Hey there. I've been dealing with tmj for 2.5 years now. Taking a cocktail of medications like oxycodone and benzos and muscle relaxants to try and ease the pain. Specialist said I need teeth out first; problem is, I can't open my mouth wide enough and it will cost 4000 AUD to pay for simply removing two teeth because 'just in case' it isn't tmj. My GP is confident it's tmj. I'm just so annoyed and need this resolved. I'm also bipolar and that makes things harder as someone's I self harm via tmj because I get angry at my symptoms and feel I get nowhere... just a rant to get off my chest... I hate these addictive medications and just wish someone would cut me open and fix the jaw joint. Sick of hearing popung and cracking everything I eat or talk... hope others are having more success! Would love to hear your stories. I'm Aust. based

Hi all! First off, so glad this sub reddit exists because it was a life saver when I was making decisions on my own ACLr and knowing what to expect from surgery. I'm a 2x cancer surviver, Paramedic, Rugby player, and now have been a caregiver to my partner who just celebrated 3 months from her own ACLr. I collected a bunch of advice and tips and tricks that I have used both during cancer treatment, my own experience with ACLr, and now through care taking my partner through hers. I know there have been guides before, but mine is a bit different and aimed at caregivers so I thought I'd post it here since ya'll helped me so much instead of it just circulating the rugby community every time a teammate or friend has to have ACLr or some other reconstruction. Hope it's allowed and helps!
A Cancer Patients Guide To Knee Reconstruction Recovery
A Comprehensive Guide To Surviving and Thriving In the Pre and Post-op Period Built From The Perspective of Caretaker and Patient.
Before The Date
__/__/____

Preparation

It is important to adequately prepare for surgery in the weeks and days leading up to the procedure. A significant period of immobility and reliance on support can be expected immediately post-op and will vary by procedure and personal experience. Physical modification of living space and thorough preparation allows for the immediate post-op period to be free of emergency store runs and the small inconveniences that can add up to big frustration. Not having food and drink nearby as well as other essentials may be a small deal now, but can turn into a big deal when you can no longer get those things for yourself. While physical preparation (home modifications, adaptive tools, meal prepping, etc.) are important, mental preparation is crucial to the long term success of the repair. Making small, achievable goals in the immediate post-op period and maintaining a long sighted view of recovery will make the pain and immobility that is initially experienced more bearable. Additionally, social support through a partner, family members, or friends is an essential part of recovery, as is maintaining contact with sports teams or other social groups during rehabilitation.

General PEARLs

• Pre-surgical rehab is an essential part of recovery and can improve immediate outcome so if it is a resource available to you- use it!
• Learn the basics of your procedure such as reconstruction technique, graft type, surgeons recovery timeline, where you will do your rehab, and what you should expect going into and coming out of surgery. Knowledge is power and can give a sense of control and set reasonable expectations in a situation that is otherwise out of your control.
• Seek out positive experiences and recovery stories from other people who have had your procedure and gather as much advice as possible from resources such as ACL. Know that some people will have negative experiences, everyone is an individual, and that much of your long term recovery is in your control.
• Expect and learn to advocate for yourself or the person you are taking care of. Be vocal and honest with any needs you may have and understand that issues may come up in the immediate post-operative time that you as a patient or caregiver may have to contact your surgeon to resolve. Familiarize yourself with who to call and when *before* you leave after surgery, as well as being quick to call with any questions or problems that arise. It is better to be told that what you are experiencing is normal than to sit with the anxiety of the unknown.
• Create a folder with all relevant information: Surgeons name, procedure information, follow-up appointment dates and times, phone numbers, emergency contacts, facility of choice in an emergency situation, and any other important information. Maintain this folder throughout your recovery and add paperwork as it comes.

Days Leading Up To Surgery

• Contact support people and confirm any arrangements that have been made including but not limited to: Who is taking you to/from surgery, child or pet care, transportation to first PT appointments, meals, etc.
• Recommended Items we found essential:
  • Ice Machine (Polarcube, etc) if at all possible
    • Recommend checking facebook marketplace or other second hand options, as they cost hundreds new but can be found for $40 or so used.
    • Studies have shown these do actually reduce pain and lend to earlier mobilisation and our experience has shown this to be essential not just immediately post-op but in the weeks and months afterwards so if you *can* obtain one you absolutely should.
  • Large sweatshirt and oversized shorts for surgery day, especially if you wear a bra, as putting clothes on after surgery can be a struggle and it’s easiest to just throw on a sweatshirt and shorts that fit over your post-op bandages and brace.
    • In particular, we found a blanket hoodie to be very useful both for going home and the first few days as it could stay on when moving around/when napping.
  • Neck Pillow
    • Helps with reading or other activities during long hours spent in bed or on the couch and really helped in the first two days to prevent neck strain and provide head positioning during napping.
  • Large pillows for body positioning and elevation of the leg
    • We found cheap, giant, dog beds from places like TJ Max or Marshalls to be more affordable than specialty products
    • A large, thin, dog bed (or blanket) rolled into a tube and secured with stretch bandage or tape around the surgical leg and brace helped significantly with comfort during sleep so that the leg was padded, comfortable, and the other leg didn’t get roughed up from the brace.
  • A shower chair
    • Can be found used at second hand stores like Goodwill, or cheap online
    • Easy substitute is a chair covered in a trash bag
    • Allowed showering the second day post-op which was a huge mental boost and relieved physical discomfort and achy muscles
  • Extra large leg cast cover
    • Can be found cheap online
    • Placed around outside of brace covering the entire leg initially, we then found it easier to place on the leg and place the brace outside of the cover for the remaining healing period for the incisions: We did this after the first PT appointment when it was safe to take off the brace for short periods while laying down. We acquired a second post op brace from a friend (you can find on eBay for cheap) and it was amazing to have, as we could let it dry after showering and immediately put her post op brace back on.
  • Foldable stool
    • Great for elevating the leg during transfers, while on the toilet, etc.
  • Lap Desk
    • Great for eating on the couch or in bed, but we also found it useful as a side table for holding drinks/meds/remotes/books that could be taken to whatever room they landed in at the time
    • A small table works as well, really just anything that can be used to set things on within arms reach
  • Assortment of sodas, water, seltzers, snacks, etc.
    • There is no way to know what you will want and when, but when you want it it’s nice to *have* it available
    • Appetite often decreases after surgery so make sure to have favourites on hand so that when you *are* hungry you have it immediately before your body changes its mind
  • A big bucket
    • We used a soft plastic beach type bucket from the dollar store, it was extremely useful to have to put small items in, a small towel, a spare water bottle, extra meds, baby wipes, etc.
    • Also doubled as an emergency puke bucket, as you never know when a sudden bout of nausea might hit in the first day or two after surgery
  • Extra reusable ice packs and bags of ice
    • Your home ice maker will not be able to keep up with the demands of constant icing the first week or so
    • Reusable ones are great for ‘hot spots’ and short trips where you can’t take the ice machine
  • Extra steri-strips and assortment of bandages
    • Sometimes there’s extra leakage, sometimes your steri-strips come off and you need to slap a new one on, sometimes you’re allergic to the ones they put on you at the hospital. Always consult a medical professional, but it’s handy to have these on hand just in case.
    • We also used a bulky padded bandaid to keep the brace off the healing incisions once the large post-op dressing was taken off which helped immensely.
  • Compression sleeves
    • Aside from helping with swelling these also provided a layer of protection under the post-op brace
    • We found cheap ones at Wal-Mart (copper brand) but also just bought a cheap pair of leggings a size down and cut off one of the legs to use before getting a more expensive one once swelling had fully subsided after a few weeks. Your leg will change so cheap works great at first, then you can get something a bit more substantial when you know what you’ll need long term. Now she wears high compression socks to sleep 3 months out.
  • Slide on shoes
    • Self explanatory, bending down to put on shoes becomes a chore after surgery. Avoid flip flops or other styles that can become a trip hazard.
  • Baby Wipes/Dude Wipes/etc.
    • Wiping down after you get home from surgery can help prevent that icky feeling and restore some sense of normalcy, then can be used over the next few days before you can shower more normally
  • Lotion and chapstick
    • Hospitals dry out your skin big time, and lips are often cracked post surgery from intubation/LMA placement
  • Small, easily labelled tupperware containers
    • Regular pill containers are too small to hold pain meds, OTC pain meds, anticoagulants such as aspirin, supplements, and edibles or other small things you take with your medication. We got small tupperware boxes with lids from the dollar store.
    • We found it very convenient to have six sets of meds set up and labelled with times which meant we never missed doses and could leave the next dose of meds at bedside, take them with us when going to appointments, and keep up with what had been given and when.
  • Small notebook to record med times and other important information
  • Two extra changes of clothes already setup and ready to go
  • Compression device
    • We are athletes so we already had leg compression sleeves but these days off brand versions can be bought online cheap. Studies have shown these lead to reduced pain, increased mobilisation, reduced the chance of blood clots, and there is even some evidence they help with bone healing.
    • We used it 3 days post op and beyond and her range of motion was significantly improved after the first time.
  • A yoga strap
    • Excellent for strapping to the brace and moving the surgical leg
• If possible, pick up post-op medications prior to surgery to prevent any unexpected delay in obtaining them. If this is not possible, verify that the prescription can be filled the day of the surgery by your selected pharmacy and that it has been filled prior to leaving after your surgery. Controlled substances cannot be transferred to another pharmacy without a new prescription sent directly from the provider. You do not want to be trying to get in contact with a physician in the hours after surgery, unable to manage pain, before the pharmacies close for the night.
• Do a thorough clean of your living area, it will make the time after surgery when you cannot independently do normal activities more bearable and a neat organised space is easier to function in when your body is not cooperating. Take special attention to removing tripping hazards and clearing a wide path from wherever you plan to spend your recovery and the bathroom.
• Plan to spend the first couple of days in one spot and on one floor and set up that area the day before surgery. If you have a downstairs bathroom a floor mattress or well setup couch can be your landing pad until you are more mobile and is the easiest during the immediate post-op period. That being said, if you don’t, it’s easier to get upstairs by sliding up on your bum immediately post-op when your pain is still well controlled than realise that you have no bathroom downstairs a few hours later when the pain has started to set in. Wherever you intend to land, plan on staying there at least a couple of days and bring all your supplies to that area. Plan to lay with your surgical leg on the outside of what you are laying on, this makes transferring easier.
• Have your recovery bed setup the day before surgery and prepared for when you return before you leave the day of, including blankets and your supply table setup.
• Meal prep, whether that means cooking or getting easy to make microwave meals is up to you. You won’t feel like cooking and neither will your caretaker the first few days. High protein, easy to eat meals are key! We had chicken and broccoli casserole, egg and sausage frittata, and lots of applesauce the first few days and it was a lifesaver not to have to think about meals.
• Spend some time mentally preparing for the long haul of recovery and make long term plans that fit within your timeline. For example, we planned to attend a rugby game five days after surgery *but* planned nothing else for that day and the next day. We also planned hiking trips the next fall, and other events appropriate for her timeline along the way that could be looked forward to and keep up morale. Remember that this is temporary and that it is okay to be recovering and resting, expect hard moments and days but keep things planned so you don’t get stuck in those down places.
• Eat your favourite meal and eat well the day before surgery. Your body needs fuel to recover and fasting the day of surgery sucks. As weird as it sounds, after multiple surgeries, the pre-surgery night meal of whatever I want is one shiny thing in a crappy situation to hold on to.
• Plan for what you want your first meal to be and consider making a playlist for the ride to and from surgery. Small things, again, help maintain a sense of control and comfort in a situation where you are largely out of control and these things can be done with friends or support people in the days leading up to reduce anxiety and pass time.
• Hit the gym, take a walk, do a hike, visit places or do things you enjoy but won’t be able to do in immediate recovery! We took my partners knee to one last tournament before her surgery, it helped pass time and kept spirits high.

