having a lot of sulphur like burps, really bad stomach cramps and diarrhoea since 1pm. I ended up being sick - coming out both ends at 7pm and was not well until my stomach was completely empty. It was several times through the night and into early morning. It was very unpleasant. I believe I caught some bug or food poisoning but I can't be sure, my GP will meet me and say so in the next days. I stayed in bed the next day afraid to even drink water, I did take two glasses of electrolytes slowly to be sure I wasn't depleted of minerals and water. That night I was able to eat banana and salt crackers without any issues. After that ordeal I was completely back on track and have been feeling great.
The food Noise is GONE. I can't believe it, but it's really true, like, this works! I don't crave any sugar and all fatty processed foods do NOT look appealing to me. I have to remind myself to eat. What I love is not to not eat but to take control of WHAT to eat because all that noise isn't there to distract. I am a very busy mum of 3 kids and I'm always snacking on the wrong foods to get a quick fix. Being in a eating window sometimes makes it worse because when I open my window I end up gorging on too much food. Anyways, this drug is seriously a game changer. I am so happy with it and hope that 2.5mg is enough for me for many months or for my entire treatment. I plan to use it 6 months and continue with fasting. IF I need it then I might push to be on this for 8 -10 months.
This is not my first Rodeo, I did lose 100 lbs 40ish kilos like 15 years ago and kept it off until I fell pregnant and now my body is so thrown off that I put on weight just looking at cakes, nevermind eating them! I have stuck to my healthier lifestyle that I changed 15 years ago, no sugar drinks, no flavoured drinks, no ultra processed foods, home cooked meals and with lots of veggies etc... but like I said my body has changed since being pregnant and I want to see If this can reset me.
lastly, I want to say that I think I have realised that I might not be able to do intermittently fasting on this because today I did feel unwell until I gave in and ate at 11am, breaking my fast much earlier than I would like. I rather eat small healthy things and feel good than push to do long fasting windows. I will have to see how it goes. I am a little nervous about my next injection in two days. fingers crossed I feel fine after.

It gets worse.
I went to the doctor in February 2023 because I wasn't feel great, I felt under the weather, more tired than usual and couldn't shake a cold for weeks. They issued blood tests and the tests came back showing I had raised white blood cell count and a thyroid issue. I started taking thyroid meds and within a few days I was struggling to eat as much, had stomach cramps and things like that, the doctors recommended more blood tests after 3 months. Every 3 months since I've had blood tests done, every time my white cell count has been very raised, upper limit is supposed to be 11, mine has been anywhere between 15 and 17. During the time since the first tests everything has gotten worse, I can barely eat now, I throw up regularly, I have headaches every day, my stomach feels awful and if I eat it makes my body feel terrible. I'm extremely tired, I have no energy, I haven't been able to work out for over a month. I have lost so much weight and just feel horrible, sometimes I have a fever sometimes I don't. I've had a tremor for the last week or two. Every time I've told the doctors things are worse, they issue a blood test, tell me the results show that there's something not right, come back for more tests in 3 months. No investigations or anything so far. I feel like I'm dying and it's exhausting. It stresses me out so much which probably isn't making things better. I quit smoking in 2021 and 5 months ago I started smoking again. I hate it. I can't stand feeling this way and it's just getting worse.

Hi all,
I ran Bayshore marathon in Michigan this past weekend. I’m a 34M, and my goal time was sub 2:45 as I had previously ran a 2:46:35 in 2022 at the same race. In the 2022 training block I averaged 46 mpw, this year I averaged 50 mpw with peak weeks of 63/65/62/63. This block I also placed more emphasis on my long runs, knocking out 2-18 milers, a 20 miler and a 22.5 miler, along with a bunch of 15-16 milers.
The day prior to the race I drank probably 50-60 oz of water including a Maurten 320 drink mix. The morning of the race I drank ~5 oz of Maurten 160 mix and nothing else. The race started at 7:15, temperature at start was ~54 degrees F with overcast skies. My hydration during the race was sparse. I got a splash of water at the first aid station at 3 miles, splashed my face and shoulders with water at mile 6, then 2-3 squirts of Maurten 320 mix at mile 11 or 12, and 2-3 more squirts of Maurten 320 mix at mile. I went through the half at 1:21:30. I got a 2-3 more squirts of Maurten at mile 14. At mile 16 I noticed it was getting more difficult to keep the ~6:15 pace I was shooting for. Unfortunately, I dropped a water cup at roughly 18 mile aid station and basically inhaled my second try. At mile 20 everything got exponentially harder, however I was able to get a good 2-3 oz of water at the aid station. and my pace fell off to 6:30, then 6:33 at 21, 6:42 at 22, etc. My final mile was a 7:42 and it was pure hell, however my legs didn’t cramp until I crossed the finish line and even then it was a mild cramp that quickly went away. I ate a bagel with peanut butter and a banana and took Maurten 100 gels 20 min before the race, at mile 4/8/12/16 and mile 19 ish. After that my stomach began feeling quite full and I opted to not take the last one I had planned.
