u/pekoe-G

My 70 year old mother is finally having her hip replaced tomorrow. The severe arthritis has progressively worsened over the past several months and left her near immobile.

Thankfully I work remote so I will be staying with her for at least a few weeks, longer if needed. I got her the supplies that the doctor & physio recommended, I went through the house to check for tripping hazards, etc.

I've been stressing all week. My big concern is that with her diabetes she is higher risk. Her sugars tend to run high, which from my understanding complicates healing & recovery.

I'm wondering if any one can provide insight or advice for a diabetic recovering from a major surgery like this? Also, how can I best support her? We're going in blind and my anxiety is through the roof.

I last purchased & opened a bottle of Igora Royal 10 volume developer a year ago = July 21st 2025. The nearest beauty supply is a day trip so it's not a realistic option. I also cannot seem to find a delivery option that wont take weeks. So I'm in kind of a bind.

I haven't coloured my hair in a good 6 months. I am basically working on getting everything one uniform colour. I have 3" of new growth that's level 5.5 brunette and my lengths are a brassy level 8. Trying to get it all to a 6.5-7 dark blond. Some warmth is fine.

It's been stored away in a dark pantry this whole time. What are the chances the year old 10 developer is still usable? Funny enough I can get a Wella Color Charm developer through Amazon, just not Igora, is that the better option for this situation? I'm so mad at myself because I recently purchased a 20 developer, but spaced on a 10.

Weird question, but is it normal for them to get a sample by squeezing the finger tip (after pricking the finger)? I thought that messes with accuracy. I have a diabetic parent who mentioned that "squeezing the blood out" leads to wrong readings. I'm just not sure if it effects HCT readings?

I should mention this was at a newer Grifols location.

Update: asked them not to do a lot of squeezing after the finger prick. Their office here is by no means cold and it was 37C outside so it wasn't really needed. Filled the vial with only a little bit of pressing (and it wasn't near the puncture site this time). My HCT reading was almost a full 5 points higher than last week despite not doing anything else different.

I went in to Grifols to donate and everything was great except HCT. As you may know, for women it has to be 38 or higher. I've tried twice (4 weeks apart) and it's come out at 36 and then 35. The nurse acted like I was possibly anemic.

But I actually had a venous blood panel a couple days after the first attempt and it showed HCT 39.8. A little bit before the first attempt I started an iron supplement that also contains Vitamin C, Folate, and Vitamin B12. So shouldn't it be slightly high vs lower 4 weeks later?

Is that a normal discrepancy? No it wasn't around my period. It wasn't cold inside - I was actually sweating because I walked over in this heat, I drank 2-3L of water the day before & day of, etc.

I was very fortunate that the Rescue has covered all the costs for my cat's wet FIP. He is 10 months old and his 84 day treatment is completed later this week. He has responded amazingly well and is back in great health.

After the Rescue's Vet does the bloodwork I will be transitioning my cat over. All documentation will be transferred, and I will continue the monitoring period with my Vet.

I am wondering if anyone has experience with Pet Insurance in this situation?

I know that a FIP relapse would be excluded as a pre-existing condition. But companies are not very clear if anything else would be considered pre-existing. I don't want to pay for something that is going to face constant claim rejections because they try to link it to a post FIP issue.

Is it worth it to get pet insurance? Has anyone gone through this situation and what was it like?

Last week I brought my cat into the Vet. She is 10 months old, spayed, and up to date on her shots. I noticed she was squinting a lot and producing a lot of clear & white-ish tears. Upon further inspection there was a small white spot on her eyeball.

Vet diagnosed it as an ulcer and prescribed medication. It's most likely from her playing with her brother. She has been on Oral Antibiotics (Clavamox) twice daily, and Eye Drops (Tobramycin) every 4-6 hours since Wednesday evening. She is scheduled for a follow up Friday morning.

In a few days I noticed improvments. The redness doing down, her eyes weren't gunky at all, and she was overall in a much better mood.

Now, her eye is clear, no cloudiness or anything. But when the light reflects I can still see an uneven surface in the exact area the ulcer was.

I'm just trying to figure out what is normal for the healing process of an ulcer. The Vet did say there may be scar tissue. Is this normal or should I take her back early?

I have some images I can share (they're honestly not bad).

Genuinely what is going on with Xbox? Lately it feels like I disconnect from more matches than I complete.

I'm in a city with great internet, I rarely if ever dc in any other game. It's happened to me occasionally on PC, but nowhere near the degree it does on Xbox, I'm talking multiple times in a night. The game is basically unplayable.

Has AH addressed it at all, have any plans to look into it? Because I know it's not just me.