Day Of And Immediate Post-Surgery Phase

• Maintain fasting starting at whatever hour you are told. Some people can drink clear liquids up to a certain point, others are completely nothing by mouth. Your instructions will guide you on this.
• Before leaving home double check that everything is set up how you need it and place a blanket, pillow, drink, and snack of choice in the car. You may or may not need it but if you do it is important to have. Make sure your ice packs are in the freezer ready to go!
• Bring your own post-op snack if you are picky or have food allergies, otherwise you’re stuck with whatever graham cracker and applesauce combo the facility gives you.
• Go with the flow, or as I always say “surrender”. Feel what you feel, have a cry in the car before you go in, listen to your playlist, bring your blanket or other comfort items into pre-op, tell your support person what’s going through your mind, tell your pre-op staff how you’re doing, ask all the questions, and most importantly just do what you have to do. For some people surgery can be overwhelming and the loss of control frightening, but fighting only makes it worse, so whatever you are just be it. I’m pre-op pacer myself, but some people just snuggle up under some warm blankets and wait. Either way, just let the waves take you where they go and know you’re along for the ride. Remember that future you with a healthy joint thanks you for what you’re doing today.
• Speak frankly with your anesthesiologist and utilise any pain control or anxiety control options given to you. There is no award for least meds taken or toughest patient of the day. If a nerve block is available, know that you can request sedation for its placement, and utilise that option if at all possible.
• Caregivers should bring something to keep them entertained and be prepared for a long period without update once surgery has started. Honour your feelings as well, it can be tough to watch someone you care about go through this! Consider having someone to act as a support person for you as well through text or phone, that way you can divert your own worries or struggles to them and away from the person having surgery while still making sure you are also taken care of.
• Make sure that pain is well controlled before leaving after surgery. You have more options there than you will at home and getting things under control once pain has become unbearable can be very difficult.
• Make sure you note when the next dose of medication is due, what medication they should be taking, and write it down.
• Double check contacts from your surgeons office and add any post op paperwork to your folder in case you need the information later.
• If your post-op meal requires picking up, or your prescription, try and do that immediately after leaving surgery even if you are not hungry yet. This is the most comfortable you will be for a while and your support person will be unable to leave for at least that day and night. I have been known to peruse the big gas station after surgery in search of snacks, my partner however simply waved to the nice people at the drive through and napped the rest of the way home before eating some hours later.
• Once you get home crash wherever you plan on spending the rest of the time. Don’t have friends or family over that first day. Just go ahead and sleep through the rest of the anaesthesia and get comfortable.
• Try and keep your home cool, and consider keeping the room dim for the first few hours if not days. Sleep is precious and pain meds can make you hot, and getting hot can lead to nausea. It is better to have the home cool and the person snuggled under blankets and comfortable than be trying to cool someone down who just had surgery and got too hot and is now dizzy, nauseous, and miserable. The least stimulation for the first little while the better, and naps will happen throughout the rest of the day and over the next few days. A cool, dim place lets this happen much easier than a bright, warm place where they might be overstimulated or awakened by noise or activity.
• If allowed, try and activate the quad muscle immediately after returning home and once every few hours by having them squeeze it and feeling for contraction while in the brace. Some people will be able to begin range of motion exercises immediately and if so, make sure to do them as soon as allowed even if that means just helping them by doing gentle manual range of motion movements in the brace.
• If it’s not already on, begin continuous icing as soon as you come out of surgery either by meticulously timing the replacement of ice packs or with the ice machine. Make sure to check the ice machine, replace ice as often as needed, and keep it on *continuously* for the next few days. For us this meant I checked it at every medication dose throughout the night and added ice during that time as well. We went through frozen mini water bottles and bags of ice like crazy the first week.
• Elevate the surgical leg as high as possible, placing support under the heel and calf but not directly under the knee to promote extension and prevent more headaches with gaining range of motion later on.
  • We found that icepacks directly under the knee helped tremendously with the discomfort associated with this.
• Anticipate that bathroom trips will not be fun or easy and take them extremely slow. As a caregiver allow the person to guide you on what they need and don’t need your help with and avoid grabbing or moving someone unexpectedly. Standing, acclimating to being upright, and then proceeding to the bathroom is the best way to do things and rushing will only result in frustration for both of you. A rolling chair or wheelchair can be helpful, but for some people standing up and sitting down is harder than just moving on to the bathroom. Pay attention as a caregiver and know that it is possible they may need your help getting off the toilet or back from the bathroom so be close by and available should that happen. For the first few days do not lock the bathroom door in case of an emergency.
• Place chairs or things to sit on around your path to the bathroom, kitchen, etc. And consider a small backpack or using a rolling chair to carry items around the house.
• Once you know when your next dose is, set alarms for each time your doses are due. If using the med boxes this makes doing meds and keeping track very easy, as they are each labelled with a time and all we had to do was open the box and take the meds instead of finding each bottle and dosing each med individually each time. As the days went on we were able to re-label and time the boxes as needed and remove meds as needed or adapt to what was needed when sleeping or up during the day.
  • For example day 1 would look like:
    • First post-op doses at 4pm box: 250mg tylenol, 10mg oxycodone, 5mg edible.
    • 8pm box: 250mg tylenol, 10mg oxycodone, 800mg ibuprofen, 10mg edible, 12.5mg diphenhydramine (itching and sleep), stool softener, and regular night time meds.
    • Midnight box: 250mg tylenol, 5mg oxycodone, 5mg edible.
    • 4AM: 250mg tylenol, 5mg oxycodone, 800mg ibuprofen, edible (if nauseas or restless).
    • 8AM box (preparing to get up): 250mg tylenol, 10mg oxycodone, 5mg edible, aspirin, stool softener, normal morning meds.
    • 12pm: 250mg tylenol, 10mg oxycodone, 5mg edible, 800mg ibuprofen.
    • Repeated on time, reducing pain med dose as tolerable, and refilling boxes 1x a day.
• If possible do scheduled tylenol (paracetamol) and ibuprofen (or another NSAID), alternating them on the dosing schedule, and take them religiously even through the night. This also goes for additional pain medications, which you will also need to wake to take through the night if you are prescribed for at least the first night.
• Staying on schedule might mean waking up in the night, but it’s better to be awoken to take meds than to wake up in pain and spend several hours trying to get it under control. You may find you seldom need them if your nerve block is in place, or you may just not need very much at all during your recovery. It is easier to trial run this after the first day by stretching out the time between doses from 4 to 6 to 8 and then potentially off entirely, but everyone will have their preferences.
• Eat a small snack with every med dose and keep emergency meds (extra pain med doses, nausea meds, etc.) at bedside as well as the next set of meds due so they can be taken when it is time.
• We found that edibles were a great addition to pain and nausea control after surgery. There are medication options available and having at least one option for nausea is advisable for the first few days after surgery when anaesthesia and medication can really make you want to puke.
• Expect absolutely nothing in the first few days post-op. Some people will feel well enough to move around, others will not be able to do anything but get up to use the bathroom. Expecting nothing is better than expecting more and being disappointed or frustrated. I would highly suggest not making plans until your first follow up 7 or so days after surgery.
• Be obsessive about icing, meds, any PT you have been given, and keeping track of appointments. Give yourself the best start to your recovery that you can and you will thank yourself later!

DAY: MAY 7 2024
​

• 5-7-2024AI PRODUCTS FOR KIDS PROMISING FRIENDSHIP AND LEARNING: THREE THINGS TO CONSIDER Smart toys with internet connections and AI-enabled robots, with capacities for sophisticated social interactions with children, are widely available today. This is no doubt driven by rapid development in Artificial Intelligence, with impacts being widely felt. Companies are looking to enhance productivity and revenue, while governments are considering safety measures in their AI strategies.
• 5-7-2024COULD GETTING ENOUGH SLEEP HELP PREVENT OSTEOPOROSIS? following a ?21-day at-home preadmittance phase of a 10-hour sleep opportunity per night. Initial in-laboratory sleep opportunities (“Sleep Satiation”) were 16 h/d (12 h/night with 4-hour nap midday) followed by 10 h/d to ensure participants had no sleep debt at the time of baseline 24-hour sampling ). Forced desynchrony protocol (“Sleep Restriction + Circadian Disruption”) was then initiated in which participants lived on a 28-hour day for approximately
• 5-7-2024EXPLORING THE MYTHS, HEALTH BENEFITS OF PLANT-BASED DIET More and more of my friends are following the plant-based diet trend. Is that the same as going vegan? Is it healthy for you? What can I actually eat? ANSWER: Plant-based foods go beyond a “boring salad.” With a whole-food plant-based diet, we focus on eating foods that are primarily coming from plants and that occur in their natural state.
• 5-7-2024THE PROS AND CONS OF DAILY CAFFEINE INTAKE caffeine should be ingested in moderation and with caution. Whether it’s brewing a cup of coffee at home, ordering a specialty $6 latte from a local coffee shop or cracking open a Red Bull on the way to the gym, the consensus is clear: The prevalence of the caffeinated beverage industry continues to grow.
• 5-7-2024WHY DO LOVED ONES WITH DEMENTIA SOMETIMES ‘COME BACK’ BEFORE DEATH? Dementia is often described as “the long goodbye.” Although the person is still alive, dementia slowly and irreversibly chips away at their memories and the qualities that make someone “them.” Dementia eventually takes away the person’s ability to communicate, eat and drink on their own, understand where they are, and recognize family members.
• 5-7-2024PARENTS’ WATCHFUL EYE MAY KEEP YOUNG TEENS FROM TRYING ALCOHOL, DRUGS: STUDY Teenagers are less likely to drink, smoke or use drugs when their parents keep tabs on their activities—but not necessarily because kids are more likely to be punished for substance use, suggests a new study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Researchers found that contrary to common belief, parents’ “monitoring” does not seem to boost the odds of catching their kids using substances.
• 5-7-2024CANNABIS, NICOTINE USE DURING PREGNANCY FOUND TO INCREASE RATE OF INFANT DEATH FOURFOLD With half of individuals who use cannabis in pregnancy also using tobacco or nicotine products, OHSU researchers report that combined cannabis and nicotine use during pregnancy is associated with significantly higher risk of poor health outcomes for newborns compared with use of either substance alone.
• 5-7-2024YOU’RE PROBABLY NOT ALLERGIC TO PENICILLIN, EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU ARE If you’re one of the millions of Americans who have a penicillin allergy listed on your medical record, research suggests it’s highly likely that this label is inaccurate. Having a penicillin allergy label matters, as it can have a significant impact on patient care. For many people, it has resulted in higher costs for antibiotics, delays in getting care, and longer hospital stays.
• 5-7-2024ALMOST ALL COUNTERFEIT OXYCONTIN PILLS CONTAIN FENTANYL, FINDS STUDY Lab tests of counterfeit oxycodone (Oxycontin) pills seized by police in Rhode Island in 2022 found 99.3% also contained dangerous fentanyl. It was typically mixed with another potentially deadly drug, xylazine. Both drugs make overdose more likely and more fatal, experts note.
• 5-7-2024PLANTERS PEANUT PRODUCTS UNDER RECALL DUE TO LISTERIA RISK Planters peanut products sold at Publix and Dollar Tree in five states are being recalled due to the risk of Listeria contamination, maker Hormel announced. So far, there have been no reports of illness linked to the recalled products
• 5-7-2024STUDY FINDS AI IS AS GOOD AS A PHYSICIAN AT PRIORITIZING WHICH PATIENTS NEED TO BE SEEN FIRST Emergency departments nationwide are overcrowded and overtaxed, but a new study suggests artificial intelligence (AI) could one day help prioritize which patients need treatment most urgently. Using anonymized records of 251,000 adult emergency department (ED) visits, researchers at UC San Francisco evaluated how well an AI model was able to extract symptoms from patients’ clinical notes to determine their need to be treated immediately.
• 5-7-2024RESEARCHERS DEVELOP REMINDER SYSTEM TO ENHANCE MEMORY RECALL We first fitted context maintenance and retrieval to pilot data to obtain a parameter set ? that could capture pilot participants’ free-recall patterns. We preregistered these parameters and then used them in our live experiment in combination with the experimental participants’ recalls to predict post-cue recall behavior, that is, demonstrating the ability of the model to generalize over (1) a different group of subjects and (2) a different period of recall.
• 5-7-2024BIOMARKER FOUND TO HELP IDENTIFY CELLS THAT CAN REPAIR DAMAGED BLOOD VESSELS Researchers have discovered a protein marker to help identify cells able to repopulate in patients with damaged blood vessels. Their findings, recently published in Circulation, could lead to new therapies for people with endothelial dysfunction, a type of disorder that contributes to coronary artery disease
• 5-7-2024THE INTERACTION OF ENDOREPELLIN AND NEUREXIN TRIGGERS NEUROEPITHELIAL AUTOPHAGY AND MAINTAINS NEURAL TUBE DEVELOPMENT Through the endocytic pathway, the interaction of endorepellin and Neurexin physiologically triggers autophagy and appropriately modulates the differentiation of neural stem cells into neurons as a blocker, which is necessary for normal neural tube closure.
• 5-7-2024SAFEGUARDING MATERNAL AND FETAL HEALTH IN EMERGENCY AGITATION TREATMENT A recent review article provides critical insights into the management of acute agitation in reproductive-age females and during pregnancy within the emergency departments (EDs). The study emphasizes the importance of considering the safety of psychotropic medications in this demographic population
• 5-7-2024SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE PUTS STRAIN ON YOUNG HEARTS, STUDY SHOWS Sedentary lifestyle puts strain on young hearts. According to a recent Finnish study, high levels of sedentary behavior and physical inactivity from childhood strain the heart in adolescence. High cardiac workload predicts heart failure and other heart diseases. In light of the findings, increasing moderate and vigorous physical activity from childhood onwards is particularly important in preventing heart diseases.
• 5-7-2024STUDY FINDS OBSTACLES TO ALCOHOL, DRUG TREATMENT HIGHER FOR RURAL AMERICANS Rural Americans are less likely to initiate care for substance use disorders and to receive ongoing care compared with those who live in urban areas, according to a new study. When they do access care, people who live in less populated areas are more likely to have to go outside their provider network to receive treatment
• 5-7-2024HOW TP53 GENE LOSS DRIVES GASTRIC CANCER EVOLUTION TP53 inactivation initiates ordered genomic evolution. This model allows for simultaneously monitoring TP53 status, genome evolution, and cellular phenotypes in vivo.
• 5-7-2024TELEHEALTH PROGRAM CREATED TO IMPROVE ACCESS TO SPECIALTY CARE FOUND TO REDUCE RELIANCE ON OPIOIDS IN PAIN MANAGEMENT More Americans suffer from chronic pain than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. Yet, a shortage of pain medicine specialists persists, causing many pain sufferers to seek care in primary care settings.
• 5-7-2024ROBOTIC TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT IMPROVES OUTCOMES BUT COSTS MORE, FINDS STUDY using robotic equipment in total knee replacement surgeries often costs more but may result in better outcomes for some patients. Total knee replacements performed with the help of a surgical robot have better outcomes on average than similar surgeries performed manually but can cost significantly more
• 5-7-2024NEW PET AGENT PROVIDES SAME-DAY IMAGING FOR CLEAR CELL RENAL CELL CARCINOMA PATIENTS A novel investigational PET imaging agent can rapidly and accurately visualize lesions in clear cell renal cell cancer (ccRCC) patients . The results of the study suggest that the agent 68Ga-DPI-4452 (Debio 0328) is superior to standard CT imaging in the context of ccRCC.
• 5-7-2024RESEARCH SHOWS ALTERED REGULATION OF GENES LINKED TO PROSTATE CANCER AMONG FIREFIGHTERS Firefighters may have an increased risk of prostate cancer due to on-the-job chemical exposures. Prostate cancer is the leading incident cancer among U.S. males. Firefighters are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a rate 1.21 times higher than the general population, possibly because of chemical exposures including smoke and firefighting foam
• 5-7-2024IF CESAREAN BIRTH RATES ARE TOO HIGH—THEY CAN BE DANGEROUS FOR MOTHERS AND BABIES Cesarean sections are essential in complicated labors such as prolonged or obstructed labor or if the baby is distressed. The World Health Organization says that while “every effort should be made to provide a cesarean section to women in need,” country cesarean rates should range between 10% and 15%.
• 5-7-2024RESEARCHERS USE FOUNDATION MODELS TO DISCOVER NEW CANCER IMAGING BIOMARKERS Researchers at Mass General Brigham have harnessed the technology behind foundation models, which power tools like ChatGPT, to discover new cancer imaging biomarkers that could transform how patterns are identified from radiological images. Improved identification of such patterns can greatly impact the early detection and treatment of cancer.
• 5-7-2024RESEARCHERS MAKE STRIDES IN UNDERSTANDING LITTLE-KNOWN AUTOIMMUNE MYELIN-IMPAIRING DISORDER Blindness and paralysis are often the devastating consequences of little-known disease myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD). An Australian research collaboration is looking to change this,
• 5-7-2024AI MAY HELP PHYSICIANS DETECT ABNORMAL HEART RHYTHMS EARLIER An artificial intelligence program developed by investigators in the Smidt Heart Institute and their Cedars-Sinai colleagues can detect a type of abnormal heart rhythm that can go unnoticed during medical appointments, according to a new study.
  
