junø @juno@pixie.town

When you’re allergic to everything and nothing all at once…. You may have MCAS.

Suddenly allergic to alcohol? Certain foods making you sick? Unexplained swelling and rashes? You may have MCAS.

Did you know you can experience anaphylaxis without ever having throat or facial swelling? I certainly didn’t! My first episode of anaphylaxis started in my gut and my heart - and I genuinely thought I had the flu.

I suffered for two days with unrelenting nausea and diarrhea, tachycardia, chest pain, shortness of breath and sweating. I lay in my bed desperately trying to force fluids down - but my throat was sore and swallowing had become difficult.

I finally relented and went to the ER - largely due to dehydration. Imagine my shock when the triage nurse took one look at my throat, stabbed me with Epi and whisked me into a code room.

I genuinely had no idea I was experiencing anaphylaxis. The throat issues felt just like strep and/or a bad flu. It happened so slowly that I didn’t even realize.

I wrote this article as a primer into the wild world of mast cell disease. These cells are everywhere in your body - contain over 200 mediators and can wreak havoc in a million different ways.

I hope it will help people better understand the condition - and I plan to write two more pieces which will explore in greater detail how to get diagnosed, how to treat it and (perhaps most importantly) how to learn to live with the constant threat of anaphylaxis.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/when-youre-allergic-to-everything

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare #mastcells

okay so, I've got my goals covered an my plans are in motion and even tho I've got some to spare, I've set them aside because I could still be kicked out any day. (haha, fun /s).

but this is still my birthday month and... I haven't really gotten me anything besides something I really really needed (like walking shoes... and walking shoes again...) forever. so I'll leave my links up this month and I'll use anything I get to get me something nice for my birthday!

links:

ko-fi - accepts paypal and stripe.
stripe (USD) - (for those that prefer not using paypal)

hashtags

#mutualAid #transCrowdfund #mutualAidRequest #blackMutualAid #boostPlease
@mutualaid

Die Redewendung "man freut sich tierisch" impliziert, dass es von der Gesellschaft als unmenschlich angesehen wird sich sehr zu freuen

Sexuality and gender identity are hard to figure out, Blahaj is soft to cuddle.

remember: The Closet isn’t privilege, passing isn’t acceptance, assimilation isn’t safety

every single one of us in trans fedi is traumatized by our experiences of having every moment of our lives turned into a battle for our own existence, and the way that collective trauma plays out within our queer communities is an age-old story, one that our elders solved during the AIDS crisis and we need to learn from.

there is so much more we can all be doing for each other to help ourselves and each other thrive and to help our community thrive. every single one of you needs to read this treatise by the Jane Addams Collective.

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/the-jane-addams-collective-mutual-aid-trauma-and-resiliency

Oh, dear. Here we go.

I get it, a woman boxer from Algeria gets smeared as being trans. That her elevated testosterone gives her an advantage. You know what really pisses me off when I see people rushing to her defense, even from within trans circles? That it's "she isn't even trans! See how anti trans sentiment hurts even cis women!"

It wouldn't even matter if she was. It wouldn't matter if pure testosterone dropped from her ears. It wouldn't matter if that gave her an advantage.

Why? Because this isn't the Kid's Participation Trophy League where everybody ends up on the podium at the end of the day. This is the Olympic Games, where top athletes compete. They are meant to be the most extraordinary athletes of each country.

Remember Phelps, who is genetically uniquely suited to be a swimmer, and had several proven biological advantages over his competitors? Did we give a shit? No, he was even hailed as extraordinary athlete for it.
Basketball players aren't disqualified for being taller than average, they are picked for it. In every discipline, the athletes with a biological advantage for it are encouraged, selected, specifically promoted to build on that.

Except women. Except if your melanin makes you different than ham pink. Except if in your past what a doctor jotted down at a glance didn't align with who you are.

This is the Olympic Games, not the Average Everyone Games. So flattening the defense of an Algerian boxer to "but she isn't trans" really sits badly with me, because what you're telling me is, being successful while trans needs further justification. That you see a trans person as lesser than a cis person, and being cis means you're beyond suspicion while being trans carries a burden of proof. You're telling me that you see us as being different from what we say we are - a man in a dress, a lesbian playing at being a man, someone who needs to pick a side already.

Help Merlin move to Belize for a lecturer position!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-move-to-belize

#MutualAid

First a summary, jump to the bottom for action steps

In recent days, folks such as @ErickaSimone, @KimCrayton1, @timnitGebru (lmk if you want to be untagged from this post) and many, MANY more have been speaking out about how toxic fedi culture is for Black folks and how the tools we have access to just aren't enough.

In response, we've been seeing an outpouring of antiblack harassment directed towards them and others from a wide range of instances on the fediverse. This is nothing new, although it has meant a lot of extra work for mod teams who are trying to keep their users safe from this harassment.

This always happens when Black folks, particularly Black women and Black queers, speak up about their experience on the fediverse and Mastodon specifically. They get met with straight up denial, minimization, victim blaming, you name it.

After @are0h spoke up about how the team at Mastodon does not prioritize safety and someone offered to contribute $10k per year and fundraise more specifically for safety features, here was a response from one of the official team members at Mastodon:

https://oisaur.com/@renchap/112879553557675787

It's clear what their priorities ARE and ARE NOT. They know what it's like for Black folks on here, and it's just not that big of a problem for them. Suggestions and offers for assistance are ignored and urgency is met with admonishments for patience. Clearly, us going to them ain't making a difference, so I won't advise we dogpile them about it (not because it would be "wrong" necessarily but obvs it won't work).

So, what can you do about it?

At this point, I am joining a growing chorus of Black folks on this platform who are seeking a better alternative. A project that takes safety seriously and builds infrastructure with the needs of oppressed folks CENTERED rather than MARGINALIZED.

We need a hard fork. And it just so happens that some folks are already hard at work cooking one up, but they can't do it alone. Along with general support, they need funding.

You can see @are0h's March blog post about it here:

https://h-i.works/2024/04/a-case-for-community.html

Or, if you prefer a simple donation link, you can go here:

https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-new-way-to-social-media

We're getting tired of playing whack-a-mole with white supremacists on the fediverse. We need something better. We need your help.

If what you've been seeing upsets you, if you are anywhere near as fed up as I am, if you want to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, here is something simple and concrete you can do.

Thanks for reading.

I am a desirable and worthwhile presence in the lives of those I love.

Even when it's hard to believe.