#Medical procedures

[teaboot]

seeing the NSFW question and answers you've got happening here

my vulva is really itchy and sore but I haven't had any kind of sex recently or even used any sex toys recently. I haven't changed my washing powder. I haven't douched ever or used soap inside my vulva or used any lotions or scents around my vulva. I last shaved 2 weeks ago with a razor and the same body wash I always use. I don't think it's BV or thrush and its driving me mad. help?

CW DISCUSSION OF REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Shaving public hair can increase your odds of developing bacterial infections, yeast infections, and UTIs, all of which can present as soreness or itchiness. Underwear made of synthetic fabrics can, too. High-sugar diets, hormone fluctuations, thong underwear, dehydration, bath water quality, and some lubes can, too, as well as touching without washing hands thoroughly first. Long nails especially are fantastic at holding onto and transporting bacteria and fungi. Antibiotics can cause these issues, and antibiotics can cure these issues. Medications, too.

Short and simple annoying answer: Could be anything.

I recommend drinking lots of water and cranberry juice and seeing a doctor- if it is BV then using a yeast infection treatment will burn like holy hellfire and you dont want that. Getting a urine test is your best bet.

In the meantime, again, drink lots of water and urinate frequently. Don't wash with soap, but do wash, and do so with clean water. Wear loose clothing when possible made of breathable fabrics like cotton. Change underwear daily.

I'm not a doctor or a medical professional. These are just things I've picked up through work and life. My first recommendation is always to contact a doctor, and if you start producing unusual discharge, experiencing pain during urination, developing sores, welts, or a rash, or end up with swelling or pain in your lower back, DEFINITELY seek medical assistance.

Good luck, bud 👍

#Body health #Germs tw #Infections tw #Medical tw #Medical procedures #Illness cw #Disease cw #Reproductive health

[magnetothemagnificent]

Recovering from major surgery while also being someone with chronic pain is so funny. My pain scale is all out of whack. I'm actually not in that much pain relatively. I was in worse pain earlier this week when I had an IC flare up. I know the pain will probably come and go and could get worse but right now I'm like??? I'm more uncomfortable with the ace bandages than in actual pain.

#trans man #ftm #top surgery #medical procedures #actually disabled #chronic pain

[q-gorgeous]

Perfect Bill of Health

fanfiction

ao3

word count: 2671

Danny's forced trip to the doctor reveals he has several unexplained and suspicious unhealed or badly healed injuries

more phic for phic phight

He was sore. Even just laying in bed hurt. He didn’t know how long it would last for like this. But his alarm was going off and he needed to get ready for school. 

He lifted his arm up and pressed the button to turn his alarm off. He laid his arm across his face and groaned. Time to get up. 

Danny rolled onto his side and shakily pushed himself up. Once up, he sat on his bed for a few moments out of breath. It took too long to pass and he sighed. A knock sounded at the door and he jumped.

“Danny, sweetie, are you waking up?” His mom called. 

The sound of a saw. A bright light above him. His missing kidney being passed from one person to the other. 

He shook his head and took a deep breath.

“Yeah, Mom! I’m awake!” He said shakily.

“Okay. Make sure to get some breakfast on the way out. I made eggs and bacon with waffles today.”

“Okay, I’ll eat some.” He called back. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to stomach it.

He listened to the sound of her walking away from the door and waited until he couldn’t hear her steps anymore. 

Time to start the day.

He slowly stood up and grabbed a change of clothes and headed across the hallway to the bathroom. He started up the water and waited for it to get warm while he brushed his teeth. He turned the water off and stared into the mirror for a few moments as the water ran in the shower behind him. 

He started peeling off his hoodie, trying to avoid looking at the scar on his chest that trailed up over his collarbones. He turned around and dropped the hoodie on the floor and finished undressing before he stepped into the shower. 

Once he was done, he got dressed and pulled on a new hoodie. Dropping his old clothes off in his room, he grabbed his backpack and headed downstairs. 

His mom turned and looked up at him when he entered the kitchen.

“Danny, it’s awfully warm today. Are you sure you want to wear a hoodie?” Maddie asked as she set a plate down in front of him. 

“It’s colder inside the school.” Danny poked at the food on his plate. “I’ll be fine.” 

“Are you sure-”

“Danny-boy!” Jack walked into the living and slapped a hand on Danny’s back. “Be sure to save some waffles for the rest of us!”

“Jack!” Maddie shooed him to his own seat as Danny gasped for the air that was knocked out of him. “You know Danny’s been sore and out of breath lately.”

Jack knocked himself in the head. “Drat! That’s right. Sorry, Danny.”

“Speaking of that.” Maddie took her spot next to Jack. “You have a doctor’s appointment after school today, Danny.”

Danny spit out the small bite of eggs he finally put in his mouth. “A doctor’s appointment?”

Maddie nodded. “You’re overdue for a regular checkup and with all these other concerning symptoms you’ve been having, I think it’s time you go in for one.”

“But after school I-”

“Nope.” Maddie shook her head. “You have no extracurriculars and whatever you might have planned with Sam and Tucker can wait until after you go to your doctor’s appointment.”

“But-”

“No buts. I’ll be picking you up after school today and we’ll be heading straight there.”

Danny slumped forward in his seat and twirled his fork around on his plate. 

Maddie sighed. “Look, I know going to the doctor can be scary. Especially when something is wrong but you don’t know what. Going to the doctor when symptoms first appear instead of waiting will prevent any issues from getting worse.”

Danny nodded. “I understand.”

They finished eating the rest of their breakfast. Danny still had a bit on his plate, but he pushed it away from him and stood up.

“Have a good day at school, Danny.” Maddie came around the table and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Danny tried not to cringe and stooped down to pick up his backpack and head to school.

~~~~~~~~~~

Danny stared at where his mom’s car was parked in the parking lot.

“You sure you’ll be okay?”

He turned to look at Sam and Tucker as they walked up to him. 

“Yeah, Sam. I think I’ll be okay. It’ll just be a regular check up, right? What can they all do at one of those?”

“Just give us a call when you’re done.” Sam said.

“Or if you need us to break you out of there.” Tucker gently nudged him. “We’ll bust down every door to get you out.”

Danny chuckled. “I’m sure I’ll be fine, Tuck. But I will let you guys know how it went afterwards.” 

He walked away from them and made his way to his mom’s car. 

He pulled the door open and threw his bag onto the floor and jumped into the passenger seat.

“Hi, Danny!” His mom smiled at him as he shut the door and put his seatbelt on. “How was school?”

He shrugged as she pulled out of the parking lot. “It was fine. It was school. Didn’t do much of anything interesting today.”

“Aw. That’s too bad.” Maddie said. 

They drove his silence until they pulled into the parking lot of the hospital.

“The hospital?” Danny asked. “Why didn’t we go to our usual doctor’s office?”

“Because here they can perform any kind of tests they might deem necessary. If they don’t think you need anything else done, they will. If they don’t they’ll just do the regular check up and then send us home.”

She turned the car off and got out. Danny sat there for a few moments staring at the building before he finally opened his door and stood up. He followed his mom across the parking lot and into the building. Right inside the entrance was a reception desk and his mom walked up to an empty booth and smiled at the receptionist. 

“Hi! We’re here for an appointment for Danny Fenton?”

The receptionist shuffled around a couple papers and clipped them into a clipboard with a pen.

“You can take a seat and fill out these forms while you wait for the nurse. They’ll be out shortly.”

They walked over to the waiting area and took a seat in two chairs. 

They went through the checklist and filled out every symptom Danny could remember having in the last six months and his family’s medical history. They were at the bottom of the sheet when a nurse walked through the door leading to the examination rooms.

“Danny Fenton?”

Maddie stood up and Danny’s heart rate spiked.

“Haha, you don’t have to come with me, mom. I’m old enough to go to my own doctor’s appointments on my own now.”

Maddie frowned at him. “Are you sure? I can come in and advocate for you. Make sure they’re taking you seriously.”

“No no, it’s fine. I’ll be okay.”

He stood up with the clipboard and walked over to the nurse.

“I’m Danny.”

“Hi, Danny.” The nurse smiled at him. “If you follow me, we’ll start by taking your height and weight. Once we get to the examination room we’ll go through checking your vitals.” 

They walked up to a scale and Danny took off his shoes.

“120 pounds.” The nurse said.

She unfolded the height thing and pulled it down to the top of his head. 

“Five foot five. Follow me.” 

He followed behind her down the hallway. He studied the walls as they walked by another desk. She stopped and opened a door to their right. 

“In here. You can take a seat on the bed over there.”

He sat down and took another look around the room. It looked like any other normal doctor’s room he’s been in before. 

“We’re going to start with your temperature.” 

She stuck a thermometer in his ear and took it out when it beeped. She frowned at it. “Ninety four degrees.” 

She stuck another thing in his ear and moved to his other side. When she was done, she grabbed the blood pressure device. He held up his arm and she wrapped it around it and started pumping it. It squeezed Danny’s arm as she studied the measurement. She pulled it off.

“Blood pressure is low.”

A knock sounded at the door and a doctor walked in.

“Hi, Susan. I can take it from here.” She said. 

Susan walked out of the room and the doctor sat down in the swivel chair next to the bed.

“I’m Dr. Burnell. Your mom said you came in with concerns about shortness of breath today?”

“You talked to my mom?” He asked.

She nodded. “I just went to ask her a few questions and to get permission to run tests.”

“Don’t you need my permission too?” Danny frowned at her. 

“Unfortunately, your mom has the legal say on any medical treatment you go through. But any tests we run are for your benefit so we can get to the root of the issue. But before we get to any of that, I’m going to ask you to take a couple deep breaths while I listen through the stethoscope.”

“Okay…”

She stood up and walked over to him. She placed the stethoscope on his back and listened as he took a deep breath. She frowned.

“Can you take another breath?”

He did as she asked and she stepped away. 

“Have you had any injuries lately? Been hurt in any sports at school?”

His bones cracking as his chest was ripped open. The pain as it radiated outward. Voices talking around him. 

“No.” He said shakily. “No injuries. I don’t play any sports at school.”

Her frown deepened. “I’d like to do an x-ray of your chest. It sounds like you may have a couple broken ribs. That could explain your soreness but not your shortness of breath. For that I’d like to do an MRI.”

“Broken ribs?” Danny asked. He would have thought those would have healed by now.

Dr. Burnell nodded. “When a patient has broken ribs, you can hear them rattling through the stethoscope. There’s not much we can do for those besides prescribe bed rest and pain meds while you’re healing.”

He nodded. “Okay.” 

“If you come with me, we can get started.”

