Clot-like fluid

For reference & a bit of a back story, I am 19 years old living in the United States. I know that sharing this experience with you all can be beneficial because I feel like a lot of women are going to feel so many emotions so not only am I going to tell you a bit about the way this impacted my body physically, I am going to share how I came to the conclusion that this is what is best for me and my life. I just want women to know you’re never alone in your emotions no matter what anyone is telling you/how you’re feeling. & if you’re looking for directions on how to properly receive the pills, this is not for you. I am just trying to share my personal experience :)
So, I found out that I was pregnant in the beginning of April. I know when I ovulate and I know when I had sex, so I was almost 4 weeks when I found out. I went through an entire process of emotions, including maybe thinking that this was meant to happen. In the beginning, I wouldn’t say I was excited. Just fucking terrified. For reference as well, I have borderline personality disorder which greatly affected my decision.
After weeks of back and forth with myself about what to do, I decided it was best that I should go through with abortion. As someone who grew up in not the best environment, I knew that my decision was right. I’m currently unmedicated, not in therapy and without a job. I may be crazy, but I have sense. My decision made all the sense and I knew it was right for me.
I ordered the pills after following every step through the process which was extremely simple. (Also thought I should mention that I do not live somewhere where abortion is legal AT ALL, which also terrified me. But after some reading, I found out how discreet this was, which made me feel tremendously better.)
I received the pills about 6ish days after I received the shipping information. April 30th, which is when I was 8 weeks & 3 days, I took the first pill which is the mifepristone. Within 24 hours I had no bleeding. Around the 24 hour mark I noticed a clear fluid on my underwear. I took 800mg ibuprofen 2 hours before I took this misoprostol. Put the 4 in my mouth for the 30 minutes. Around the 20 minute mark of having these in my mouth, I started feeling pretty severe back pain. Around 1 hr after these dissolved, I noticed some bleeding.
So now onto how these made me feel physically. About an hour and 30 minutes into this process, I was having diarrhea. I started to sweat pretty bad and was doubled over on the toilet from the cramps. I knew that they could be pretty severe but in all honesty nothing prepared me for this. I was crying because of how bad I felt. The whole time I was pretty nauseous but didn’t throw up until about the 6 hour mark. I tried to sleep it off but I just couldn’t. It hurt so bad and it all honesty I would compare it almost to kidney stone pain (I’ve had 4) I just laid on the bathroom floor crying. I took some more ibuprofen and Tylenol and slept for an hour. Woke up and felt slightly better and just made sure I ate and drank a shit ton of water. The cramps were still there but now felt like mild period cramps. After this I fell asleep for the night and when I woke up I physically felt fine. The cramps were a simple 2/10 for the pain.
I bled and had pretty bad clots for about 6 days. Day 7, I went to the bathroom and that’s when I saw the fetus on my bad. I’m not going to lie, this is pretty traumatic. Again I was almost 9 weeks along so if you know how a fetus develops, then you will know what I saw. I cried for a minute, took some deeps breaths and went to takes a nap. Woke up and felt better about this. Bled lightly for around 2 days after passing the fetus, so in total bled for around 9 days.
It’s been 2 weeks since taking this medicine and deciding to do this. Mentally, I feel much better than expected. In all honesty I feel nothing much more than relief because I know I made the right decision and choice for me. I was scared that I would feel regret, but I really don’t which kinda makes me feel shitty.
I decided to write this because I want you to know that you are making the right decision for you, and only you’re able to make that decision. Do not let anyone’s opinions deter you from doing what’s right for your well being. And just know, the physical pain is temporary.
With all love, I hope that this finds whoever needs it. You are loved, cared for and appreciated. If you are alone during this process and need someone to talk to or ask questions, I am here. And there are plenty of helpful resources as well.
Stay well and safe. <3

Hey guys,
Many Reddit posts really helped me in the run up to my exam, so I want to tell you my story to ease anyone else's anxiety for their screening.
This is gonna be a long read so only read along if you're wanting every detail of this journey.
A few months ago I admitted myself to ED as I was having blood clots coming out in my stool. I have had many years of bleeding stool and hemorrhoid issues but this was the first time it had happened with blood clotting.
I was asked to stay overnight but before I left I asked for a referral for a colonoscopy so at least I went home with something moving forward.
It was in the public system so it was a few months until I could get an appointment but the run up to it I was frightened about mostly the results and the sedation.
This was in Australia so the sedation option is Midazolam and Fentanyl. It's a twilight sedation and something I've never experienced before.
In the two weeks running up to it, I expressed to my psychologist of my fears and she suggested asking my GP for quick action anxiety medication.
My GP prescribed me Diazapam and suggested I take it before I leave the house.
Fast forward to the day before. I stopped eating at 2pm and started my first PLENVU dose at 7pm. Initial bowel movements weren't so bad. Maybe went 6 times over the course of the night and it slowed down by midnight and I was able to get about 6 hours sleep.
I drank lemonade, apple juice, bone broth, sucked on Werther's originals and basically tried to keep belly full of sugar and liquids to stave off hunger.
Next morning I woke up at 7am, time for dose two. This one was much more intense when it came to bowel movements. I must have gone about over 10 times in the morning and twice more at the hospital. PLENVU isn't horrendous tasting. It's very salty and viscous but drunken cold with a straw and chasing it with lemonade, it was fine. I drank as much fluid as I could before I stopped all fluid intake at 10am. I think the worst part of the prep is not the hunger but the hours after 10am and before the procedure is the intensity of the thirst. I took my 5mg of Diazapam at 10am and this helped a lot with fighting back the anxiety and nerves.
I got to the hospital, checked in easily enough and was lucky they had a good system. I arrived at 12pm for a 1:30pm procedure.
Nurses were lovely and cannulated me with ease. I expressed my nerves and one of the assistant nurses explained I would be in a Twilight sleep on Midazolam and Fentanyl and depending on how my body reacts I could be aware of what's going on, could talk to them the whole time or go straight to sleep.
Turns out, I didn't go under basically at all. I was talking to them the whole time and they were holding my hand. I may have conked out for a second here or there with no memory but I basically watched the entire footage of the scope and at one point asked for more Midazolam as it hit a bit of a sore spot.
What a was 20-30 mins felt like 5 minutes. They then banded my hemorrhoids in the same procedure.
I didn't feel it initially but as soon as I got to recovery the pain of my bands set in but the nurse was so quick to check on my pain levels and what she initially gave as Panadol turned into Oxycodone and that helped a lot.
I'm back home now and my butt still hurts through the painkillers a bit but a banding isn't a part of every procedure but something that was given as an option to me during and I was more than happy to accept.
Turns out bleeding seems to be hemorrhoid related and that shouldn't be as big of an issue once I heal from the banding.
But yeah, I found the prep way more of a breeze than I thought and all I can say is if given the option of unsedated or sedated, choose sedation cos at least you have the option to ask for more pain relief if you remain conscious. Or if you're knocked out and propofol is your option, that would probably be even more pain free than my experience.
There really isn't much to fear and now my fear of going back to get another one is basically nil. Especially since the staff were so patient and friendly to me. They really made it everything so much smoother and calming.
I know this is a long read but I hope it helps someone heading into their upcoming procedure.

TL;DR: After 3 miscarriages and a diagnosis of DOR, I had two healthy pregnancies without IVF or other ART.
We started TTC when I was 35.5, my partner 37. We got pregnant quickly, and quickly had 3 miscarriages, all around 8 or 9 weeks. We never had them tested, but my OB suspected genetic abnormalities.
My partner's test results were normal for a man his age. After the 2nd miscarriage, I had bloodwork and an SHG, a procedure where my OB filled my uterus with saline and looked at it on an ultrasound to see whether I had any visible issues that could explain what was wrong. This procedure was timed to a specific day in my menstrual cycle, so that while we were at it, she could look at my ovaries on the ultrasound as well, to make a prediction about how many eggs she could expect to retrieve if we decided to try IVF.
The SHG turned out normal. My uterus was perfectly fine. My ovaries, however, looked like those of a woman nearing menopause. My antral follicle count (AFC) was only 4. If we did IVF now, the doctor said, that’s how many eggs she expected to harvest -- just 4. Not nearly enough for a promising cycle. The results from the blood test also corresponded to the levels of a menopausal woman. Here are the numbers, for those of you who already know what these mean:
Day 3 AMH: 0.311
Estradiol: 23.8
FSH: 13.8
I might have looked 30 on the outside, but I’d just turned 36, and on the inside I was closer to 50. Our doctor did not recommend that we move forward with IVF. We asked her what we could do instead. She suggested I try supplementing with DHEA, and gave us the recommended dosage (25 mg 3 times/day, for a total of 75 mg daily). She also recommended CoQ10, though she didn’t have a suggested dosage for that, and noted that my vitamin D levels were low. I started supplementing with each of those three things.
I noticed the effects of the DHEA very quickly. It’s an androgen, and can cause women to start sprouting extra body hair. My libido sprang up to teenager levels, and I got acne again.
I decided to take only 200 mg/day of the CoQ10 because it was expensive. That and the vitamin D seemed to give me more energy, maybe, but I couldn’t say for sure.
It took us longer to get pregnant the 3rd time. The miscarriage was the same.
Our OB explained again why she didn't recommend IVF for women with DOR, and told us about a patient of hers who’d had 9 miscarriages before having a successful pregnancy. We were lucky we were able to get pregnant so easily, she said. We were lucky that we didn’t have any other issues compounding the DOR.
If we wanted to explore other options, she told us, our best chance was to use an egg donor. Other than that, all we could do was keep trying. During my fertile window, and given our age, she recommended intercourse every 48 hours.
I doubled down on my research. I read everything I could find online, and read a lot of posts on message boards like the one I’m writing now. Here’s what I decided to do:

1. Lots of exercise, or at least “lots” by my desk-worker standards (brisk walks every day, gentle training with 10-to-20-pound weights a few times a week, and frequent bike rides)
2. Lots of time being happy and relaxed and out in the sun
3. Supplements:
   1. DHEA, 75 mg/day divided in 3 doses
   2. CoQ10, 800 mg/day (ubiquinone, the cheaper kind)
   3. Vitamin D3, 2,000 IU/day
   4. Acetyl L-carnitine, or Alcar, 250 mg/day (the typical dose is 500 mg, but I found this amount gave me nightmares; at 250 mg I felt more energetic, like I could do twice as much exercising as I normally did)
   5. Alpha lipoic acid, 300 mg/day (this makes your urine stink, but it’s inexpensive and safe, and in addition to helping with fertility, I also found studies about its benefit to diabetics and its effect on the pancreas)
   6. Black cohosh on cycle days 1 through 12 (it’s an herb, so I have no idea how much I was actually getting)
   7. Vitex (ditto)
   8. Prenatal vitamins
   9. Fish oil (why not)
   10. More soy foods and freshly ground flax seeds in my diet, for extra estrogen

A note about CoQ10: There are two kinds on the market, a cheaper one (ubiquinone) and an expensive one (ubiquinol), which is supposed to be better absorbed. Both are similar in structure to vitamin E, but are not classified as vitamins because your body can make them on its own. I went with a low-ish dosage of the expensive one the first time around, but after the third miscarriage, I switched to a higher dose of the cheaper one, 800 mg. I definitely noticed an increase in energy while I was taking it.
Here is a study on CoQ10 in follicular fluid and its association with better outcomes: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00404-011-2169-2
Here’s another (“Conclusion: Our observation leads to the hypothesis that the oral supplementation of CoQ10 may improve follicular fluid oxidative metabolism and oocyte quality, specially in over 35-year-old women”): https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/7/10/141
The positive news about CoQ10 keeps coming. I’ll stop with these: https://rbej.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12958-018-0343-0, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/acel.12368
From what I learned while researching this stuff, both CoQ10 and acetyl l-carnitine are antioxidants that are thought to be active in the mitochondria. The mitochondria is sometimes called the “battery” of the cell, supplying its energy as it does its job. After an egg leaves the nourishing environment of the ovary for its journey down the fallopian tube, its only source of energy is its own mitochondria. That’s what keeps it fresh and alive. So an antioxidant that might help the mitochondria have more energy might be crucial for keeping egg cells, and the DNA inside them, better organized for longer -- long enough to conceive. This theory would apply to sperm cells as well, and is thought to be why taking these supplements gives people more energy. Young people have a lot of CoQ10 in their bodies, but after age 25 or so, our natural production goes down.
Here’s a study about egg quality and acetyl l-carnitine (ALCAR): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378432012002436
There isn’t as much research, especially in humans, on ACLAR as there is on CoQ10, but what’s been done so far looks promising. Here’s a study in mice: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378432012002436
As for alpha lipoic acid (ALA), my understanding is that this is thought to be beneficial for diabetics because of its effects on the pancreas. The pancreas and the ovaries are similar in the way they age (again, according to things I read while I was researching like crazy). While I’m not overweight, I’ve always had high blood sugar, and have type 2 diabetes on both sides of my family. So I added this to my regimen too.
Research: ALA supplementation is thought to be safe during pregnancy: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09513590.2018.1462320
A small study has shown ALA to be helpful in patients with PCOS undergoing IVF: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Luisa_Caponecchia/publication/303088959_Effect_of_myo-inositol_and_alpha-lipoic_acid_on_oocyte_quality_in_polycystic_ovary_syndrome_non-obese_women_undergoing_in_vitro_fertilization_a_pilot_study/links/584fb41c08ae4bc8993b3211/Effect-of-myo-inositol-and-alpha-lipoic-acid-on-oocyte-quality-in-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-non-obese-women-undergoing-in-vitro-fertilization-a-pilot-study.pdf
Anyway, if you're still reading, pregnancy number 4 was a success. I quit every supplement except for prenatal vitamins. My doctor at the IVF clinic put me on progesterone until I got through week 10, in case a progesterone deficiency was the cause of my previous miscarriages. She’d never tested for this, so the progesterone was just a precaution. I’d always been plenty nauseated with each of my pregnancies, and the supplemental progesterone only made it worse. All I could eat were dry crackers. After reading a few things about the potential effects of progesterone on an embryo, I don’t think I’d do it again, not unless my doctor had a test result suggesting that it was what I really needed.
My doctor also recommended I start taking baby aspirin, 81 mgs/day, to be continued throughout the pregnancy, in case I had an issue with blood clotting that was causing the miscarriages. She’d never tested me for it, and given my AFC and AMH and FSH levels, it seemed like we already knew what my problem was, but she said it couldn’t hurt, so I went on it and stayed on it until 36 weeks.
Two years later, while I was supplementing with just prenatal vitamins and CoQ10, and without really trying, we got pregnant again. Baby #1 is now five years old, and #2 is three.

I had a PE (or a couple honestly idk) 1 day post partum. No clotting disorder, just unlucky. I didn’t even really have major symptoms from it. Just felt off. My whole body felt heavy for like 20 minutes maybe but they said that could have been from the epidural a day prior. I actually felt great after they gave me some fluids lol before they found the clots. But anyways, back to my question. Has anyone had positive experiences having a baby after clots? She was my first and is almost 9 months old. I want another baby sooo bad in like 1 year but as a hypochondriac I am TERRIFIED and don’t know if I can mentally handle the anxiety I will get through the pregnancy/pp period where clots can happen.

I first want to say, vets have an incredibly difficult job. TW: pet (dog) loss.
I moved with my 14-year old dog "Biscuit" from "Pottersville" to "Smallville" this past March (about 1.5 months ago). Biscuit had ailments (arthritis, fecal incontinence), but it was managed and I thought she was okay. We had a great vet office in Pottersville. The vets who saw her were very knowledgeable, but they also seemed caring, personable and warm without being saccharine. They remembered my dog and seemed to care about her. They also offered "walk-in appointments" with no additional charge and kept a credit card on file.
About 2 weeks after we moved here, we went to the vet because there was discharge coming from her vagina, and the "Dr. Woman" we saw put her on antibiotics, did a UTI test (negative) and said she likely had an infection. Biscuit started acting more lethargic but I chalked it up to the antibiotics (which never gave her any issues) and I was stressed from the move.
Then 3 days later Biscuit collapsed first thing in the morning so I drove to her new vet. They told me a walk-in appointment would be a $250 fee, which of course I agreed to. We were able to see "Dr. Man" (the clinic owner). He did ALL the tests and ultrasounds but couldn't figure out why she collapsed. He said there was an issue with her gallbladder (likely related to her incontinence and the recent infection), but that wouldn't have caused her collapse. He took her off the current antibiotics and put her on another, as well as other medication. Biscuit perked up when they gave her fluids so he said she was good to come home and monitor. The whole time he was very clinical and wasn't warm or very personable but I didn't really think about it.
So we go home and poor little Biscuit didn't have the strength to stand. I won't go into the details, but she passed about 5-10 minutes after we got home. I held her while she passed. I took Biscuit's body back to the vet and I went into a room to chat with the vet tech (who was lovely) about cremation, etc. Mr. Man comes in and goes, "what happened?", but the way he said it was cold and almost accusatory. He said it was likely a blood clot in the lungs, and there is nothing I could have done. Then he offered his condolences, but it felt robotic with no emotional but I didn't think much of it either. The vet tech was extremely sweet and caring.
I missed the pitter patter of doggy feet, so I adopted a senior dog last week :). I took "Cookie" to the same vet, Dr. Man, because I wanted to thank him for what he did for Biscuit and get Cookie checked out.
Immediately after Mr. Man comes into the room I thank him for all he did for Biscuit and that it was a really hard day and he just goes, "oh yeah". Then we talk about Cookie. I tell him her rescue gave me her food (grain-free kibble) and I wanted to talk to him about what she should be eating and he interrupts me and says, "I don't like grain-free", and it sounded so accusatory. Like dude, I said her rescue was giving it to her and that I wanted to get your recommendations. I'm not trying to hurt my dog! Then we're chatting more and I tell him I want to pick a new birthday for her instead of the date the rescue group rescued her and he seemed dismissive and said, "well usually people just use the rescue date, but I can just change the date in the computer." Again I felt like I had to defend myself and that he was judging me.
Lastly the vet tech was going to cut Cookie's nails but said she wasn't going to charge me since her "quicks" were long and she couldn't trim them. So as we're heading to leave, Mr. Man rushes back in the room and says hurryingly, "you didn't charge for the nail trim!".
The whole appointment left a bad taste in my mouth.
Again, being a vet is so hard and I understand that it might be easier to be detached and more clinical to cope through it. But do you think he could have been nicer? I think for Cookie, I'll see Dr. Woman next time, I don't think I want to see Dr. Man again. Is this enough to try a different vet?
Is this part of the "anger" phase in the grief cycle? Am I subconsciously angry at the vets, even though they did all they could for Biscuit? The $250 walk-in charge seems ridiculous too, what am I supposed to if there is another emergency?

