CEO shooter Luigi Mangione’s Reddit History

There’s reason to believe that u/mister_cactus is the UHC shooting suspect Luigi Mangione. Credit to this comment which is where I first saw this. Dug into the account for the fun of it.

The account is suspended, so all record of its posts/comments comes from Reddit archives.

Archive of all posts from the account: Primary, Secondary

Archive of all comments from the account: Primary, Secondary

Both primary/secondary links should have the same content, but included both in case one goes down or something.

Proof

It’s known that he has a Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat, and more, while being a tech bro, so it’s no surprise that he’d be on Reddit as well.

Here are some snippets of evidence that I compiled in order to prove that the account belonged to Mangione. Note that the first point here is pretty cut and dry, everything else just further confirms it.

Linked to his own GitHub

He commented this on r/FTC (robotics competition for high schoolers?). Notice that it links to his code on GitHub ... and it’s Luigi Mangione’s GitHub. Yeah, pretty cut and dry lol.

He was in fact into robotics in high school (and he would be in high school in 2016 so that checks out).

Unfortunately I typed the rest of this out before finding that piece of definitive evidence, so here it is if anyone’s curious:

Attended the University of Pennsylvania during the same time frame

Luigi Mangione graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020. This image shows that the Reddit account posted a question about housing in r/UPenn in 2017, which would check out.

Was a computer science undergraduate student

Luigi Mangione majored in computer science at the University of Pennsylvania. This image shows that the Reddit account made a post where he says “I’m an undergraduate pursuing a degree in computer science,” again lining up with when he was at UPenn.

Same age

In 2018, the Reddit account made a post to r/sleep. Here’s an image.

It mentions being a 20-year-old male. 2018 was 6 years ago, and he is now 26-years-old, so this lines up (I do not think we know his exact day of birth).

Shared an interest in Ted Kaczynski

According to Mangione’s GoodReads account, he left a positive review for the Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto and called him a prodigy and political revolutionary. Source.

The Reddit account likely posted this video to r/tedkaczynski. Technically all we know is that he had a post on r/tedkaczynski with the same title as the post I just linked and his post was two days after the original — we can’t see what the attached video was. Given the identical title and being in the same week, it was likely a crosspost.

IMAGE

Had serious back problems

The Reddit account was very active on r/Spondylolisthesis. According to Google, “Spondylolisthesis is a condition where a vertebra in the spine slips out of place, usually in the lower back.”

This includes this post where he listed athletic success stories as motivation to other people suffering from the condition.

Here’s a news article that mentions Luigi Mangione’s back problems.

Aggravated injury due to surfing

Last year (2023), the Reddit account says that they’re 25M (again, age lines up) and says, “I first aggravated my spondy 1.5 years ago after surfing.” Image

This lines up with Luigi Mangione. The following article says:

CBS News has also learned Mangione had been living at a co-working, co-living space called Surfbreak in Honolulu up until 2022, when a spokesperson for that community says he left due to a lifelong back injury that was exacerbated by surfing and hiking.

Sources tell CBS News back pain was a major factor in his life and appeared to be a source of pain and frustration for him.

Shared an interest in Agronomics

According to Google, “Agronomics is a London-listed company that invests in cellular agriculture, which is the production of agricultural products from microorganisms and cell cultures. Agronomics uses biotechnology, synthetic biology, and tissue engineering to produce proteins, fats, or tissues”

Here is a post from Luigi’s Twitter account talking about the company.

Ton of comments from the Reddit account on r/agronomics, here’s an image of a few.

Lived in Hawaii at some point

I don’t know Luigi Mangione’s entire life story, but the surfing thing occurred in Hawaii and his LinkedIn has his location as Hawaii. Well, in 2023 this Reddit account commented on r/Oahu that he loves stargazing at “Ke’ana Point”. Here’s an image. That’s in Hawaii.

Takeaways

Okay, now that we know that it’s him... what does the Reddit account tell us?

Here are some things that I noticed from its comment history.

He’s a kind guy

Most of his Reddit activity is on r/Spondylolisthesis and it’s rather uninteresting in the sense that it’s... mostly just him being nice to other people, giving them advice and motivation.

Here are some quotes from r/Spondylolisthesis specifically.

“You’ll do great, whatever you decide. [...] We can’t be afraid to live our own lives to the fullest!”
“Of course. Also feel free to DM me if you have any questions in the future”
“Sorry you’re also a member of this shitty club, but know that you’ll be fine whatever you decide”
“Hope that helps and sorry you have to go through this”
“Surgery is scary, but the sooner you get past this, the better. Good luck with the neurosurgeon consult!”

Pretty mundane stuff, but with how much douchebaggery you see on the Internet, it’s a breath of fresh air in a sense. Most of these are parts of longer comments where he gives detailed thoughts / advice, you can see those in the archive.

Some of his interests include

Football: he commented on r/nflmemes and r/fantasyfootball

Pokémon Go: he commented on r/pokemongo back in 2016, along with r/pokemongodev nd r/TheSilphRoad.

Flipping: he commented on r/Flipping and r/ThriftStoreHauls

Bioinformatics: he commented on r/bioinformatics

“One Bag”: he was active on r/onebag in 2024. According to the subreddit description, it is “an ‘urban’ travel community devoted to the idea of helping people lug around less crap; onebag travel”

He was struggling in more ways than one

On top of his back problems, he commented on r/BrainFog, r/visualsnow, and r/ibs.

According to WebMD, “Brain fog isn’t a medical condition. It’s a term used for certain symptoms that can affect your ability to think. You may feel confused or disorganized or find it hard to focus or put your thoughts into words.”

According to Wikpedia, “Visual snow syndrome (VSS) is an uncommon neurological condition in which the primary symptom is that affected individuals see persistent flickering white, black, transparent, or colored dots across the whole visual field.”

And IBS is irritable bowel syndrome.

And for what it’s worth, the brain fog activity was in 2018, before COVID (it’s apparently a reported symptom of COVID).

Here’s a neat snippet of a long form comment on r/BrainFog during his time at UPenn six years ago.

Working through the degree has certainly been tougher than anything I ever even thought I could handle. Granted, I went from almost entirely A’s at a tough school to just passing my classes and not understanding anything while putting in probably twice the amount of work.

Funny how you mention strategy games. Last year when it all started, I used to play chess daily against my roommate. I used it as a metric to see how the brain fog was improving. Eventually, I just stopped since I could never remember any strategy. He would use the same moves against me day after day and I just wouldn’t remember them.

I think it helps to latch onto something for motivation. My choice to study CS and Bio wasn’t completely random — after spending so much time with brain fog, I’ve come to realize how little is understood about it, and I’d love to change that. Once I get past this, I hope to at least help a few of the people on this sub.

Here’s an image of the whole comment.

Miscellaneous

There are two other random Reddit comments he had outside of his usual subreddits that I found somewhat interesting.

Both of these comments were on an r/facepalm post from April 2024 about Elon Musk having a transgender daughter.

One specific comment thread made fun of Musk for being high on ketamine, and then a random Redditor basically argued that people should be more open minded about substances that can be used to treat depression. The comment was downvoted, and Mangione replied “Weird double standard by reddit here regarding treatments for depression. Now sure how this is being downvoted”. Image here. There is some evidence on Mangione’s Twitter defending drug use as well, including psychedelics.

This other exchange was on the same post about Musk.

A user commented “Feels pretty silly to not believe there is at least some social contagion element at play.” They sit at -58 points on this comment.
A person replied “I grew up really religious and still turned out trans. Just took me years of depression because my family wouldn’t accept. No one ever talked about trans people.”
Original commenter said “DID I SAY TRANS PEOPLE DONT EXIST FOR FUCKS SAKE? This is why no one can have a conversation. 10 downvotes and been reported already for saying there might be some aspect of growing trans population resulting from social contagion. Fuck me, I guess I’m just satan.”
There was a long back-and-forth between these two fellas, as Reddit tends to go, but at this point Mangione’s account replied and said: “This is one of the crazier comment threads I’ve seen on reddit, that reminds me how much of an echo chamber this site is. How the hell are you being reported for merely suggesting that both “nature” and “nuture” play roles in human behavior. Literally nothing bigoted or controversial about that statement.”

The elephant in the room

The obvious questions: Did he talk about healthcare? UHC? Brian Thompson?

No bomb shells, exactly.

In 2018, in a thread on r/IBS, a user asked him if insurance covered a test that Mangione received from his doctor.

Mangione’s account responded that “BCBS covered my test”. Image

Now, that was six years ago, but for what it’s worth, BCBS is “Blue Cross Blue Shield”. They are NOT United Healthcare (UHC). They’re actually the company that recently received criticism for a newly announced anesthesia payment policy and ended up reversing it in light of Brian Thompson’s death. Source

This doesn’t really mean anything because it was six years ago.

The only other somewhat adjacent thing that I found was a comment in response to a post where somebody asked for help convincing a surgeon that they needed spinal fusion surgery because their pain is unbearable.

Mangione’s account gave multiple suggestions, including: “Tell them you are “unable to work” / do your job. We live in a capitalist society. I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.” Image of the full comment.

Conclusion

It would be silly for me to tell you not to blindly trust the media and then tell you to blindly trust me. So do your own research if you’re interested. The links at the top of the post will allow you to do so.

My take?

Kind-hearted, smart kid. Suffered from a host of problems, far more than anybody, let alone a young man in their 20s should deal with.

According to his Reddit activity, he suffered from:

Debilitating back pain
Irritable bowel syndrome
Brain fog
Visual snow

Nonetheless, he came to Reddit to help others with the same problems and give them the same motivation that seemed to help him.

I won’t speculate on why he did what he did for the sake of objectivity, but I hope people engage on the topic with a better sense of who he might’ve been, because there will certainly be an attempt to paint him in a specific way.

Posts

r/tedkaczysnki — Streaming overdose 2024 , China — May 25 2024

/r/tedkaczysnki ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat May 25 2024 14:23:01 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

r/interestingasfuck • Streaming overdose 2024 , China

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

/r/onebag ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Apr 05 2024 18:21:55 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

[REMOVED]

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

/r/onebag ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Apr 05 2024 18:15:51 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

[REMOVED]

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

/r/onebag ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Apr 05 2024 18:03:44 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

[REMOVED]

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

/r/onebag ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Apr 05 2024 17:25:38 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I originally wrote this as a personal exercise, but figured I may as well post here in case someone finds it interesting/useful. It’s half-journal, half-packing list and details my setup that I find to be the perfect balance between minimalism and practicality. For the last 2 months specifically, it’s held up great in Asia across various countries and climates, and throughout some cross-country motorcycling.