• 5-7-2024NEW ANALYSIS LINKS RESIDENT PHYSICIANS’ EXAM SCORES TO PATIENT SURVIVAL
  
• 5-7-2024ENGINEERED YEAST CAN TRANSPORT MEDICINES AND LOWER INFLAMMATION
  
• 5-7-2024NEW GENETIC MUTATION IDENTIFIED FOR CONGENITAL THYROID CONDITION
  
• 5-7-2024WHO RULES THE ROOST? RESEARCH REVEALS TOTS PLAY KEY ROLE IN SHAPING THE HOME ENVIRONMENT
  
• 5-7-2024ANTI-LGBTQ+ RESTRICTIONS AND LEGISLATION LINKED TO HOST OF NEGATIVE HEALTH EFFECTS
  
• 5-7-2024MOUSE STUDY SHOWS INTERMITTENT FASTING PROTECTS AGAINST LIVER INFLAMMATION AND LIVER CANCER
  
• 5-7-2024USING AI AND SOCIAL MEDIA TO TRACK DEPRESSION IN COMMUNITIES COULD OFFER MORE RELIABLE ASSESSMENTS THAN SURVEYS
  
• 5-7-2024TRANSFECTED SARS-COV-2 SPIKE DNA SUPPRESSES CANCER CELL RESPONSE TO CHEMOTHERAPY
  
• 5-7-2024HORMEL RECALLS PLANTERS PEANUTS AND MIXED NUTS DUE TO POSSIBLE CONTAMINATION WITH DEADLY LISTERIA
  
• 5-7-2024GROUP-BASED INTERVENTIONS ADDRESS HIV STIGMA
  
• 5-7-2024METH HOUSES: TIME FOR MORE TESTING?
  
• 5-7-2024STUDY COMPARES VESTIBULAR ENDOLYMPHATIC HYDROPS GRADING METHODS IN MENIERE DISEASE
  
• 5-7-2024RECREATIONAL ULTRAVIOLET USE TIED TO CASES OF PHOTOKERATITIS
  
• 5-7-2024BIOMARKERS + PATIENT-REPORTED OUTCOMES UP PREDICTION OF INTERSTITIAL CYSTITIS
  
• 5-7-2024STUDY FINDS GENETIC LINK BETWEEN GROWTH DURING PUBERTY AND LONG-TERM HEALTH CONDITIONS
  
• 5-7-2024US GEOGRAPHIC REGION RESULTS IN VASTLY DIFFERENT ANAL CANCER RISK FOR PEOPLE WITH HIV
  
• 5-7-2024STUDY REPORTS ON INFLAMMATORY, METABOLIC BIOMARKERS AND ACCELERATED AGING IN CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION PATIENTS
  
• 5-7-2024PHYSICIAN DISCUSSES UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF PATIENTS HAVING IMMEDIATE ACCESS TO TEST RESULTS
  
• 5-7-2024YEARS AFTER HIS DEATH, LATE SCIENTIST’S WORK COULD YIELD NEW CANCER TREATMENTS
  
• 5-7-2024RESEARCH SHOWS FETAL EAR SHAPE MAY INDICATE RARE GENETIC CONDITION
  
• 5-7-2024FUTURE RESEARCH ON BLADDER CANCER SHOULD FOCUS ON MECHANICAL CHANGES IN TISSUE, SUGGEST STUDY
  
• 5-7-2024STUDY SHOWS 60% OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES VIEW CANNABIS AS A ‘HARMLESS’ DRUG
  
• 5-7-2024NEW STUDY FINDS INCREASE IN EXPOSURES TO SYNTHETIC TETRAHYDROCANNABINOLS AMONG YOUNG CHILDREN, TEENS, AND ADULTS
  
• 5-7-2024EXAMINING CARE AND COVERAGE IN ACADEMIC HEALTH SYSTEMS
  
• 5-7-2024LONELINESS COMMON AMONG OLDER INFORMAL CAREGIVERS, SAYS REPORT
  
• 5-7-2024LIGHT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY REVERSES RISK, STUDY SHOWS
  
• 5-7-2024SMALL PUMP FOR KIDS AWAITING HEART TRANSPLANT SHOWS PROMISE IN NEW TRIAL
  
• 5-7-2024DOPPLER ULTRASOUND FEASIBLE FOR FIRST-LINE DIAGNOSIS OF GIANT CELL ARTERITIS
  
• 5-7-2024CALIFORNIA DEFICIT COULD HALT RAISES FOR DISABILITY WORKERS
  
• 5-7-2024YOU’RE BREATHING POTENTIAL CARCINOGENS INSIDE YOUR CAR, SAYS STUDY
  
• 5-7-2024WHY SLEEP SOOTHES DISTRESS: NEUROBIOLOGY EXPLAINED
  
• 5-7-2024RESEARCHERS REPORT EXCEPTIONALLY SMALL IMPLANT FOR FUTURE VISION CORRECTION
  
• 5-7-2024RESEARCHERS DEMONSTRATE A NEW MECHANISM OF NEURAL PLASTICITY UNDERLYING LEARNING AND MEMORY PROCESSES
  
• 5-7-2024ION CHANNEL DISCOVERY OFFERS HOPE FOR LONG COVID PATIENTS
  
• 5-7-2024STUDY SHOWS THAT THE CEREBELLUM IS INVOLVED IN PROCESSING EMOTIONS, WITH IMPLICATIONS FOR ATAXIA CARE
  
• 5-7-2024STUDY IDENTIFIES SIGNIFIERS OF SEVERE COVID-19 DISEASE AND DEATH
  
• 5-7-2024RESEARCHERS SUGGEST B-CELLS MAY PLAY ROLE IN LUNG TRANSPLANT REJECTION
  
• 5-7-2024STUDY HIGHLIGHTS OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS IN NEWBORNS WITH SUSPECTED SEPSIS
  
• 5-7-2024THREE-DIMENSIONAL RETINAL ELECTRODES IN A CONVEX BRAILLE SHAPE PARTIALLY RESTORE SIGHT
  
• 5-7-2024KEY ROLE FOUND FOR GUT EPITHELIAL CELLS IN THE DEFENSE AGAINST DEADLY DIARRHEAL INFECTIONS
  
• 5-7-2024CELLULAR STUDY OF SCHAAF-YANG SYNDROME OFFERS BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF A RARE DISEASE THAT CAUSES INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY
  
• 5-7-2024GUT BACTERIA METABOLITE SHOWS PROMISE IN FIGHTING INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE
  
• 5-7-2024SEEKING MEDICAL INSIGHTS IN THE PHYSICS OF MUCUS
  
• 5-7-2024PROGRESSION OF HERPESVIRUS INFECTION REMODELS MITOCHONDRIAL ORGANIZATION AND METABOLISM
  
• 5-7-2024AI PREDICTS TUMOR-KILLING CELLS WITH HIGH ACCURACY, STUDY SHOWS
  
• 5-7-2024HOW THE NURSING SHORTAGE IS AFFECTING THE CANADIAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, PATIENTS AND NURSES THEMSELVES
  
