TheOtherJack

So, I talk to quite a few of you regularly on this site, I’ve been out of contact for a few days and wish to explain why.

On Tuesday, I awoke at about 10 pm with a severe headache, chills, and bluish gums and lips. I was in pain, I was hypoxic, I had turned a ghastly shade of ashen yellow, and so I went to a hospital.

It was funny: the triage nurse thought I was wearing “zombie makeup” until he couldn’t dislodge the “makeup”, when he actually commented that he’d never seen a living person my particular shade of pale (he really emphasized the ‘living’… far more than I would expect from a medical professional). He measured my blood pressure as 80/45, which was quite low; my O2 Saturation was 78, which was dangerously low. After an interview and a blood draw, the doctor on duty cleared me for my first blood transfusion, and I was admitted to the hospital. I had wanted to play dead and scare an intern or two while I was still pale and corpselike, but sadly my comedic sensibilities were deemed not conducive to a climate of healing. I was transfused with two more units that night. My blood pressure was 90/60 and my SpO2 had risen to 87, before I was sent away to the ward.

On Wednesday, the next morning, my oncologist visited. I had a paradoxical reaction to a drug meant to boost my red blood cell production; in that it caused hemolytic anemia—in brief a destruction of red blood cells. He ordered some scans and tests, which to my great relief came back clean. I’ll have a few more doses of chemo, just to be safe; but that period is looking more or less over.

I had a few more transfusions over Wednesday and Thursday and was on supplemental oxygen until early Thursday evening.

It was not an unpleasant stay. I had proper food for the first time in a few weeks. I tried almond milk for the first time and found that I like it. My roommate was about my age, a relative rarity in my experience, but was not the talkative sort and spent his time watching a marathon of The Adventures of Pete and Pete. I was aware of Pete and Pete, but had never watched it; still, I must confess it aroused some feelings of nostalgia. I have the theme song, “Hey Sandy”, stuck in my head. I read Motel of the Mysteries, which I now realize is a children’s book. I've rediscovered my love of programming/coding, something I haven't really done since I was in high school. I also got quite a bit of work done.

I would like to thank those of you I’ve been talking with: the last couple of months have showed me that I’m much less of an introvert than I thought—your continued contact has saved my sanity. I would also like to thank you for supporting me financially (u/starry_soda: I was exactly $0.63 short for my bill, before I remembered you, thank you). This is somewhat embarrassing: I am seeking about $80, for what will hopefully be either my last or penultimate chemo session on Monday. (My CashApp tag is $JackHF84; my Venmo tag is @JackHF84; I also use Zelle and will give my phone number in private messages.)

Incidentally, I met a doctor from my alma mater, although we took different paths there. If you are under 26, have some background in math or the natural sciences, are willing to learn in Spanish, and would like to attend medical school, please consider applying to the Latin American School of Medicine (Escuela Latinoamericana de Medicina). You’ll be given a mostly free medical education, I believe you’ll graduate from a six-year combined Bachelor’s and M.D. program; those of you from the US will take all parts of the USMLE, meaning you’ll be able to practice in the US. To the best of my knowledge, they still favor those from historically disadvantageous backgrounds. I’m not the best source of information, but feel free to message me if you have any questions and hopefully, I can point you in the right direction.

I know electoralism is unpopular here, I apologize in advance. Has any party, while campaigning for workers' votes, ever offered to tax unionized workers' wages preferentially; like an excise tax against non-union shops?

I noticed that you can’t deduct, as a business expense, any amount of money spent in furtherance of a crime. Why can't you change tax law so that only a quarter of non-union wages can be deducted from a business' taxable income? (Of course you could also define what a union is to prevent "straw unions", ostensibly controlled by capital.)

I’ve been on chemo for a few weeks now. I had an appointment yesterday; normally, I have about 24 hours after an appointment before I feel sick—not so this time.

To avoid crowds, I’ve been doing my laundry very early in the morning, usually about three or four o’clock. Aside from the attendant I was the only person in the laundromat. After the machine started, I went outside for a little walk and some fresh air.

So, there I was walking in the Far South Side of Chicago in the predawn hours of the morning with a big empty sac strapped to my back, as one does. I was doing nothing suspicious except for everything I was doing. I saw blue lights flash from behind and I went into the “my hands are visible and away from my pockets” position before turning around.

The younger of the two officers frisked me and decided to ask questions about my port. I’m not sure what kind of weapon would be under several layers of clothing and attached to my chest, but I assume the young officer’s fear was a good faith reaction. Less than a minute into his questioning—I’m not sure if it was nerves or I subconsciously willed myself to do it— without warning, I vomited all over the young cop. A bitter, bilious mixture of lentils, rice, and digestive juices spewed forth, arching in the air like a decorative fountain as I tried to point my head down and away. He was utterly covered: it was in his mouth, on his pants, dripping down his bulletproof vest—it was everywhere.

The older cop, who had been standing further back, piped up, “Aww, my wife had breast cancer. How ‘bout we drop you off, then I’ll take this one [pointing to the younger cop] to get hosed down.” He was being genuinely helpful; I mean that without any sarcasm— which was a contrast to his partner who seemed like a bit of a power tripping prick. Anyway, that’s how I puked on a cop without any consequences.

I wasn't in the US for the Syrian Civil War. Why was there so much hate and vitriol for President Assad? It's like every American politician wanted him gone, but by regional standards he's pretty innocuous (I think he was like an eye doctor before he more or less inherited his presidency).