Day 1: Appointment was for 10:30am, was told to only eat a light breakfast that day. Went into clinic, filled out paperwork, peed in cup for std testing. Talk to counsellor about how the procedure will go. Doctor comes in to do ultrasound. Get bloodwork done and blood pressure checked. Go into procedure room and put ur legs up. Doctor uses speculum to open vagina, they wipe inside to clean/sterilize it, they then use a numbing needle to numb your cervix then put the laminaria sticks in. I got 2 the first day. And gauze to help keep them in place. Said I might feel cramping right away, I didn’t. Brought back to the waiting room for 5 minutes to make sure I was okay. Nurse gave me 4 pills of azithromycin (1g antibiotic) to take with dinner and Tylenol 3s if I had any pain that night. Overall, the appointment took 4 hours all together. That night I had no pain or cramps, just had diarrhea from the antibiotics which wasn’t too bad.
Day 2: Was told to eat a light breakfast before appointment. Appointment was for 8am this time. Nurse made me go pee right away. Went into the waiting room, nurse checked my blood pressure. Was brought into the procedure room. Put my legs up and doctor put speculum in me to take out laminaria sticks and check my cervix. She said I dilated perfectly (1-2cm) Took out the speculum then numbed my belly. Honestly pretty painful, felt like pinching and burning but only lasted 30 seconds. The doctor then put the termination needle in my stomach which lasted about a minute or two. After that she said the procedure went safely. She then put the speculum back in and numbed my cervix. She then put in 6 laminaria sticks and gauze. This time I felt the cramping instantly. Mild but still. She took out the speculum and told me to go into the waiting room. The nurse checked my blood pressure again and then I was done. I could eat normally but can’t eat past midnight. After midnight only drink clear fluids. Nurse said for both days spotting is normal and if the gauze falls out it’s also normal. Just as long as the sticks don’t fall out. For both of these days, all you do is rest. Only walk if necessary. That night starting at 6-7pm the contractions started. They got unbearable at 2am and so on. If they give you pain medication for home, take it! They gave me Tylenol #3s for the pain and they said I could take regular Tylenol or Advil in between as well. Deep breathing really helped me through contractions and drinking warm clear liquids (herbal tea, warm water)
Day 3: Didn’t get any sleep at all. Ended up calling my 24/7 clinics doctors line at around 4am and she just told me to take more medication. As long as you don’t feel rectal pressure, there’s no need to go to the hospital. So I had to wait the pain out. After taking the extra medication the pain became more bearable and the contractions were further apart. I started spotting at 6am which is normal. My appointment was for 8am. Went to the clinic, they made me pee right away then go into the waiting room. They put an iv in me which held the conscious sedation fluid (fentanyl) and checked my blood pressure. I was called into the room and sat up in the chair. The doctor put the speculum in me to take out the laminaria sticks. She said I dilated perfectly again so there was no need to take any misoprostol (pills to soften the cervix) so she started with the procedure right away. First she numbed my cervix and then she broke my water and aided me in giving labor. After I delivered, she put the speculum back in me to take out the placenta. She then I think vacuumed anything else in my uterus. And then I was done. They took me back to the waiting room where I waited for 10mins and then the nurse told me to go to the washroom so she could check my bleeding. I was spotting which is normal. She told me to wait another 10mins so she could check again. After that she said I was good to go home. I wasn’t cramping at all after the procedure and felt pretty much fine.
Recovery: I’m now on day 2 of recovery. My bleeding has been similar to spotting or a light period. My doctor told me to walk for at least an hour a day to avoid blood clots. Blood clots are normal as long as they’re no bigger than a lemon. The bleeding has been getting less and less each day. Haven’t been cramping at all. Day 2 I started lactating. Doctor said to take advil or Tylenol if my breast were hurting too much and to wear a tight/supportive bra (like a sports bra) all day. You shouldn’t really massage or stimulate them or else you’ll continue to produce milk. All you can do is take medication for the pain and wait it out.

