I went back to the doctor today to see about this lovely knot on the calf of my left leg.
The blood clot is not going away. There is still swelling, though not as bad. There is not a lot of redness, and no heat. The doctor looked it over closely and decided to do some kind of blood test that I expect is expensive, because they had me sign a paper that I would pay for it. It apparently determines how well your blood clots. Or not.
At any rate, the results of this test will determine the next steps. If the result is not good, then I will need to go have an ultrasound to check for a deeper clot and to see how the veins are in my leg. If the results are good, then I just need to continue to put heat on it, elevate it, and allow time to do its thing.
Blood clots ache. I had no idea they hurt so bad. No wonder people with varicose veins have surgery to remove them. I don't have too many varicose veins; I have a few tiny little ones but they've never given me any problem. I have noticed in the last month or so that I seem to have more little red spider veins that I did.
I am purposefully not looking up information on these SVTs because I don't want to scare myself. I already made that mistake once - the first place I looked said that while it was rare, blood clots could be a result of pancreatic cancer. My mother died of pancreatic cancer so of course that was a high red flag. Good grief.
So I haven't read much about this and am relying on my doctor instead.
My grandmother had varicose veins and according to my aunt, she experienced these superficial venous thrombosis things. It's probably hereditary.
In the meantime, it's stormed and we had hay down, so it's wet and pretty much a loss. One of the perils of farming. It is thundering now as I speak, which means it is probably time to shut down this ol' computer and go read a book.
****
Update: Friday I received the blood work back and it's not a DVT. Just something that is going to be painful and a problem for a while longer. I've decided it's probably a Hershey's Kiss stuck in there.
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
I've Been Sick
Apologies to my regular readers - I've had strep throat and an ear infection and haven't felt like writing.
Will try to do better. Hang in there with me!
Thank you for reading me; you have no idea how much I appreciate my readers.
Will try to do better. Hang in there with me!
Thank you for reading me; you have no idea how much I appreciate my readers.
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
Hair of the Dog
My hair is a problem.
No, that is not true. My hair is doing what hair does - grow and turn gray.
The problem is I don't have a regular place to go for a haircut.
This began back in November when my hairdresser of 30+ years retired. She gave little warning of her decision and I was left with a few names and a prayer.
When I became a little shaggy in December, I went to a walk-in place and the girl did an okay job. In early January, I went to a woman I have known all of my life and she did a nice job, but I thought she overcharged me by about $10. She also only works three days a week and is hard to get in to see.
I ended up back at the walk-in place in early February. I saw a different person who gave me the second-worst haircut I have ever had in my life. (The worst haircut occurred when I was 20 and getting ready to be married. I mean literally just two weeks from my wedding day.)
In early March, I went to a different walk-in place and that was a good haircut and a decent price. But it is a 30-minute drive away.
Today I returned to the place where I'd went for 30 years, only to see a different stylist. I was hunting for a familiarity in this effort, thinking the familiar surroundings would offer comfort.
I don't think I will go back.
It is easy to do things out of habit and complacency. For some time, when I was seeing my old beautician (let's call her Barb for fun - that is not her name), I'd noticed that when I left the salon I stunk. Not as in sweaty stink but as in perm or hair solution or something stink. For a good two or three years, maybe longer, after Barb cut my hair once a month, I then came home and took a second shower.
If I didn't my asthma kicked in and that is no fun.
I'd forgotten that problem in my hopes of easing the unease I feel wandering into strange places in hunting a hair dresser. I remembered it today while I was sitting in the chair having my hair trimmed. I guess a place that has been a hair salon for 30 years is going to smell like perms and hair solution, and that stuff is going to get on your clothes so badly that you have to come home, shower, and wash even your light jacket because it picks up the scent.
Mostly, though, I won't go back because the stylist today told me that Barb had returned to work part-time, and was working three days a week. But Barb hadn't let me know. I was stung and hurt when I learned of this. Thirty years of loyalty and this was my reward?
This is now my choice, to roam about hunting for a hair stylist. I hope I never tie myself to one person for beauty treatments again.
Maybe it is better to look a little different every month (even if it is with the Second Worst Haircut of Your Life).
Perhaps it builds character.
Life is a little more complicated every day, and it shouldn't be so difficult. But I'm not going to let it bother me, because it is only hair.
No, that is not true. My hair is doing what hair does - grow and turn gray.
The problem is I don't have a regular place to go for a haircut.
This began back in November when my hairdresser of 30+ years retired. She gave little warning of her decision and I was left with a few names and a prayer.
When I became a little shaggy in December, I went to a walk-in place and the girl did an okay job. In early January, I went to a woman I have known all of my life and she did a nice job, but I thought she overcharged me by about $10. She also only works three days a week and is hard to get in to see.
I ended up back at the walk-in place in early February. I saw a different person who gave me the second-worst haircut I have ever had in my life. (The worst haircut occurred when I was 20 and getting ready to be married. I mean literally just two weeks from my wedding day.)
In early March, I went to a different walk-in place and that was a good haircut and a decent price. But it is a 30-minute drive away.
Today I returned to the place where I'd went for 30 years, only to see a different stylist. I was hunting for a familiarity in this effort, thinking the familiar surroundings would offer comfort.
I don't think I will go back.
It is easy to do things out of habit and complacency. For some time, when I was seeing my old beautician (let's call her Barb for fun - that is not her name), I'd noticed that when I left the salon I stunk. Not as in sweaty stink but as in perm or hair solution or something stink. For a good two or three years, maybe longer, after Barb cut my hair once a month, I then came home and took a second shower.
If I didn't my asthma kicked in and that is no fun.
I'd forgotten that problem in my hopes of easing the unease I feel wandering into strange places in hunting a hair dresser. I remembered it today while I was sitting in the chair having my hair trimmed. I guess a place that has been a hair salon for 30 years is going to smell like perms and hair solution, and that stuff is going to get on your clothes so badly that you have to come home, shower, and wash even your light jacket because it picks up the scent.
Mostly, though, I won't go back because the stylist today told me that Barb had returned to work part-time, and was working three days a week. But Barb hadn't let me know. I was stung and hurt when I learned of this. Thirty years of loyalty and this was my reward?
This is now my choice, to roam about hunting for a hair stylist. I hope I never tie myself to one person for beauty treatments again.
Maybe it is better to look a little different every month (even if it is with the Second Worst Haircut of Your Life).
Perhaps it builds character.
Life is a little more complicated every day, and it shouldn't be so difficult. But I'm not going to let it bother me, because it is only hair.
Monday, September 10, 2018
The "Luxury" of Being Sick
An acquaintance of mine told me Friday, as she has on other occasions, that she doesn't have the "luxury" of being sick. She said this with a scowl on her face because she's working very hard at the job she has chosen. She has aches and pains and works through them. I'm glad she can do that.
I, on the other hand, have spent the last five years recovering from multiple illnesses, one of which nearly killed me as I had internal bleeding with ulcers, and another which forced me to use a cane for a long time until I finally, with lots of hard work and therapy, was able to do away with the cane.
That doesn't mean I am well. It means I am better, but my stamina is awful and my anxiety levels high. I can't sit for long periods, or stand for long periods. I can't lift anything heavy. I don't eat tomatoes or foods that will cause my stomach to act up.
I do the laundry, I go to the grocery store, I make dinner, I keep the house reasonably clean though I cannot run the vacuum so I have someone come and help me with that. I still write some. Not as much as I'd like but I am not floating in my bed, waiting on someone to bring me an aspirin.
I do what I can.
This acquaintance - we used to be friends, but we aren't anymore - has no empathy for people who are suffering. She seems to believe if she can work with a sore shoulder then everyone else should be able to work with whatever is wrong with them. This is how a certain segment of the population thinks, until they find themselves with cancer or on the end of a surgical knife. Then, as happened with my elected official, there may be second thoughts about allowing Medicaid into Virginia. Because golly gee, people do simply get sick through no fault of their own, and it hurts and you feel bad and sometimes you really can't get out of bed.
Being sick is by no means a "luxury." I would trade my "luxury" of being sick for a steady job and good health any time. However, I have always been a sickly person and I don't expect that to change as I age. From the time I was born, according to my mother, I was sick. I had colic, ran fevers, and I was allergic to cow's milk and formula and had to drink goat's milk. I fell down and dislocated a shoulder, I cracked my head open on something, and I had surgery to remove a pre-cancerous mole - all before I was five.
I used to miss 30 days of school, at least, every year. I kept a cough, and bronchitis and/or pneumonia found me every winter. I caught each bug that went around. And still I weathered it and made straight As.
You don't make straight As and be sick by sitting in the bed and not doing your homework.
This same acquaintance once told me she would never hire me to work, because I had a 3.96 GPA in college. People who make As don't have to work for them, she said. The people who makes Bs and Cs have to work to get those grades.
I don't know where someone gets this idea. Does she think I did not spend hours upon hours studying and reading, taking notes, learning the things I needed to know?
My life has always been about work. My father did not let us have much down time - we lived on a farm and I had chores. I watched after my brother. I fed birds. I gathered eggs. I brought in firewood. I helped keep the house clean. One of my finest hours was the day my mother told me, about a year after I'd married and left home, that she had had no idea how much work I'd actually done around the house until I was gone. Finally, some recognition for all those towels I'd folded.
After I married, I worked. Not only did I work, I put myself through college. I worked full time and went to college part-time. I did this for eight years. It took eight years to finish school because I had many surgeries during that time and I had to drop out of college a few semesters because I couldn't drive. I lost a few jobs because of illness, too. And I finally stopped working "for the man" altogether in the mid-1990s because I was having three-day migraines at least three times a month. I couldn't stay that sick and work, so I started freelancing full time so that when I needed to rest, I could rest. But even then, though I was working from home, I worked very hard at my writing. I wrote thousands - yes, thousands - of articles.
You don't do that because you have the "luxury" of being sick. You do that in spite of being sick.
