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I can’t tell you what a gift reading this was for me. I cried reading about your faith in nurses as I sit sipping my tea post meditation getting ready for my night shift in a medical ICU. This past Saturday, between shifts, I seriously contemplated handing in my resignation, though it would be financially irresponsible. How much PTO do I have? Can that get me through a bit? It’s not because I don’t love being a nurse. It is because the system is beyond repair and more barbaric than most imagine. I can give loving, competent care to the best of my ability in a system that definitely does not care about humans, but I’m still a part of it. And it’s pure rot.

Thank you for getting it.

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Thank you for doing it. I see very plainly how hard it is.

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My sweet husband was a strong vibrant man, who had just retired in November of 2021.

He died last June [at 68 years of age] after 22 days in the hospital, with kidney failure & heart disease.

He had been taken to a skilled nursing facility, where he died that night.

I can't even express in words how much love I have for the nurses who cared for his every need in the ICU & PCU.

With the trauma I felt seeing & knowing how much he was going through, I can't even imagine how it feels for the sweet nurses, who see this day in & day out.

I know that he was taken care of, but it was brutal watching him suffer.

If I had known what the end result was...I would have brought him home like he wanted.

Thank you for staying, & trying to help people have even a little dignity!!!

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I’m so sorry about your loss. It’s so hard to know when to let our loved ones go home. I often want to stand on a street corner screaming like a maniac “talk to your loved ones about dying!”. It’s just awful what humans go through. I’m glad your husband was at least able to get out of an ICU. I’ve seen too many brutal deaths during a code when families wanted “everything done” even on their 80something mother or father...Which means that the patient becomes a lab rat for residents to practice skills on until they code and then the real barbarity plays out.

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It was interesting, because we talked about dying, & he always said 'he didn't want extreme measures', but when push came to shove, he said I want to live!

...BUT that meant horrible pain for him!!!

It has taught me that I really need to let my children KNOW what I may want when that time could possibly come for me...

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Hi Gabrielle, I left nursing in 2021 and just started back this week. The break was wonderful. But I have to support myself and bartending didn't cut the mustard ( old saying, but I'm old). The medical system is beyond repair, I fear.

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I had a four year break between being an LPN and an RN I was the happiest waitress you’d every meet for a couple of years! I’m an older newish nurse. LPN early 40s RN early 50s. I’d love to move into something more genuinely healing. The hard thing is the money is pretty decent. I just sometimes really feel I’m part of something awful and it’s brutally hard work most of the time. Welcome back. :)

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The only "bad" nurse I knew was Nurse Ratchett from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. That didn't turn out too well for Mr. McMurphy!

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thank you for saying it.

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I AM a surgeon...of dogs and cats, but still....surgery is ALWAYS painful and not infrequently there are complications...anywhere from minor to major. It should never be taken lightly.

Add to this the inherent risks of anesthesia(controlled poisoning)--like DEATH or brain damage and the whole thing is even more stupid.

It is nothing more than cosmetic surgery.

It's a reverse boob job and the reasons are just as dumb, but they found a bunch of either misguided or ghoulish, greedy psychiatric doctors to justify what is nothing more than cosmetic surgery.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

We can't leave out the greedy administrators and executive bean counters running the hospital! Like the one at Vanderbilt who pointed out that not only do these surgeries make a lot of money up front, they create uhm, what was it? Oh yeah, lifetime clients! Because there are going to be health issues cropping up forever from these misguided surgeries.

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There's good money to be made from the pain of these confused children and terrified (or twisted) parents.

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A sick patient is a lucrative patient.

A healthy patient is not.

Why I never go to the doctor.

At 58, even though I feel great most days, I'm pretty sure they would find something 'wrong' with me that requires maintenance medication.

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I understand and agree with your point, but the predation upon children is especially evil.

This doctor at Vanderbilt was honest about the gravy train to be made from these children.

https://tennesseestar.com/2022/09/21/vanderbilts-gender-clinic-doctor-trans-surgeries-make-money-for-the-hospital/

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Oh, I agree 100%.

In veterinary medicine, we are constantly bombarded with drug reps encouraging 'profit centers' in our practices.

Basically, 'here's how you guarantee making a shit ton of $$.'

I adhere to the belief that good medicine is always profitable. I don't need to invent problems to profit from. There are plenty of natural 'profit centers' without my manufacturing them.

'Dental Month' comes to mind.

Back in the late 90s, someone concocted Dental Month in veterinary medicine. They decided--this is 100% true--that, since Feb is historically a slow month for $$ in Vet Med(people spent all their cash at Christmas, not a whole lot going on in winter parasite wise, etc), that it would be a good idea to hype routine care for that month. They came up with signs and PR and all kinds of stuff. Recommended discounting, blah, blah, blah.

My reaction was....shouldn't EVERY month be Dental Month? Are the teeth not important any other month. I was looked at like I was crazy(although this might be true to some extent).

Dental Month exists to this day--Google it.

My practice does not engage in Dental Month chicanery. We just recommend good dental care all the time......strange, right?

