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Thursday, 7 September 2023

Conferences, Concerts, and Gatherings…Oh My!

How does one assess their risk when the data is hidden or hampered at every turn? That’s what this is really about. Humans like to gather and socialize and much of our capitalist society has been built upon not only consumption but big collective consumption. Big sporting events and concerts in arenas make huge amounts of money on tickets, parking fees, concession stands, merchandise, lodging, and more! This summer there were some huge headliners touring the entire world during a global pandemic. While many other headliners have had to cancel and postpone shows due to illness. You will almost never hear that they cancelled due to a covid infection because of the insurance policies for these things. They can simply say “mystery illness” or similar things to remain vague. The artists performing in these shows are doing so at a huge risk to their own health and livelihoods, but it does seem that the profits outweigh all of that. Behind every solo performer is a massive team/company of people working in support of that artist, and they are all putting themselves at similar risks in the name of these tours/artists. Each individual that attends these concerts is paying a hefty sum to do so, as well as risking their health and livelihoods. Before you buy that ticket, can you afford to lose your health? For how long?
I am a self professed music nerd. I love the history, the art form, the connections between styles and influences, it all gets me very excited. I can talk a blue streak about it, and I have attended hundreds of concerts in my life so far. I won’t even get into ticket prices now, because I will forever be mad about that and Ticketmaster in general, but the price people are paying with their lives is what I’m focusing on here. You can save up to buy a concert ticket, but there’s no way to save up your health for later times. It’s not a points system, ya know? Because ohmigosh I wish I could! When The Cure announced their tour in the spring, and I discovered that they would be playing at a nearby outdoor amphitheater, I was excited and hopeful. The fact that Robert Smith, singer for The Cure, worked tirelessly to ensure his fans wouldn’t be ripped off by Ticketmaster, I was so impressed and pleased. I hadn’t heard such pushback since Pearl Jam in the 90’s. I signed up for their waitlist and presale things and then never heard a thing again. I never even knew what the tickets would have cost in the end. The Cure are definitely one of my all time favorite bands ever, and I have never seen them play live. You can imagine the heartbreak of not being able to go when they were so near and yet covid was nearer still.
I did all I could to assess my risk, plan how and what I would pack to feel safe. It’s outside right, so less risk! Except, it’s still an amphitheater with thousands packed in for the show. I went to my employer’s holiday party and danced the night away in an N95 mask, so I felt like I could do it. The more I thought about it, and checked my county’s wastewater reports for covid infections, the less I felt comfortable making the choice to go. I had even reached out to an acquaintance who is also a big fan and covid smart but even they were apprehensive about it. I have been to plenty of shows alone before, but not during a pandemic. The way people are behaving more aggressively in public settings in 2023 is also very off putting and being in a big crowd like that just felt like a nightmare. So I stayed home and played their music and had some wine and danced around my little apartment. I watched tons of clips of their shows online and cried at the NYC show clip of Robert singing Plainsong to his wife standing in the wings. So beautiful! When all is said and done, going to a concert is not something anyone actually must do. It is considered a leisure/pleasure activity, and while enriching, not necessary for survival. Just because we want and yearn and long for something, doesn’t make it necessary or safe. There is no way to gather that amount of humans, in this pandemic specifically, without hundreds getting covid. 