• 5-7-2024HOW THE DRUG ABEMACICLIB TREATS BREAST CANCER
  

Over the last ~3 years our area has been having an issue with a known pill mill provider, we will call Mr. Frank. Mr. Frank is a Nurse Practitioner (with a degree from the online for-profit university) who has a felony conviction for 3rd degree assault that was plead down from child abuse charge in which he nearly killed his four month old daughter. Here's a lovely excerpt the judge wrote in his subsequent divorce proceedings:
See the [REDACTED] Complaint, which provides that the treating physician’s medical assessment concluded that the reported fall did not account for severity of the child’s injury, which resulted in a subdural hematoma and cerebral edema which required the child to undergo a craniotomy.
Since his conviction, no reasonable employer will hire him- as a result he was forced to start his own practice where he began charging $400 cash for oxycodone prescriptions, for which I still have a picture of from his website before he changed it. Mr. Frank began to try and bully us in Feb 2022 after my manager and I refused to fill a prescription of oxycodone 15mg for one of his "patients". He called back and asked to speak to another manager, and then faxed us some bogus liability workup that he clearly has sent to other pharmacies before us. I began to do research and learned all of the above, as well as his surescripts eprescribing had sent prescriptions for promethazine syrup (no codeine) and sildeanfil (viagra) for fictitious patients. About this same time, surescripts sent out an email stating they inactivated his SPI to investigate suspicious or fraudulent activity. (He would later state that he requested this himself as his account was hacked). I partially believe this, but it was probably done by his employee or a patient as I'm pretty sure all Electronically prescribed controlled substances (ECPS) software suites require 2 factor authentication. I talked to other pharmacists in the area and concluded that we all felt the same way that this operation was suspicious at the least, and most likely illegal. We found other reasons based on old opiate prescribing guidelines from 2018 to refuse to dispense (based on him giving everyone more than 50mMeq daily). Those guidelines were revamped shortly after I was sued in 2022 and that particular part is no longer relevant. Another nearby pharmacist also stated Mr. Frank was having a personal bodyguard pick up prescriptions for his 'patients'. I also discovered that a person who had a prior conviction for obtaining a controlled substance by fraud or deceit and attempted to pass a fake prescription for a different provider two years earlier at our pharmacy was getting oxycodone from him- (fun fact, he was confronted about this 'patient' and still is seeing them).
​
In March 2022 he sent another prescription for oxycodone for a different patient that we refused to dispense for the same reasons as before. On about March 9 or 10, he called to bully us into filling it, and I confronted him that I didn't feel comfortable dispensing oxycodone for a cash only clinic. He started saying I was making false accusations about his practice. Getting upset about being repeatedly called a liar, I told him we knew that he was a pill mill, and that he is a felon, and asked if he informed the board of that as is required. He responded with "yes I've been through this with them; I've reported dozens of pharmacists like you to the board of pharmacy-" "...well I reported you to the DEA, the Board of Nursing, and the local police department, hopefully it goes better for you than it did for this other pill mill provider or your child abuse charges". He responded with "Don't you ever fucking talk about me or my kid[s] again". I said "Did you just threaten me? I think we're done here" and hung up. I immediately notified my pharmacy manager (who was on the same page as I was) and my pharmacy supervisor. I was as transparent as possible with the whole series of events. He filed corporate complaints against me with [FORMER EMPLOYER] and with the board of pharmacy. When he requested a call back from the supervisor, Chris (pharmacist supervisor) stated he was threatening to sue us for defamation, but to not worry about it and just let my manager handle him in the future. By this point my manager and I had to speak with a BOP investigator, who said they were more than familiar with Mr. Frank and other pharmacists were dealing with similar issues. I had communicated with an assistant general counsel for [FORMER EMPLOYER] about my statement for the board of pharmacy, and the events as I recalled them (late March/ early April). at 6pm on Thursday, April 14th, 2022 my wife was served a summons and complaint at our home that I was being sued by Mr. Frank for defamation and tortious interference. I notified my supervisor immediately, and faxed the summons and complaint to the company's assistant general counsel as I was subsequently instructed. I told them I had intended to use the company counsel to tender my defense and that they would reach out to me. In a text message exchange with my brother, who is a patent attorney, he suggested I not use the company's counsel because they would throw me under the bus if it was convenient for them. I did not listen. On Tuesday, after my shift had ended I was walked back to the store director's office, sat in front of an HR supervisor I've never met, the director, Chris. They asked what I said to Mr. Frank was accurate from the complaint i submitted to the board of nursing. I said it was, then I was told "we have to part ways, at least for now..." and terminated. TWO BUSINESS DAYS after I was served.
The summons and complaint were full of incredible inaccuracies, grammatical errors, spelling errors, and lies. Plaintiff stated he was not a felon, and that I was defaming him by telling other pharmacists that he was. IT IS CLEARLY EVIDENT FROM THE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATABASES HE PLEAD GUILTY TO A FELONY CHARGE. I found a private attorney who specializes in litigation who is well qualified and trust to the tune of $350/hr, which is actually a good rate for his level of experience and below average rate in this market. I applied for unemployment and went on a job hunting spree. I ended up 6 weeks later signing with [Big Chain Pharmacy] for a large signing bonus to fill my 'Warchest' after not being able to find any offers outside of retail pharmacy. My unemployment was contested by [FORMER EMPLOYER], and later declined by a judge when I appealed it. The store director argued he was the only one with the power to terminate me and he was uninformed of my conversation with Mr. Frank. Had I been better prepared, I believe I would have won as I believe his claim to be a flagrant lie: any time someone makes a corporate complaint it goes straight to the store director's email inbox.
Back at my new job, I spoke with other pharmacists in the company and relayed my experience and many were familiar with Mr. Frank. Apparently he went into a store to harass pharmacy staff for refusing to fill his prescriptions. After coordinating with a few others, we submitted a request to have a narcotic prescriber block against him within the company. After 2 weeks, we were notified that he would no longer be able to have controlled substance prescriptions dispensed by our company. A 60 day grace period would be given and mail would be sent to him and his 'patients' so they could make other arrangements. In the fall, I was interviewed over zoom with the state AG office with respect to my complaint, and after being in contact with a few local DEA Drug Diversion Task Force agents. The DEA agents stated their supervisor has a mantra of not taking action against providers/professionals until after their respective board hands down disciplinary action. A little later, I was notified the Board of Pharmacy complaint filed against me was dismissed.
I went through discovery and was deposed and after a little over a year, they withdrew their case with prejudice. The reason: plaintiff says I was defaming him by saying he was going over 50mMeq daily for all his patients. We said we would need patient information to confirm or deny that, and would need a protective order, to which his attorney agreed. Plaintiff refused to provide that information, citing HIPAA. We went to the judge and got an order to compel, which the judge agreed with. The deadline passed, and they did not provide the information (likely knowing it would immediately get handed over to the state AG's office). We went back to the judge who stated if they did not comply the court would look upon motions for sanctions and attorney's fees favorably. They continued to not comply, to which his attorney only said "i know, I'm sorry". They withdrew the case with prejudice before we were able to depose him. However, we were able to subpoena the county records in which he pleaded guilty to a felony and the board of pharmacy complaints he filed against other pharmacists and pharmacies (there were 15 in all by this time, some of which predated my involvement).
After this, I had to deal with getting my now $75,000 in legal fees back from [FORMER EMPLOYER]. Their attorneys were giddy that [FORMER EMPLOYER] was going to send their general counsel on a plane to be present for mediation. Because of this, my brother spent $2500 on a round trip flight to be present at mediation, because "this is what I'm good at". The Sunday before mediation we learned that general counsel wouldn't be there. In fact, nobody would other than their lawyers, and they had one of their attorneys who then had him available by phone. For some backstory, their VP of legal affairs and general counsel was THE FORMER CEO'S SON, who was given that position that usually requires a decade plus of experience at the age of like 32... My brother was pissed, he couldn't comp his ticket because he was co-counsel strictly to be in the fold and have privileged conversations. On top of that, they only offered 10k initially, and wouldn't agree to more than 15k after 5 hours. My brother said "this is insane, and I can't even go talk or yell at the guy because he isn't here". After 5 months of dealing with them and the mediator essentially telling them they were assured to lose, they agreed to settle for what was about 73% of my legal costs (about 25 days before our scheduled trial block would begin). There is no gag or confidentiality agreement in place, only mutual releases. Since then, nothing has happened to Frank with respect to the state AG's office, or the justice department. However, I did hear recently from a friend that [OTHER BIG CHAIN PHARMACY] is now refusing to dispense controlled substances for him. My former employer (sans my old store) continues to fill oxycodone for him, and I have been told the supervisor essentially tells pharmacists not to start trouble with him.
January 2024 update, Since then Frank's felony conviction has been reduced to a misdemeanor after completing a probationary period as a part of his initial plea deal. I recently learned that [FORMER EMPLOYER] now refuses to fill his oxycodone scripts after I settled with them.
I just wanted to let everyone know, never trust your employer. Public or Private, big or small, they won't hesitate to throw you under the bus if you become an inconvenience. Even if you have a decade of dedicated work, through the pandemic, on site covid testing, vaccine clinics that start at 3am, covering a last minute illness, personally delivering medications to notoriously unsafe neighborhoods in the dead of night, even being one of the few pharmacist trained to do nasopharyngeal swabs, and do so outside in -20F weather. They will discard you. And if you stand up for yourself, go public, or become a whistleblower, you'll become unhirable. This is why nobody does the right thing anymore.

Anyone have any experience with being addicted to fentanyl? It’s been around a year & a half. Yup..buying them right off the street. Just Pills—taken regularly like any other medicine. Never done needles or any other form. There’s no excuse . No poor me B.S. Like a lot of us my body (particularly my spine) & joints are bone on bone. That’s why I got started on them.
I can’t rightly tell you the amount I’m on but it’s a lot. Per day—3-5X 30MG Fake OXC Blues if that means anything to you.
I’ve thought a lot about of just cashing in my chips. Taking the long ride home. But I truly don’t want to.
Did you get suboxone/ativan from the VA? Or any other source to ween off/quit.
Do you HAVE to self admit for the 7 day detox for the VA to treat you?
I’ve tried detoxing with Kratum/Xanex. Lasted 5 days..couldn’t take the pain.
Tried weening with off with legit 10MG Oxycodone—that’s when I fully realized how F’d I actually am. 50MG was like taking nothing.
I’d be lying if I said I’m not terrified.
I’m wondering if anyone has any experience with this particular drug. How you got off of it. And treatment from the VA.
Thank you Edit:
Anyone up for naming a “Good VA” location for an in-patient 30 day (at the least) rehabilitation facility? Along with a good pain management department?
Or experience with getting approved for an inpatient community care facility that the VA will pay for? I’m 100% P&T for spine/MH.
I’m so n the East Coast-Boston area. But Will literally travel or up & move anywhere to unfuck myself.
I really don’t want to involve the VA. I’m researching other options. All the Vets I know that have no B.S. serious spine radiculopothy nerve pain damage degeneration & been through detox/ rehab etc. recommend keeping them out of it. I’ll never be able to get any type of pain treatment/meds for surgery / flare-ups etc. & be flagged & treated like a lia addict forever. Which will lead me back down the same road I’m trying to get off now.
This is no bash on the VA. They’ve gotta do that. I’m an enormous liability. I’ve dug my hole—no blame to place but on my own shoulders..no others.
I just don’t understand why they realize I’m 35 with the spine of an 85 year old & wouldn’t at the very least put me on some type of a pain med. monitoring program.
I’ve asked them to check my urine/draw blood during times of extreme pain. To ensure I’m not taking anything else etc. they just won’t.
Just a few weeks of pain killers to get me through. The most they’ve given me is 5 days worth of 5MG OXC. 3X per day. And gabapentin.After surgery.
I’ve done 4 rounds of PT. 3 steroid injections.
The last one I let an intern do & it took 3 tries to get the right spot. He hit a nerve/spinal fluid came squirting out. Which lead to worse results & left me in a wheelchair for 6 weeks & the 2nd surgery. Of course the VA notes don’t reflect what actually happened. Even if they did it wouldn’t change anything.
I have no addiction in my records. Honorable discharge. All the deployments/medals
Never popped positive for any drug test. After 2 surgeries for collapsed/herniated disc—size of a golf ball—laminectomies for osteophytes on mostly every vertebrae. All 3 cervical, thoracic & lumbar -even down to S4 osteoporosis, stenosis. It’s kinda funny—I mean I can take pain. It’s the relentless stabbing/shooting for years & bone on bone that has done me in. I made it for years without any pain meds at all. All that increasing pain day in & day out for years changed my brain. It was either end it or manage it.
I’m not good @ advocating for myself. I asked & asked and they blew me off.
I wish the VA did stem cell. I’m @ the point I’m going to relocate for a fresh start.
Any where in the US. Any one have any experience with good facilities VA or other. Cost range experience? For stem cell treatments? City-location-clinic Just looking for knowledge from anyone that has actually come through the other side of serious chronic pain & addiction to pain meds.

tw pain and mention of (prescription) medication (might make someone ppl uncomfortable)
it happened out of nowhere like 2am friday into saturday and i didnt sleep at all, I tried ibuprofen at 5am w no relief
went to er at 8am left at 10am,
tried the doctor's suggestions bc she insisted it was like a muscle pinch and I did like epsom salt bath & rolling on frozen water bottle
and the pain got so much worse I could NOT walk without crying so like 6pm i went back to ER crying my eyes out, had a huge breakdown because i kept tensing and sucking air in jerking around and almost puking from the pain, readmitted,
they gave me oxycodone but the nurse seemed kinda like she didn't believe me and was like "what else do you want us to do for you..." but I was literally jerking around. jerking shaking crying from the fucking pain
but then the 1st doctor left and switched shifts with an older dude
And he looked at the bump for like 1 minute, asked me a bunch of questions about my shoes and how I walk,
told me it looked like plantar fasciitis, got an ultrasound machine and showed me like the liquid(?) pockets in my foot and said that was likely causing pain
I was just so angry I spent hrs the first time around in pain and went home like I paid for a lyft the first time bc I didn't wanna inconvenience anybody in the house and it costed so much money and I racked up charges making it wait for me at CVS.
But the first doctor saw me like jerking around in pain and gave me like a "🤨 um ok.." whereas the dude later just diagnosed it immediately I was like are you guys kidding me rn... I know they did their best but I've never visited the ER twice in one day.
Anyone else ever experienced this pain/issue?
Honestly not sure if its PF because it doesnt really match what I've googled but so far the medication they have me on (tapered prednisone) seems to be helping the fluid bump
edit for more context:
I think I have a referal for a podiatrist (?) and I have to check with a bunch of doctors or follow up once i'm back home and figure it out. I believe the swelling liquid may be (edema) but if not idk. It's located on like the inner part of my right foot where the curve from top to bottom of foot is (around the middle, arch area, but on the "outside")
someone said this is an overuse injury so it "must not be what I have"
but I have felt pain in this area on both feet after running or occasionally a twinge of pain for maybe 10-20 seconds in the same spot for several months but overlooked it. The doctor said I mustve done something on friday that was just the final straw for my foot. I also walk sort of funny/turned inwards on the right (afflicted) foot as well