Hi everyone, I'm here to give an update on my 15 day Post operation, fibroid removing hysterectomy and first off, I want to say it was the best decision ever in regards to my fibroid journey. I'm two weeks post-op and feeling great. Like many of you, I was very anxious in the weeks leading up to my surgery to remove two fibroids that had been assessed at about grapefruit and orange sized 6 months previously. I was on Lupron to stop my periods, which only exacerbated my anxiety. My doctor prescribed add-back hormones, which helped tremendously with the volatile emotions, and Zopiclone to help me sleep, as that was also disturbed by the Lupron.
On the day of the surgery, I was at the peak of my nervousness. The nurse helped ease my fears by giving me a low dose of Ativan, which definitely helped as I went through the motions of talking to the anesthesiologist, my doctogynecologist, and the attending surgeons and nurses. I made it very clear to my doctor that I don’t do well with pain and I didn’t want to endure any unnecessary discomfort. I was brought to the surgical table and got through the anesthesiology needle poke pretty easily with the aid of the Ativan (I hate needles!) and before I knew it, I was slumping into that glorious sedation daze and within what felt like seconds wheeled to my room for my overnight stay. During surgery, I was administered generous amounts of nerve blockers and Fentanyl, so I woke up literally feeling nothing in my body and feeling quite euphoric.
I live in a wonderful small community in Canada and received the most exceptional care on the women and children’s floor. A few notable aspects of that overnight stay: the pain from the gas they used to expand your chest to get into your abdomen is no joke. I could feel it across my shoulder blades each time I breathed. The apparatus they provided me to test blowing air out of my lungs was uncomfortable but manageable and really helped to get movement within my internal torso, which is super important as you need to get the gas flowing so that it exits out your butt. I happily took the Hydromorphone made available to me every three hours, as well as the Tylenol and Advil, which they cycled every three hours as well. I certainly felt some discomfort, and again, the gas passing was painful but everything was manageable and the addition of the opioids during my stay made everything quite happy and pleasant.
I had a catheter attached to me, which was a new experience, as you go pee without any effort. I had four bandages on my abdomen indicating where my doctor had gone in laparoscopically. There was some overall tenderness and achiness which I attribute more to the positions I'm sure I was manipulated into while under , so the surgeons could get in via different angles. I was admitted into the recovery unit in the evening because my surgery was over four hours (about eight hours altogether end to end from my 11am admission)and there was no meal service available. Thankfully the wonderful nurses procured a sandwich from the cafeteria. I was absolutely famished and ate it quite voraciously. I was quite high at this point, so I thought it was the best thing I’d ever tasted in my life (it was a pedestrian tuna sandwich on plain bread).
Sleeping was more difficult, between the opioids and just general discomfort in my body. Oh, and the gas—the gas exiting your body does hurt as it makes its way through your tender digestive system, but it's very satisfying when it leaves. I know I kept the poor woman recovering in the adjoining section up all night with my flatulence, but the nurses assured me that it was encouraged to get it all out. I did wake up a number of times with some sharper pain and took advantage of the drugs on offer. My sleep was not deep nor necessarily restful, but it was enjoyable because I was pretty hopped up and happy. The hospital had affixed circulating airbags onto my legs to help prevent blood clots, and I found them to be quite relaxing.
I managed to sleep a few hours. When breakfast was served, I was happy to eat it. My doctor came to give me my surgical report and advised me that she had removed TWO grapefruit-sized fibroids along with my uterus and a dozen or so more little fibroids in the mix. One of the fibroids had necrotized. She showed me pictures of all the pieces and tissue. I don't do well with anything medical-related, but it was actually quite satisfying to see what had amounted to about the size of a bowling ball removed from my body. I had my uterus, fallopian tubes, and of course fibroids removed but my ovaries left intact. She said the total mass of the removed organ and bits was about 4 to 5 lbs. I'm very happy she was able to do it mostly vaginally with some assistance through the four small incisions on my belly. After receiving the all-clear from my doctor, the nurses removed my IV, which had been hooked up to dispense electrolytes and vitamins. Then they removed my catheter. I was really nervous about having my catheter removed because I didn't understand the mechanics of how it was attached, but it was just a quick little pinch and then it was gone. Another thing I had to demonstrate before being discharged was that I could pee on my own. It felt odd because I was activating muscles that were still tender, and I was uncertain about what was going on down there, but after being filled with various intravenous fluids as well as the juice and water I had been drinking, it was pretty easy to just sit back, relax, and let it flow. My partner came, wheeled me out in a wheelchair, and took me home where she had configured the bed with a variety of adjustable wedge pillows to ensure I was comfortable.
I was also sent home with a prescription for 15 additional Hydromorphone tablets, and I diligently took those every three hours because I had no desire to be a hero and endure any pain. The doctor prescribed one to two every three hours; I took one every three hours and that was sufficient, cycled with one Tylenol and one Advil every three hours. Getting out of bed was pretty easy; it just felt like I had had a rigorous ab workout and was a bit tender.
The worst part was trying to compel a bowel movement. The opioids are a bit of a double-edged sword in that they really enhance the healing experience, but they also cause constipation at a crucial time when your bowels are already quite shocked and don't need any more discouragement. I started on doctor recommended Colace pills and Restoralax on day one. By day four, I still hadn't had a BM and was starting to feel quite bloated and heavily constipated. What worked for me was a combination of warm milk of magnesia and prune juice. I downed a large glass of that and within about three to four hours, I had explosive diarrhea, which wasn't as bad as it sounds as it was a relief to finally get things moving. I had to endure about a day or two of just expelling liquid but still feeling like I was constipated. I continued to take the Colace and then added in Senokot (which I wouldn't recommend until you've had that first explosive movement) and have been taking that combination now for about a week, and finally, two weeks post-op, I had my first normal bowel movement today.
I ended up refilling my prescription for another 20 Hydromorphone pills about four days after the first. Near the end of that prescription, I started tapering down my dose, which I think helped significantly with the discomfort of weaning off. I've struggled with substance abuse issues in the past (five years sober this month!), so of course, the prospect of using potent drugs for the surgery and recovery was concerning to me and my family, but I can tell you that I was able to ease off without relapsing. I got through the whole experience with minimal pain and suffering. If you can get access to the drugs, do yourself a favor and don’t try to be a hero—take them! You’ve already been a hero dealing with these alien tumors disrupting your body for so long. Honestly, I think the fact that I don’t drink alcohol has probably helped my recovery significantly.
Yesterday, my partner helped remove the steri- strips. They did not fall off on their own as I had read, but they came off easily with just a little bit of pinching. I now see the faintest scars you’d expect from a super minor cat scratch.
My body definitely looks different, and everything just feels better. I always felt that I had an unsightly paunch, but the reality was I had a massive collection of fibroids the size of a bowling ball, and having them removed has made me look quite svelte, and there's still some swelling reduction to happen.
I feel like I could run a marathon, but my partner keeps reminding me to take it easy and to stick to walking only for exercise for the full six weeks. It’s a small investment to make for lifelong health. All in all, my experience was as good as it could be, and to top it off, I got the call from my doctor that my biopsy came back all clear from cancer. Let me know if you have any questions , happy to help you with your journey!

I am in San Jose, CA. I have arrived at ER by ambulance on May 8, 1am.

BACKGROUND:

CCI, AAI, internal jugular vein compression (?) at the C1 level secondary to CCI. I’ve also been diagnosed with HSD by an EDS neurosurgeon via physical exam—therefore I could have some vascular integrity issues. Previously ME/CFS. No history of anxiety or panic attacks. No CCI or IJV surgeries or medication. Primary symptoms: - Constant pressure headaches and feeling of venous congestion in the head. As if fluid does not go through the head or gets lodged up. Pressure on the sides of the head and at the temples - Constant brain fog and difficulty finding words - Burning eyes, worsening eyesight, blurry vision, veiny red eyes - Occasional tinnitus or sudden hearing loss and loud tinnitus for 1-2 minutes in episodes - Feel better laying down and pushing occiput against bed frame as if extending my neck - Hard collar helps—stabilizing my neck is helpful for symptoms - Oscillation between symptoms of high IH and low IH (CSF leaks?) - Feel terrible on planes with barometric pressure changes - No known trauma. No known acute cause of CCI. Had headaches and fatigue since 3 y/o but did not consider medical issue until 18. Now 22. - 150 pounds, 5’10, 22M, no drugs/alcohol/smoking/caffeine

ONSET:

At the time of onset, I had just overexerted both physically and cognitively (driving and some computer work, but I am primarily housebound due to CCI so this was above average for me). As soon as it was time to relax, I started having these symptoms: - Shortness of breath - Lightheadedness & dizziness. I normally have constant pressure headaches and feeling of venous congestion. The pressure headaches were gone within minutes, which is very unusual. Felt like I was losing blood. When I started to feel better, the pressure headaches partially returned - Mucus lodged in back of my throat with blood. I had much less mucus and little to no blood when coming down from the episode - Shaking and chills for 4-6 hours - Cold hands for 30 minutes - Heart rate oscillating between normal and very rapid in 1-2 minute intervals - Lost blood flow in the right arm for 60 seconds - Blood pressure systolic 176 in the ambulance. It was likely higher prior to the ambulance - Stomach growling and discomfort - Extreme weakness, difficulty standing

IN ER:

Doctor, upon seeing my medical history, wanted a no-contrast neck CT due to CCI. I explained that I have a recent neck CT, and I suggested a CT venogram of the neck to check vasculature. Doctor said they can only do an arterial phase since the venogram requires a technician that they do not have at the hospital. Doctor said that if I were bleeding from neck, I’d be vomiting blood and would have a notable neck mass.
We did not end up getting the angiogram, and my body started to calm down after 4 hours. I was discharged.

WHEN WE GOT HOME:

I am still shaking and it is difficult to sleep. I slept 3.5 hours and woke up with lots of adrenaline.
The morning and afternoon of May 8: I started to experience rapid heart rate changes and change in lightheadedness with any positional change. It takes me 5-10 minutes to go from elevated head position to sitting upright. I am extremely weak and cannot stand. It took me hours to muster the energy to go down the hall and back. It is difficult to eat and drink. I have very little appetite, but am trying to hydrate with sodium and electrolytes.

OTHER SYMPTOMS:

A few hours prior to onset, I had a feeling of something stabbing the inside of my upper throat. After the episode, the stabbing pain periodically came back somewhere between under my right ear and under my chin. I believe this is the first time this happened.
I also have periodic shooting or stabbing pain in the chest. It only stabbed a few times after the first episode and just spontaneously happens sometimes, not extremely painful. That pain is in the front of left chest, on the side, in the back, radiating from the center sometimes, and radiating toward the left arm sometimes. I am unsure if this is related, but figured it’s important. Along with this was my right shoulder lodged up. I had to move it into multiple positions before the pain went away (this has only happened once after the first episode). I initially suspected this was some mild TOS since I’ve been having this pain for about 2 weeks prior to onset.
It is also difficult to defecate without pain. I feel stabbing pain in the stomach lower left of the belly button. Have not had this.

