i want my baby back baby back

my ribs hurt. she/her. 26.

[joey-wheeler-official]

Hot wedding idea, the worst man, it’s his duty to try and prevent the wedding at all costs.

[aphony-cree]

The best man and worst man engage in Spy Vs Spy shenanigans until the wedding is done

[the-sapphic-raven]

Add a maid of dishonor too

[physticuffs]

she gets a sword

[its-bbq-riblette]

Looking for Patients’ Opinions for a Web Application

Hey tumblr, I’m a web developer in based in DC and I’m looking for a few responses to this survey. I’ve suffered from chronic pain for several years, and am building applications and products to help others like me. If you can take a few minutes to send a response to this survey, it’d really help me out.

All answers will be anonymous, it’s purely for UX research and structuring the products.

Responses can be sent to [email protected] to protect privacy, but getting some responses on this would really help me out.

Thank you for reading!

1. How long do you typically go between doctor’s appointments? How do you feel about that gap (too long, adequate, too short)? 2. Do you feel, after doctors appointments, that you remembered every question you wanted to ask the doctor? 3. Do you typically remember the instructions your doctor gives you? Do you follow them? 4. What is your opinion on recording doctor’s visits? Do you think it would be helpful, have no effect, or be harmful? 5. How long have you had your symptoms? 6. How long have you been in treatment? 7. Have your symptoms gotten better, worse, or stayed the same throughout working with your doctor? 8. How do you feel about the length of time your doctor spends with you in appointments? 9. How do you feel about the effectiveness/clarity of your explanation of symptoms? Do you feel like the doctor understands what you’re saying? 10. Do you track your symptoms and treatments? How? 11. Do you use wearables (Apple Watch, Fitbit, etc)? Do you use them for health purposes or otherwise? Why or why not?

[its-bbq-riblette]

hungover and trying not to throw up bc it hurts my spine

[its-bbq-riblette]

getting a new tattoo this month

[its-bbq-riblette]

apparently your ribs can be mobilized like a chiropractor pops your neck. currently getting my ribs realigned this week.

ouch

[its-bbq-riblette]

Gratitude

I’ve been seeing a few “energy balancing/sensing” kind of practitioners lately while I wait for my doctors appointments.

The common themes that these women have all felt from me are anger, grief and sadness.

Since learning that doctors have no plan and that my eight months of painful treatments were a damaging waste, I’ve been an emotional wreck. Getting in fights with friends, crying in the bathroom at the office, having trouble getting out of bed.

I feel like I should be better than that: better than getting upset and letting the pain and frustration get to me. I’m never ruled by my feelings. I’m laid back, I’m chill. But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore and I’m struggling with it.

I’m grieving the loss of my body. The loss of my athleticism that I so closely identified with the last 20 years of my life. The loss of the ability to dance, run around and just feel alert and pain-free.

I’m trying to focus now on just getting through this process. No one knows how long this will take, or if it will even end. I’m going to keep practicing mindfulness and self love, because that’s all I can do. I can’t let this pain rip my achievements from me. I clawed my way out of the grave when I was 21, crawled through my bachelors degree, an engineering intensive course, and am now an employed programmer.

Today I’m appreciating the rain. I’m sitting outside the office on the pavement under an awning, listening to the thunder and feeling the cool air on my skin.

I will make today a good day.

[its-bbq-riblette]

My life should be sponsored by Icy Hot

[nudityandnerdery]

[thursday]

Me: I don’t have the energy for this

Someone: For what?

Me: *gestures vaguely*

[lifewithchronicpain-original]

Empathy Must Be Included in Pain Management Education

By Dr. Lynn Webster, PNN Columnist The National Institutes for Health (NIH) is seeking input on how to improve medical education in the fie

The National Institutes for Health (NIH) is seeking input on how to improve medical education in the fields of pain management and the treatment of opioid use disorder.