My daughter fell off her scooter and my husband took her to our children’s urgent care (Children’s Mercy.) They examined her at the urgent care and did X-rays. “Distal radius fracture, left and fracture of scaphoid of left wrist.” Closed fractures. This urgent care said they don’t do casts, so sent us down the street to their ER. I fully expected our bill to be higher since there were two stops, but nothing like this. (Also, if you visit both an urgent care and ER within the 24 hours they only charge you for the first visit, not for both.)
At the ER, my daughter was seen by a nurse only, never a doctor. She reviewed X-rays and prepared my daughter for a cast. She said she had to push on my daughter’s arm a bit to make sure it was straight for the cast. She gave my daughter an oxycodone for the pain and spent about 15-20 minutes casting it.
The charge was $1,446 for the urgent care visit and $9,423 for the emergency room to get the cast. We do have commercial insurance and I’m grateful for that, but I’m astounded at the price of this.
I asked for CPT codes and the bulk of the bill was $7,767 for code 25605. Upon looking it up this is “closed treatment for a distal radius fracture.” I checked fairhealthconsumer.com and the out of network/uninsured average price for this service in our zip code is $3,368 with the in-network average being $889. We are In-network with this hospital.
I inquired with their billing dept. because I felt this was price gouging. They told me that code is considered a “surgical procedure” even though no incisions were made (or anesthesia given, or a doctor used, etc) She said their prices are higher because they’re a children’s hospital.
This was as far as I got. I still cannot fathom a 15-20 minute procedure where a nurse massaged my daughter’s arm to make sure it “felt straight” cost the same as a surgery I had a year ago.
I will contact my insurance next but Aetna seems usually useless in these cases. They have agreed to cover 80% of the bill and honestly I am almost afraid if I bring it to the attention of Aetna they could agree with me and decline coverage or something and we would really be screwed. (My friend has Aetna and had a mammogram and Aetna covered her left breast but not her right. I am not kidding. They gave her no reason other than they didn’t seem it “necessary.”)
Has anyone heard of this procedure costing this much? Could they have possibly coded it wrong or confused it with another code? Can a nurse do a “surgical procedure” and charge us $7,770?
It just feels like they are screwing people. Their billing department is notorious for upcoding. Another friend got quoted a price for an xray for her daughter and then they charged her 4x that amount on her bill.
Thanks everyone 🙏🏻

TLDR: This surgery has drastically improved my quality of life and my personal outcome was life changing. People telling you that you can improve your impingement (if it is caused by bone abnormalities) with "stretching & strengthening "can be wrong and can risk you causing more damage to your hip and needing a replacement. The only person you should consult about that is a orthopedic doctor and eventually a surgeon if they recommend that path. However, if you read on, this is my personal experience. I had a lot of anxieties and concerns beforehand and a lot of the posts I saw about this topic really scared me. For this reason, I've logged my experience in detail below because I wish someone had done this for me :).
Personal Information for context: Age: 29 (at time of diagnosis/surgery) Gender: Female
Pre Surgery/Injury Activity Level: High (1.5-2 hours exercise 5-6 times a week)
Surgeon: Dr. Michael Ellman at Panorama in Colorado
Surgery that was performed: Acetabuloplasty, Femoroplasty, Labral repair (4 anchors), Capsular repair (By avoiding this surgery for years, my body created calcium deposits on the bone to protect itself which caused further pain and the need for a femoroplasty in addition to my acetabuloplasty.) Some people may require labral reconstruction if the cartilage in the hip is too damaged or thin.
Pain Level before Surgery: 7-8 out of 10 with limited ability to walk or sit comfortably. Difficulty sleeping without pain and waking up in the middle of the night with pain.
**My surgeon only does surgery with capsular repair. This is considered "optional" by insurance and likely won't be covered. However medical science supports this approach and outcomes/stability are much better with capsular repair. I'll be honest it SUCKS that its not covered, but its also the reason my surgeon has such positive outcomes. The surgeon you pick really really matters. **
There are certain things I did that helped me recover quickly from this surgery and I'll include those here.

1. Train BEFORE surgery (to the best of your ability) to strengthen surrounding muscles -Muscles atrophy quickly you will start to notice it by week 2, but your muscles will bounce back -The hardest part of the recovery for me personally was the hip flexor strength-it is the last lingering bit I'm working on in week 15-I likely would have trained this more beforehand had i known this.
2. Get off pain meds as soon as you can- Tylenol did the trick after day 4 or 5. Pain meds made me really sick and messed up my digestion and kept me in a daze. I started taking glucosamine and chondroitin during week 3.
3. Take your time getting off crutches- some doctors say 2 or 3 weeks, but I walked with a limp until week 6/7 and had to use 1 crutch on and off until week 5
4. Assistive devices purchased that I absolutely needed: -Toilet seat riser, Grabber tool , Shower Chair, multiple pairs of compression socks (hospital gives you 1 or 2 usually), crutches (no insurance doesnt cover this-yes I realize how DUMB that is)
5. Assistive devices I rented that I absolutely needed: -DonJoy Ice Machine ($20/week for 3 weeks)-I would have bought this honestly if i could go back, Continuous Passive Motion Machine (This was prescribed by my doctor and mostly covered by insurance)
6. DO NOT SKIP PHYSICAL THERAPY- I read so many cases online of people who ditched Physical Therapy after month 1. Most of my progress, training, and re-learning of activities in a safe environment was in PT. They helped break up the scar tissue around my incisions via manual therapy, and if you want to return to running its best to test out with PT. I felt it was absolutely necessary until week 8 and very helpful up to week 10 (after that it was just nice to have).

PRE SURGERY/BACKGROUND:
I have had about a decade of hip pain in most hip hinging activities, biking, squatting, running. I continued to do most of these things at a high level mostly ignoring pain, taking breaks, and returning to activities when I felt better. I took up acupuncture in recent years to help with the pain which helped a lot with inflammation. I found every youtube video about hip mobility, went to get monthly massages, did constant stretching and strengthening and eventually it just was not enough.
Last year I was working heavily on improving run times and when running a long distance I screwed something up so badly I couldn't walk for weeks.
At this point I made an appointment with an orthopedic doctor who quickly saw on my x-rays I had "bumps" on the femoral head (on both sides but my left was far worse). He said surgery may be necessary but was very conservative in his approach. Since I was moving to Colorado he was excited because he could refer me to one of the best hip surgeons he knew of in the country to do further MRIs.
Once I met with Dr. Ellman he also had a conservative approach as well and said surgery was mostly based on my pain level and the outcome of MRI.
I completed an MRI with contrast (this means they inject the joint with dye so they can get a better picture of what's going on there). This showed a labral tear in addition to the bony abnormalities which (along with my high level of pain) helped us decide to continue with surgery.
I will say the MRI with contrast was one of the worst parts, they stick a giant needle in your already very painful joint and force dye into it. Then you feel sort of heavy and weird in that joint until it drains out.
We booked the surgery for 2 months later, and insurance was consulted 6 weeks prior. I then received my insurance estimates and copays. Colorado is a "no surprises" state when it comes to medical billing which was amazing. This meant I knew all my costs up front and could best prepare for my financial situation.
DAYS LEADING UP TO SURGERY: -I bought crutches and practiced getting from my car to my house , getting in and out of the car (to simulate when I had to drive to appointments), going up and down stairs, getting around my house, and performing daily activities.
-I had to wash my body the night before with special soap and not apply any lotions or perfumes to my skin.
-I also had to stop eating at 10PM as my surgery was first thing the next morning. Most hospitals will call you about 24 hours ahead of time to 48 hours to tell you when your surgery is.
DAY OF SURGERY:
-I showed up at Ortho Colorado Hospital (Nicest hospital I've EVER been to in my life). Went in on time and had a great surgical team. Each doctor sat with me, explained what would come next and why they were doing it.
-Wheeled into surgery given general anesthesia and passed right out. After surgery was taken to my first recovery room where I was in and out of consciousness, and finally taken to my second recovery room where my mom was waiting for me.
-Surgeon came in to speak to me with the following information: My surgeon shaved down the femoral head and had to then go in and remove calcium buildups in my hip socket that were created over time from the bone hitting against bone for so long. It was my body's way of protecting itself, but it also created more pain. He also noted one of the highest cases of inflammation within my hip he had seen in his career and was able to show me pictures of the inflamed tissue at a later appointment. Overall he told me that the pain I was living with should become a ton better (he was completely right).
RECOVERY: You WILL need someone else's help for weeks 0-4. If you live alone I highly recommend discussing with a close trusted friend/family member or seeing what your options are for help. You will need help with daily partner assisted PT, showers and if you have a dog you cannot walk them safely (trust me I tried). It is good to note that because my pain level was so high for so long that the recovery pain honestly felt like nothing in comparison, so I may have a skewed opinion in that sense.
Week 0-2: This is a black hole of pain medication, fatigue, normal post surgery type things. You need to be ok with accepting help and recognizing your limitations. This stage is HUGE in acceptance and patience.
I slept about 9 hours at night (waking only to take medications) and then took frequent naps throughout the day. I was extremely tired as my body was healing itself. I took off work for week 1 and returned on week 2 but had to take 1 day off due to extreme fatigue.
Medications included: Oxycodone, Indomethacin, Baby Aspirin, Stool Softener, Tylenol

• You will need someone to help with partner assisted PT which is mostly just moving your hip around to make sure you're not getting stuck and losing mobility.
• No leg lifting past 90 degrees which means wearing your hip brace if you leave the bed (beyond going to the bathroom)
• Ice, Ice, and more ice.
• Weight bearing (approx 20 lbs or so on your operative side) with crutches. This meant I could place my foot flat on the floor and use the opposite crutch to disperse weight.
• If you got a CPM machine this will be your best friend (4-6 hours a day was what my doctor recommended). This machine slowly moves the leg up and down and you can adjust the degree to +5 degrees every other day or so.
• This may be TMI but due to both the pain medication and the lack of movement you may experience mild to severe constipation and I highly recommend a stool softenelaxative.
• Wore my compression socks 24/7 basically-you do not want to risk DVT/blood clots.
• Seated showers and I needed assistance getting in and out from my husband.
• Finding a comfortable sleeping position is going to be challenging, but you're likely best to lay on your back.

Week 3-4: Noticeable difference in ability to get up, do things, and weaning off crutches. Still very much fatigued but less than weeks 1-2 and you start to feel like a person again. Medications: Tylenol, Baby Aspirin, Stool Softener

• Still using hip brace through week 3
• I began using a stationary bike with no resistance in place of CPM
• Went down to 1 crutch starting week 3/4 but it was SLOW and some days I went back to 2
• You will feel all sorts of strange pains (for me none were severe, but they were unlike pains I've had before) as your muscles wake up and your body is still repairing itself. This can range from calf pain to thigh pain to IT band pain, incision site pain (it ran the full gambit). Anything that causes pinching pain in your groin should be avoided at all costs.
• Physical therapy gets more interesting as you do return to walk training and new exercises
• Continued seated showers until week 4 as I was very cautious about slip and falls
• Pain around incision sites as you start to use your leg again is common and ice is still so important
• Despite all the pain I mentioned it actually STILL felt better than pre-surgery already

Week 4-7: I lump these together because while there tons of progress made, I was still experiencing lots of muscle pain, fatigue, and weakness during this time. I still had a limp through week 7 and I worried a lot about walking. If I could go back I'd just remind myself to take it 1 day at a time because everything turned out fine!

• Completely ditch the hip brace
• Still at PT 2x a week-do the exercises they prescribe at home
• Breaking up the scar tissue was important though can be painful- I did this via manual therapy and could do it myself at home.
• Standing showers again- this felt like a huge gain in my personal independence for some reason
• Was able to do some house cleaning and stand up for periods of time without any additional pain

Week 8-10: Lots of muscle tightness, hip flexor tightness, but also huge gains in walking, climbing stairs, and overall returning to some normal activities. I could clean the house again, walk my dog without fear.

