Shurukian

I have a disease called Tietze's Disease. I was diagnosed shortly after Christmas in 2008, though I've had it for a few years now. I am sure that, unless I've told you about it, you've never heard of Tietze's Disease before. It's a very rare disease, where your rib tissue (the costal cartilages) inflame, and prevent movement of the ribs. It's very commonly misdiagnosed, and sometimes masks tumors, heart attacks, heart dysfunctions, and lung problems. I can't really decide if I want to have the disease, or have something else. Here's a basic run down: Because of my this, my ribs don't move. This means that I can't really exercise at a hard cardio pace. I rock climb, yes, but that doesn't get your heart pumping like running. I used to be a swimmer, and had to stop, because my limbs were getting so weak that I couldn't walk after races. I used to run around a lot, but now I'd be lucky to run a hundred meters. Basically, if my heart starts pumping hard, it needs more oxygen, and because of the limits on my lungs, I can't supply it. Because of that, I get oxygen deprived and eventually pass out. I've never actually ever passed out before, because I always know when to stop. When this first showed up however, I got pretty close a few times. I've been through every test on the planet for this disease. The pain of it is often said to be the same as having a heart attack... constantly. Because of the tightness of my ribs, the tissue pulled on my spine, and my spine now not only does a small S curve, but it also twists to the left about ten to fifteen degrees. This, of course, gives me extreme, chronic back pain. My stomach has also been pushed around by my tissue, and is located a little closer to the front of me than it should be. The result? I can move the entrance of my stomach around with my hand. Odd? You bet. When I didn't know this, I would sit in weird positions, and suddenly feel sick after a few moments. We thought I had a bunch of different problems. We never knew that my back, my exercise limitations, and my stomach were all from the same thing. The disease started manifesting around age thirteen. I was always an outrageously active child, and I started realizing that I could do less and less as the months would go on. I attributed it to growing up, and just thought that I was losing some of my energy. The summer of 2005, I was 14, and swimming a 100 meter major race against our top competitor in the league. They were killing us, so they had put me in with the 15 and over swimmers, because they knew I was possibly fast enough to win it. We needed the win. I swam as fast as I could, and at the end of my third lap, I started to feel dizzy. I was in first, so I kept pushing. Suddenly, it hit me like a freight train. I slowed down, my arms went weak, and I started gasping for breath. The pain in my chest was amazing. The girl in second was gaining on me fast, and I pulled the last of my adrenaline to finish the race. I think I finished second, but I don't really remember. I got to the wall, and hung on, gasping for breath. They needed to start the next race, so I used the last of my strength to pull myself out of the pool. I got up, walked three steps, and felt my legs giving out. I tried to get to the fence behind the starting blocks, to catch myself, but I only succeeded in falling between their storage shed and the fence, where no one could see me. I sat there for a good fifteen minutes, mainly because I couldn't move. I wasn't all that concerned, I just thought I had really used myself up in the race. After my heart slowed, and I stopped feeling as dizzy, I tested out walking and found that I could if I moved slow. I made it back to my parents, and told them what happened, mainly for selfish reasons. I didn't want to have to go to practice the next day. My mother immediately made a doctor appointment, and told me I wasn't allowed to swim anymore, unless they were relays and short distances. After this, the doctors become a blur to me. I remember going to my Pediatrician and having him tell me to start taking an over the counter medicine, a pill, that started with a P. I forget what it was. Needless to say, it didn't work, so I stopped taking it. After that, I was sent to the Asthma doctors. They tested my lung functions, took x-rays, and did breathing tests. Everything came back normal, but they put me on an Albuterol inhaler anyway. After my mother and I found out that I am one of the few people that get high off of Albuterol, they did more tests, which were still normal, and put me on a Zopenex inhaler. That still did nothing. After that, I was sent to the Cardiologist. They thought I had a bad heart. I had EKGs, Stress tests, Ultrasounds... everything you can think of. They were considering putting me on a constant heart monitoring machine, something that I'd have to wear to check if I was having miniature heart attacks during exercise. My Cardiologist told me that before we started me on equipment, he wanted me to see a special physical therapist. I thought he was stupid, but nonetheless agreed. By this time, I was seventeen, and had had a year and a half of constant medical tests. I was apathetic, and mostly willing to do anything. We went to the Physical Therapist in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and she spent 15 minutes with me, and told me I had Tietze's. I was amazed that I finally had an answer, and didn't necessarily believe her at first. After my second visit, I was convinced, mainly because everything that she did worked. I saw her a few times more, and then stopped, mainly because gas went over four dollars a gallon, and it was over an hour drive. We didn't have the money to keep going. She told me I should grow out of it, and it should stop soon, which I hoped for. It didn't happen. When I started college a year ago, I called Hershey Medical again, since she was on Medical leave for the entire summer. Of course, she was still on limited hours, and they couldn't accommodate my college schedule. I was out of luck. Since then, I've tried accupuncture, and a general Therapist. While my general Therapist, which I just finished up with last week, was a nice guy, he really had no clue how to treat my disease. So once again, I'll have to hunt down someone who knows the special kind of therapy that is needed for my disease. Hopefully I'll be able to manage it myself, without needing one for a while. That would be nice. Because of my disease, I sound like rice crispies. I can put my shoulders back, and my spine pops. Sometimes I can reach for a book, and my rib will crack. I swear, I'm the only person that I know that can crack their ribcage. It sounds like little taps. I went to get out of my car this morning, and my back popped three times just lifting up my bag. It makes me laugh that I sound like a cereal. One of the interesting things that this has given me is a horribly high pain tolerance level. I wake up with scratches and have no idea how they got there. I don't really feel my back pain that much anymore, unless I sleep badly. I get cuts and they don't really hurt. I woke up Monday morning with a big chunk of skin missing from my the knuckle of my pinky, and I have no idea how it got there. For some things, it's nice not to feel that much pain. My back feels like a rock. Giving me a massage is like trying to move the earth. My physical therapist had to use all of his body weight at first, just so I could feel it. For other times, it sucks. I don't necessarily like waking up looking like I've been beaten with forks in my sleep. Sometimes the random scratches get old. Will I grow out of it? God I hope so. Most cases of Tietze's don't last longer than six months. Mine has lasted four or five years now. I know someone who is going on twenty years with the disease now. I hope that won't be me. Soon, I hope, I'll be normal again. That would be nice. Until then, if I have a heart attack, I'm screwed, since that's what normal is to me. I've realized that a lot of people with diseases play this game, so if you're perfectly health, enjoy it, and we all hate you. When it comes down to it, I can't change what I have, and I'll deal with it fine. I look normal, I think normally, I'm okay. I won't let it limit me. So if you're ever looking for me, it's best to look to the cliffs... Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it. - Michael Jordan Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

