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Post by mllemass on Jun 2, 2019 3:47:38 GMT
Not at all - thank you for sharing this! I’ve never heard of DES before. It’s worrisome that women became part of massive medical experiments without their knowledge. We trust that doctors know what they’re doing, and we’re brought up to do what we’re told without question. I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through all that.
Here in Canada, we often hear stories in the news of people heading off to the US or Mexico or Europe for some experimental medical treatment or drug. They then go to the media to complain that Canada is far behind other countries in medicine, and it costs patients a fortune to go elsewhere to seek help. But the medical community here always responds that they can’t approve drugs that haven’t been proven to be effective and safe. It’s a process that takes many years, and some patients don’t want to wait. Sadly, I’ve never heard of a case where someone’s life was actually saved because of an expensive out-of-country medical treatment.
When my father was diagnosed with cancer 20 years ago, he was being treated at a hospital that was part of a medical school. All of his appointments included groups of young doctors observing, asking questions and taking notes. At the beginning, his doctor asked him if he was interested in being part of a research experiment to try a different method of administering chemotherapy. They assured us that the experiment would be as effective as the traditional treatment, and possibly even more effective. He agreed, and the random computer program chose him. By father is still alive, so I’d like to think that the experiment was a success, but who knows? He might have had the same results with other chemotherapy methods, too. But it feels pretty good to know that he played a small part in developing treatments that will help future cancer patients. (There were parts of the study that he hated, though! They wanted him to participate in a support group with other cancer patients, but he stopped going when he discovered that he was the only man in a group of women. Ha!)
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Post by mllemass on Jun 2, 2019 3:53:28 GMT
I’ve read that this part of the story is borrowed from The Omen.
Which reminds me of the Sherlock episode where John and Mary are discussing whether their baby is more like the devil (The Exorcist) or the Antichrist (The Omen). I loved that scene!
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Post by MagdaFR on Jun 2, 2019 10:48:46 GMT
I’m a DES baby. In the 1950s, doctors used to prescribe DES (diethylstilbestrol) to mothers who were at risk of miscarriage. It’s basically massive doses of estrogen. When us girls started hitting puberty, we began to develop horrendous cases of cervical and uterine cancer. There are hundreds of thousands of us (if not millions), much worse numbers than the thalidomide babies. Many had hysterectomies, lots died. Even the male babies had fertility issues when they matured. I was pretty lucky, but didn’t escape altogether. I have/had abnormal tissue all over my vagina and cervix and a bunch of deformities “down there.” Also, I found out I would never likely have children. I went thru 3 years of experimental surgeries on my private parts, beginning when I was 15. Cryosurgery to burn off the abnormal tissue, which was horribly painful and didn’t work, but they kept at it anyway. I was traumatized and unwilling to continue, but b/c I was a minor I had no say. Completely unnecessary medical experimentation, but my parents thought it was better than an outright hysterectomy at such a young age. Fucked me up something terrible. No therapy, no talking about it in the family. My mother became enormously depressed and my father felt guilty as hell, especially since he was a pharmaceutical chemist. I wasn’t allowed to use the pill or an IUD, and couldn’t be fitted for for a diaphragm due to the deformities, so that caused a few issues when I became sexually active. Needless to say, I ended up with lifelong ptsd, and I’ve had trust issues with drugs and doctors ever since. I have lots of the same symptoms as rape victims, even though my assault was done by doctors in the name of science. It’s been...interesting, to say the least. I’ve come to terms with a lot of it, although much of the behavioral patterning remains. Sorry if this was too much to share, but the misuse of pharmaceuticals and the general stupidity of the medical community is one of my hot buttons. I'm so sorry, queenzod.
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Post by sgev1977 on Jun 2, 2019 11:44:41 GMT
Sorry, queenzod! That's horrible!
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Post by roverpup on Jun 2, 2019 16:39:45 GMT
Sounds like a very difficult thing to live through QZ. Your story sounds very traumatic but thank you for sharing it. Knowledge is power. And sharing burdens often makes them less onerous to bear.
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Post by queenzod on Jun 2, 2019 17:09:01 GMT
Aw, thanks, ladies, for the support! That’s very sweet of you all. 🥺
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Post by mllemass on Nov 1, 2019 15:39:08 GMT
If I ever get to see Good Omens, I will have to look for these things:
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Post by mllemass on Dec 29, 2019 6:56:59 GMT
I stayed up late to finish watching it - finally! And I just loved it! I went through and re-read the comments posted here, and no one else seemed to like it very much. But it was exactly what I was hoping for, and more. It was great to see Mark Gatiss as a nazi, and Jonathan Aris as a really mean angel - Mycroft and Anderson from Sherlock. Then when you add Benedict, director Douglas MacKinnon and composer David Arnold, you have a pretty nice Sherlock reunion.
People who only watched some of the episodes really missed out because different characters are introduced as the story went on. I loved the comic relief throughout, and the wacky costume and hairstyle changes as we follow the angel and demon through history. I laughed out loud many times - the background information about angels/demons dancing was hysterical!
It occurred to me as I was watching it that the quirkiness and style reminded me of the “Lemony Snicket” Netflix series - which I also loved. Although Good Omens is definitely not for children!
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Post by MagdaFR on Dec 29, 2019 10:10:28 GMT
I think the best parts are the interactions between Crawley and Aziraphale.
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Post by onebluestocking on Dec 29, 2019 19:03:03 GMT
I loved this, too, and more importantly I think it's the only show both of my kids ever agreed upon!
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