Fighting the crud, and heightened flood danger

 

I got nailed Friday by the latest wave of flu sweeping the country, and spent most of the weekend feeling like death warmed up.  It hasn't improved much, so I haven't had the time or mental capacity to sort through likely memes for Monday.  I'll do my best to have an improved crop next week.

However, I do want to make an urgent suggestion for those in the path of the increased winter precipitation forecast for the Super El Nino scheduled to hit us over the next few months.  I did some research.  It looks as if rainfall in large parts of the South will be much heavier than usual, possibly causing flooding in areas that have not previously been at risk for it.  Add to that danger the rapid expansion of suburban construction:  for example, we have a new subdivision going up within a mile of us, and uphill from us at that.  All the rain that falls on its roofs, concrete, roads, etc. will no longer have all that empty land for a runoff.  Instead, it's going to head downhill . . . towards us.

My wife and I got on the phone to our insurers and discussed options.  FEMA's flood insurance isn't available everywhere, and is pretty basic - no cover for contents of your dwelling, outbuildings, etc. and restrictions on total coverage.  Flood insurance through private insurers can be much more comprehensive, but is also more expensive, depending how much coverage you want.  We ended up spending well over what FEMA would have cost us, but with much better coverage.  Premiums have to be paid in advance, which can be an unpleasant hit to one's wallet.  Also, FEMA makes you wait thirty days from the policy being issued before it takes effect;  private insurers usually only make you wait a week.  If you're looking for flood insurance at the last minute, that's something to bear in mind.

At any rate, I just thought I'd pass on this "heads up" warning to my readers.  I suspect some of us are going to need it over the next six months or so . . .

Peter

Exercise assistance - but could they help pain management, too?

 

Apparently exoskeletons (frame sort of things with an electric motor that one wears to augment muscle power) are becoming more and more popular in the fitness culture.  The New York Post reports:

 E-bikes gave cyclists a major boost. Now, a wearable robot wants to do the same for your legs.

Meet the exoskeleton, a battery-powered gadget that straps onto your body and promises to make running, hiking and everyday movement feel like less — or more — of a workout.

Robotic exoskeletons have been used in medical rehabilitation for decades, helping people practice walking following illness or injury.

Now, companies are bringing lighter-weight versions to the consumer fitness market, with ambitions that go beyond restoring mobility: They’re helping healthy, active people move farther, faster and with less effort.

There's more at the link, including closer examination of various models.

I think it's a given by now that exoskeletons help recovery from injury, allowing one's muscles to get back into training without over-exerting themselves.  However, what about someone like me with ongoing, permanent pain issues?

A particular problem for me is that if I start walking, I'm already at a baseline level of pain.  The further I walk, the greater the pain becomes, forcing me to walk ever more slowly until eventually I have to stop - and, if possible, sit down - until the pain reduces to a manageable level.  At that point I can start walking again, but inevitably the pain comes back, and the cycle repeats.  I can't walk for more than 5-10 minutes before I have to stop.  I doubt I could cover half a mile, even including frequent breaks, without having to quit, or use a mobility scooter or wheelchair.

Does any reader with a "pain problem" like that use an exoskeleton to help?  Could they extend the period one can walk until the pain increases to an unbearable level?  I've been looking for feedback on that, but so far haven't found any.  If you, dear reader, can provide information from your own experience, or know where to find it, I'd love to hear from you in Comments.

Thanks in advance.

Peter

Sadly, it takes war to spur improvements in emergency medical care

 

During my military service four to five decades ago, our medical training was pretty basic.  You could call it slightly more advanced first aid, if you like.  There were none of the techniques, equipment and medicines that emergency medicine offers today.  Pretty much all a grunt in the field could do was try to stop the bleeding, then get the injured person to a combat medic (if one was available - they weren't always around).  Anything more required evacuation to a forward aid station, which might be dozens or scores of miles away, and often could only be reached by vehicles bouncing around dirt trails or even through the bush.  It could be a nightmare experience for the wounded soldier, often causing more pain and suffering than the original injury.  (Allow me to assure you, I know this from personal experience!)

I was reminded of that by an interesting article at Strategy Page, looking at how, most recently, the Ukraine war has brought a new perspective to battlefield medicine, and examining some of the new technology and techniques that have evolved in recent decades.  Here are a couple of excerpts.

When Russia invaded in 2022, one of the many shortages was blood for transfusions to wounded soldiers and civilians. Using the slogan, “Your blood can fight too”, Ukraine made it easier to donate and converted blood collection from local hospitals and regional networks to a unified national network. Donation centers were prepared to run 24 hours a day when needed, accepting donations around the clock if the emergency lasted. Ukraine created an Operational Headquarters to monitor and coordinate nationwide blood collection and distribution activities. This conversion to a national system came several decades after the United States made the move. In turn, the Ukrainian experience has much to teach America and other NATO nations.

