#as they're denied vaccines and medications

[yamameta-inc]

covid has really made me realize that most people don't have very good risk assessment or sense of scope, especially when it comes to statistics. part of it is definitely a knee-jerk aggressive response to the word even being said, but a lot of the arguments i hear seem predicated on some kind of belief that Low Percentage equals safe, because that's how people talk about things generally.

putting aside for one moment that the percentages are most likely a lot higher than they think, and that the risk of long-term complications after catching the virus is cumulative--i think people have sort of lost sight of how unprecedented covid actually is, because it's so easy to go back to normal life. covid is the first pandemic in the age of super fast and easy plane travel. covid is the first pandemic in the age of humanity's numbers being over 8 billion.

no one is claiming that your risk of catching covid after going out unmasked just once is high (with the exception of peak season during the holidays). in periods where transmission is low, that risk could in fact be negligible. but you aren't rolling that dice once. you're rolling it several times a day, every day. have you ever played a gacha game where the odds of pulling a SSR were 0.5%? did you ever pull one, or did you know anyone who did? how surprised would you be if you were able to pull one after pulling for 10 hours a day nonstop every day? would you really be particularly surprised?

despite all this, you may not catch covid more than once a year, or maybe even every two years. if you're looking at a time-frame of 5 years, that's pretty good, isn't it? the odds of developing severe, permanent complications from one or two covid infections isn't That high. except... why would we look at time-frames of 5 years? we're in the fifth year of the pandemic and this virus has evolved fast, so the research is obviously laser-focused on year to year changes and working with the timeline that it's got. but i don't know about you guys, i anticipate living about 60 more years. do you think, knowing what we know about cumulative damage, that catching covid 60 times will be completely fine for our bodies? hell, what do you think catching influenza 60 times would do? post-viral syndromes have existed long before covid.

vaccines will never be able to catch up to the rate of the virus' mutations if they keep being tailored to specific variants, and it complicates things for developing effective treatments too. this is because this is a virus that circulates every day among essentially 8 billion people. statistically, it's inevitable that a random mutation somewhere will be successful and then begin to circulate. the fact is that 0.5% (a completely arbitrary number) of the global population is a massive number of people. it's 40 million people, more than the population of many countries. but it can be that amount again and again, because there's nothing preventing continuous reinfection.

no other statistics deals with this kind of situation. you can't use that ordinary benchmark or logic to think about covid. because this is in fact an unprecedented situation. and when new situations arise, people have to adapt and change their behaviour. but that's something that humans really hate doing, unfortunately

#covid #it's not new to covid! but again. the scale is so much greater #the impact on the world is unfortunately inevitable--but it could be much less worse if we wanted it to be #unfortunately the third world will once again be bearing the brunt of this #as they're denied vaccines and medications #and as they continue to suffer poverty due to global imperialism #and you know? the best thing we could do is reduce transmission globally overall. because everything is connected now #less transmission in the US means less transmission in europe means less transmission in the world #but we apparently. just hate the idea of health so much

[blingblong55]

To drive or not to drive- 141

Based on a request:

can you imagine medic!reader where she's like super tiny and young like 141 was her third assignment and if anything she's like only 3 years younger than johnny but by GOD she looks like a kid. and everyone thinks she's like this poor little private O-1 who got shoved in here. and then one night she got invited with the group to go out and as they're sitting at the bar, Johnny's like...are you even old enough to be here? and shes like if im old enough to stick everyone here with vaccines, i think i can drink a fruity cocktail and everyone's like but you can't even drive and readers like i never learnt how and basically the whole team just realized that reader's age and experience does not match up. like they don't know how to drive a car but damnit they just drove a humvee to amputate a man's leg in the field??

F!Reader, Medic!Reader

As the current youngest member of Task Force 141 and the only one who isn't as tall as the men you work with, always get asked, 'How the hell did they think you'd be a great match?'. And with all honesty, you don't even know that yourself. Tonight, as part of them trying to get to know you, they invited you to have some drinks with them. To the better judgement of Laswell, you accepted.

"I tell ya, lass 'ere is such a wee 'ittle thing, I bet she can't even down a drink."

"False, I can...I'm old enough to do as I please, a matter of fact." You look at the men, and all amused you finally speak up. Soap was always the one to make the most comments on who you are, your knowledge and your age. "Yeah? 're yer sure yer can even be in'ere?"

"Yes...I may not be the strongest of the bunch or the fact I am no tall man with abs and weird veiny arms..but if I can make the decision whether or not you to inject morphine in your body is enough proof. To decide if I should ease the pain of a wound inflicted by the enemy should be enough to tell you I am not defined by my appearance." You take a sip from your drink.

Ghost is impressed by your words but will never admit that to you or anyone. Gaz never took your knowledge and the way you spoke for granted rather he licked it so much he could listen to you day after day. "Couldn't even work a car if asked.." his thick Scottish accent hinting at the defeat, he loved to mess with you because you were such an easy target for his jokes. "That is true, never cared to learn." You don't deny the fact you never learnt which only fed into Soap's jokes for the future.

The other men then understood that although you weren't as they were, tall, strong and dangerous men..you, in your own ways, medical-wise, were just like them. One thing did matter here though, your age and knowledge were so far off the other, 23-year-olds are so different from medics, with the precision enough to inflict pain if needed only to gain a soldier more time to live. You might not drive or be tall and have veiny arms that look like they'll just burst at any given moment, but you were one thing..split in two. A medic, capable of anything to save a life and a human...not afraid to tell others you didn't and haven't mastered or even dare learn to drive.

It was 2 o'clock, Soap in the med bay and you with a small smirk, satisfied he had to seek you after the injury he gave himself while walking back from the pub. Maybe if he learned to close wounds and you'd learn to drive, things would be different.

A/N: Pointless ig...but it's something I suppose.

#cod x reader #cod mw2 #cod 141 #cod #mwii #mw2 141 #task force 141 #141 x reader #141 #ghost cod #soap x reader #cod soap #john soap mactavish #johnny soap mactavish #soap mactavish #soap mw2 #soap cod #mw2 #simon ghost riley #john soap mctavish #soap call of duty #cod x female reader #cod x you #cod x y/n #cod mw x reader #mw 2019 #mw x reader #mw ii #mw 22 #call of duty

[useless-catalanfacts]

A new rule to increment discrimination

Context:

Public healthcare is one of the places where the most Catalanophobic interactions are reported. In 4 years, more than 100 Catalan speakers have reported that they have been denied healthcare or otherwise discriminated against for speaking Catalan, or were unable to access any healthcare in Catalan in a Catalan-speaking territory.

From disabled people who only speak Catalan being refused any medical attention unless they speak Spanish (which they don't know how to speak), to a man calling the ambulance but the healthcare worker who answers the phone spends the time scolding the caller for not speaking Spanish instead of calling for the urgently-needed ambulance, to many, many, many, many, many, many doctors telling patients "either you speak in Spanish or you leave", and many others given choices that link their language to shame: "would you rather speak Catalan or your son get cured?", "do you want to speak Catalan or do you want a vaccine appointment?", or being told "[derrogatory/infantilizing word for "woman"], you're making me waste time" for seeking medical attention as a Catalan-speaker.