And then being sick finally took its toll and my poor body said, "Enough of this. Stop with the stress and the stuff you shouldn't be doing or you'll bleed to death from these ulcers."
Lesson learned, though it took two years and much prodding from my doctor before I finally gave up my newspaper work. Then I worked hard at physical therapy. I did my exercises. And while I'm not healthy, I'm functional.
I'm functional because I worked at it. I was sick because I was sick, and not because I had the "luxury" of being sick. Sick people do not consider it a luxury because it isn't one. Sick people generally have less money, because they work less, they can't enjoy life like a healthy person can, and if you're disabled to any degree the people in the USA look down on you as if you're some kind of ratty flea with something contagious. I feel sure there are more sick people than healthy people in this country, because we're a pretty sick country overall, but I think a lot of people tough it out. And toughing it out has consequences that, in the long run, are not pretty.
No one has the "luxury" of being sick. If anyone ever says that to me again, I think I might have to punch that person in the mouth.
I, on the other hand, have spent the last five years recovering from multiple illnesses, one of which nearly killed me as I had internal bleeding with ulcers, and another which forced me to use a cane for a long time until I finally, with lots of hard work and therapy, was able to do away with the cane.
That doesn't mean I am well. It means I am better, but my stamina is awful and my anxiety levels high. I can't sit for long periods, or stand for long periods. I can't lift anything heavy. I don't eat tomatoes or foods that will cause my stomach to act up.
I do the laundry, I go to the grocery store, I make dinner, I keep the house reasonably clean though I cannot run the vacuum so I have someone come and help me with that. I still write some. Not as much as I'd like but I am not floating in my bed, waiting on someone to bring me an aspirin.
I do what I can.
This acquaintance - we used to be friends, but we aren't anymore - has no empathy for people who are suffering. She seems to believe if she can work with a sore shoulder then everyone else should be able to work with whatever is wrong with them. This is how a certain segment of the population thinks, until they find themselves with cancer or on the end of a surgical knife. Then, as happened with my elected official, there may be second thoughts about allowing Medicaid into Virginia. Because golly gee, people do simply get sick through no fault of their own, and it hurts and you feel bad and sometimes you really can't get out of bed.
Being sick is by no means a "luxury." I would trade my "luxury" of being sick for a steady job and good health any time. However, I have always been a sickly person and I don't expect that to change as I age. From the time I was born, according to my mother, I was sick. I had colic, ran fevers, and I was allergic to cow's milk and formula and had to drink goat's milk. I fell down and dislocated a shoulder, I cracked my head open on something, and I had surgery to remove a pre-cancerous mole - all before I was five.
I used to miss 30 days of school, at least, every year. I kept a cough, and bronchitis and/or pneumonia found me every winter. I caught each bug that went around. And still I weathered it and made straight As.
You don't make straight As and be sick by sitting in the bed and not doing your homework.
This same acquaintance once told me she would never hire me to work, because I had a 3.96 GPA in college. People who make As don't have to work for them, she said. The people who makes Bs and Cs have to work to get those grades.
I don't know where someone gets this idea. Does she think I did not spend hours upon hours studying and reading, taking notes, learning the things I needed to know?
My life has always been about work. My father did not let us have much down time - we lived on a farm and I had chores. I watched after my brother. I fed birds. I gathered eggs. I brought in firewood. I helped keep the house clean. One of my finest hours was the day my mother told me, about a year after I'd married and left home, that she had had no idea how much work I'd actually done around the house until I was gone. Finally, some recognition for all those towels I'd folded.
After I married, I worked. Not only did I work, I put myself through college. I worked full time and went to college part-time. I did this for eight years. It took eight years to finish school because I had many surgeries during that time and I had to drop out of college a few semesters because I couldn't drive. I lost a few jobs because of illness, too. And I finally stopped working "for the man" altogether in the mid-1990s because I was having three-day migraines at least three times a month. I couldn't stay that sick and work, so I started freelancing full time so that when I needed to rest, I could rest. But even then, though I was working from home, I worked very hard at my writing. I wrote thousands - yes, thousands - of articles.
You don't do that because you have the "luxury" of being sick. You do that in spite of being sick.
And then being sick finally took its toll and my poor body said, "Enough of this. Stop with the stress and the stuff you shouldn't be doing or you'll bleed to death from these ulcers."
Lesson learned, though it took two years and much prodding from my doctor before I finally gave up my newspaper work. Then I worked hard at physical therapy. I did my exercises. And while I'm not healthy, I'm functional.
I'm functional because I worked at it. I was sick because I was sick, and not because I had the "luxury" of being sick. Sick people do not consider it a luxury because it isn't one. Sick people generally have less money, because they work less, they can't enjoy life like a healthy person can, and if you're disabled to any degree the people in the USA look down on you as if you're some kind of ratty flea with something contagious. I feel sure there are more sick people than healthy people in this country, because we're a pretty sick country overall, but I think a lot of people tough it out. And toughing it out has consequences that, in the long run, are not pretty.
No one has the "luxury" of being sick. If anyone ever says that to me again, I think I might have to punch that person in the mouth.
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Otis Media and Sinusitis
A few days of sniffling quickly turned into something major Tuesday night.
I thought I was fine. Pollen's in the air, and I have allergies. Considering that, I seemed to be doing well.
Tuesday evening, though, I developed a severe sore throat, seemingly within moments of being fine.
When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was in full-blown sinus and ear infection mode. I rose at my usual 6:15 a.m. and by 7:30 a.m. I was watching the clock so I could call the doctor as I felt worse every minute.
Fortunately my doctor had a 10:15 opening, and in I went. It was a different sort of doctor visit. I expected to be waiting a long time, as is often the case when I get a sick visit. But I'd only been waiting about 25 minutes when my doctor herself opened the door to the waiting room and said, "Anita, get on back here. I want to see you now."
Surprised, I followed her into the back and she pointed me toward the far room. "I want to see you in there," she said.
No weighing, no vitals, no temperature-taking.
She's seen me frequently for similar issues, enough so that she went straight to my left ear. "Raging infection there," she said, moving to the right ear. "Not infected yet but retracted and heading that way."
She shone her light down my throat, felt my glands in my neck. "Oh boy. Yeah. You need an antibiotic."
It was short and sweet, and I was out of there quickly. It felt like an old-fashioned quick visit with a friend who knows me all too well. All business but I had what I needed and she had one person off her list.
Apparently those early warning symptoms I'd been chalking up to allergies was really an infection brewing in my head.
So today is a rest day while I hope the antibiotics kick in as quickly as the infection seemed to.
I thought I was fine. Pollen's in the air, and I have allergies. Considering that, I seemed to be doing well.
Tuesday evening, though, I developed a severe sore throat, seemingly within moments of being fine.
When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was in full-blown sinus and ear infection mode. I rose at my usual 6:15 a.m. and by 7:30 a.m. I was watching the clock so I could call the doctor as I felt worse every minute.
Fortunately my doctor had a 10:15 opening, and in I went. It was a different sort of doctor visit. I expected to be waiting a long time, as is often the case when I get a sick visit. But I'd only been waiting about 25 minutes when my doctor herself opened the door to the waiting room and said, "Anita, get on back here. I want to see you now."
Surprised, I followed her into the back and she pointed me toward the far room. "I want to see you in there," she said.
No weighing, no vitals, no temperature-taking.
She's seen me frequently for similar issues, enough so that she went straight to my left ear. "Raging infection there," she said, moving to the right ear. "Not infected yet but retracted and heading that way."
She shone her light down my throat, felt my glands in my neck. "Oh boy. Yeah. You need an antibiotic."
It was short and sweet, and I was out of there quickly. It felt like an old-fashioned quick visit with a friend who knows me all too well. All business but I had what I needed and she had one person off her list.
Apparently those early warning symptoms I'd been chalking up to allergies was really an infection brewing in my head.
So today is a rest day while I hope the antibiotics kick in as quickly as the infection seemed to.
Wednesday, September 06, 2017
Yes, I've Been Taking a Little Unannounced Break
My apologies to my regular readers for the lack of daily posts. I've been recharging those ol' brain cells.
I also kind of ran out of things to say that weren't political, and I wasn't keen on writing about politics. I feel that edge coming back, though, so don't go too far away from me.
After all, there are statues to talk about, and immigration laws, and hurricanes, and who-knows-what-else. It changes daily, the topics unfolding in this fast-charged world.
However, before I tackle such weighty issues, I must get over an ear infection and a bit of drama with a new medication that created a problem, so I can be sure my head is on straight and things are working properly. (Yeah, yeah, who says my head was ever on straight?)
Memes are another matter entirely - so yes, I have been doing those. Though Thursday 13, which comes tomorrow, can be hard and as of this moment - 7 p.m. on Wednesday night - I've no topic.
Sometimes it is hard to write about 13 things.
Anywho, I thought I'd let the world know I'm still around, just not quite in the best of form. Ear aches make it hard to think, as do the headaches and sore throat that go along with them. I'll be back at it full speed soon, though.
I promise.
I also kind of ran out of things to say that weren't political, and I wasn't keen on writing about politics. I feel that edge coming back, though, so don't go too far away from me.
After all, there are statues to talk about, and immigration laws, and hurricanes, and who-knows-what-else. It changes daily, the topics unfolding in this fast-charged world.
However, before I tackle such weighty issues, I must get over an ear infection and a bit of drama with a new medication that created a problem, so I can be sure my head is on straight and things are working properly. (Yeah, yeah, who says my head was ever on straight?)
Memes are another matter entirely - so yes, I have been doing those. Though Thursday 13, which comes tomorrow, can be hard and as of this moment - 7 p.m. on Wednesday night - I've no topic.
Sometimes it is hard to write about 13 things.
Anywho, I thought I'd let the world know I'm still around, just not quite in the best of form. Ear aches make it hard to think, as do the headaches and sore throat that go along with them. I'll be back at it full speed soon, though.
I promise.