Russia provides less frequent and effective medical care for its wounded soldiers; military and civilian leaders are appalled at how the Ukrainian efforts have substantially reduced the number of combat deaths. Prompt blood transfusions are a key part of this and one of several reasons that for every Ukrainian combat death there are eight or more Russian losses.

. . .

Now, new medical tech is coming in the form of band-aids or bandages for people with minor bleeding injuries like cuts or scrapes. Some people do not heal as quickly, and these minor injuries can take a long time to heal. The solution is self-monitoring polymer band-aids or bandages. This smart bandage tech has completed animal testing and now faces up to a decade of human tests and development of larger bandages before it is generally available.

This smart bandage is worn for a week or two until the chronic bleeding is healed. The smart bandage consists of two parts. The most obvious part appears to be a disposable Band-Aid or bandage containing biosensors, electrodes, and hydrogel with medications, along with a device that delivers low-level electrical stimulation to speed healing. The second component is a flexible, reusable electronic patch that monitors the healing process by tracking temperature, pH, and other factors, allowing a doctor or medical technician to monitor healing. Each year, millions of people have slow-healing wounds, and smart bandages are designed to speed healing.

The smart bandage builds on two decades of major advances in emergency and combat medicine. These new technologies and procedures led to a reduction in combat deaths by more than half since 2003.

. . .

... since September 11, 2001, over two million American troops went off to war and about two percent of them were killed or wounded. Only 12 percent of the 57,000 combat zone wounds were fatal, the lowest percentage in military history. This was largely due to major improvements in dealing with rapid blood loss from a major artery being severed and the increased speed with which complex medical care could be delivered to wounded troops. New medical technologies also made it possible to detect injuries (like brain trauma) that, in the past, were very difficult to detect and treat.

There's more at the link.  Interesting and recommended reading.

If you'd told us, way back when, that "smart bandages" would be a thing, we'd have accused you of drinking entirely too much of the field hospital's rubbing alcohol, probably using it to wash down morphine tablets!  For the sake of today's soldiers, sailors and airmen - not to mention civilian EMT's and paramedics and their patients - I can only hope they perfect this new technology as quickly as possible.

I guess being wounded in combat kinda changes one's perspective on the importance of military medical care in particular, and general emergency medical care as well.  When one's lying there, not knowing whether it's safe to close one's eyes because one can't be at all sure of being able to open them again . . . it re-orders one's priorities, to put it mildly.

Peter

The Pachyderm Prescription?

 

The title of this post was suggested by this news report from Kenya.  It might make a good title for a novel, who knows?

A new study suggests that adult elephants prepare concoctions of plants to administer to their young as medicine.

The finding is based on observations of Mount Elgon's cave elephants in western Kenya by local indigenous people who spent more than 20 years monitoring their routines.

According to their accounts, the elephant herds clustered around Elgon use at least 25 different plant species.

They reported that elephant mothers processed roots and leaves, combined it with their breast milk and administered it to calves, for apparent health benefit.

In one testimony, a wildlife scout described seeing elephants using a plant known as Angurweet, which is used locally as a remedy for ailments such as stomach ache, "as medicine to give to babies".

The scout described elephant mothers "removing the leaves and chewing it until smooth, along with the roots of some other trees".

He also recounted that he had seen mothers mix this plant material with their own milk. "They give it to the babies, who chew on it themselves and spit out the solids," the scout said.

The statements of the Sabaot tribal experts appear to demonstrate a level of sophisticated self-medication among the elephants, which are already renowned for going into caves to mine for salt to supplement their diet.

There's more at the link.

I'm fascinated, but not surprised, to learn of the pachyderm pharmacists.  Elephants are very intelligent indeed, probably at least as much as a pre-teen child, and (judging by some of the teens I've met) possibly even higher on the scale.  I've never heard of them actively medicating their offspring as described in the report, but that they'd develop such knowledge and abilities doesn't surprise me.

Baby and junior elephants are just about the cutest things you can imagine.  Back in the day, Skukuza (the administrative center of the Kruger National Park in South Africa) housed a center for the care and rearing of animals orphaned after the death of their mothers.  This included several baby elephants at the time I visited it.  I was invited by a ranger I knew to join them at feeding time.  That involved filling a two-liter soda bottle with their concentrated milk ration, then applying an outsize rubber teat to it.  The elephants would be waiting impatiently for their food, dancing from foot to foot and being very noisy about it.  I got to hold the bottle for a six-week-old mtoto, who slurped it down with great enthusiasm.  I turned around to put the bottle back on the table, only to be rammed in the small of my back by what felt like a freight train.  I picked myself painfully off the ground and turned around, to be greeted by a juvenile elephant dancing from foot to foot and tootling at me in a way that freely translated as, "Gee, that was fun!  Let's do it again!"  When young elephants want to play, they want to play, and they won't take "No!" for an answer . . .