Lack of access to healthcare is a systemic problem for Catalan people, who are often forced to use Spanish if we want medical treatment in our own country.

People should have the right to access public services (that they pay for with their own tax money) in the language of the country. Can you imagine an English speaker in England not being able to see any doctor or nurse who can attend them in English? Or in French in France, or German in Germany? It doesn't happen because speakers of the dominant language have the State on their side, but Catalan speakers have the Spanish (and French, in the case of Northern Catalonia) Government actively working against us.

And, more than anywhere else, in a moment of great vulnerability like the medical setting, it's very important that patients can speak their own language and not have to worry about translating concepts, they need to have the confidence to speak clearly on what happens to them and be focused on the issue, not on word choice or accent of this second language. Even less be worried about possibly facing discrimination for it.

The new rule:

The new Government of the Valencian Country (a coalition of the right-wing party PP and the fascist party Vox, both Spanish supremacist parties who make the hatred against Catalan/Valencian one of their main campaign points) has announced yet another way to increment that discrimination.

Until now, to decide who to hire for public jobs, there was a system of points, where each kind of certificate and qualification gave you some points. Speaking the local language (Valencian/Catalan) was already not a requisite —legally creating the situation where doctors and nurses can not know any of the language spoken in the place where they work. But, until now, speaking the local language at least gave some extra points.

Now, this new Spanish supremacist regional government has decided that knowing Valencian in the Valencian Country to work in a job with public interaction is worth less than speaking any language of an independent EU state. This means that you get more points for speaking, for example, Latvian, Swedish, Maltese, Slovak or Lithuanian, than for speaking the language of the place where you will be working and where you will be talking to people.

My full respect for speakers of all these languages, but (as an example) a hypothetical Estonian speaker who you might never even encounter in a Valencian town should not be worth more than the very real Valencian speakers that you will surely encounter working in the Valencian Country.

This rule is another step to legally protect systemic discrimination and to make it continue in the future.

Note: Valencian and Catalan are two names for the same language. They're being used interchangeably.

#actualitat #país valencià #coses de la terra #valencià #catalanophobia #catalanofòbia #discrimination #language rights #minoritized languages #minority languages #valencian #langblr #languages #cultures #human rights #healthcare #medblr #european union #imperialism

[blueraspberrycoke]

Best college research is in USA cost vs degree use which has a list of schools, this gives you the best loan for degree cost of the degree is the goal. Look at that and the subject then online at the best cross matches. Unless you want a social experience mostly then whatever vibes. Listen you know anti-trans bigotry like in your about has NO ethical point in feminism, it's just bigotry.

Thank you for the advice on college :)

I'm not a bigot. I'm not anti-trans. I don't think trans people are inherently evil. But I do not believe you can change your biological sex. I do not believe allowing trans women into women's sports, changing rooms, sexualities (lesbians being pressured to date trans women), etc. is good for women and girls. It's not just a belief I have, it's factually proven to be dangerous to put TW in women's prisons (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) and in bathrooms (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 [5 is written by a trans woman]).

I'm not saying I hate trans people or that I don't trust them or that teens/children who identify as transgender are "broken" or "wrong" like people have said I do. I think we have manipulated an entire generation of lesbians and homosexual boys (though not all trans-identified people are homosexual/bisexual) into believing they have to be the opposite sex. We've lied to dysphoric teens and told them they're going to die if they don't recieve gender-affirming care (see all the posts on the protecttranskids, transgenocide, transrights etc. hashtags).

This is also evident in that anytime you question someone who says trans people are experiencing a genocide, especially a younger person (like a teenager who gets all their information from Instagram and TikTok) they actually can't come up with a single example. Even when they bring up the so-called "anti-trans legislature" being passed in the United States, they can't name any specific bans, because that actually does not exist. What I linked for you is HB1276, which, if you read it, allows minors who underwent sexual reassignment surgery to sue their doctors up to 30 years after they turn 18 for malpractice if they regret surgery. Trans Legislation Tracker labels this an "anti-trans" bill.

They have reason to regret it, too. Lupron, the drug administered in FtM transition to dysphoric females, has painful and sometimes deadly side effects that gender-affirming medical clinics will not disclose with you in full. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

Also, a disproportionate amount of FtM females are autistic, homosexual, and depressed. I care especially about these women because I'm eighteen, autistic, and a lesbian, so I really resonate with their pain and struggle. I'm not disgusted by transgender individuals and I'm not angry with them. I feel terrible for them. And I want to help.

What I think we have in the world now is an extreme lack of education. It's harming girls and women my age, when there are more affordable and better options. We've known for a long time doctors will push medicines that don't work/shouldn't be as expensive as they are in order to make money (I'm talking about things like selling insulin for $500 a vial. I'm not talking about things like vaccines.).

If you want to change your name and use other pronouns, cool, fine, whatever. I don't care what you do with your life, your money, and your time. But don't call yourself male or female when you're not. See my pinned post for why doing so harms women and men.

Transgenderism is motivated by misogyny. Go to any of the subreddits created for TW (r/Egg_irl, r/MtF, r/transgender [though that one contains trans men also]) and you'll see in every "How I knew I was trans" post that these people consider being female synonymous with being feminine, and it isn't. I'm not feminine. Does that make me a man? No. It just makes me a nonfeminine woman.

I'm not denying the existence of gender dysphoria. Many of my mutuals are desisted females who still struggle with it. But hormone therapy/SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) are very clearly not the answer. I hope this helps you understand my position better. I also hope I've not come across as condescending or patronizing in any way.

#mine #radblr #radfem #radical feminism #terfsafe #terf #actually autistic #transgender #trans #detrans #desist #detransition #feminism #wlw

[sophieinwonderland]

I think the r/system cringe discord server has the right intentions, but are doing things in the wrong way. In the end it seems both sides (You/People with ideas like you and the r/system cringe server) want to end the spread of misinformation, but both have different ideas of what said misinformation is and how to go about it. I have not been in the server longer and have been observing, I think attacks against each other should cease and you should talk things out. You both give interesting POVs on the topic of endogenic/mixed origin systems and it would be interesting to see a (civil) debate happen. Thoughts on this?

I and many others have tried to speak in r/systemscringe, and the result of speaking politely with sources to back up what you're saying has traditionally been getting mass-downvoted and banned.

Some people in the server have said they want civil debate, and I'm sure they do. It's a controlled environment where any pro-endos will be outnumbered. If they say the wrong thing, they can be banned from the server. And meanwhile, server members can namecall and toss slurs at them with no repercussions.

And unlike Reddit which anyone can see if they happen to be there, it's a private server and the only people whose eyes will ever be on the conversation are members.

I don't feel a debate would be worthwhile or productive.

As for having the right intentions... I think you could say that about a lot of groups.