The weather was overall good for the race. Temp at the start was ~54F and at finish ~57 and overcast with some breeze the majority of the time. I feel like this was a definite factor in my neglect to hydrate.
My question is, do you all think this was a hydration issue, a fueling issue, or did I simply go out too fast thinking I was in better shape than I truly was? Thanks in advance!!

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Chapter 169 – A moment of truth. A moment to lie.
Shida exhaled slowly as she flew in a parallel line along the massive, slowly rotating hull of the Sun. The near true-black surface of the enormous ship loomed ominously next to her, tricking her brain into the impression that it was somehow trying to pull her tiny little hunter into it like a black hole or some shadowy portal. Though obviously, that was just a literal trick of the light.
Activating her frontal thrusters yet again to slow the momentum of her flight, she just barely noticed the movement on the hull next to her as something adjusted to the now slowing movement of her cargo. A moment later, a harpoon much like the one she herself had fired into the lump of molten material that had solidified around the still dutifully pinging black box shot against the precious debris, latching onto it and connecting it to the larger ship.
With the press of a button, Shida's own harpoon then automatically shot off its tip before her hunter reeled in the connecting cable as well as the remaining rod. Almost as soon as she was detached, the Sun's harpoon already began to reel the black box lump in as well.
It admittedly took a bit of time and finesse, but this process was still much easier than trying to somehow land with the barely controllable lump of hull-slag still attached to her ship.
Rubbing a hand over one of her hears, Shida released a mild huff before then firing her engines up again as she adjusted her course to fly around the ship and find her way into the dock.
Once the slightly precarious maneuver of flying through the relatively narrow, rotating tunnel that was her entrance was overcome, the feline turned her hunter onto 'life support' mode as she sat back, since she would have to wait for the atmosphere in the dock to be reinstated before she could even think about getting out.
Suddenly, a comm came in for her, making her ears twitch as she listened up.
“Please move your ship to the corner of the dock and stand by, Lieutenant-Commander,” the voice from her radio informed her briefly. “The dock will be needed for the landing of an urgent shuttle. Atmosphere cannot be reinstated before it has landed.”
Blinking slightly, Shida stared at her console for a moment. Shuttle? Why was there shuttle flying around in a situation like this?
Luckily, it didn't even take a full second before her brain fired up again and she quickly reached for the button to activate her own microphone.
“Copy that,” she said before quickly starting her ship up again, just enough so that she could slowly roll it into the dock's corner. Once there, she activated her microphone again. “Standing by,” she announced before leaning back once again.
She released a long exhale as she stared at the wall that was now right in front of her. And as she sat there with nothing to do but to think while she was surrounded by an airless room, she slowly began to feel that something was wrong.
Not with the situation, no. Even if she still wondered why the hell a shuttle was dicking around out there just after an active combat situation, that wasn't what was irking her. Though, admittedly, she also didn't really know what was. Was it something about herself? Not really. She felt fine.
Though, after a few more moments of being alone with her thoughts, it slowly began to hit her. Why did she feel so fine?
Not that she had expected to be totally broken up by a combat situation, even if it was sudden. She was trained for that much, she sure would hope that she wouldn't let it get to her too much. However, while not being too stressed out was one thing...why wasn't she angrier?
The last few times she had so much as heard about an attack, she had been absolutely livid. Blood-boilingly so. And that didn't even come close to how she had felt when she saw the victims of the attack on the detention center...
But now? She was calm. They had just been attacked out of nowhere. She had been dragged into a sudden battle. So many people, both foe and friend, had died today. And she was sad about that. She felt the remorse about the people who had been killed here. She even felt the aftereffects of pulling the trigger herself down in her stomach. But apart from that? Nothing.
What was different now? Where was that fire? And more importantly...was it good or bad that it was so suddenly gone?
Prooobably something to bring up with Dr. Nasution once she got an opportunity to attend her next session, which would probably be quite soon given current circumstances. It had been a while with everything that was going on, but she figured there was at least a good chance that their 'pleasure cruise' would not be continuing after everything that had occurred.
It seemed that the coreworlds were even more hostile ground than they had imagined.