Monday, June 26, 2017
Darling, You Are Growing Old
My mother used to sing a line to me at every birthday: Darling, you are growing old. I don't know if was from a song, or simply something she liked to sing, but nearly every year, especially after I married, she would croon that.
And here I am, old. Well, aging, anyway. I'm still in my birthday month. Still celebrating having made it yet another year.
However, this year so far, two of my high school classmates have passed away (class of 1981). They were, of course, my age. Early 50s.
I am not sure how many of my classmates have gone to the great beyond. I believe there were eight that we were aware of when we had our 30th reunion in 2011, which was six years ago. Now I know of 10. I suspect there are more. We were a class of 212 (I think), so about 5 percent of us - maybe even 10 percent or more, since I haven't kept up with most people - have passed on.
We were a generation that grew up eating bologna, TV dinners, and candy bars. We drank Dr. Pepper and scarfed up cookies. Our moms worked, mostly, and if meals were anything like at my house, they were whatever a poor pooped woman could manage at 6 p.m. Frequently, that was Kraft Mac & Cheese or whatever else she could rustle up.
Food companies of course were eager to help. Who cared if the stuff was full of preservatives, sodium, fats, and who-knows-what? It shut the kids up.
Unfortunately for my mother, and for me, I never liked cooking so I wasn't much help. To this day I still don't understand appropriate nutrition and how food is fuel and what the body needs versus what the body craves. They are different things, aren't they? Craving and needing?
Nor does cooking appeal to me, even now. I don't like naked meat. I don't care to see it sitting there unclothed on my counter, with its thighs or gristle or fat waiting to make my hands slippery and yucky. I don't like flouring it only to fry it and watch the grease pop out all over the stove, making a lovely mess. I don't like trimming fat from pork or steak, nor do I know how to marinate meat so that it has a lovely taste. That I leave to restaurants.
Mostly I know how to stuff meat in the oven and let it bake until it is not red and bleeding, and then we eat it. I don't salt it, because my husband and I both have high blood pressure. Sometimes I fix pork or a chuck roast in the crock pot and I put Mrs. Dash in there.
We eat a rather bland diet, for the things I can cook are bland, and thus when the grocery aisles scream out "cookie" or "potato chip" or "something with taste, for God's sake!" then of course the hands reach out and the item finds it way into the basket.
Now, though, I think the reality of aging is finally conking me upside the head. If I don't take care of myself, I'm not going to have a long life. I'll be gone, like some of my classmates. I've already outlived a percentage of them.
I have to figure this out. I know in my head what I need to do. It's the rest of me that needs to be convinced, especially my taste buds and their unquenchable desire for things sweet and chocolatey.
Always a work in progress over something. But better to be a work in progress than a staid old statue made of clay.
And here I am, old. Well, aging, anyway. I'm still in my birthday month. Still celebrating having made it yet another year.
However, this year so far, two of my high school classmates have passed away (class of 1981). They were, of course, my age. Early 50s.
I am not sure how many of my classmates have gone to the great beyond. I believe there were eight that we were aware of when we had our 30th reunion in 2011, which was six years ago. Now I know of 10. I suspect there are more. We were a class of 212 (I think), so about 5 percent of us - maybe even 10 percent or more, since I haven't kept up with most people - have passed on.
We were a generation that grew up eating bologna, TV dinners, and candy bars. We drank Dr. Pepper and scarfed up cookies. Our moms worked, mostly, and if meals were anything like at my house, they were whatever a poor pooped woman could manage at 6 p.m. Frequently, that was Kraft Mac & Cheese or whatever else she could rustle up.
Food companies of course were eager to help. Who cared if the stuff was full of preservatives, sodium, fats, and who-knows-what? It shut the kids up.
Unfortunately for my mother, and for me, I never liked cooking so I wasn't much help. To this day I still don't understand appropriate nutrition and how food is fuel and what the body needs versus what the body craves. They are different things, aren't they? Craving and needing?
Nor does cooking appeal to me, even now. I don't like naked meat. I don't care to see it sitting there unclothed on my counter, with its thighs or gristle or fat waiting to make my hands slippery and yucky. I don't like flouring it only to fry it and watch the grease pop out all over the stove, making a lovely mess. I don't like trimming fat from pork or steak, nor do I know how to marinate meat so that it has a lovely taste. That I leave to restaurants.
Mostly I know how to stuff meat in the oven and let it bake until it is not red and bleeding, and then we eat it. I don't salt it, because my husband and I both have high blood pressure. Sometimes I fix pork or a chuck roast in the crock pot and I put Mrs. Dash in there.
We eat a rather bland diet, for the things I can cook are bland, and thus when the grocery aisles scream out "cookie" or "potato chip" or "something with taste, for God's sake!" then of course the hands reach out and the item finds it way into the basket.
Now, though, I think the reality of aging is finally conking me upside the head. If I don't take care of myself, I'm not going to have a long life. I'll be gone, like some of my classmates. I've already outlived a percentage of them.
I have to figure this out. I know in my head what I need to do. It's the rest of me that needs to be convinced, especially my taste buds and their unquenchable desire for things sweet and chocolatey.
Always a work in progress over something. But better to be a work in progress than a staid old statue made of clay.
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
Not Quite a Couch Potato
I bought a Fitbit, the Flex 2, about two months ago. First I bought the latest Fitbit that had the heart rate check and all of that, but, to no one's surprise, I reacted to both the band and the device. The electronic pulse from the device made my entire arm go numb, and the band caused a rash.
So I returned that.
I had given up on such devices when I ran across the Flex 2 for a very low price at Walmart. It bothers me to wear it on my wrist but I purchased a doohickey that allows me to slip into my sock. So long as I rotate legs every day, I am doing fine with this. It does not have as many bells and whistles, and I can't use the sleep mode with the doohickey in my sock (plus I don't wear socks to bed), but it counts steps and that was all I wanted anyway.
This is because I have never been able to get a pedometer to work.
Long story short, I expected to find that I walked 1,000 steps or less a day, because I am not a great exerciser and I have health issues.
Imagine my surprise to find that I average about 5,000 steps a day, just wandering around the house. Two miles back and forth from my office to the kitchen to the bathroom and the laundry room. No wonder the hall carpet needs to be replaced.
My best day so far has been 8,000 steps, and considering my health issues my physical therapist was ecstatic about that. Lately, with more physical therapy taking its toll on my pain levels, my best days have been around 6,000 steps, but still not bad for someone who frequently resorts to a cane and who cannot climb steps or hills at all.
Basically I need to increase my activity, and the only way to do this is with doubled-down effort at using the treadmill. I would love to take walks outside but uneven ground is hard on me physically, plus I'm allergic to practically everything in my environment. Achoo!
So far this Fitbit has provided good information but no weight loss. However, I am starting to understand the relationship between calories and activity. Before I have read diet books and none of it made sense - it was like a bad trig class without my wonderful high school teacher guiding me toward the X value. They made no sense to me.
Now if I can just figure out how the calories and activities compute with the junk I shove in my face, I'll make progress.
So I returned that.
I had given up on such devices when I ran across the Flex 2 for a very low price at Walmart. It bothers me to wear it on my wrist but I purchased a doohickey that allows me to slip into my sock. So long as I rotate legs every day, I am doing fine with this. It does not have as many bells and whistles, and I can't use the sleep mode with the doohickey in my sock (plus I don't wear socks to bed), but it counts steps and that was all I wanted anyway.
This is because I have never been able to get a pedometer to work.
Long story short, I expected to find that I walked 1,000 steps or less a day, because I am not a great exerciser and I have health issues.
Imagine my surprise to find that I average about 5,000 steps a day, just wandering around the house. Two miles back and forth from my office to the kitchen to the bathroom and the laundry room. No wonder the hall carpet needs to be replaced.
My best day so far has been 8,000 steps, and considering my health issues my physical therapist was ecstatic about that. Lately, with more physical therapy taking its toll on my pain levels, my best days have been around 6,000 steps, but still not bad for someone who frequently resorts to a cane and who cannot climb steps or hills at all.
Basically I need to increase my activity, and the only way to do this is with doubled-down effort at using the treadmill. I would love to take walks outside but uneven ground is hard on me physically, plus I'm allergic to practically everything in my environment. Achoo!
So far this Fitbit has provided good information but no weight loss. However, I am starting to understand the relationship between calories and activity. Before I have read diet books and none of it made sense - it was like a bad trig class without my wonderful high school teacher guiding me toward the X value. They made no sense to me.
Now if I can just figure out how the calories and activities compute with the junk I shove in my face, I'll make progress.
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
When the Colds Won't Go
I am on my second round of sinus stuff. I was quite sick at the first of April, then last week I was back at the doctor yet again with a severe ear infection and sinus drainage. She gave me a Z-pak, which is a 5-day antibiotic.
Within 24 hours of taking the last pill, though, the sore throat, stuffy ears, and headache have returned. I have sent my doctor a note asking her if I should wait it out or does she have another suggestion. (*Update: she said to wait it out, but rest.)
I prefer not to take antibiotics but sometimes I need more than a single Z-pak to rid my body of an infection. I have a poor immune system and bad bugs seem to love it. But I also know that taking antibiotics has risks.
These days my concerns are not only with the actual medicines, but with the generics that are forced upon us by the insurance companies. My recent Z-pak was a generic one. Does it work as well as the name brand? Perhaps not. Maybe that is why my throat hurts again.
One drug I take regularly smells hideous, like sulfur, but it is not a sulfur drug. The brand-name drug does not have this odor.
Not only that, whenever the pharmacy decides it will save $0.0001 cents if it changes brands, the medication change frequently does not work as well for me. When this is a drug for blood pressure, that can be problematic.
One of my medications, Synthroid, which I know thousands of people take for thyroid issues, does not work at all for me if I take a generic, so I pay more for the brand name. A drug that has been around for 30 years and which used to cost me $2 or so now costs me $35 a month. There is no reason for that drug to cost that much.