Anti-vaxxers legitimately believe vaccines cause autism, and their intentions are trying to protect children from developing a potentially debilitating mental disorder. Their intentions are very noble. Protect children from big pharma. It doesn't matter that their research is debunked, has failed to be replicated by any studies, and that their actions will actually lead to deaths of children from diseases. Their intentions are good.

Many Pro-Lifers honestly see pro-choicers as baby killers. Many TERFs see trans women as a threat to women's rights. Many xenophobes are totally convinced people immigrating across the border are violent invaders. You can defend a lot of hate and bigotry with "good intentions."

Some members of these cringe communities probably do have good intentions too. (Although some are just bullies and want to mock people for being different.)

For example, some of these cringizens have experienced ableism first hand from the medical community who has denied their experiences. And who do they blame for this? "Fakers." They believe there is a mass number of evil fakers in the world who are pretending to be plural, and that it's those people who are responsible for all of their ills and the ableism they've suffered.

It's easy to point blame at other marginalized people for what you suffer. In fact, it's more rewarding to be able to mock the little guy than to truly take on institutions that are so much more powerful than you are.

And that's a huge reason that these people are going to be resistant to the correct information too. If you spend all day looking for "fakers" to the point where you start deriving joy from mocking anyone who presents slightly different, you become disincentivized to change.

In the end, I can make a post with quality academic sources disproving popular talking points from r/systemscringe...

And the sad truth is that it's unlikely to change a single mind.

Because their beliefs are so entrenched that no amount of evidence or sources will be able to convince them that they're wrong.

#syscourse #pro endo #pro endogenic #sysblr #multiplicity #systemscringe #r/systemscringe

[starblaster]

informed "consent" does not really exist for some things in the medical system, and the people who hold power in these institutions (such as doctors, nurses, specialists) need to be doing more to avoid abusing the power they possess, even unintentionally.

and not to subject everyone to a long-winded personal anecdote to get my point across but this is my blog and if you don't like me talking about my experiences then idk why you're following me anyway since that's literally all i blog about.

recently, i went to a doctor to get my uterus checked out because i experience periods so rarely and, when i do menstruate, they're completely debilitating. i had to have a transvaginal ultrasound and a biopsy, and was told it was within the realm of possibility i could be developing endometrial cancer. now, thankfully, i am not nor am i necessarily at an elevated risk of developing endometrial or uterine cancer. but, for two weeks after the appointment, the uncertainty of my test results made me so upset, so stressed, and lose so much sleep because, after a life of psychiatric control both at home and in hospital environments, after having so many of my physical issues dismissed, being denied care or care forced upon me by bigoted providers, and generally having a shit run of things in a system that robbed me of bodily autonomy and agency of choice, for some reason, and i don't know why (maybe feeling like i was owed mercy after surviving so much for so long?), i felt like this was the one thing that shouldn't go wrong. after years of transitioning, i've reached a place where i'm happy with my top surgery results, i'm happy never having bottom surgery, i'm happy not needing to take testosterone anymore, i'm happy with all the permanent changes i've undergone. and i just thought 'this is all done, i summited the metaphorical peak of my transition, i am completely content with all my progress, and none of it will be interfered with or undone' but, of course, i did not account for my uterus potentially being a goddamn ticking timebomb.

like, let's say i really did have precancerous endometrial cells and i really did need to get my uterus removed. regardless of everything i was reading to reassure myself about things like the risks of premature menopause and the impact of a hysterectomy on future orgasms and sexual sensation, it would always be a decision about my body and medical care that i would have had to make to preserve my life, despite not wanting to make it in the first place. in the end, i would just have to have a hysterectomy and hope for the best. i'm relieved that, at least for the time being, this is not my reality. i get to keep my uterus. my hormonal treatment options are still not the most ideal… but at least i get to keep my uterus.

and i say all of this because it made me think about my traumatic history within the medical system, breaking my treatment options down into a matrix, using examples from my own medical history:

need/want (e.g. vaccines, top surgery)

need/don't want (e.g. biopsies, hormonal treatment for menorrhagia)

want/don't need (e.g. removal of small and benign pillar cyst)

don't want/don't need (e.g. psychiatric hospitalization, antipsychotic medications)

and when i thought of this, i was thinking about my intersex friends who have been subjected to "don't want/don't need" operations or 'treatments' in their lives, and fellow psychiatric survivors whose hospitalizations and prescribed 'treatments' also fall under the "don't want/don't need" category. and how doctors don't seem to really care about the wants/needs of patients.

medical providers have to do a better job of preventing the prescriptions of "don't want/don't need" options, especially in the cases of intersex, neurodivergent, and disabled patients who are almost always coerced into accepting them, if not forced by someone with conservatorship/control over them. medical providers also need to do a better job of helping patients experiencing emotional distress over having to choose something like a life-saving treatment option that they do not want other than simply referring them to a psychiatrist. speaking from experience, almost none of my doctors have ever actually given me the space to ask questions and receive answers. they just refer me elsewhere and refuse to help me. this has always been the case. i want medical providers to actually fucking talk to and communicate with their patients in scenarios like this, in which (potentially or literally) life-saving treatment is needed, but which the patient wishes they did not need. i feel like i am constantly being asked to tell my own medical care providers to do their fucking job and it is so goddamn tiring.

#antipsychiatry #suit.txt #psych abolition

[gender-critical-analytical]

Can I ask why you're getting your HPV shots now? I got mine as a kid.

Sorry if this is rude to ask.

Not rude at all! My mom is... Weird about vaccines. She thinks they're the reason I have autism (but she also denies that I have it? I'm diagnosed, for context, but she threatened the psychiatrist when she offered to put it in writing and we never went back 💀) and stopped vaccinating me when I was about 12.

She was also very weird about sex and sex education, and she gave a firm no when my pediatrician recommended the vax. When I got my first period I thought one of my organs was failing and I was having internal bleeding that was leaking out of me, but I was so embarrassed about where I was bleeding from that I threw my underwear away, called my best friend on the phone to tell her I might die soon, and she said "I wish it wasn't summer, we could have a funeral at recess". She had already had her first period and knew what it was, I genuinely have no clue why she just let me think I was going to die.