• Glute med tightness was a BIG one at this stage as I started doing more squats/dead lifts (without much weight or any weight). This caused pain down my leg and PT was super helpful as they did a lot of manual therapy and dry needling to release this tightness.
• Get a foam roller with spikes on it- this was a god send and it helped really target the spots that were tight.
• Walking more normally, no limp, could walk 2 miles at a time and return to some cross training.
• Started adding in resistance to stationary biking and building strength again

Week 10-12: Walking almost unlimited miles with no pain, returning to about 85% of what I could do before, and feeling pretty good.

• Down to PT 1 time a week and every other week at week 12
• Passed my return to running test and begin walk to jog training
• Doing kettlebell 45 minute full body workouts with special focus on training my muscles around my hip which included: Single leg rdls, walking lunges, side to side banded walks, and yoga/pilates for hip strengthening and mobility.
• Limitations in hip flexor movement and drawing knee to chest which impacted my ability to do ab workouts significantly.
• Some occasional "flare ups" but mostly muscle tightness that manifested in different ways. I worried a lot about that but it really was ok in the end.
• Using stationary bike with a good amount of resistance

Week 12+: Feeling generally really good. Returning to about 90% of previous activity and feeling great while doing it.

• No hip pinching, grinding, pain.
• Was able to hike 8 miles with 2200 feet elevation at week 14 with minimal next day soreness
• Doing full body kettlebell and and HIIT workouts mixed with elliptical, stationary bike, and walk to jog.
• Glute tightness is still very real, but getting better.

​
I know this was a very long post and likely won't be read by many, but I have to say that my pain level in my hip is almost 0 after 14 weeks. So much so that I actually can compare it to my right hip which did not yet have surgery and its like night and day. The hip moves smoothly and the stability is high. A lot of the healing from this surgery is actually mental more than physical. You have to be patient, kind to yourself, and diligent in your recovery exercises and physical therapy. If you commit to these things it'll be a lot easier and bring much less anxiety :).
​

This will be a long post by nature, but I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. I found posts like these super helpful when I was researching the procedure. I’m hoping this can help others out as well. I’m on mobile so please try to excuse any formatting issues.
August 2022
I first consulted with a doctor about getting the procedure during my annual wellness visit, when I was 25. The doctor I spoke with was on a child-free-friendly list, so I was confident she would at least hear me out. She had zero issues getting me scheduled but I was still on my parents’ insurance at the time, so I decided to wait until I was 26 so I wouldn’t need to get prior auth.
December 2023
By the time I was ready for another annual, my original doctor had moved all of her patients off of her for some reason. At first I think it was a sabbatical, and then when she came back she was only taking a specific set of patients. I ended up having to see someone else at the clinic and didn’t find out their name until the day of the visit, so I was nervous about whether they would be as receptive as my first doctor. Luckily, the resident I saw was pretty open about listening to my concerns and even left the room to talk with the surgeon who would perform the procedure if I went through with it. The surgeon came in and gave me a consult right then and there so I wouldn’t have to come back for it (the office is an hour away from me, so they were being really considerate). She said she had an open slot three weeks from now. I took it. From there I just signed a consent form and was sent home with a pre-surgery carbohydrate drink, a bottle of soap to use around the surgery area the night before, and instruction sheets on where to go and how to prepare. For labs, I was told I could show up at the OR earlier than my scheduled arrival time on the day of surgery; they’d take care of everything then so I wouldn’t have to commute twice. Again, very considerate!
I do have sinus tach (hereditary) and see a cardiologist, so I was concerned that I would need to get clearance from him before I could continue with anesthesia. I also have hypertension (hereditary). Thankfully, though, I had received anesthesia clearance for a different surgery just a few months prior and the hospital determined that I didn’t need to get clearance again.
January 8, 2024, Day of Surgery
My scheduled arrival time was 6:30 am for an 8:30 am surgery. I showed up at 5:45 am so I could get the labs done. I was instructed to take my carvedilol (beta blocker for sinus tach) as normal morning of, but not to take any of my vitamins or blood pressure medication (irbesartan), so my blood pressure was high during the labs (129/93). This was expected on my end due to general surgery anxiety, nervous excitement over the fact that this was really happening, having to talk during the BP reading, not having my medication, etc. The reading did get better as I sat there and became more calm. I did a urine pregnancy test to confirm I wasn’t pregnant and was taken to a bed to disrobe. Leg massagers were placed around my ankles. I got to wear the fun socks.
A nurse came by to set up my IV and draw some blood. After that they let my husband come back and hang out with me until it was time to be taken to the OR. We met with the surgery team and anesthesiologist, who were all very nice. One of the residents presiding over my surgery ended up being a girl I went to college with, so that was cool. She’s super nice and I knew I’d be in good hands.
I was given acetaminophen and my husband was taken to a waiting area. I was given fentanyl immediately before being rolled to the OR. Once there I got on the table and was put to sleep pretty quickly. Next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room with a tube in my mouth.
Immediately Post-Surgery
The nurse standing at my bedside removed the tube when she saw that I was coming to. The first thing I noticed was an intense urge to pee, but I had to wait to be unhooked from the EKG leads before I could go to the bathroom. My husband was brought back to help me get up and get dressed. I had on mesh underwear with a thick gauze pad. There was some bleeding/spotting from having my cervix clamped, but nothing major.
Going to the bathroom burned pretty badly. I had a Foley catheter inserted during the surgery, and it was not my friend. The nurse asked how everything went when I came out and told me it would get better—as long as I was able to pass urine, I should be fine. The surgeon came by to see me and let me know how the procedure went. We were given pictures of my reproductive organs sans fallopian tubes, which are very cool to look at. Three prescriptions (oxycodone, extra-strength acetaminophen, extra-strength ibuprofen) were brought directly to my bed, and then my husband and I were free to go.
Recovery at Home
I had three incisions total: one on each hip and one in my belly button. I didn’t have much pain at the surgery site at all; peeing was by far the worst because of the burning sensation, which did not subside for 36–48 hours.
I was extremely bloated for the first few days, but aside from the pain when peeing, I felt fine. I work remotely and was back to regular business the next day without issue. I was able to get around just fine, although bending over was uncomfortable at times because of the incisions at my hips. I was told to avoid lifting more than 10 pounds for the first two weeks, but no one could stop me from holding my clingy 14-pound cat. I at least refrained from lifting the 17-pound Maine coon.
Pain Management
Peeing hurt so much for the first two days that I ended up taking oxycodone twice just to try to ease the discomfort. After that, I took acetaminophen if I was feeling sore, but that’s it. I did not have antibiotics or anything else that I had to take. My incisions were healing well and I kept my bandages on for a week before removing them per the surgeon’s instructions.
Follow-Up
I had a follow-up telehealth visit with my surgeon after two weeks. She asked to see my incisions and said everything looks good. It was a quick call with nothing noteworthy to share, although I did learn that I have a “mobile” uterus.
Cost Breakdown and Hurdles
I was never given a cost estimate prior to the surgery or asked to give the hospital any kind of deposit, which I consider to be a good thing. My insurance provider (Anthem BCBS) is ACA-compliant, so the procedure should be totally free to me and the hospital billing department was aware of this.
Billing was relatively fast with my procedure claim being approved for $0 the Sunday following my surgery. It was billed appropriately as CPT 58661. Remaining claims came in separately at varying times, but I had all of them before the end of the month.
January 23, 2024
Insurance reflects three separate claims for the date of service: anesthesia, the actual procedure, and the OR facility. The procedure and OR services were billed appropriately and show I owe $0. The anesthesia claim was billed incorrectly and initially showed me owing more than $600. The first step I took to rectify this was live chatting with an agent through my insurance app (so I could see the responses in writing and reference them later). I was connected with an agent quickly. They took one look at the claim, agreed that it was wrong, and sent it back for reprocessing. I was accidentally disconnected from them shortly after this, so I also called Anthem BCBS the next day just to make sure it was actually resubmitted. The agent I spoke with on the phone was polite and assured me that it had been successfully resubmitted for processing. It only took a few minutes for me to get connected both times, and both agents were kind and efficient. While waiting for the adjusted claim, I simply ignored my $600 hospital bill.
February 13, 2024
The adjusted anesthesia claim was officially reprocessed and now shows that I owe $0. The new EOB is still processing, but I went ahead and messaged the hospital billing department to let them know that the claim had been adjusted and my $600 bill was incorrect. The hospital acknowledged my message and said I will get an updated bill as soon as they receive the information from my insurance.
February 23, 2024
The hospital has officially corrected my bill amount to $0. Very nice very cool.
Associated Costs
We’ve established that my actual surgery was free. Great. I did, however, have costs associated with the consultation, prescriptions, etc. Here’s a breakdown of those:
Initial consultation (occurred same day as annual wellness visit): $25 copay
Post-surgery prescriptions: $7.21 (annoyingly, $6 of this was just the acetaminophen. These medications were filled for me and brought directly to my bed. I didn’t know what all I was getting until I had them.)
Follow-up telehealth visit: $25 copay
Grand total: $57.21
TL;DR: Surgery was great, I only needed one day off work, insurance didn’t give me problems, I have zero regrets, and I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to now.

This will be a long post by nature, but I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. I found posts like these super helpful when I was researching the procedure. I’m hoping this can help others out as well. I’m on mobile so please try to excuse any formatting issues.
August 2022
I first consulted with a doctor about getting the procedure during my annual wellness visit, when I was 25. The doctor I spoke with was on a child-free-friendly list, so I was confident she would at least hear me out. She had zero issues getting me scheduled but I was still on my parents’ insurance at the time, so I decided to wait until I was 26 so I wouldn’t need to get prior auth.
December 2023
By the time I was ready for another annual, my original doctor had moved all of her patients off of her for some reason. At first I think it was a sabbatical, and then when she came back she was only taking a specific set of patients. I ended up having to see someone else at the clinic and didn’t find out their name until the day of the visit, so I was nervous about whether they would be as receptive as my first doctor. Luckily, the resident I saw was pretty open about listening to my concerns and even left the room to talk with the surgeon who would perform the procedure if I went through with it. The surgeon came in and gave me a consult right then and there so I wouldn’t have to come back for it (the office is an hour away from me, so they were being really considerate). She said she had an open slot three weeks from now. I took it. From there I just signed a consent form and was sent home with a pre-surgery carbohydrate drink, a bottle of soap to use around the surgery area the night before, and instruction sheets on where to go and how to prepare. For labs, I was told I could show up at the OR earlier than my scheduled arrival time on the day of surgery; they’d take care of everything then so I wouldn’t have to commute twice. Again, very considerate!
I do have sinus tach (hereditary) and see a cardiologist, so I was concerned that I would need to get clearance from him before I could continue with anesthesia. I also have hypertension (hereditary). Thankfully, though, I had received anesthesia clearance for a different surgery just a few months prior and the hospital determined that I didn’t need to get clearance again.
January 8, 2024, Day of Surgery
My scheduled arrival time was 6:30 am for an 8:30 am surgery. I showed up at 5:45 am so I could get the labs done. I was instructed to take my carvedilol (beta blocker for sinus tach) as normal morning of, but not to take any of my vitamins or blood pressure medication (irbesartan), so my blood pressure was high during the labs (129/93). This was expected on my end due to general surgery anxiety, nervous excitement over the fact that this was really happening, having to talk during the BP reading, not having my medication, etc. The reading did get better as I sat there and became more calm. I did a urine pregnancy test to confirm I wasn’t pregnant and was taken to a bed to disrobe. Leg massagers were placed around my ankles. I got to wear the fun socks.
A nurse came by to set up my IV and draw some blood. After that they let my husband come back and hang out with me until it was time to be taken to the OR. We met with the surgery team and anesthesiologist, who were all very nice. One of the residents presiding over my surgery ended up being a girl I went to college with, so that was cool. She’s super nice and I knew I’d be in good hands.
I was given acetaminophen and my husband was taken to a waiting area. I was given fentanyl immediately before being rolled to the OR. Once there I got on the table and was put to sleep pretty quickly. Next thing I knew I was waking up in the recovery room with a tube in my mouth.
Immediately Post-Surgery
The nurse standing at my bedside removed the tube when she saw that I was coming to. The first thing I noticed was an intense urge to pee, but I had to wait to be unhooked from the EKG leads before I could go to the bathroom. My husband was brought back to help me get up and get dressed. I had on mesh underwear with a thick gauze pad. There was some bleeding/spotting from having my cervix clamped, but nothing major.
Going to the bathroom burned pretty badly. I had a Foley catheter inserted during the surgery, and it was not my friend. The nurse asked how everything went when I came out and told me it would get better—as long as I was able to pass urine, I should be fine. The surgeon came by to see me and let me know how the procedure went. We were given pictures of my reproductive organs sans fallopian tubes, which are very cool to look at. Three prescriptions (oxycodone, extra-strength acetaminophen, extra-strength ibuprofen) were brought directly to my bed, and then my husband and I were free to go.
Recovery at Home
I had three incisions total: one on each hip and one in my belly button. I didn’t have much pain at the surgery site at all; peeing was by far the worst because of the burning sensation, which did not subside for 36–48 hours.
I was extremely bloated for the first few days, but aside from the pain when peeing, I felt fine. I work remotely and was back to regular business the next day without issue. I was able to get around just fine, although bending over was uncomfortable at times because of the incisions at my hips. I was told to avoid lifting more than 10 pounds for the first two weeks, but no one could stop me from holding my clingy 14-pound cat. I at least refrained from lifting the 17-pound Maine coon.
Pain Management
Peeing hurt so much for the first two days that I ended up taking oxycodone twice just to try to ease the discomfort. After that, I took acetaminophen if I was feeling sore, but that’s it. I did not have antibiotics or anything else that I had to take. My incisions were healing well and I kept my bandages on for a week before removing them per the surgeon’s instructions.
Follow-Up
I had a follow-up telehealth visit with my surgeon after two weeks. She asked to see my incisions and said everything looks good. It was a quick call with nothing noteworthy to share, although I did learn that I have a “mobile” uterus.
Cost Breakdown and Hurdles
I was never given a cost estimate prior to the surgery or asked to give the hospital any kind of deposit, which I consider to be a good thing. My insurance provider (Anthem BCBS) is ACA-compliant, so the procedure should be totally free to me and the hospital billing department was aware of this.
Billing was relatively fast with my procedure claim being approved for $0 the Sunday following my surgery. It was billed appropriately as CPT 58661. Remaining claims came in separately at varying times, but I had all of them before the end of the month.
January 23, 2024
Insurance reflects three separate claims for the date of service: anesthesia, the actual procedure, and the OR facility. The procedure and OR services were billed appropriately and show I owe $0. The anesthesia claim was billed incorrectly and initially showed me owing more than $600. The first step I took to rectify this was live chatting with an agent through my insurance app (so I could see the responses in writing and reference them later). I was connected with an agent quickly. They took one look at the claim, agreed that it was wrong, and sent it back for reprocessing. I was accidentally disconnected from them shortly after this, so I also called Anthem BCBS the next day just to make sure it was actually resubmitted. The agent I spoke with on the phone was polite and assured me that it had been successfully resubmitted for processing. It only took a few minutes for me to get connected both times, and both agents were kind and efficient. While waiting for the adjusted claim, I simply ignored my $600 hospital bill.
February 13, 2024
The adjusted anesthesia claim was officially reprocessed and now shows that I owe $0. The new EOB is still processing, but I went ahead and messaged the hospital billing department to let them know that the claim had been adjusted and my $600 bill was incorrect. The hospital acknowledged my message and said I will get an updated bill as soon as they receive the information from my insurance.
February 23, 2024
The hospital has officially corrected my bill amount to $0. Very nice very cool.
Associated Costs
We’ve established that my actual surgery was free. Great. I did, however, have costs associated with the consultation, prescriptions, etc. Here’s a breakdown of those:
Initial consultation (occurred same day as annual wellness visit): $25 copay
Post-surgery prescriptions: $7.21 (annoyingly, $6 of this was just the acetaminophen. These medications were filled for me and brought directly to my bed. I didn’t know what all I was getting until I had them.)
Follow-up telehealth visit: $25 copay
Grand total: $57.21
TL;DR: Surgery was great, I only needed one day off work, insurance didn’t give me problems, I have zero regrets, and I feel like I can do anything I set my mind to now.

