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firebyte

@lemmy.world

firebyte 5 points 3 hours ago

Depends on how far along the journey is...

The following is written for a support person, and the person going through the surgery so adapt as necessary.

Someone to listen; and if possible connect someone with lived experience of that surgery.

It's also worth highlighting that incredible pain does really weird things to the human brain and may cause unexpected behaviours. Absolutely keep on top of pain meds, even if pain isn't currently being experienced - surgical pain does return very quickly when pain killers wear off, and can have a lag time before analgesia kicks in again - meaning you're along for the ride on the pain train until the meds apply the brakes.

On that basis: don't ever discount professional psychological support. I have been downvoted for this before, though professional psychological support is just as essential as surgical care pre- and post-op. It is important to be able to vent to a person whose job is to have your best interests at the forefront, who is completely independent of others in your life, to offer guidance, support, and counselling.

I still strongly argue that psychological support should be mandatory because of how complex we, as a group of people, are. I get accused of gatekeeping because of this, though I know countless people (gender diverse and not) who have been able to properly help themselves because they kept seeing a counsellor/psychologist. Our minds are incredibly powerful organs - it makes sense to keep them regularly serviced too, just like your car's engine.

Nurses do get busy and sometimes things do get forgotten. It is very, very easy to become resentful though it's important to remember that none of it is personal - most nurses are incredible human beings. Just keep assertively, but kindly, advocating. 'Please' and 'Thank you' are incredibly powerful phrases. People are more likely to willing help people who are kind to them, it's just human nature.

Don't be embarrassed or precious. If something feels wrong, off, or painful - ask. It's better to address a little problem quickly, rather than let it spiral out into a huge problem that takes a long time, or more surgery, just because one was too embarrassed to ask.

There can be unexpected sources of pain - ironically not from the surgery itself: the catheter can cause uncomfortable pain once the bladder 'wakes up' after a few days. Apparently a catheterised bladder will enter a catatonic state for a while, so my surgeon said, and when the bladder does wake up it can lead to stabbing like pains for a while. This can be problematic whilst the catheter must remain in place as everything heals. A strong oral pain killer usually does the trick though.

Toileting/hygiene

Some of the pain medication is opioid-based (organic or synthetic, it doesn't matter), which means constipation will occur. Consult the surgeon and care team for advice, though try to cram as much fibre in as possible. Stool softeners may be recommended. The first bowel movement after surgery (which could be days after...) will be difficult and possibly painful. It is vitally important not to 'push' or 'strain' as that can result in injury and a possible emergency trip to the operating theatre.

Shower after each trip to the toilet to ensure the surgical site is kept clean. Nurses should be able to help and check that everything is clean. Keeping the surgical site clean is vital to prevent infection, which can lead to horrible or even life-threatening outcomes (sepsis is not to be fucked with).

Medical procedures

Wound separation (stitches breaking) does happen, and can look catastrophic, but it is important to remember not to panic or get upset.

It will heal, surprisingly even large separations will close themselves eventually (with the right care) and it will eventually look normal.

Be sure to involve the surgeon and care team if it happens, it will be okay. It happened to me, it was horrific looking but has completely healed over and isn't even really noticeable.

One last thing on 'looks' and illusions/'Instagram' expectations: don't get hung up on them. Vulvas and vaginas come in many millions of shapes, sizes, and colours (even multiple colours).

What might look catastrophic or horrific now, won't be what it looks like after healing has completed - which might take up to several years. Healing doesn't just include stopping bleeding, and closing wounds. Healing also includes skin resurfacing and reshaping as swelling dissipates, which takes a long time to properly settle. Swelling for me took a good 18-24 months to properly dissipate.

Be patient. Don't get upset after six months because 'it doesn't look right'. No one 'looks right'.

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firebyte 115 points 2 years ago

Donald Trump had a full-blown meltdown

How many more meltdowns before he becomes an angry puddle of orange faeces?

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firebyte 80 points 2 years ago

Carr continued: "The purpose of the rule is to avoid exactly this type of biased and partisan conduct — a licensed broadcaster using the public airwaves to exert its influence for one candidate on the eve of an election. Unless the broadcaster offered Equal Time to other qualifying campaigns."