Anyway though, I had a lapse in doctors appointments after I started high school, then COVID happened and my family barely left the house outside of my McDonald's job, so I'm now an adult and finally catching up on medical stuff, and decided to get the shot. I couldn't remember if my mom had me vaxxed for it or not, and she didn't either, so I wound up just asking the pharmacist if I could take a peek at my vaccine records, and remembered the awkward doctors visit right after she told me that I definitely was not vaccinated for HPV lmao

[cachien]

vent

middle tn is by far the worst worst WORST place i have ever lived

i've lived in georgia, texas, alabama, and south carolina. i have relatives in mississippi so i've spent a lot of time there as well as florida. middle tn is by FAR the worst of anywhere.

starting with the basics there's anti homeless infrastructure EVERYWHERE while the price of living requires twice the average salary (idk if that's actually true but unless i live in the most crime-heavy part of town i cannot afford to live anywhere on a single income, even when i was working full-time in a job that required my degree)

my fiance's family is from here and them + everyone i've met through them are the worst people i have ever known. they're anti-vax. they use racial slurs for jokes. they HATE trans people like oh my GOD these are the most transphobic assholes i have ever met in my life, they are just openly anti-trans and tradwives and misogynists. covid is a government conspiracy, biden is the devil, trump is our only hope for salvation but the damn conspiring dems who rule the world will never let him get back in office, he'll have to do a hostile takeover. the other day my soon to be father in law seriously asked if it's confirmed that the holocaust happened. his wife is german. this morning he said the 'rumors' that hitler had a micropenis were probably made up by people trying to make him look bad. (that's just a fact from his medical records and autopsy, like, people did not need to make up new facts to make hitler look bad??? are you fucking serious??)

i have a potentially fatal allergy. i will go into anaphylactic shock if exposed to a certain allergen. they treat this like i'm being dramatic. my future mother in law legitimately suggested that i consume only chicken broth for a few weeks to "reset" and then after that i'll be fine. she constantly tries to say i should do liver detoxes and drink these expensive teas and all kinds of things and i don't know how many times i've bit back the argument that your liver's entire job is detox you do not NEED support for that if your liver is functioning

they're anti-doctor. you can't trust scientists because big pharma and the government control everything. soy is going to kill you, it has phytoestrogens, they cause breast cancer (NO, no no no. hate soy because the industry is hugely ecologically damaging and usually relies on slave/child labor, but phytoestrogens are literally harmless and if soy is someone's only reliable source of calcium and protein let them have it they need it and we are not plants so plant estrogen is not going to effect a human at all). my soon to be mother in law bought me a book for christmas called "the peanut allergy epidemic" that cites a quack calling himself a doctor who has no actual degree who claims vaccines cause food allergies even though there's ample research showing that that is NOT true and that globalization and people consuming high quantities of unfamiliar foods are more likely the cause. which checks out if you look at any of history.

oh: fun fact here. my degree is in history. so every time they say something horribly racist or holocaust denying or say that things are "historically inaccurate" or about how the modern world is soooo horrible and the left is trying to kill us all, i have minimum twenty primary sources disputing them and they do. not. care.

a family they're close friends with "cured" their child's autism by forcing him to have a vegan diet of home-grown produce bc clearly the evil evil GMOs and "inorganic" lettuce caused his autism. now that he's homeschooled and eating healthy and, oh, ten years old with more independence and therapy, he's doing better! clearly it was the veganism! bc autism needs to be cured and leaves can do it!

the far right cult is literally delusional and i live among them and i've never hated my life more. when i lived with my abusive ex whose catholic midwestern family greeted me with "ya ain't no gaddamn democrat, are ya?", they were more reasonable than people in this area. that guy's mom was at least not anti-vax. he was also homeschooled and sure he didn't believe in dinosaurs and though the earth is 7000 years old but at least he was kind to trans people and had black friends that he treated with respect.

i went to a painting group that was mostly old women and it devolved into a conversation about snow white having black dwarves is soooo historically inaccurate because ms german woman didn't even see a black person till she was 20. never mind that the holocaust killed black germans and that a fifty year eugenics process systematically eradicated germany's black population in the early twentieth century, clearly black people never existed there and to even suggest having them in a story about dwarves and magic and poison apples would just make it so unrealistic, as if the rest of the story is accurate. same woman who asked about my writing and i said i was working on a fantasy novel modeled after regency era england but with dragons and she went "yeah bc they totally had those back then" hello??? you cannot say a damn word about history when you don't know any of it

like this is the most gun-toting, history-denying, school-shootings every other week, transphobic, absolutely delusional brainwashed area i have ever lived. i can't take it anymore i've got to get out. i will be homeless in LA or NYC or anywhere that i can mention i'm bi without the absolute knowledge that my identity will become a political debate.

#vent #el speaks #personal #i fucking hate this place

[mamaruby]

Diagnosed

I've been wanting to write about this one for over a month, now, but I've had this writer's block on on the urge. It's been awful. So today I finally just sat down and started writing. If this post is rambly, sorry.

I've been suffering from chronic pain and fatigue for over 10 years, and I have various medical issues that cause those problems. But those problems got drastically worse after I had Covid in Thanksgiving of 2022. I was fully vaccinated, but I am immunocompromised, so I wasn't surprised when I caught it from my son anyway.

I spent the past year going from specialist to specialist (and changing a couple of primary care doctors I wasn't happy with, anyway), trying to get them to understand this was a case of Long Covid. However, I ended up being misdiagnosed or finding doctors that didn't even think Long Covid was a thing. Some thought Houston didn't have a Long Covid clinic (or didn't want to refer outside of their hospital system). But in general, they shuffled me through and I felt like I wasn't taken seriously with these doctors. Eventually, I gave up.

Just about 3 months ago I had an appointment with a new pulmonary specialist at UT Med Center. After the first 5 minutes with me, before ordering any tests, he said, "You have Long Covid. I'm going to refer you to our Long Covid Clinic here at UT."

After one visit with the Long Covid doctor (this guy spent an entire HOUR with me in the appointment), he told me I have ME/CFS and POTS, both of which came from having Covid the prior year. ME/CFS is a form of Chronic Fatigue and more can be found out about it here:

I could have been treated there at least 6 months ago. Possibly 9 months ago, if any of my other doctors had taken me seriously, goddamnit! But now, for the past year, my health has gradually gotten worse because I haven't been able to do a goddamn thing. When you aren't able to do, you lose your strength. You lose your stamina. You lose a lot of things. By now, I'm pretty much housebound. It seems I only get out when I have a doctor's appointment. I see more doctors than people I know and that can be depressing.

But I finally got a diagnosis, and the feeling of relief was amazing. I literally cried, right there, when I heard the news. Not because this has no cure, but because a doctor finally took me seriously. I felt like my fight was over and I could finally get help.

And that's exactly what I'm getting. All my specialists are at UT, now, and they know about the Long Covid clinic. They're right there at the same location. I'm already getting some PT at home, for as long as insurance pays for it anyway. Insurance is paying for spinal injection procedures for chronic pain now, where they were denying them, previously. I have a couple of other new specialists that handle other areas of ME/CFS that I'm supposed to see after the holidays. Things are finally moving.

I have hope.