Hi, I’ve shared my experience in regards to microdosing shroom, Golden Teachers to be exact, with a few people by commenting on posts in this sub but I thought I’d put a post about it so more people can hear my experience.
****Disclaimer: Don’t just presume this is some miracle, it’ll will work for you and start taking shrooms! They are very powerful and could easily make dpdr a lot worse, especially if taken incorrectly. Before you even consider microdosing, I highly advise to do a hell of a lot of research into them beforehand.****
Background: I’m a 23 year old, male from UK. I’ve been suffering with anxiety and depression since I was 16. My depression got worse and worse resulting in me trying to take my own life when I was 17, luckily someone stopped me. I’m not going to go too much into this but it is partly relevant. After this I sought help in the form of therapy, my parents paid for private as the NHS wait times even back then we’re about 6 months. I also dropped out of sixth form at this time, not sure what that equivalent is in U.S terms but it’s basically a high level qualification before University. I’m a fairly smart guy, I love maths and science. Very interested in space, chemistry and aviation (would love to work in this field, it’s my dream job to be an aircraft engineer). Cars especially too and how they work. And I believe I’m very sensible and have my head screwed on. I wanted to go far in life!
I didn’t have many friends at this time in my life, only 1 who is my still my best bud to this day, we’ve been through everything together. Anyway at this time I started smoking cannabis and it really helped with my depression, in fact I basically cured it, so I stopped the therapy. Fast forward 3 years of life improving, I got a job, I met my life long friends. My group of friends are extremely supportive we all look out for each other and we all help each other with everything. I will just add I still suffered with anxiety at this point, it never improved. I will also add that I had discovered and tried some other drugs now, mainly party drugs as I went to a lot of raves etc including things like mdma, coke, 2CB etc.
How It Happened: One evening me and my mates made some weed brownies, dosed small portions (we are very safe with our drug use, if you can call it that, ie always tested our stuff, had mg scales for doses and always researched). We had a fun night. Fast forward a week and I went round to my buds house again for lunch, we discussed having some more of this brownie, dunno where we read but read that edibles lose their potency over time and I’m not sure why but as the previous high wasn’t intense we halved the thing and finished it off. Later worked out we’d each consumed 160mg of thc each. We both had an awful experience, I had a full blown panic attack and felt like I’d left my body. From this moment on, life was not the same, I later found out this feeling was depersonalization/derealization.
Living with DPDR Life was unbearable for a good 6 months before I started to get used to this feeling, I wont go into too much detail as I’m sure we all know what this feels like and I don’t want to cause an episode for anyone reading. For 1.5 years I tried everything to help, I learnt it’s the bodies fight or flight mechanism and I was trying to find ways to calm the underlying anxiety as technically that’s all dpdr is.
Drug addiction Up until this point I hadn’t touched any drug not even alcohol. 1.5 years ago from today, I discovered benzodiazepines and opiates. They made me feel “normal”, confident motivated, happy as ever. Now this is not the route I would suggest to go down at all unless you are prescribed benzo’s and treated by, a doctor. I sourced these drugs from the dark web. I used Kpins and Valium for a week or so I read how addictive they are and how life threatening the withdrawals are. Then I discovered opiates, initially codeine. I used codeine for my migraines but no I knew I could get high on them and completely eliminate my anxieties plus feel great too. Eventually codeine wasn’t enough anymore so I moved onto oxycodone. And yes I only ever bought pharmacy grade oxy from someone with a genuine script. More to that I tested each time I received a order.
I used oxycodone for around 8 months daily, eventually I got to a point where it was costing me £20 a day, so I decided to stop and get help. My mates helped me though this and I was out on buprenorphine, I’m still on it to this day although I’m tapering down. Once I stopped the oxycodone the dpdr came right back and with a vengeance!
Shrooms: 6 months ago from today my friend suggested to me to try shrooms for my anxiety, I was skeptical at first but as I thought I’d give it a go as I had nothing to lose, I’d read up a lot about how it helps with anxiety, depression and all sorts of mental health related problems. I spent a good month researching, reading stories, learning about how it works and affects the brain. I suggest microsdose for some great info plus how to start and basically every question you have.
I chose a day and begun, I bought the shrooms, golden teachers. Pre weighed and in capsules so I could take with my morning vitamins and magnesium. I started by taking 0.2g every Monday Wednesday and Friday. After the first 2 doses I felt very strange. That’s the only word I could think to describe it, almost like I was fighting something in my brain. Anyway I knew I shouldn’t be feeling anything from these doses so I dropped to 0.1g, as you’re meant to not be able to feel the dose. I’m not going to go into too much details as I strongly recommend you do your own research! 0.1g was perfect for me. I wrote down every week how I felt.
After a month of this I could noticeably feel better in myself, the dpdr episodes hasn’t changed at this point however I felt more motivated to get out and do things, I even started the gym.
Month 2: I felt even better, I’d started to eat better. Not by force but it just happened. My anxiety was also improving by this point. I would get up earlier, and get more out of a day.
Month 3: again further improvements in all areas previously mentioned and also my dpdr hadn’t disappeared but I just wasn’t noticing it as much anymore, if I felt an episode come on I’d would just acknowledge it but carry on with what I was doing. I had so much more energy day to day, I slept better. This is where I took a 2 week break from the shrooms for tolerance reasons. But I’m those 2 weeks there was no decline in any of mentioned positive effects.
Month 4/5 and up until right now: I can honestly say I’m in a completely different headspace to 6 months ago. My quality of life is amazing, I’m so motivated, happy, healthy both physically and mentally. My friends, family and work colleagues have noticed a difference in me. I’m about to take another 2 week tolerance break.
In conclusion: I believe that microdosing shrooms has changed my life in the sense it’s helped with my depression, debilitating anxiety and dpdr. I don’t think the shrooms have directly affected my dpdr, but I believe they have build the foundations in other aspects to life that have led to helping my dpdr. I would say I’m 95% there. Don’t get me wrong I still have the odd moment but it’s no more than 10 seconds, I ignore the feeling, ground myself and carry on.
I hope this helps, I thought I’d share my experience as I genuinely believe this has helped me. Again I can’t stress enough this might not be for everyone and don’t even consider this until you know the absolute ins and outs of Psilocybin!!! Psychedelics are no joke, they can seriously alter the mind for good and for bad
Any questions please feel free to DM me and ask in the comments.
Also apologies if my writing and detail got sloppier towards the end.

I have had issues for several months, but work at times in very rural/isolated areas with no hospitals nearby so was pro-active and motivated. I tend to be proactive and FORTUNATE FOR ME my surgeon made sure my insurance company understands what it would cost to medevac me. Very lucky.
I took a shower and washed my abdomen and especially belly button with hibiclens then arrived at 6:00am. I was given a sedative in an IV around 7:30. In surgery about one hour. Absolutely straightforward, it wasn’t an emergency, I had a highly regarded surgeon in a university hospital.
Discharged around 11:00am.
When I woke up, I had a lot of pain from the tightness/bloating which oxycodone managed pretty much immediately. Left for home about 2 hours after surgery. 14 hours later I have medium pain when moving around in bed or getting up and down, still but nothing extreme. Holding a pillow to my belly and rolling when standing /rolling down to lie back down helps a lot. No nausea, little appetite, drinking water and taking metamucil. Ate some rice with broth, it went fine. My wife accompanied me, got my meds, made sure I have what I need etc. My cat brought me her favorite toys and otherwise sat near me quietly lol
I am SO RELIEVED, I was really worried. Absolutely feel lucky to have such a smooth experience so far.
Hang in there, stoners! ❤️❤️❤️

1. The driver, Adam, was subjected to a drug test back in August, administered by Concentra, with results sent to Quest Diagnostics for analysis. 2. According to Adam, he never received a call from the medical review officer (MRO) regarding the positive test result. 3. The MRO published the positive test results without notifying Adam speaking to them because he doesn’t answer calls and according to him they never left a message or your company until recently. And the way in which we found out was after maybe the third stop since the exam was done in August, that we were told he was tested positive and couldn’t work. 4. Adam is considering a retest to dispute the positive result and demonstrate that he does not use Oxycodone. But my issue is that it’s February and the original test was done in August so it wouldn’t matter. 5. The FMCSA guidelines indicate that a positive test result or refusal to submit to a test requires immediate removal from safety-sensitive duties until completion of the return-to-duty process with a DOT-qualified substance abuse professional (SAP). Which once we were informed by the officer we stopped letting him drive. 6. Right now we are exploring options, including working with a DOT SAP specialist, to address Phil’s situation and ensure compliance with DOT regulations. 

But is there anything else I could do? I saw that the SAP program alone will cost $775 which he doesn’t have to spend on something he doesn’t take.