Now that covid related data is becoming less and less tracked/monitored/tested/reported, it is nearly impossible to truly know what the full risk of any given situation is. I think this is at least one part of why a lot of people just don’t seem to care anymore. Even those that do just sort of wear a mask and hope for the best. It all feels very impossible. How are any of us supposed to “go back to normal” in any sane way? We’re not! “Normal” wasn’t even working before the covid pandemic. Refusing to care about precautions especially when you don’t know the risks is self defeating and unethical. Those insisting we go back to pre-pandemic living are literally stuck in the past refusing to keep up with the times and adapt to our rapidly changing environment. Those masks that prevent viruses from entering our airways also filter toxins from wildfires and dust/pollen during allergy seasons. They also prevent what far too many believe to be mild or everyday infections like colds and flus (there was never a summer flu, stfu, it’s covid). We never should have accepted any of them as a normal part of life. We are discovering now that exposure to even generic old cold viruses before the pandemic may have made many of us more susceptible to not just worse covid acute infections, but long covid specifically. 
There is so much we were not told about covid. At first we just didn’t know everything, but we did know a lot because Covid19 is SARS2, we already had a SARS1 in the 00’s and many who survived those initial infections have been suffering ever since. Instead of working with that knowledge and framing public health policy and offering resources based on it, leadership in most countries (New Zealand had it right from the start!) chose the path of least political resistance and have since withdrawn nearly all support and resources. Nothing has changed with the pandemic or the virus except those policies and removed resources. People have been dying by the thousands every week just in the USA this entire time, but it is so much worse now and no one is talking about it. We have some treatments for the acute infection phase, but bureaucracy has fucked that up so hard! Someone I follow on twitter had Paxlovid prescribed to them for a course of ten days, but their insurance would only cover/approve of 5 days worth. They were not allowed to even pay out of pocket for the remaining amount prescribed, it was simply withheld. So when leaders tell you we have the tools and treatments, they only mean for themselves, not us.
Those boosters everyone is talking about coming out soon that has raised the hopes for some? Yeah, you won’t be able to get them unless you’re over 65, or severely immunocompromised*. And the MRNA vaccines that we were told would protect against newer variants, waned in its effectiveness after 3 months, to be useless really after 6 months. There is a new Novavax booster coming out that does cover the newer variants and has sterilizing qualities within the lungs, though not preventing infection or transmission, would hugely reduce the worst outcomes for all who can get it. Except no one in the USA will be able to get it because it isn’t produced by the two major pharma companies that have our gov in their pockets that gave us the shitty ones. Our leaders were never truly forthcoming about asymptomatic infections being the biggest spreaders and who specifically is vulnerable to the worst outcomes, it was always framed as “those other people will get super sick and die but you’re okay.” They said we should wear masks to protect ourselves but never pushed or explained 2 way masking or offered quality masks (KN95)/respirators (N95/P100) to those who cannot afford them. In fact we were told that any mask was fine and that we should leave the respirators for healthcare and essential workers. They dropped the big mandate but never actually said it was safe to stop wearing masks. It’s all politically driven and I am amazed at how many swallowed it whole without questioning it.
Now no one is wearing masks except those who know they are high risk or immunocompromised or live with someone who is. Everyone I know IRL eats in restaurants. Even insisting they sit away from others to “reduce the risk”. Which sounds good but that is now how airborne pathogens work! You have to think of it like cigarette smoke, if someone was smoking a cigarette across the restaurant from you, would you still be able to smell it? If you were alive in the 80’s you know the answer to this. I will save my newer thoughts on the insistence to eat in restaurants for another post, but you can almost always get your food to go. So why not go to a lovely park or take it home and watch your fave show, too? When you remove your mask you are not just taking the risk for your own health, either. Those essential workers everyone pretended to care about are being forced and harassed to not wear a mask, and you know no one gets much in the way of sick days/pay in the USA. Think about this for a moment, please. The lowest earners providing “essential” services with zero protections just so you can be served inside of a restaurant. 