About a quarter of an hour later, the announced shuttle had finally settled down and all hatches were sealed shut while air was slowly funneled back into the room. It took maybe a minute or two more before a specialized sensor in her ship informed her with a glowing light on her console that the surroundings were once again breathable, meaning she could safely open her hatch.
Pressing the corresponding button, the hatch of her ship sprang open, releasing a slight hiss as the seal was broken and air-exchange with the outside took place for the first time since she had closed it.
Once it was open, Shida could already hear some commotion as a large group of people came immediately flooding into the room as soon as it was safe to do so, and once she had climbed out onto the wing of her ship, she could see that they had come bearing large bags as they hurried towards the shuttle, which was currently in the process of lowering its ramp.
Resisting her urge to stand and stare to see what was going on, Shida climbed off the wing in order to go and properly announce her return.
However, almost as soon as her feet made contact with the dock's floor, she suddenly felt how she was almost taken off her feet by another body crashing into hers, startling her so much that her claws were already coming out as her arms raised to meet her sudden tackler – though a combination of a familiar scent and breathing luckily soothed her nerves long before her aware mind could catch up to who had run into her there.
Instead of sinking their claws in, her hand laid flatly down on James' broad back as her arms wrapped around him to return his sudden hug. As she held him, she could feel that he was quite unsteady on his feet, and she subtly supported him to not loose his footing as they embraced for a long moment.
A bit of a purr started up in her chest as she leaned her head against his. She didn't say anything, worrying that it may come off as mockery if she did, but she could feel that he had been worried about her. And although she obviously didn't like making him worry – especially since she knew how much that stung after having to worry about him way too often recently - she still couldn't deny that she always appreciated getting to feel just how much he cared about her so directly, and a warm feeling spread throughout her as her purr intensified.
Though admittedly, she could've done without the firm kiss he pressed onto her cheek after a moment. Still, she knew that it was an important expression of his care to him, and so she simply closed her eye on the kissed side and endured it for a moment before he finally pulled away.
Looking at his reddened face, she could read right off it that he wanted to say something like 'Don't ever do that again' or anything in that vein, but obviously he also knew that she was just doing her duty, and so he held his tongue.
His mouth opened a bit, presumably to say something else, however the chaotic and from this distance slightly incoherent shouting of the group that had rushed in earlier now meeting with the crew of the shuttle interrupted him, catching both of their attentions as they looked over.
As they did, Shida's eyes widened slightly once she realized what the chaotic scene she was looking at there really was. A stretcher carrying Admiral Krieger was wheeled down the shuttle's ramp, surrounded by medics and doctors working on her on all sides.
Her skin was a ghostly white, far more so than even her usual pale complexion, and fully on display as the remains of her uniform were under her in tattered, cut-open rags, leaving her almost entirely exposed except for her most private area and her right leg, which had been covered with a white sheet. Every other inch of her skin seemingly had to remain free as the medical personnel worked on it from all angles; sticking her with needles or attaching cables, tubes and electrodes to her as she was rolled along. Two blood bags were already dripping fresh life into her at that point, and by the look of things, a third one was soon to follow.
Still, the almost body-horror-esque sight of the doctors trying to preserve her life was by far not the most gruesome one the scene offered. That honor belonged to her uncovered left leg. Or at least...what was left of it...
Shida's ear twitched as her concentration on the scene was briefly interrupted by a soft voice speaking right next to her.
“Mama...” James mumbled aghast, causing Shida's eyes to widen slightly.
It was one of the few words from his native language that the feline actually knew. “Mom”. And hearing it out of James' mouth was an almost bizarre experience. James never called his mother mom or any similar term of endearment. In fact he made it a point not to.
Granted, in this case, it was unlikely that he had consciously made the choice to do it in this case, however the sheer fact that it would slip out of him like this spoke volumes of just how deeply the shock of seeing her in that state reached.
Not that Shida didn't understand, of course. Familial bonds or not, the Admiral was...well, of course they both knew that she wasn't untouchable by any measure. Far from it. She was just a person like anybody else in the end.
However, knowing that she could get hurt and actually seeing it were two very different things, apparently.
In the corner of her vision, she noticed how James suddenly began to move in the direction of the ongoing rescue, and she quickly jolted forwards to stop him, wrapping her arm around him firmly as she held him back from getting in the way of anything.
Luckily, apart from a brief push that only lasted for as long as it took him to realize that he had been stopped, he didn't resist her as she restrained him from approaching any further, and so the both of them just watched as the stretcher was rolled along and ultimately out of the dock.