And lest we forget, we have a bonanza that human docs would drool over......flea/tick/heartworm medication. Although I DO agree that ALL are a good idea...just think about how much human docs would love to have cradle to the grave meds like that?

I don't begrudge ANYONE making a good living. I want to make one. I just think that it's just as easy to make a good living ETHICALLY as it is to make it UNETHICALLY...but Pharma coprorate medicine would like you to think differently. They want to talk everyone into doing things just for the profit....that is wrong. At BEST, it's unnecessary procedures and medicine and expense, at WORST, it's dangerous.

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Wait, are humans mostly not on flea and heartworm meds? I really need to talk to my doctor.

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Bwahaha....actually, humans CAN be infected with heartworms. We are, thankfully, a dead end host. Most times it is diagnosed in this manner: You get a chest x-ray for whatever. They see a nodule. They freak you out and do a biopsy telling you it might be cancer. It's ends up being a dead larva of a heartworm. So...maybe we should be.....#1 heartworm preventative? Ivermectin!! The forbidden drug. So, if you want it for COVID, just have your doc treat your 'heartworms' instead.

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Transmania is the frontal lobotomy of our time. There will be a great deal of wreckage, but the Judith Butlers who lead from the pulpit and their armies of caring and compassionate Dr Frankensteins will most likely escape unscathed.

There has just been too much elite buy-in, too many important people pushing this,

for it not to be swept under the rug.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

So-called "gender-affirming" surgery is an abomination. What ever happened to "do no harm"?

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Child abuse sponsored by Government and big business. These kids will have a higher rate of suicide after they're affirmed. So sad, immoral, and criminal.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

Oh, but it will be such a cash cow for the medical establishment!

/sarc

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I think it’s a larger cash cow for the insurance corporations than is ever seen in the medical industry.

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I thought the profit model for insurance companies is NOT having people get sick or die?

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There is a study from the Swedish data on long term transitions. Suicide rate is like 20x above normal in adulthood. 😢

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Sponsored by we, the taxpayers, actually.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

Meanwhile, the horror stories of those who decided to detransition are being suppressed...

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Jan 26, 2023·edited Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

People are looking for the easy,, feel good-way out of their anxieties.

Fentanyl for despair of homelessness

The Vax for the fear of COVID. (and now the rational for taking if for fear of complications and blame)

Embracing Biden for the fear of a Trump Presidency

Woke for fear of realizing their ineptitude in most anything.

The initial debt can and could have been addressed, but the interest will be fatal. And drowning people take many with them.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

My shoulder was acting up, doctor said had no idea why, only treatment he knew was surgery. Yeah, no. It’s fine now. Just took awhile and some massage. God help me if I went for surgery.

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1.) I don't know why

2.) So let's do surgery

I've had those conversations, and I can't begin to express how much they piss me off.

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I saw an orthopedic surgeon about my knee which was sore going downstairs. He said he would never want to operate on a knee at this early stage. Looking at the MRI results, he said, "You'll be back when the pain is unbearable" for knee replacement. This was awful to hear at age 79. When I got home, I told myself, "Hey! What about physical therapy?" Called back, got a referral and here I am more than 2 years later faithfully doing my exercises, watching my weight, and more. When I have pain now, I check out google and have learned invaluable hints about walking on stairs and other challenges. I had a checkup not too long ago and he said I have actually improved since he saw me 2 years ago. He was honest to have said that, but never volunteered physical therapy at our first meeting. We have to question everything.

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Jan 27, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

Only a small percentage of patients that see an MD for pain are referred to physical therapy, and yet so much, if not most, musculoskeletal pain is functional, ie various body parts not working well together, as opposed to a case of broken body parts requiring replacement. Even in the rare case where surgery may be indicated your chances of doing well post-op increase dramatically if you receive pre-hab, ie physical therapy before surgery. Everything, including surgery, works better in a healthier body.

Unfortunately the biomedical model that predominates our sick-care industry is based on a false, but extremely lucrative, model of the body as an accident waiting to happen and as incapable of healing itself. And yet, a surgeon can only bring the edges of your wound closer together, not heal it, and an antibiotic can only decrease the bacterial load enough that your own (weakened) immune system can overcome it.

We would do so much better and suffer so much less if we trusted, valued and supported health to the best of our ability, instead of believing in the magical powers of outside interventions.

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“a surgeon can only bring the edges of your wound closer together, not heal it”. This is such a gorgeous swoon worthy observation to me. I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

If I can get myself out of my own way I hope to try to explore just how divorced we’ve become from something so innate, natural and dare I say evidence of something divine...our beautiful bodies’ state of near perpetual healing. Never given a hint of attention in the system, never mind the deep reverence it deserves.

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Hooray Jane! Have you ever checked out DDP Yoga? The results people of all ages and health conditions have is amazing. Super inspiring. Watching the videos of transformation is a favorite past time of mine. :)

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My husband’s hip and knee were causing him pain. He saw my orthopedic massage therapist, who discovered certain tendons and muscles were out of whack and pulling on his joints. Her therapy, and her recommended exercises, has cleared up his problems. Of course, not covered by insurance.

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Such good news about your knee! There’s a doctor named Jolie Bookspan who’s written many good books on healing your own pains. Her books have helped me tremendously. She’s has a website, too.