Congratulations TPF. It's been a hard war, but you've come together over it, and that's such an important thing. Here's to the future, and rebuilding. It's good to be your ally.

Hah, so now I'm being accused, it's not just a 'well, maybe'. So, you finally going to come forward with that proof? Or will you continue to be stubborn to the fact that I've proved both your points wrong.

So now this changed from an accusation on TSI, to just an accusation on me. And yes, the evidence is in front of everyone. It just so happens that none of it is from you.

That's funny, link me to your proof? I don't see anything other than you believing something you heard, and insulting of us in back channels because of it. Is that what levels as proof for you, Londo? And you can clearly see what happened with Mary. I said it in my statement. Not everyone thought your "oh, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't even have terms!" statements were of a pure and kind heart.

Are you going to provide proof to counter my post, or are you going to do what you've been doing this whole thread, ignore it, and hope no one else catches on that you don't happen to have any?

Well even though I didn't tell anyone, he just kind of told everyone anyway. I thought I was accused of telling people he was bragging. For god's sakes, will someone get their story straight and tell me what I supposedly did? :s

You wrongly accuse me, and don't even think to ask me about it? Yes, I must believe EVERYTHING I hear from outside sources about my treaty partners. Especially nothing with evidence. Lets see. First we'll go with Menatoah: So according to you, you told me nothing, I then read your mind, and then proceeded to go tell TPF all about your evil plan. Because there is no way on this planet that TOOL would have informed their MDoAP partner that Athens was acting aggressively and threatening war. Now, we will move on to the allegations of me telling TPF that you were 'bragging'. When I later reviewed the post, the information in question wasn't the revenge aspect, but that I had supposedly said that Londo was 'bragging' about the NPO terms. The story? Mary got upset about how Londo was throwing around that he was the only one working on terms, and that he was doing so good to them, and took it as bragging, and him trying to shove it in their face. She got mad, and talked about it. End of story. What strikes me as funny, is that even though I informed you that it was supposedly Mary that told mhawk this, you neglected to tell your government about this, and kept it to yourself. Was I just a convenient target? Or did you simply lie to me in your trust? There's one thing I have to say to this. Prove it. I'm sick of offering proof and have you offer nothing but avoidance and your honorable word.