“That was meant for me...” James mumbled, clearly thinking aloud as he kept staring at the door even after it had closed again.
Immediately, Shida pulled him in firmer, side-hugging him as she pressed her body up to his.
“She wouldn't have traded places with you if you tried to force her,” she assured him while pushing her face against his shoulder. She knew that the relationship of those two was rocky to say the least, however she still knew that much to be true. Whether she was the motherly type or not, if anything, the Admiral was just as stubborn as James was, especially when it came to duty.
James stood frozen for a bit, seemingly not exactly knowing what to do with his feelings in his current state. Shida could only imagine how much ethanol was still flowing through his veins at that time, mixed with a cocktail of all kinds of different hormones and endorphins. With all of this added back-and-forth stress, she couldn't blame him for struggling to hold onto a single thought at that time.
“Oh, James!” a new voice suddenly joined the fray, whipping both of their attentions around yet again as even more bodies emerged from the shuttle, having presumably stood back to make room while the rescue efforts were ongoing.
But now that the coast was clear, so to speak, two familiar large forms came lumbering down the shuttle's ramp.
Moar and Congloarch looked...rattled...to say the least. With Moar, it was understandable. She probably didn't have all too much experience of standing right next to a dying person as every thinkable thing was done to them to keep them alive, so Shida wouldn't have thought twice about it had it just been her.
However, the tonamstrosite was a...different story. His four eyes didn't scan the room or focus on different things at all. All four of them were pointed straight ahead with only very loose seeming focus on the people he was approaching as he walked.
His mouth hung slightly open, and he seemed to push his tongue out just a little bit while the fleshy muscle twitched up in place before settling down again, over and over, making it appear almost as if he was subtly retching.
James' stormy mind seemed to immediately latch onto the the possibility to focus on anything and went right along with a wave of his usual compassion as his eyes fell onto the to giants. This time, Shida didn't hold him back as he hurried in their direction.
“What in chaos' name happened?” he asked once he was just a few steps away from them, though even in his now focused and concerned state you could clearly tell from his gait that he wasn't quite all there.
“Oh James...” Moar repeated, struggling to speak as she shuddered in place where she stood, both of her clawed hands firmly hooked into her long fur as if clinging on for dear life.
Releasing a deep groan, Congloarch shook himself so heavily that a grinding sound came from some of the plates along his body.
“There was an attack,” the large reptile then said the quite obvious before shaking again. “There was...an invasion-” he kept describing before pausing abruptly, turning his head away as his tongue pushed itself up again, causing him to clearly struggle to suppress whatever urge overcame him at that moment.
Shida's ears and tail sank deeply as she watched those two. She could only imagine what could've occurred to have even Congloarch so broken up. And she could see it on James' face that his heart sank just as much, even if less outwards signs clearly showed it.
Slowly, Shida began to walk up to Moar at an even pace. As she did so, she gently nudged James in the direction of the other giant while passing him, knowing that he had the better relationship to the tonamstrosite out of the two of them.
Taking the hint without issue, James walked up to the enormous reptile and placed his hand on the highest part of the man he could reach while Shida leaned up against Moar's plushy leg comfortingly.
“It's alright,” James then said softly, patting his hand against Congloarch's armored skin gently while also leaning his face against the side of the giant's body. “You don't have to talk about it right now. You can take some time.”
The reactions of the two giants were very different, but at the same time equally appreciative of the soothing contact.
Moar leaned down as one of her hands unclenched from her fur to reach for Shida, reciprocating the gentle touch through an innate social drive. Seemingly on instinct, her hand went right for Shida's hair, seemingly seeking the contact with fur since that is what another rafulite would provide, and so the old lady simply petted through Shida's hair in gentle strokes while the feline pressed up against her.
Meanwhile, Congloarch seemed to simply relax in place as James leaned against him, making no effort to initiate any form of contact himself as his eyes slowly closed.
It even went so far that it seemed like he needed to put in a conscious effort to not lay down right then and there, which would've probably been inappropriate in the middle of a dock. In fact, all of this was probably inappropriate for this place, but sometimes what had to be done had to be done.
Still, with James being only somewhat in-commission right now, Shida eventually felt it to be her duty to coax everyone out of the dock once she felt that things had calmed down enough to move so they could continue this at a calmer, more private location, where the two giants could truly focus on processing everything that had happened.
–
A gentle humming filled the air, stirring her awake as light uncomfortably shone through her twitching lids while she struggled back and forth between a conscious and unconscious state.
Though once she finally pushed herself far enough into awareness to gain control over the motion and slowly forced her eyes fully open, even if she still had to squint heavily against the light from above, she glanced around through her blurry vision, instinctively searching for the source of the increasingly familiar sound of the hummed song.