NEXT EPISODES:

I had my second episode the afternoon of May 8th. It was small and the after effects lasted less than an hour.
Around 1-3am on May 9, I had a third episode of worsened severity. We did not go to ER. I had just eaten half a banana. Almost felt as if it was aggravated by the action of eating/swallowing. All the same symptoms returned from coughing up blood and metallic taste to stomach discomfort, lightheadedness and dizziness, shortness of breath, adrenaline, constant shaking, etc. Blood pressure was elevated (160) and pulse was 65-90 following the episode (I did not measure during episode). Oxygen levels 93-98. At this point I was extremely tired and got 2 hours of sleep in before waking up to elevated HR again. I am now exhausted.
Around 3:30pm on May 9 next episode. Was sitting motionless holding ice in mouth. First it was throbbing in head above right forehead, vasculature was hungry for air and HR doubled. 2 mins later calm. Then 2 mins later same throbbing in left of neck and HR doubled. 2 mins later calm. Then chest radiating from the back of the chest up the left shoulder and down the left arm, and some pinching in back of chest and sometimes upper left chest and on the side of left chest. After the episodes, I felt tired and weak, and had to rest for an hour+ before getting back up.
Around 1pm on May 10 smaller episode. HR elevated for 30-60 seconds, BP dropped a little (115 systolic), oxygen levels were fine. Prior to episode experienced slow onset of dizziness and lightheadedness + shortness of breath. then feeling flushed, red, and hot. This happened while I was at urgent care. Mild shaking. Did NOT have mucus or blood or metallic taste or smell, did not have stomach discomfort or stomach growling. Followed by moderate weakness and POTS symptoms. I was able to walk fine before, now it is difficult to walk without jittering and have to do so slowly
Around 6:30pm on May 10, another small episode. HR elevated for 30-60 seconds, BP upped a little to 125 systolic, oxygen levels fine, slight chest pain radiating from the back of the left chest, felt flushed and hot. Blood pooling in the legs. Did not have bloody sputum or metallic taste

SUSPICIONS:

1. Internal jugular vein (IJV) small tear or tearupture of a capillary or other compressed vascular structure around the neck. Seems somewhat interesting due to metallic taste and blood in sputum, but a tear is theoretically unlikely without a notable mass in the neck
   1. Could get Doppler ultrasound to assess flow
   2. Could get CT venogram to assess vasculature and stenosis
   3. Anything else?
2. Pulmonary embolism—could be a result of a clot somewhere in body. Risk factors include immobility—which I am frequently in bed due to CCI and have been losing a lot of weight. IJV or other could have clotted due to stenosis and traveled into the lungs. Maybe not IJV, maybe some other body part simply due to lack of mobility. Supports the blood in sputum finding
   1. D-dimer
   2. CTA of chest
   3. Anything else?
3. Aortic dissection—very common in EDS patients, especially with vascular types. Diagnosis not sure. Had chest pain but it was not excruciating. However, I mention it because I have HSD diagnosis (pre-EDS or non-hyperflexible type EDS) and I started experiencing chest pain for 2 weeks prior to these episodes. I wrote it off as thoracic outlet syndrome which is not urgent, but figured I’d mention it.
4. TIA—seems to be the most frequent cause of ER visits among CCI and IJV compression patients. Not sure though.
5. GI tract bleed (?). Didn’t see bloody stool. Supports bloody sputum finding.

MORE NOTES:

BP systolic 110 after laying down for some time following the minor episode on May 10 from urgent care. My BP is never this low. I normally have 135 systolic, that is my norm.

WHAT I HAVE DONE FOR TESTING:

1. EKG—normal
2. Blood—fibrinogen, CBC, D-dimer, comprehensive metabolic, hepatic function panel, Sed Rate by Modified Westergren, lipid panel with reflex to direct LDL. Awaiting results

QUESTIONS:

• How urgent is this?
• Do these symptoms and episodic nature sound like PE?

So I had a bit of a scare just under two weeks ago when I peed twice in the morning and both times there was what seemed to be little blood clots in the toilet. I had no “active” bleeding, nothing when I wiped or in underwear. I called OB to be sure and she sent me to ER (it was a weekend) and everything was fine at the ER, baby had a heartbeat and was moving on ultrasound. I was 10w+3d then. Called OB on Monday after ER sent her their info and she said if no more bleeding or clots occur, I could wait to see her at my next scheduled appointment. I’ve been on pelvic rest since then.
After that, I kept checking the toilet when I peed. Since then, I’ve noticed that there is a clear or maybe milky fluid in the toilet sometimes with my pee. It’s definitely a different consistency than my pee, but it’s hard to tell what it is exactly. This happens sometimes when I have discharge in my underwear, but a lot when I have zero discharge. It seems to be just coming out when I pee. It looks like it could be discharge but I’m confused why it would only come out when I’m peeing and not just flowing out when sitting at work or doing something else that isn’t peeing.
I was worried at first, then kinda got over the worry, but today there was more consistency of the fluid in my pee bowl, so now I’m worried again. I’m looking for input or advice on what it might be? Is this a bad sign? Has anyone else experienced this?
Other info: I’m 12 weeks today, I have had 4 ultrasounds so far, all with heartbeat and 2 with movement. Last ultrasound was at the ER. I have my next appointment in exactly one week from today and am supposed to head out of town for the weekend starting tomorrow morning.

I’m wondering what is normal discharge for 18wks? From 10wks through now 18wks I’ve been dealing with bleeding/spotting and clots from a subchorionic hematoma and now it’s been about over a week of almost no spotting (some brown when I wipe some days) but I notice in the pad sometimes there is milky white almost clear looking discharge, doesn’t look watery. I don’t really know what’s normal and I don’t want to keep calling the clinic and ask since I’ve called three times this week with various questions. Like I said, I haven’t had normal discharge in like 2 months, so no idea if I’m leaking amniotic fluid or it’s just regular discharge. I will say for the past two months I have had pain in my groin and more over to the right side and up towards the clit.

I am 15 days post op. I was recently sent to the ER for suspected blood clots. There were no blood clots but I was severely dehydrated… I am in my puree stage of my diet and so far have had no troubles at all. Nothing gets stuck and I never feel like I’m miserable afterwards. Trying to get enough fluids in on the other hand is absolutely miserable… is anyone else experiencing this? Anyone have any tips tricks they’re using to get in enough fluids? I wake up with the driest eyes and mouth I’ve ever experienced every day 😭

UPDATE: She went into the hospital on 5/4 and the last time she sounded normal to me was 5/2 and I'm pretty sure she didn't eat anything on 5/3 and definitely not on 5/4 when she was found. It is now 5/8 and she hasn't had anything to eat since 5/2 to my knowledge plus the fact that she can't swallow currently. The IV was taken out on 5/6 and no fluids since then. The report today is that she is still mostly sleeping and opened her eyes briefly. The nurse said she doesn't THINK she's in any pain but they can't be sure. How much longer can she go on like this?
ORIGINAL POST: I am so tired of going through this with her. 3 times in 3 months she's been taken to the hospital with some kind of sepsis that they can never identify. Basically spending 3 weeks each time between there and rehab. She gets home for maybe a month and it happens again. She goes in completely delusional with low blood pressure and pulse. Each time the doctor doesn't think she'll get better but she always does.
This time we have decided to go the palliative/hospice route with her. She went in 4 days ago, 2 days ago is when we told them to not give her meds, take away her IV, not give her blood clot medicine. Her blood pressure got as low as 56/37 and I told them not to give her any medicine to bring it up, but when they gave her an IV that first day, it started going back up and now even after taking out the IV it's up to 143/71.
Yesterday hospice called and we talked about options. Shortly after that the hospital nurse practitioner called me and said that my mom still had only really been sleeping and not waking up and hadn't had anything to eat or drink. She can't swallow so I'm not sure how she is supposed to eat or drink. She said if she continues like that then it is just a matter of days before she passes.
Last night at nearly 10PM the hospital called. Of course the only reason I was thinking they'd call that late is to tell me she passed. Nope, they were calling to tell me she was getting aggressive, took out her catheter somehow and was pinching the nurses so they had to put her in restraints.
Is it wrong that I wasn't happy about them telling me she didn't die? I really hope this doesn't mean she's coming out of whatever she was in and is going to be lucid and start getting angry at everyone and me and asking why she can't go home. I don't want to go through this with her again. I am just hoping that she doesn't want to eat or drink and that she will just pass.