~~~~~~~~~

Danny was led back to his examination room once the tests were over. They were much more painless than he was expecting, but he still didn’t know what his body would look like in them. If his ghostly qualities would appear in them. 

He’d been sitting in this room for quite a while now and he wasn’t sure when the doctor would be coming back. 

A knock finally sounded at the door and Danny jumped in his seat. “Come in.” He called.

Dr. Burnell walked in, staring at some sheets in her hands. She looked frazzled and concerned. 

“We have your scans back Danny, but we haven’t gone to talk to your mom yet. We wanted to check in with you first.” 

Danny frowned at her. What could they have found that she’d be this concerned about? Especially if they still haven’t gone to get his mom to tell them the news together?

“You do indeed have a couple broken ribs. When we did the MRI we did find out that the broken ribs are pushing against your lungs causing your shortness of breath.”

Danny nodded. Was that all they were concerned about?

“But we found something else.”

She handed him his x-ray. His heart dropped into his stomach at the color he saw in the scan that he knew wasn’t supposed to be there.

A green orb sat in the center of his chest.

“And your MRI.”

She handed him another scan and this one had specks of green littered throughout his body. 

The doctor stared at Danny.

“What did your parents do to you?”

Danny pulled back suddenly. “What do you mean what did my parents do to me?“ he asked shakily. 

“We have no other evidence of this type of ecto-contamination in any other patients in Amity Park.” Dr. Burnell said. “We see cases of child abuse often in the hospital. It’s something we have to ask.”

“My parents would never hurt me.” Danny said shakily as he stood up from his seat. 

“We’ve already contacted CPS. They’re going to come and ask you and your mom some questions.”

Danny started hyperventilating. They were going to tell his mom about his injuries and ecto-contamination. They were going to tell her about his core. How would he explain this away? If he was just ecto-contaminated he could get away with that, but not having a core. 

“I- I have to go.” Danny turned towards the door and tripped over his own feet. He hit the ground hard and his chest exploded in pain and stars burst in his eyes.

“Danny!” Dr. Burnell shouted. He could hear her running over and kneeling on the ground beside him. She turned him to his back. Then there was a light shining in his eyes.

White light. The pain. His parents. 

“Get away from me!” Danny shouted. 

His ghostly wail must’ve pushed its way into his shout through his anxiety because the windows on the wall opposite from them shattered. Dr. Burnell covered her face and Danny pulled himself away from her, backing up across the floor. 

“What was that?” Dr. Burnell asked. 

Danny shook his head. “My mom didn’t do anything.”

“Okay.” She whispered. “Okay. She didn’t do anything. But we still don’t know what that is inside your chest. It might be a tumor. We need to-”

He covered his chest with his hands. “No!” 

His core in their hands. Bright lights. Even brighter light. It fell back in his chest and his parents were covering their eyes. His chance.

“You can’t have it!” 

“What is it?”

Danny stared at her. He couldn’t tell some random person his secret. There was no way. 

But this was a doctor. If his mom kept forcing him to go to doctors appointment after doctor's appointment, he’d keep having the same problem. The doctor’s discovering something they shouldn’t have that could only really be worked back to his parents. 

Was there anything else he could do?

“It’s… It’s my core. I’m half ghost.”

“Half ghost?” Dr. Burnell asked. “That doesn’t sound real.”

Danny nodded. “It is. But you can’t tell my parents. CPS can’t talk to them.” 

She gave him some placating hand gestures. “Okay, okay. They’re on their way right now. How do we stop them?”

Danny turned intangible and invisible and called on his transformation. He flew his way towards the waiting room and got there just as someone walked up to his mom. 

“Madeline Fenton-”

He flew into their body, overshadowing him. 

“Yes?” Maddie asked. 

“Oh, nothing much. We just wanted to check and say hi. Danny will be out shortly.”

“Oh! Okay. Should I start checking out?”

He nodded. “You guys will be all set to go.”

She stood up and headed towards the reception desk. Danny turned and walked through the door leading to the hallway and walked the agent around a couple turns and corners before flying out of him. 

Danny transformed back and was about to walk back out through the door when he saw Dr. Burnell. 

She had a stoney expression on her face. He was sure she didn’t believe him. He wouldn’t believe him either. But there was no other option. Not one that disrupted his entire life and flipped everything on its side. He was already different. He didn’t want anything else to change.

He walked back out through the door, ignoring Dr. Burnells gaze. 

“How did everything turn out Danny?” Maddie asked him as they walked out through the front entrance. 

Bright light. Saw. Nicked his core. Screams. Escape. 

“It’s alright.” Danny lied. “Perfect bill of health.”

#gorgi writes #danny phantom #danny fenton #maddie fenton #dissection mention #medical procedures #medical examination #phic phight 2024 #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #phic

[tangledinink]

"This was supposed to be easy. A simple re-introduction to crime-fighting after taking so much time off to heal after the invasion. Dipping his toes back into the water, so to speak. Maybe it was because it was easy that he let this happen."

my beta @livsinpjs and i are playing a game where they choose a bad things happen bingo prompt and then i write a thing for them. i'm having a lovely time. guess which prompt this one was? anyway, read on ao3 or below the cut! :3c

This was supposed to be easy.

Baby’s First Mission, so to speak. Or perhaps, more accurately, Baby’s First Mission, Take Two: Electric Boogaloo, because it was certainly not the first time Leo had debuted his mad skillz on the mean lean streets of NYC, thank you very much. It was, however, the first time in… a while.

Assuming Leo had his math right, it had been about four and a half months. Four and a half months since he had participated in any degree of crime fighting.

It took him four and a half months to recover enough from the invasion for his family to even consider letting him participate in the simplest of ninja tasks. And, okay, fine. It was… kind of understandable. Leo wasn’t a total idiot. He could recognize that he had been pretty fucked up. Like, for real fucked up. Not that everyone else wasn’t, he had just…

He had just had a bit more ground to cover. After the Prison Dimension, and stuff. That was all. 

Nothing he couldn’t handle. No big.

… Because he had! He had covered that ground! It was all covered now, totally out of sight and out of mind, and honestly, he was basically bounced back, good as new, as if the whole thing had never happened! Yes, okay, he did have some… lingering scars and aches and such, but so did everyone else! And they were super-soldier mutants, after all. They healed fast. All the broken limbs, the torn muscles, the lacerations and the cracks and the internal injuries-- they were all good now. He had a clean bill of health! Sure, he had given the clean bill of health to himself, but he hadn’t cut any corners or given himself any breaks.

He wouldn’t do that to his family.

He knew it had been… hard. Usually, he was the one who took care of any injuries or boo-boos, and things had admittedly been kind of touch-and-go there for a minute before he had recovered back enough to offer any of his (self-taught…) expertise, with his family struggling to fill in the gaps he left behind. But things were okay now. He had been good and patient and tolerant about being trapped in the Lair, bored out of his mind, for four and a half months. 

He was ready to be back out here.

And it was just a patrol!

“Things have been, like, stupid quiet today,” Leo muttered softly to himself as he wandered along the rooftops, balancing on the edge, his arms held out to keep himself steady. “What’s the deal?”

“Isn’t a lack of crime considered, you know, a good thing?” Donnie questioned, looking up from his tech gauntlet to raise a brow at his twin. Leo scoffed softly, rolling his eyes.

“I’m not saying it’s bad! I’m just making an observation!”

