#ntbi

Like phew I don't even know what's worse:

• Transferrin Saturation as an indicator of Hepcidin production (oop)

• >50% Transferrin Saturation exposure associated with joint symptoms

• High Transferrin Saturation (>50%) also associated with the appearance of NTBI (Non-transferrin bound iron), which is likely linked to things like *organ damage*

• Therapeutic Phlebotomy treatment linked to an INCREASED iron absorption after procedures because (somehow. I haven't found exactly HOW yet) it decreases Hepcidin production.

It's such a fucking hot mess like what do we even DO with this information??? There's no hepcidin synthetics from a few (admittedly quick) googles (I *did* check the clinical trials website and nothing of interest/help). The paper in question talks about how a Melbourne study suggests that it may be more beneficial to *NOT* treat mild cases of iron overload. Which I find wild because the same paper also points out that a low ferritin does not mean you have a low transferrin saturation, and it's exposure to a high TS% over a long period of time that seems to be associated with worsening symptoms (particularly joint pain, ability to do work, athletic ability, and libido).

From my brief googles, there's no easy lab tests for Hepcidin. There's no easy lab tests for NTBI. These are things that could be doing who-knows-what and we can't even tell.

Add to it the whole Estradiol/Hepcidin link and it just all is an absolutely hot mess and do not like the implications of where this leads nor the fact that it seems very few people in research world have looked at this. (I'm not surprised. I'm not fucking surprised. They love to run with the myth that women with haemochromatosis are protected by their periods. In the words of a specialist I absolutely loathed, "you're self medicating with periods". Yeah. Sure. Tell that to my 18 year old self. Tell that to anyone who either knowingly or unknowingly is taking a Contraceptive Pill that has iron tablets instead of sugar placebos. [Because I only just found out THAT is a thing. I was always so worried about what's in the hormone tablets, but this was a whole new level of 'wot'].)

Took a few photos of my company’s security uniforms, including; BLACK, WHITE, & GRAY variants of the standard security officer’s uniform. 

