Health

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EPISTLE TO THE REMNANT

It’s amazing how we learn even as we age.  Just as you retire and look for that life of leisure, something pops up and bites you in the butt.  Like a pandemic.  Or a revolution.  Something you never dreamed of being a part of.  Now, I’m starting to understand for the first time in my life what’s it life to be a part of a persecuted minority. Oh, I’m a white male in a country that’s 60.9% white (2022 census) and I’m a Christian in...

Things we see and hear

THINGS WE SEE AND HEAR

This is a post on two unusual terms (pareidolia and apophenia) plus one other phrase which speaks for itself: auditory hallucinations. So, why am I discussing these terms at all and why now? The answer is that our society is currently stressed. And as the people in our society becomes unnerved, people on the margins of our communities are sliding or being pushed towards mental health issues. These issues include depression, anxiety, eating disorders and other psychological ailments. Many are...

WONDERFULLY MADE

I was reading an interesting question on a discussion board the other night.  The board was a place where medical students and residents pose questions to each other. The question had to do with whether supplemental oxygen can address shortness of breath in cases when a patient has pump failure or COPD (assuming at the same time), the patient has adequate O2 arterial saturation.  In the event that some readers have wondered about this themselves, providing O2 per mask or cannula can not...

As you heal from your aneurysm repair

AS YOU HEAL FROM YOUR ANEURYSM REPAIR

This post is a continuation of a previous post titled Omi’s Aneurysm. In this post, I plan to journal what I hope will be a very uneventful recovery in the days and months ahead following my dear wife’s surgery, which occurred on August 9, 2024 for a 7 mm saccular, intracranial aneurysm. The word “intracranial” means within the cranium, or inside the bones that form the head. More than likely in this context, it refers to the largest of the...

Omi's aneurysm

OMI’S ANEURYSM

One of the most important questions Deena and I had to ask of the other when we first met was whether we shared the same faith (or if any faith at all.)  We could not at the time foresee my eventual cancer or Deena’s cerebral aneurysm.  But having a mutual belief system meant that we had a common stratagem which we could fall back on when the road got bumpy (and as we were both approaching the age of seventy, the question...

Waiting

WAITING

On the eve of Ron’s fourteenth chemotherapy treatment, he asked me if I wanted to write an update on how I was dealing with his illnesses.  I asked, “On what? The Big C., Parkinson’s, your heart issues, your shoulder pain, or your other issues?”  He said, “No really, my readers might want your perspective.”  I quietly answered, “I am labeled as a strong woman and for the most part, I am and can be, but I have my days and the gloomy...

The doctor will see you now

THE DOCTOR WILL SEE YOU NOW

Sesame Street character Elmo paid a virtual visit to X recently with a post that said “Elmo is just checking in. How is everybody doing?” The fact that Elmo is 43 years “old” means he has been entertaining and inspiring Americans for almost two generations. Thousands of people responded to him, though relatively few responses came from children. The respondents were clearly worn out, anxious, fearful and outright “down” in their prospects for a better life. Many families are stressed...

Is it almost time?

WHEN TIME IS TIGHT

Ladies with babies have almost always experienced labor, unless they were sectioned or their children were adopted.  The anticipation of childbirth while pregnant, the approaching date of confinement, the first contractions, bring joy to an expectant mother’s heart. Hurried visits to the clinic or hospital in the last trimester only to be turned away and sent home with a disappointing diagnosis of Braxton Hicks contractions otherwise known as false labor are on the other hand discouraging. Some women get very excited...

Time to mask up again?

TIME TO MASK UP AGAIN?

Because the COVID-19 severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus continues to circulate, but more importantly, because of an uptick in infections and hospitalizations, I’ve decided to start a new thread, since the old one is a pretty large file.  Let’s begin with a status check.  As of mid-August 2023 there were: U.S. Hospitalizations from COVID Deaths from COVID in U.S. Doses of vaccine given in U.S. 6,256,971 1,145,659 676,728,782[1] [1] As of May 2023. Variant Name R0 Value Comments XBB.1.5 Kraken TBD Emerged in Fall...

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