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I downloaded her book immediately into my Kindle. Many thanks for this recommendation.

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Oh! That's wonderful! I hope it provides relief (and hope!) Dr. Bookspan is an amazing person and very nice -- you can interact with her on twitter, or by email or even call her -- she is in PA somewhere teaching healthy yoga.

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Good for you! Our bodies have ways of healing that medicine is totally ignorant about. Movement, meditation, clean food (none of which are offered by the system) can do wonders. As a bedside hospital nurse my heart swells whenever I hear a story about a patient bypassing this sick system.

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Thank goodness its not available under 16 in the UK, its a growing issue here too and largely among autistic girls. Struggling to cope with their changing bodies and the prevailing deeply sexualised attitudes towards girls and women, they see it as a means of escaping a body they dislike feel unprepared for. It's not so much that they want to become boys, as non-sexual beings. Just awful, because what they need is not surgery but time, patience and understanding.

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Has anyone seen the photos of the forearms of girls who have undergone surgery to remove ‘tissue’ for use in fashioning what is supposed to be ‘esthetically’ a penis, albeit a non-functioning one? There must be a special place in hell for the ghoulish narcissists getting rich off the misery of others.

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Holy fk'n shit... I only took a glimpse at the 1st page of Go Fund Me's Top Surgery Campaigns ... I have no words to adequately express my sorrow for the tragedy that awaits these young misguided souls.

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They should rename that part of the site to Go Maim Me.

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The idiots and the desperate will suffer the consequences, while those evil bastards that pushed it upon them, will almost certainly escape the pain and suffering they cause.

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In this lifetime. Unless they repent, God will give them what they deserve in the end.

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Hopefully Satans on standby for them.

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Whether or not the perpetrators of this evil escape their due punishment remains to be seen... there is still a better than average chance that we will have the pleasure of seeing them hung by their necks until they're dead.

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I would be entirely happy with that outcome.

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my daughter has a friend, who was a lovely young lady. In university, she came out as "bi". Later she changed her name to a boy's and her pronouns to they/them and went on testosterone. Sometime in the past year she had a double mastectomy. Absolutely beyond sad. This young lady (IMHO) likely has a personality disorder (too long a story) and probably should have had mental health counselling/treatment prior to permanently mutilating her body. How must all the women who have had to have mastectomies due to cancer feel about this? The world is indeed insane.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

What kind of doctor would voluntarily perform these operations?

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It would take an actual, literal sociopath.

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There appear to be far too many who fit that definition.

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Many surgeons are just that. Not All but more than a few.

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Surgeons (like politicians, clergy and CEOs) have a much higher prevalence of psychopathic traits than average. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29786022/

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When I was 31, I had brain surgery for a tumor, luckily benign, but that began a road with a lot of potholes and bumps. I'm fine, but I spent many years looking at people my age and wondering if they understood how very lucky they were to have a body that functioned normally, a body where everything worked as it should.

As I read this article, I think of the many reasons I have to be angry about this new trend of trying to cosmetically change men to women and vice versa, I have one more. As a person who experienced her body betraying her at a young age to the point of death if I hadn't had the tumor out, to see people *encouraging* these young ones to take a body that functions well and normally and hack it to pieces and fill it full of hormones so it can *look* different . . .

What honestly is the matter with us? At one point we taught people to take pride in their bodies. Now we're encouraging them to sicken themselves and eliminate valuable systems just to look different, which is all that will ever be accomplished.

On a side note, years ago I knew a younger woman (30s) with diabetes that would routinely go in and have surgery to remove spurs on her feet, a side effect of her other health issues. The last time she did this, she had a reaction to the anesthetic, and she died, leaving a thirteen year old son (she was a single mother). Even when you need surgery and it is considered minor, it can end very badly.

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Great observation about RN's and healthcare staff generally. My mother was an RN, starting out running one of the Marine Corps amputee wards at Muir Island in '44-'45. Later she worked at Driscoll Childrens' in Corpus Christi. She always did everything possible to ameliorate the pain and suffering of both the patients and their families. It was tough for her, in particular for the ones she couldn't do much for. My guess is that she'd be shocked to see how many children and young adults butchering themselves now, for no more than cosmetic changes at most, and suffering as they do, and will do, the rest of their lives.

Thanks for recognizing these angels who do so much for so many.

Danny Huckabee

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by Chris Bray

Trans thing is just crazy to old folks like me. The poor girls. They have no idea what men even are, they just don’t want to be women.

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I too, am confused by this latest fad. When I was young, three quarters of a century ago, there were a small number, a very, very, small number of misguided souls who were unhappy in the bodies into which they were born. They were treated like sick people. Usually with sympathy, and compassion. They were NOT butchered and subjected to lifelong hormone treatments. (OK, so some were treated poorly or subjected to ridicule. But they were treated as sick people.)

Now we seem to have turned pandering to this particular mental illness into a very profitable industry. I can't help but feel the whole "trans issue" is is merely another disgusting symptom of the rapid social disintegration it is the misfortune of our generation to witness, and experience.

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