“Things have been a little calmer ever since the invasion,” Raph observed, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I guess even the criminals are still spooked,” Mikey chirped.

“Boring,” Leo muttered under his breath.

“I heard that,” Donnie said, and Leo shot him a mischievous grin.

“Oh, please, as if you’re not dying to go beat up some bad guys, too!” He flashed back, hopping down from his makeshift balance beam to fall into step with his brothers, looping an arm around his twin, who groaned in irritation. “We’re ninjas! We need things to ninja! It’s the natural order of things, Dee! We need, like… enrichment! For our enclosures!”

“Leo, get off of--”

Donnie’s gauntlet began to chirp brightly, and Leo gasped, reaching over.

“Ooh! Is that a bad guy code!? Is that one of your crime alert things!? What does it say!?”

“Well, get off of me so I can read it!” Donnie snapped in response, growling softly as he kicked his brother away. Leo whined but allowed himself to be shoved, stumbling and spinning dramatically as he went. Mikey caught him with a giggle and Leo slumped into him, draping an arm over his head.

“By my own brother…!”

“Shut up,” Donnie muttered. “A convenience store three blocks from here was robbed. Four suspects fleeing north. And by the way, that would be code six-seven-five-point--”

“A robbery?! Perfect! We could handle that in our sleep! And they’re even running towards us! Isn’t that a fun change of pace?” Leo cried, grinning big as he rose back up to his full height, unsheathing his katanas with a satisfying shwing . God, it felt so good to do that again. “What do you say, hermanos? ”

Three grins echoed his own-- even Donnie.

“That’s what I like to see,” Leo sang. “C’mon, let’s go ruin some bad guys’ day!”

---

Maybe Leo was a little rusty, but he wasn’t wrong, either. 

They could handle these shmucks in their sleep.

Maybe that had been the problem.

Things had been going well, quite frankly. Really well! Leo still wasn’t sure where he miscalculated-- where he had missed. The game plan had been solid! They were all totally in sync and completely in control. Everything went just the way it should. They got the jump on the suspects, and when two had fled left and the other two right, Leo had sent Mikey and Raph in one direction, and he and Donnie had gone in the other. And they weren’t even far from each other-- he could still hear Raph and Mikey yelling from here, just around the corner, having easily cornered their part of the group and making quick work of them. And he and Donnie had been doing the same. It wasn’t even hard. I mean, come on. They had defeated the Kraang. What were these guys to him?

That one guy had just barely gotten a hit on him. Just barely.

It was just bad luck, really. He had jumped out of the disarmed robber’s clumsy attempt at an attack, leaping up onto a nearby dumpster and then flipping over, back behind him. And he didn’t get hurt, per se, he just--

He just landed on his bad leg. That was all. And his knee kind of… didn’t appreciate it, was the thing. And so he stumbled. Just a tiny bit. Just ever-so-slightly.

Just long enough for that stupid asshole to whip around and slug him, sending him reeling backward.

“Leo!” Donnie hissed in alarm, his eyes widening as Leo fell back, stumbling slightly. With a quick sweep of his bo staff, he had thrown the other criminal to the ground, promptly abandoning the fight in order to instead rush to Leo’s side. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine! Takes more than that to knock me out,” Leo scoffed, waving off his concerns quickly. “What are you over here fussing at me for? We still got two dudes to take down! Mikey and Raph are gonna win and embarrass us!”

“Maybe we should re-evaluate--”

“Dee, chill. It was one punch. I’m not even bleeding,” Leo snapped, just barely sparing Donnie a glance before he was re-focused on the task at hand-- at the two goons who they had now allowed the space to regroup and begin a hasty retreat.

“But you’re hurt--”

“Come on! They’re gonna get away!” Leo hissed, brushing past Donnie so that he could give chase. He grit his teeth as the pair darted back around the corner of the alley, picking up his pace to pursue and re-adjusting his grip on his katanas.

“Wait--!”

“Dude, I’ve got it, chill,” Leo snapped, bristling the tiniest bit from irritation. Look, sure, he knew he had gotten fucked up and that it was scary, but he was better now! They didn’t have to keep acting like he was some fragile doll-- why couldn’t they understand that and just trust him--!?

“Leo--!” Out of the very corners of his eyes, he saw his twin brother surge forward, a hand clamping onto his shoulder and attempting to yank him back behind him. Leo cursed, stumbling slightly, pulling back in resistance and turning slightly to glare.

“Dee, stop it, I’m--”

His words died in his mouth as an explosive bang cut through them both, echoing through the alley, dramatic and demanding-- insisting it be heard. Leo flinched back at the assault to his senses. He could feel the noise bouncing through his head. His ears were ringing. It was so loud. His vision blurred for a second as his balance wobbled.

He thought blearily for a second, what the hell was that?

And then he thought, that was really loud.

And then he felt Donnie’s grip on his shoulder falter and loosen.

And it fell away.

---

Maybe it was because it was easy that he let this happen.

Maybe it was because it was ‘no big deal’ that he had disarmed the suspect and left it at that, and hadn’t thought to check or wonder if that was his only weapon.

---

A second ago, it had been so loud, and now all of a sudden, it was so quiet, and it took a second for Leo to force his body to move enough so that he could wrench his head up enough to look over at his brother.

“Oh my god--”

Donnie kind of seemed like he was trying to respond, but he didn’t quite manage it. He curled a bit further in on himself, struggling to keep himself up on his knees rather than falling over entirely. And the next sound Leo heard was the splash of liquid dripping down onto asphalt.

---

Everything was moving kind of fast. 

Which was probably good. Because Donnie was bleeding a lot. 

He had started screaming for Raph and Mikey, he remembered, sort of vaguely, though it felt like a long time ago now. And he was sure that they heard him, and he was sure they were coming, but after about five seconds of watching Donnie bleed like that, making these fucking horrible noises in the back of his throat like breathing was suddenly hurting him, Leo decided he couldn’t wait. 

Mikey and Raph would catch up. 

Donnie needed first aid right now.

The Turtle Tank was close. He could get them there. He was out of practice and panicking, but he knew he could teleport them there, at least, and they had supplies there, and Mikey and Raph could come and help, and it would be okay--

It would be fine.

Donnie would be fine.

It would be fine if he could just get them there. Just to the Turtle Tank. It was close. He just had to get Donnie to the Tank, and he’d be okay.

“Hang on. Hang on, don’t move. Just-- don’t move--” He bit out, his voice frantic as he kneeled down next to the other, grabbing onto them. He was embarrassed to admit that it took him a few tries, but all he could see in his mind when he tried to focus his energy was the blood and how fucking awful the wound looked, oh my god--

But he got them there. They jolted slightly on arrival, and Leo winced, listening to this short groan be pulled from Donnie’s chest as his knees finally buckled fully beneath him.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. It’s okay. Just-- it’s fine. You’re okay--” Leo kept biting out as he held onto his twin, easing him down onto his back on the floor of the tank, and he wasn’t really sure who he was trying to reassure. And up until now, Leo had been panicking, but he hadn’t been crying.  

Now he was looking at his brother, his shoulder torn open like it was fucking raw, chewed-up meat, trembling on the cold metal floor and wheezing painfully. And he hiccuped, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Oh, fuck--”

Because it kind of sunk in for the first time that Donnie did this on purpose.

“Why-- why did you do that?” He hissed weakly, his voice trembling as he rushed to grab the first aid kit. “What is wrong with you?!”

Donnie gave this very weak, strangled sort of noise, which sounded like it was trying to be laughter, but was shaking and wet.

“This is why you always lose at team FPS games,” he mumbled, his speech slurred slightly, lips ever-so-slightly turning up into this pained little half-grin. Leo swallowed at the sight of it, forcing his eyes away, hurriedly yanking supplies from their first-aid kit and ripping open packs of gauze.

“What-- what the fuck are you even talking about? Just-- stay still, I, I have to apply pressure and it’s gonna suck, just, try not to move--”

“Gotta protect your healer, dum-dum,” Donnie muttered, agreeably going limp beneath Leo’s hands, his head lolling back against the metal of the tank with a soft thud as his eyes fluttered shut. “Tha’s… basics. N-now-- hurry up and-- and fix me.”

Leo sobbed.

“I hate you. I fucking hate you,” he whispered in a shaky little mantra, tripping over his own words over and over as he shoved bandages up against the honest to god hole in Donnie’s shoulder, blood bubbling up like a fucking drinking fountain, just below his throat and just barely to the right of the metal strap of his battle shell because of course it was, of fucking course it was. The bullet was most likely literally lodged inside his fucking battle shell right now, but a lot of good the stupid shell did if the bullet went through his brother to get there--

His clavicle is probably shattered, he thought to himself, and he swallowed hard-- but he didn’t allow himself to hesitate. Even if he didn’t wanna do this.

Donnie couldn’t afford to lose much more blood, and he couldn’t afford to lose any time to Leo hesitating over putting him in more pain.

Leo braced both palms over the wound, internally said a preemptive apology, and shifted his entire weight forward onto his hands, leaning hard into his brother. 