Hindi ko alam kung saan ako magsisimula sa kwento ko pero napagdesisyunan kong magsimula nalang sa pag-out ko sa trabaho (note: OJT pa. di pa ako grumadweyt :3). Umuwi ako sa boarding house na manghang tumitingin sa langit. Ang ganda ng pagkabuo-buo nung clouds. Tsaka may pa.epek pang nakatago na araw sa likod ng mga ito kaya kung tingnan mo parang may spesyal na okasyon sa langit. Siguro may isang buong magkapamilya na naka-uwi. Ewan. Baka nga. (Hmm..fast forward na nga lang tayo sa pagdating ko sa mall. XD) Pagkapasok ko sa mall una kong hinahanap yung ATM machine (oops! :p) kasi ‘yun naman talaga ang tukoy ko du'n. Maka-withdraw at nang makabayad na din sa kaibigan kong nahiraman ko ng pera sa pag.attend du'n sa conference last January. E, alangan naman magmukmok ako at mamulubi sa gilid ng foodcourt. Wala naman yatang ganuun dito sa bansa natin. (Wala ba?) Kaya diretso ako sa ATM ng bankong pagdedeposituhan ko na din. Pagpasok ko sa card, pindot ko na ang tamang buttons para ma-input ang mga impormasyong hinihingi habang ina-assure ko sarili ko na tama nga 'yung iniisip kong code. Sinwerte naman ako at mali 'yung kutob ko. Muntik na akong mag-panic (oo, muntik lang talaga) kasi iniisip kong baka ma-stuck na ako sa mall at mamulubi sa labas ng building (e di hamak na namulubi pa rin kahit di na sa loob tabi ng stalls). Besides, hindi na aabot ng bente 'yung laman ng purse ko at hindi na ako makakauwi. Kinansela ko na at baka lunukin na nung machine ang card ko. Bakit ba kasi hindi ko lubos na memoryado ang PIN ko e grumadweyt na nga ang scholarship ko kahit ako hindi pa. Nag-isip na 'ko kung sino ang matatawagan sa phone: pinsan ko na sobrang miss na ako o 'yung kaklase ko na kasama ko sa OJT. Maswerte talaga ako ngayong araw kasi walang ni isa sa kanila na sumasagot kahit anong tawag gawin ko. Nag-scroll ako sa inbox ko at sadyang andun naman 'yung convo namin ng empleyadong kaibigan ko na kasamahan din sa boarding house. Idenial ko na, sumagot naman iilang ring kaso nagising ko yata sa pagtulog. Mabait naman; tinulungan ako. Ayun natama ko din ang isang numerong mali ko. (Biruin mo, sa isang detalyeng pagkakamali, muntik na akong di maka-uwi.) Pumasok na ako sa banko at nang makahulog na sa account. Ang haba ng linya! Tingin ako du'n sa bandang lagayan nung deposit slips, nilipat na pala sa kabilang banda. Lumapit na 'ko at kumuha ng isang form, napansin ko na doble nakuha ko kaya tinanggal ko na 'yung isa at nag-fill-up, pumunta sa dulo ng pila at nagpatuloy magbasa ng ebook ng isa sa mga paborito kong author, ang nagturo sa akin na i.enjoy ang pagsusulat gamit ang wikang Pilipino. Isang bobong manunulat; malamang kilala n'yo s'ya. Aliw na aliw ako sa pagbabasa habang nakapila. All-smiles akong lumapit sa teller at iniabot ang dala-dalang deposit slip. Napasimangot siya ng mapansin n'yang isa lang ang inabot ko. Napasimangot din ako nung ma.realize ko na sinadyang doble 'yung slip na kinuha ko kanina: akin 'yung isang copy at kanila naman 'yung isa. Aba, naging bobo na din yata ako kakabasa du'n sa libro. Bumalik ako at nag-fill-uo ulit tapos balik na din sa pinakadulo nung linya. Nakakatuwa naman at hindi ako na-badtrip. Isip-isip ko na mas mabuti ang nangyari kasi mas makakapagbasa pa ako ng iilang pahina pa. Matapos ang isang chapter ay natapos na din ang transaction ko. Lumabas na ako ng nakangiti pa din sa mga guards. Naglakad-lakad na ulit dahil alam kong makakauwi na ako kung gugustuhin. Naalala kong nag-crave pala ako ng ice cream nung isang araw. Napa-crave ako ulit. Naghanap ako ng ice cream stall (para du'n tumambay at mamulubi…dejowk). May nahanap ako agad. Pasok naman sa budget ko yung price at sakto din merong chocomint kaya umorder na ako agad. Tiningnan ko pangalan ng ice cream stall. Oy, pamilyar! Unang ice cream date ko sa Cagayan de Oro. :3 Chocomint pa din order ko nu'n. (Trivia: crush ko kasama ko nu'n.) 'Di na ako nagtagal sa stall pero hindi ako bitter. *cue Callalily* Pero naghanap pa din ako ng ipapasalubong sa mga tumulong saken. Fastfood chain pa din bagsak ko. … Kaya 'yang picture na yan kuha ko kanina bago kumain. Pang-'bragging rights’ daw sabi nung kaibigan ko. Kesyo kumain sa ganito, ganyan. E, sa proud naman akong kumain sa fast food chain. Nakakatuwa din kasi blurred 'yung 'Ideal Vision’. (Ano ba dapat ang “ideal vision”? Napag-isipan mo ba tanungin sarili mo? May ideal vision ka ba?)

BONUS: 'yung nasaksihan ko maya-maya kakaisip tungkol sa ideal vision..

a 10 commandments paper due thursday, which i'm lost on and have not a lot of time to do it.

and another hermenutics assignment on friday along with the final on friday

So, I’ve been at NTBI for about a month now, and things are going great! My classes are amazing, my classmates are great and my teachers are fantastic. I may have rose colored glasses on however. Allow me to tell you why I’m so psyched to be here, in the cold learning stuff I thought I already knew. I first heard about New Tribes two years ago from an awesome friend and i thought and prayed for a few months and started to apply, and then…. gave up! I lost motivation just short of completing my application. In the long run it was a blessing because i actually applied to the Jackson campus, which if you know anything about NTBI, you know the Waukesha campus is far superior. God Finally worked in me to pursue NTBI again this summer, and now I’m here!