#long covid #me/cfs #pots syndrome #diagnosed

[mark-matos]

🚑🤖💥 AI's Explosive Journey: Transforming Healthcare Amidst Hurdles! 🚧🩺🔮

There's no denying that the world of artificial intelligence (AI) is bursting with potential, and as it seeps into various sectors, the future looks brighter than ever. However, when it comes to healthcare, the road to AI integration is more like a rollercoaster ride than a smooth sail. 🎢🏥

🚧 Obstacles on the Road to AI Healthcare 🚧

Geeta Nayyar, former Chief Medical Officer at Salesforce, compares the challenges of AI in healthcare to those faced by self-driving cars. Sure, they're cool and innovative, but not everyone's ready to hand over the wheel just yet. The ultimate goal in healthcare? Achieving a perfect synergy between AI and human doctors, where AI serves as a valuable sidekick rather than a complete replacement. 💉👩‍⚕️

One of the main roadblocks in AI's healthcare journey is the privacy and protection of healthcare data. This makes it incredibly difficult to build a solid data pool for AI applications. In fact, over 97% of health data goes unused, and even then, it often lacks the structure needed for efficient analysis. 📊🔒

🌱 Seeds of Promise in AI's Healthcare Future 🌱

Despite the challenges, AI has already shown glimmers of hope in fields like radiology and drug development. For example, AI played a significant role in Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine research, helping to identify the most promising formula to pursue. AI can also potentially alleviate the burden of paperwork in healthcare, streamline processes, and help improve public health in developing countries. 🌍💊

🤔 The Risks and Remedies of AI in Healthcare 🤔

But the road to revolutionizing healthcare with AI isn't without its risks, like the potential for biased or skewed data. To mitigate these concerns, experts suggest conducting robust clinical trials and promoting responsible AI development, with a strong focus on human involvement. 🤖🧑‍⚕️

Moreover, it's crucial to address the issue of data quality and accessibility, as these factors play a major role in AI's effectiveness. A comprehensive data pool, combining medical notes, texts, images, records, and lab results, would be a game-changer in healthcare AI applications. 📚🔬

⏳ The Future of AI in Healthcare: A Slow but Steady Progress ⏳

Ultimately, it'll take time for AI to make a significant impact on the healthcare sector. As these technologies continue to evolve and adapt, it's essential to approach the integration process with patience, caution, and collaboration. By working together, the world of healthcare will eventually reap the benefits of AI's incredible potential. 🌞💡

So, buckle up and get ready for a thrilling journey as we witness the exciting, bumpy, and transformative road of AI in healthcare! 🚑🤖💥

#AIinHealthcare #ArtificialIntelligence #HealthcareRevolution #DigitalHealth #AIChallenges #FutureOfMedicine #HealthTech #DataPrivacy #AIIntegration #AIandHumans

[dj-aka-rayne]

Today's topic: POLITICS. Yep! I'm jumping head first into muddy waters! Second post (other than a share) and I opt to discuss politics of all freaking things 🤔

Ah. Well. I saw a saying I LOVE and absolutely agree with. "Two wings, same damn bird" When it comes to our government this is truth. I love my country, but hate the government. It hasn't been FOR THE PEOPLE in so long I wonder if politicians even remember they're supposed to be working for US.

But.. despite choosing politics as my chosen discussion of the day, I don't want to focus on a bunch of wrinkly old people comparing sizes in the white house. I want to talk about the voters. Specifically the stances typically associated with each party and where exactly I stand. Why? Because without a bit of context, future discussions will confuse you.

I'm a Centrist. I get emails from Trump's party and Biden's party daily because I signed a petition to protect gun laws, and a petition to protect abortion access. I'll give my opinion on a topic, and one side or the other will believe I'm one of them only to feel betrayed when I agree with the other side on a different topic (or piss off BOTH sides if I say "you're both being crazy because XYZ")

When it comes to my political views, there are certain areas I agree with Democrats 100% (one example: Abortion access should be legal, safe, accessable, and legally protected. All medical decisions should be made between a patient and their doctor, with emphasis being placed on the patients wishes).

There are certain areas I agree 100% with Republicans (one example: Medications and vaccinations should not be legally forced on anyone, this includes requiring them for employment, housing, education, or recreation access. All medical decisions should be made between a patient and their doctor, with emphasis being placed on the patients wishes)

There are areas I think both sides are a little in the wrong, and a little in the right (one example: Trans rights. I want way more trans rights than the Right would be comfortable with, but DO AGREE that the Left is taking certain aspects TOO FAR.)

I think BOTH sides are being hypocritical. BOTH sides scream "My body, my choice" on the subject choice of their political party, then want to force or deny that choice on the other party's topic, then claim "Well it's different, because MY topic is about MY body, what THEY want to choose effects other people"

For anyone wanting more details on those examples, those are future blog posts for another day. Consider THIS post a precursor of things to come.

Because my opinions are all over the place politically I wanted to give a heads up and brief explanation. Hope it helps!

[zoethebitch]

should migrants who expressly refuse to ever take a vaccine be allowed to enter the country?

This is obvious bait but sure let's humor you for a moment and say there's some hypothetical central american migrant that arrives at the border fleeing a situation where their life and the lives of the family are actively in danger from a drug cartel or a gang or a right wing paramilitary that was exported to their home from the US. And somehow there's been a change in policy that says this person can be granted asylum here if they will simply agree to receive 2 doses of vaccine.

Do you honestly think that this person who has absolutely no leverage in this situation is going to deny that and take themselves and their children back into life threatening danger over a couple shots?

Why in the hell would it be justified to apply that rule in the first place to a group of people that have historically been subject to medical experiments and are still having medical procedures and sterilization done to them against their will in detention centers in the US right now? There's no vaccine mandate right now for people who live here and have no precedent or reason to distrust the health care system why should one be imposed on migrants who are fleeing such desperate circumstances that they're willing to go hundreds or thousands of miles to seek refuge in the covid capital of the world?

[doberbutts]

in regard to accommodations from employers, what do you do when a potential employer says they’ll have to check with licensing/HR/etc about u as an employee having a service dog with u during work hours? i’ve run into this same problem several times now n been unfairly denied jobs because of “licensing” 🙄 i know the logical solution is Don’t Take That Job but a bitch needs money

Really depends what they mean by it. I'd ask for clarification first, because 'licensing' can mean a couple of different things and employers aren't always up to date on how they need to phrase negotiations (which they should be but w/e). I would, regardless, consider this a yellow flag moment and depending what they mean can be enough for me to look elsewhere.

In many places in the US, all dogs including service dogs must be licensed. This is usually tied to rabies vaccination, microchip, and proof of ownership. It is legal to require this if all dogs within a state are required to be licensed. Some states will waive the license fee or steeply discount it if you have proof that it's a service dog, and they will usually give you a special tag for this that stands out from regular dog license tags. This is not required (service dog tags vs regular dog tags) but is a good idea if you live in one of these areas and will usually save you some money. If your job is looking for this tag, it's not legal for them to require specifically the service dog tag.

They may also be looking for some form of doctor's note or proof of need. This is legal to require. Most will ask for a doctor's note but in some cases other proof is accepted. The note does not need to say your diagnosis and in fact I strongly encourage you to not let your doctor put your exact diagnosis on the note. Medical privacy is very important.

Other proof that can take the place of a doctor's note is proof of training in the form of an organization's certificate (note: an org that HELPED YOU TRAIN YOUR DOG or TRAINED YOUR DOG FOR YOU, *N O T* a 'service dog registry') or in video or handwritten training logs. Service dog registries are always a scam and their certificates are not worth the paper they're printed on. Do not let your new boss pressure you into 'registering' your service dog through one of these predatory scam companies.