“At least we have tests!” Yes, we do, but no one was fully informed on the timing and technique required to get a true result, and many new variants aren’t showing up positive until after 3-5 days of symptoms and no one is testing enough to pick up asymptomatic cases. Free testing sites are gone, getting tests through your insurance is not always reliable, and most cannot afford to buy multiple tests all of the time. I am happy to share that even if your home tests have expired, look them up because most have had the expiration dates extended. I keep up on these things for work, even though I am no longer required to, but I simply a.) give a shit, and b.) kind of can’t stop now. The more I learn the better I can protect myself and I have done very well in that regard, thank you. I do not understand how most folks don’t have that same curiosity and need for more information, but I’m okay with being a weirdo. At least my version of weirdness causes no harm to others. While going out in public maskless around others, yes even outdoors, is absolutely causing harm and even disabling and killing people. I do not want that blood on my hands, so to speak. Just because I don’t live with someone high risk doesn’t mean I don’t want to protect myself and others from the same infection that has robbed me of some of my mobility, most of my energy, caused organ damage, and prevents me from living a fuller life. Wearing a mask seems a small sacrifice of mild and temporary discomfort if it means protecting people from this horrible virus.
There is a new variant of covid that is presenting with only GI Issues and not fevers and respiratory symptoms. This means that many will ignore it and spread it thinking it is food poisoning or something else. Many employers are now not allowing folks to quarantine at home with even an acute infection, most schools, too. There is no stopping this virus with wishful thinking and strict “come to work no matter what” policies. Hospitals are no longer wearing masks, even oncology clinics that have been wearing masks for decades to protect the most at risk patients receiving treatments to live have dropped them. It is unconscionable! We must speak up and be insistent about these things, our lives are literally at stake! Healthcare workers have always worn masks with infectious or vulnerable patients. It is because of the politicization of them that they have stopped, some even lamenting they were worn to begin with. Next they’ll insist hand washing is asking too much. We have the science and data to back up and prove that the protection and mitigations work, but our leadership in every sector has failed us spectacularly. 
There was never going to be hybrid immunity or herd immunity. There was never going to be a true vax and relax way to approach this virus. Covid19 has won. Humanity has lost sight of itself in the face of capitalism. Yes, we are all too tired, overworked and underpaid because of it, too. It is because of this repetitive grind we’re all stuck in that we have been unable to assert our collective power to insist on better things for us all like healthcare and less oppressive employment laws. The USA never had a lockdown, we didn’t even have a true shutdown. Those griping about this and learning loss and how masks don’t work or cause anxiety are only repeating the nonsense the media has pushed on them. This has all been proven to be untrue, regardless of how loud they are about it. If what I wear on my face triggers their rage and righteous fury, that is a them problem and not a me problem. My masked face affects no one. Their rage and harassment is dangerous. Them being wrong and rude could be deadly. Me being right or wrong affects no one. 
There is a way to have gatherings and attend conferences and things safely. First, offering a virtual attendance option should be the norm at this point. It makes your event or gathering more accessible to all. Broader accessibility is never a bad thing! Charge for it, preferably at a sliding scale, so even more folks can join too! When planning your event, access the air flow/ventilation/hvac filters whenever possible. I may be just a simple office manager (ha!) but I know exactly when our hepa filters are replaced and where the vents are and flow to. I have gotten pretty good at identifying these things in other spaces too. Ask questions before reserving a venue! Require masks! This should be a no-brainer! Requiring vaccines is ridiculous when the efficacy of all of them has waned completely and not everyone can access them if they don’t have insurance now that the emergency fed funding has been ended. Again, nothing has changed with the virus’ deadliness and damage, only the funding has gone. Provide access to outdoor areas for people to eat and drink in. Let your speakers/performers know that it is okay to keep their mask on. Have someone to monitor that masks are worn and worn properly. If you see a nose uncovered, it’s like a dick is hanging out of your pants, fix that shit! Simply saying masks are required isn’t enough, but you don’t have to be a jerk about it either. If protections and mitigations are framed from a place of community care as they should be most folks won’t even question it. If you can, provide air purifiers/filters, build Corsi-Rosentjal Boxes for your event. They are a much more affordable option than commercial purifiers. 