May 25, 2012 was a day that forever changed my family. That day, on my mother’s fifty-seventh birthday, my big brother died. Or, at least, he should have. According to the surgeon, there was no way he should have had a pulse, let alone consciousness.
It was shortly before midnight when my phone started ringing. I had just gotten done showering after a night out, home for less than a week of summer break after my freshman year at Seton Hall when I saw Soul Sister flash across my phone. Ashley and I were close, but not unexpected-call-at-midnight close. Immediately I knew something was off.
An hour later, she and I were seated in the Temple University Hospital waiting room, trying to determine if the situation would be severe enough to necessitate interrupting our mother’s first real vacation in years. At that time, all we knew was that he had been in an accident on his motorcycle, but after a few hours had passed, we got a rundown of the situation.
Ryan and a friend had been stopped at a stop sign when they were blasted from behind by an SUV. The friend, wearing Ryan’s helmet, was thrown off the motorcycle, sustaining moderate injuries. The bike was totaled. But my brother had suffered an unthinkable fate.
After slamming into Ryan and tossing him like a rag doll into the intersection, the driver decided he wasn’t done with him. He took aim right for his body and hit the gas. Ryan became wedged between the chassis and the pavement as the driver kept pressure on the gas pedal, speeding over a half mile through crowded Philadelphia streets, as blood, skin, muscle and bone ripped from his body.
Eventually, the driver realized he needed to pry Ryan out from the undercarriage, so he and the passenger pulled over on a side street to extract the bloody mess that was my brother and dump him between parked cars.
All the while, Ryan never lost consciousness. He had no idea how severe his injuries were, but knew he needed to get help. With several fractured vertebrae, skin removed from the majority of his body, and an exposed skull, he mustered the strength to rise from the grave and stagger to find help.
Two days later, my mom was featured on the local news, tearfully begging for any help we could get in identifying the perpetrators. As days continued to pass, hope waned accordingly until we accepted the conclusion that we had assumed from the beginning – we would never get closure. The driver’s egregious actions were too malicious to be unintentional and there was little hope that he or his accomplice would be identifying themselves. A sneaking suspicion that the whole thing had been preplanned began to set in, and it was easy to define a potential motive.
A year sober from crystal meth, alcohol and opiates and leaving a Narcotics Anonymous meeting when the hit happened, he had made significant progress towards reclaiming control over his life which had been careening off the tracks for the previous decade. Over that time, he had gone to and flunked out of college, failed to maintain steady employment, fathered an unexpected child and hurt family members with his impulsivity and destructive actions.
But a year prior, he was provided a lifeline out of his habits in the form of a criminal investigation into the crystal meth operations of greater Philadelphia. By cooperating with authorities, he was given the opportunity to opt for rehab rather than face persecution. Apparently, the driver didn’t appreciate his choice.
A month of skin grafts and spinal fusions was followed by many more of relearning to walk, dress himself and use the restroom. To manage the immense pain, he was started out on a Dilaudid drip while at the hospital. Once he was home from the hospital, the doctors began prescribing him oxycodone. Eventually, Ryan’s doctor became distrusting that his pain necessitated the level of opioids he was consuming and cut off the supply. My brother, still in severe pain, turned to heroin.
Despite surviving addiction and a destructive lifestyle once, fate had conspired to send him right back where he was.
My brother should have died many times. But by some combination of strength, stubbornness and miraculous intervention, he didn’t. Instead, he sought rehab a second time.
The second rehab stint, like the first, was successful. But rather than return to the Philly area where we grew up, he stayed in Florida, learned pest control, and maintained steady employment for the first time.
Three years later, he returned home and was able to exist in New Jersey without succumbing to the worst of his habits. He stayed dedicated to pest control and was able to gain the experience and confidence needed to start his own business.
Ten years after his accident, his business is successful enough to support himself and his new family.In the last decade and a half, Ryan was sent to the brink of existence multiple times. But, somehow, some way, he was able to navigate addiction, tragic accident, and malicious intent to turn his life from shit to shine.
My brother is a walking miracle.
Eleven and a half years older than me, my brother had long been a role model for me. But not in the way that most big brothers are for their siblings. He was a warning of what to avoid.
He is an example of the tragedy that can come to those caught up in the lifestyle that pervades drug use, but his life was a warning I didn’t heed.
A decade after his accident, I found myself in a similar scenario to where my brother was before his first rehab stint.
Use of alcohol and cocaine was an integral part of my routine, and had cost me some of my most important relationships and deteriorated my health. And even though I recognized that I had a problem, I still felt powerless to take control of my life - until I had a moment that flipped my life around.
My story is a bit less outrageous. I never overdosed. I never went to rehab. I was never arrested or physically hurt another person.
And because of that, my story may be more relatable. Because my story isn’t about some once in a lifetime tragedy, mine is the tragedy of a wasted lifetime.Of having all of the ability to achieve anything, but feeling powerless to capitalize.
Your mindset is your reality.When I first typed that sentence, I understood completely something that I had failed to grasp until then.But that text- sent to my mother after three weeks of reworking my understanding of myself, the world, and my place in it- encapsulated the fundamental learning of my experiences: that life is what we make of it.
And our circumstances only limit us by our willingness to change them.In the three weeks that had preceded that text, I found an ability to understand myself and how the circumstances of my life had conspired to bring me to that point- where I understood that my reality was moldable by adjusting my thoughts around it.
And by doing so, I was able to commit to changes that set the stage for my life’s reformation.My name is John. John Charles Borden the Fourth.There had been a John or Charles in every generation of my family dating back as far as JB2 was able to trace - into the early thirteenth century - and as the first and only son born to my father at thirty-nine, there was little discussion about what would appear on my birth certificate.
My heritage is a combination of Austrian on my mother’s side and Scottish on my father’s- a lineage with roots in America that pre-date the country itself. I have a number of ancestors who were noteworthy – two signers of the Declaration of Independence, a well-regarded painter and the guy who invented the steam engine, to highlight a few.
Until recently, I considered my heritage something that helped to set me apart from the crowd. Now, I realize how it simply adds to the understanding that I am emblematic of a typical American male and the struggles that embody many in my generation.
My parents were working class people – my mother an infection control nurse and JB3 a CPA. Money was always a topic of discussion, but never an overwhelming concern. We went on vacations, but never for longer than a week or to a more exotic place than Orlando, FL. We were firmly entrenched in the middle class.
By the time I got to middle school and my siblings had reached adulthood, tension that was omnipresent in the household finally reached its end with my parent’s divorce. Half of the American population will see their parents separate, but the timing and nature of my circumstance allowed me a front-row seat to the emotional undertones that permeated before, during and after.
My father grew up with a great deal of anxiety in the home. JB2 had a problem controlling his anger, which led to physical and emotional scars for my father, his brother and sister, and my grandmother. JB2’s physical abuse was a manifestation of his inability to control the family, and JB3 had the same panic-type-response when he started to feel kingship over his domain starting to weaken with my brother and sister growing from curious children to rebellious teens.
Vowing to never hit me or my brother and sister, my father’s intentions had been to create a more amicable household. But even without physical violence, there was a thick tension in the house that was apt to boil over into hate-filled yelling at any moment.
I had felt the divorce coming for years, having spent many nights crying at the top of the stairs listening to the vitriol burn off their lips. But every screaming match between the two was always followed with reassurance that they loved each other too much to follow through on the threats of leaving that had preceded.
As part of the divorce, my parents worked out an arrangement where I would live with each parent equally. Half the time I was with my father at his now-empty four-bedroom home; the other half with my mother and brother in her townhome twenty minutes away. My sister had her first child and moved out of the house before the split.
Both of my homes provided me private access to witness the dangers of substance abuse.
At my dad’s, I saw a pattern developing, where drinking transformed him from a sensible, grounded, loving father to the antithesis of that.When he reached peak level of drunkenness, the unaddressed emotional weight of my mother’s departure turned into a vodka-fueled hurricane of emotion.
At my mom’s, I saw her glass-a-day wine consumption which normalized alcohol and saw my brother sink into the substance abuse vortex that would consume him.But like I said before, these were warnings I didn't heed.
I got drunk for the first time when I was fifteen and realized what all the fuss was about. Anxiety - that I didn’t know I had - melted away. I had never felt so comfortable socially.Drinking grew gradually until the end of high school, when getting drunk enough to vomit became a weekly routine.
My first blackout came on a cruise the summer before I began college. When I awoke the next morning, my first thought was that I had killed a small animal and left it to die in my bed, but I quickly realized I had thrown up the red wine I was chugging the night before.A week into my freshman year, I vomited in the dorm lobby after a frat rush party and had to be taken to the hospital in an ambulance. I went out to a party the next night.
Nothing would deter me from chasing a party, or more specifically, the chance that sex would come as a result of the partying.
That first time I got drunk I mentioned previously had also been the first time I kissed a girl. The two became intrinsically linked, and the first sip of alcohol primed my sexual engines like a bell for Pavlov’s dogs.
I trained myself to expect sexual release every time I drank, and continued to reinforce the habit through continuous action. Initially, a quick visit to the incognito tabs would be enough to satisfy my cravings. But as time pushed on, the urges became more exaggerated. Driving drunk to chase sex from someone on a hookup app became my favorite way to end the night.
The combination of sex, drugs and alcohol led to many nights I either couldn’t or wish I didn’t remember.
In December 2021, I totaled my car, but that didn’t stop me from continuing to drive the car – with two smashed passenger doors, a busted window, cracked windshield and vacant side view mirror – over an hour to purchase an ounce of coke.
Scrapping the car and buying a new one didn’t change my habits. Moving to Tampa four months later didn’t change my habits. In the months between moving to Tampa in April 2022 and the moments that had reset the course of my life, I had gone through around three ounces of coke – or roughly an eight ball a week.
I was at a point where my life could have been irreparably altered at any moment. I pushed away people close to me and hurt people who didn’t deserve it. I put my life at risk constantly and contemplated ending before I endured a fate similar to my brother’s.
I could have found myself in jail. I could have killed myself or another person that I endangered during the hundreds of time I drove drunk. I could have contracted various unsavory diseases. I could have become a number added to the hundreds of thousands of yearly overdoses in the US.
But, I didn’t.Instead, I stopped all of my most destructive habits in a near-instant, and changed the trajectory of my life. And it all began with planning a trip to a place known for having great deal of recklessness- a three-day music festival called EDC.
The story I’m going to tell you in the following chapters will detail the ins and outs of my experience with mushrooms in preparation for the festival and while attending.
I hope to do so in a way that helps you understand the depth of the transformation I undertook and how the circumstances surrounding my experiences helped to teach me the lessons I needed to learn.All in all, these events take place over the span of one month, from October 22, 2022 to November 21, 2022. I will detail five different days in which I used mushrooms over that span, all of which had been recreational in initial intent, but therapeutic beyond belief.
Psilocybin, the active chemical in magic mushrooms, allowed me to understand my habits and identify how they had developed. It gave me the clarity to change nearly every aspect of my life for the better.In the span of one month, I made a transformation so stark, that the thought of returning to the life I led prior is not even a consideration. Over that month, I shed addictions to alcohol, cocaine, tobacco, sex and social media. I learned to be more organized and reformed my diet. But more importantly, I feel the confidence to be able to better myself in any way I desire.
In sharing my story, I hope that others will be able to understand the power of psilocybin to positively impact the world. If it weren’t for my mushroom experience, I would have been stuck in the same habits until they killed me. I’m positive of that.
My mindset was that I was on the planet to have a good time. That was my reality. My mindset was that alcohol, coke and sex were the three biggest keys to a good time. That was my reality. Everyone else in life either helped me have a good time or intentionally made it harder. That was my reality. I had never been given the best opportunities. I wasn’t smart enough. Wasn’t strong enough. Wasn’t attractive enough. Wasn’t confident enough. This was all my reality; Until mushrooms provided me with the perspective shift needed to form the foundation for my transformation.
I saw my life through a different lens, and understood that the biggest thing holding me back my whole life had been myself.
Not my family, not my friends, not the bosses that fired me or the girlfriends who left me. Myself.
I finally learned to take responsibility for my actions and, in return, control of my life. And that is one fucking beautiful thing.
​
**This is the intro to a book I'm writing about my experiences with psilocybin and the steps I took to save my own life. I'm sharing with the hopes of spreading my message about the positive possibilities of psychedelics. Having experienced what I have, and having changed my life as drastically as I was able to thanks to these fungi, I want to advocate for the legality of them nationwide. Anyone curious and willing enough should have save access to these substances. Who knows how many lives could be saved ---- John

Hi all!
My PM doc and I have been trying to find the most effective pain relief meds. Also, I’m with UHC - my doc doesn’t seem to mind the PA paperwork - still I’m concerned that I’ll be denied for the meds that work the best for me.
Drugs I’ve tried in the past : Duragesic/oxycontin/levorphanol/butrans/morphine ER.
That over 20 years of trying different meds with varying levels of relief.
What works is levorphanol.
I was on their Patient Assistance program for years through OptumRX.
For the last five years I’ve tried having -2- levorphanol tablets a day with my b/t but it was cost prohibitive. That only lasted 3 months.
So… now I’m on oxycodone IR 5x a day. Muscle relaxers 2x a day.
My PM docs think genetic testing isn’t worthwhile.
I’d like to look into it further to find the most effective pain relief based on metabolism.
I would be out of pocket on this but willing to do the testing - I’m so tired of suffering but willing to work within the system to find something that works! TIA for reading!