Donatello’s eyes flashed back open. 

Somehow, his strength seemed to renew itself, which would be comforting if it wasn’t all being wasted in his body instinctively fighting back against the pain, jerking sharply beneath Leo’s touch. A choked howl wrenched its way from Donnie’s throat as he writhed against him, all his limbs flailing for just a second and his muscles twitching before he could gather himself enough to try and wrest control of his body again, attempting desperately to follow directions.

“I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Dee. I have to,” Leo hissed through clenched teeth, hiccuping softly, shifting slightly so he could pin his brother down properly-- holding him forcibly in place by his injured shoulder. Luckily, the fight didn’t last long, and soon Donatello had settled back down again, only trembling and twitching beneath him. Leo tried to find it in himself to be grateful, but honestly, the stillness was somehow even worse. “I’m sorry--”

“This does suck,” Donnie wheezed out weakly, gritting his teeth, and Leo forced this watery little chuckle in reply.

“I told you,” he bit out, sniffling a little. He knew that he was dripping tears down onto his brother with how he was hunched over him, and he knew that under normal circumstances Donnie would think that that was fucking disgusting. But he couldn’t free up any hands or move right now to wipe them away, and honestly, Donnie probably had bigger things to worry about at the moment. “Oh my god. I hate you. I f-fucking hate you. Why did you do this…?”

“Payback,” Donnie slurred, and Leo decided right then and there that that was going to haunt him for at least the next ten years of his life.

“I’m sorry--”

“Don’t--” Donnie had more to say, Leo could tell, but his words kept dying in his throat like he was forgetting what he was gonna say halfway through. 

Or like he was giving up.

“Hey. Don’t go to sleep,” Leo hissed, increasing the pressure ever so slightly and jostling him, his brother wincing and wriggling in response. “You gotta stay up. Okay? It’s gonna be fine. You’re okay. It’s-- it’s just your shoulder. No big deal! The technodrome was way worse than this, this is like-- like a papercut! You’re gonna be fine,” he insisted, though he could hear how his own voice wobbled. “Come on. Just stay awake with me, okay?”

Donnie moaned softly in response, forcing one eye open again.

Leo swallowed hard, squeezing his own eyes shut for a moment to try to force himself to refocus. 

He couldn’t just sit here and apply pressure. He had to-- he had to get him back to the Lair. To the Medbay, so he could actually treat him properly. He racked his brain, trying to calculate how many blood bags they had in storage. They had learned their lesson after the Invasion, and they kept blood bags, because they were stupid fucked up mutants and they couldn’t get blood from anyone except for each other, but blood only kept for so long! And even if they did still have some, they were all stored cold. They were all in the fridge in the MedBay. He couldn’t use cold blood. And they wouldn’t have time to warm anything up. Donnie would be dead by the time it was usable. 

So he was gonna need Mikey. Mikey had the matching blood type. Mikey had universal blood, and none of the rest of them matched. And Donnie was losing so much blood still. All the gauze was soaking through. Fuck. Had they hit an artery or something? For a moment he brain racked frantically through all the major arteries and their locations, trying to name and place them, before he snapped out of it, giving a sharp shake of his head. Focus! Blood. Mikey. Mikey and Raph-- we need them.

“Hey. Hey, Don, I need you-- I need you to lift your left arm for me a tiny bit, okay?” Donnie stiffened slightly and whined. “I know. I know, I just-- I need to call Mikey and Raph and tell them where we’re at, okay? C’mon. Just for a minute, I swear--”

And Donnie made this fucking horrible noise as he did it, but he was a goddamn champion and a trooper and he did it anyway, and Leo dared to remove one of his hands from the wound just long enough so that he could smack at the screen of Donnie’s gauntlet. He smeared blood across the glass, pushing away all the notifications and alerts that were flooding the space. It had been beeping like crazy for a while now, Leo belatedly realized, and while he was sure a lot of this was due to Donnie being literally shot, he would also not be surprised if Mikey and Raph had tried to call them about eighty times now.

He managed to place a call back.

Raph picked up instantly.

“LEO! Where are you!? Are you hurt!? What happened--”

“We’re in the tank!” He hissed, fighting to keep his voice from breaking. “It’s-- w-we’re okay, but I, I need you to get back here ‘cause we-- we gotta go home, like-- like, right now--”

---

Once his brothers were there, he could make them hold the gauze in place. He could wrap the wound enough so that he could maybe feel halfway okay with moving Donnie. And he could take the five seconds he needed to recenter himself and make a portal back home.

And that was all good. But it was also when things started to get really fucking scary.

Because even though he knew that Raph was holding him so, so fucking carefully, just the movement of jumping through the portal and into the Medbay back in the Lair tore this horrendous fucking scream from Donnie, his entire body jerking and locking up slightly as he curled up against Raph, and then he had absolutely sobbed and Leo’s heart went up into his throat because Donnie wasn’t a crier. Donnie cried, sure, but rarely. And he certainly didn’t cry from pain. 

He might be a nerd and a drama queen, but he was way tougher than he let on. Combat may not always be the main focus in his world, but he was perfectly capable of going toe-to-toe with the rest of them without breaking a sweat-- sometimes even outpacing them-- and he wasn’t afraid of pain.

Donnie was perfectly capable of growing overwhelmed and emotional and being brought to tears. Of course he was. He was a person. Leo had seen him cry plenty of times before, even if it was a rarely-observed phenomenon.

But he didn’t cry from pain.

Which meant that right now, Donnie was clinging to Raph and fucking weeping not because he was in pain, but because he was scared. And that was what scared Leo.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, we made it. Everything’s gonna be fine now, hermano, I swear. We’ve got you,” he hissed, rushing to begin throwing open cabinets, yanking supplies out of drawers and storage bins. Blood. We gotta deal with the blood loss first, and then everything else. He’s gonna bleed out if we don’t-- “Raph, put-- put him down on the bed, and Mikey, you run-- No. No, wait, Mikey, don’t go anywhere. Raph, you go get Dad. Mikey, you-- you and Raph gotta switch off, you gotta keep the pressure on the wound--” he hissed out frantic instructions, his mind tripping over itself in his haste.

He was dimly aware that Raph and Mikey were in tears, too, but his had stopped a while ago now. He had had his turn, and he needed to focus right now. He didn’t have time to cry anymore.

By the time he had what he needed, which had only taken seconds, Raph was already gone and Mikey had taken his place, holding Donnie down to the cot by his shoulder and sobbing weakly.

“It’s okay, we’re home now. Everything is gonna be fine, Dee…!” He kept saying in between little sniffles and hiccups. “We’re home, it’s okay…!”

“Good job, Miguelito. Uhm, here. Can you-- I need you to twist your elbow a little, okay?” He instructed, a bit haltingly, tossing the required supplies down on top of Donnie as he tried to navigate between them, ducking past Mikey’s arms. “Okay-- yeah, yeah, good. Alright. Uhm. Dee-- Dee needs some blood, okay? So I’m gonna-- Mikey, more pressure than that--!”

“It’s-- it’s hurting him--

“Do it anyway. Yeah, okay, Yes. Like that. Okay, good. Uhm. I’m just-- I’m gonna poke you real quick so he can have some of yours, so I just-- I need you to stay still for me so I can find a vein. Okay?”

Mikey just sobbed in reply, nodding fervently. 

It took Leo about four tries to find a vein in Mikey’s arm, and then three tries to find one on Donnie, and he cursed himself and apologized about eighty times, swearing that he would practice more later and get good enough so he could get the vein on the first time, every single time, no matter what.

(Goddammit, why did Mikey have to be the universal donor? Why couldn’t it have been Raph? Or him? Mikey was so small. He kept missing the veins because his hands were shaking so badly. He had never done a direct transfusion before. It would be so easy to take too much. If he didn’t pay close enough attention he could end up killing Mikey with this so easily--)

“Purple!”

Leo’s head jerked up slightly, his eyes wide. He hadn’t even heard Dad and Raph coming back until they were here. Their dad absolutely flew to Donnie’s side, all but jumping on him, finding his hand to grab, his other hand resting on his child’s cheek. “Oh-- oh, Purple. It’s okay. It is okay, my son, we are here. Your family is right here. You’re going to be okay--!”

“Dad--” Donnie whimpered, and his voice sounded so small and weak and un-Donnie-like that oh, actually, okay. He had thought he had worked past the tears.

But he had not. They were back now. And Leo sobbed, his knees nearly going out from under him, because oh my god.

Jesus christ.

Donnie was shot. Donnie got shot and he was bleeding out right now in front of him, and it should have been him.

He should have been paying attention and being more careful and now Donnie had been fucking shot and it should have been him--

“Blue.”

Leo choked on another sob, his head just barely lifting up to meet his father’s eyes. And his voice was so gentle and careful, but so firm as he grabbed him by the back of the neck and yanked him back out from under the water where he had been drowning a second ago. 

“It’s going to be okay,” their dad said. “Just tell us what you need us to do.”