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/dkqkn11bnosc1.jpg]

I remember one time as a young child playing with friends. Fantasizing, we each sketched our ideal “dream home.” Everyone else drew intricate mansions, complete with elaborate swimming pools and multi-car garages. I sketched the floor plan of a small square house, with four identically-sized square rooms: a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen/dining room, and a bathroom/laundry room. A place to sleep, a place to be, a place to eat, and a place to.. uh.. excrete. It was everything I needed. Nothing more, nothing less. They thought I was weird. I thought their mansions were full of lots of bullshit.

I suppose I’ve always been hyper-obsessed with efficiency, and I’ve never been very materialistic. Those traits have persisted into adulthood. They are why I became an engineer. Today, I may have even one-upped my kid self: perhaps the ultimate vessel for minimal, efficient living — surpassing even a tiny square home — is a single backpack.

To be clear, I don’t live out of a backpack full time, nor do I want to, but I enjoy doing so comfortably for months at a time. For certain discrete periods of time, when traveling, and wanting to fully engage in the experience, it’s a useful practice. Why one bag?

First, there are the practical reasons regarding air travel. “No rushing to the airport early to check bags, no searching for an overhead compartment, no bag fees or worrying about stuff getting lost, and no adjusting plans to drop off luggage before an adventure,” explains indefinite onebagger Jeremy Maluf.

Second, there are the more philosophical reasons. There is a sense of weightlessness, freedom, and self-sufficiency that accompanies one bag travel. At some point, a bag becomes small and light enough that it can be carried without consequence, no longer of any meaningful concern. “Things” are simply no longer a factor in mobility. Further, the constraint of a single bag is a useful practice in intentionality, and it’s a good reminder that we’re able to go long periods of time without needing many things. Finally, without luggage there is a very real sense of traveling as an adventurer, rather than as a tourist.

It has taken me several years of trial and error, as well as a good chunk of time obsessively researching small things, to whittle my gear down comfortably to a single inconspicuous backpack. What follows is a breakdown of my bag. I believe it achieves the perfect balance: any more gear, and the bulk/weight of the bag becomes cumbersome; any less gear, and it becomes impractically minimalistic for daily needs.

This post is far from original. It’s just a drop in the ocean of travel influencer blogs detailing onebag setups. As such, I’m not trying to impart any groundbreaking wisdom here. It’s just a personal exercise in appreciating what I have, admiring its efficiency, and brainstorming potential tweaks. Most importantly, it was just fun to compile.

I’m not trying to sell anything here (none of the links below are affiliate links), though some part of me does hope someone else may find this list useful.

Key:
⭐️ = Legitimately game-changing gear

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/6iqjmqyfnosc1.jpg]

Backpacks

Tortuga Setout Divide
What really sets this backpack apart is its solid capacity given its small dimensions (thanks to its suitcase-like shape). It’s the most spacious bag I found that still fits under airline seats, though I mostly store it overhead to save legroom (technically it exceeds “personal item” size restrictions, but I’ve never had an issue). Further, this bag is incredibly functional and for $125 it’s held up for 4 years without a single sign of wear. It checks all my main boxes for a solid backpack: comfortable straps, water bottle pocket, quick access pocket, laptop pocket with false bottom, and organizer pocket for miscellaneous small items. The main pocket can be halfway unzipped from the top to access like a regular backpack (great when on the go), or fully unzipped to open clamshell like a suitcase (great when unpacking in the room). The four external clips are super useful for attaching large or dirty items externally. I modified it slightly by cutting out the bulky internal luggage clip. The bag has been discontinued by Tortuga.
Matador Freefly16 ⭐️
My favorite item on this list. I’ll never use a drawstring bag again. Rainproof, durable, and ultra-compressible. Features zipper pocket, water bottle pockets, and comfortable straps. Unlike other ultra-compressible bags it’s comfortable, aesthetic, and holds its shape. Perfect mini-pack for beach, hiking, and day-trips. I also use it as a gym bag and grocery bag.
S-Biner
Clipped on the outside of my pack. Strong, tiny S-shaped carabiner with near infinite utility. I mostly use it to clip bags to the outside of my backpack when I need extra space. $5 on Amazon.

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/tx73hf9mnosc1.jpg]

Tech

Apple MacBook Air M2 13-inch
A MacBook. It’s portable, lightweight, and has crazy battery life. Charges at full speed via my tiny Anker charging brick.
Apple iPhone 13 Mini
Incredible value at $450 refurbished. All the best iPhone features without the hefty price tag. Fantastic dual camera system (12MP main and ultra wide) lets me document life in HD. Supports two eSIMs, which is godsend for international travel and avoids fumbling around with physical SIM cards. Small and light in my pocket. Okay battery encourages minimal phone use.
Apple AirPods Pro ⭐️
Switches seamlessly between my Mac and iPhone. Noise-cancelling is a must-have for flights and gym, and impressive enough that I don’t need to travel with large over-ear headphones. I use these COMPLY foam tips or they’ll fall out of my ears. This generic silicone case lets me clip to things so I don’t lose them.
Samsung Duo Plus 256GB Flash Drive
USB-C flash drive with built-in USB-A adapter compatible with all devices. Stores my movie backlog and a backup of my digital assets

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/u28ad85snosc1.jpg]

Charging

Anker Powercore III 5000
Nothing crazy. Tiny power bank I bought for 3500 yen ($23) in Tokyo. Charges my phone twice. Anker is a solid brand.
Anker Nano II 45W USB-C Charger ⭐️
Tiny and fast! Single power brick that charges my MacBook and every other device in my bag. Gone are the days of the massive MacBook power adapter hogging bag real estate, blocking multiple power outlets and falling out of the wall. $28 on Amazon.
Apple USB-C to Lightning Cable
Charges my iPhone and AirPods.
Generic Braided USB-C to USB-C Cable
Charges my MacBook, power bank, and drone.
inCharge X Mini 6-in-1 Charging Cable ⭐️
A tiny, universal backup cable in case either of the above cables is lost or broken.
Generic Mini USB-A to USB-C Adapter
Useful for charging on airplanes, buses, etc when there are USB-A ports but no outlets. $9 on Amazon.

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/1d58yj9mnosc1.jpg]

Clothing

Eagle Creek Pack-It Clean/Dirty Half Cube ⭐️
The single most important item in enabling everything to fit in a single backpack. Fits my entire mobile wardrobe in a compact, easy to organize cube. I can simply remove it from my pack when arriving at a destination, freeing my bag to serve as a daypack. The two-sided design separates clean from dirty clothes while still consolidating everything in a single cube of consistent size. This is a far better system than having to manage and pack separate clean and dirty cubes whose sizes will vary over time. Discontinued by Eagle Creek; new version.
Eagle Creek Pack-It Isolate Compression Cube S
Useful for isolating the very dirtiest/smelliest clothes, especially socks. The strong compression zipper seriously compacts items and saves space.
Generic Shoe Bag
Simple. Isolates smelly shoes.
Uniqlo Pocketable Parka
Ultra light, tiny compressible rain jacket. Seems waterproof, but has yet to be tested in a true downpour.
Rip Curl Boardwalks ⭐️
2-3x: one khaki, one washed navy, and/or one salmon. Hybrid shorts that double as a swim trunks, so I don’t need to pack a bathing suit and can hop in the ocean at any time. Pricey but high quality; I’ve worn them weekly for nearly 3 years with no signs of wear. I bought them half-off on Black Friday.
Thermal Base Layer
Ultra-warm, lightweight long-sleeve crew and leggings for cold weather that can be layered under anything. Avoids the need to pack bulky warm clothing. Specifically, an Under Armour crew and Uniqlo HeatTech tights.
Shoes
[Variable by climate/location] Usually flip flops + tennis shoes, or tennis shoes + Stan Smiths will cover all bases.
Clothes
[Variable by climate/location] Underwear, socks, shirts, tanks, Adidas joggers, jeans, athletic shorts, athletic shirts.

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/oqdn1mamnosc1.jpg]

Toiletries

Toiletry Kit
Generic case, toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, nail clippers, tweezers, mini first aid (band-aids, Neosporin, Tylenol, anti-acid), mini deodorant, mini shampoo and body wash.
Wahl Half Pint Trimmer
Tiny electric trimmer for both shaving and body grooming. Works dry and saves the need to pack shaving cream. It’s not the best electric trimmer, but the smallest cordless one I could find with decent reviews. Powered via a single AA battery. It’s a bit weak so shaving is slower than I’d like. I’m still on the lookout for a compact USB-C rechargeable trimmer, but have yet to find one.

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/79qr8g78oosc1.jpg]

Mini Kit

Generic zipper pouch
AirTag
For tracking. God forbid this backpack gets lost or stolen.
Safety pins + zip ties + Ziploc baggies
Useful for repairing backpack or other items. Ziplock baggies are always handy.
Small combination lock
For hostel lockers. Combination lock saves the need to keep track of a key.
Earplugs
SIM card removal tool

[REMOVED IMAGE: https://preview.redd.it/rloommamnosc1.jpg]