About 45 days ago, I picked up a 60-pill bottle of Loratadine, (generic over-the-counter Claritin) where I have been purchasing it for years, and noticed that the pills are no longer round. They are oval. I have no idea if these are made by a different company because the generic is under a store name. My guess is they are. I also am wondering if my recent spat of sinus infections is a result of having a generic antihistamine that isn't working as well as it once did because the drug manufacturer has changed and the drug is not the same.
This used to not be a problem. There was a time in this country when we trusted that the FDA was taking care of us and that if a drug was on the market, it had been tested and found to be safe. We assumed generics were created equally. They still tell us they are, but doctors who are paying attention know better. Pharmacists and their assistants know better. They will tell you so but they don't know what to do about it.
This is not a recent development, so don't blame the ACA. This began in 1992 with the implementation of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which was created by Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. It authorizes the FDA to collect fees from companies that produce certain human drug and biological products. Since the passage of PDUFA, user fees have played an important role in expediting the drug approval process.
That means that the drug companies are paying the FDA to approve their drugs. Does that make sense? It doesn't make sense to me. That is like taking a whole bag of dog food out to your dog and expecting it to eat only a meal-sized portion each day instead of the entire bag.
PDUFA must be reauthorized every five years. It was renewed in 1997 (PDUFA II), 2002 (PDUFA III), 2007 (PDUFA IV), and 2012 (PDUFA V). On July 9, 2012, President Barrack Obama signed into law the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), which includes the reauthorization of PDUFA through September 2017. The FDASIA is basically a stipulation allowing the FDA to collect more authorized fees.
I want to trust that the drugs I take are good. I don't. I want to be healthy and I take steps to make that happen, but I am not getting healthy. Not only is the drug industry suspect, but so is the food industry. I grew up eating things that most likely have set me up for metabolic syndrome. This is no one's fault; who knew that a TV dinner full of sodium and sugar would cause problems 30 years later? But my eating habits are not the best, mostly because I dislike cooking, and try as I might I find I cannot stay away from the chocolate and sugar. They are like an addiction to me, and I suspect they probably are.
All of which is a long way of saying I have become a jaded consumer. I trust, I verify, and then swallow with great hesitation.
Sources:
https://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/UserFees/PrescriptionDrugUserFee/default.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration_Safety_and_Innovation_Act (Yes, I know, Wikipedia is not a good source but this blog entry isn't being paid for, it is my opinion.)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/etc/links.html#pdufa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescription_Drug_User_Fee_Act
Within 24 hours of taking the last pill, though, the sore throat, stuffy ears, and headache have returned. I have sent my doctor a note asking her if I should wait it out or does she have another suggestion. (*Update: she said to wait it out, but rest.)
I prefer not to take antibiotics but sometimes I need more than a single Z-pak to rid my body of an infection. I have a poor immune system and bad bugs seem to love it. But I also know that taking antibiotics has risks.
These days my concerns are not only with the actual medicines, but with the generics that are forced upon us by the insurance companies. My recent Z-pak was a generic one. Does it work as well as the name brand? Perhaps not. Maybe that is why my throat hurts again.
One drug I take regularly smells hideous, like sulfur, but it is not a sulfur drug. The brand-name drug does not have this odor.
Not only that, whenever the pharmacy decides it will save $0.0001 cents if it changes brands, the medication change frequently does not work as well for me. When this is a drug for blood pressure, that can be problematic.
One of my medications, Synthroid, which I know thousands of people take for thyroid issues, does not work at all for me if I take a generic, so I pay more for the brand name. A drug that has been around for 30 years and which used to cost me $2 or so now costs me $35 a month. There is no reason for that drug to cost that much.
About 45 days ago, I picked up a 60-pill bottle of Loratadine, (generic over-the-counter Claritin) where I have been purchasing it for years, and noticed that the pills are no longer round. They are oval. I have no idea if these are made by a different company because the generic is under a store name. My guess is they are. I also am wondering if my recent spat of sinus infections is a result of having a generic antihistamine that isn't working as well as it once did because the drug manufacturer has changed and the drug is not the same.
This used to not be a problem. There was a time in this country when we trusted that the FDA was taking care of us and that if a drug was on the market, it had been tested and found to be safe. We assumed generics were created equally. They still tell us they are, but doctors who are paying attention know better. Pharmacists and their assistants know better. They will tell you so but they don't know what to do about it.
This is not a recent development, so don't blame the ACA. This began in 1992 with the implementation of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), which was created by Congress and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush. It authorizes the FDA to collect fees from companies that produce certain human drug and biological products. Since the passage of PDUFA, user fees have played an important role in expediting the drug approval process.
That means that the drug companies are paying the FDA to approve their drugs. Does that make sense? It doesn't make sense to me. That is like taking a whole bag of dog food out to your dog and expecting it to eat only a meal-sized portion each day instead of the entire bag.
PDUFA must be reauthorized every five years. It was renewed in 1997 (PDUFA II), 2002 (PDUFA III), 2007 (PDUFA IV), and 2012 (PDUFA V). On July 9, 2012, President Barrack Obama signed into law the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act (FDASIA), which includes the reauthorization of PDUFA through September 2017. The FDASIA is basically a stipulation allowing the FDA to collect more authorized fees.
I want to trust that the drugs I take are good. I don't. I want to be healthy and I take steps to make that happen, but I am not getting healthy. Not only is the drug industry suspect, but so is the food industry. I grew up eating things that most likely have set me up for metabolic syndrome. This is no one's fault; who knew that a TV dinner full of sodium and sugar would cause problems 30 years later? But my eating habits are not the best, mostly because I dislike cooking, and try as I might I find I cannot stay away from the chocolate and sugar. They are like an addiction to me, and I suspect they probably are.
All of which is a long way of saying I have become a jaded consumer. I trust, I verify, and then swallow with great hesitation.
Sources:
https://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/UserFees/PrescriptionDrugUserFee/default.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration_Safety_and_Innovation_Act (Yes, I know, Wikipedia is not a good source but this blog entry isn't being paid for, it is my opinion.)
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/prescription/etc/links.html#pdufa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescription_Drug_User_Fee_Act
Friday, April 07, 2017
World Health Day 2017
Today is World Health Day, a program of the World Health Organization.
This year, the topic is depression. WHO estimates more than 300 million people have depression, an increase of more than 18% since 2005. In my opinion, this is a low estimate.
In the United States, people often lack of support for mental disorders. People who have mental health concerns often fear the stigma associated with depression or other mental concerns. This prevents many from seeking the treatment they need to live healthy, productive lives.
Society needs to address issues of prejudice and discrimination with regards to mental illness before this issue will be properly addressed. A person who is depressed needs someone to talk to, a person to trust.
Admitting the problem is often the first step towards treatment and recovery.
Additionally, governments at all levels need to invest more in mental health support. Even in high-income countries, nearly 50% of people with depression do not get treatment. On average, just 3% of government health budgets is invested in mental health, varying from less than 1% in low-income countries to 5% in high-income countries.
Here in Virginia, we've seen how the lack of government involvement in this very serious issue adds up to bloody fatalities. In 2007, Virginia Tech lost 32 students in a mass shooting by a student known to have serious mental health issues. However, teacher concerns were not addressed.
In 2014, Virginia Senator Creigh Deeds was brutally attacked and stabbed by his own son, who then killed himself, after the young man was released because local resources could not find a safe place for him.
Those are just two incidents that readily come to mind when one thinks about depression and mental health issues today.
Treatment involves either a talking therapy or antidepressant medication or a combination of the two. More than 90 countries, of all income levels, have introduced or scaled-up programs that provide treatment for depression and other mental disorders.
Failure to act is costly. According to a WHO-led study, which calculated treatment costs and health outcomes in 36 low-, middle- and high-income countries for the 15 years from 2016-2030, low levels of recognition and access to care for depression and another common mental disorder, anxiety, result in a global economic loss of a trillion US dollars every year. The losses are incurred by households, employers and governments. Households lose out financially when people cannot work. Employers suffer when employees become less productive and are unable to work. Governments have to pay higher health and welfare expenditures.
Additionally, there are strong links between depression and other non-communicable disorders and diseases. Depression increases the risk of substance use disorders and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. People with these other conditions have a higher risk of depression.
Depression is also an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. It is a common mental illness characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for 14 days or longer.
In addition, people with depression normally have several of the following: a loss of energy; a change in appetite; sleeping more or less; anxiety; reduced concentration; indecisiveness; restlessness; feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness; and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
If you or someone you know suffers from depression, help is available. In Virginia, Veterans may call the Veterans Crisis line 1-800-273-8255, press 1 or visit their website at www.veteranscrisisline.net/.
Others can contact a local public health office for more information. This website lists local health districts for Virginia.
You can also find additional information at the National Alliance on Mental Illness website.
This year, the topic is depression. WHO estimates more than 300 million people have depression, an increase of more than 18% since 2005. In my opinion, this is a low estimate.
In the United States, people often lack of support for mental disorders. People who have mental health concerns often fear the stigma associated with depression or other mental concerns. This prevents many from seeking the treatment they need to live healthy, productive lives.
Society needs to address issues of prejudice and discrimination with regards to mental illness before this issue will be properly addressed. A person who is depressed needs someone to talk to, a person to trust.
Admitting the problem is often the first step towards treatment and recovery.
Additionally, governments at all levels need to invest more in mental health support. Even in high-income countries, nearly 50% of people with depression do not get treatment. On average, just 3% of government health budgets is invested in mental health, varying from less than 1% in low-income countries to 5% in high-income countries.
Here in Virginia, we've seen how the lack of government involvement in this very serious issue adds up to bloody fatalities. In 2007, Virginia Tech lost 32 students in a mass shooting by a student known to have serious mental health issues. However, teacher concerns were not addressed.
In 2014, Virginia Senator Creigh Deeds was brutally attacked and stabbed by his own son, who then killed himself, after the young man was released because local resources could not find a safe place for him.
Those are just two incidents that readily come to mind when one thinks about depression and mental health issues today.