Hi all. Thanks to the mod team for approving a standalone, the support means a lot.
I'm a bit out of ideas for next steps after our last failed FET of a euploid donor embryo. Any and all thoughts welcome. I've tried to describe this as succinctly as possible below so here goes:
Me: 42F, male partner 44. Diagnosis of endometriosis, no symptoms other than an endometrioma on one ovary. Male factor infertility as well. TTC since 2018.
2 CPs trying on our own.
ER#1 - 2021: resulted in one aneuploid embryo. Poor response to meds, decided to move to donor eggs.
DE cycle #1: created 5 embryos with 26yr old donor eggs and partner's sperm.
FET #1: standard medicated protocol with estrace, prometrium and PIO every third day. Strong initial beta resulting in a slow heartbeat at 7 week ultrasound; no heartbeat at 8 weeks. Took Misoprostol, could not test POC as there was not enough tissue. RE hypothesis was that it was an abnormal embryo, still possible with a young donor.
FET#2: standard medicated protocol exact same as FET #1.
Was started on Synthroid as TSH was over 4 at beta. Was referred to an endocrinologist in a prenatal program at a women's hospital and I'm still seeing them to monitor my TSH.
Pregnancy developed well, no issues on ultrasounds, anatomy scan, NIPT. Sudden stillbirth at 25 weeks, noticed due to lack of fetal movement. Pathology indicated it was due to fetal vascular malperfusion, a placental issue. C-section needed due to placenta previa. Full RPL blood panel was run by the hospital on me and spouse, no clotting or other issues found. MFM thought it might just be an unfortunate one time event.
Switched clinics as my RE had left anyway and the patient care there wasn't great. Moved three remaining embryos to new clinic.
I had been taking 20mg of escitalopram for FET#2. After the stillbirth, this was upped to 25mg, higher than the max dose.
New RE did some tests: EMMA ALICE (normal) Anti phospholipid antibodies (normal) Lupus (normal) SIS to look at c-section scar; it was normal (no fluid, etc)
FET#3 - RE wanted to try ovulatory FET due to linkage between fully medicated FETs and placental issues. Ovulatory FET with trigger and progesterone support and aspirin. No implantation.
FET#4 - ovulatory FET without trigger; progesterone support and aspirin. No implantation.
Hysteroscopy done after FET#4. Normal.
FET#5 - decided to do two months of Lupron Depot as it was the last embryo. Standard medicated protocol with estrace, prometrium, PIO every third day, aspirin. No implantation. **I feel it's relevant to mention that this was a day 7 3CB embryo, so lower chance of success.
DE cycle #2 - Semen analysis tests were worsening and we didn't want to risk it, so we created 3 euploid embryos using donor sperm and donor eggs. Egg donor was different than the first. Both donors are proven donors.
In the meantime my RE referred us for a second opinion at another clinic with an RE who specializes in RPL and immune issues. He did a full physical exam, reviewed my history, and said I'd had a full workup already and he couldn't detect any reason why the FETs hadn't worked. He said he felt our chance for success was good. He did one blood test, I can't remember what it was but it came back negative. He suggested to my RE that we repeat an SIS, add steroids and Lovenox just to try something new.
SIS was repeated. Found to be normal except one tube seemed blocked, my RE said she thought this was a technical issue rather than a true blockage. Tried to remove a cervical polyp too but could only get part of it off.
FET #6 - ovulatory FET with Letrozole (as it is supposed to suppress Endo), Ovidrel trigger, vaginal probiotics because why not, Medrol for 5 days starting two days before transfer, Lovenox starting two days before transfer until beta, prometrium 600mg a day, PIO every third day, aspirin. No implantation.
I'm at a loss here TBH. My regroup with my RE is next week. We have two euploid donor embryos left and after that we are done.
I'm still on Synthroid and my TSH hovers just under 2.
One thing I asked her about was my 25mg escitalopram. Max dose is 20, many people take 10. Google says this med can raise prolactin. My clinic has not tested my prolactin. I don't have any symptoms such as lactation. I'm maybe grasping a bit with this but it's one thing that changed between FET #2 which implanted and FET #3-6 which did not. The nurse messaged my RE about this yesterday, and she said she'll test my prolactin, but that the extra progesterone support should counteract any prolactin issues, so this likely did not affect the last FET. Regardless I'm going to ask my psychiatrist to lower my dose to 10mg, the side effects at 25mg are bothersome and this was only supposed to be a short term dose increase.
Things I'm going to ask my RE about: - an HSG? I've never had one. - repeating EMMA ALICE? - doing three months of Lupron Depot, or Orlissa? Maybe the FET we did after LD failed because of an embryo issue? - lap surgery? The wait for this will be at least a year. - more extensive thyroid testing? My TSH and T4 free is tested regularly. Not sure if there are other elements to test. - testing progesterone during a FET? This is not routinely done in Canada. - I don't want to do ovulatory FETs anymore. I was only able to get implantation with a medicated FET so I'd like to go back to those.
My RE is very collaborative and will listen to any suggestions I have so I'm hoping to develop a good list.
I hope this isn't too hard to follow. It turned into a novel 🫠

Hello AskDocs, I was diagnosed with Pseudotumor cerebri at 11 years old, got an LP Shunt installed into my spine at 12 and it's set at 160. I'm 30 years old now, and have had no issues. This is the second one I've had installed (the first one clogged on the operating table).
This will be a long post, but it's something that has really stuck with me in my mind for a while and I'd like to get answers here, if possible. I will give a lot of details, but if anything is missing, please let me know.
My Pseudotumor case was pretty horrible. Over the course of 11 months, I had to 8 spinal taps. The first 3 spinal tabs (taken a week apart), my CF fluid would shoot out of the needle. The doctors told my parents that my pressure was over 500 every time, but they had no way of knowing the actual pressure. My head swelled to the point that my right eye started protruding out of my skull. I had double vision constantly, and would sleep for 23 out of the 24 hours in a day. The case itself was so bad that my pediatric doctor at Akron Children's diagnosed me with Malignant Pseudotumor cerebri as the case itself was the most aggressive and fast he had ever seen in his career.
On my 6th spinal tap, I was stuck 24 times. The doctors eventually got it, but they kept missing the spot in my spine to collect the CF fluid. Because of this, I woke up in the middle of the night that night to use the restroom, walked to my bathroom, and fell over in the hallway as I was unable to feel/move my body from the waist down. After an ER trip, it was discovered that because of that spinal tap, I gained a blood clot on my spine. I was given a shot in my hip, and I was fine again about 2 hours later.
At the 9 month mark, I was losing my vision roughly 10% every week. I was really lucky and blessed with the doctors I had as all of them called the Cleveland Clinic constantly to get me scheduled for surgery. After their efforts, 2 months later, I was booked with the head of neurosurgery (at the time).
Not one of my doctors know what caused this, they speculated that I had meningitis of some kind, but it's really all up in the air. As an adult, I'm totally fine now (for the most part). I have almost no peripheral vision in my right eye that protruded, I have some bad bouts of nerve pain every now and then, but aside from that, I'm fine.
I say all of this because I lost all memory from age 11 and back. I have bits and pieces, but it's all foggy. I don't remember my mom, dad, brother, friends, etc before I was sick. Because of this, it makes me second guess a lot of my life. Trusting my own family and friends is a hard task because I always have the thought in my head that they're not the people I think they are. I just wanted to post here to see if it would be possible that my diagnosis would cause memory loss. None of my doctors said anything about it, and based on the research I've done, it does seem like it can be the case, but it doesn't seem like there's all that much research done on it.
If my memory loss was caused by my diagnosis, is losing over a decade normal? Is there anything I can do to try and get that part of me back?
Thank you for your time. I can answer any questions you may have.
Edit: This is a throwaway account as I don't want anyone on my main knowing my business./spelling