Right. Right.

Leo swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut.

He was the healer.

And he had to fix Donnie.

He could do this. 

“I--” His voice shook, so he stopped and sniffled and started again, hurriedly wiping at his face. “H-he’s, he’s s-still bleeding, really bad, and I-- I think it h-hit an artery or something so I. I gotta g-go in and, and put in a clamp, or, or do a repair, or s-something, so I--”

He took in a long, deep breath, his entire body trembling.

“So I need Mikey to sit down and stick close. And I need someone to get him food and water ‘cause he’s Donnie’s lifeline right now so he can’t pass out. And I need Donnie’s battle shell off-- carefully. And I need to grab the drugs to put him under and I-- I need to scrub in.”

---

Leo had never intended to be the medic of the team. It was never a goal of his or anything-- it’s not like one day he sat down and said, ‘oh, you know what would be super fun? Being responsible for the health and safety of all my family members in times of crisis!’ 

‘Cause, uh, no. No, thank you.

It had just… it had just sort of happened.  

He had just fallen into it at some point. Whenever something went wrong or something got hurt, if Dad wasn’t around to immediately pick them up and patch them up, then somehow, it would fall to Leo to take over until Dad got there-- because Donnie was squeamish with blood and Mikey got distracted, and Raph would get so focused on trying to get whichever brother was crying to calm down that he’d kind of forget about the whole first aid bit. 

So Leo would do it. If Dad wasn’t there right away, then Leo figured could get out the bandaids and the neosporin and get the scraped elbow or bloody knee all fixed up. And then when he did, once dad did get there, he would always smile and pat his head and say, ‘good job, Blue.’ And every single time, Leo would just beam at the praise, all filled up with excited and warm and fuzzy and proud.

So he took it upon himself to always jump in and help whenever anyone got hurt-- not just when Dad wasn’t around. And eventually, he learned how to do more stuff. When Mikey sprained his ankle skateboarding, he got Donnie to help him look it up on the computer so he could help treat him. And when Raph tore out one of his claws, he scoured WebMD and VCA articles alike to figure out how he could best help. And then, slowly but surely, he fell down more and more rabbit holes. He’d look up the symptoms of concussions when Donnie fell and bumped his head, and then he’d just end up opening up every related and suggested article. Internal bleeding, TBIs, nerve damage, spinal cord injuries… 

He devoured medical textbooks. He watched videos of surgeries on YouTube. He studied recorded lectures from college classes online. The more he learned, the more he found it to be genuinely interesting. So he learned more. 

And the more he learned, the more often he could say, “I know how to take care of that,” when someone was injured. And the more often he said that the more people would come to him when they were injured and ask for his help.

And he liked that.

Every time he was able to help, he’d still get that warm fuzzy feeling. Because this was something he could do. This was how he could help his family. And god, that fucking meant something to him.

And by now, he was… he was pretty good at it. Or, at least, he thought he was. He was pretty sure he was…! But he was still just… 

Leo. 

He was still just some dumb teenage kid, barely seventeen, who grew up in the sewer and had literally no formal education or training.

He was a decent medic, sure.

But a surgeon he was not.

He had watched surgeries. He had studied them. He understood the concept and what he had to do and how it had to be done. But he had never really done it before. 

About five different times, he thought, oh my fucking god, what am I doing? I’m going kill him--

And then five different times, he thought, what other choice is there? If you don’t try, you’ll still kill him.

So he washed the ever-loving shit out of his hands. He got things as sterile as he possibly could in the MedBay. He drew up the required drugs, all acquired through illicit means by the brother they were now being used on and pushed them through the IV line he had set up. (‘Nighty-night, motherfucker,’ he had said to Donnie, and they had kind of weakly, shakily laughed in response.) He got every tool and drug and contingency that he could possibly think of and he made sure it was all within arm’s reach.

And then he had opened his twin brother up.

And suddenly the MedBay was his OR. And he was the trauma surgeon. And he was also the anesthesiologist. He was the nurse and the assistant, too, and the doctor for his youngest brother at the same time, who was now also actively bleeding out alongside Donnie for his sake, desperately attempting to use what he had to keep two bodies alive instead of just one. And Raph and Dad were there to help, but there was only so much they could do. Dad was pretty knowledgeable, but only to an extent! And he was so fucking glad they were there, thank god they were all there, but it was still…

He was the medic. It was on him.

He worked for almost an hour before he had to call it. He actually tried to call it two times before that, worried about how much blood Mikey was losing, afraid to keep going. But every time he did, Mikey set his expression and shook his head and asked, “Is he okay yet?”

And Leo would hesitate just long enough that Mikey would narrow his eyes and say, “Keep going until you’re sure. I’m still okay. I can keep going.”

At some point, Raph’s sole responsibility to the operation was just to watch Mikey and nothing else. To sit with him and monitor his heart rate, to talk with him and make sure he was breathing okay, that he was still able to move, to speak clearly, to follow a conversation. 

But eventually, he had to call it. 

He just had to trust that he had done enough. To just pray that things might be okay. That he had done a decent enough job for Donnie to live. His collarbone was still totally fucked , but at least the artery was patched, and that was the most important thing-- or at least, he thought it was patched. He hoped it was. But he couldn’t go any longer. He couldn’t take anything else from Mikey or else they were gonna have two unconscious brothers.

He wasn’t a surgeon. 

He just did the best that he possibly could.

The entire time he worked, he was laser-focused, desperately willing himself to keep his eyes on the task at hand. But in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but think about the invasion. 

And he kept thinking about what a horrific state they had all been in after the invasion. And he thought about how he still couldn’t remember… the first, like… five days after Staten Island. And he didn’t really even know what they did. Or how they managed.

He had come home in fucking pieces. They all had. Mikey’s burnt skin had been fucking sloughing off his arms. He remembered realizing that Donnie was leaving bloody footprints behind him when he walked for how much blood he was losing, dripping down his legs. Half of Raph’s face had been an open wound, and he swore he could still see it when he closed his eyes, through all the bits and pieces, in between all the massive gaps in his memories.

And he just kept thinking about them all dealing with this same situation, but a million times worse. And he hadn’t helped.

He got Donnie all stitched up. He got Mikey laid up in a second bed and gave him some of his own blood from, like, a month ago because they did still have a blood bag in cold storage that they had been able to warm, and then finally allowed him to pass the fuck out after shoving, like… so much pasta and cookies into him. He pushed the reversal dose into his twin.

He still had no idea if he actually fixed it. He didn’t know if he had actually managed to stop the bleeding entirely or not. For all he knew, he was still bleeding out now. For all he knew, he wouldn’t wake up.

He settled down to wait and to watch. 

---

The sound was so soft, he almost didn’t hear it.

It was hardly even there.

It had been a while now. Raph and Dad waited with him, taking turns watching Mikey and Donnie and doing whatever they could to help and trying to get him to rest, too.

But he didn’t want to rest.

(Neither did they. So even though they all repeatedly said to each other, ‘seriously, you should get some sleep, you look exhausted, I can watch him for a while,’ none of them really listened and none of them really had the room to push it, either.)

It was just weird luck. Dad had gone to fetch some food and tea for them. And Raph had just left, carrying Mikey back to his own room, because Leo had finally declared him stable, though exhausted, and he kept getting woken up over and over by the rest of them in here, and while Leo knew he’d never complain about it, it was a little heartbreaking to watch.

So for just a moment, it was just Leo and Donnie in the Medbay.

And Leo sighed very softly, laying his head down in his arms and bouncing his leg anxiously, biting at the inside of his cheek.

Please. Please. Please wake up. I swear, I will never do anything stupid and dumb or selfish ever again. I swear I’ll learn my lesson this time. Please. Just. Please. Please wake up. Don’t make my fuck ups be his consequences, please--

And he was so caught up in his own thoughts, he almost didn’t hear it at first.

This tiny, soft little chirp, just barely echoed through the cold white space.

He almost didn’t hear it.

But he did.

And his head snapped up, his eyes wide.

Donnie blinked very slowly, twitching the tiniest bit and visibly struggling to force his eyes open. And he chirped again. And Leo almost immediately burst into tears.

“Holy fuck. Don. Oh my god-- Never do that again. I-- oh my god. Thank fuck. I’m so fucking sorry--”

Donnie chuffed shakily in response and mumbled something completely incomprehensible, but didn’t quite have it in him to reply with words just yet. Leo didn’t mind. He’d take the opportunity to just continue to cry and hang onto him and touch his face and make sure he was actually there, actually alive. And to bite out apologies over and over and over until Donnie was finally awake enough to cut in.

“Leo. Shut up.”

“Sorry. Sorry, I--”

“Stop saying sorry.”

“Okay,” Leo finally whispered, hiccuping weakly, laying his head down on the bed again, sniffling a bit. “Okay. Uhm. I-- are you okay…?”

“Peachy.”

“Don’t be a bitch,” Leo mumbled weakly. “I’m trying to be the goddamn healer, remember?”