Treatment involves either a talking therapy or antidepressant medication or a combination of the two. More than 90 countries, of all income levels, have introduced or scaled-up programs that provide treatment for depression and other mental disorders.
Failure to act is costly. According to a WHO-led study, which calculated treatment costs and health outcomes in 36 low-, middle- and high-income countries for the 15 years from 2016-2030, low levels of recognition and access to care for depression and another common mental disorder, anxiety, result in a global economic loss of a trillion US dollars every year. The losses are incurred by households, employers and governments. Households lose out financially when people cannot work. Employers suffer when employees become less productive and are unable to work. Governments have to pay higher health and welfare expenditures.
Additionally, there are strong links between depression and other non-communicable disorders and diseases. Depression increases the risk of substance use disorders and diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. People with these other conditions have a higher risk of depression.
Depression is also an important risk factor for suicide, which claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year. It is a common mental illness characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy, accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities, for 14 days or longer.
In addition, people with depression normally have several of the following: a loss of energy; a change in appetite; sleeping more or less; anxiety; reduced concentration; indecisiveness; restlessness; feelings of worthlessness, guilt, or hopelessness; and thoughts of self-harm or suicide.
If you or someone you know suffers from depression, help is available. In Virginia, Veterans may call the Veterans Crisis line 1-800-273-8255, press 1 or visit their website at www.veteranscrisisline.net/.
Others can contact a local public health office for more information. This website lists local health districts for Virginia.
You can also find additional information at the National Alliance on Mental Illness website.
Friday, March 31, 2017
Can't We Look At the Big Picture?
The front page of the Virginia Department of Health's web page says:
You can find information there about how this issue has been declared a public health crisis (November 2016). New rules are in place that now keep primary care physicians from managing their patients' chronic pain and instead they will have to send them to a pain specialist.
I feel for anyone who loses a loved one for any reason. But opioids are not the only reason people die. People die from gun shots, too. More people die from gunshots, actually, than from opioid overdose.
Many stories I am reading indicate that people with chronic pain issues are being caught up in this government effort to crack down on opioid drug use. However, from what I have read much of the problem is coming from heroin addicts and people using synthetic opioids brought illegally into the state, not people who are receiving prescription medication from their doctors.
Apparently the government is not making this distinction even though their own reports indicate this to be so:
“As we see the nature of drug addiction shift, from prescription opioids to heroin and synthetic fentanyl, we must be vigilant and ready to respond quickly,” said Secretary of Health and Human Resources Dr. Bill Hazel in a news release from the Virginia Governor's Office.
Even the White House thinks the problem is not with prescription drugs - "In a Wednesday press briefing . . . the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, blamed the crisis on "cheap heroin" flooding the market . . ."
So the opioid drug addiction and overdose problem is really . . . what? Prescription drugs or not?
This article from the People's Pharmacy explains how chronic pain sufferers have been caught up in this opioid crack down. "Many patients suffering long-term severe pain are having a hard time getting relief. We have heard from hundreds of people who never abused opioids or increased their dose," The Peoples' Pharmacy writes. The article then lists numerous stories from folks who feel they are now suffering because the actions of others have made it harder for them to receive the medication they need to live a better life.
Here is a chart from the Virginia Department of Health on Opioid Deaths. According to this information, 801 people died in the state in 2015 from opioid overdose.
Here is a chart that lists the number of gun deaths in the state of Virginia, current as of 2014. According to this information, there were 889 gun deaths here compared to 733 opioid deaths that same year.
As you can see, more people die from gun shot wounds than from overdosing on opioids.
However, there is little discussion (practically nothing) on the Virginia Department of Health's website about guns at all.
In fact, in their list of "health concerns" from A-Z, there isn't a mention of firearm safety or guns.
There is stuff on nuclear power plant accidents, fish consumption, and radon. I wonder how much any of us worries about nuclear power plant accidents. I know they don't cross my mind at all.
In the search box, I finally pulled up a .pdf on firearms, apparently last updated 11/10.
It says this on the .pdf -
I don't know if overdose and poisonings are the same thing in the eyes of the VDH.
Here's the whole .pdf, which I snagged as .jpg before it disappears -
I know there is a second amendment argument in the U.S. Constitution about gun right ownership, but I don't see how we can look at one thing that kills people when a similar amount of people - more, even - are dying from something else.
Isn't that like pointing to a pigeon while denying that blue jays exist?
Personally, I do not know anyone who has died from an opioid overdose, or at least I am not aware of it. My husband who is in emergency services sees it and he says overdoses do seem to be occurring more frequently but he says it is due to heroin, not prescription pain killers. Perhaps if there was not a drug available to "bring back" those who overdose, the number of deaths would be significantly higher.
But his squads also run many gunshot wound calls, most of which never make the news. Those folks are also saved by medical intervention, so feasibly gun death numbers would be higher, too, if our medical heroes didn't have so much expertise at fixing up holes in people.
While I know no overdose victims, I know people who have been affected by gun violence. My friend's son was dating one of the victims killed at Virginia Tech in April 2007. He was shaken to the core. One of my husband's firefighters, long ago, killed himself - he was a nice guy and his wife and I had a lot in common. That shook me to the core.
A very long time ago, one of my father's friends accidentally shot himself in the leg during a poker game. I had nightmares about it for years. I sometimes still do.
About 18 months ago, I was watching TV when two local news reporters were shot live on the air. I am friends with some of the staff of that TV station, and they will never be the same. I'm not sure I will be, either. As a print news reporter myself, it certainly has left me thinking twice about whether or not I want to be out in the public, open and available, a target to anyone.
Why are we emphasizing one cause of death and ignoring another? Shouldn't we try to combat all of them in some fashion (including vehicle deaths, which I know someone will bring up, and heart attacks, etc.)
Let's follow the money to see who gains from this particular war on drugs, because in the USA it's always about the money. Pharmaceutical companies. Here's an article dated 3/29/17 that says Big Pharma is really behind this problem, the result of a concentrated marketing program.
An article in the same publication notes that the remedy to an overdose, introduced in 2002, "has generated $1-2 billion a year in revenues, first for its initial British manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser, and the Richmond, Virginia-based company that it spun off two years ago, Indivior."
That sounds like a good reason to sell one drug so you can sell another drug to fix the first drug, doesn't it? Billions of dollars.
The article also claims the remedy is as addictive as the drug it is saving the person from. So more sales.
The pain doctors will have more patients. They are specialists so many patients' co-pays for insurance will increase. (In my case, my co-pay would increase from $30 to see my primary care physician to $50 to see a specialist of any kind, as an example.)
Fighting drug wars in America has always been a losing proposition. From LSD to marijuana to cocaine, efforts to remove drugs from communities have only enriched drug smugglers and criminal organizations.
Wars on drugs don't work.
With Republicans in control of the federal government and many states, gun laws are off the table. The Republicans don't even mind if you're mentally ill and you own a gun.
These are not separate issues. These are one and the same. Both of these issues are about people dying and they are about money. Neither is about your right to live or my right to live, because the people who make the rules really don't give a crap about that.
They just care about their big donors, and unless your name is Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, that isn't you.
We already have gun laws. You can't legally own an automatic rifle, or a Sherman tank. You can't legally own a rocket launcher. I don't want you to not have a gun if you want one. I am a crackerjack shot with a .22 rifle.
But stiffer background checks might save a life, just as making it hard for Grandma to get her pain killers might save a life. So why is Grandma suffering while Joe Gunslinger isn't even having to wait more than 20 minutes to pick up his new firearm?
I could not find a chart that compared opioid overdoses to firearms for Virginia. I did find one for Colorado that I want to share with you. It is from the Colorado Department of Health (apparently they do keep track of gun deaths there.)
OPIOID ADDICTION IN VIRGINIA
Learn More
You can find information there about how this issue has been declared a public health crisis (November 2016). New rules are in place that now keep primary care physicians from managing their patients' chronic pain and instead they will have to send them to a pain specialist.
I feel for anyone who loses a loved one for any reason. But opioids are not the only reason people die. People die from gun shots, too. More people die from gunshots, actually, than from opioid overdose.
Many stories I am reading indicate that people with chronic pain issues are being caught up in this government effort to crack down on opioid drug use. However, from what I have read much of the problem is coming from heroin addicts and people using synthetic opioids brought illegally into the state, not people who are receiving prescription medication from their doctors.
Apparently the government is not making this distinction even though their own reports indicate this to be so:
“As we see the nature of drug addiction shift, from prescription opioids to heroin and synthetic fentanyl, we must be vigilant and ready to respond quickly,” said Secretary of Health and Human Resources Dr. Bill Hazel in a news release from the Virginia Governor's Office.
Even the White House thinks the problem is not with prescription drugs - "In a Wednesday press briefing . . . the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, blamed the crisis on "cheap heroin" flooding the market . . ."
So the opioid drug addiction and overdose problem is really . . . what? Prescription drugs or not?
This article from the People's Pharmacy explains how chronic pain sufferers have been caught up in this opioid crack down. "Many patients suffering long-term severe pain are having a hard time getting relief. We have heard from hundreds of people who never abused opioids or increased their dose," The Peoples' Pharmacy writes. The article then lists numerous stories from folks who feel they are now suffering because the actions of others have made it harder for them to receive the medication they need to live a better life.
Here is a chart from the Virginia Department of Health on Opioid Deaths. According to this information, 801 people died in the state in 2015 from opioid overdose.
Here is a chart that lists the number of gun deaths in the state of Virginia, current as of 2014. According to this information, there were 889 gun deaths here compared to 733 opioid deaths that same year.
As you can see, more people die from gun shot wounds than from overdosing on opioids.
However, there is little discussion (practically nothing) on the Virginia Department of Health's website about guns at all.
In fact, in their list of "health concerns" from A-Z, there isn't a mention of firearm safety or guns.
There is stuff on nuclear power plant accidents, fish consumption, and radon. I wonder how much any of us worries about nuclear power plant accidents. I know they don't cross my mind at all.
In the search box, I finally pulled up a .pdf on firearms, apparently last updated 11/10.