Although the NIH is primarily asking healthcare professionals and researchers to weigh in, comments from the general public are also welcome. The information will be used to update the NIH’s Centers for Excellence in Pain Education, which is developing pain management curriculum for medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy schools to improve how students are taught about pain and its treatment.

If you are a person in pain, or love someone who is, your input is what all healthcare providers should hear. You can see the Request for Information (RFI) by clicking here. The link includes an email address to use to contribute your thoughts. (Link available on article page linked above)

This is an opportunity to tell the NIH what you would like to see included in pain education, or what needs to be taught regarding opioid misuse or abuse. People often want to be heard. This is the time to let the NIH know what you believe is important to teach all healthcare providers. (Read more at link)

[its-bbq-riblette]

Wanted to spread this around. Thought the article had really interesting ideas, since I’ve had doctors who really don’t seem to see or care about my experience.

Having a doctor or nurse just listen to me and acknowledge my pain meant everything to me.

I completely understand and respect that doctors are swamped with patients and responsibilities, but choosing to see the patient as a person, not a case file, makes the process more bearable.

[its-bbq-riblette]

family: stop trying to diagnose and overthink things

me: yeah sounds like a good idea

also me: maybe it was that burrito i ate a year ago...

[its-bbq-riblette]

anesthetic is my aesthetic

[its-bbq-riblette]

my doctor fucked me over

So I’ve been bounced between specialists in gastro, neuro, pain and spine for over a year and a half. I ended up getting an MRI that showed several bulging discs in my back, and so my neurologist sent me to a spine and pain clinic to get nerve blocks to test the area.

For 8 months, I’ve gotten dozens of painful injections in my back, ribs and abdomen. I’ve had a spinal block, dozens of intercostal blocks, a xiphoid process injection and costochondral cartilage blocks.

I wasn’t feeling any relief, the injections were extremely painful for days at a time, and I was having to take too much time out of work. I asked the doctor about our game plan, and his only answer was “there’s no way of knowing; we just keep going. we might cut out the nerves in your top three ribs if we have to.” I decided to get a second opinion.

Turns out those 8 months were a waste of time.

I went to a neurosurgeon that specializes in peripheral neuralgia and neurectomies (nerve pain and nerve removal surgery). He immediately told me that I should never go back to that doctor or clinic.

First of all: I got way too many steroid injections, when they were telling me I was getting nerve blocks. The doctor had been calling them nerve blocks the whole time, but it turns out he was bending the truth.

Second: The nerves where I have the most pain cannot be removed. It’s the top three ribs on my right side, from slightly under my armpit to underneath my boob. Removing those nerves would cause me to lose function in my right chest and my muscles would completely fail to work.

Third: Those doctors had no idea what was wrong with me, and were likely putting me through extremely painful and isolating procedures to bill me for steroids. The billing statement showed that they were barely using any anesthetic (the cheaper one, but the one that I was supposed to be getting) and were overloading me with more expensive steroids.

I’m the child of two engineers. I’m a programmer. I have access to some of the best medical care in the world, and I got fucked over by a clinic for 8 months.

Still in shock. Care is being shifted to Johns Hopkins diagnosticians because no one knows what’s wrong with me. Basically starting over.

[dankmemeuniversity]

[hydro-homies]

You know how it is

[its-bbq-riblette]

I thought of this terrible joke with my friend, where instead of how ‘Throwback Thursdays’ are normally out of fashion hairstyles, makeup etc it was like ‘Throwback Thursday’ *throw a peace sign while referencing my deep-seated trauma*

[winemom-culture]

Me: *is feeling bad* Also me: *can’t think of a way to make it funny* Brain: can’t talk about it then

[sleep-safe]

this is…. meta as fuck

[its-bbq-riblette]

current mood

[its-bbq-riblette]

suggestions

Going to be trying all sorts of pain relief methods these few months while I wait for the next set of specialists. If you’ve got any suggestions/recommendations, feel free to message or comment!