The amount of people dead or disabled from others insistence on old world normalcy is unfathomable to most, but I will never forget. People who insisted on having weddings and parties and big vacations unmasked, they may never know specifically who they harmed, but they absolutely fucked up people’s lives permanently. If they were your loved ones? That is on you! We are all we got. We have to protect ourselves and each other. Our leaders aren’t leading! So we have to step up our game in order to survive. That is not hyperbole. With every infection your risk of having long covid increases. You do not want long covid! You really don’t want covid in your body at all if you can help it, but even if you do, you don’t want to share it. I know my mitigations and precautions work because when I had my only covid infection I also had an out of town guest staying with me for four days in my little apartment. I didn’t know I had it yet, but I made sure to wear an N95 and keep my car windows down while masked too. At home I had an air purifier and big box fan going the whole time. My guest never got it and the friend they visited directly after who is very vulnerable, also didn’t get it. The day after they left town is when my symptoms started. These things work! But we must be informed in order to make them work properly. 
Most people cannot believe that covid can disable or kill someone. It doesn’t mean it isn’t true. The damage this virus causes in every organ is not reversible on its own. This thing will be in us forever, and will very likely come back to bite us all in a few years time, like many others before it. It also makes otherwise dormant things pop up like shingles, auto immune diseases, diabetes, cancer cells can reactivate and explode. Oh and if you think you’re not high risk, you need to look at it from a couple of different ways. How will you get treatment or be treated in an overfilled hospital? Are you fat? Do you know how healthcare professionals treat fat people? Yeah, you’re high risk for dying not because of your body size but because of the ingrained biases and stigmas within healthcare! Have you had a covid infection before, even mild or asymptomatic? You’re now immunocompromised! The damage done to our immune systems after any covid infection (symptomatic or not, tested positive ever or not) means you are more susceptible to any and every infection under the sun! This is why there’s rampant fungal infections exploding everywhere. And if you don’t have it and you are seeking healthcare for something unrelated? You are much more likely to get a covid infection in a hospital or medical setting currently, and there’s little you can do about it until they mandate masks again.
So you see, when we are trying to make informed choices in our lives, especially about our own risks with covid infections, we need a lot more information to truly make those decisions. Letting it rip is only easy if you have no conscience and don’t have to look the people you’re killing in the eyes. The more informed we are the better armed we are when we assert our power and demand better resources for everyone. Everything is connected, y’all! It is so clear to me (and it all boils down to capitalist white supremacy). Please wear a mask around other humans. If you take nothing else from this post, make it that! You are worth protecting. We are all worth protecting! Our government is very much okay with a lot of us dying from their profit-driven policies. It doesn’t mean we can’t do all we are able to in order to live a longer and more fulfilling life. I would love to see more virtual options for everything. I would love to see movie and other theaters have masked only showings and public information about their hvac/air filtration online. It is so hard to find places with spaced out outdoor seating, and I live in California. There is so much more we can do to make spaces safer for everyone and the information is out there.
If you would like more information about anything in this post, please leave a comment or email me (see below). I am happy to provide a plethora of resources. I send cases of masks to friends who have run out. If you’re in need of masks, reach out, I will do all I can! 