It says this on the .pdf -
I don't know if overdose and poisonings are the same thing in the eyes of the VDH.
Here's the whole .pdf, which I snagged as .jpg before it disappears -
I know there is a second amendment argument in the U.S. Constitution about gun right ownership, but I don't see how we can look at one thing that kills people when a similar amount of people - more, even - are dying from something else.
Isn't that like pointing to a pigeon while denying that blue jays exist?
Personally, I do not know anyone who has died from an opioid overdose, or at least I am not aware of it. My husband who is in emergency services sees it and he says overdoses do seem to be occurring more frequently but he says it is due to heroin, not prescription pain killers. Perhaps if there was not a drug available to "bring back" those who overdose, the number of deaths would be significantly higher.
But his squads also run many gunshot wound calls, most of which never make the news. Those folks are also saved by medical intervention, so feasibly gun death numbers would be higher, too, if our medical heroes didn't have so much expertise at fixing up holes in people.
While I know no overdose victims, I know people who have been affected by gun violence. My friend's son was dating one of the victims killed at Virginia Tech in April 2007. He was shaken to the core. One of my husband's firefighters, long ago, killed himself - he was a nice guy and his wife and I had a lot in common. That shook me to the core.
A very long time ago, one of my father's friends accidentally shot himself in the leg during a poker game. I had nightmares about it for years. I sometimes still do.
About 18 months ago, I was watching TV when two local news reporters were shot live on the air. I am friends with some of the staff of that TV station, and they will never be the same. I'm not sure I will be, either. As a print news reporter myself, it certainly has left me thinking twice about whether or not I want to be out in the public, open and available, a target to anyone.
Why are we emphasizing one cause of death and ignoring another? Shouldn't we try to combat all of them in some fashion (including vehicle deaths, which I know someone will bring up, and heart attacks, etc.)
Let's follow the money to see who gains from this particular war on drugs, because in the USA it's always about the money. Pharmaceutical companies. Here's an article dated 3/29/17 that says Big Pharma is really behind this problem, the result of a concentrated marketing program.
An article in the same publication notes that the remedy to an overdose, introduced in 2002, "has generated $1-2 billion a year in revenues, first for its initial British manufacturer, Reckitt Benckiser, and the Richmond, Virginia-based company that it spun off two years ago, Indivior."
That sounds like a good reason to sell one drug so you can sell another drug to fix the first drug, doesn't it? Billions of dollars.
The article also claims the remedy is as addictive as the drug it is saving the person from. So more sales.
The pain doctors will have more patients. They are specialists so many patients' co-pays for insurance will increase. (In my case, my co-pay would increase from $30 to see my primary care physician to $50 to see a specialist of any kind, as an example.)
Fighting drug wars in America has always been a losing proposition. From LSD to marijuana to cocaine, efforts to remove drugs from communities have only enriched drug smugglers and criminal organizations.
Wars on drugs don't work.
With Republicans in control of the federal government and many states, gun laws are off the table. The Republicans don't even mind if you're mentally ill and you own a gun.
These are not separate issues. These are one and the same. Both of these issues are about people dying and they are about money. Neither is about your right to live or my right to live, because the people who make the rules really don't give a crap about that.
They just care about their big donors, and unless your name is Bill Gates or Warren Buffet, that isn't you.
We already have gun laws. You can't legally own an automatic rifle, or a Sherman tank. You can't legally own a rocket launcher. I don't want you to not have a gun if you want one. I am a crackerjack shot with a .22 rifle.
But stiffer background checks might save a life, just as making it hard for Grandma to get her pain killers might save a life. So why is Grandma suffering while Joe Gunslinger isn't even having to wait more than 20 minutes to pick up his new firearm?
I could not find a chart that compared opioid overdoses to firearms for Virginia. I did find one for Colorado that I want to share with you. It is from the Colorado Department of Health (apparently they do keep track of gun deaths there.)
Personally, I think this chart really says all that needs to be said. We're chasing after farts and rainbows, people.
Somebody, please, stop and think about what is really going on here. FOLLOW THE MONEY. And always remember that your life really doesn't matter to anyone but you, no matter how smooth the huckster talks. Your life sure as hell doesn't matter to anybody in Washington DC or to anyone who runs a drug company. They just want whatever money you have left.
This issue matters to me. It is personal. I know people who are affected by this new "war on drug" episode. They are hurting and will hurt more.
Maybe the government is hoping grandmas and grandpas will shoot themselves when the pain becomes more than they can stand.
Tuesday, December 06, 2016
Nothing to Say
I am here, but having some painful days and so at the moment I haven't much to say.
I'll be posting maybe even later today but this morning I am not thinking.
Thanks for reading my blog! I appreciate you all.
I'll be posting maybe even later today but this morning I am not thinking.
Thanks for reading my blog! I appreciate you all.
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Thursday Thirteen
Here is information from the 2015‒2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” as provided by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion:
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 461st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
- A lifetime of healthy eating helps prevent chronic diseases.
- Healthy eating is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce the onset of disease.
- Following a healthy eating pattern that’s right for you is important to improving health through nutrition.
- A healthy eating pattern includes a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains, protein foods, fat-free or low-fat dairy, and oils (including natural oils and those from plants).
- Healthy eating patterns limit added sugars.
- Healthy eating patterns limit saturated and trans fats.
- Healthy eating patterns limit sodium.
- Most Americans can benefit from making small shifts in their daily eating habits to improve their health over the long run. Small shifts in food choices can make a difference in working toward a healthy eating pattern that works for you.
- Regular physical activity is one of the most important things individuals can do to improve their health.
- Everyone has a role — at home, school, workplaces, and food retail outlets — in supporting healthy food choices.
- A healthy eating pattern includes a variety of vegetables from all of the subgroups—dark green, red and orange, legumes (beans and peas), starchy, and other; fruits, especially whole fruits; grains, at least half of which are whole grains; fat-free or low-fat dairy, including milk, yogurt, cheese, and/or fortified soy beverages; a variety of protein foods, including seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), and nuts, seeds, and soy products; and oils
- You can download a very large .pdf of the "dietary guidelines" here.
- I am not sure what happens if you didn't grow up eating well and exercising, and you're over 50 now. Too late to change?
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 461st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
Wednesday, June 08, 2016
It's my party. I'll cry if I want to.
So today is my birthday.
I am sick with a sinus infection and an upper respiratory infection (apparently two different things). My doctor yesterday gave me an antibiotic and told me to go home, go to bed, and sleep all I could.
My husband won't be taking me to dinner and plans with friends later in the week likely will be postponed. It is not the end of the world, but I'm not happy about it. Fortunately, I tend to celebrate my birthday all month. Why not, right? You're only going to have that particular birthday once.
Friends have already sent me nice cards. My father sent a gift card. My brother gave me an Erector set! (I'm coloring and playing with kid toys; apparently a full-on reversion to childhood is underway.) Another friend gave me a harmonica (though I won't play that while I'm ill - who wants a harmonica full of germs?) and a book, too.
A girl should be well on her birthday. A girl should not spend a beautiful day in bed.
But a girl will.
I am sick with a sinus infection and an upper respiratory infection (apparently two different things). My doctor yesterday gave me an antibiotic and told me to go home, go to bed, and sleep all I could.
My husband won't be taking me to dinner and plans with friends later in the week likely will be postponed. It is not the end of the world, but I'm not happy about it. Fortunately, I tend to celebrate my birthday all month. Why not, right? You're only going to have that particular birthday once.
Friends have already sent me nice cards. My father sent a gift card. My brother gave me an Erector set! (I'm coloring and playing with kid toys; apparently a full-on reversion to childhood is underway.) Another friend gave me a harmonica (though I won't play that while I'm ill - who wants a harmonica full of germs?) and a book, too.
A girl should be well on her birthday. A girl should not spend a beautiful day in bed.
But a girl will.
Wednesday, June 01, 2016
Now I'm a Cougar
Oh, you little dickens. Look what you've gone and done. You've turned me into one of those cougar women, chowing down on the smaller and more helpless.
How the hell did you get in my grocery cart, anyway? Did you grow legs?
First I was in love with that Extra Large Hershey's Symphony, which was bad enough, and now I've gone and become one of those older women preying on the young. Come here, little chocolate. Come on over and see what it is a mature lady has for you, yes? I've got it going, you young 'un, you. Let me show you exactly how it works, and who is boss.
You are the boss, baby. You are chocolate. You are milk chocolate and you are smooth and creamy. You are instant gratification. You are me at the age of seventeen, when I could wiggle my butt and make the boys pant without even knowing it. That age when I could toss out a "come hither" look and wait for the wolf whistle. Yeah, that's who you are. You think you're the king, don't you, baby.
But I'm the older woman in this relationship. I'm the adult, don't you forget it. So get your little ass out of my grocery cart next time I'm in the store. Stop wolf whistling at me, 'cause I ain't having none of it, not me. I am a married woman with a great big behind and I aim to put a stop to that.
And I can't put a stop to that with you hangin' on my every word, now can I? I can't make that big butt disappear when you keep calling out my name, still whispering in my ear every darn time I enter the supermarket. Stop that singing, do you hear me? I am old enough to know better and I demand that you stop that siren song.
No more wiggling that little edge of paper, no more hiding that "220 calories" mark behind some other piece of candy. You show yourself for what you are, you little flirt. Yeah, don't tell me you like me big and round. I don't want to hear that talk, that's for somebody else with a grocery cart. You turn around now, and go on back home to that Hershey's Symphony bar. He'll tell you. I gave him up for good.
You're going next. Yes, you are. I said, yes you are. You heard me. Go on, now. Go. I want to see your behind heading out toward that trash can.
Don't whimper at me. I don't want to see those chocolate puppy dog eyes. Turn around now. Stop whining.
Well, ok. Maybe you can stay overnight. Just this once.
How the hell did you get in my grocery cart, anyway? Did you grow legs?
