Thursday, June 20, 2024

The aging blogger


 I have a large backyard and every year it gets overrun with weeds.  Large weeds.  Couple weeks back was whacking with one of them manual whackers and later into the day and into the next my left arm became very sore.  Now I get this intense pain in my left elbow to the point I suffer if I even use a spray bottle with my left hand.  I'm partial ambidextrous no matter.  It's a jungle down there could have been a black widow who knows?  I'm older now and Nurse Nancy would probably have one of my feet in the grave.  Bought some Tylenol arthritis power but will wait until a sufficient time has elapsed after imbibing my last adult beverage for the night.  I have my priorities.


Ever have everything go wrong with you AT THE SAME TIME?  You want to go to the doctor's office and present him with a list of at least five ailments and say here fix them.  We can rebuild him we have the technology.  Funny thing is my friend can eat sushi and down it with chocolate milk no problem. 


My cumbersome labeling system.  Gonna file it under health.

82 comments:

  1. Was in for A-Fib check up yesterday. New Dr. a middle aged lady. She pops up my info from the hospital 'cloud' and there is my much enlarged drivers license. (You know, the ones with a photo that make you look like a thug) She says "You don't look like your photo" I said
    "Thank you". Driving home got to thinking maybe she meant I look worse. More pills. Supposed to take half pill a day. Cut a pill and it
    fell into a pile of powder. Got bitten by a spider last week. After looking at photos of spider bites and considering the lack of cobwebs in the bedroom, I figure it was a jumping spider - little furry
    guys. Wife is traveling next week and I am painting the back decks
    railings. Leonardo da BB. Sounds like you have tennis elbow - they come from other stuff besides tennis

    ReplyDelete
  2. Only whacking weeds for 20 minutes each day but could be. Never happened before. Used to whack for an hour at a time no problem.

    I have a don't kill spiders policy in my house. As my Mom one time said they get the bad guys.

    Tennis elbow comes with abdominal cramps?

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you haven't been on the tennis court, your manual weed whacker must be the culprit. Not sure of your hand placement or technique,
    but when I rake leaves, I switch back and forth from right handed to left handed so as not to overwork one elbow over the other. If you have large tough weeds it exacerbates the problem. An engineering friend said one should never exacerbate in public - so there.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Have you considered returning the whacker to Home Depot and trading it in on one of those weed destroying drones with the flamethrower attachment?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Who are you Dr. Welby?

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's an old whacker my brother bought me online. As for technique I already do as a matter of course what you recommend. Online amateur medical diagnoses I can go to YouTube for that.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I heard that Reddit and Quora offer some esoteric medical advice. Did
    you ever make progress with the tinnitus?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yeah kind of like long-term safety data is no longer important in vaccine manufacturing and production. So if you're like me and you feel long-range safety data is still important when bringing vaccines to market that is now considered the fringe position. Topsy turvy world.

    ReplyDelete
  9. No progress with the tinnitus. Here's the thing. If a medical problem is extremely specific doctors are great. Broken bones, conjunctivitis etc. If a problem is vague and complicated they're at a loss. Doctors are overrated.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Still wondering how 20 minute a day weed whacking causes abdominal pain. Must be my technique. Maybe we can blame McDonald's.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It sounds like a tendon sprain, eg tennis elbow, but you may have done it elsewhere...like flipping off Nurse Nancy?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Interesting 1st Amendment case here. The Kohlberg stabbing of 4 U of I students. Some Texas woman with a crystal ball ran a whole series of TikTok posts that accused a lady history professor of being a lover of one of the victims and hired a contract killer. Ms. History prof looked up from Beowulf and said WTF? Investigation, etc. Judge cleared the docket for defamation reparations. The old Free Speech conundrum. Any idea of how crystal balls work?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Idaho gets all the weird cases.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You're right. We had Governor Butch Otter and Senator Mike Crapo.
    If you have a lisp, we have the little town of Athol up north.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Listening to a radio show once. The topic: surveys were done and doctors don't really listen to what you have to say. Symptoms etc. They disregard a lot of it. A nurse called up to confirm. They just want to get to the diagnosis. Misdiagnosis is an issue in the medical field today.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Doc Martin always got to the correct diagnosis. Local avoided him because of his Atilla The Hun bedside manner. Doc, I have a pain behind my right knee "Shut up!" Hmm, there is fasculation in the transverse posterior cruciate. Have you been playing soccer?"
    Be quiet! Hmm, compounded by a meniscus tear" Take two aspirins
    morning and night followed by carrot juics. Pay Morwena $ 3.75
    on your way out.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Over here we have Docs. That's like the McDonald's of health care. Not sure if they have a drive-thru.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Even the family practice guys seem to have a specialty. When we moved out west 44 years ago, we had a guy that had been a Navy Dr.
    for years. He seemed to think we were all sailors. Went in with a long lasting fever, he says 'Bladder infection'. Took all the regimen, it got worse. Turned out I had walking pneumonia for five months. Then he put me on thyroid pills, give you more energy. Got to the point where I was sleeping 2 hours a night, and spending 18 hours a day at work. He had some tests done and they broke the record book. Almost of hyperthyroid. Wife had a painful toe, he put her on thyroide. Guy at work burned his hand, he put him on thyroid. We found a different doctor. My favorite was the lab chemist that had high anxiety, lived on uppers and downers. He came back from his Dr. totally disgusted. Dr. told him he needed a calming hobby, tried to sign him up as an Amway salesman, like most of his other patients.

