Posts by SnakesInTheTower

THAT is a great story.... glad to hear the background of how you got together... and to think that if not for a hurricane , you would never have been brought together....lousy circumstance for so many others, so good for the two of you in the end...

Snakes (of the "we dont get hurricanes here, looking for another way to meet a nice girl" Sheep Class)

23

Stupid teenager(me) needs some nice words... extremely long, sorry

by Anony-Mouse in

jw
friends

so we were just freinds.

i was just becoming good freinds with her best freind's brother, which is now gone.

so i smile back and say "good, not much.

SnakesInTheTower

AM

no problem on the "long story" I tend to be a bit long of word too.

sighhhh... I am twice your age and then some...(assuming the age listed to the side is accurate).... but teenagers are not the only ones who this happens to.

When I was in my early 20s and a friend who was in her late 20s ... a single sister who I pioneered with .... people kept assuming we were a couple...we were close friends, talked a lot (cause we were in the ministry a lot, socialized a lot with other singles).... it finally blew up 15 plus years ago... 10 years goes by...I hear from her maybe half dozen times. then about 5 years ago (then I was in my late 30s she in her early 40s) I hear her mom has cancer, so, being a true friend, I call her up... we talk, reconnect and friendship reestablished. yayy! We attend some social functions together, but again we never tried to make that love connection....others did try to do so on our behalf.... So she felt the need to break off the friendship again... this time I think for good. i have seen or spoken to her maybe a dozen times in the last 5 years...mostly about work related matters. We are in different circuits now, so I never see her...which may be for the best. I only wish her well. She is a good person.

I tell you this because I hated to lose such a close trusted friend in my life, even though we never had a romantic connection...we had talked about it and we knew better...we would have killed each other. AM....your real friends will not cast you aside, they will stick close to you.... REAL friends do not ridicule or make fun of their friends. She was not a real friend to you. The close friends I have will not abandon me.... I think only the Borg would possibly cause a division if push came to shove and I ever D/f or D/a'd, and even then some of those same friends would stay in touch quietly.

Move on, its tough to say, tougher to do.... I know from repeated experience....you will get through this.... sorry I dont have any specific advice.....hang in there and keep posting here.

SnakesInTheTower (of the "hates to lose friends, but (S*)it happens" Sheep Class)

133

Mental Illness - diagnosed for me

by Crumpet in

i've long known, and most of you probably have as well, that there was something not all there with me.

mostly i put it down to me being bad.

questions i've never been asked before.

SnakesInTheTower

(((crumpet)))

I am always amazed when someone opens their life up to others like you have to us. For every one who has posted, I wonder how many others are looking on here that are also deeply affected by your words and your experience but are too afraid to post or are just fine staying in the background?

Up until recently I did not know much about bi-polar (or depression and mental illness in general) until I took a Psychology class in college. What an eye opening learning tool that was. In retrospect, I think my ex-fiance was bi-polar. Since ours was a long distance (over the net, phone, web cam, etc), it was difficult to detect..until we met in person.... Now as I read over old transcripts of IM conversations we had, and comparing them with what you have said,...it is so obvious that she is bi-polar.....I hope she gets the needed help...she is a beautiful caring person....

Part of her problem is she went off her meds about a month before we were introduced...without consulting a doctor or anything....... Nina, whatever you do.... dont stop taking (or change the dosage) of your meds without consulting your docs.... PROMISE US PLEASE!.... you will start to feel better, maybe better than you ever did before, and you will start to reason to yourself that you dont need meds anymore.....dont do it.. I too hate the idea of meds, and probably suffer some mild depression issues myself...but once you take the med plunge....stick to it.

ok..Im done...... hang in there, and glad you are back posting and sharing life with us...isolation sucks. Sure hope to meet you in person some day.

Snakes ()

17

I've Fallen In Love

by choosing life in

jw
friends

with michigan.. i have been to michigan many times and i just love the lake and the landscape.

the sunsets over lake michigan are the most beautiful i have ever seen.

i have been to most places up the west coast along the lake.

SnakesInTheTower

choosing life.....

you had me going there for a second...you started the thread...I just had to see (I assumed what not whom) you had fallen in love with.

So unlike you! Nice.

Snakes ()

by the way, I dont think I have ever been to Michigan.

21

Next year's District Convention will be 4 days?

by erandir in

wtwizard recently started a topic discussing assemblies and conventions and mentioned the following:.

(next year, it is four days but only apostates have access to that information.

can someone please point me to the thread that discussed this or post the information in this topic?.

SnakesInTheTower

international conventions are still 4 days long, or at least it was the one I attended 5 years ago

Nope..I went to an international last year in Europe...3 days...just a little bit longer sessions because of translations and GB running off at the mouth in the final part.

I am only going to sunday session of the DC next week...not taking any more time off work. Ironically, I took today off work and could have went to the Friday session. But why would I do that when I can sit and chat with y'all here? (Plus I have a lot of other things to do besides get my a*s sore in a arena seat for 6 hours.)