“I’m okay,” Donnie breathed, shifting ever-so-slightly in bed and wincing a bit at the movement. “Fucking-- sore. But I think I’m okay. Drugs’re working for sure.” 

“Good,” Leo said, and then was quiet for a little bit.

“Never do that again,” Leo whispered.

“I still think my logic was solid--”

“Donnie--”

“Okay, look,” Donnie sighed. “It’s not like I made a conscious choice, okay? I wasn’t-- I wasn’t trying to get shot. I would have actually really, really preferred not to get shot! Two really’s! My goal wasn’t to take the damn bullet, okay? I just--” He huffed softly, letting his eyes flutter shut again.

“I just saw the gun and I wanted you to be safe. So I moved. I was just trying to get you out of the way. That’s all.”

Leo swallowed hard, covering his mouth with his hand and gritting his teeth. “If I hadn’t-- If I hadn’t let that guy hit me. Or if I-- if I listened to you when you told me to stop, then they wouldn’t have--”

“Yeah, maybe,” Donnie scoffed. “And if I hadn’t gotten all protective over your getting hit one time, and if I had listened to you when you told me that you were fine, then maybe I wouldn’t have gotten shot then, either!”

“I’m-- I’m sorry, I should have--”

“Cut it out,” Donnie immediately cut off.  “You didn’t do anything wrong, okay? Shit just happens sometimes. It’s not like you were being a reckless idiot. You weren’t trying to get shot, either. Sometimes, things just happen. This is unfortunately the way of the world. It’s just a big random number generator. Or something,” he grumbled a bit, wrinkling up his nose. “I dunno. I’m pretty high. You get it, though.”

Leo kept quiet for a minute, and then slowly nodded.

“... Yeah.”

“And it’s not payback, either,” Donnie mumbled tiredly. “Sorry I said that shit. It’s just that I was in shock and bleeding out at the time, and therefore not really in the best mindset…”

Leo scowled. “You don’t have to apologize--”

“We already talked about it. And we’re okay. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” he said. “So just, like… let me apologize or whatever. You know how rare of a moment this is. So just take it.” 

The two of them were quiet for a second.

“Were things really bad after the Invasion?” Leo asked. Donnie cracked open an eye so he could look at his brother.

“What? Obviously, things were bad, Leo. What kind of a question is that?”

“Because--” Leo broke off, frowning. “Because I didn’t help--”

“Well, yeah, because you were literally comatose.”

“Y-yeah, but-- I-- If I hadn’t, it would’ve--”

“Look, Leo, if you had been around immediately after the Invasion, it probably would have helped,” Donnie sighed. “But it still would have sucked! And you weren’t, and we were still okay. None of us died. You didn’t die. We had people to help us, and it was okay. And it’s not your fucking fault that an alien literally tried to beat you to death. I dunno how many times we have to go over this-- fuck. Can we please not discuss this anymore while I’m high? ‘Cause I’m on, like… so many drugs right now, I’m pretty sure. So I’m probably being kind of an asshole. Oh my god. What did you give me?” He muttered, his voice slurring a bit as his head lolled to the side, his will to keep his eyes open failing him once more. And Leo laughed despite himself, reaching over to pat his brother’s head.

“The good shit, brother,” he said, exhaling softly through his nose. “... Yeah. Okay. Understood. I’m just. Fuck. I’m just really glad you’re okay.”

Donnie chirped very softly at him.

And Leo chirped back.

#gun violence #medical procedures #writing #rottmnt #blood and injury #but everyone will eventually be okay #rottmnt fanfiction #rottmnt fanfic #disaster twins #rottmnt leo #rottmnt donnie #hurt/comfort #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt michelangelo #raph and splinter are in it too but theres no much focus on them so i wont tag #im already pushing it with mikey #but hes a gd champ in this story so ill do it anyway #tmnt #medic leo

[shoezuki]

wait what? they use creepy crawlies to debride wounds???? what, like maggots?? and people actually agree to that?????

YEP!!!! the ol tried and true Maggot Method babey!!!!!!! They straight up breed n grow these bastards in a sterile environment for this express purpose.

Its obviously not like.... used as much. But the reason it is used still at all is cuz those lil nasty bitches are better at removin the nasty stuff than humans are. Like straight up sharp debridement (the surgical removal stuff) usually involves removal of good tissue too

Anyways theres more bout this but im done talking bout maggots but DONT LOOK ANY OF THIS UP. DONT FICKING GOOGLE IT. YOU GET PICTURES INSTANTLY

#ive seen so much. #................ also apparently maggots can digest n break down dangerous bacteria #and they excrete somethin that may help the healing process??? and its painless????????? #altho when i was lookin it up one report i read was talkin bout preppin the procedure #for doctors n stuff. n it said 'make sure the patient is psychologically prepared' n i thought that was so funny #bugs #maggots #gore #body horror #medical procedures #how do i tag this this is fucked labjddbdg #anon

[liskantope]

More stream-of-consciousness musings related to the topic I was posting about yesterday. (I'm really really tired. This may not make tons of sense or hold together that well.)

Suppose that controversies over universal health care were to get focused on how unaffordable necessary surgeries are for too many people, and the whole thing became framed as a debate over whether or not people should have access to surgery. I wonder if then there would be a substantial number of activists walking around with stickers or signs saying "I <3 Surgery".

I bring up this hypothetical because it seems like such a motto would be an absurd choice, but actually I could kind of see why some people might proclaim it. This is hard for me to relate to, but some circumstances lead a person to be overjoyed about getting some kind of surgery, when it may save or vastly improve their life (I've seen this overjoyed reaction on My 600-lb Life for instance, and then there are trans folks who desperately want transition surgery, and so on), and that's a valid emotion to have without being obligated to carry along with it the baggage of wishing circumstances in the first place were different so they wouldn't need surgery. My own point of view is of someone who is a wimp about medical procedures in general, has never had any kind of major surgery, and finds the idea terrifying (both the procedure itself and the aftermath).

If we add to our hypothetical universe the supposition that there's an anti-surgery pushback by people who think getting surgery is wicked and evil (see Christian scientists maybe? and certainly some of the more extreme anti-trans types currently, about certain types of surgery?), then it would be even more understandable to want to proclaim "I <3 Surgery" to signal opposition. I still think it would be kind of a dumb, tasteless, and ineffective idea though.

Another hypothetical that occurred to me today is that someone on the left-wing side of fiscal issues, wanting to push back on Republican tax-cut and anti-benefits-programs policies, might go around with a sticker saying "I <3 Taxes". In fact, the hypothetical circumstance is perfectly real at least in the current US political environment, yet I've never run across an "I <3 Taxes" sticker. It seems unthinkably silly. And it's even the case that there's a certain subset of people to push back against, who think taxes are inherently a form of evil: the "Taxation is theft!" libertarians.

A variant on this, by the way, would be "I <3 Paying Taxes", which I think is already kind of implied by "I <3 Taxes", or at least that's how many people would understand it. But I think this variant illustrates my point (to the extent that I have one) even more clearly. Because nobody, unless they're trying to be really edgy or advertise themself as both wealthy and super generous, truly expects anyone to believe that they enjoy paying taxes. (I distinctly remember then-Senator Obama mentioning that he hated paying taxes in order to make a point in his third debate against McCain in 2008!) And it seems kind of insensitive to those who aren't rich but do have to pay some substantial taxes and feel financially limited by it, even if said people are Democrats who happen to favor those taxes.

Either way, it just seems like something that you wouldn't see, which is perhaps why I feel so taken aback by how many people are happy to go around saying "I <3 Abortions". (Counterargument: perhaps we would see "I <3 Taxes" if only the political Overton window didn't restrict most of us to the view that taxes are generally bad except possibly when forced on the rich: note that certain left-wing types, most notably AOC, are willing to go walk around proclaiming "Tax the rich!". I'm still not super supportive of this tactic, but it makes a lot more sense to me than "I <3 Taxes" would.)

