Venting thread

[rotting bones]

Still bedridden. God dammit.

[Ares Land]

Still bedridden. God dammit.

Aw man, sorry to hear that! I hope you get better soon.

[rotting bones]

Aw man, sorry to hear that! I hope you get better soon.

Thanks.

And then he continues to vent awkwardly without being invited: I'm suffering from an embarrassing and debilitating illness. I've had these symptoms for years. I had an invasive procedure done a long time ago, and it came up with zilch. The last few days were hell. I visited the doctor the day before it became serious, and the doctor detected nothing. That same night, I woke up on the bathroom floor after having passed out. I wonder if doctors can tell the difference between fresh corpses and the living. Has it ever happened that a corpse spent days in jail for refusing to pay rent before anyone caught on?

[Ares Land]

That sounds awful. I hope you can find adequate medical help soon.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

And then he continues to vent awkwardly without being invited: I'm suffering from an embarrassing and debilitating illness. I've had these symptoms for years. I had an invasive procedure done a long time ago, and it came up with zilch. The last few days were hell. I visited the doctor the day before it became serious, and the doctor detected nothing. That same night, I woke up on the bathroom floor after having passed out. I wonder if doctors can tell the difference between fresh corpses and the living. Has it ever happened that a corpse spent days in jail for refusing to pay rent before anyone caught on?

If they're having this much trouble finding it, I wonder if it's medical incompetence or something psychosomatic (which is not a jab — I've had some brutal hypochondria which is not at all funny and not at all not serious), or a mix of the two. Now that I think on this, have you tried consulting a neurologist, on the chance it might be something only that sort of specialist might catch?

[rotting bones]

Ares Land and Rounin Ryuuji: Thanks.

If they're having this much trouble finding it, I wonder if it's medical incompetence or something psychosomatic (which is not a jab — I've had some brutal hypochondria which is not at all funny and not at all not serious), or a mix of the two. Now that I think on this, have you tried consulting a neurologist, on the chance it might be something only that sort of specialist might catch?

Not unless all that blood was psychosomatic.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

I have heard of intense psychological reactions causing breaks in minor blood vessels; they can also cause painful muscular contractions and acid reflux (this is why panic attacks can fool you into thinking you're having a cardiac event). It's probably a mix of issues, though, which is why I suggested maybe neurology? I don't recall if you've explained the issue in detail, but this sounds like something for which you're going to need some sort of specialist.

[rotting bones]

I have heard of intense psychological reactions causing breaks in minor blood vessels; they can also cause painful muscular contractions and acid reflux (this is why panic attacks can fool you into thinking you're having a cardiac event). It's probably a mix of issues, though, which is why I suggested maybe neurology? I don't recall if you've explained the issue in detail, but this sounds like something for which you're going to need some sort of specialist.

The quantity of blood doesn't match what I'd expect from a minor blood vessel. In fact, I have a pretty good idea why the doctors missed it.

Thanks anyway.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

Oh, well, then. Second opinion time.

[malloc]

I have to cancel my appointment for a vaccine ASAP and the number I called has no options for cancelling, only preregistration. Even assuming it's not already too late, I cannot find any way out of this problem. Will skipping the appointment cost me anything and more importantly, will it get me in legal trouble or affect my credit scores or something along those lines?

[Travis B.]

I have to cancel my appointment for a vaccine ASAP and the number I called has no options for cancelling, only preregistration. Even assuming it's not already too late, I cannot find any way out of this problem. Will skipping the appointment cost me anything and more importantly, will it get me in legal trouble or affect my credit scores or something along those lines?

You are not going to get in legal or financial trouble for missing a vaccine appointment, I assure you.

[Linguoboy]

You are not going to get in legal or financial trouble for missing a vaccine appointment, I assure you.

In fact, you most likely made someone's day. COVID vaccine appointments are the hot ticket right now; any opening gets snapped up immediately.

[malloc]

You are not going to get in legal or financial trouble for missing a vaccine appointment, I assure you.