    ReplyDelete
  19. How is your neck problem?

    ReplyDelete
  20. You still have your people walking around permanently stuck in covid mode wearing masks in the middle of heatwaves. Nurse Nancy wears hers more as a chin strap these days.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Neck no better, mostly wakes me up at night. Last month I developed
    swollen ankles, which my Dad had when he got old. My wife's dad lived to 93. Being a lifetime farmer he all sorts of aches and pains. He said "Well, it's better than the alternative". I know a lot of people that had covid, apparently milder cases - as it mutates rhinoviruses tend to find it better not to kill their host, having more victims so to speak. We never got it. Still got a bunch of masks - looking to make a killing at the bank robber meeting.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Our store manager not a conspiracy theorist. Never questioned the narrative. Followed the protocols right up 'til the bitter end. Wore his ear loop mask far longer when others had long ago taken them off. The other day even he told Nurse Nancy take that thing off what are the odds?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Local newspaper sort of middle of the road. Drives the huge majority
    far right nuts. So editor paid some of them to write op-eds to balance out the stuff by teachers, scientists academics etc. We got a retired opthomologist that cannot let Covid go. Says there were no deaths, something else caused and there sure weren't millions, maybe a half dozen and besides it could easily be cured by horse linament. And besides Jesus wouldn't let it happen anyway. Local
    loons happy, but don't buy papers. Dontcha think Covid is so retro?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Sorry for the delay. Just came back from Urgent Care because of a UTI. Will hold off on the imbibing for 7 days during the antibiotic course.

    The view that covid isn't real is actually a minority view among conspiracy theorists. This might surprise you but conspiracy theorists don't always agree with each other. Most conspiracy theorists see covid as real hence lab leak theory, Fauci and gain-of-function. Rather than deny covid most conspiracy theorists prefer to focus on what they perceive to be an agenda behind covid.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Having said that conspiracy theorists always bring the discussion back to the overall mortality rate from the virus has always been less than 1% so they see the authoritarian measures that were put in place as an overreach and along with this then what is the compelling reason for every living person on the planet to be covid vaccinated? Dr. Drew touches on this.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Waiting in the exam room for over half an hour. That's when I read your comment after I got bored with reading the stuff on the wall. They have interesting views in Idaho. I think you're living in the wrong state.

    ReplyDelete
  27. This is why I'm such a strong advocate of free speech for the sheer entertainment of it all.

    ReplyDelete
  28. UTI with no alcohol? OMG. Had a couple rounds of that. Cephalexin
    gave me a stomach ache and they switched me to doxycylcine. They didn't mention Christian Brothers though. Not sure if you are old enough, but the plague of enlarged prostate has similar symptoms.
    On the bright side, maybe tinnitus will disappear?

    ReplyDelete
  29. They gave me a sulfur antibiotic. Too lazy to get up and look at the name. That's the thing with these conditions there's always 3 or 4 other possibilities that are more dire. They say never google your symptoms it always come back cancer.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds like one of the sulfonamides. Fairly common for UTI as
      well as inner ear infection, irritable bowel problems. My wife is
      allergic to them.