The only thing that your logs show, is that someone in NPO heard it, and told whoever informed you. Which doesn't look sneaky at all. Other than that, your logs posted before then absolutely disgust me. Never have I ever had a treaty partner treat my alliance with such disrespect. I was never spoken to about any issues, just slandered in back channels. I see what kind of allies Athens is now. All I can say is, thank you, you did us one hell of a favor. Do you treat all your treaty partners like this, Londo? I remember coming to you and talking to you about issues I had heard, and you didn't have the decent respect to do the same for me. Why wasn't I spoken to about such issues? I've provided logs that have proved both your accusations absolutely incorrect, and all you've managed to do is make yourself look like you insult your allies behind their back, make accusations with no proof, and possibly spy on the NPO. Unless Athens and NPO normally talk like good old friends, which I doubt. Seriously, stop while you're still swimming. You're hammering a hole in the bottom of your own boat. When it comes down to it, you have no proof of what you've said, and 'Well we thought it!' isn't a good excuse. If you want to go that way, then I'll believe the rumor that you ordered LSF to attack us in the war. I heard it, so it's true, right? This thread disgusts me. EDIT:: So tell me Jgoods... Is that what you approve of as official 'review' of an alliance treaty? I've already showed that I recieved no information from Londo about the Menatoah incident, and if anything, he lied to you, and the rest of the government about spreading information. I also told Londo that I wasn't the one referenced in mhawk's post, which it seems he also conveniently forgot to mention. So instead, we get called 'pricks' for something that we didn't even do. I love how Athens' government came to talk to me about these allegations. And Londo knows very well that us talking about my relationship issues and his love of guns, which was our normal conversation, would not be something that TPF would be horribly interested in. And the only reason that I went to speak with him, is because he simply became too important to spend any time querying me. I dumped nothing. I shared nothing. Any information getting passed around is your own faults, and it's time you live up to it.

Yeah, and Shurukian told me. O wai-

Uhm, we have an MDP with them sir. And As for how the list went, our embassies are alphabetical by color. Naturally Aqua comes first. And Athens starts with A. That is the only reason that it is on the top. How gracious of you to be so respectful in our thread, when we were nothing but respectful in yours. Really, class act there.

I was referring to the early on portion, as was bolded, to show that Jack's claim was incorrect. I have no intention, or will, to prove that Athens had some scheme. Frankly, I don't really care what he meant by it. I'm not about to go after him for it, either. My point was made that Londo was speaking of an earlier time of Athens. Jack just apparently led me to a point that he probably shouldn't have.

Oh, and I think you should include the full log, if you want to cut and paste.

...... That's referring to your past. ........ Like, a year and a half ago. ........... How is that relevant to anything today, and how is that any sort of information that anyone would be amazed at? Doesn't almost EVERY new alliance not have banks? Maybe I'm just missing something here as to how that's relevant?