***

I’m here for realness and sincerity, honesty and vulnerability, I’m here for the good and juicy bits of life that shine for me when I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Rad Fatty Love to ALL,
<3
S

Donate to this blog here: https://ift.tt/WEipC0q currently donations will be given directly to Black women in need through my network.

My blog’s Facebook page for things I share that aren’t on this blog: http://on.fb.me/1A18fAS 

Or get the same shared content on Twitter: @NotBlueAtAll

And as always, please feel free to drop me a line in comments here or write me an email, I love hearing from readers. (Tell me your troubles, I don’t judge.) notblueatall@notblueatall.com



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Friday, 18 August 2023

Stay Covid Smart!

Where do you go when you don’t have anyone to talk to (for whatever reason) but want to get something off your chest? OH! This fucking blog o’ mine! Ha!

As I calm down a bit while eating this lusciously rich piece of chocolate cake…Ahem!

A big gathering at work in celebration of a number of marriages and baby announcements, about half the office is in the kitchen. Myself and a teammate, who also always wears a mask in the office, are sitting down together at a table chatting quietly, as introverts do. Then half our HR team sits across from us at the same table, none wearing masks.The topic of Covid is brought up, not by me but you’re right to make that assumption, and mention of it being all over the news again, cases are up. I say, “if it’s in the news then it is far worse than we know, they don’t like to talk about covid in the news these days.” Someone mentioned wastewater reports and I think for juuuust a moment they might care about mitigations and such. Nope! Just a talking point! Because the next moment the conversation moves onto hooray for a new booster coming and then they all mostly admit they aren’t up to date, have been traveling all over the dang world, and never mask in the office, and all have kids. I mention school starting during an already huge surge and before I could finish my sentence they’re talking about the upcoming booster again. 

Look, I actually love my job and most of the people I work with. I love my office and my team are some of the nicest and hardest working people I have ever met in my life. But one of our teammates is out right now because they went to Disneyland last week and now have covid. The entire team was testing for covid yesterday! Only 3 people out of 100 in my office consistently wear a mask. Me? I don’t fuck around, so I don’t have to find out. I caught covid one year ago at work, I took my mask off for 2-5 minutes to drink water and caught it from a teammate. I was fully vaccinated and very careful about my exposure and consistently masked. It only takes a few seconds of exposure though. I was fortunate to get Paxlovid pretty quickly and was well supported by my team, too. But I cannot shake the surreal feeling that everyone actually knows how terrible things are and are simply unable to process it all because it really is that bad. So I throw in a joke about, “Don’t worry about it though, the world is on fire right now, too! Ha-ha!” I swear I’m great at parties! Ha! 

We are reliving the 1900’s from the start and we’re doing fuck all about doing better for ourselves or the planet. We have a pandemic, nazis, insane billionaires controlling the media, heading into a likely global economic collapse, but we get a little change up with also being in the find out phase of our climate crisis. It is all fucking connected and it is all fucking repeating and I hate it. Individualism will be the death of our species. White supremacy has guaranteed this. Senators face cameras unblinkingly while spewing lies because they would rather us all suffer and die than admit they fucked up ever. Each bought and paid for by their fave corporation or billionaire bestie. Hundreds of millions are suffering around the globe from Long Covid while the entirety (it seems) of the medical world gaslights those suffering from its debilitating effects. The let it rip strategy will disable hundreds of millions more and we don’t have any systems in place currently to care for them/us. Healthcare globally is falling apart, more so now that most don’t bother to mask in hospitals at all, regardless of the situation. My grandmother would be swearing up a storm at the notion! 

They really tried to fool us with the vax and relax bullshit. They really laid it on thick about the effectiveness and purpose of the vaccines. It was all lies. And I’m not anti vax at all, I have all of my boosters, even though those have all lost their effectiveness completely by now. If you have had covid even once, even mild, even asymptomatic, YOU ARE NOW HIGH RISK FOR EVERYTHING! I wish people would get that message because the next five years are going to be horrifying! No one is testing and those that do are not testing at the right time or not using a method that will garner a more accurate result. The shear force of misinformation campaigns just wash out any remnants left of common sense in our society. Check for your county’s wastewater reports on covid, if they are still reporting (so many stopped recently). Maybe you believe you’ve never had covid so you’re fine and you must be doing something right if you haven’t gotten it this far, right? Well, 60% of cases are still asymptomatic, so unless you have been testing yourself weekly and consistently, you can’t truly know you haven’t had it. That is a tough data point for many to understand, but this virus is a tricky fucker! Also, if you are fat, you’re also high risk not simply because of your size but because of medical weight stigma and biases. We, as fat bodied people, will receive less care and less quality care if we have access to health care at all. I have no doubt in my mind that had my gallbladder crisis happened before the shutdown, I would not have received the care and testing that eventually found my issue. Telehealth/virtual medical appointments should be the norm! 