She recognized the melody. It was the 'Ode to strange suns', a very old and very famous song that first emerged back in the early days of Earth's interstellar travel, when traversing light-years to reach another star-system was still a daunting endeavor. It was often sung by those in the primitive ships, often called 'tubes', to give them hope during their bleak journey. A melancholic song about giving up your life just to see what's out there – and one day push your people so far beyond what they had once been.
So far, they hadn't quite reached the lofty goal that the song set for humanity, since it spoke of mapping every star and finding eternity too short and infinity too small for their ambitions. According to the song, the day would come when 'no more strange suns rise'. What an idea that was...
Still, even more so than the song itself, she recognized the soft voice that was humming it, and her heart lifted at the implications of hearing it. She felt soft sheets rustling underneath her head as she slowly turned her face towards the sound, and the corners of her lips slowly lifted into a smile as her eyes, which were gently tearing from the harsh light biting into them so suddenly, fell onto the scene before her.
Nia sat slightly leaned against the headrest of her bed with her eyes closed, the room's white light gently playing over her dark yet soft features as she turned her face in the Admiral's direction while softly swaying her head to the rhythm of her humming, not moving it more than a centimeter with each tilt so her gentle dance wouldn't interfere too much with the work of James' hands. He sat behind her with both hands behind her back, gently holding her hair as he weaved it into long braids with practiced motions. There was a clear 'weakness' to Nia's movements, and the way she sat strongly indicated that she likely lacked the strength to completely hold herself up on her own.
And yet despite that, her humming was cheerful and content as she had her hair braided by her brother. She seemed...at peace.
After simply observing the scene for a few long moments, feeling like she could get lost in the sight if she wasn't careful, Admiral Krieger then tried to push herself up a bit, however the attempt was short-lived as a searing pain shot through her right shoulder as soon as she put any pressure onto that side of her body, forcing her to flop back down almost immediately. And as soon as she did, the pain quickly dissipated into a mellow numbness that was all too familiar to her.
She was on some strong painkillers, she could tell. Therefore, if it still hurt like that when she attempted to move, moving was probably a bad idea. Not that she couldn't have borne the pain if it was necessary, however the sight of her children like that told her that it very clearly wasn't. Whatever other challenges and battles the future may have had in store for them, this was a moment of peace, and she should use it for her recovery while she still could.
Meanwhile, her movement and brief hiss of pain had naturally not gone unnoticed. Once her eyes were no longer closed from the brief jolt of pain, she saw that Nia's eyes had now also opened. Her humming had stopped as the sweet girl's face lit up upon noticing that the Admiral was truly awake and had not just shifted around in her sleep.
“James!” she exclaimed, trying to move so suddenly that she accidentally pulled on her own hair that was still firmly in her brother's grasp, before he could react and adjust to her movements. Uncaring about the brief discomfort that surely caused, Nia excitedly lifted her hand to point at the Admiral, however James already had a knowing look on his face.
“I saw,” he replied, clearly far less focused on the braiding process than his demeanor would indicate from the outside. He quickly finished up the in-process braid between his fingers and fixated it with a small, golden, tube-shaped clasp before letting go of Nia's hair, thus allowing her to freely move her head around again.
Nia then looked over at her while James slowly stood up and moved to the corner of the room.
“How are you feeling, Sophia?” Nia asked in a gentle tone that did nothing to hide her happiness, her eyes gleaming slightly in the light as tears began to well up within them.
The Admiral released a long exhale as she settled into the sheets, though her eyes never left Nia's face – apart from a very brief moment of them following James to see where he was going. Nia looked slightly messy with her hair half-braided and the light-blue gown she wore all crumpled up, however just like her earlier humming, that messiness had a certain peace to it that allowed the Admiral to relax.
“Just how I look, I suspect,” she replied, the smile on her face returning. “I'm glad to see you awake again.”
“Hey, that's my line!” Nia jokingly complained with a mild chuckle that audibly got very close to shifting into a soft sob at one point.
At this point, James had returned from the corner of the room, walking up to the side of Nia's bed opposite to the one he had been sitting at previously. And with him, he had brought a large wheelchair.
Briefly, he turned his head towards his mother, the look on his face rather unreadable. For a moment, his mouth twitched, and it seemed like he wanted to say something. However ultimately, he pulled his gaze away again before anything was said.
Without complaint, Nia allowed her brother to lift her out of the bed and into the wheelchair, before he slowly pushed her over to the side of the Admiral's bed.