SnakesInTheTower (of the "longest I ever went to was 5 days" Sheep Class)

45

All current JWs: What is this?

by AuldSoul in

the bible students in 1918 numbered very few, fewer than 6,000. within three years, the number tripled.. the "intriguing subject" they proclaimed from 1918 through 1922 was "millions now living will never die.

" upwards of 70,000 attended to hear this message proclaimed in germany alone.

the talk series had a longer title, "the world has endedmillions now living will never die.

SnakesInTheTower

The New Light is flashing on and off so fast one would think it is Morse code.....wait...wait....I am receiving a message from the Governing Body now:

.-- . / .- .-. . / ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. / --- ..-. / -.-. .-. .- .--. .-.-.-

http://morsecode.scphillips.com/jtranslator.html Copy the above for a translation

Just cant wait for more of the "Food at the Proper time" to spew forth from its spigot.

Snakes ()

37

LEECHES?!? LEECHES!?! You gotta be kiddin' !! Ever seen this?

by Open mind in

on my recent "college courses" thread, i got this contribution from veradico and thought it deserved it's own thread.

it was news to me.

this is a partial quote:.

SnakesInTheTower

Open Mind:

Are you still an elder?

No...make that hell no. Got voted off the BOE island back at the end of last year. Took several tries at ~~tribal council~~ elders' meetings with the CO before they got a CO that would make it stick....I switched congos...been fading since...although not successfully.

By the way, here is an article..pretty legit source... the FDA!.... about leeches (herein referred to as "medical devices"): http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/504_leech.html

SnakesInTheTower (of the "I'd let a leech save my foot or hand " Sheep Class)

Beyond Bloodletting:
FDA Gives Leeches a Medical Makeover
By Carol Rados
For thousands of years, leeches have been worming their way in and out of medicine as a questionable cure for anything from headaches to gangrene, reaching their height of medicinal use in the mid-1800s. Today, the slimy aquatic creatures are making a comeback as a legitimate treatment that can help heal skin grafts and restore blood circulation. Their primary function is to drain blood. Pooled blood around a wound can threaten tissue survival.
In June 2004, the Food and Drug Administration cleared the first application for leeches (Hirudo medicinalis) to be used in modern medicine as medical devices. By definition, a medical device is an article intended to diagnose, cure, treat, prevent, or mitigate a disease or condition, or to affect a function or structure of the body, that does not achieve its primary effect through a chemical action and is not metabolized.
Surgeons who do plastic and reconstructive surgery find leeches especially valuable when regrafting amputated appendages, such as fingers or toes. Severed blood vessels in such cases often are so damaged that they lack the ability to clear the area of blood. In these cases, it is difficult for the surgeon to make a route for blood to leave the affected part and return to circulation.
"The idea behind the leeches is to cause blood to ooze so that the body's own blood supply will eventually take over and the limb can go on and survive," says Rod J. Rohrich, M.D., president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Leeches apply the perfect amount of suction to get the blood flowing. But Rohrich also says he uses the leeches only when there's a compromised situation, such as following surgery, "when the patient's own blood supply isn't adequate."
Packing a one-two chemical punch, the benefit of leech therapy comes not from the amount of blood that is extracted, but in the powerful anti-clotting agent hirudin, contained in the parasite's saliva, which keeps blood flowing freely. At the same time, leeches emit a natural anesthetic that minimizes pain during their feast.
Having disk-shaped suckers on each end of their bodies helps leeches feed, as well as hang on. The number of leeches used varies with each patient--typically two or three leeches are applied to the body until they drop off after about 40 minutes, and then the process is repeated with a new leech "team." At $7 to $10 apiece, their expense won't break budgets of physicians or hospitals.
The FDA considered safety data as part of reviewing the marketing application for the leeches submitted by Ricarimpex SAS of Eysines, France. In addition, the agency studied published literature on the use of leeches in medicine, how the leeches are fed, their environment, and the personnel who handle them.
Leeches were already being used in hospitals. A 1976 law has allowed companies that raised and sold medical leeches before that year to continue doing so. Newcomers seeking to market leeches for medical purposes, however, were required by the 1976 law to gain FDA approval.
You won't find the type of leeches approved for medical use in a lake, river, or swamp. Rudy Rosenberg, owner and vice president of Leeches USA Ltd., the initial importer and distributor for Ricarimpex in the United States, says the leeches are raised under optimum conditions in controlled basins and laboratories. The facilities are certified, and all lots are tracked. This, he says, protects patients from infection. Leeches drop off after "feeding," and must be treated as infectious waste material. Rosenberg says that he knows of no case of leech-borne infection having been reported.
How do people react to being treated with these slimy parasites? "Initially, they're repulsed by the idea of leeches as a treatment," says Rohrich, "but eventually, they come to terms with the fact that it may be saving their lives."

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37

LEECHES?!? LEECHES!?! You gotta be kiddin' !! Ever seen this?

by Open mind in

on my recent "college courses" thread, i got this contribution from veradico and thought it deserved it's own thread.

it was news to me.

this is a partial quote:.