Miscellaneous

Hydro Flask 24oz Standard Mouth
Keeps cold drinks cold for 24 hours. There are few things more satisfying in life than ice water on a tough hike or in a hot climate. 24oz is too small, so eventually I will replace with the 32oz lightweight widemouth. Only downside with Hydro Flasks is that they dent easily when dropped, and dents break their insulation, so I’ve had to replace mine once.
House of Clouds Microfiber Beach Towel ⭐️
The perfect beach towel. Super compact, so I bring it everywhere. Microfiber material picks up no sand, so I never track sand into my bag. Unlike many other lightweight microfiber towels, it still feels like a solid towel. It’s large and thick enough to lay comfortably on, and absorbent enough to dry off well at the beach or shower.
Money Clip Wallet
Compact and holds my state ID, cash, PNC debit card, and:
Capital One Quicksilver Visa ⭐️: In my opinion, the ultimate all-around credit card. No foreign-transaction fee, no annual fee, flat 1.5% cash back on everything with no redemption minimum, and no rewards or points fuss. It also has great digital features, including the ability to generate unique virtual credit card numbers for each online vendor, and the ability to instantly enable/disable these virtual cards which is useful for avoiding unwanted recurring subscriptions.
AOOKO Sunglasses
This Chinese website DHgate.com sells sunglasses for $15 under the “AOOKO” brand that definitely aren’t perfect Ray-Ban replicas complete with branding, cases, and packaging. Shipping to the US takes a month. Fun fact: one eyewear company, Luxottica, holds a monopoly on the sunglasses industry and controls 80% of the world’s eyewear brands such as Ray-Ban, Persol, and Oakley. They also own retailers Sunglass Hut, LensCrafters, and Pearle. This is why sunglasses are unfairly priced and Ray-Bans cost $200.
Generic Bullet Journal ⭐️
For years I experimented with nearly a dozen digital task management apps. None of them worked. I similarly tried, and failed, to journal consistently during this time. Then the Bullet Journal Method came along and solved both those problems in one fell swoop. Such a simple method simultaneously made more productive, more intentional, and less stressed. I use a generic $10 dotted notebook from Amazon with some great little features including page numbers, two bookmark ribbons, a pencil loop, and inner pockets.
A Book
Relatively bulky and heavy but worth it to me. A Kindle would obviously save space, but I just can’t stand reading digitally. A physical book A) is more satisfying to hold, B) is more spatially intuitive in my mind, C) allows physical note-taking, and D) forces me to focus on a single topic rather than be tempted by massive digital library. Additionally, the single-book constraint forces a very intentional choice and enhances travel by setting a mental theme (either matching local history/culture, or the main activity I’m partaking in) for a given trip.
Spiral notebook
Also bulky and heavy, but I like scrap paper to jot notes, draw diagrams, and organize my thoughts clearly. Digital notes just aren’t the same, and I don’t like to pollute my bullet journal with scrap notes.
BIC mechanical pencils
Pen
Passport + photocopies
Chain

Sometimes

DJI Mini 2 Drone
Tiny 249g drone with an impressive 12MP camera and 30 minute battery life. I can throw it in my Freefly16 pack for a hike and barely notice it’s there. This “BUMB” medium-size organizer case from Amazon fits the drone and controller perfectly with great padding. I obsessively searched the measurements of every organizer, tech pouch, and pencil case on Amazon until I found this, because all the dedicated Mini 2 cases are unnecessarily huge for such a small drone. Great use of my time. Also, I ironed on this SpaceX DM-2 mission flight patch from the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon, because I am a nerd.
Hiking boots
Pair of North Face hiking boots I got on Black Friday.

Possible Additions and Tweaks

Rubber bands + small duct tape roll
Additional repair materials for the mini kit.
Hydro Flask 32oz Lightweight Widemouth
Current 24oz capacity bottle doesn’t go very far. The lightweight series 32oz is nearly identical size and weight, with an additional 33% capacity.
USB-C Rechargeable AA Battery
Effectively makes the Wahl trimmer “USB-C chargeable.” Avoids the current issue where if my AA battery dies the razor is dead until I go out and buy another battery.
Wahl Peanut Cordless Trimmer
Upgrade to the low-power Wahl Half Pint which takes forever to shave with. Includes attachment combs unlike the Half Pint. Pricey at almost $80.
Lightweight packable jacket

Epilogue

So that’s the bag. What next? Can it get any more minimal than living out of one bag?

Maybe.

In high school, I was fascinated with the idea of living out of a tin can. Well, not “living” that way, but being able to survive in the wild using nothing more than a survival kit small enough to fit in an altoids can. The sort of thing, like a first aid kit, that you throw in the trunk of your car. So that in case you get stranded somehow, you could survive for a week or so before rescue.

I actually had built my own, though you can buy pre-made ones cheaply. For what it’s worth, the “meta” for the best pocket survival kit as of 2013, was the SOL Pocket Survival Pak Plus. It was the clear consensus among pocket survival kit reviewers, people who would literally go out into the woods for days at a time trying to survive with them.

Next post: “Part Two: One Can”.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Athletic Success Stories — Aug 3 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Aug 03 2023 23:11:04 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

It can be easy to get caught up in the plethora of horror stories on the internet. When my spondy went bad on me last year (23M) it was completely devastating as a young athletic person. Seemingly all I could read on the internet was that I was destined to chronic pain and a desk job for the rest of my life. That representation was terrifying, inaccurate and completely destroyed me until I realized the silent majority of fusions are highly successful. Hoping this can help others who find themselves in the same place!

This is not to encourage surgery per se, but just to provide reassurance that athletic life is totally normal after fusion if/when the surgery is necessary. This list has more success stories than anyone probably wants to read through. That’s kinda the point — there’s tons!

Professional Athletes

Cezar Mutante (UFC fighter, L5/S1 360 fusion)
spinedoctormiami.com/detailed-testimonials/cezar-ferreira-testimonial/
instagram.com/p/BwNBfHMH6vu/

Sarah Griffith (Pro Soccer, L5/S1 fusion)
indystar.com/story/sports/college/purdue/2020/07/08/purdue-womens-soccer-sarah-griffith-spinal-fusion-return/5373811002/
instagram.com/sarahgriffithh/

Tito Ortiz (UFC fighter, L4-L5-S1 fusion)

Nate Diaz (UFC, L2-3 L4-L5, still rolls at 51)
reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/12uiemj/comment/jh7zz41/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Tiger Woods (Golf, L5/S1 ALIF)Went on to win the masters after fusion

Taylor Knox (Pro Surfer, 35 years since L4-S1 fusion)
arcmethodcourses.com/blog/the-doctors-told-him-he-would-never-surf-again

“8 NHL players underwent lumbar fusion with successful return to play”
asianspinejournal.org/journal/Figure.php?xn=asj-2019-0376.xml&id=

Leah Smith (Jr Olympic gymnast, L5/S1 fusion)
youtube.com/watch?v=T5oHqf411Vg
instagram.com/leahsmithgymnastics2021/

Plushenko (Olympic Ice Skater, several extensive surgeries, ended his career but 8 years after retirement still doing these crazy jumps)
reddit.com/r/FigureSkating/comments/qtsrdq/plushenkos_3a_8_years_after_retirement_dont/

Regular Folks

Ultramarathons, L3-S1
reddit.com/r/Spondylolisthesis/comments/vuk1ep/comment/ifgmxyp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
reddit.com/r/Spondylolisthesis/comments/xjk1t2/comment/ipbt3mx/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Active life (basketball, soccer), L5/S1
reddit.com/r/spinalfusion/comments/k808wq/comment/gewv4sh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Jiu Jitsu, 3-level 360 fusion
youtube.com/watch?v=avDeia0WeOo
reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/becyws/comment/i3ns4nh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

BJJ and Muay Thai, T1-L4 scoliosis fusion
reddit.com/r/martialarts/comments/8wnztw/comment/e1x7k00/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Lifetime of active life, 38 years since Grade 3 spondy fusion
reddit.com/r/Spondylolisthesis/comments/kup4ux/for_those_who_have_had_a_fusion/giycb1v/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3

Collegiate Golfer, ALIF
hudsonvalleyscoliosis.com/celebrities-scoliosis/stacy-lewis/

Tae Kwon Do, L5/S1 fusion
reddit.com/r/taekwondo/comments/eezhy4/comment/fbxj72b/

Surfing 9 months after L5/S1 fusion
reddit.com/r/surfing/comments/lla8c9/comment/gnqqmzn/

Jiu Jitsu, 3-level fusion
reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/1s0vj6/comment/cdt543q/

Boxing, L1-L5 fusion
reddit.com/r/scoliosis/comments/k4uyfp/comment/geb44kt/

BJJ, lumbar fusion
spinehealth.org/mixed-martial-arts-back-pain/

Sprinting, backflips after fusion
youtube.com/watch?v=-o2HSMOPwhY

Working out after fusion
youtube.com/watch?v=wpFXeLuvg-4

Running, climbing, weightlifting — 360 fusion
youtube.com/watch?v=5FeDcEFcXLE

BJJ, 5 years post L5/S1
youtube.com/watch?v=a4cPNYz_DZ8

Skiing, badminton, mountain biking, tennis, climbing — L5/S1
facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10101166418330170

Skydiving, 400 jumps, 10 years post L4-S1
dropzone.com/forums/topic/236356-jumping-with-a-fused-spine%3F/

Skydiving, 17 years post L1-L5
dropzone.com/forums/topic/236356-jumping-with-a-fused-spine%3F/

BJJ black belt
reddit.com/r/bjj/comments/becyws/comment/ij4u60a/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Lifting, L5/S1
reddit.com/r/powerbuilding/comments/d9y7kz/comment/f1mz71n/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3 https://www.instagram.com/jrcrmr/

Motorbikes, mastering cattle — single level fusions
advrider.com/f/threads/whos-riding-with-fused-vertebrae.781938/

Boxing + weights for 10 years, L5/S1
reddit.com/r/Spondylolisthesis/comments/x9iemi/comment/insc0pd/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

High school competitive baseball
triadspine.com/ben-moore-isthmic-spondylolisthesis/

Soccer
martialtalk.com/threads/martial-arts-and-spinal-surgery-miss-tlif-l5-s1.129492/

/r/Magfest ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Dec 18 2022 05:46:26 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Selling standard badge — $100

ON HOLD

~~Unfortunately, I can’t make it to Magfest this year. Selling my standard badge for $100 that I bought via early bird for $125. Venmo or Paypal. I can transfer over MAG Portal~~

~~Comment or DM if interested! Cheers~~

r/agronomics — Jim Mellon speaks about Agronomics at Cenkos Growth & Innovation Forum — 8 June 2021 — Jun 9 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 09 2021 15:02:10 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVg2768t5F0&t=4940s

r/ibs — Low FODMAP diet without SIBO? — Sep 1 2018

/r/ibs ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Sep 01 2018 04:57:46 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I have IBS but tested negative for SIBO. Would it still be worthwhile to pursue a low FODMAP diet? Has anyone who tested negative for SIBO ever experienced a change in symptoms on a low FODMAP diet? Thanks!

r/sleep — Restless sleep? Not sure what this is — Jul 25 2018

/r/sleep ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 25 2018 03:30:14 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

My question: Is this insomnia? Is there a name for this other than “restless sleep”?

I’m a healthy 20 yo male. Basically, I’m in bed for 8 hours every night, but my sleep is very restless and I wake up frequently. No problems falling asleep — I fall asleep within 15 minutes as long as I sleep at the same time every night.