Almost immediately once she was within reach, Nia's hand found hers, holding it gently while James was once again on the move, this time towards a bedside-drawer that stood in between both of their beds.
Opening it, he briefly rummaged through it before pulling out an arrangement of small items, with which he then sat down next to the Admiral as well.
Leaning down, he gently reached for her face in a gesture that could've been mistaken for tenderness, had his fingers not reached to pull her lids open a bit with gentle force right before he shone a bright light directly into her eyes. Despite the uncomfortable nature of the action, Admiral Krieger didn't resist it in any way, physically or otherwise.
After he had ensured her pupils worked properly, James then gently grabbed her by her chin and moved her face around so that she looked straight 'ahead', which in this case meant right up to the ceiling while he got up a bit to loom over her.
“Aaaaaah,” he then ordered while holding a clear, plastic tongue-suppressor close to her mouth.
Following the order without hesitation, the Admiral opened her mouth widely, though she forewent the actual saying of 'aaah' in the process. Soon enough, her tongue was uncomfortably pushed down by the plastic item while she could see some light leaking out of her mouth in the corner of her vision.
After a brief moment of inspection, the pressure was already relieved and she could close her mouth again as James moved away from her, checking some of the monitors of devices that were attached to his mother in various ways.
The Admiral couldn't help but gently chuckle at the professionalism he clearly very deliberately employed as he dealt with her waking up. It was a nice act, however, she was smart enough to know that, since he didn't call anyone in to do it, he likely had asked to conduct these precautionary examinations himself instead of calling a doctor in for it, likely promising to call in someone more professional than himself should he find anything actually worrying.
But, based on his reactions, it seemed like everything was in working order. At least the vitals she could see on the monitors herself certainly were. Not exactly 'healthy', of course, but also not directly concerning for someone who had just gone through the wringer like she had.
Or, well...she didn't quite know how 'just' it had been. She was admittedly a bit too groggy to fully remember the exact date and time during which the attack leaving her injured had taken place, which meant even the clock on the wall was of very little help with determining just how long she had been out for.
“Do you feel anything strange?” James asked her, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Any pain? Nausea? Discomfort?”
Krieger shook her head.
“Nothing, apart from being high as a kite,” she replied before briefly glancing down at herself. Her body was almost completely covered by a white sheet, so she couldn't exactly see anything. However, she knew what was underneath. “Though I'm sure my leg would be in a lot of pain if I could actually feel it.”
In the corner of her vision, she both saw and felt Nia flinch as she was still holding her hand, her face darkening a little.
James' expression also seemed to turn more serious after her jokingly said words, betraying his usually not horrible pokerface.
Slowly, she released a long breath.
“It's gone, isn't it?” she suspected immediately. Not surprising after the state her leg had been in when she last saw it.
Nia's face just turned even more glum at that, however James sighed and nodded.
“Most of it, yes,” he replied honestly, knowing her well enough to cut any sort of bullshit. “Though you will be glad to hear that your usual 'precautions' worked without a hitch. Your body accepted the prosthesis and you should be able to walk again almost immediately.”
She smiled.
“I always told you, it pays to be prepared,” she said, lifting her unoccupied arm with a finger playfully raised in lecture. Though then, she moved her gaze over to Nia, reaching her already raised arm over to Nia's head and pulling her in a bit closer before gently caressing her cheek. “Come on, why the frown?” she asked, giving a gentle smile. “You heard what he said, I'll be good as new.”
A returning smile fought itself through Nia's tears at the caress, and she nodded meekly – before then suddenly throwing herself forwards, out of the wheelchair and onto the Admiral in a brazen embrace.
A sharp pain once again shot through the Admiral's shoulder as another body suddenly pressed down onto hers, however this time she did not care a single bit as she moved her arms around her daughter and gently petted along her back while Nia clearly did her absolute best to suppress the quiet sobs leaving her. Meanwhile James stood next to it all with a stoic expression, only his eyes betraying the obvious compassion he felt for his sister's happiness.
Once the embrace was enjoyed and a few soft words were exchanged, he aided Nia in getting back into the wheelchair wordlessly.
And the Admiral didn't need him to say anything. The mere fact that he had decided to be here told her more than enough – even if he would likely say that he was here to visit Nia when he would be asked about it.
A few moments later, the door to the room opened, with two new people entering in a visible hurry. Though, despite their haste, both Tuya and Shida froze when they fully processed the scene they had barged into, with neither of them seemingly knowing if they wanted to proceed or not.
Taking the decision off them, the Admiral lifted her hand and waved them closer.