If none of these satisfy what they consider a 'license', then they are either not educated on what is legal to require from a service dog team or they are willfully ignorant. A friend of mine has been going rounds with a small pet store company that refuses to let him use his service dog at work due to 'potential liability'- effectively they are afraid his dog may attack someone or someone's dog without ever having even met his dog. This is NOT LEGAL however many companies are banking on you either not knowing or not having the money to get a lawyer and fight it, and unfortunately my friend is in the second category.

So, ask for clarification, and if it's something I've mentioned is a legal expectation, then do your best to provide it. Otherwise, you may want to consider alternate employment.

[theconstitutionisgayculture]

I had an appt with my Dr yesterday. Last time, she "strongly recommended" I get the jab. I'm not anti-jab in general, just for myself! "Pro choice" in the jab decision lol. But she mentioned not seeing it on my records, to which I lied and said it should be. She then explained they Should be sending all the shot records into a state database... idk why but it just put me off of it more? Do they do that with ANY other vaccine i wonder!

If you're to the point where you're lying to your doctor about what treatment you did or didn't get, it's probably time to find a new doctor. If you don't trust her on this (which, IMO, you're right not to, for what its worth) then how can you trust her if something else important comes up that you haven't researched the way you did the covid vax? Just food for thought, anon.

But you're right, it's terrifying that they're putting everything into a state database. Whether they do that with other medical information or not, they've already shown that they're willing to deny rights and healthcare based on vaccine status. A database of vax status should scare everyone, vaxxed or not.

[yourreddancer]

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

February 9, 2022 (Wednesday)This evening, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol issued a subpoena for documents and testimony to former White House trade advisor Peter Navarro, who has made a number of public statements about his role in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. In its letter to Navarro, the committee noted his statements that former president Trump was “on board with the strategy” of trying to steal the election, as were “more than 100” members of Congress, including Representative Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). 

This subpoena suggests that the committee is getting closer to lawmakers, and some of them are certainly acting as if they are uncomfortable these days.

Navarro responded to the subpoena with a fire-eating statement calling the members of the January 6 committee “domestic terrorists” engaged in a “partisan witch hunt,” and inaccurately claimed that former president Trump has invoked executive privilege that he cannot waive. (In fact, Trump invoked executive privilege only over documents in the possession of the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Supreme Court denied his claims.) He tried to blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Capitol Police for the violence on January 6.

He added fuel to the ongoing fight within the Republican Party when he added: “Pence betrayed Trump. Marc Short is a Koch Network dog. Meadows is a fool and a coward. Cheney and Kinzinger are useful idiots for Nancy Pelosi and the woke Left.”

Navarro’s discomfort with the committee’s questions was not unlike that of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who picked up today on Representative Troy Nehls’s (R-TX) odd accusations of yesterday that Pelosi and the Capitol Police were spying on him. Greene accused Pelosi of having Gestapo-like secret police “spying on members of Congress, spying on the legislative work we do, spying on our staff and spying on American citizens,” she said, although she called them “gazpacho,” apparently confusing the cold tomato soup with the Nazis.

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) is also flailing. Sunday, on Face the Nation, he said: “This commission is a partisan scam. They're going after—they're—the purpose of that commission is to try to embarrass and smear and harass as many Republicans as they can get their hands on.” 

Yesterday, he released a video saying “Biden is sending free meth & crack pipes to minority communities in the name of ‘racial equity’.... There is no end in sight for this lunacy.“This is a wild lie made up and spread by right-wing publications, referring to a drug harm reduction program inviting applications for grants in a 75-page call for proposals. Part of that harm reduction includes infectious disease testing kits, medication lock boxes, safe sex kits, vaccinations, and so on, including safe smoking kits, which do not include free meth or crack pipes but do include rubber mouthpieces for pipes to prevent burns, and disinfectant wipes.

Drug harm reduction programs have been around in the U.S. since the 1980s, when the HIV epidemic made it clear that addressing drug addiction could stop that era’s epidemic. 

Exaggeration and demonization of their opponents has been part of politics for years, as Republicans tried to fire up their base by describing their opponents as socialists, lazy “takers,” baby-killers, and so on. Now, though, these over-the-top attacks on the committee and on the Democratic administration seem to be part of a new political project.

The frantic edge to them suggests concern about what the January 6th committee might uncover. But statements like those yesterday of Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX), who claimed the Department of Justice was reading his mail; Nehls, who claimed that Pelosi was using the Capitol Police to spy on him; and Greene, who claims Pelosi has a “Gestapo,” normalize the practices of authoritarian government. 

The proposed banning of books by Republican school officials and lawmakers also echoes authoritarian tactics. Texas State Representative Matt Krause’s October list of 850 books he said “might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex” invited schools to self-censor. It also puts the idea of banning books–—banning one book normalizes the banning of 850—on the political table.

And, to enforce such bans, states like Virginia, West Virginia, and Florida are turning to laws that enlist ordinary people to turn each other in to authorities. 

We learned yesterday more details of another undemocratic project thanks to Mark Mazzetti and Adam Goldman of the New York Times: in summer 2018, Republican operatives launched a spying operation in Wyoming to gather dirt on opponents of then-president Donald Trump, targeting progressives, Democrats, and Republicans who seemed insufficiently loyal. 

To help fund the project, they turned to Erik Prince, known as the founder of the military contractor Blackwater and brother of then–secretary of education Betsy DeVos. 

The third piece of this new, frantic language ties into America’s long history of politicians deploying racism to break the coalitions that challenge their power.

When Rubio lies that Biden is sending crack pipes to minority communities, he is tying into other constructed panics around race. Fourteen state legislatures have passed laws restricting the teaching of anything that looks like Critical Race Theory, although the actual concept, an advanced legal theory that seeks to explain the persistence of racial inequality in the U.S., is almost never taught in public schools. 

Republican allegations of voter fraud focus on majority Black districts, and state laws are increasingly threatening minority voting. On Monday night, the Supreme Court okayed racial gerrymandering, making it harder for Black voters to elect representatives of their choice.These new legal fences enclosing Black Americans echo times in our past when multiracial coalitions threatened an entrenched political party and those in power reacted by using the law to divide their opponents along racial lines.

Last June, as Republican operatives whipped up fears of CRT, Republican political operative Stephen K. Bannon told Politico that enflaming racism was how Republicans would take back Congress. “I see 50 [House Republican] seats in 2022. Keep this up,” he said. “I think you’re going to see a lot more emphasis from Trump on [CRT] and DeSantis and others. People who are serious in 2024 and beyond are going to focus on it.”

Cracking the majority that elected a Democratic government in 2020 will enable the Republicans to take back Congress and, among other things, ease pressure over the January 6 insurrection.