Usually, I’ll wake up after 4 hours, then after another 1.5 hours, then I wake up another 8 or so more times during the last 2.5 hours in bed. When I wake up, I fall asleep within a few minutes. I just check the time to see if I can get up yet, and if not I fall back asleep quickly. After the 4 hour mark I move a lot and my sleep feels very restless — almost like I’m half awake.

In the last year, these problems have started to get significantly worse, and I wake up feeling unrefreshed no matter how much sleep I get.

Sleeping longer than 8 hours has no effect, but getting any less than 8 hours causes extreme exhaustion during the day

I track my sleep with Fitbit if anyone’s interested in how it looks

I have done an overnight sleep study and don’t have sleep apnea.

A few other things I do: — Zero caffeine — Zero alcohol/nicotine — Exercise regularly — Zero stress — Sleep at same time every night

Tl;dr: 20 yo male. Sleep for 8 hours but wake up frequently. Fall asleep quickly upon waking. Feel unrefreshed in morning no matter how much I sleep

Is waking throughout the night like this normal? What about waking only in the 2^nd half of the night? Is there a name for this?

Sorry for all the questions! Any ideas would be much appreciated!

r/bioinformatics — Essential biology courses for a computer scientist? — Apr 3 2018

/r/bioinformatics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Apr 03 2018 04:08:03 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I’m an undergraduate pursuing a degree in computer science, and am very interested in bioinformatics. I already plan to take the 2 bioinformatics courses that my school offers, and a course on molecular genetics. I have space for 2–3 additional biology classes — what vital courses do I need?

r/UPenn — Lofting bed in the high rises? — Jul 18 2017

/r/UPenn ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jul 18 2017 17:58:29 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Just wondering if anyone has ever done this and if Penn provides lofts. I couldn’t seem to find any info on the website

r/ThriftStoreHauls — $45 at my local garage sale — Jun 3 2017

/r/ThriftStoreHauls ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Jun 03 2017 22:15:55 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

https://i.redd.it/odqw8rh5yh1z.jpg

r/pokemongo — [SUGGESTION] Starred Pokémon can’t be transferred — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 04:57:02 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

https://i.redd.it/p1s1vqgyjiax.png

r/pokemongo — Odds of a Pokemon Go announcement on the 27^th? — Feb 23 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Feb 23 2016 02:31:08 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

I know we’ll be getting some news at GDC in March, but do you think there might be a GO announcement/update on Saturday for Pokemon’s 20^th anniversary?

Comments

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 18 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat May 18 2024 03:08:55 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

TOPS is contraindicated for high-grade spondylolistheses: https://www.reddit.com/r/Spondylolisthesis/comments/1cc5ob0/comment/l2015ly/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I honestly don’t recall if they offer TOPS for low-grade slips (haven’t followed it in some time).

Cervical disc replacements are common and highly successful, but again, I see no reason anyone would risk a lumbar disc replacement. Especially at L5/S1. Just bolt the two vertebra together. It effectively extends the tailbone by one level. The impacts are minimal.

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 18 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat May 18 2024 02:53:19 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

The loss of mobility after a 1-level spinal fusion is negligible. This is 35 years after a 2-level: https://www.instagram.com/taylor_knox/

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 16 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu May 16 2024 16:18:17 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Dr Stuart McGill gives solid advice on lumbar fusions vs disc replacements in an interview with SpineXchange. My notes:

Spine fusion vs lumbar disc replacements

This lumbar replacement aimed to conserve motion in the spine
McGill’s view on motion-preservation surgery
- McGill would never consider a disc replacement

Cervical disc replacements far more successful per data/studies

L4/5, L5/S1 are highest bearing load segments
Neck doesn’t have to tolerate as much load
A lumbar spine in made for stability — much thicker in diameter
- Cervical spine discs are much thinner, don’t bear compressive loads
The lumbar disc will eventually wear out, need to be replaced
- If someone is “successful” for 2 years? 5 years? 10 years?
- To revise disc, difficult. Guts have to come out, lots of difficulty getting it in

Basically, don’t try to reinvent the wheel with a first generation lumbar disc replacement that we have no long term data on.
The loss of mobility from a one-level fusion is negligible. Pro surfer Taylor Knox had a multi-level (L4-S1) fusion when he was 15, and went on to become a top 5 surfer in the world. He’s now in his 50’s, still surfs like a pro and has never needed further surgery in 35+ years of professional sports.
The risk-reward of trying to eek out an extra 5% flexibility at the cost of becoming a human guinea pig is completely unacceptable in my opinion.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 30 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Apr 30 2024 22:25:46 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

TOPS device is contraindicated with a grade 2/3 spondy, so not an option in your case. (The TOPS devices “replaces” the disc, and relies on the facet joints being stable / intact. With a large spondy, you’re broken off your facet joints so it doesn’t work). Honestly that just makes your decision easier.. do you really want to be a human guinea pig for a new medical device with no long term data anyway? Meanwhile we have 50+ years of data on spinal fusions and we know it works well in cases of instability. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.
When you decide to go through with a fusion you’ll do great

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 21 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Apr 21 2024 15:47:53 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Couple suggestions:

Keep trying different surgeons. “nobody will operate on my back until i’m at least 40” is nonsense coming from a medical professional who lacks perspective. If your back is broken and it’s unlivable, age has nothing to do with it. Good surgeons understand this and will operate on you based on your symptoms + anatomy
Tell them you are “unable to work” / do your job. We live in a capitalist society. I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.
Plan Z: fake a foot drop or piss yourself. This is the absolute nuclear option, but there comes a point where it’s just ridiculous that people won’t operate on your broken spine.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 21 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Apr 21 2024 15:46:10 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Couple suggestions:

1) Keep trying different surgeons. “nobody will operate on my back until i’m at least 40” is nonsense coming from a medical professional who lacks perspective. If your back is broken and it’s unlivable, age has nothing to do with it. Good surgeons understand this and will operate on you based on your symptoms + anatomy
2) Tell them you are “unable to work” / do your job. We live in a capitalist society. I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.
3) Plan Z: fake a foot drop or piss yourself. This is nuclear option, but there comes a point where it’s just ridiculous that people won’t operate on your broken spine.

r/facepalm — Apr 18 2024

/r/facepalm ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Apr 18 2024 00:55:10 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Weird double standard by reddit here regarding treatments for depression. Not sure how this is being downvoted

r/facepalm — Apr 18 2024

/r/facepalm ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Apr 18 2024 00:52:06 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

This is one of the crazier comment threads I’ve seen on reddit, that reminds me how much of an echo chamber this site is. How the hell are you being reported for merely suggesting that both “nature” and “nuture” play roles in human behavior. Literally nothing bigoted or controversial about that statement.

r/onebag — Apr 8 2024

/r/onebag ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Apr 08 2024 21:20:12 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

It would fit, but I wouldn’t do it often tbh. I’ve squeezed my 15 inch MBP in a few times, but there’s literally no space left for a laptop case and the bag is thin so it’s kind of anxiety-inducing having zero protection.

r/onebag — Apr 8 2024

/r/onebag ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Apr 08 2024 04:16:45 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Woah I didn’t even know about all these. All pretty similar with some significant differences:

Freerain 22: basically Freely 16 but 22L capacity and fully waterproof with roll top
Beast 18: more of a hiking pack, specific hiking features, not super packable
ReFraction 16: more minimal/universal aesthetic for hiking/city/anything, but less durable/functional for outdoors

Freefly16 is probably the best overall imo, and definitely what OP described they’re looking for since it’s the most packable and still solid for hikes

r/onebag — Apr 7 2024

/r/onebag ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Apr 07 2024 22:27:48 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

My favorite item in my bag (and probably my favorite item that I own generally) is the Matador Freefly16 packable daypack.

Imo, it’s the perfect packable daypack. Of the ultralight mini-packs, it’s one of the few I’ve found that actually has comfortable straps, is durable, holds it’s shape, is rainproof, has solid water bottle pockets, packs into nothing, and doesn’t look like a crumpled grocery bag.

I’ve used it almost daily, whether I’m traveling or at home, for two years. I’ve taken it on tons of hikes, gotten it drenched, and it’s held up great and is the perfect size. Also use it as a gym bag, for groceries, etc. So versatile

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 7 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Apr 07 2024 07:41:04 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

“The Doctors, a bunch of them deemed no operation is required any time soon but basically recommended I avoid any and all physical activities outside swimming and physiotherapy”

Bizarre yet common advice from sedentary people who don’t live life to the fullest. No way to live your life as a 28 year old and so clearly not an option, imo.

“It’s simple — your spine isn’t mechanically stable anymore and you should avoid any and all of these activities and running”

Should be “It’s simple — your spine isn’t mechanically stable anymore and you should stabilize it via PT or surgery.”

If your spine is broken and unstable to the point where you can’t run, do you want to be walking around with that? What are you going to wait until you take a bad fall and that instability causes some real nerve damage and you NEED surgery?

To be honest, once the pain becomes low-grade but all the time, it could be time for surgery. I mean the situation sucks for sure, but the solution isn’t to retreat into a bubble.

Fwiw I’m 25 years old with a L5/S1 fusion. It’s clear to me that the day my spondy went bad to the point where I felt it every day, I had crossed the threshold into surgery though it took me a year to realize this. Generally speaking, back surgery is a serious decision and PT is sufficient for most people, but with instability it’s a different game.

Only you know in your heart what’s important to you and what kind of life you want to live.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Feb 05 2024 20:16:38 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Of course. Also feel free to DM me if you have any questions in the future

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Feb 05 2024 20:04:33 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Yea I had L5/S1 spinal fusion 6 months ago after 1.5 years of failed conservative treatment. Within 7 days of the fusion I was on zero pain meds. (That’s probably faster than most folks, but my point is just that your body isn’t supposed to be in pain and need meds. Even after getting my back sliced open and my spine drilled into, I wasn’t in much pain)

Everyone’s spondy symptoms are different. From childhood until age 23, my back would always ache if I stood too long, but it wasn’t too bad. Imo that sort of achy symptom makes sense to medicate if it’s bothersome. But once the spine is unstable and you can feel the bones moving/grinding, that isn’t something you try to medicate. That’s something you go in and fix. I’m sure that will become standard medical knowledge in a decade, but it seems we’re a bit early

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Feb 05 2024 18:48:30 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Ah gotcha. Yea I used to get those too in my back when I would move. It wasn’t nerve-related, but rather pain in my facet joints due to the instability (basically, the joints above the unstable fracture move more than they should, and the bones grind against each other which causes that zap feeling). After a few months, that went away as the joints just grew bone and became arthritic. (Now they don’t hurt but they also don’t move at all)

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Feb 05 2024 18:36:32 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Because it’s the year 2024, and despite the fact that we have the internet, smartphones, and spaceships — spinal care is still pretty early and basic. (We put man on the moon ~25 years before the first MRI’s were in hospitals).