“Come in,” she said invitingly, not at all opposed to their presence here. Not for nothing, she was more than happy with the partners that her children had found for themselves. She could hardly have wished for better ones.
Still seeming a bit hesitant, the First-Lieutenant and Lieutenant-Commander then continued their motion, even if much slower now.
James and Nia both had pretty unreadable expressions on their faces at this point as they watched their respective partners approach. They all exchanged a long gaze with each other, which clearly told her children something that she wasn't quite privy to yet.
James was finally the one to break the silence.
“What brilliant timing,” he sighed a bit as he turned around, quickly grabbing a remote from a nearby nightstand. With it, he turned up the volume of a running but up until now muted screen that the Admiral had only been tangentially aware of so far.
Though now that everyone's attention seemed to be pulled towards it, she didn't need to be a genius to realize that something important was being broadcast there. And so she got quiet and listened, her professional seriousness returning as he fought through her slightly hazy state to not miss a detail, especially so as she saw just who the cameras were pointed towards.
Leaving her enormous head to hang slightly, Apojinorana Audoxya Tua, High-Matriarch of the zodiatos and current Acting-Leader-Supreme of the G.C.S. had taken the stage behind what had to be a house-sized podium, even if it didn't appear like it on screen.
The Admiral suppressed any feelings she had towards that vile woman as she concentrated on listening to her words.
They had seemingly missed the beginning of the conference they were not tuning into, so hopefully they hadn't missed anything important.
“...firm the attack. One of the current Nahfmir-Durrehefren, previously known as Melvolhorron, used his command over several of our ships and the loyalty of crews that had been radicalized by the ongoing galactic tensions -both zodiatos and coluyvoree- to mount the attack. No outside influence on his actions from any third-party outside of the zodiatos territories has been indicated during the investigations. The black box that was discovered by the human forces and handed over to galactic investigations in full accordance to communal law and without any resistance brought some additional light to his motivations. Among the usual logs and data you would expect to find, it also contained a seemingly deliberately saved...letter of devotion to...none other than my own person. It seems that this...tragic event turned heinous crime was something that he saw as his best chance to advance his position to that of the true Durrehefren. He seemed to believe that my devotion and favor could be gained through a decisive strike against the humans, whom he believed I hated deeply – along with all other deathworlders, it appears. It also appears that he believed this hate would go far enough that I would approve of any methods to achieve this strike against them – even an attack on not only another coreworld, but one of our oldest and most loyal allies. It's-” she cut of briefly, releasing a distressed trumpeting sound before reaching her trunk up to run its ends over her many dark eyes. “It is, of course, hard for me. Not only to have such a crime committed ostensibly in my name, but also that this seems to be an image that I have imprinted onto my people. An image of hate and discord that has radicalized them to the point that they would stoop to such levels simply to see the 'opposition' suffer. And while it is no secret that the humans have been at odds with me, I would never approve of such a heinous attack, not only because...friends of mine...were lost in it, too. And I am not free of blame. I see now that I was so focused on sternly defending us from the accusations posed against us, that I entirely forgot to also show the compassion that is so necessary at a time like this. And I want to apologize for this. Deeply. Even as the attack was committed by a blinded individual, the zodiatos will take full responsibility for it. We are willing to pay any required reparations to each of the injured parties involved, and we deeply wish that our ties we have to those harmed can be mended, be they old or new, strong or tattered. We will gladly welcome any diplomatic outreach from the injured parties as well as all others who are concerned in hopes to not only aid in the recovery of our alliances, but also in the healing of our very own souls as we will take any effort we can to move away from the hate that has caused this tragedy. Our people will not become one of violence and terror, that I swear by all three of my names. And I hope that all others follow that example, so that this tragic event may become a part of our history that will never be repeated. Now more than ever, we need to remind ourselves of the values that this galaxy was built upon. I thank each and every one of you for your attention. Success to you. Prosperity for all. Unity in the community.”