But according to a Washington Post story today, some of the very “suburban moms” being pressed into this racial division are organizing to fight back. “[I]t’s time to get off defense,” organizer Katie Paris told reporter Annie Gowan. “Why should we be the ones explaining ourselves?” Paris’s organization, Red, Wine, and Blue, trains its more than 300,000 members to push back against book bans. Paris recognizes that the attacks on diversity in the schools are about political control of the nation. Attacks on the schools, she says, “certainly are part of what I would say is a pretty massive orchestrated effort to undermine public education and teachers in the country, impose a political agenda, and win back suburban voters.”

[deans-mind-palace]

An apple a day

Pairing: Doctor!Jensen x Reader

Summary: You were just having a bad day, that’s it. I mean, dislocating an arm while carrying cartons into your new apartment? That could happen to everyone. But intentionally miss three vaccination appointments? That could only happen to you. If only the doctor wasn't so cute...

Word Count: 2,507

Warnings: Fluff, mentions of pain and injuries, syringes and stitches

Author’s Note: This story is based on a request by @myopiamystical So reader has an accident. And she gets dislocated arm or leg. She is brought to ER, the doc is Jensen. Reader is allergic to most of the sedatives so Jensen has to relocate it with reader being conscious. This scene + the very same day, later reader has to take some injections (2-3) which she is very afraid to take it from nurse, Jensen overhears and does it himself. Can you write these two with all the fluff? Jensen asking her out, inviting her over dinner since she was just released from hospital and the whole date? I changed it slightly but I hope you like it. This one is long. Enjoy and shower it with love.

"Gabe, I'm fine! I already said that!" you repeated in annoyance as your future neighbor pulled you into the emergency room. "Now come on, Y/N," he said and dragged you toward the emergency room by grabbing your arm. "Ouch..." you hissed and tore your arm away from him as you rubbed across it to dull the pain. He raised his hands apologetically. "It's okay. It's okay." Gabriel held the door open for you and immediately the biting scent of antiseptic hit you. Men and women in scrubs hurried around, caring for patients. You meandered your way through the chaos to the reception. The cold light shimmered on the bright tiles on the floor and everything was white and turquoise. Typical hospital. The receptionist didn't even notice you until Gabe finally cleared his throat.

"Excuse me. My friend here-" He demonstratively put his arm around you, but you stiffened under his touch and escaped his embrace. "She's moving and she got caught. Her arm is hurting a lot," he explained. He probably meant well, but you were quite capable of talking yourself. You denied it. "It's not so bad..." you said, looking at the dirty tips of your sneakers. She checked you out and then handed you a clipboard. "Fill this out in the waiting room." she ordered and nodded towards the waiting room. You nodded. Gabe was about to follow you when you turned around again. He was a nice guy, but you hadn't known him long. "Thanks for bringing me here, Gabriel. You don't have to wait anymore. I can handle it." you said, hoping he'd take a hint. Of course he didn't. "Oh, nonsense, it's no problem. I'll wait with you, neighbour." He winked at you and you sighed inside. "All right, neighbour." You mumbled and sat down.

Eagerly you began to fill in the sheet. Complaints, medications, allergies. You were allergic to many sedatives and wrote that down on the paper. Last tetanus vaccine? You had to think about it, so you tapped your pen against your lip. You had no idea. You didn't like getting vaccinated. You weren't anti-vaccination, but you were afraid of injections. So you crossed the line and brought the clipboard back to the reception.

A few minutes later a blonde doctor's assistant appeared in the doorway and called your name. "Ms. Y/N L/N?" She read it out loud and looked up. "Yes, that's me!" you said, rising from your chair. "Follow me, please." She led you through the hallways into a white-painted consulting room. She must have sensed that you were uncomfortable, because she smiled at you. "Please sit down. Dr. Ackles will be with you in two minutes." With these words she closed the door and left you alone in the sterile room. Your gaze wandered and you looked at the various information panels and anatomical drawings on the walls. On the desk in front of you was a model of a human eye and the walls were decorated with drawings made by children. Almost always there were suns, rainbows or a house with a child on it. "Thank you, Dr Ackles" was written on it in scrawly letters.

Suddenly the door opened and the doctor entered. He was wearing a white coat and a stethoscope was hanging around his neck. He had blond hair and looked young. The turquoise shirt stretched over his muscular upper body and he definitely looked good. He smiled at you in a friendly way. "Good afternoon Ms.-" He glanced quickly at the clipboard in his hand. "L/N. I am Dr. Jensen Ackles." His green eyes sparkled as he gave you his hand, which you shook with your uninjured arm. His handshake was warm and firm.

He settled on the other side of the desk opposite you. "Well, Ms L/N, how can I help you?" he asked with a friendly smile. "Well..." you started. "I'm moving and I'm in the middle of a mess. I was taking apart a shelf and I got caught on an old nail. The nail scratched my forearm, but we fixed that. The thing is, the pain made me abruptly snap. Then my shoulder cracked and now I can't move my arm anymore," you said and looked a little ashamed to the side.

Dr. Ackles immediately stood up and circled the desk. "Let's have a look." he said, looking at your shoulder. "The joint is definitely dislocated and should be put back into place." he noted seconds later. He hurriedly took a look at the clipboard. "It says you can't take sedatives, so we'll have to do it without," he explained and you swallowed. "Don't worry. It'll be quick and it will only hurt for a moment." He reassured you when he saw your concern. You nodded reluctantly. "All right," you agreed.

Gently, he placed his hands on your shoulder. "Let's count to three together, yeah? Then I pop your shoulder in. So, ready?" he asked. "Yes," you replied, clenching your teeth together. "All right. One." You breathed more rapidly. "Two." Suddenly, he pushed hard on your shoulder and the joint snapped back into place. "Ouch." You sucked in the air through your teeth. A sharp pain shot through your shoulder. Then the pain ebbed and turned into a dull throb in the background. You moved your arm in disbelief. "Didn't we say on three?" you asked and a laugh escaped your lips. Dr Ackles agreed. "I'm sorry. It's a trick I often use on children because they're less prepared and less afraid, then." He smiled at you crookedly and shrugged his shoulders apologetically. His hand casually brushed across your neck before he stepped away from you.

"Now, let's have a look at that scratch," said Dr Ackles, urging you to roll up your sleeve. He opened the bandage and examined the wound with a professional eye. "The wound is badly reddened at the edges. Have you cleaned it?" he asked. You shook your head and bit your lip uncertainly. A worry line appeared on his forehead. "A rusty nail, you say? When was your last tetanus vaccination?" the blond man asked with concern. You shrugged your shoulders. "I-I don't know. I-I - well... I'm pretty scared of needles." you mumbled and he nodded. "What happened after you dislocated your arm?" he asked further and made some notes. Then his green eyes found yours again. "Well." Embarrassed, you tugged at your shirt. "I fell down and hit my head on the floor," you muttered. "Did you pass out afterwards?" the young doctor asked immediately. You nodded tentatively while he disinfected the wound.