First I was in love with that Extra Large Hershey's Symphony, which was bad enough, and now I've gone and become one of those older women preying on the young. Come here, little chocolate. Come on over and see what it is a mature lady has for you, yes? I've got it going, you young 'un, you. Let me show you exactly how it works, and who is boss.
You are the boss, baby. You are chocolate. You are milk chocolate and you are smooth and creamy. You are instant gratification. You are me at the age of seventeen, when I could wiggle my butt and make the boys pant without even knowing it. That age when I could toss out a "come hither" look and wait for the wolf whistle. Yeah, that's who you are. You think you're the king, don't you, baby.
But I'm the older woman in this relationship. I'm the adult, don't you forget it. So get your little ass out of my grocery cart next time I'm in the store. Stop wolf whistling at me, 'cause I ain't having none of it, not me. I am a married woman with a great big behind and I aim to put a stop to that.
And I can't put a stop to that with you hangin' on my every word, now can I? I can't make that big butt disappear when you keep calling out my name, still whispering in my ear every darn time I enter the supermarket. Stop that singing, do you hear me? I am old enough to know better and I demand that you stop that siren song.
No more wiggling that little edge of paper, no more hiding that "220 calories" mark behind some other piece of candy. You show yourself for what you are, you little flirt. Yeah, don't tell me you like me big and round. I don't want to hear that talk, that's for somebody else with a grocery cart. You turn around now, and go on back home to that Hershey's Symphony bar. He'll tell you. I gave him up for good.
You're going next. Yes, you are. I said, yes you are. You heard me. Go on, now. Go. I want to see your behind heading out toward that trash can.
Don't whimper at me. I don't want to see those chocolate puppy dog eyes. Turn around now. Stop whining.
Well, ok. Maybe you can stay overnight. Just this once.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Breaking Up is Hard to Do
I see how you lie there, waiting for me. Your sweetness beckons me like the cries of seagulls bring forth the mermaids. You make my mouth water as I think of you, how your thickness will taste on my tongue, how the goodness that spills from you will make me feel.
That sugar high when the chocolatey goodness that is a Hershey Symphony bar oozes from the heat of me, and then ventures down my throat to my stomach. How that bite of cocoa lights up the inner joy of brain, giving me a mild sensation of a joyously glorious high.
O Chocolate Bar! O Milky Way Midnight! O Three Musketeers! O Nestle's chocolate chip cookies, O Keebler Fudge Stripes! You must all go away, leave me now, whilst I sit alone here with my celery and green beans.
Apparently, you have to eat healthy more than once to get in shape. This is cruel and unfair.
You, O chocolate, are as bountiful as the sea, filling aisles at the supermarket, appearing even in the healthy food section. My love for you is deep, for the more of you I eat, the more I crave, the desire overcoming good sense and all thoughts of nutrition. I hear your siren call the moment I step into the store - deny it not! You sing loud and long, trilling and thrilling me with your song, all the while whispering, "Come eat me, my love."
And eat you I have, not measuring or caring if the bites end up on my hips or make my triglycerides raise to uncountable levels. How can I resist you, my sugary desire? How can I break myself of the need for you at 2 p.m. in the afternoons, when the rest of the world is off dancing whilst I sit home alone?
I cannot abide you in small bites. I must have you all, every M&M, until the bag is empty. Only you, O Chocolate - only you make me do this and act in such an irrational manner. No other whispers to me, or persuades me to indulge in that which I should not. Only you, you feckless and irresponsible dark drug of chocolate covered cherries - only you drive me to despair when you're not in the house.
So there will be no small withdrawal. No small Kisses, no occasional delight. I'm sorry it must be this way, my dear, but we must not see one another again, not for years. Perhaps I will greet you at a cousin's wedding, and hope by then that a small taste of your deliciousness will not render me unconscious, if enough time has passed. For if my lips touch you, you will think I still care, and that caring I must force into submission, until I crave salads, and salads alone. I will not still care, I will not.
So farewell, my sweet delicacy, my delight, my afternoon bite of lust. I free you and fling you from my thoughts and my brain. You are gone now from my house, dear and wonderful treat, and I shall shed tears at the loss of you and the joy you once brought.
Now someone bring me a carrot.
That sugar high when the chocolatey goodness that is a Hershey Symphony bar oozes from the heat of me, and then ventures down my throat to my stomach. How that bite of cocoa lights up the inner joy of brain, giving me a mild sensation of a joyously glorious high.
O Chocolate Bar! O Milky Way Midnight! O Three Musketeers! O Nestle's chocolate chip cookies, O Keebler Fudge Stripes! You must all go away, leave me now, whilst I sit alone here with my celery and green beans.
Apparently, you have to eat healthy more than once to get in shape. This is cruel and unfair.
You, O chocolate, are as bountiful as the sea, filling aisles at the supermarket, appearing even in the healthy food section. My love for you is deep, for the more of you I eat, the more I crave, the desire overcoming good sense and all thoughts of nutrition. I hear your siren call the moment I step into the store - deny it not! You sing loud and long, trilling and thrilling me with your song, all the while whispering, "Come eat me, my love."
And eat you I have, not measuring or caring if the bites end up on my hips or make my triglycerides raise to uncountable levels. How can I resist you, my sugary desire? How can I break myself of the need for you at 2 p.m. in the afternoons, when the rest of the world is off dancing whilst I sit home alone?
I cannot abide you in small bites. I must have you all, every M&M, until the bag is empty. Only you, O Chocolate - only you make me do this and act in such an irrational manner. No other whispers to me, or persuades me to indulge in that which I should not. Only you, you feckless and irresponsible dark drug of chocolate covered cherries - only you drive me to despair when you're not in the house.
So there will be no small withdrawal. No small Kisses, no occasional delight. I'm sorry it must be this way, my dear, but we must not see one another again, not for years. Perhaps I will greet you at a cousin's wedding, and hope by then that a small taste of your deliciousness will not render me unconscious, if enough time has passed. For if my lips touch you, you will think I still care, and that caring I must force into submission, until I crave salads, and salads alone. I will not still care, I will not.
So farewell, my sweet delicacy, my delight, my afternoon bite of lust. I free you and fling you from my thoughts and my brain. You are gone now from my house, dear and wonderful treat, and I shall shed tears at the loss of you and the joy you once brought.
Now someone bring me a carrot.
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
No Joy in De Feet
For several years now, I have shown you, dear reader, an occasional photo of my foot in a boot or a surgical shoe, or something.
I have a terrible time with my right foot and ankle (and occasionally in the left foot, too). I have arthritis in the joints in my big toe (or great toe, as my physical therapist calls it), and that causes me to walk on the metatarsal of the second toe, which makes that hurt.
In my right ankle, two of the bones rub together. Nothing seems to help this, though I use a lot of KT tape to keep the nerve pain to a level below "screaming."
Some of my feet problems didn't start until I had plantar fasciitis and a heel spur in the left foot, and a podiatrist insisted I must wear orthotics in my shoes, and my shoes must have a very solid sole. I used to wear Easy Spirit sneakers but the soles on those bend. So I began testing my shoes, and if the sole bent, it was not a shoe I wore. I ended up with New Balance 927s, but then New Balance changed those and I went to a 928. That worked okay for several years, though I still had a lot of pain. Then New Balance recently changed *that* shoe, and in March, when I went to purchase a new pair at the locally owned shoe store, I discovered the change made my foot drop inward even with my inserts in them. They had narrowed the sole significantly, it seemed, and changed the support.
So I went to a very stiff shoe called an Aetrex, and the jury is still out on those. I am wearing them but initially they made my big toe hurt, mostly because I was wearing them without the orthotic and thus walking like I should be, putting weight on that toe. I finally reconfigured a mosaic "pad" insert that came with the shoe to change the way my weight carried on the right side, stopping, at least, the pain in the toe.
Sigh.
I personally thought (and think) that the orthotics are as much of a problem as not. I used to wear Minnetonka moccasins with no soles around the house all the time, buying a new pair every time we went to the beach. But we stopped going to the beach and after I wore out my last pair (about 15 years ago), I did not replace them (online shopping wasn't the thing it is now). And my foot has grown wider in the intervening years, so I would prefer trying on a pair because Minnetonka doesn't make a wide shoe.
I would go barefoot but I have a thing about anything touching my feet except socks.
Anyway, the local paper a few weeks ago had an article about a company in Charlottesville called Oesh. (If that link doesn't work, you can see them at Amazon here.) The shoes reportedly were made by a woman for women, and there was a note that most shoes start with a basic form (from a male foot, of course) and so women are wearing the wrong shoes to begin with.
That does not surprise me.
So I went to the company website, and I purchased the shoe they had on sale.
If you think this looks like nothing I would wear out, you would be right. I'm little miss plain Jane, wearing only white sneakers. But around the house, these feel pretty good.
They feel a bit like a moccasin, and for that reason I am wearing them with no orthotics (though I do have my ankle taped up as I usually must do to keep the nerve pain down). At first, the soles felt squishy and unstable, but after walking on them a few minutes they were okay. The top is a very soft mesh. The bottom is entirely flat, so it is like walking barefoot but not, and with something soft between my foot and the floor.
I am not yet ready to make a call on these shoes, but I think if you have feet problems and are looking for something different to try, these might be an option. They have others that don't look quite so, um, different, but I went with the cheapest ones. If I should decide I like these well enough to order another pair, I'll get something that looks a bit better. I suppose one might consider these "fun" shoes but the colors really aren't my thing.
The fact that these are made locally (I'm 2 hours from Charlottesville) and in Virginia also factored into my decision to purchase. If that matters to you, then that is another reason to take a look at the shoe.
Many people on Amazon report that these shoes have helped their feet issues. I haven't worn them enough to know yet. But I do think that they may make a difference, especially if I wear them in conjunction with my other shoes, alternating. At any rate, I am not unhappy with them. We'll see.
*No one paid me to write about this product.*
I have a terrible time with my right foot and ankle (and occasionally in the left foot, too). I have arthritis in the joints in my big toe (or great toe, as my physical therapist calls it), and that causes me to walk on the metatarsal of the second toe, which makes that hurt.