SnakesInTheTower

OM:

this is so damn stupid...especially the last paragraph. It is considered "unscriptural" for humans to feed on blood/unbled meat...not for animals! And besides, dont the doctors throw the leeches away in the biohazard waste (destroy them as it says in the article) when they are finished? I am sure, just like needles, the doctors dont reuse the damn leeches...sheesh! So using this twisted reasoning, we cant eat any animal that feeds on unbled meat? Hmmmmmm.....guess we can start being vegetarians now.

Unless it is unwise to eat unbled turnips!

SnakesIntheTower (of the "cant believe this drivel was even IN a QFR" Sheep Class)

Reference from the Watchtower Library 2006 CD ROM..... June 15, 1982 Watchtower:

Questions

FromReaders

?

WoulditbewrongforaChristian,undermedicaltreatment,toallowleechestobeappliedtohimtodrawoffsomeblood?

It would not be contrary to God’s Word to permit the medical withdrawal and disposal of some blood. But to do this through the use of leeches would conflict with what the Bible says. Admittedly, leeches are not commonly used today. Yet questions about using them do arise, particularly in Europe. Noting what the Bible says about blood can help us to evaluate such treatments.

For centuries it was thought that many ills could be relieved by bloodletting, or bleeding. Medieval barber-surgeons practiced this art, a carry-over being the red-and-white–striped pole that in some places identifies a barbershop. But medical doctors practiced bloodletting too. In 1799 repeated bleedings likely hastened the death of George Washington, the first president of the United States of America. Even when it did not kill a person, the practice of bloodletting brought many patients to an anemic state.

In Europe it was common to accomplish a form of bloodletting by applying a quantity of leeches to the skin, allowing them to fill up on the patient’s blood. Reporting from Mainz, Germany, Dr. L. K. Altman wrote: "In 1850, when patients might apply as many as 80 leeches at the same time for a wide variety of ailments, about 100 million leeches were sold in France. As late as 1953, Russian doctors used leeches on Stalin before he died."—New York Times, February 17, 1981.

Dr. Altman pointed out that even in modern medicine some doctors in Europe and in the United States use leeches in specialized situations. For example, they have been employed to remove blood clots in certain cases of plastic surgery or to draw off accumulated blood from fingers restored by microsurgery.

Where do Christians stand as to the removing of blood, and would it be fitting to allow this to be done with leeches?

After the flood of Noah’s day, God set out a change from the vegetarian diet that he had outlined for animals and humans in the garden of Eden. Jehovah said: "Every moving animal that is alive may serve as food for you. As in the case of green vegetation, I do give it all to you. Only flesh with its soul—its blood—you must not eat." (Genesis 9:3, 4; 1:30) God explained the matter further in the Mosaic law. He said that blood represents life, a gift from God, and it is sacred. What, then, was to be done with the blood of an animal that was killed for sacrifice? The blood was not to be used for fertilizer, animal food or some such thing. It was to be poured out and covered with dust; in a sense it was given back to Him.—Leviticus 17:10-14.

Christians should strive to manifest that they appreciate the sacredness of blood. (Acts 15:28, 29) Accordingly, if blood is removed from the body, it should be disposed of, comparable to the Israelites’ pouring blood out on the ground.

At times doctors may have medical grounds for advising that blood be removed (phlebotomy). For example, with the blood disease polycythemia vera a person has excessive red blood cells (the opposite of anemia). The blood, thick with red cells, may produce clots, increasing the threat of strokes or heart attacks. There are various ways of managing this, but sometimes the choice treatment is venesection, drawing off some blood from a vein. The counsel of God’s Word would not rule this out so long as the removed blood was disposed of. Similarly, many Christians have felt conscientiously able to permit small quantities of blood to be taken for medical tests, realizing that once the tests were completed the blood would be discarded.

However, though leeches parasitically feed on blood in their natural state at present, it would not be proper for a Christian to permit leeches to draw his blood. (Proverbs 30:15) Even where this was urged for medical reasons and the leeches would later be disposed of, the use of leeches would involve deliberately feeding blood to these creatures. That would conflict with the Bible’s indication that blood, being sacred and representing life, should be disposed of if it is removed from a body.

37

LEECHES?!? LEECHES!?! You gotta be kiddin' !! Ever seen this?

by Open mind in

on my recent "college courses" thread, i got this contribution from veradico and thought it deserved it's own thread.

it was news to me.

this is a partial quote:.

SnakesInTheTower

Purposely allowing mosquitoes to bite you is also a no-no!

my brothers used to let mosquitoes land on them and then as the skeeter started to gorge itself, my brothers would flex their muscles and the 'skeeter would explode (ok, burst) from the sudden increase in blood pressure.

no kidding, i seen it myself ...and by the way...these are the same fools that light their farts on fire with a lighter...almost burned their jeans....idiots....

SnakesInTheTower (of the "cant believe we came from the same gene pool" Sheep Class)

SnakesInTheTower

Posts by SnakesInTheTower

Beyond Bloodletting:FDA Gives Leeches a Medical Makeover

Beyond Bloodletting:
FDA Gives Leeches a Medical Makeover