In fact, you most likely made someone's day. COVID vaccine appointments are the hot ticket right now; any opening gets snapped up immediately.

But as far as they know, I am still coming so they can't give the opening to anyone else.

It just makes no sense, though. The confirmation email I got for the appointment gives a phone number for canceling or rescheduling. But when I called it, none of the automated options included that. I waited for someone to pick up they never did.

[Linguoboy]

But as far as they know, I am still coming so they can't give the opening to anyone else.

It's not like the opening is solely reserved for one person. It's an assembly line; they put people through as fast as they can. If someone's a bit early, they get taken early. Someone keeps track of no-shows (at the site where my flatmate got stuck, they had one person who did nothing but this) and calls up people who are waitlisted to get the doses that weren't claimed.

It just makes no sense, though. The confirmation email I got for the appointment gives a phone number for canceling or rescheduling. But when I called it, none of the automated options included that. I waited for someone to pick up they never did.

A lot of these operations have been thrown together on shot notice and there are lots of gaps and flaws still. That' s a pretty glaring one, but I don;t know anything about the story of your particular site.

[malloc]

It's not like the opening is solely reserved for one person. It's an assembly line; they put people through as fast as they can. If someone's a bit early, they get taken early. Someone keeps track of no-shows (at the site where my flatmate got stuck, they had one person who did nothing but this) and calls up people who are waitlisted to get the doses that weren't claimed.

I always heard that missing a medical appointment gets you in serious trouble with the hospital and billed for it. They might even blacklist me or call the cops.

[Linguoboy]

It's not like the opening is solely reserved for one person. It's an assembly line; they put people through as fast as they can. If someone's a bit early, they get taken early. Someone keeps track of no-shows (at the site where my flatmate got stuck, they had one person who did nothing but this) and calls up people who are waitlisted to get the doses that weren't claimed.

I always heard that missing a medical appointment gets you in serious trouble with the hospital and billed for it.

Not all appointments are created equal.

The kinds you get charged for are the ones you make with a doctor or specialist. That's because these are highly-paid professionals and their time is exclusively booked. It may not be possible to schedule someone else at the last minute to take that 15 minutes or more which was set aside just to tend to you, in which case that block of time (and the revenue it represents) is effectively lost.

But an appointment to get a vaccine or have blood drawn for a test is completely different. Generally, the clinic or hospital has phlebotomists and nurses scheduled all day anyway and they get paid the same (and substantially less than other medical personnel) whether they stick two patients or two hundred. Moreover, you don't even have to be a nurse to administer most vaccines, which is why you can get the regular flu vaccine at a pharmacy, on a walk-in basis (since unlike COVID vaccines, it's easy to store).

When COVID vaccinations first become available in this country, the regulations were tighter; the personnel approved to administer the doses was restricted, as were the people who were allowed to get them. There were even prosecutions for those who improvised too much. But now we've moved on. Several states have or are about to open up availability to all willing adults. (Illinois plans to do this on April 12th; Missouri already has.) It's not quite as routine as the seasonal flu vaccination, but it's close.

tl;dr: It's fine. Nothing's going to happen except you'll have to wait longer for your dose.

They might even blacklist me or call the cops.

These are not things that happen in the real world.

[malloc]

Then why does the email explicitly mention the necessity of calling to cancel the appointment? If skipping the appointment has no negative consequences for you or the hospital, it seems pointless to require that.

[Linguoboy]

Then why does the email explicitly mention the necessity of calling to cancel the appointment?

It’s boilerplate.

If skipping the appointment has no negative consequences for you or the hospital, it seems pointless to require that.

If it had serious negative consequences wouldn’t they have provided you with a cancellation method that works?

It’s not a big deal. Let it go.

[Vijay]

I think I find some of my Discord friends worrisome. One of them is starting to remind me of my missionary cousin.

[Raphael]

Looks like I've run out of ways to distract myself again. I hate it when that happens.