In my right ankle, two of the bones rub together. Nothing seems to help this, though I use a lot of KT tape to keep the nerve pain to a level below "screaming."
Some of my feet problems didn't start until I had plantar fasciitis and a heel spur in the left foot, and a podiatrist insisted I must wear orthotics in my shoes, and my shoes must have a very solid sole. I used to wear Easy Spirit sneakers but the soles on those bend. So I began testing my shoes, and if the sole bent, it was not a shoe I wore. I ended up with New Balance 927s, but then New Balance changed those and I went to a 928. That worked okay for several years, though I still had a lot of pain. Then New Balance recently changed *that* shoe, and in March, when I went to purchase a new pair at the locally owned shoe store, I discovered the change made my foot drop inward even with my inserts in them. They had narrowed the sole significantly, it seemed, and changed the support.
So I went to a very stiff shoe called an Aetrex, and the jury is still out on those. I am wearing them but initially they made my big toe hurt, mostly because I was wearing them without the orthotic and thus walking like I should be, putting weight on that toe. I finally reconfigured a mosaic "pad" insert that came with the shoe to change the way my weight carried on the right side, stopping, at least, the pain in the toe.
Sigh.
I personally thought (and think) that the orthotics are as much of a problem as not. I used to wear Minnetonka moccasins with no soles around the house all the time, buying a new pair every time we went to the beach. But we stopped going to the beach and after I wore out my last pair (about 15 years ago), I did not replace them (online shopping wasn't the thing it is now). And my foot has grown wider in the intervening years, so I would prefer trying on a pair because Minnetonka doesn't make a wide shoe.
I would go barefoot but I have a thing about anything touching my feet except socks.
Anyway, the local paper a few weeks ago had an article about a company in Charlottesville called Oesh. (If that link doesn't work, you can see them at Amazon here.) The shoes reportedly were made by a woman for women, and there was a note that most shoes start with a basic form (from a male foot, of course) and so women are wearing the wrong shoes to begin with.
That does not surprise me.
So I went to the company website, and I purchased the shoe they had on sale.
If you think this looks like nothing I would wear out, you would be right. I'm little miss plain Jane, wearing only white sneakers. But around the house, these feel pretty good.
They feel a bit like a moccasin, and for that reason I am wearing them with no orthotics (though I do have my ankle taped up as I usually must do to keep the nerve pain down). At first, the soles felt squishy and unstable, but after walking on them a few minutes they were okay. The top is a very soft mesh. The bottom is entirely flat, so it is like walking barefoot but not, and with something soft between my foot and the floor.
I am not yet ready to make a call on these shoes, but I think if you have feet problems and are looking for something different to try, these might be an option. They have others that don't look quite so, um, different, but I went with the cheapest ones. If I should decide I like these well enough to order another pair, I'll get something that looks a bit better. I suppose one might consider these "fun" shoes but the colors really aren't my thing.
The fact that these are made locally (I'm 2 hours from Charlottesville) and in Virginia also factored into my decision to purchase. If that matters to you, then that is another reason to take a look at the shoe.
Many people on Amazon report that these shoes have helped their feet issues. I haven't worn them enough to know yet. But I do think that they may make a difference, especially if I wear them in conjunction with my other shoes, alternating. At any rate, I am not unhappy with them. We'll see.
*No one paid me to write about this product.*
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
A Great Talent
I have a friend (who shall remain nameless because I suspect she'd prefer it that way) who drew a caricature for me of my physical therapist. I gave it to my PT yesterday, my next-the-last session before my insurance makes me go to a "home program" that neither of us thinks I am ready for.
She loved it, I think.
My PT and I have a lot in common - we are both big Lord of the Rings fans, and enjoy fantasy. We like to read and we have had lots of interesting conversation over the last 75 or so visits. She has been very good to me and incredibly helpful during this most trying time of pain and frustration. She has done her best to get me back on my feet and I think that, had she not helped me, I would probably be unable to make it through the grocery store. I could not do that when we started, but now I can and occasionally I can even walk for 20 minutes without doubling over in pain. So, progress.
Unfortunately, we hit a plateau this winter after I had a severe upper respiratory infection, and things slowed. I stopped improving fast enough for the insurance company.
Wish me luck as I begin my healing adventure on my own. My main goal is not to go backwards, and forward progress would be most welcome. We can only see what happens from here on out.
She loved it, I think.
My PT and I have a lot in common - we are both big Lord of the Rings fans, and enjoy fantasy. We like to read and we have had lots of interesting conversation over the last 75 or so visits. She has been very good to me and incredibly helpful during this most trying time of pain and frustration. She has done her best to get me back on my feet and I think that, had she not helped me, I would probably be unable to make it through the grocery store. I could not do that when we started, but now I can and occasionally I can even walk for 20 minutes without doubling over in pain. So, progress.
Unfortunately, we hit a plateau this winter after I had a severe upper respiratory infection, and things slowed. I stopped improving fast enough for the insurance company.
Wish me luck as I begin my healing adventure on my own. My main goal is not to go backwards, and forward progress would be most welcome. We can only see what happens from here on out.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
Thursday 13
Outgassing, or off-gassing, is the odor that manmade products give off when they are put in a home. For example, last September we purchased new loveseats. They "off gassed" for some time, and then two months later one sofa broke and then two months after that the other broke, so the store replaced them. The new sofas arrived on March 1.
I have yet to sit on them, and have had to eat my meals in my office and watch TV in my bedroom. The odor has lessened, but I can still smell it on the sofas when I am near them.
This is often called the "new car smell" - but it has serious implications.
1. Off-gassing comes from synthetic fabric, vinyl, and cushioning, which sends gases into the air. Then we breath it. These volatile compounds can be dozens of times higher than the level recommended in indoor air.
2. Common gases and compounds found from off-gassing include aldehydes, alcohols, plasticizers, aromatics, and alkanes. Formaldehyde is a common chemical found in off-gassing.
3. Carpeting, paints, adhesives, kitchen cabinets, and wall paneling, and new furniture can create off-gassing.
4. Some of the chemicals released during the off-gassing process can damage the immune system.
5. Off-gassing can damage antiques and art objects and interfere with telephones and other electronic devices. These devices give off their own form of off-gassing, so the air in a house is often full of items off-gassing simultaneously, creating unknown chemical mixes.
6. It can take six months or longer for off-gassing to cease. Some objects can emit odors five years later.
7. Materials around the product that is off-gassing can absorb the dangerous compounds, creating a multiple effect. This includes gypsum wall board, carpeting, draperies, and other things normally found in a house.
8. Many of the chemicals released into the air when items "off gas" are carcinogenic.
9. Some synthetic materials tend to mold more quickly than natural products, creating additional health hazards and odors.
10. Furniture that "off gasses" can be taken outside and left to stink out there, if that is possible.
11. China takes the blame for much of the formaldehyde in furniture, but even furniture made in the USA (which mine is) can create problems. Formaldehyde is a common culprit because it’s used to cure particleboard, pressed-wood and plywood and other composite woods.
12. Side effects of off-gassing include headaches, dizziness, respiratory problems, nausea, skin irritation, shortness of breath, etc.
13. If you can't take the offending piece of furniture or whatever outside, try running air purifiers, opening windows and placing bowls of baking soda, white vinegar, and activated charcoal around the area of the furniture.
http://www.healthyhouseinstitute.com/a-870-Outgassing#sthash.lWRImNEF.dpuf
https://www.haikudesigns.com/blog/long-term-health-furniture.htm
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/questions/why-is-my-new-piece-of-furniture-emitting-a-nasty-odor
_____________
Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 438th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
I have yet to sit on them, and have had to eat my meals in my office and watch TV in my bedroom. The odor has lessened, but I can still smell it on the sofas when I am near them.
This is often called the "new car smell" - but it has serious implications.
1. Off-gassing comes from synthetic fabric, vinyl, and cushioning, which sends gases into the air. Then we breath it. These volatile compounds can be dozens of times higher than the level recommended in indoor air.
2. Common gases and compounds found from off-gassing include aldehydes, alcohols, plasticizers, aromatics, and alkanes. Formaldehyde is a common chemical found in off-gassing.
3. Carpeting, paints, adhesives, kitchen cabinets, and wall paneling, and new furniture can create off-gassing.
4. Some of the chemicals released during the off-gassing process can damage the immune system.
5. Off-gassing can damage antiques and art objects and interfere with telephones and other electronic devices. These devices give off their own form of off-gassing, so the air in a house is often full of items off-gassing simultaneously, creating unknown chemical mixes.
6. It can take six months or longer for off-gassing to cease. Some objects can emit odors five years later.
7. Materials around the product that is off-gassing can absorb the dangerous compounds, creating a multiple effect. This includes gypsum wall board, carpeting, draperies, and other things normally found in a house.
8. Many of the chemicals released into the air when items "off gas" are carcinogenic.
9. Some synthetic materials tend to mold more quickly than natural products, creating additional health hazards and odors.
10. Furniture that "off gasses" can be taken outside and left to stink out there, if that is possible.
11. China takes the blame for much of the formaldehyde in furniture, but even furniture made in the USA (which mine is) can create problems. Formaldehyde is a common culprit because it’s used to cure particleboard, pressed-wood and plywood and other composite woods.
12. Side effects of off-gassing include headaches, dizziness, respiratory problems, nausea, skin irritation, shortness of breath, etc.
13. If you can't take the offending piece of furniture or whatever outside, try running air purifiers, opening windows and placing bowls of baking soda, white vinegar, and activated charcoal around the area of the furniture.
http://www.healthyhouseinstitute.com/a-870-Outgassing#sthash.lWRImNEF.dpuf
https://www.haikudesigns.com/blog/long-term-health-furniture.htm
http://www.mnn.com/your-home/at-home/questions/why-is-my-new-piece-of-furniture-emitting-a-nasty-odor
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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 438th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.
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