Blurb: Stranded on the hell-planet of Arachnea, the last remnants of the human Fleet fight to survive in a world overrun by insectoid monsters and a sentient ecosystem gone mad. It is a war they are destined to lose, as with every century that passes, more of the ancient science lies forgotten, replaced by myth and superstition. That is, until assistant navigator Rene stumbles the mightiest weapon of the ancestor-gods...
Link for more chapters available here!: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road
As he ran, Rene relived the utter savagery of that moment that lingered so fresh in his mind.
The very stone had come alive with the enemy. Thick screens of vine were torn violently aside to reveal sally ports gnawed into the soft rock face. From each one spewed forth a dozen Amits, creatures nearly a meter and a half tall, with broad sets of shoulders and hips supporting four short, powerful limbs. An extra pair of shriveled arms emerged from the chest cavity. These served the purpose of fine motor control, while the rest were solely for digging and killing. Their necks and torsos were armored in segmented chitin, atop which rested huge oblate skulls that gleamed like dull pearls. The albino beasts flexed their curved mandibles and charged, armored heads lowered, each towering brute swinging a crude maul or axe head of chiseled flint.
“First rank, fire!”
The men discharged a furious volley. The beasts staggered, but only a handful were struck in the vital mark. Mouths consisting of a dozen moving parts rustled in screams of wordless rage. That was another unnerving thing about the Amits: they fought and died in utter silence.
They were closing fast. First rank withdrew and began reloading in a panic. A boulder came crashing down from the heights and dashed the brains out from a man to Rene’s left. He blinked as a fragment of bone grazed his cheek.
“Second rank, ready!”
The Amits reached for them, a terrible hunger in their lidless, milk-white eyes. Right before the moment of contact, the second line stepped forward and discharged the special-issue ammunition.
Clouds of orange smoke erupted from each muzzle. The Amit reared back, their sensitive olfactory organs assaulted by acrid vapors. They milled about in confusion, lashing out blindly in every direction. With cries of desperate bravery, the men unsheathed their bayonets and threw themselves at their foes.
There were few things that could permanently kill an Amit. Bullets and blades pierced them well enough, provided one avoided the armor, but such was their physiology that major organ damage was often negated by redundant systems. They had two brains for primary motor functions and three chambered organs for the distribution of vitae, and the destruction of one wouldn’t cripple them for certain. The only instantly fatal wound was to sever a thick bundle of nerves located near the base of their gargantuan heads, right behind the mouth.
Of course, getting there alive was the trick; one still had to account for the mandibles.
In teams of threes they singled out individuals and went to work. Rene and Lethway took the flanks, taking turns to dart in under the wild swings to stab the pair of cortexes at either side of the body. The beast snapped its jaws sideways, distracted, and Jensen seized that moment to step in close and bury his hatchet in the center of its face. The first blow rebounded off the thick cranium with a gonglike sound, but the second bit deep. The Amit went limp and collapsed, yellow blood frothing down its jowls.
Jensen yelled with triumph and reached down to retrieve his weapon. He took hold of the haft and began to yank it free. The Amit’s eyes flickered open, glittering with baleful light. It spasmed, and a clear fluid fountained up at Jensen, drenching his arm to the elbow. He screamed in agony; in a matter of moments the acid ate through his sealant suit and peeled his flesh raw.
Rene ducked as a stone the size of a cart wheel flew past. All around them on every hillock and cliff face, more and more Amit clambered to meet them, mandibles spread wide in anticipation. Worse still, the clever ones had begun to circle around behind them. If they managed to bottle up the defile they would be trapped and killed to a man.
Deschane had reached the same conclusion. He bellowed:
“First rank! First rank, about face and fire at will!”
What was left of them rushed to comply. Most of the first rank had managed to load their own noxious cartridges in time, and a second cloud of sulphurous compounds scattered the Amit at their rear.
“Disperse and overlap! Make for the outpost!”
Rene and the rest of the men fought through under a hail of hurled projectiles, stumbling over the broken bodies littering the ground, mauled beyond recognition, bisected, Amits shot and stabbed and hacked into twitching heaps of meat, human skulls split by axe heads and dripping cranial fluid. T. He saw one man caught out by a pair of beasts who took an arm and a leg each and pulled him shrieking into the dark mouth of a tunnel. Several other unfortunates shared his grisly fate, disappeared beneath the earth with loud wails.
_______________________________________________________
They fled, but not in wild terror. Rather, they each found a partner and took off in separate directions. The eyesight of an Amit was good only for a few dozen meters, beyond which they had to operate by scent and sound. Arguably this fact did not help much, as these senses were highly tuned and superior to vision for the purposes of tracking and killing, but it was not impossible to confuse them.
And so Rene now ran alone. Like the others he had picked a direction and taken off as fast as his legs could carry him. In his haste he had forgotten to attach himself to a partner. He was beginning to regret it. His pursuer was gaining on him, how he could not say. He darted a quick glance behind him, then looked back in time to narrowly duck a low branch that swiped at his face.
It was coming at an oblique angle to his path, and in a moment it would close the distance and take him from behind with the terrible strength of its jaws.
But not if he had anything to say about it. Rene reached out, seized the narrow trunk of a sapling and swung himself around. With his other hand he drew his pistol and aimed.
The Amit stumbled, flopped onto the ground, and began to swear.
“Why, you absolute bastard!”
“Lethway?”
“Watch where you’re pointing that thing, you imbecile!”
Rene laughed with hysterical relief.
“Don’t see why you’re so pleased,” Lethway said, getting up and spitting out saliva thick with clotted blood, “Bastards almost got me.” Lethway was nursing a shallow, jagged cut at his side from an axe. His sealant suit was torn open, twists of rubber lining peeping through.
“They may yet still. Were you the one on the whistle?”
“No. That was Damus. He was too slow. You got a whistle on you?”
“Yes. How many minutes has it been?”
“Damned if I know. Figure we intersect now?”
“Aye.”
Rene blew on the whistle, and the two of them began to run. On either side of them, other pair answered with a whistle of their own, and they came crashing into view from the side. They nodded to one another as they passed. Their paths began to wind and crisscross as the men ran in extended, overlapping figures of eight.
The aim of dispersion was to create a messy trail of scents for the Amit to follow, winding patterns that ended as suddenly as they began, the aromas of some individuals mingling with that of others. The maneuver would buy them time and split the attention of the horde.
The Amits, confounded for the moment, passed quickly out of their hearing, milling about the undergrowth in confusion. Rene and Lethway ran until their lungs gave out, then settled into a measured jog.
“We’ll head south for a bit, until morning comes.” Rene was saying, “We’ll find a nice tall hill, do a bit of scouting, see what the roundheads are up to. Maybe find some of the others. Then we’ll head south west and find the river. Wash our scent off, follow it east to the outpost.”
They stopped abruptly, listened hard. From far off they heard a long, plaintive wail as the Amit caught themselves a straggler.
If they had needed motivation not to break off their breakneck flight, they had it now. They heard him being butchered for quite some time before his cries faded away into silence.
“Better him than us,” Lethway spat bitterly, “Can you still run?” “I can now,” Rene said, and together they crashed on through the green hell that had swallowed their friends.
Link for more chapters available here!: Engines of Arachnea on Royal Road

It's going to be a long one. Warning, full birth story.
I'm officially a loss mom x3.
When someone tells you they've had three losses, most assume 3 early miscarriages. 3 pregnancies where baby doesn't "stick". After all, that's the most common method of loss. I however am in another camp. I just had my third traumatic second trimester loss at 20+4.
My first was in Sept of 2021. Archer was born at 25+2 and lived an hour due to preterm labor. I had no idea I was even laboring until I showed up at L&D and I had no measurable cervix. My second was April of 2023. After our long wait due to a c section, we were thrilled to be expecting again, with Aubree's due date the same as her brother's birthday. My pregnancy with her was wrought with issues from the start. I had a lot of bleeding with her on and off, but she was thriving despite that. Our fifth emergency trip with her ended in a helicopter ride to try and have an emergency cerclage placed, but it was too late. I had to deliver, and she was born still at 19 weeks due to a placental abruption.
After Aubree's death, people started to notice that something wasn't quite right. The high risk Dr referred me for testing, and I found out last July that I had a rather large uterine septum (3.67cm). I had my first surgery for that 12 days later on July 24th. At my follow-up, things looked good, but I still had some residual septum, so we opted for another removal. That happened on Sept 21, the day before Archer's second birthday and Aubree's due date. On Halloween last year, I was deemed to have adequate resection of that septum, and it felt like we had won. We finally figured out what had caused my last two losses, and the next pregnancy was going to be different.
We ended up conceiving the first cycle we tried last Dec. I found out I was pregnant the same week my second niece was born ( first being the week I was supposed to have Aubree vis c/s). It really helped me to cope with the emotions surrounding the new baby.
Pregnancy #3 had a rocky start. Between weeks 6 and 11, I had almost weekly bleeds with rather large clots. Despite all that though, baby thrived. No one could really pinpoint the bleeding source as it never presented itself the same way. At 12 weeks I had a preventative cerclage placed where I found out my cervix was already soft and short. Turns out I have an incompetent cervix in addition to the septum. After that, things were good. I felt good, baby was growing, and we were on cruise control. We had her anatomy scan at 18+4 and everything looks great. They did note I have a dynamic cervix, but my lengths looked good otherwise.
Here's where number 3 went wrong.
May 4th, my husband and I were enjoying a quiet morning at home. We were having lunch when I felt that all too familiar feeling. I stood up, told my husband I thought I was bleeding, and rushed to the bathroom where I discovered instead that my water broke. We were only 20+2. I had no other signs of labor, but my immediate concern was my stitch.
We rushed off to the hospital an hour away in hopes of answers. They confirmed my fear, but they offered hope. I was not in active labor. My cervix was closed, and baby was doing well despite low fluid. This situation is very dangerous for mom due to infection risk, so they offered termination (even in TN- this is one of our few exceptions), but they said we could fight for her. So we did.
We had a game plan. They admitted me for IV antibiotics and monitoring. I was to stay for 48 hours, take more antibiotics at home, and then return home until 21+5 where I would then be admitted and given steroids for baby with hopes that would make it to at least 22 weeks. We obviously wanted way longer than that. We were looking at a long haul inpatient stay.
The first 24 hours were fine. I started passing clots and bleeding in triage, but they were undeterred. The bleeding lessened as the hours passed, and we were hopeful that things were working.
The evening of May 5th, the sky fell. Around 6:30p, I started feeling what I thought might be gas pains. By 7:30, they felt “rhythmic". Not feeling quite like contractions, but they were regular. I called the nurse and she suggested I drink some hot tea and take a walk, so we did. After my dose of antibiotics around 930, I went to the restroom and passed what I could quickly count was 10+ clots hitting the toilet. I knew right then and there that it was over. The next four hours were a whirlwind.
They came in to check the status of my cerclage and found that her umbilical cord had prolapsed through my cervix. I was in active labor and at risk for tearing through my cervix and causing more damage. They moved me to a delivery suite so they could remove the cerclage. I endured that without any pain relief while contracting. Do not recommend. I was immediately dilated to 3cm, and it was certain that things would move fast. I was already in quite a bit of pain, so I requested an epidural, but they had to run labs to make sure it was safe. In the meantime, they were able to give me a shot of morphine, but that did absolutely nothing to help. It made me feel terrible and did not take the edge off.
By the time anesthesia came around, my pain was 10 of 10. That experience was awful. As soon as they sat me up, I felt pressure in my bottom. They asked if I wanted to skip the epidural, but I was in no state to make a decision. The nurse encouraged me to continue so I would be more comfortable. I not only had to deal with the contracts and the morphine, but I was also dealing with blood pressure issues. I bottomed out with the numbing and felt incredibly nauseous. After placement, they gave me some time to hopefully get the epidural to help. It did nothing for my contraction pain.
I pushed for about 5 min, and baby Edie entered the world at 2am on May 6th. She never took a breath. She fought so hard to stay with us until the end. They did an ultrasound around 1145, and she was still alive. I was able to record her little heartbeat. She was perfect and beautiful in every way.
We spent yesterday trying to make a lifetime of memories with our girl in a few hours. It's time you never get back.
Now I am trying to cope with not only a third loss, but I am also struggling with the idea that I may never be a mom to living children. My body has failed three of them. I have a followup appt with MFM in two weeks, and we are hoping to get some insight into next steps. There's a good chance a TAC is in my future. My husband doesn't want to stop fighting, so I won't give up either.
I know that I did everything I could for them and this wasn't my fault. But no one should have to endure the death of their child, much less three. I have comfort in knowing that Edie is with Archer and Aubree wherever they are, but I so desperately wish they were all here with me instead.