I don’t usually comment on posts here, but I felt compelled to with yours because it was word for word my experience with symptoms and doctors.

What do you mean by electric shocks? In your back or legs?

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 4 2024

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Feb 04 2024 05:20:05 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Trust your body. If you can feel it moving, it’s moving. That isn’t in your head. I had the same exact sensation when I would lay in bed, or sit up. Awful.

I had the same experience with doctor’s dismissing that symptom. I think it’s so bizarre and horrific sounding they literally can’t believe it lol.

Goods news is that feeling goes away completely after surgery once you’re stabilized. Time for surgery asap and to find a doc who listens.

Invasive surgical procedures are a last-resort that should not be taken lightly, but in this case your back is broken and you can literally feel it moving. I know it’s scary but someone has to tell it like it is. You’ll do great.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Oct 28 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Oct 28 2023 05:09:42 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I never understood the “too young for a fusion” logic. Your spine is fractured and the structural security of your spine is compromised. When someone breaks their leg, are they “too young” for surgery? I suppose you’re “too young” to have back pain, but that doesn’t change the fact that you do.

That said, whether a fusion is right for you is your decision and depends on severity of your pain. But once the disc goes bad in the 20s/30s/40s for many people, the spondy crosses a tipping point, destabilizes and seriously impacts quality of life. Sounds like that happened to you a year ago. My personal opinion: once you’ve tried steroid shots and nerve ablations and you start going on reddit and making comments like this, it’s time.

For context, I’m 25. my spondy went bad 1.5 years ago when I was 23. Had L5/S1 fusion 3 months ago. I may be an outlier, but at day 8 I was taking zero pain meds and haven’t had a bad day since. I even had an open TLIF as opposed to the newer minimally invasive surgeries. The surgery wasn’t nearly as scary as I made it out to be in my head, and I knew it was the right decision within a week, and that I won’t have to bother with injections or future surgery for many years. Remember that the human body is supposed to exist in a pain-free state. Constant pain means something is wrong. Even with metal in my back, I’m not in pain.

Sorry you’re also a member of this shitty club, but know that you’ll be fine whatever you decide

r/Spondylolisthesis — Oct 5 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Oct 05 2023 04:39:33 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

If you are in horrible pain constantly, how are you not bad enough for surgery?

r/Spondylolisthesis — Aug 4 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Aug 04 2023 01:50:29 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

L5/S1 classic/open TLIF

r/Spondylolisthesis — Aug 4 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Aug 04 2023 01:23:01 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Glad to hear! You’ll definitely be able to keep up your active life with the right mentality and the right PT/surgery.

One thing I’ll say — with all the success stories vs horror stories, you definitely start to see trends. Basically, if symptoms are limited to back pain, and annoying but manageable — PT can do wonders and surgery is probably unwarranted. When neurological symptoms begin or back pain becomes relentless (sitting, standing, basic activities become painful), the successful stories head into surgery within a few weeks/months of no improvement. Surgery is scary, but it’s 2023 and is highly successful.

In my case I had surgery 2 weeks ago because I had nerve issues. Surgery was painful for the first couple days, but I was shocked that by day 7 I was on literally zero pain meds. Can sit, walk, stand as long as I want and I don’t even feel the fusion. Obviously will be awhile until I get into rigorous activity, but it was way less of a big deal than I had anticipated

r/Oahu — Aug 1 2023

/r/Oahu ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Aug 01 2023 05:55:01 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I love stargazing at Ke’ana Point. Also the perfect spot to catch sunset

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 19 2023 18:00:41 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Haven’t done surgery, but as long as they’re a spine surgeon who does lots of fusions I think that’s the relevant thing here

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 19 2023 15:24:03 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Thanks! Have you spoken to a surgeon that said the bowel / bladder issues would resolve with fusion? Just asking because L5/S1 doesn’t innervate the bladder from what I understand. So decompressing those nerves wouldn’t clearly lead to relief. That said, getting stability may allow you to fix your hips / whatever else is causing your problems

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 19 2023 07:27:43 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Yea I have a 2cm clip at L5/S1. Going in for fusion on Friday.

Per your MRI, agreed that you don’t have terrible nerve compression at L5/S1. Plus, the nerves that go to the bladder/bowel are sacral (S2-S4 I believe?). Do your hips or back feel tight? Your nerve compression might be coming from elsewhere. That said, you might still need the fusion, but it’s hard to directly correlate L5/S1 to your bladder issues. It’s probably a related compensation elsewhere

r/Sciatica — Jul 19 2023

/r/Sciatica ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 19 2023 06:12:06 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Stuck being sedentary when you’re an energetic person and used to being so active is one of the worst aspects of sciatica.

But there are still ways to keep your mind and body active while you heal! I spent a lot of time doing yoga (being mindful of avoiding certain postures), which was very different for me than my typical routine of weightlifting and martial arts, but I actually have learned a lot and didn’t mind the transition at all. I also switched my workouts to static core exercises and built up a six pack despite not being able to use a barbell for months.

Basically, there are still options! Using your body however it is currently capable will not only be critical for your mental health, but also helpful in speeding your recovery. You don’t want to fall into a cycle of becoming too sedentary — nor do you have to! There are always some activities that fall between your normal routine and nothing, even if it initially feels like the only option is being sedentary

Hope that helps and sorry you have to go through this

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 19 2023 05:54:15 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Hey twin. (Bladder and genital pain for the last year on and off after injuring my spondy. Also had back pain, sciatica etc). This happened to me two weeks ago — started to have numbness in my groin/bladder and into my right leg below the knee. In my case, it is due to my piriformis / hip muscles tightening to compensate for my injury. The tightness squeezes my nerves. It doesn’t show up on MRI and no doc has really confirmed it, but when I sit I feel the piriformis tighten and sensation into the groin and leg.

As simple as it sounds — have you seen a solid PT and tried really stretching your glutes and hips?

Your MRI looks pretty good, which is good news. You don’t have cauda equina. But the symptoms you’re describing suck, and are 100% real.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 15 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Jul 15 2023 05:36:34 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

If both legs are going numb and you have severe stenosis, then it sounds like it’s time for surgery.. Surgery is scary, but the sooner you get past this, the better. Good luck with the neurosurgeon consult!

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 8 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Jul 08 2023 03:20:32 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

All depends on your spine. Do you know what triggers the pain and numbness? Standing, sitting, laying down, bending forward or backwards?

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 07 2023 20:49:18 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

You’ll do great, whatever you decide. Agreed — we have a structural issue with a clear surgical indication that these surgeons do for a living.

We can’t be afraid to live our own lives to the fullest!

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 07 2023 19:08:29 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Core workouts, lots of walking, and avoid sitting.

I’m pretty athletic, but haven’t done any active sports in the last year — I’ve been rehabbing with lots of core work. Though I just scheduled surgery for two weeks from now. It’s clear to me at this point that while my body can do a lot, it cannot re-stabilize this fracture. Looking forward to being on the side of recovery. With a single-level fusion, there’s no reason athletics would be restricted and at this point I pretty much just gotta do it

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 07 2023 19:02:50 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Yea when I went surfing 1.5 years ago, I experienced sciatica for the first time. Basically the extension movement destabilized my spondy. A few weeks later I slipped on a piece of paper and my right glute locked and right leg shut down for a week. Couldn’t support any weight on it. Eventually calmed down but the stability was compromised and the glute keeps things in place I guess.

It’s all a system, so it’s important to keep everything strong and moving smoothly

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 07 2023 18:52:44 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

My right hip has been locked for the last 1.5 years. Hurts when I sit down and my leg muscles start twitching, also sometimes this would cause the tingling butt/groin. Also noticed that sometimes when I would stand, twisted maybe 10 degrees to the right it would trigger those same symptoms

I got it loosened up once or twice, but tbh when you’re this unstable things lock up for a reason — to provide stability and protect the nerves.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 07 2023 17:06:09 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

25M. I have this. Started when I first aggravated my spondy 1.5 years ago after surfing. My back and hips locked up after the accident, and my whole lumbar / hips have been out of wack since then — something is probably putting pressure on the sacral nerves that innervate the groin/butt.

Not cauda equina

If there is anything tight in your hips, maybe check that out with a PT? Not to scare you, but as of last week this intermittent numbness has become constant. I’m terrified of the implications bc well

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 07 2023 16:30:37 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

You are not crazy. If you have spondy and sciatica that is impacting your quality of life this much, it may be time. This is a structural problem that will likely only get worse with time. The good news? We live in 2023 with access to modern medicine. Imo, it’s not worth being so afraid of more pain/fusions down the line that you don’t live your life now.

I got caught in this loop for a year, all the while putting my life on hold in my 20’s and damaging my nerves while I waffled on the decision. I have surgery scheduled in two weeks and I keep wondering why I was so afraid of it

Surgery is not a 100% guarantee, but that’s not something we can control. And once it hits this bad, we probably have to do it anyway. With axial back pain only, it’s probably safe to wait until it’s unbearable. With sciatica as a symptom, sooner can only be better imo

r/Spondylolisthesis — Nov 22 2022

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Nov 22 2022 03:37:55 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

24M with long-time grade 2/3 spondy but sciatica and low back pain only starting in January of this year. I had numb right big toe and foot tingling from March to August -ish.

Still dealing with some back pain, but numbness / tingling is totally gone now. Main thing I’d say: avoid any exercises that trigger the symptoms. This doesn’t mean you won’t be able to resume them, but it means you can’t resume until the nerves calm down / your core strengthens. A few months ago, my toe used to go completely numb anytime I walked. Yesterday I did a 10 mile hike without issue

Imo you should certainly be able to continue weight-lifting, but being careful with your routine. Strengthening your core and back can actually help take pressure off your spine/spondy. At a grade 1 I bet you have a solid chance at avoiding fusion, or pushing it off a decade plus.