      Delete
    2. Sulfa-Trimeth generic for Bactrim DS. Maybe it'll cure the rest of me.

      Delete
  30. So yeah got a text from the medical group with a link to view the lab results from my urine. Kept following the instructions for creating a new patient portal account. Failed. Kept going in an endless loop but I'm not a friend of Bill Gates.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Probably one of those system upgrades so had to call. That ain't easy either.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Right. I have a connection with the local clinic, but the software is run by some place in Boston. I get a lot of "can't remember your password? Click here'. I click and get the answer - 'tough'. The nurse practitioner at the clinic complained to me that the IT guys are paid higher than her and don't know a phlebotomy from tongue
    depressor. Last time I ordered Prince Albert from a place in VA,
    their computer page rejected me and I had to call them. How do they even sell stuff that way?

    ReplyDelete
  33. The patient portal I can't even create yet but bet someone can hack it.

    ReplyDelete
  34. So yeah just called the portal division at the medical group and they set me up. Google suggested a strong password and I saved it. Went to login with my new account and it said login information incorrect. Why did I already know that was going to happen?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you try GoOgLeSuCks$*%

      Delete
    2. Finally got it going. Couldn't understand the lab results until someone called me later. UTI. When I first tried to understand the test results on my own loaded with the technical jargon I was like am I gonna live?

      Delete
  35. How would they treat a UTI in a Sasquatch?

    ReplyDelete
  36. Kinda weird going without the drink.

    ReplyDelete
  37. They say you have to take the full prescription, even though a lot of times the problem clears up in a couple days. Sasquatch UTI - how do they log in?

    ReplyDelete
  38. I always take the full measure. Figure it might be good for other stuff to have antibiotics coursing through your system.

    Be patient oh Christian Brothers. It'll go fast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. With the caveat that i don't represent the liquor industry, we note that it is discouraged during treatment because it irritates the bladder. As does chocolate, soda pop, tea, coffee, orange juice and grapefruit. My Dr. never forbade anything, just take the pills

      Delete
    2. Bladder shmadder my personal reason for eschewing alcohol during treatment is that it might interfere with the process. As for coffee I draw the line. I have it no matter what.

      Delete
  39. Bigfoot also needs to put a contact down in case of emergencies. Mother? Sister? Cousin?

    ReplyDelete
  40. It's clearing up good like you said. Nice to get back to the usual problems. Bad digestion, fatigue, varicose veins......

    ReplyDelete
  41. I refused surgery and learned to live with a hiatal hernia years ago. But since progressing to 83, I got the pinch nerve in neck and fluid build up in ankles and feet. Drs. never used to refer you, they just helped as best the could. Now they send you to specialists and you are hooked for life. Cardiologist sent me on to a gerontologist
    dentist referred me to a periodontist. Is it a fee sharing arrangement? Your next appointment is later this month. Be there,
    bring cash.

    ReplyDelete
  42. My doctor too he's just the springboard for seeing other doctors. Going here going there tests and labs. Hence I've made the decision to go full DYI and treat myself or live with something unless something is serious enough that I can't fix it myself. UTI falls into that category for me. Other than things like that most of the time I see no compelling need to pad his income.

    ReplyDelete
  43. We need to find one of those free 'Doctors Without Borders' guys.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Gave up lawn mowing a few years back. Hired a neighbor kid. Does a good job but turned feral this year. Showed up this week after an absence of 2 1/2 months. Half on the run and half in juvenile clinker.
    He said he missed the social life and four walls get quite boring.









    ReplyDelete
  45. I read in some gardening mag once an article saying don't worry about your yard so much let it go wild. Good for birds and animals. The idea is starting to grow on me.

    ReplyDelete
  46. OK, but keep an eye out for Eastern Coyotes in the backyard wilderness.

    ReplyDelete
  47. The endless referring out to specialists. I am now fully convinced you can go in for a pimple and they'll send you to a dermatologist.

    ReplyDelete
  48. Many years ago I had a cyst removed. Yes I am aware that if they drain it it can come back a few years later but it's an option. To this day I'm like nobody in that medical building could drain a cyst they had to send me out? Bet you the doc on Little House On The Prairie could do it.