Waiting for Fox News to be called out...

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firebyte 43 points 2 years ago

... who is benefitting more from social safety nets? Walmart or the worker?

For those who can think critically: Walmart, because they don't pay a living wage for full-time workers

For those who can't think critically: the worker, because they're 'double-dipping' by working full-time and are putting their hand out to receive government benefits.

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firebyte 33 points a year ago

Strong disagree. Using 'they/them' when you're generally unsure about a person's gender isn't misgendering.

I'm a binary trans woman. If someone is generally unsure about my gender, because it can be ambiguous from time to time, they/them when referring to me is perfectly acceptable. I would suggest most other people are fine with they/them in this instance as well.

Pronouns can be quite a minefield to navigate, especially for those not used to using they/them when all they've ever known is binary terms growing up.

Speaking as an 'elder' trans person, some pronouns in use, which are just as valid as mine!, are genuinely difficult to remember because there are so many of them. I'm talking about the ones that aren't part of the English language in common use. I default to 'they/them' in those instances because using the person's assigned gender at birth would be genuinely hurtful; I don't want to hurt someone.

I feel very much that our own, gender diverse, community is driving those outside of it away by being so strict with/overt policing of pronouns, that those who aren't gender diverse find the whole 'pronoun' thing too complicated, then either refuse to engage with us or deliberately misgender because its easier. This is especially true for older conservative cis people.

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firebyte 32 points 2 years ago

Or remaining seated whilst the judge leaves the court.

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firebyte 31 points 2 years ago

A new poll shows 56% of Floridians plan to vote for Amendment 4, but unless the measure to enshrine a right to abortion in the state Constitution wins 60% of the vote in November, the state will continue to live under a six-week ban.

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firebyte 29 points 3 years ago

I was skeptical at first though let me tell you, Kagi is so much better. I get exact search terms, which is immensely useful as a programmer, rather than providing results for what Google thinks I want to search for. It's also really, really nice not seeing ads as search results anymore, ad blocker or no ad blocker.

Is it as comprehensive as Google search? It meets about 95-96% of my needs. I still use Google very infrequently for some really obscure domain specific searches if Kagi doesn't find anything useful, though that's getting rarer and rarer.

It's also easy to block AI generated sites that pop up providing just enough likeness, but really are regurgitated AI trash, or are 'Wikipedia clones'.

I have no financial interest in Kagi, other than paying to use it. It has certainly been worth it for me.

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firebyte 24 points 2 years ago

Ms. Mace is indeed, a cunt.

And I don't mean the jovial mate-ship meaning of the word in Australian vernacular.

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firebyte 24 points 2 years ago

So assuming Harris and Walz are going to be more difficult for Netanyahu to negotiate with, does this increase chances of a ceasefire in Gaza?

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firebyte 21 points a month ago

Have you considered a lateral transfer?

Some countries, including Canada and Australia, will accept international applicants providing they meet certain criteria. Australia particularly offers pathways to citizenship too.

https://www.defence.gov.au/...

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firebyte 19 points 2 years ago

I've been thinking about this a bit, I'm not sure it's been considered and I may be going out on a random tangent...

Isn't this whole 'immunity' decision just another power grab, or rather further cementing of their power, by SCOTUS? Think about it. They're essentially the arbiter of 'right' and 'wrong' now, as there's no further avenue of appeal save for amending the U.S. Constitution.

Put aside the vagueness of 'official' vs. 'unofficial' acts for a moment.

  • Trump did something definitely illegal, and Trump argues was 'official', like his classified records case. Immune.

  • Biden did something questionably legal yet unofficial, such as forgetfully retaining classified documents after his tenure as VP (which he immediately returned). Supreme Court decides 'not immune', and some idiot decides to prosecute.

Trump might end up as a king, but the conservative majority of SCOTUS are the kingmakers and protectors.

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firebyte 17 points a year ago path: 0 16633578 16633960 16638304, hotness: undefined, score: 17, children: 0
firebyte 14 points 2 years ago

It's worth actually diving into the details. The reporting is burying key details that are often not quoted, making Kamala sound worse than she is.