I work with one tech in particular who does some very questionable things. Several months ago I saw her put a label on a tube of blood from the ER that was originally completely blank. It was in the bag with some other tubes (which were labeled) and she just assumed that since the unlabeled tube was in the bag with the other tubes, that surely it must have belonged to that same patient. We have a strict policy that specimens must be labeled at the bedside to ensure patient safety and accurate results, and the only time we can accept an unlabeled specimen is in the case of irretrievable specimens like spinal fluids. And even then, the nurse/ doctor has to sign an attestation form taking responsibility for the unlabeled specimens. Needless to say, I was pretty bothered by what my coworker did, so I brought it up to my supervisor. Her way of dealing with this was to send out a “general email” to the lab.
As I suspected, that general email didn’t do any good. A few days ago, this same coworker accepted another unlabeled tube. This time, she had released a PT result on someone whose cbc had been previously clotted. I guess knowing the cbc had been clotted, she thought she better check the blue tube for clots too. Sure enough, the blue had a clot but the result had auto released already and surprisingly, the result was within normal range. She called the ER and asked if they’re draw another blue tube on this patient so she could rerun it and do a corrected result if needed. I heard her telling the nurse on the phone to just write the patient’s name on the tube, since this tube would be an extra and wouldnt have a label. Had the nurse done this, it would have been acceptable, although technically there are supposed to be two patient identifiers so my coworker should have told the nurse to write the date of birth as well. Unfortunately, this nurse didn’t even do this. He came to the lab, held the tube of blood up and said “here it is but I didn’t write the name or anything on it (it was completely blank)”. My coworker runs over saying “It’s ok, I got it! I’ll write in on there!”. So she goes over there and writes the patients name on the tube, checked it for clots, runs it, and it ends up being nearly the same result as before, so she didn’t do a corrected result.
I emailed my lab manager and my supervisor about this and let them know that this was still a problem we are having. My supervisors reply was “thanks for letting me know, I’ll address this with the group”. This tells me she’s going to talk to my coworkers as a group and make some general comment about how we don’t need to be taking unlabeled specimens, which they already know. I even provided the nurse’s name this time hoping it would give me some extra credibility if they want to look into the incident further. Although there’s always the possibility the nurse could lie and cover up for my coworker. I guess I’m thinking, at what point do you stop with the general comments and address this person one on one? My coworker is the type of person that unless she’s approached directly and given consequences, she’s not going to change. She’s an older tech and shes very reactive and volatile, and I think my supervisor just doesn’t want to face any blowback that confronting my coworker might cause. But I feel like it’s her job as a supervisor to help keep our patients safe, and to address important issues. If that means ruffling some feathers, so be it. Thoughts/ opinions welcome.

Content warning: there's some upsetting imagery later in this post, I do type out the graphic details of his unpleasant euthanasia, so trigger warning I guess.
I'm not really looking for repsonses, advice or anything here, I just need someplace to unload into the void to maybe help un-fixate myself on some horrific aspects of losing our 7 year old orange cat, Charlie, yesterday.
About a month ago we brought him to the emergency vet because he was breathing really hard and fast. They discovered he had an enlarged heart, which was putting pressure on his lungs causing fluid build up. He responded well to the medication they gave him, but kept him overnight on oxygen for observation. He was discharged the next day with two prescriptions, a diuretic and an anti-clotting pill. He was super sleepy for a few days, but eventually regained his normal energy. After a later visit with his normal vet, we're given an estimate of 12 months maximum of good time left, but another incident could occur at any time and he likely wouldn't survive it.
Fast forward five weeks. I'm at work and get a text that she's taking him back to the vet because his breathing is weird. Updates/prognosis are good and he gets discharged home a couple hours later with another medication as his lungs were actaully doing ok. As I'm leaving work I get a call that he's doing poorly and is going to need to be put down. He had collapsed in the bedroom and was in severe pain. He had a blood clot in his lungs. I meet them at the hospital and I can hear him screaming in the back room. The vet brings him in and Charlie is soaking wet, screaming, can barely stand, panicking, and can't even acknowldge we're in the room with him. To not let him suffer a second longer we bring the vet back in immediately to start the euthanasia process. Unfortunately, it's a super traumatic event. As soon as the initial sedative starts to hit all the fluid in his lungs floods out his nose and mouth while he howls a few last attempts and the table is saturated with pink fluids. The process was quick thankfully, none of this trauma is on the vet. We're intending to bury him with other family pets, so we make our goodbye in the office short as it's an entirely gruesome scene on the table, and bring him to his final resting place. From leaving work after a normal day to start a week of vacation to burying our boy was less than 90 minutes. The only positive here is that someone else anonymously paid fo rthe euthanasia, we suspect it was the vet who saw him earlier in the day that was shocked to see him back.
I'm typing all this out to hopefully let my subconscious process this better. The last horrible fluid masked howls haunt me anytime the room is silent now, and the image of pink goop pouring out his mouth and nose as he died is all I see when I close my eyes to sleep. I'd be surprised if I've slept more than 2 hours in the last 40. The one time I did sleep I had nightmares about it. The last time I had actually interacted with him was struggling with him to get his pills down the night before. I only wish I could clearly remember the last affectionate interaction I had with him prior to that, so I could cling to that instead of the horror show we went through. I've gone though my entire photo archive to look at every photo and video of him to try to cover up the bad. It doesn't help that I've always had an unhealty anxiety over mortality and specifically the process of dying, not death. After watching him go through it, I'm constantly putting myself in his place as he experienced it (though I can't pretend to think like a cat), frankly it puts me in a bad place. A day in I feel slightly less awful, and I know it will ease with time, and I just hope vomiting out this word salad will ease it a little faster.
Cat tax, the last photo I took of Charlie: https://imgur.com/a/AepK0HQ

Hi there,
I am 22F and last Thursday was diagnosed with a Pulmonary Embolism that got me sent to the hospital. I had tachycardia, high blood pressure and was in a lot of pain struggling to breathe. It was also found that I had developed pneumonia.
After pushing fluids blood thinners and pain meds I was sent home the following afternoon (last Friday) with antibiotics, blood thinners and pain meds. I was told it was a low risk clot that could be managed with these medications. I was also told I needed to stop taking my oral birth control as that would’ve been the main factor that caused the clot.
Basically I’m looking for advice as to what’s next. I know it’s small compared to other people in this subreddit but I’m so tired all the time. Getting up to the bathroom is exhausting and I can’t get a timeline from anyone of when I’ll feel like myself again. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you.