#surgery #medical procedures #trans issues #my 600-lb life #taxation is theft rhetoric #barack obama #aoc #abortion

[wangxianficrecs]

Indenture AU by airinshaw

Indenture AU

by airinshaw

E, WIP, Series, 24k, Wangxian

Summary part one: Lan Wangji checked the file for his next patient and noted the marker that told him it was a new indentured servant examination. He flicked to the section that explained why they were being committed to serve and his eyebrows went up to see that the debt was not the patient’s, not Wei Ying's. He had apparently volunteered to cover his brother’s debts, to prevent his brother from being put into servitude. Lan Wangji flicked to the preliminary scan information, which included a candid photo of Wei Ying that would be used when posting his contract. He was – Lan Wangji took a breath. He was startlingly handsome, so beautiful. There was almost no way that his contract wouldn’t be a sexual one. There might even be a bidding war for him. - Lan Wangji is a doctor tasked with examining Wei Ying, including testing how he responds to certain sexual situations. Kay's comments: Oh, wow, oh phew. This story! So very hot and so very dark, the world it plays in. Basically, it plays in a sci-fi dystopy where people in debt can be put into indentured servitude, which can involve being sold for labour or for sex. Lan Wangji is a medical examinar in this and examines Wei Wuxian before his sexual indenture and promptly decides to buy him for himself after test-fucking him and yeah, it's like very dark in its implications, but it's also very hot and obviously Wangxian are both into it. The first story is a PWP and the second story explores more of the world and how they adjust living together and what it means that they fall for each other and of course, there is also some good old miscommunication as well. It's just really great.

wip, wip rec week, modern setting, modern no powers, dystopia, science fiction, pov lan wangji, indentured servitude, medical procedures, medical examination, dark lan wangji, dubious morality, dubious consent, past lan wangji/others, past wei wuxian/others, top lan wangji, bottom wei wuxian, getting to know each other, falling in love, angst with a happy ending, miscommunication, misunderstandings, emotional hurt/comfort, minor lan xichen/jin guangyao, xiyao, sex work, sexual slavery, minor lan xichen/jin guangyao/nie mingjue, 3zun, mutual pining, exhibitionism, dom/sub

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

#Wangxian Fic Rec #The Untamed #wangxian #MDZS #Kay's Rec #wip #wip rec week #modern setting #modern no powers #dystopia #science fiction #pov lan wangji #indentured servitude #medical procedures #medical examination #dark lan wangji #dubious morality #past lan wangji/others #past wei wuxian/others #top lan wangji #bottom wei wuxian #getting to know each other #falling in love #angst with a happy ending #miscommunication #misunderstandings #emotional hurt/comfort #minor lan xichen/jin guangyao #xiyao #minor lan xichen/jin guangyao/nie mingjue

[cannabiscomrade]

They’re gonna do my port under conscious twilight sedation 🥲 no propofol 🙃 just fentanyl and versed

Hhhhhhhhh I’m so anxious they’re gonna be threading that big ol thing into my 🫀superior vena cava🫀 while I’m AWAKE 😐

ID: Dave taking a mirror selfie in the bathroom at the infusion center. They have pink hair with brown grown out roots, and they’re wearing glasses. They’re holding up a peace sign in their left hand and holding their phone in the right hand. Their right arm has a peripheral IV hooked to a pump on a pole, which also has their feed bag hanging on it. They’re wearing black overalls and a bandeau top.

#disability tag #medical procedures #ask to tag #the emojis are my way of coping

[invisobang]

Goin' Ghost

by @staira

There is a reason Danny has been so afraid of his parents finding out his secret identity. He knows they will accept him no matter what from his few past mind altering experiences. The truth is Danny is afraid of what comes after they accept him. All of his plans come undone when he saves Valerie Gray and she finds out his secret.

Read the fic here.

#fic #Goin' Ghost #invisobang 2023 #major character death #graphic depictions of violence #medical procedures #vomiting

[random-fandom-whump]

The Flash S01E03 ↳ RFW's Favorite Flash Whump Moments

#the flash #whumpedit #barry allen #poisoned #poison gas #respiratory distress #difficulty breathing #panic #worried friends #self sacrifice #kinda #medical procedures #medwhump #needles #ep: things you can't outrun #flash 1x03 #favorite flash moments #grant gustin

[ofsilentthings]

I wonder if Micolash could cut off Astarion's scars. Graft new skin on him.

#bloodborne #micolash host of the nightmare #astarion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #medical procedures #hypothetical #if the man can put a dog head on a bird body why not remove a few demonic scars

[masterjedilenawrites]

Hello Friend! I saw you reply to someone asking about requests, and thought you might be able to help me out! I'm currently a few days out from having a spinal tap (I got a needle jammed into my spine to take fluid, GROSS AND PAINFUL) and as an after effect, I've had a killer headache when not laying down. Apparently this is common, I was expecting a three day max, it has been five and I'm finally finding relief.

Enough about me, more about me: Can you consider talking about how the Bad Batch would comfort their significant other after having a spinal tap/other physically draining (No pun intended) medical procedure?

Oh my goodness, that does sound painful! 😟 I hope you're doing better now! You know these boys would just be the best caretakers for their partners during a time like this.

Hunter: Is perhaps even more miserable than you. He can't stand to see you in such discomfort, and even worse, he feels so helpless in not knowing what to do to ease your pain. What else can be done outside of medicine, rest, and time? If he knew, you'd best bet he'd do it. But since he does not, he fusses over you with frown lines and an unsettled feeling in his stomach. He'll do best if you give him some instructions, or simply make some room on your bed for him to saddle up and hold you through your recovery.

Wrecker: Maintains a positive attitude, a refreshing break from the concern and fussing you may get from others. He may worry about you in his own way, but ultimately he knows you're strong and will pull through this. So he'll focus on keeping your spirits high instead. Be prepared to be carried around a lot; even if you don't need to, it still makes him feel like he's helping. If laughing is too exhausting/painful for you, he'll tone things down and find other ways to bring you a gentler joy, like playing your favorite movie, or making you a warm meal.

Tech: Has your recovery schedule down to a science. He will dutiful administer your medicines like clockwork, will ensure you are balancing rest and activity, will check in on you frequently to gauge your symptoms. He may feel smothering at times, but it's all with the best intentions. It's the only way he knows how to care, to follow the prescribed recovery process so you don't have to feel this way forever. His calm and seemingly disconnected demeanor may end up being a good thing; you can whine and groan as much as you need and he will remain steady through it all.

Crosshair: Is almost as helpless as Hunter, he just hides it a lot better. You are his anchor in life, so he wants to be your rock in return. He'll push down his feelings of anxiety to take care of whatever need you have with swift and stoic attention. If you need some space or just some time to rest, he'll still be as close as possible in order to keep an eye on you. He notices every grimace of pain, each extra breath you have to take to get through the day. He'll be so relieved once you're back in full health. 

Echo: Is by your side through the entire experience, from the procedure itself to recovery and beyond. He knows all too well what the human body can suffer, how side-effects can cause complications or at least annoyance, and that recovering simply takes so much out of you, both physically and emotionally. Such an unpleasant time should not be experienced alone. He will hold your hand, wait on you hand and foot, reassure you as many times as needed... taking care of you as best as he is able. His devoted and tireless love will never be more apparent than in a time like this.

Everything Tag: @damerondala, @dangerousstrawberrypie, @fallingforthem, @harleyevanstan, @imabeautifulbutterfly, @justanothersadperson93, @misogirl828, @itsagrimm, @error6gendernotfound, @theroguesully, @clonesimp, @techie-bear

+Bad Batch Tag: @marvel-starwars-nerd, @pandora-the-halfling, @darkangel4121, @sobstea, @rintheemolion, @bowtiesandsandshoes, @dionysuskid21, @jesseeka, @hanbetired, @thatmultifandomdumbass, @sarahtanmarvel, @call-me-a-fool, @lackofhonor, @theclonesdeservebetter, @hannahhearttcw, @kaijusplotch, @salaminus, @arctrooper69, @katzs-current-obsession, @rebel-finn, @not-a-big-slay, @writing-positivelyexisting, @nekotaetae, @the-mom-friend-dot-com, @pickle-rick-y, @flowered-bicycles, @lucyysthings

(Join my tag list here)

#star wars #the clone wars #the bad batch #clone comfort hour #sw x so #medical procedures #health #recovery #hunter #wrecker #tech #crosshair #echo

[rockstarlwt28]

Chapter One: The Beginning of the Downward Spiral

[Trigger Warnings Apply]

Louis / Harry | 6.9K |

Being a victim of a life-changing accident changes Louis' entire life, throwing everything he knows into a reverse. He is a successful, self-employed window cleaner, a steady job with an income that funds his simple lifestyle. It seemed to be fulfilling in every way, until it wasn't. Finding solace in narcotics became Louis' new normal. He falls into the depths and pits of it's toxic and manipulative methods; feeling gone beyond salvation. Lottie, his sister, is the helping hand Louis so desperately needs, the pair finding him a rehabilitation unit when times become testing. It's not without turmoil, discomfort and withdrawal but that is a symptom, perceived weakness; one negative. It's replaced by strategies, comfort, newfound solace and faith when Louis unintentionally falls in love with sponsor and former narcotic abuser, Harry Styles.

#fanfic #narcotics #medical procedures #serious injuries #broken bones #spinal fracture #broken ribs #hospital setting #accident and emergency #sibling support #heartfelt talks #trauma #PTSD #drug addiction #drug abuse #medicationh #graphic explanations #medical trauma #depression #codeine #abuse #tw narcotics anonymous #opiates #emetephobia #rehabilitation centre #Caregiver #Family #Drug Addiction Effects #opiods

[shoezuki]

Good morning had a dream bout maggot debridement that like i had to undergo it. But it wasnt like a nightmare as it shoulda been. Rather the maggots rejected me n wouldnt eat me like they jus defected and i was so fucking offended.

#maggots #ask to tag #gore #medical procedures #so upset. the maggots dont want me :(

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

Whumptober #23: At The End Of Their Rope

Option: “Hold them down.”