Enough about me though- allow me to share with you what I’ve learned in the last month here at NTBI:

It never stops snowing in Wisconsin. At least not in the months ending in -ber or -ary.

20 degrees is considered “warmin up. Especially after a month of negatives.

“Fire Alarm” is such an ugly word- we prefer “surprise fellowship time”. Even if it is midnight and you were this close to being asleep, and it’s happened four other times this month.

Being 23 hanging around 18 year olds is only weird when you think about it. After a while you forget you’re older. Except when someone brings it up by asking stuff like “you were alive in the 80′s right?”

Valentine’s Day at a ‘ring by spring’ school sucks. No explanation needed… which brings me to….

They don’t just say ‘ring by spring’ cuz it rhymes. If you don’t know what ‘ring by spring’ means- you can guess. I like to call the summer between your first and second year “wedding season’.

If ever you wanted rumors swirling that you’re in love with someone you just met- you’re in luck! If you even so much as talk to a member of the opposite gender for more than ten minutes, you’ve pretty much just signed your wedding licence. But hey- i guess ring by spring means  boyfriend by winter.

Hey! Just wanted to give you another update on life out here at Bible College! First, I want to say that I hope those of you affected by the hurricane and snow storm are doing well and do not have much damage if any to tend to. You have all certainly been in my prayers as regards to the storms!

Well, school has been quite busy, more so than usual the past few weeks and there's only 5 weeks left to the semester! Time seems to be going by so fast. I recently finished studying the Pentateuch and started Old Testament History. In my last update I was in Exodus but since then I studied through Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These classes were not very long, about 10 hours a week for each of them but they are an essential foundation as far as understanding the rest of the Bible goes. Understanding the laws laid out and the different feasts that pointed out Christ's work that was to come shows just how much higher God's ways are than our own. Also just seeing the Israelites constantly turn from God and to the gods of other nations and their own selves and the way that God, though he punished them, loved them enough to punish them and point them back in the right direction. It just depicts the current life of so many individuals even in the church. How often we leave God out of the picture and how often we turn to other 'gods' whether they be our own selves, our sleep, the internet, television, et cetera. It's convicting to see the same things in my own life that we would normally read through in the Pentateuch and think, "Oh, I'd never do THAT." and realize that we do it daily.

I've got a little over one more week of Hermeneutics to go, it's been an incredible class which I already covered in my last update but I'll try to go into more detail on it in my next update when I finish it! I get to start Proverbs after it ends so while I'm sad to be done with hermeneutics, I'm also excited to start Proverbs! So far I've read through and studied from Genesis to Ruth, and then Job, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Philippians. Looking back and realizing that I've gone through that much scripture in just a few months is incredible. I've learned so much and am continuing to learn so much more. I started Old Testament History which will be going from Judges all the way through Esther. This class definitely has the heaviest homework load of the semester, at least two hours worth a day, but I'm more than happy to get into it. It's going to be a hard class but it's going to be incredibly worth it!

Moving on from school, I've been going to a church called Community Bible of Manchester. It's a very small church and I'm currently helping out with Awana there on Wednesday evenings. I've got 3-6th grade boys. Depending on what other helpers show up sometimes it's just me and a younger guy, Sam, working with them and then on other nights, we have an older guy who helps out. It's been going well so far even though it just started and I'm getting used to how it all works because it's been so long since I went through it and it's incredibly different than when I went through it as well! I'm really glad I can help serve the church though, and I look forward to getting to know the people at the church better and develop relationships there.

Overall life here has been going so well. Classes are great, relationship building is going great, and life outside of school at church is great as well. I really cannot believe how smoothly everything is going here and I could not have expected it to be nearly this great, not my first semester especially. I really expected a much rougher transition and I'm so thankful that it's been so much easier to adjust than I expected.

Thank you so much for your prayer and support!

God bless,