This is going to be a gray area because I’m aware there may be other medical issues so… I don't think I'm pregnant but I think it's possible since I had a very light period with barely any cramps, it also came a few days later than usually and the light cramps started almost 10 days before. I had decent amount of bleeding still but not even nearly as much as normal. anyway I've averaged probably 400 calories/day the last 5 days I've had no appetite and been drinking a CRAP load of water. i'm 20 I don't know if I have medical insurance so I haven't gone to a clinic yet but I want to go to one soon. That's a gray area for me as I usually never go to the doctors and I don't think I've been in like 3+ years. I've been looking up gastroparesis because I've had vomiting problems for the last 3-4 years and when I bought nausea medicine a lady in a gas station told me she had similar symptoms which turned that her stomach was (partially?) paralyzed (gastroparesis).... So anyone who's been pregnant or who has the knowledge, is it normal during the time of implantation or the first "missed" period, to not want to eat for 4+ days? I feel full really quick, and some day's I've gone without eating at all, one day I only ate because someone bought me a meal I didn't want to waste so I had a small portion of it. I also avoid forcing myself to eat because I'm sure I will throw up, I'm sick right now I believe it's hayfever and I keep coughing and unusually it's like every couple hours my body starts trying to vomit when I cough, but there's not really anything to vomit up or just nothing comes out(could just be gag reflex but not normal for me), the last week I've thrown up 2-3 times and it was just like some water. Please help and thanks for any responses!

My cardio secret, what works for me may not work for you but it's worth thinking about because cardio post op is extremely vital. I ride a stationary recumbent exercise bike.
Cardio itself is boring, when you are doing it and focusing on it you are watching the clock, focusing on your effort and speed which only reminds you how tired you are. The secret is to redirect your focus away from it and let your autopilot take over. To do this I have a rave music playlist I made with the beat and tempo of the music designed to control my speed and effort so I'm peddling to the beat of the music which removes my need to focus on my speed.
I enjoy watching the music videos because it takes my visual attention away from the cardio which prevents me from focusing on myself. I don't have to think about what I'm doing, how fast I'm doing it or how much pain I may feel and I can just enjoy myself. This makes it so every minute I am doing cardio is a joy. I don't look at the clock and think I've got x amount of time I have to do this but rather I have x amount of time I get to keep going. I have no upper time cap so every minute is just fun. I only have to stop when my body starts to complain and I'm not talking muscle fatigue, I mean complain like nausea or cramps.
Initially even if you feel like garbage you keep going because after 20-25 minutes you or at least I, hit a point where the endorphins kick in and the sluggishness, nausea, cramping, etc I felt before I started completely go away and the longer I go the better I start to feel until I am just fucking loving it! The secret is to distract yourself and teach you body how to do it on its own.

1. Blitz Update: One thing I hate about the current Blitz missions is how vague the “Out of bounds” line is. If you circumnavigate any blitz mission, you’re sure to have seen the boundary warning pop up. It’s rather annoying. On normal missions, this is great, and I like the traitor design, but in Blitz, it feels cramped and contrived. I think Blitz missions should take place in deep craters. If the developers give divers an extra 50-100 in-game feet, they could round the edge of the map with a cliff side that encompasses the area. Not only can Helldivers not escape, but there also won’t be any UI pop-ups that you’re moving too far away. Furthermore, enemies could come down from the cliff edge. Imagine things jumping down and Bile Titans walking down and in the crater. The lore could be mining facilities need protection.
   
2. Tunnel Hive Missions: I would love to see giant centipedes come out of the ground holes in bug maps, and an interesting way to incorporate this would be to make those strange holes lead into a web of tunnels that are dark and littered with different cave dwelling bugs like spiders, centipedes etc… The flashlight would be a requirement and the gameplay would be slower qnd more horrific on these missions. If the goal is to locate a massive chamber to destroy the underground hive, players would have to navigate the maze, destroy it, and escape.
   
3. Pitch Black night missions: Leaning on the theme mentioned in the previous Mission suggestion; I would love to see missions that take place at night with totally different enemy types. Think of the movie Pitch Black with Vin Diesel. The devs could create helmets that produce light specific for these missions, flashbangs, etc… Bugs that hate light. If the pelican can only pick you up at the end of a deep canyon, goal could be to bring equipment from one end of the map to the other. Players would have to move the equipment whilst also defending it through the area. Heavy rains make it even harder to see. Remember, picture Pitch Black where they are moving that lit up gear between the canyon. Epic.
   
4. Search and rescue Missions: A Pelican has gone down somewhere on the planet. Two divers must survive in a vague area with no strategems or map. All they have are what the Pelican was carrying when it went down. This would have randomly generated secondary weapons (2 of which can kill Bile Titans), 4 resupplies caches littered on the floor. Each survivor has only one life. The other divers have one life as well and must find the lost divers by going off only what the survivors say is around them. These rescuers have all the options other divers might have.
   
5. A Bug Masterrmind battle. Think Dead Space final boss here. This is a massive creature that takes a long time to kill. Not only does it attack you with deadly accuracy and damage, but it also is constantly receiving help from its children. Ducking under or jumping over tentacles swipes awould be interesting, and if jump packs could be used to ascend closer to its weak points, it would give jump packs a lot more usefulness.