"All right, Ms L/N. In any case, you must spend the night in the hospital under observation. There is a suspicion of a concussion." he explained to you after lighting into your eyes. You nodded softly. "Very good. I will now give you some medicine. Amber, my assistant will help you take them and then bring you to a room where you can spend the night. We'll get you a tetanus vaccination tomorrow." You tried to block the thought of the upcoming vaccination. "Thank you, Dr. Ackles." He nodded at you with a smile, looked like he had something to say, but then Amber came into the room. Dr. Ackles was needed in another room.

You had Amber tell Gabriel you were spending the night in the hospital. Gabriel wanted to see you again, but Amber insisted it wasn't a good idea because you needed rest. He brought you a duffel bag with your toiletries and clothing in the late afternoon.

You had already been lying on the bed in your room for several hours, surfing through the internet in boredom. You were accommodated on the third floor of the hospital and listened to what was going on in the corridor. Shoes squeaked on the linoleum and every few seconds a door slammed. You glanced through the floor-to-ceiling windows and watched the sun set slowly behind the building complex. It bathed your room in an orange light and every move you made cast long shadows on the wall with the door to the hallway.

A knock tore you away from your thoughts. Before you could say anything, the door opened at almost the same moment. Dr. Ackles' blond head appeared in the doorway as he peered into the room. "May I come in?" As if you'd lost the ability to speak, you just nodded without saying anything.  When he entered, he smiled at you impishly while hiding something behind his back. Curious, you watched him enter the room.

"I came back to check on you." Dr. Ackles came to your bed. "I stole some pudding from the cafeteria" said the blond with a cheeky grin, triumphantly holding up a glass of pudding. He winked at you and the gesture caused butterflies in your stomach. "And, um, well..." He suddenly seemed embarrassed and scratched his neck nervously. Then suddenly he reached out to you with a book. You were surprised to receive it. "What is that?" you asked. "Storm of Roses" was written on the cover. "I brought you a book from my office. Against boredom." Your fingers were running over the worn pages. You opened it at a dog's ear, and your eyes went over the lines. "It's obviously some cheesy romance novel." He said. You looked at him with a smile. He immediately blushed and cleared his throat. "Uh-uh, not that I would read something like that. A patient left this in the waiting room. I'm just keeping it for her," he stuttered. You raised your hands defensively and bit your cheek to suppress a giggle. "Of course." you replied seriously, flipping through the pages. "But it's quite good - at least that's what I've heard." He bit his lip and took a deep breath. To spare him any more humiliation, you stepped in. "Thank you, Dr Ackles." You gave him an honest smile as you pressed the book against your chest and looked at his rose-tinted cheeks. He avoided your gaze.  So, Dr. Ackles was a hopeless romantic. Interesting.

You spent the rest of the evening reading the book and eating your pudding at the same time. Eventually, you got so tired from the medication, you could barely keep your eyes open. It was only ten o'clock, but soon you fell asleep with Dr. Ackles' book on your stomach. Two hours later Jensen stuck his head back in the room. He was on emergency duty that day and had to take over the night shift on call. With a slight smile on his face, he realized that you were already asleep. Silently he stepped into the room and leaned the door behind him. Then he went to your bed, gently took the book from your hand and put it on the bedside table. Then he tucked you in and finally turned off the light next to your bed. On tiptoe he sneaked out of the room again and quietly pulled the door into the lock.

The next morning, after breakfast, you waited in the waiting room with a cup of coffee and Dr. Ackles' book. It was still early, but there was already a hustle and bustle in the hospital and you watched the people. Then the door to Dr. Ackles' consulting room opened. A little boy came out of the room with a lollipop. "Thank you, Dr Ackles," the boy beamed at him. Ackles smiled at him. "You're welcome, buddy. And wear a helmet next time, yeah?" "I will." said the boy, and the blond leaned into the door with folded arms, watching the little boy run excitedly to his mother. Then his eyes fell on you. He waved at you with a smile and you melted away. He was just too sweet.

Amber pulled you out of your crush. "Ms. L/N. It's your turn now." Like last time, you followed her into the consulting room. But you were disappointed to realise that Dr Ackles was not there. "The doctor said you need to be vaccinated against tetanus, is that correct?" You nodded and watched in panic as she prepared the injection and disinfected a spot on your arm. Just as she was about to prepare the syringe, you flinched. She stopped in surprise. "Is something wrong, miss?" Embarrassed, you dodged her questioning glance. "I'm afraid of needles. I wonder if Dr. Ackles could take over. It's not that I don't trust you, but..." Amber nodded sympathetically. "Wait a minute. Let me see what I can do." She disappeared, and a short time later Dr. Ackles entered the room. You were relieved to see him.

"Hey there. How are you today?" he asked in his calm and deep voice. "Fine, thank you. I'm just a little scared about the injections and I was hoping, well, you could help me -" You fell silent when he disinfected the spot again and refilled the syringe. "Well, we're going to count backwards from 1,029 in 13 steps, yeah?" he said. Confused, you looked at him and stared anxiously at the syringe approaching your arm. "Look ahead, Y/N. I can't hear you count." You looked ahead and began to count shakily. "1,016" you muttered and jerked as the syringe pierced your skin. "What's next?" Jensen asked and distracted you. You continued to count and were soon so concentrated that you didn't even notice the syringe. Only when he dabbed the blood off your skin did you look up surprised. The young doctor smiled at you. "You did great, Y/N." You noticed that it was the second time he used your first name. Then he put the Band-Aid on you. "You see? You get a special unicorn patch. It's only for the really brave girls." He winked at you. You blushed and a smile crept up your lips. "Thanks, Jensen." You just used his first name too. His fingers gently stroked your skin as he pressed the patch on. "Would you like to have a lollipop like Tommy?" he asked afterwards. Tommy must have been the little boy from before.

Laughing, you shook your head. "I don't think that's necessary. It hardly hurts anymore." His green eyes sparkled in amusement. Then he took a step back and cleared his throat. "Well, that's it. You have officially recovered. Don't let me see you back here again so soon. Take care of yourself for a while, okay?" Your heart got heavy when you realized it was time to go. You grabbed his hand and shook it. He was called into the next room. He touched you for a moment as he went past you and then he was gone.

At home, you dropped your bag on the floor and closed the door. You threw your jacket on the sofa when suddenly something fell out of your pocket. You bent down in surprise. It was a red lollipop and a note was wrapped around it. Curious, you rolled it up and read it.

Dinner at my place, brave girl? Call me, Jensen xx

Wanna get tagged? Head to my bio or drop an ask.

Jensen/Dean tags: @vicariouslythruspn @crazybutconfidentaf @zizzlekwum @ashthefirefox​ @outofnowhere82 @rintheemolion​ @myopiamystical @vicmc624​ @imaginationisgrowth @seven-seas-of-fuck-you

#jensen ackles #jensen ackles x reader #jensen x reader #doctor au #doctor!au #doctor!jensen #supernatural #supernatural fic #supernatural reader insert #supernatural fandom #supernatural cast #spn #spnfamily #spn fandom #spn fanfiction #reader insert #requests