Disclaimer — I’m not a doctor

r/Supplements — Oct 28 2022

/r/Supplements ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Oct 28 2022 18:57:34 GMT+0100

[See on Reddit]

Ah gotcha thanks for the background. May add it to my stack eventually. For now just focusing on b-vitamins + choline

r/Supplements — Oct 25 2022

/r/Supplements ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Oct 25 2022 19:39:10 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Sorry you’ve been experiencing those issues... it’s certainly no fun. Glad that you’ve been noticing some impacts. Hopefully you can find a fix (via supplements or otherwise).

Thanks for the breakdown! Out of curiosity, why did you pick lecithin / phosphatidylcholine as your choline source (as opposed to glycerophosphocholine or betaine)? Also, interesting to see Saint Johns Wort and glycine — what’s the background behind those supplements? I’ve seen lots about methylfolate, choline, and creatine when researching the methylation cycle, but not those other two

r/Supplements — Oct 23 2022

/r/Supplements ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Oct 23 2022 19:39:15 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

How’s the trial run going so far? I just stumbled on the choline calculator and it recommended 9 egg yolks per day (80% decrease methylfolate score). I’m heterozygous for 3/5 and homozygous for the other 2/5 SNPs 😅... Wondering if I should try out some sort of choline supplementation

r/Spondylolisthesis — Sep 27 2022

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Sep 27 2022 18:46:35 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Thanks for explaining this! I was curious why you would want to fuse more than one level, but given the retrolisthesis at L4 that makes sense.

Glad you were able to get multiple opinions and take the approach that was right for you. Hope you are progressing well in your recovery!

With a grade 2/3 at 24 y.o. and near-constant burning/twitching in both ankles/calves since March, I don’t see myself avoiding this for too long lol. But just trying to learn as much as I can before the surgery comes.

r/Spondylolisthesis — Aug 15 2022

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Aug 15 2022 22:15:38 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Just curious, why did you decide to go with the two-level PLIF over the single level fusion? I’ve also spoken to two different surgeons and gotten those two different recommendations (not considering surgery right now, but these are the approaches they would take if/when the time comes)

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 26 2022

/r/Spondylolisthesis ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu May 26 2022 05:31:04 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

The TOPS surgery is a really exciting innovation for preserving spinal motion versus a fusion. Just a heads up though, the shape of the device only allows it to be installed between lumbar vertebra at L2-L5. It wouldn’t be an option at the L5/S1 level as the sacrum has a different structure than a lumbar vertebra :/

Hoping that at some point in the future, they develop a device that can be installed at L5/S1. Given that this is the most common location for isthmic spondylolisthesis, there’s certainly demand for it. I can’t imagine the tech is more than 5 years out

r/agronomics — Dec 22 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Dec 22 2021 22:53:21 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Dairy Australia Website: https://www.dairyaustralia.com.au/about/who-we-are/dairy-australia-board#.YcOr4L3MI-R

If you scroll to the bottom of the list of board members, you will find Paul Wood. Wood is not the author of the article, but rather the pharma exec that the story follows.

r/agronomics — Dec 22 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Dec 22 2021 22:50:00 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Agreed.

>The Counter is a nonprofit, independent, nonpartisan newsroom investigating the forces shaping how and what America eats.
...
>
>Between 2015 and 2019, The Counter was published under the name The New Food Economy. Read more about why we changed our name here.

Source: https://thecounter.org/about-us/

r/nflmemes — Dec 21 2021

/r/nflmemes ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Dec 21 2021 05:28:01 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

TEAM APES TOGETHER STRONG 🦍🍌

r/agronomics — Dec 8 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Dec 08 2021 00:24:51 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Sign up only asks for name and email, and takes 30 seconds. Would highly recommend doing so to access the report — it covers recent fundraise, NAV, portfolio composition, recent sector activity, and more

r/agronomics — Aug 4 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Aug 04 2021 16:29:14 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

This “technical analysis” probably just plugs a few historical prices into a simple formula and outputs a result for any stock ticker. For example:

ANIC price on 2020-08-04: 0.05 GBP
ANIC price today: 0.227 GBP
1 year growth rate: 0.227/0.05=4.54

1-Year Forecast: 4.54 * 0.227 = 1.03 GBP
5-Year Forecast: 4.54 * 5 * 0.227 = 5.15 GBP

^this was the simplest formula I could think of and it’s not that far from their predictions...

Basically this prediction isn’t bound to any actual due diligence regarding the clean meat sector and should be taken with a grain of salt

r/wheresthebeef — Jun 20 2021

/r/wheresthebeef ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Jun 20 2021 17:33:26 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

lmao

r/wheresthebeef — Jun 20 2021

/r/wheresthebeef ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Jun 20 2021 17:32:11 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Shocked this didn’t get insta-deleted by the mods. I guess as long as it doesn’t contain the actual name of the company, which is:

r/agronomics — Jun 11 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jun 11 2021 17:23:45 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

You make a solid point. I’m more or less assuming that issuing more shares results in the NAV per share (basically the investment/stock price ratio you’re using here) staying constant. Aka individual stock maintains the same worth/grows very slowly despite the agronomics market cap growing significantly.

You’re probably right that the NAVPS won’t completely flatline with dilution — it will grow as evidenced by the most recent fundraise.

But still, if a large private investor can invest in a separate company (New Agrarian) vs Agronomics (which will experience dilution), they’re going to go with New Agrarian since growth would happen at a faster rate

r/UnethicalLifeProTips — Jun 9 2021

/r/UnethicalLifeProTips ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 09 2021 16:03:07 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

ULPT: Steal!

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 09 2021 15:28:58 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Don’t have an answer, but would love to hear opinions on this as well.

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 09 2021 15:11:52 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Good call. I’m mostly a lurker so wasn’t my first instinct haha. Just posted the video along with some notes

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 09 2021 15:07:19 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

It’s a 15 minute overview presentation, so a lot of the info overlaps with previous podcasts/presentations. I took a couple notes on things that were new/important (to me at least):

Three predictions by Jim Mellon for the next 10 years:

The dairy industry (milk and milk based products from cows) will be gone
1. Already in the US, plant-based milks have risen from 0.5% to 1/5^th of market in 10 years. With the 2 biggest dairy producers in US going bust
50% of meat market will be gone, replaced by plant-based and cell-ag
50% of fish market could be disrupted, replaced by cell-ag

Agronomics doesn’t focus on plant-based proteins — don’t believe there is sufficient intellectual property protection in this area

Total addressable market of cell-ag is 5 trillion dollars, which is larger than EV industry

Within 5 years, we could reach “Griddle Parity” (where the price of cell-ag products comes down to price of traditional products). This cost reduction due to scientific improvements and scale-up of products, without technological breakthroughs needed

Timeline:

BlueNalu should be on market within this year
Eat JUST has first cultivated chicken on market and approved for sale in Singapore

Agronomics expects to invest all of the ~63 million pounds of uninvested cash in around 9 months

In the US, meat should be on market within 2 years, while fish should be on market this year. Since fish only has one regulator (FDA) while meat has two regulators (USDA and FDA)

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 09 2021 02:02:05 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Yea I saw the post about New Agrarian a couple days ago. I didn’t actually see the corporate presentation before it got taken down, so unless it resurfaces or someone DM’s me the slides, the only info I have is the comments on the post.

Sounds like they are trying to raise more capital by reaching out to larger investors through a new company? With Agronomics’ current structure, the only way they could raise more capital would be continuing to issue and dilute shares (or by selling their portfolio holdings which obv they don’t want to do). But repeatedly issuing shares is a great way to piss off your shareholders. Plus who would want to buy the new issued shares if they know dilution will just keep happening every fundraise.

I think some of the comments on the New Agrarian post are overly suspicious. Jim Mellon owns 22% of Agronomics — he obviously doesn’t want to tank it lol. Nor would they want to tarnish their reputations.

Definitely waiting to hear more info tho.

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 09 2021 01:30:02 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Where is the $300m number coming from?

r/agronomics — Jun 8 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jun 08 2021 21:55:29 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

For an up-to-date view of their portfolio see this mornings presentation: https://youtu.be/eVg2768t5F0?t=5528 (timestamped to the ‘Portfolio Highlights” slide).
It’s more of a high-level overview compared to the pdf’s on the site, but the info is more recent

r/agronomics — May 28 2021

/r/agronomics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri May 28 2021 23:35:14 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

If you’re trading AGNMF from the US, I’d recommend using E*TRADE due to the low fees. E*TRADE only charges $6.95 per trade (penny stock trades fee). Fidelity, on the other hand, charges a $50 foreign settlement fee per trade.

r/Frat — Dec 10 2020

/r/Frat ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Dec 10 2020 04:26:13 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

I second this. I built a table with an acrylic top and bounces exactly like a regular table

r/fantasyfootball — Nov 11 2020

/r/fantasyfootball ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Nov 11 2020 17:28:42 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Trade Swift for Mostert?

r/fantasyfootball — Nov 11 2020

/r/fantasyfootball ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Nov 11 2020 13:46:09 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

10 team standard

Give Robby Anderson for Lamar?

My other WR’s are Thomas, Jefferson, Tee Higgins and Deebo

Starting Tannehill since I lost Dak earlier this season

r/fantasyfootball — Oct 19 2020

/r/fantasyfootball ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Oct 19 2020 03:34:23 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Thoughts on trading Justin Jefferson for Ekeler? (10 team non-PPR)

r/BrainFog — Sep 27 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Sep 27 2018 04:22:36 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Both. Mostly beer and vodka or rum. I was pledging a fraternity, so I was drinking pretty heavily ~2 nights a week

r/BrainFog — Sep 26 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Sep 26 2018 15:08:35 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Not entirely sure. There was a three week stretch where I drank heavily and missed a lot of sleep — afterwards I could never shake off the fog

r/BrainFog — Sep 22 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Sep 22 2018 01:31:31 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Yea I feel that — I’ve tried a few diets and none of them have made a difference. At the same time, I think I probably need to follow through with them longer term, like several months. A lot of the time I feel like we expect a change to happen overnight

r/BrainFog — Sep 21 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Sep 21 2018 14:20:36 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Any stomach problems? I think candida is sometimes responsible for the drinking-related cases of brain fog

r/ibs — Sep 2 2018

/r/ibs ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Sep 02 2018 05:12:46 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

No worries. BCBS covered my test

r/ibs — Sep 1 2018

/r/ibs ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Sep 01 2018 16:14:04 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

In my case my doctor ordered it for me. He ordered the SIBO breath test from CDI, if you’re familiar with that one.

r/sleep — Jul 25 2018

/r/sleep ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 25 2018 12:49:04 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I’m 5’ 11” 155 lbs. My average heart rate over the last two months is 51 bpm according to Fitbit.