If you have any questions about covid or long covid or precautions/mitigations you can take, PLEASE ASK ME!!! I am happy to provide info, links, etc. I actually care a lot about people staying alive, though sometimes I question myself on what the point of caring for others is when it feels incredibly fucking one-sided. I suppose I am lucky in the sense that I was always different from “the crowd” and so it is absolutely no biggie for me at all to wear a mask even when I’m the only one wearing one. Standing out is what I do best! I’m a large bodied woman with red hair and often brightly colored outfits, I’m pretty tough to miss! Ha-ha! I do struggle to understand why folks are risking life and limb for comformity’s sake or to not upset others. Fuck that! I am an adult, so I get to decide what I do with and to my own face/body/etc. As things get even more bleak, and I’ve seen some horrific lies passed off as truths by so-called experts who are obviously cashing in on this bullshit campaign (things are about to get reeeeeeal bad. Like, everywhere!), I want to hope that folks will snap back to their previous “We’re in this together” mentality because we need that to survive! I am not interested in prettily painted Hallmark versions of anything. The world is literally on fire. Shut up! Just shut the fuck up and wear a mask, do the right thing! It is not hard! I hate it too but this is reality. 1 way masking is not effective in crowded areas, you can still get infected through your eyes or if your mask doesn’t have the best seal. It is very effective when everyone wears a mask. 

New information and developments in science are coming out everyday, so I do have hope. I am one of hundreds of millions still dealing with Long Covid symptoms over a year after my only so-called mild infection. Right now only 7% with LC ever fully recover at all. Some have been living with it since 2020 with no treatment available. With more people talking about it and pushing back on the gaslighting by the medical world, I know eventually there will be treatments. Who can access those treatments is another discussion entirely. With all the talk of the new boosters, most have forgotten that Biden ended the emergency status for the Fed, so many will be paying out of pocket if insurance won’t cover it or they don’t have insurance. I’ve so far seen prices starting at $110 for one booster. And as a result of the emergency status ending, the booster won’t be here until late September at the earliest, but until today I have consistently heard that it is November. Schools in my area started today! It is pure madness and greed driving everything now. Please reach out to those you haven’t heard from and offer support, the real kind, not just platitudes. No one knows how long any of us have left here. No one ever asks how I’m doing or feeling, not since the acute phase of my infection last year. Most people don’t even know what the symptoms are! There’s about 200 symptoms currently under the LC umbrella, but there’s like a core 8 that are consistently LC. Fatigue and brain fog are not what the average person thinks they are. The fatigue will suck your entire life away from you before you know it! This virus is SARS2, it is a level 3 airborne pathogen, but it is a vascular disease. The acute phase is not the end, it will be in us forever and causes damage in every organ.

There is no such thing as a summer flu. Avoid getting covid at all costs! No concert or large gathering is worth it, I promise you. Stay safe, stay smart! We are all we got!

***

I’m here for realness and sincerity, honesty and vulnerability, I’m here for the good and juicy bits of life that shine for me when I know I’m heading in the right direction.

Rad Fatty Love to ALL,
<3
S

Donate to this blog here: https://ift.tt/dXDrRFy currently donations will be given directly to Black women in need through my network.

My blog’s Facebook page for things I share that aren’t on this blog: http://on.fb.me/1A18fAS 

Or get the same shared content on Twitter: @NotBlueAtAll

Are you on MeWe? I started a fat-feminist group there called, Rad Fatties Unlimited, look for it! I’m also on Space Hey, MySpace, LiveJournal and all the other places: NotBlueAtAll

And as always, please feel free to drop me a line in comments here or write me an email, I love hearing from readers. (Tell me your troubles, I don’t judge.) notblueatall@notblueatall.com



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Sunday, 13 August 2023

How Heat Affects The Body

I’ve heard many times that sweat helps humans stay cool in heat, and that we pump more blood to extremities to cool it before the blood returns to the body core.

But today, listening to The Daily podcast, I realized that our pulse INCREASES as part of the cooling process. If your heart or circulation isn’t up to that, it doesn’t work as well.