Excuse me, I don't know who's telling you what, but I was never informed of Athens bank nations or aid for bill locked nations, and frankly, I didn't want to know. Our treaty was suspended for the war. Our conversation was a conversation of me asking him about a rumor that I'd heard, about how Athens had ordered LSR, at the time, to attack us. Londo and I talked it over, and found that it was a false rumor. Then, suddenly, mhawk made an OWF post where he referenced a mutual friend, and Londo automatically assumed it was me. I woke up to angry queries and messages, and you can see me talking to Londo about it below. We've already cleared this up. When I later reviewed the post, the information in question wasn't the revenge aspect, but that I had supposedly said that Londo was 'bragging' about the NPO terms. The story? Mary got upset about how Londo was throwing around that he was the only one working on terms, and that he was doing so good to them, and took it as bragging, and him trying to shove it in their face. She got mad, and talked about it. End of story. EDIT:: I addressed this above. I went to bed that night because mhawk started a call with Moo and Mary that lasted forever, and I was tired of waiting. So yes, it all came together in the same night. And which rumor, the one that you were bragging, or the one that you wanted revenge? As stated earlier, I think everyone on Bob thought Athens wanted revenge, and I don't think that would be much of a secret to run around with. As for the bragging, I didn't even know that was an issue, and the explanation of the situation is above. I stopped asking you about Menatoah because Mia added me into the call with mhawk, where she was telling him and Airikr what was going on, and asking for advice. If you noticed, you avoided most of my questions, and gave me vague answers. It made you reconsider? Our ODP partner was considering going to war, and had supposedly been working on it for weeks, and hadn't informed us. I think that made me reconsider a little more than it made you. So I've now proven both of the supposed times I've 'leaked' information to be incorrect. Do I really need to keep going, or do you want to try to slander me some more?

Wow, spreading all throughout Bob.... Funny, I didn't hear of it. Which conversation would that be?

Dear Londo, Please see: Don't try to change this around. And Desperado can say whatever he wants, he doesn't speak for TPF, or TSI. We cleared this up months ago, and suddenly you're bringing it up again. Shall I get started on dumping the two gigs of logs or something? How can I prove something I never said? Edit: I have three years of logs. I have never spoken to Mary the Fantabulous. She played me once in scrabble, and that's the extent of our communication. So no, she has never told me anything. However, mhawk told me when I called him very angrily, that he was referring to Mary, not me, in his post that got Londo all mad.

Yes, I don't have logs to prove what Mary said. I'm sorry, but I don't normally share logs with Mary, therefore, I have no proof of what she said. I also can't show you logs of what I didn't say, unless I show you all 2 gigs of my logs. I don't think they'd fit on the forums here well. Use your head. Edit: It also still proves half of Londo's claim wrong, as he never told me anything about Menatoah. I was actually told by mhawk, who added me to a skype call that him and Mia were having about the situation.

With Menatoah? Let's look at what you told me about that: (I apologize for the horrible formatting.) Yeah, there's no way that TPF found that out from their MDoAP with TOOL. Nah, TOOL would never tell them about possible war. Instead, I read your mind about something you didn't tell me. I'm such a horrible log dumper. Edit: This was also the last conversation I had with Londo. This will tell you why we were cancelling over lack of communication.

Hmmm, so we have one conversation in July, where you tell me how tired you are, and then you don't respond to me, and go to bed. Then we have a conversation in the very beginning in June of how you misinterpreted something and thought I did something I didn't. Yeah. Our two conversations in three months gives me lot to log dump and squeal about. I also find it funny that I supposedly 'log dumped' at a time when I didn't have my laptop, and was at a home computer which not only didn't log, didn't run IRC. And the person who made the comment has confirmed to Athens that it was another source that log dumped the information to him. But no, I'm just so evil. I may have had a conversation with you, but the logs were in an HP workshop 500 miles away. But hey, maybe HP log dumped it. They're jerks like that.

Well, I'm not sure of how any information leaked to any sources, as Athens conveniently told us absolutely nothing during the last war. Needless to say I agree that our PIAT clause of our ODP was definitely violated. As to which side, I'm sure we shall disagree on.

Don't worry MO, you'll be fine. If EU wouldn't have done what TGE says, they wouldn't have done anything about it anyway. They did the same thing to us when TSI formed... it's simply because the leadership as a whole is insecure. I know RoA, and they simply want to exist on their own. I don't think they're sneaking around in back channels to try and take down TGE. TGE talks a lot, and while they might try to screw with you behind the scenes, they won't do anything publicly. I'd just tell you to find better friends and move on, because that sort of treatment just isn't worth it.

RAD's always been lax on wars. Their MoW attacked us during the Karma war, and we were just told that he was a rogue, but nothing could be done. >_> I believe he's still their MoW. Nice dude though, when he wasn't nuking my Econ minister.

I'm very happy that you reached a million yourself! We should have a joint party somewhere. Onward to two mil for both of us!

Yes, Rain sucked, we got out first. Taller, yes. Legal, but barely! You're welcome. Yes it was.