“Hold them down! We can’t have them pulling at the IV’s and ripping tubes out- shit they’ve nearly torn their stitches. A? A! You’re safe just-.” But A ignored the doctor and continued to thrash in their panicked and fevered state - their mind associating restraints with pain. 

“Heartrate is escalating. Oxygen levels depleting.” 

“Administering a sedative.” 

(Bonus points if the friends/family get annoyed at the brash decision to sedate A, as it only makes them more pent up when they next awake…”

#whumptober #whumptober2022 #no.23 #at the end of their rope #hold them down #medical procedures #aftermath of torture #hospitals #fear #panic #fighting against restraints #manhandling #ideas #writing #prompts

[kittymaine]

Emergency

Summary: Clark rushes to the hospital after receiving news that Bruce Wayne had been involved in a bombing.

Whumptober day eight fill. Prompt: overcrowded ER.

Clark had a Google alert set up for Bruce Wayne, something that probably only Bruce himself knew about.

"That has to drive you crazy," Bruce had said once when catching Clark checking his phone, only to see an alert about a new tabloid article theorizing that Bruce had gotten three different supermodels pregnant at the same time.

"Nah, I have a lot of alerts set up, but yours are usually the most entertaining," Clark had joked and been gratified to see Bruce's eyes crinkle up just a little bit in reply. That was more than worth all the alerts that only led to cheap clickbait articles or worthless speculation pieces.

The alerts really didn't bother Clark, and he really did have about a hundred alerts set up depending on what he was researching at the moment. He had alerts for most of the Justice League anyway, both their superhero alias’ and their civilian names. But, he never expected the Bruce Wayne alert to turn up actual news most of the time.

So he was more than a little shocked when on a sunny Tuesday afternoon he received multiple alerts for new results for Bruce Wayne, and they turned out to be real news. Terrible, awful, distressing news.

Clark scrolled through the articles and tweets as quickly as his phone would allow. Most news outlets were reporting the same thing. There had been an explosion at Wayne Enterprises during a company presentation by Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Enterprises. There were conflicting reports, but it seemed that it was a homemade bomb hidden somewhere around the stage that went off while Bruce was in the middle of a speech. Police already had a suspect in custody.

Clark used his super speed without changing into his suit, something he knew Bruce would have murdered him over. Considering the circumstances, he couldn't bring himself to care in the slightest. The Gotham Gazette had tweeted that Bruce Wayne had been admitted to Gotham General and Clark's hearing confirmed that was where Bruce's heart was beating, though his normally strong and steady heartbeat sounded thin and weak. Clark felt fear seed itself in his chest at that sound and knew it would be a long time before it left.

He started speeding toward Gotham, already obsessively checking for the heartbeats he had memorized. Ma was okay, she sounded good, and her heartbeat was at the farm where it should have been. Diana was okay and was in some kind of important board meeting, so far as he could tell. He reached into his memory for Alfred's heartbeat, not one he often checked, but one he heard often enough. He wasn't as sure, but it sounded like his heartbeat was already at Gotham General. Then, he listened for Dick.

He was sitting in his beat up sedan on the highway leading into Gotham, stuck in traffic and breathing hard around a chest full of sobs.

Clark made a detour, plucking Dick's car out of traffic and putting it down carefully in a nearby parking lot before taking Dick out of the car and with him to Gotham General. Dick wouldn't have felt any of the movement, Clark was moving so fast.

The next thing Dick knew, he and Clark were in a small broom closet in a Gotham General hallway on the first floor.

Dick startled hard and threw a wild punch at Clark. Clark caught his fist gently before he could break his hand on his jaw.

"Uncle Clark?" Dick asked, making a strangled sound as he took in his surroundings. Dick hadn't called him Uncle Clark since he was a teenager. Clark tucked that fact away as a clue about Dick’s current mental state.

"Dick, are you okay?" Clark asked, leaning in carefully. He guessed what Dick needed, but didn't want to crowd him if he didn't want to be touched.

But, he had guessed right. Dick's expression briefly crumpled into tears before he threw himself at Clark, his arms tight around his shoulders and tears soaking into his button up. Clark carefully folded Dick into his arms.

"Uncle Clark, have you seen him? Is he-?" Dick choked on whatever he was about to say around a sob.

"I haven't. I saw the news on my phone and was rushing to Gotham when I saw you stuck in traffic," Clark explained.

Dick clutched him even tighter, and Clark rubbed at his shoulders. Dick was all corded muscle and ridges of bone beneath his beaten up leather jacket, the tension in his body only making him feel more rigid. He was holding him tight enough to leave bruises on a normal person, but Clark wasn’t a normal person and was glad to let Dick be as rough with him as he wanted. It had delighted him as a boy, and it warmed something in Clark that Dick still remembered Clark’s permission to squeeze and hit and jump as hard as he wanted.

"I think Alfred is in the ER. We should go check in with him," Clark suggested after giving Dick a few minutes to express himself all over Clark's shirt.

Dick nodded glumly, but only stepped away after another minute or so.

“How did this happen?” Dick croaked as they walked down long, wide hallways, dodging around people in scrubs walking fast and people in civilian clothes walking much slower.

“I don’t know,” Clark said, looking down at the scuffed toes of his loafers. They squeaked a little on the polished tile floor. “CNN reported that the police already have a suspect in custody.”

Dick grunted. “I guess the others will make sure it’s the right person.”

“I think you’re right,” Clark replied. “Let them handle it for now,” he said gently, and put his arm around Dick’s shoulders. Dick leaned his weight into Clark’s side in response.

The Gotham General emergency room was absolutely packed with people. It was clear that most of the people sitting in uncomfortable plastic chairs were caught in the same explosion that had injured Bruce so badly. They were almost all dressed in business formal clothing: pressed slacks, button down shirts, high heels and knit ties. They were also all covered in pale gray dust and dotted with blood and scrapes, many of them holding ice packs or bandages that looked like they had been hastily applied by either EMTs or the nurses tensely bustling between the aisles of chairs, taking heart rates and checking temperatures.

"Master Richard," a tense British voice said from the wall near the entryway.

"Alfred," Dick rasped and stumbled the few steps into the elder man's arms.

Alfred always looked effortlessly polished to Clark, but he had seen him ruffled a few times before. This was one of those times. His shirt was wrinkled, and his hair was just a little out of place, and his face was stiff and hard. His hardened, uncompromising expression easily communicated his past in the military.

"How is he?" Clark asked quietly, trying not to draw the attention of all the injured and emotional people packed into the room with them.

"I haven't heard much, unfortunately," Alfred replied, regarding Clark through weary blue eyes over the top of Dick's head. "In fact, if you could check on him, I would very much appreciate it."

"Oh! Of course," Clark was pleasantly surprised that he could be of use. He had refrained from looking at Bruce directly, mostly to spare himself the memory of what he looked like on the operating table. But if it was to provide more information to the family, it was more than worth it.

He leaned against the wall beside Alfred as casually as he could and let his eyes unfocus as he gazed through walls and curtains and people in the direction of Bruce's still unsteadily beating heart.

Bruce was lying on his side on a metal table, two surgeons bent over his torso as they carefully used small cameras on long adjustable poles to look around the inside of his abdomen. It looked like Bruce's side was peppered all over with shrapnel entry points and there was a small metal dish at the elbow of each surgeon, both filled with pieces of glass and small bent nails.

Clark had to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment after looking. Yep, he could feel that image burning its way into his memory. It would be hard to look at Bruce, harder to look at his side, without seeing two people poking around his insides like a game of operation looking for sharp foreign objects snugged up to Bruce's delicate and vulnerable internal organs.

"Master Clark," Alfred said, his voice soft but his tone very tight.

Clark snapped his eyes open and looked at the older man. He had the sudden realization that his crunched up expression was probably sending the wrong message. "Sorry! Just not a pleasant sight to look at," he explained sheepishly. Alfred relaxed slightly and patted Dick on the shoulder. "It looks like they're just finishing up now. I only saw one more piece of shrapnel, and it looks like they almost had it."

It was Alfred's turn to close his eyes, though his expression was one of intense relief. "Thank you, Master Clark. That news is very welcome."

"He's going to be okay?" Dick croaked, pulling out of Alfred's arms to turn red rimmed eyes on Clark.

"Yes, I think so," Clark said.

"Oh, thank Christ. Fuck," Dick groaned before sliding down the wall to the floor. "I think if he had died in a fucking business meeting of all things, I would have killed him," Dick joked weakly.

"I'm sure he's just as frustrated with himself," Clark agreed wryly.

In fact, he was sure that Bruce was going to be almost insufferable about security once he was awake and conscious. But, Clark couldn't bring himself to dread it much.

He was just so incredibly happy that Bruce was alive and would recover, and he wouldn't have to bury his best friend.

#whumptober2023 #no.8 #overcrowded er #dcu comics #fanfiction #superman #clark kent #batman #bruce wayne #dick grayson #nightwing #alfred pennyworth #medical procedures #hospitals #bombing #surgery #kittywrites