This is part of why older folks or those with preexisting conditions can’t adapt to heat as easily–anything that affects the heart or sweating interferes with these processes.

(The podcast also has information on how heat costs productivity in the US, especially in manufacturing and warehouses without cooling.) https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/podcasts/the-daily/extreme-heat.html

Also: some medications, including for asthma/allergies or SSRIs, can make humans sweat less, which ALSO reduces your body’s ability to cool itself.

For me personally, my pulse has been elevated since the pulmonary embolism. Fold together with how aerobic exercise is difficult because my heart rate goes above aerobic range if I’m moving much. That my heart rate should increase MORE if the temperature is above 80F or so is just the sprinkles on this fun sundae.

Oh. I see. Well then. Adjustments may need to be made to my exercise routine.



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Tuesday, 8 August 2023

You might be getting older…

When mopping the kitchen + dining combination room means you really want to lay down for a little while.



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Friday, 28 July 2023

Madame Restell

If you haven’t seen the quotes I posted on tumblr, I’ve just finished reading Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York’s Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright.

My overall impression is that the title could have been Madame Restell: Her Life and Times to make it clear that the narrative includes social history that affected Restell’s choices. For example, the woman who would become Madame Restell grew up the early 1800s in England where not only was premarried sex was common, brides were often pregnant at their weddings, and women were expected to like sex … and there was no modern contraceptives or even antibiotics to cope with an infection after childbirth. Working as a maid, she had to deal with employers assuming she would take care of sexual needs for them. Being widowed with a toddler and no family near? Usually you can support yourself by going out to work, but then you’re leaving the baby. It was a problem often solved by dosing the baby with a sleep tonic containing chloroform or heroin (both legal at the time).

There are reasons that Ann Trow, later Ann Lohman, moved into work with a higher profit ratio that being a maid or seamstress. In her case, she learned from a neighbor about making herbal contraceptives, and eventually, pills to cause miscarriage. She learned to surgically induce abortion using whalebone, aka baleen, and became an accomplished midwife, helping with births.

To be clear: The active ingredients of Madame Restell’s powders and potions were NOT what’s in our modern contraceptives or abortion pills! These were herbs that have been used in contraception and abortion since long BCE and do NOT have much distance between the dose needed for effective miscarriage and the dose needed for death. Not to mention that any kind of surgery before anesthesia and antibiotics was a terrible trial and risk.

One of the most notable things about Madame Restell is that her patients didn’t die. She had repeat business from fervent customers. She also pushed the health and wealth benefits to families and society by limiting the number of children in her advertisements. As the country swung – at least outwardly – more conservative after the Civil War, this raised even more ire that previously.

Jennifer Wright tells the story of Madame Restell’s life with verve and humor, in context of what was going on in New York and America at the time. Wright even found some evidence of what happened after Madame Restell’s reported death – if she actually died.

You may enjoy this podcast interview with the author, or just the links to other sources on Madame Restell. Or both.



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Wednesday, 19 July 2023

Managing workouts

If I lived further south in the US than Seattle, I might not be working out at all today. (Yes, I’m a heat wimp.) But I’m actually in a north-of-Seattle suburb, so I’m wearing Teva sandals over my compression stockings.

Other things I’m using:

  • Treadmill
  • Pulse oximeter
  • Blood pressure cuff with a rolled t-shirt to help position it correctly
  • Portable AC

Not everyone needs these! I just find them helpful to me keeping my pulse in the aerobic range, which is one of my goals.



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Monday, 17 July 2023

Compression stockings

New stockings arrived. Checking my nails are smooth before opening, since putting a nail through these is expensive.

Back of the Juzo Dynamic package

As I’ve written before, I wear compression stockings due to impaired blood flow below a knee causing painful swelling. “Avoiding pain” is a good incentive for me. :) https://living400lbs.com/2019/07/15/hand-laundry-never-ends/



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