Rise Up, Oh Heart, For There is Another Battle to Win

jazeth:

jazeth:

hey fellow people who live in the US

don’t forget to register to vote before February. millenials are the largest age group rn but we’re the smallest group to actually vote. ik you think your vote doesn’t matter, but it really does esp when you add all of us up. voting is super important, especially if you don’t want a republican run congress. you might not want to do jury duty if you register, but voting is sooo important. pls register to vote. it’s your right to vote, and honestly, if you don’t vote, then you have no right to complain about politics/who’s president bc you did nothing to change it (as long as you’re 18+ by the deadline)

thanks 

also 23 states offer online registration 

(via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

iheartvmt:

cranquis:

willowenna:

microbewrangler:

quasi-normalcy:

knightfrog1248:

black–lamb:

I know it’s illegal but whenever I get antibiotics from the doctor I save a few and give them to friends or coworkers who don’t have insurance so that when cold season comes they might be able to shorten their illness

That is not good- that’s not quite how antibiotics work.

Antibiotics kill some bacteria, but don’t manage to kill other bacteria. Just like when you get a particular sickness (or a vaccination), your body can protect you from future infections, any bacteria that came into contact with the antibiotic is protected from future doses of that antibiotic. Bacteria are very virulent breeders, so they spawn more resistant bacteria.

If you take the full dose of antibiotics, your natural antibodies can deal with the cells that are resistant while the medicine kills off the bacteria that isn’t resistant. If you don’t take the full course of antibiotics, then your body has to deal with both the resistant and the non-resistant strains of bacteria, and it can become overwhelming. Also, most bacteria are able to pass on genes between still-living cells, so that previously non-resistant strains become resistant, and you have inadvertently cultivated a stronger strain of bacteria.

Furthermore, colds and the flu are viral infections, so antibiotics don’t work against them anyway. The best protection against viral infections are vaccinations, as there are not many viruses that we have developed anti-viral medication against, once you already have the disease. If there are anti-viral medications, it is even more important that you take the full dose of the medication, because anti-viral medication is even harsher against the body than antibacterial medication is.

How antibiotics work

How antiviral medication works

Spread this around; antibiotics are not candy

Yeah, not how it works at all. I get your intent there with health care access, but that’s literally worse than not taking any antibiotics for your friends, on pretty much every level.

Sharing is not caring when it comes to medication
It is risking the health of everyone involved

This. Because we have clients who save their animals’ antibiotics and give them to their other pets when they get sick or injured to save money.

(via lupinatic)

deadgirlshoes:

lastofthetimeladies:

mihlayn:

are cafeterias a real thing like do those actually exist in america you just line up and get given gross food and then eat in the same room as your entire school??? if that happened at my school there’d be a riot imagine how loud that would be are cafeterias a myth

…do you…do you

not have cafeterias elsewhere?

no

WHAT DO YOU HAVE?

(via cthulhu-with-a-fez)

Seven Years Later PSA

madamehardy:

kierstenwhite:

This is a blog that I repost every year, because it is something that is, for obvious reasons, very important to me to educate and inform people about. Since posting about my experience with an ectopic pregnancy and talking about it, several women have told me that knowing the symptoms was what got them to the hospital in time. Please read it. Please tell others about it.

As always, this hurts to think about. My heart goes out to anyone who may be struggling with fertility issues or loss. You are not alone. I wish you peace and joy in the life that you have, even if it is not the life you’d imagined for yourself, and I wish you all the strength and support you need to find that peace and joy. (And I also want you to know it’s okay to not be okay now, and it’s okay to not be okay sometimes even after you are okay.)

First and foremost, I’m glad I’m not dead.

Seriously. I’m really, really glad I’m not dead. That would have sucked. And, thanks to the fact that I recognized warning symptoms and had some emergency surgery seven years ago today, I get to be alive to appreciate being alive. I’m a big fan.

So in honor of my not-dying anniversary, I’m doing a PSA about ectopic pregnancy. Even if you never plan on having children, these are important symptoms to know because you could very well save the life of someone you love. Or your own. (Unless you do not have female reproductive organs, in which case your risk of ectopic pregnancy = non-existent. Still, you like people who do, right?)

An ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy in which a fertilized egg implants somewhere other than the uterus. This is a bad thing. Usually the egg implants in the fallopian tube; occasionally it implants other places. 2% of all pregnancies are ectopic. That’s 1 in 50. Certain factors increase your risks–tubal scarring, abdominal surgery, endometriosis, fertility treatments, IUDs–but it can happen to anyone. I had no real risk factors.

An even scarier statistic than the one-in-fifty? Ectopic pregnancies are the number one cause of pregnancy-related death. Part of the problem is that many women with ectopic pregnancies don’t even know they’re pregnant. Because your body doesn’t produce as many hormones, you might continue having periods like normal, ignore the sudden pain, go to bed because you’re feeling tired and dizzy, and never wake up.

I know that sounds terrible and scary. It is. It happens. So even if you don’t think you’re pregnant, or if you think you are just having a standard miscarriage (which was what I thought), always, ALWAYS call the doctor if you have any of the following symptoms:

• Sharp pain on one side of your lower abdomen. When you press down on it, it will be a stabbing pain that you will feel reflected in the other side, but one side will be more tender. Once your tube actually bursts the pain will lessen considerably–DO NOT IGNORE THAT. All it means is that you are now bleeding internally.
• Feeling dizzy and lightheaded when you aren’t lying down. This would be because of the internal bleeding. Also, difficulty and discomfort breathing.
• And finally, the key symptom: when you lie down, you have a sharp, stabbing pain in your shoulder. This is called referred pain, and is caused by the blood filling up your abdomen and pushing on your lungs. (This is also a symptom of a burst appendix and often happens after abdominal surgery, in case you were interested.) If you EVER have abdominal pain that is reflected in your shoulder when you lie down, go to the hospital immediately. And have someone else drive you.

Like I said, you may not think you are pregnant, but if there is any chance whatsoever you could be and you have these symptoms, have someone drive you to the hospital immediately or call 911. If I had ignored my symptoms and let my husband go to work that day, I probably would have fallen asleep on the couch and never woken up again. I was in surgery within two or three hours of the pain starting, and at that point I had lost so much blood I nearly needed a transfusion.

But, because I am obsessive and had researched every pregnancy-related topic under the sun, I knew something was wrong. And I’m not dead. And that’s a good thing.

Here’s hoping you never have to recognize the symptoms of an ectopic pregnancy. But now you can, and that’s the important thing.

This year’s side note: The fact that ectopic, fallopian, and endometriosis are all unrecognized by spellcheck pisses me off. Women’s health matters. Our bodies matter, even though they are consistently given less medical attention and education than they deserve. That’s part of why I do this.

If you have a uterus and you’re having sex with a sperm-producing person, this could happen to you.  Know the signs to watch for, especially since you may not even know you’re pregnant.

(via starklyjd)