I'll say this: people are complicated. Reasonable people are capable of change within themselves.

A lot of people suggest that past actions are indicative of future behaviours. People who assert this are flat out wrong. Look at what Trump promised prior to his election in 2016, then compare it to what he actually did. The same is true of anyone else. What someone did, or didn't do, in the past doesn't exactly prescribe what they will do in future.

People are complicated, and reasonable people are capable of change.

I've read into the Kamala Harris denying surgery for a trans prisoner story a bit. It's worth noting that her role as the attorney general at the time is supposed to represent the state, and is not able to pick and choose battles, irrespective of her beliefs.

She took full responsibility for her actions [out.com article cited above]. Trump has never done this, as far as I can tell.

What is not being quoted above, an omission that makes Kamala look bad on trans issues, is that she actually worked with the relevant departments to change the rules [https://www.washingtonblade.com/....

Sure, she might have a spotty record though look at her more recent actions. She co-sponsored the Equality Act when she was elected to the U.S Senate.

Even if she was 'against' trans rights, those actions above suggest there's not an 'against' slant now.

Don't take my word for it. Dig out as many articles as you can find, or even transcripts of her debates and speeches.

People are complicated. You can help shape their views. Get involved. Vote. Read deeper into the news, don't take news at face value. It is often spun, and misquoted, to portray a particular point of view whether right or wrong.

(For what it's worth, I'm a gay trans person though I have no horse in the U.S Presidential election as I don't live in the U.S. That said, having witnessed how awful the media have twisted issues and facts in my own country, especially over LGBT issues, I wanted to point out that this whole 'she's spotty on trans rights' is not the whole picture. It's not your fault though, we're constantly fed bullshit to try sway narratives, or to convince people to stay home, which is disastrous in a first-past-the-post voting system).

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firebyte 13 points 9 months ago

Are a few Republicans suddenly realising their days are numbered, given the mid-terms are fast approaching?

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firebyte 12 points 2 years ago

Oh she's absolutely awesome!

I'm just gonna say let's call a spade a fucking spade. Especially if there were two spades done in succession based on the reaction of the first spade.

https://bsky.app/...

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firebyte 12 points a year ago

Unrelated, though what's with Musk, perhaps other MAGAts, wearing the MAGA hat like that in the thumbnail: barely touching their head, so much that a slight breeze would knock it off.

Is it some sort of literal 'big brain' show off thing?

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firebyte 12 points 2 months ago

I've been thinking about this a bit.

Historically, the only real parallel I can think of is the discovery of electricity, and then the mass deployment and use of electricity.

Both Westinghouse and Edison marketed the benefits and drawbacks, seemingly to create their own moats, but electricity and electricity distribution ultimately became a commodity that we all use as a tool.

LLMs[1] won't go away. However, I don't see these big 'AI' companies - OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI (shudder) - lasting another 5-10 years as their moats disappear through LLM commoditisation like electricity and electricity distribution.

We're already seeing this with DeepSeek, et al.

[1] I hate referring to them generically as 'AI'. The artificial intelligence field is so, so much bigger, more exciting, and I argue more beneficial to the world than The Tech Bros ejaculatory visions of world domination.

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firebyte 12 points a month ago

You'd be surprised!

"The maximum age, as a general rule, is between 3 and 6 years away from the “Compulsory Retiring Age” for a specific role. It is encouraged that applicants conduct research pertaining to their role of interest."

So its role dependent for Australian Defence Forces, though is worth at least looking into.

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firebyte 10 points a year ago

Police on Thursday found Wilga’s abandoned Mitsubishi van about 150km from Beacon in the Karroun Hill area, which has been described as remote and inhospitable country.

The first rule of venturing into the Australian outback:

  • Never, ever, abandon your vehicle.

You become extremely hard to find wandering into the Australian wilderness. Many people have died this way thinking they'll 'walk to the nearest help', which may be hundreds of kilometres away, through hostile dangerous heat during the day and extreme cold during the night.

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