I’d pick the bear. I just wouldn’t be able to bring myself to trust that I wouldn’t end up with a psycho. The odds would be good that I wouldn’t, but I wouldn’t want to chance it. I don’t feel spikes of fear around men, so I don’t live in fear. But at the same time, I’m aware that there are enough bad actors out there that I should take precautions so that I’m never vulnerable around a man who could possibly attempt harm. And I know that men fear other men. Other men aren’t the prey as often as women are to bad men, but sometimes a man will attack another man, depending on the situation (mugging or something.) I haven’t heard of a man fearing a woman physically. They might fear that a woman will make them look dumb, but they rarely fear that she’ll fly at him and cause him serious physical harm.

Oh, I am soooo glad to hear it!!! What a huge relief!!!!! Last week at this time, I was literally planning my funeral and crying and wondering whether I should record some good-bye messages for loved ones in case I got too weak to do it at the end. Of course, by Thurs, I had found out I was ok. It’s been a bit of a wake call for me to assess what’s important in my life and hold people a little more dear. I visited my son at his college yesterday because I haven’t seen him in a few weeks and I needed to hug him.

I live near Gettysburg and just got home from driving through there not 10 minutes ago. So weird to think of your great great grandfather’s arm out in one of the fields up there. Next time I drive though, I’ll be thinking of his arm.

No luck. Turns out my son has been asking them each week when he calls (twice a week) if they have either the name or the generic and if they have any of the doses, because his doc is willing to give him a lower dose if that’s all that’s available. A friend said she’d had luck at a Rite Aid near my son and he’ll try them tomorrow. Sigh. He’ll make it through. He dropped a class so he has only 3 classes and that has helped.

My son hasn’t had his meds for maybe 2 months now (the generic for Vyvanse.). I have to remind him twice a week to call the pharm and see if they have any. He forgets within minutes of me reminding him, so I remind him at least twice a day on Monday and Thursday and if he forgets to call on Mon and Thurs, then I remind him on Tues and Friday. It’s hard enough for him to remember this stuff with the meds. Without…nah. I didn’t realize that the name brand might be available. I’ll ask him to call and ask the pharm on Monday if they have the name brand and pony up the $500 or whatever it is, just to get him through finals.

I am so, so sorry you’re so worried. Nine days ago, I had a biopsy for a mass in my nasal pharynx and it’s a long story, but the results that came from the lab looked (to my inexperienced eye) as if it was saying I had cancer. But at the same time, the lab also said the results were inconclusive, so they sent my biopsy to another lab for more tests. When the second lab report came back, it clearly said I did not have cancer. The doctor called me and let me know it was not cancer. But the time between the first results and the second results was horrible. Absolutely terrifying. I was thinking, “If only it was in my br3ast, I could just have the darn things removed, but I can’t remove my head.” I cried more in the past week than I’ve cried in the past few years from the worry and fear. So, I don’t think you’re crazy for wanting to just remove them if they might be a source of cancer. And I can completely understand being a nervous wreck. It’s the first thought when you wake and the last one when you go to sleep and you can’t stop thinking about it all day. I don’t have actual answers of what questions to ask, etc, but I just want you to know that if I could give you the biggest hug, I would, because the terror you’re feeling is so real and raw and so frightening.

It’s not “normal” though it’s very common. My mother was 50 years old when she became friends with a nurse who explained that my mom’s behavior/thoughts/etc was probably anxiety and that it could be treated. My mom finally got some meds and said, “Is this how the rest of you are?? Not worried and a nervous wreck all the time? I thought I was normal and didn’t know that everyone else wasn’t like this, too.” Also, ADHD people have brains that just will not stop. Thoughts run non-stop. My DH was 42 when he was dx’d with ADHD and got some meds and the first day he took them, he was like my mom. “I was able to complete an entire task today all the way through! Is this what it’s like for the rest of you? You can complete tasks without your thoughts interrupting and you bouncing around to another task?? I can’t diagnose you over the internet, but if you’re thinking something isn’t right, that doesn’t mean your brain is totally messed up or crazy, but you could have anxiety or ADHD, which, as you know, aren’t really in your control. It’s all about chemicals in the brain, and sometimes there can be relief out there for you, if you like. If you don’t like meds, there are other ways to deal with low-level anxiety and ADHD—good, hard exercise, talk therapy, good diet, etc. I don’t think those things are as effective as medicines, but they can help.

Anxiety? Adhd? Depression? Sounds like my son and husband who have a combination of those three things.

How long has this been going on? Your whole life or starting 2 years ago?

Praying

Nah, I wouldn’t be offended. I’d be ok with it.

Regarding the curcumin—if you take it mixed with bioperin (pepper), it can also cause GERD. Long story short, but I had to sprinkle the contents of my turmeric/curcumin capusule in some applesauce and it’s spicy hot! I hadn’t known that that was the root cause of my GERD until that moment. So, be sure to get curcumin without any pepper (bioperin is often what they mix in with it) if you already have GERD issues. I stopped the curcumin a few weeks ago. I take collagen supplements for my hair and I read that collagen also helps with inflammation and maybe it does, because even though I stopped the curcumin, I don’t have joint pain like I did before the curcumin, so maybe the collage is helping. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NF3LQ9M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I homeschooled my oldest through grade 11 and my youngest through grade 8, then moved to a cyberschool. I’m in PA and there are some good ones here. Does your state have cyberschools? For my youngest, in his first year of cyberschool, I sat side-by-side with him for all his lessons for the full year as if I was also a student, just to be a presence and fully understand how it all worked. And also to help him develop good note-taking habits, etc. By the next year, he was ready to be on his own, without me hanging around. For my oldest, he was just done with me being his teacher. He was polite, but it was so strained when I had to teach him. I had outsourced a lot of his math and science before then, but in his last year, the cyberschool took care of all of the subjects for me.

I find the fact that it was right over your head and you refused to look at it so strange. I think a lot of us are having trouble wrapping our heads around the fact that you could have stepped outside for just a few seconds and seen it, and you deliberately stayed indoors. It’s not that we don’t understand that not everyone finds it mind-blowing, or that we don’t understand that maybe it’s not worth traveling for. But to have it right over your head and not bother to pop your head out the door and take a glimpse is difficult to comprehend. I mean, you do you, but I truly can’t understand why you wouldn’t just pop your head out and say, “Yup. Saw it. No big deal.” But, again, you do you.

When I listen to podcasts, they change up their ads, so maybe the Lume and Tampax ads have run their course on the podcasts you liked.