Yoghurt and Fast-in(g)to the 60s.

Solid or liquid, for fast purposes? Just curious. Like A.S. I have decided to fast until I'm in the 60s. Good goal; achievable. 

Thank you to my new followers =) 26 already!!

And to begin my epic comment replies! Firstly, thank you all for commenting so much!!

"Vegetable Juice" post:

A.S. - haha I think my relationship with my physical self is like a mother with a child. Alternatively proud, inpatient, and hoping for the best. Not hating though!!

"Losing the plot a little" post:

A.S. - hmm. I know of nothing good that screws up your vision, but I am by no means a medical professional of any sort! High blood pressure, neurological issues like a space occupying lesion, "natural" changes like becoming short or long sighted, cataracts... and the big whammy: high blood sugar. But that only usually happens with diabetics! The other thing it could be would be dried eyes, contact lens issues, or a psycho-somatic thing - like, your mind is convincing you there is something there... Haha tbh, I wish I was in your boat. Purging is so awful to your body - it's really dangerous for throat cancer, not to mention losing teeth, etc.

Miana - to be honest, blood work shouldn't be that altered with fasting. If he is measuring your sugar levels, just make sure you have had a juice before hand and tell him about it if it's high glucose. For the biochemical results, make sure you have taken a multivitamin, and if iron studies are being done, make sure the vitamin includes iron. Uric acid can increase with fasts, but again, shouldn't really do so with juices but if you have had an issue with that look up a "gout" diet to cheat that.

Cinnamon: Thank you m'dear, I have no idea how well I did - *sigh*, uni. I am confused though, did I imply you were in the arts faculty or something ? :S

"Abortion petition" post:

A.S.: yes, me too! I can't believe most of australia is otherwise!

Liz: exactly! The government has no business forcing a woman to incubate something - it's HER body!

Miana: I am so jealous!! Where are you going?

Cinnamon: HAHA! I think I will select my burning outfit now. Just so I am ready... when the time comes.

Eva: Thank you for your comment, glad to hear from you! I really like knowing I have all you guys here keeping me on track towards my goal of 45kgs!

Ana.Gaia: I hope you read this comment... but thank you for sharing. Your post made me really angry at how you were treated! I cannot believe you were told all that! I was given the link from one of my medical student cousins in Adelaide and she told me that even from second year they are taught about "Post abortion grief syndrome" (apparently abortion can be "spontaneous" - which is what we call a miscarriage or "medical" - with RU486 or "surgical" - both of which we call terminations, the choice of which depends when in pregnancy it's needed), and that there is a whole counselling algorithm to help women after an abortion. 

I cannot believe you were told that it would be physically painless when doctors warn women before they get IUDs for contraception that they may experience cramping (normal) for up to 3 months, although at 7 weeks, an embryo/foetus/whatever you call it, is actually less than 2cm long, and so smaller than an IUD. 

Now, regarding the feeling of pain by a foetus. This is a somewhat tricky subject; but one which relates to my honours degree so I hope to clarify this for you - and for anyone else who is interested. First and foremost, that a concrete time at which a foetus can feel pain has not been established. Pro-life groups often mistakenly assuming certain reflexes are indicators of this. 

For instance, the deep tendon reflex called the "Babinski" reflex involves running a pointy-but-smooth object (picture the end of a rounded car key or a clicky top pen) is run firmly from the bottom of the sole of the foot, around the outer edge, and kind of over the top, finishing somewhat underneath the big toe. Do this to yourself; it does not hurt, but it the movement of your toes is evidence of a nervous system. These reflexes are present before the brain develops enough to feel "pain" as we refer to it (and after that ability is lost); but that test will let us know if there is some function at all, so it is done on coma patients, etc.

So this type of nervous system is not, and I repeat not, evidence of the ability to perceive pain. Pain is actually quite an advanced sensation that requires several areas of the brain to interpret, and these areas and the pathways on which the pain impulses need to travel are not actually fully finished until the 37th week. 

"In studies in animals, Ralston found that somatosensory neurons of the neocortex respond to peripheral noxious stimuli and proposed that "it does not appear necessary to postulate a subcortical mechanism for appreciation of pain in the fetus or neonate."⁴⁷ Thus, human newborns do have the anatomical and functional components required for the perception of painful stimuli. " Here.

However, for the purpose of anaesthesia, I believe it is used in foetal surgery from the 24th week onwards? I could be wrong there. I don't know if you have felt guilty because you thought you caused pain, but there is no reason to think that you did. Obviously your own physical and emotional pain is a different issue entirely and I wish you the best of luck dealing with it.

Lastly, you should have been told all this and I think it is fantastic that you can still support abortion even though you had this horrific experience.