    ReplyDelete
  49. The body is pretty tough, many things just go away. Or in the case of
    a fellow ammo chemist, keep it simple. He took some experimental ammo to the on-site indoor range. 9mm pistol. He was firing away and accidently hit the top of the window. Ricochet lodged in his forehead. Bullet and blood, he came back to the lab. Laid himself on a lab cupboard and said "get somebody to pull it out" Area manager
    grabbed a pair of pliers and jerked the round out. Shirly the lab tech
    fainted. That's one of the reasons they called her shrilly. Lucky it was only a flesh wound, didn't even need stitches, just one of our Happy Little Bunny bandages.

    ReplyDelete
  50. I know people who have pulled their own teeth out with pliers. Probably couldn't afford a dentist.

    ReplyDelete
  51. Had a tough gal work for me at the Twin Cities Arsenal back in the mid
    sixties. She did that. Kept them on a neckless. She also played drums at the bar on the other side of the highway. People tell me I've had an interesting life. Dunno, always got along with the oblique types..

    ReplyDelete
  52. When it comes to doctors and dentists I take DIY as far as it will go but I ain't going in my toolbox.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Meant to ask how did the calamine lotion on a spider bite work out? Have you published your book of home remedies yet?

    ReplyDelete
  54. spider bits is gone. Also the nascent basil cell carcinoma, it took a month. Calamine for the skin, Pepto-Bismol for the innards. think I
    should set up a practice?

    ReplyDelete
  55. You're gonna put the doctors out of business. Ever notice when you go to the doctor's they never talk about home remedies?

    ReplyDelete
  56. Back in college lab, I accidentally sucked up some sulfuric acid with
    Arsenic in it using a pipet. Spit in the sink rinsed mouth with water and went to see Dr. Krause. Told him my fatal problem and he reached into desk and said, "Here, have a cough drop".

    ReplyDelete
  57. Wasn't a UTI. Lab test showed no bacteria. Also no abnormal or malignant cells. I had a kidney stone years ago and similar symptoms. I drank a lot of water and passed the stone Saturday night. Before this they wanted really bad to send me to a urologist. The urologists even called me rather than me calling them. Saved myself a trip and some money. Home remedies.

    ReplyDelete
  58. Could have been a minor stone, or possibly onset of enlarged prostate.
    Several years back I had a stream of blood in the urine and asked the Dr. Never had it before or since, but my medical records show I am the victim of blood in the urine. Probably repeating myself, but there was a urologist in town named Dr. Hollopeter.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Mr. Downer. The stream is still good though.

    Maybe not enough water in favor of the soda pop. Your missus the glass with iced water before bedtime missus may have the last laugh.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Water? Is that in Christian Brothers? Wife's prostate seems well, though.

    ReplyDelete
  61. I was wondering can you get Vitamin C from orange soda?

    ReplyDelete
  62. Doubt it. Suck an orange or eat a cantaloupe. But as Henry V in Shakespeare, "we few, we lucky few" - "Dr. Gordon Troup from the School of Physics at Monash University revealed that high-quality brandy can have supplementary medicinal health benefits. Troup also shared that antioxidants found in high-quality brandy come from the copper present during the distillation process, and taking a shot of brandy will give your body the same antioxidant potential as the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. "The antioxidants only make up only a small percentage of substances found in brandy, but they are a very important part of the mix," Go Team C-Bros!

    ReplyDelete
  63. Interesting. Wonder if the teetotalers get sick more often.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Wouldn't be surprised. They are a bit more intense than we happy
    imbibers too.

    ReplyDelete
  65. My sister gave up smoking and drinking years ago now she's the OCD type. Wish she'd go back to smoking and drinking.

    ReplyDelete
  66. Been smoking a pipe for 65 years. If I quit, would they put me in a padded cell?

    ReplyDelete
  67. Just don't smoke a pipe in CA and you'll be ok.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Are electric pipes OK there?

    ReplyDelete
  69. Gotta ask Gavin Newsom.

    ReplyDelete
  70. Geeez living there has to be awful. Like BB in Idaho.

    ReplyDelete
  71. Does your bodega carry tequila?

    ReplyDelete
  72. Unfortunately no. Only cervezas.

    ReplyDelete
  73. Hmm. As they say in the boroughs, Que pasa wid dat?

    ReplyDelete