Definitely. I’m sure the specific sleep stages are pretty inaccurate. It does seem to provide a good visual representation of how my sleep feels, though.

r/visualsnow — Jul 11 2018

/r/visualsnow ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 11 2018 03:41:42 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Sorry it was supposed to be a joke about my VS. Sarcasm doesn’t convey well over the internet

r/BrainFog — Jul 11 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 11 2018 01:21:23 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Thanks. Working through the degree has certainly been tougher than anything I ever even thought I could handle. Granted, I went from almost entirely A’s at a tough school to just passing my classes and not understanding anything while putting in probably twice the amount of work.

There were quite a few times I considered dropping, but ultimately I decided that dropping would be much worse. The days when I don’t have any work seem to be the worst. Struggling to understand lectures and homeworks is difficult, but having the same level of difficulty when trying to watch youtube or read an interesting book is even worse — I can’t even enjoy my free time. At the same time, staying in college has at least let me maintain some semblance of normality. I still get to see my friends, take classes, and at least experience what feels like 10% of a college experience.

I think it’s important to hold on to everything we can for as long as we can. Every year I’ve improved as a person: learning new things, meeting new people, etc. Last year, I ceased to tackle anything new, and simply held on to what I had built up over the years. I’m certainly not progressing anytime soon, but I refuse to digress if possible. (Granted, I’m likely not at the point you are. Soon, it might be impossible to even pass my classes. At that point, it seems like the no-knowledge lifestyle is the only option as you say.)

I would definitely encourage you to talk to your friends about it, if you’re still somewhat close with them. I also used excuses for why my grades started tanking — I used to just tell my friends that GPA didn’t matter much for CS so I didn’t care. By hiding the symptoms though, I stopped myself from getting advice from them, which has definitely turned out to be helpful. At the same, hiding your symptoms only makes it harder for people to believe once you finally reveal them.

I’m glad you’ve finally been able to find some explanations! Definitely keep us updated if you discover anything. What do you think you’re doing differently moving forward compared to the last few years?

r/BrainFog — Jul 11 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 11 2018 00:06:32 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Damn

r/visualsnow — Jul 10 2018

/r/visualsnow ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jul 10 2018 03:15:18 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Huh it’s just a picture of a living room

r/BrainFog — Jul 6 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 06 2018 05:34:57 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I 100% contracted Lyme (was tested and treated immediately) when I was 13.

I was then tested again this year given my symptoms. I just looked back at these tests, and the only one for Lyme is called “Lyme AB Screen,” which I assume isn’t terribly specific. I will definitely look into more comprehensive testing.

What do you mean by “after it was too late?”

r/BrainFog — Jul 6 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jul 06 2018 00:34:17 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Awesome news. After hearing your story and those of others on this subreddit, I might give the diet a try!

r/BrainFog — Jul 5 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 05 2018 04:47:58 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

7 years is a long time. Truly glad to hear you’ve finally found a solution. Just curious, how are things going 26 days after this post?

r/BrainFog — Jul 5 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 05 2018 04:26:46 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

A lot of similarities here: I contracted Lyme when I was 13 (7 years ago) and started noticing mild cognitive decline when I was 15. (I don’t actually remember contracting Lyme or getting treated or anything about it, I just remember that I missed soccer tryouts and didn’t make the soccer team that year because of it)

After my symptoms severely worsened last year, I underwent several rounds of blood tests. Two of them included Lyme (I’m not sure which specific tests), but the results were negative. Do you think this definitely rules out Lyme, or is it still possible to have Lyme given negative results?

r/BrainFog — Jul 5 2018

/r/BrainFog ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 05 2018 04:16:17 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Heyo. I’m a 20 year old male, and I’ve been experiencing similar symptoms since I was 15. I’m also a very critical/logical thinker (I study CS and Bio). It’s truly incredible how accurately your bowling ball example describes me. My symptoms were very minor at first and I was able to excel in high school, but the symptoms worsened exponentially last year after my fraternity’s (very tame) “hell week.” I simply wasn’t able to recover from a week of disturbed sleep.

I’ll try to come back to this and add more to this comment later, but in case I forget I want to at least say this: It’s absolutely brutal to have such a life-halting issue, especially since the issue itself wears down the critical/logical thinking mind you’d usually use to tackle it. The people around you probably won’t understand your symptoms- they certainly don’t for me. As each test comes back negative, the doctors won’t have a fucking clue what’s going on.

I’m sure you already know most of this, but basically I just want to say that you’re not alone. Stay strong. If you ever want to talk, I’m sure there’s a lot we can learn from each other’s stories.

Edit: grammar errors from brain fog

r/Flipping — Jun 22 2018

/r/Flipping ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Fri Jun 22 2018 21:46:23 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I think those are used for the board game mancala

r/getdisciplined — Jun 13 2018

/r/getdisciplined ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 13 2018 18:43:59 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

If you decide to start gaming again, I’d recommend you find a short game with ~10–15 hours of gameplay. Test out whether you’re able to play for only a few hours at a time, or whether you simply can’t stop once you start.

You won’t run the risk of getting sucked into the game and ruining the life you’ve built — if you get sucked in, the game will be over before you know it. Then, you can decide it simply isn’t possible to play games casually.

Edit: Personally, I agree with you. I find it impossible to play games for an hour at a time. It’s hardly enjoyable to game in such small doses. When I play games, I have to set aside literal days to do nothing but just play. Once those days are up, I stop completely and don’t play again for a few weeks. This solution works for me, but as you said, it’s still playing with fire

r/getdisciplined — Jun 12 2018

/r/getdisciplined ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jun 12 2018 01:18:45 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

This has been happening to me since high school (I’m currently in college). Any night I would sleep less than 6 hours — a conscious choice, not unexpected poor sleep — I would feel nauseous. Is this that unusual? I thought it was normal tbh

r/UPenn — Apr 7 2018

/r/UPenn ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Apr 07 2018 02:53:06 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

3 biggest things that help me on exams:

1) Have a list of the major topic categories: BFS/DFS, SCC/Kosaraju/toposort, MST, shortest paths, greedy algs. It’s safe to assume there will be roughly one question from each category. If you’re stuck on a question, see which of these categories you haven’t encountered yet

2) Have a list of common runtimes and the algorithms associated with those runtimes. See O(m+n) on question 1a)? List out BFS/DFS/toposort/Kosaraju’s and see if any of those help you.

3) Know the in’s and out’s of each algorithm’s runtime: Why is Kruskal’s O(m log m)? Knowing the runtime specifics, how does this change if the edges are already sorted? When you see a question like 1b) you can notice how it’s similar to Bellman Ford and, understanding the origin of the VE runtime, manipulate the alg to fit the constraints

Granted, I did pretty poorly on this exam too, so take my advice with a grain of salt

r/bioinformatics — Apr 3 2018

/r/bioinformatics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Apr 03 2018 21:14:46 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Thanks! I’ll look into this.

r/bioinformatics — Apr 3 2018

/r/bioinformatics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Apr 03 2018 21:11:55 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Thanks for the response!

I agree that experience outside the classroom is probably the most important thing for me — I hope to start research once I have a better foundation

r/bioinformatics — Apr 3 2018

/r/bioinformatics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Apr 03 2018 05:22:25 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Thanks so much for taking a look at the catalog! These definitely seem like a good starting point.

I don’t have a specific interest just yet. Hopefully I’ll have a better idea once I’ve taken a few more courses.

r/bioinformatics — Apr 3 2018

/r/bioinformatics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Apr 03 2018 04:30:21 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Yea that makes sense. My only prior experience is AP biology, and an introductory course covering molecular bio, cell bio, and genetics. It sounds like I may need to find room for a third or fourth course as well

r/bioinformatics — Apr 3 2018

/r/bioinformatics ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Apr 03 2018 04:10:06 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

(the actual course catalog is here, although I’m sure the fundamental biology courses are roughly the same at any school)

r/buildapcsales — Nov 26 2017

/r/buildapcsales ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Nov 26 2017 21:45:21 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

I’m getting the same error on the full site. Dang

r/buildapcsales — Nov 26 2017

/r/buildapcsales ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Nov 26 2017 21:30:35 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Is there a link for this? The 7600k doesn’t show up for me on google express: https://express.google.com/u/0/search?q=i5%20&cat=B.529803&m=6136318

r/UPenn — Jul 19 2017

/r/UPenn ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 19 2017 17:59:15 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Got it. Thanks for the help

r/UPenn — Jul 19 2017

/r/UPenn ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jul 19 2017 15:46:10 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Hm. Doesn’t seem like it would be worth the hassle then. Do you know if the frames have adjustable heights at least? Mine did last year, but I was in NCH.

r/UPenn — Jul 18 2017

/r/UPenn ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jul 18 2017 18:06:51 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I’m a bit late but... I had a pretty similar schedule my first semester (same thing but I had writing sem and ECON 001 instead of ESE and music). It was definitely tough, but manageable.

If you want, you can switch one of your math/engineering courses for something easier, but if you plan on doing EE and CIS then this is a pretty standard semester in terms of difficulty

r/megalinks — Jul 4 2017

/r/megalinks ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jul 04 2017 04:23:34 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I love you

r/Flipping — Jun 12 2017

/r/Flipping ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Jun 12 2017 20:15:44 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Nice haul! I’ve also been thinking about flipping iPods when I see them, but I was unsure if I’d be locked out of the iPod without the proper account. Has this ever been an issue for you?

r/Flipping — Jun 8 2017

/r/Flipping ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jun 08 2017 13:23:50 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I went ahead and did this. Thanks for the help!

r/Flipping — Jun 7 2017

/r/Flipping ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Jun 07 2017 19:05:06 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

An eBay buyer sent me an offer, to which I sent a counteroffer, and then they bought the item. For whatever reason, they were charged the original price rather than the counteroffer price.

