Greg PakI will never criticize anyone for worrying about follower counts on social media because I live in the United States where a few thousand more followers might be the only thing that saves you when you launch your seemingly inevitable medical emergency GoFundMe.
Karrie Higgins
- 335 Followers
- 213 Following
- 42 Posts
writer artist
@gregpak That's my situation and ... I don't know what will happen to me. Accurate.
I was reading about SPMs in regard to #LongCOVID also and potentially helping clear up the inflammation. Also some evidence with tendinopathies. Very excited to try them.
Following up on my last post re: pro-resolving mediators, this is really interesting. Aspirin in very high doses has been shown to help prevent cancer in Lynch Syndrome but studies are looking at lower doses now. If it proves true that SPMs are the reason ... then one could likely take SPMs and skip the aspirin side effects. Cool.
I am acquiring communications between doctors that led to the decision, but the hospital where I was initially to get my prophylactic mastectomy combed through my social media, discovered threads I wrote about transphobia & ableism in medicine and kicked me out of care. Lost my oncology team. I had *some* (not a lot) financial aid at that hospital. Now I have to get surgery where I do NOT have any aid. I must raise $8000 by July! #MutualAidRequest #BreastCancer
I recently learned about pro-resolving mediators for pain and inflammation and found some on sale. Giving a try. Some good research out there.
https://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-020-02569-5
Early evidence of efficacy for orally administered SPM-enriched marine lipid fraction on quality of life and pain in a sample of adults with chronic pain - Journal of Translational Medicine
Background Marine lipids contain omega-3 fatty acids that can be metabolized into anti-inflammatory and pro-resolving mediators—namely 17-HDHA and 18-HEPE—which can serve as modulators of the pain experience. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of 4 weeks of oral supplementation with a fractionated marine lipid concentration, standardized to 17-HDHA and 18-HEPE, on health-related quality of life and inflammation in adults with chronic pain. Methods This study was a prospective, non-randomized, open-label clinical trial. Forty-four adults with ≥ moderate pain intensity for at least 3 months were recruited. The primary outcome was change in health-related quality of life (QOL) using the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System-43 Profile (PROMIS-43) and the American Chronic Pain Association (ACPA) QOL scale. Exploratory outcomes assessed safety and tolerability, changes in anxiety and depression, levels of pain intensity and interference, patient satisfaction, and impression of change. Changes in blood biomarkers of inflammation (hs-CRP and ESR) were also explored. Results Outcome measures were collected at Baseline, Week 2, and Week 4 (primary endpoint). At Week 4, PROMIS-43 QOL subdomains changed with significance from baseline (p < 0.05), with borderline changes in the ACPA Quality of Life scale (p < 0.052). Exploratory analyses revealed significant changes (p < 0.05) in all measures of pain intensity, pain interference, depression, and anxiety. There were no statistically significant changes in either hs-CRP or ESR, which stayed within normal limits. Conclusion We conclude that oral supplementation with a fractionated marine lipid concentration standardized to 17-HDHA and 18-HEPE may improve quality of life, reduce pain intensity and interference, and improve mood within 4 weeks in adults with chronic pain. The consistency and magnitude of these results support the need for placebo-controlled clinical trials of marine lipid concentrations standardized to 17-HDHA and 18-HEPE. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov: Influence of an Omega-3 SPM Supplement on Quality of Life, NCT02683850. Registered 17 February 2016—retrospectively registered, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02683850 .
ICYMI new Substack! Tracing ethanol, disability, pollution and more through generations in my family. It's part of my alchemical scroll spinal cord drawing series. #DisabilityPoetics #DisabilityArt #DisabledWriter #Ink #Magick #SpinalCordInjury
https://karriehiggins.substack.com/p/alchemical-scroll-part-3-iowa-a-place
Just a reminder, but literally, this instance asks that people not give unsolicited advice. I am barely back and active and it's already happening. I was so hoping for a space free of it. Sigh.
"Unless requested explicitly, please do not drop unsolicited advice. In some cases, it might be ok to ask OP directly if they want advice."
@irisRichardson Nothing stops them.
But if the concern is where fundraising goes, I have a mutation that causes numerous cancers and I require expensive screenings constantly. Help Hope Live does not release any funds without proof of a verified medical expense. So if the worry is I raise funds but they get "wasted," they won't and can't! HHL is a nonprofit that manages the money in a sort of trust. They do this so I don't lose access to other programs.
Please do not respond with advice. I am not seeking advice. I would have had to fundraise regardless & no there is not a legal case here. There really is not. Doctors get away with a lot. And yes, I talked to attorneys. There is no case. What I need to do -- to survive, for real -- is get the surgery, but I need to fundraise to do it.