FoxyFerengi

Second opinions matter if you can swing them

Had a doc tell me I have a "mystery disease" four months before another at a larger specialty clinic gave me a tentative dx.

It sucks needing to travel for many reasons, but at least she has seen this issue before

I'm not a cis man, but every man I've dated has had "friends", but not people they can really talk to. Like, one guy I dated had a really big social circle and they regularly had gaming events. But he didn't text or talk to anyone outside of planning and going to those events. Others had maybe one friend that they hung out with outside of work.

It is sad. And it was jarring when I was young, because I had lots of friends I could turn to on a bad day or for something more serious. It makes me so angry with "the patriarchy", because it isn't just keeping women down, it's also hurting and sometimes killing men.

I had a cat die a very painful and sad death right in the veterinarian's parking lot. I was completely devastated, but my poor boyfriend kept trying to hold back his tears because he "needed to be strong" for me. Bitch no, cry with me, that was super heavy. I'm going to carry that death with me until I die, and not just because my cat didn't deserve that. It's not fair for men to have this expectation that they need to hold back expressing emotion so they appear strong. (that particular ex also has a fear of dying, so he really needed to and should have felt free to express himself at that time)

The sheer number of men who suddenly have no support in their life because their relationship has ended, that soon struggle with suicidal thoughts should really point to the first thing you said. Men and women are socialized differently as children and this is one of the most common results when we reach adulthood. It will take an enormous shift in society and ingrained values to fix that

That second point, yeah, women don't need to get married to survive now. My grandmother couldn't have her own bank account when she was a young adult, and banks would have laughed her out of town if she wanted a mortgage. My parents got married young because that was still kind of expected, especially in rural America. I haven't dated in years, because it's frustrating, and I have been able to, and lucky enough, to buy a home on my own finances. That's not high standards, it's just that I didn't need to get hitched to have financial stability

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_rape_and_killings

There are programs for people with felonies to find jobs, typically found under "re-entry" or "second chance". They're often sucky, poorly paid jobs though.

My 16yo cat is definitely a prim and proper old lady. Oddly, I call the 4yo Maine Coon "little man" even though he's easily 4x the old lady's size

I'm probably forever going to call my dog "bestest girl", but she's starting to get a grey muzzle too

Where the Red Fern Grows

I was a very sad child and that book gave me lots of excuses to be crying all the time xD

Right? The text service I use doesn't allow video. Sometimes it won't allow large photos either lol

She is unfortunately having other medical problems. The steroid either isn't working anymore or she forgets that she isn't in pain/expects certain touches to be painful, I'm not sure which.

This cat has my whole heart. Like if soul mates could be pets, she's mine.

Thank you for sharing, and understanding the struggle with giving our little loved ones the life and death they deserve. I'm sorry that you had to make that choice, but I'm glad that you had the strength to do so for her.

I think about my grandfather often since my little Ami has shown the same symptoms he had. I've always been so grateful that by the time the end came for him, it was quick, and I know that's what he would have wanted. Perhaps that's the view I need to keep for her