The buyer wants me to send the difference directly to their PayPal. Is it ok to do this?

r/ThriftStoreHauls — Jun 5 2017

/r/ThriftStoreHauls ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Jun 05 2017 14:47:15 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Played the series but started at MW2. Figured I may as well try the original

r/Flipping — Jun 5 2017

/r/Flipping ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Jun 05 2017 14:43:08 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Read the beginner’s guide last week and went to my first garage sale this weekend:

HP Officejet Pro 8500 printer — loaded w/ ink and w/ extra cartridges for $25 ($75-$100)

Linksys AC1200 max wifi extender for $5 ($60)

RobotiKits super solar racing car for $1 ($8)

Mighty mouse 1966 cartoon movie for $1 ($10)

Sony watchman for free ($8)

Three CoD/Halo games for $3 each ($7–10 each)

The estimates are based off previously sold ebay listings. Thanks for the help!

r/Flipping — May 30 2017

/r/Flipping ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue May 30 2017 16:55:15 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Just curious, what kinds of items do you all usually flip from garage sales?

I know this probably varies, but any tips for things I should keep an eye out for? I’ll be going to a few for the first time this weekend.

r/UPenn — Jan 3 2017

/r/UPenn ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jan 03 2017 19:54:10 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

“Due the first working day in January after the winter break”

Wouldn’t “after winter break” imply that grades would be returned on the 11^th?

r/pokemongo — Aug 8 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Aug 08 2016 02:38:39 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Hm. Thanks!

r/pokemongoyellow — Aug 7 2016

/r/pokemongoyellow ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Aug 07 2016 05:45:09 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

well that escalated quickly (was not expecting that Lapras after that Mankey lol)

r/pokemongo — Aug 7 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Aug 07 2016 04:05:40 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Just curious, do you know if they came from the same pokestop?

r/TheSilphRoad — Aug 2 2016

/r/TheSilphRoad ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Aug 02 2016 15:07:24 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Nope. They’re just a little late

r/pokemongo — Aug 1 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Aug 01 2016 01:01:40 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

All of them?

r/TheSilphRoad — Jul 31 2016

/r/TheSilphRoad ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Jul 31 2016 04:39:59 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I don’t understand why this is a problem. Can’t you still evolve your favorited Pokemon? (I’m probably missing something here)

Yea you won’t be able to transfer them after you evolve them, but there’s no use wasting time transferring them while the lucky egg is active anyway

r/pokemongo — Jul 31 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Jul 31 2016 04:33:14 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I think this is what you meant to say: “No it doesn’t mean they’re not never gonna fix. ~~You really have to be an idiot to think that~~ [reason behind my opinion]”

r/TheSilphRoad — Jul 26 2016

/r/TheSilphRoad ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jul 26 2016 16:22:53 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I think Lapras does actually have an ice attack

r/TheSilphRoad — Jul 26 2016

/r/TheSilphRoad ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Tue Jul 26 2016 15:06:40 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Anyone else notice Ponyta sneaking its way onto the list?

r/pokemongodev — Jul 25 2016

/r/pokemongodev ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Mon Jul 25 2016 06:30:31 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Keep getting stuck at “import db”. Here’s the error I’m getting: import db Traceback (most recent call last): File “ <stdin>”, line 1, in <module>File “db.py”, line 17, in <module>import config File “config.py”, line 7 SyntaxError: Non-ASCII character ‘\xe2’ in file config.py on line 7, but no encoding declared; see http://python.org/dev/peps/pep-0263/ for details ‏

r/TheSilphRoad — Jul 24 2016

/r/TheSilphRoad ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun Jul 24 2016 05:20:42 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

For me, about 25% of all Pokemon normally run away. This has remained constant as long as I’ve played the game (I’m currently level 20).

BUT, when I play in someone’s car on the highway, almost every single pokemon runs away

r/pokemongo — Jul 23 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Jul 23 2016 17:11:30 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

just transfer the dratini and you’ll have 25 candy

r/pokemongo — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 05:39:44 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Starring would only prevent transferring pokemon, not evolving them. So isn’t it a good thing that you couldn’t accidentally transfer one of the ones you want to evolve?

Or do you transfer say, a Pidgeotto, after you evolve a Pidgey to get candy for the next Pidgey? In that case, I understand why this would be annoying

r/pokemongo — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 05:21:59 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

You star every Pokemon of that type or just the one you want to evolve?

r/pokemongo — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 04:58:40 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

We’ve seen way too many people accidentally transfer their good Pokémon. Since starring doesn’t currently serve any function, this would be a great way to use it.

Sorry if this has been suggested already and I missed it

r/pokemongo — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 04:58:23 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Deleting this post and making a new one so it’s more clear that it’s a suggestion. Sorry...

r/pokemongo — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 04:55:36 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Dang. Lol not at all. Sounds like the very first thing I would do...

r/pokemongo — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 04:49:31 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

We’ve seen way too many people accidentally transfer their good Pokémon. Since starring doesn’t currently serve any function, this would be a great way to use it.

Sorry if this has been suggested already and I missed it

r/pokemongo — Jul 21 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Thu Jul 21 2016 04:46:19 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Oops... I hope others don’t try this by accident! Any way I could make it more clear? (this is my 1^st ever post on reddit)

r/pokemongo — Jul 16 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Jul 16 2016 18:14:02 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

I’ve noticed the reversed list too, although I think it may have been present even before the bug. Not entirely sure though

r/gamedev — May 1 2016

/r/gamedev ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sun May 01 2016 01:06:56 GMT+0100 [See on Reddit]

Is the site usually this slow?

r/FTC — Mar 12 2016

/r/FTC ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Sat Mar 12 2016 15:30:58 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

Sounds like you’re talking about inheritance. This might help: https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/IandI/subclasses.html

So, I use a series of subclasses for the autonomous programs. For example, there is one base autonomous class that instantiates all the motors and servos, from which each autonomous program inherits. There is one class for a simple parking program, with subclasses for red and blue that only need to override one or two methods.

The code is on github here if you’re curious (my classes begin with “TalBot”): https://github.com/lnmangione/talbot_ftc_app/tree/master/FtcRobotController/src/main/java/com/qualcomm/ftcrobotcontroller/opmodes

r/pokemongo — Feb 24 2016

/r/pokemongo ● /u/Mister_Cactus ● Wed Feb 24 2016 17:04:02 GMT+0000 [See on Reddit]

I’m confident that this will be a Pokemon Go update of some sort. Here’s why:

1) As DLumps pointed out “Time zones puts this as streaming at midnight in Japan: the very moment of the 20^th anniversary!!” Nintendo wouldn’t use this down to the second announcement on the 20^th anniversary of Pokemon just to release/announce another mainline game. I think they would announce something bigger. As John Hanke stated “[they] think [GO] can be bigger than World of Warcraft”. This would fit the announcement perfectly.

2) As stated in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemongo/comments/479knv/ingress_a_mysterious_key_has_been_found_and_is_in/, there is an Ingress anomaly in Rio (where the Pokemon 20^th anniversary Super Bowl commercial was filmed) on the 27^th. I agree with the above post that this anomaly may open a “portal” between the Pokemon universe and our own.

3) The Pokemon 20^th Anniversary Super Bowl commercial shows trainers going out into the real world, and having battles using holographic Pokemon — essentially what would happen if the game was released at Pokemon’s 20^th Anniversary.

Another note about the commercial — It starts out with a young boy in Rio running towards a crowd of people in a circle who surround what we speculate to be a Pokemon. As the commercial progresses, it seems to suggest that Pokemon were originally seen here in Rio, and other trainers see the news and begin to train all over the world. This fits perfectly with the speculation regarding the Ingress Anomaly (see above).

tl;dr — I don’t know if Go will be released on the 26^th, but I am confident in some, big announcement

CEO shooter Luigi Mangione’s Reddit History

Introduction

Posts

r/tedkaczysnki — Streaming overdose 2024 , China — May 25 2024

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

r/onebag — Journal / Packing List: 2+ Months in Asia in a Mid-Sized Backpack — Apr 5 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Athletic Success Stories — Aug 3 2023

r/agronomics — Jim Mellon speaks about Agronomics at Cenkos Growth & Innovation Forum — 8 June 2021 — Jun 9 2021

r/ibs — Low FODMAP diet without SIBO? — Sep 1 2018

r/sleep — Restless sleep? Not sure what this is — Jul 25 2018

r/bioinformatics — Essential biology courses for a computer scientist? — Apr 3 2018

r/UPenn — Lofting bed in the high rises? — Jul 18 2017

r/ThriftStoreHauls — $45 at my local garage sale — Jun 3 2017

r/pokemongo — [SUGGESTION] Starred Pokémon can’t be transferred — Jul 21 2016

r/pokemongo — Odds of a Pokemon Go announcement on the 27th? — Feb 23 2016

Comments

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 18 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 18 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 16 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 30 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 21 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 21 2024

r/facepalm — Apr 18 2024

r/facepalm — Apr 18 2024

r/onebag — Apr 8 2024

r/onebag — Apr 8 2024

r/onebag — Apr 7 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Apr 7 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 5 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Feb 4 2024

r/Spondylolisthesis — Oct 28 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Oct 5 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Aug 4 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Aug 4 2023

r/Oahu — Aug 1 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

r/Sciatica — Jul 19 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 19 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 15 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 8 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Jul 7 2023

r/Spondylolisthesis — Nov 22 2022

r/Supplements — Oct 28 2022

r/Supplements — Oct 25 2022

r/Supplements — Oct 23 2022

r/Spondylolisthesis — Sep 27 2022

r/Spondylolisthesis — Aug 15 2022

r/Spondylolisthesis — May 26 2022

r/agronomics — Dec 22 2021

r/agronomics — Dec 22 2021

r/nflmemes — Dec 21 2021

r/agronomics — Dec 8 2021

r/agronomics — Aug 4 2021

r/wheresthebeef — Jun 20 2021

r/wheresthebeef — Jun 20 2021

r/agronomics — Jun 11 2021

r/UnethicalLifeProTips — Jun 9 2021

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

r/agronomics — Jun 9 2021

r/agronomics — Jun 8 2021

r/agronomics — May 28 2021

r/Frat — Dec 10 2020

r/fantasyfootball — Nov 11 2020

r/fantasyfootball — Nov 11 2020

r/fantasyfootball — Oct 19 2020

r/pokemongo — Odds of a Pokemon Go announcement on the 27^th? — Feb 23 2016