Of course, once they're grown, they're much less frolic-y and a darn sight more dangerous, particularly because they're intelligent enough to learn about threats and deal with them.  In Africa, they've grown accustomed to poachers using Soviet-made AK-47 rifles, with their distinctive "banana" magazines;  and when they see anyone carrying that shape, they'll often charge them at once and do their best to trample them into the mud before they can take aim and shoot.  (That's why South African game rangers on the Mozambique border carry - or used to carry, when I was still there - FN FAL rifles with a shorter, straight magazine, which didn't resemble the AK.  They lived longer that way!)

I love elephants.  They're majestic creatures, and dominate any location where they're found.  Forget that business about lions being the "king of the beasts".  When a herd of elephants arrive, the lions get out of the way.

Peter

Exit left, pursued by medical hobgoblins

 

Very long day yesterday, and a very early start this morning for more medical misadventures.  I'm afraid I haven't had time to cook up a blog post for today, so please enjoy yourselves with the bloggers listed in the sidebar.

Peter

Notes to self

 

1.  If you find an old bottle of Miralax, don't assume that just because it's old, it may not work as well as a fresh product would.

2.  Having taken a dose of the old Miralax that morning, don't assume that just because nothing is moving by that evening, it's definitely not working properly.

3.  Even though you think the Miralax isn't working properly, don't unthinkingly take two stool softener tablets that same evening to "hurry things along".

4.  When you wake earlier than usual next morning, and spend the next half-an-hour or so disgorging quantities of the usual, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

5.  When this is repeated later that morning, with even more disgorgement, you still have nobody to blame but yourself.

6.  Notwithstanding your despair, don't even think about buying a cork or a plug, because it would probably end up dislodged with about the same chamber pressure as a firearm cartridge (producing equally explosive, albeit less sanitary results).

7.  By evening, sad and sore, engrave the memories of this day upon your mind so that you don't do it again!

That is all . . .

Peter

Health update

 

The good news first:  thanks to a very competent and experienced pain management specialist, it looks as if the specific problem(s) with (or, rather, near) my lower spine have been nailed down at last, and a treatment path is opening up.

The bad news:  it's taken three years of visits to successive specialists such as neurosurgeons, neurologists, etc. to get here - and not one of those specialists identified, or even hinted at, the actual problem!

(Pause here while I spit in disgust, rinse my mouth out to get rid of the bitter taste, and catch my breath.)

OK.  As most readers will know, three years ago I began experiencing much worse pain than usual in my lower spine.  It had been painful since a severe injury back in 2004, followed by spinal fusion surgery, but it had settled down into a dull roar, with periodic episodes of greater pain.  The increased pain led me to ask for a referral to a neurosurgeon to figure out what was going on.  Over the next couple of years I saw two neurosurgical practices, one neurosurgeon, several radiologists, and some physical terrorists therapists.  They would all mutter about spinal deterioration above the site of the original fusion, but none would commit to what, precisely, needed to be done.  Instead, they kept referring me for additional CT scans and other investigations.  I came to the conclusion that they were reluctant to commit to surgical intervention because they couldn't precisely identify which vertebrae needed work.  If they operated, and I had to pay a great deal of money, but no improvement resulted, this would be problematic for them.

Earlier this year I asked my local physician to refer me to a pain management specialist.  I was popping Tramadol in multiples every day, and that's not sustainable in the long term.  She put me in touch with a fellow former South African, Dr. Theodoor Hancke, at Genesis Wellness and Pain in Wichita Falls.  I'm providing his name because he's a darned good doctor, and if you have severe pain problems and live within travel distance of Wichita Falls, I hope you'll contact him.  Tell him I said to call.

Dr. Hancke referred my CT scans to a top neurosurgeon in Dallas, who responded that in the absence of any certainty as to the precise location of the problem, he could not recommend spinal surgery at present.  Fair enough, I guess.  In the meanwhile, Dr. Hancke administered a Caudal Epidural Steroid Injection to try to reduce pain.  That worked for several weeks until the pain came back, so he repeated the process a second time, with similar results.

It was at this point that we heard from the neurosurgeon in Dallas.  Both Dr. Hancke and I were getting very frustrated at being unable to reduce the level of pain on a longer-term basis.  He suddenly asked me, "What about your sacroiliac?  Any problems there?"  I said that yes, I'd had a few, but...  Before I could go on, he made me take off my back support brace, turned me around, and stuck his fingers into the sacroiliac joints on both sides of my pelvis.  It hurt like hell, and I said so!  He grinned, and said that this opened up a whole new perspective on my problem.

I'm not a doctor, so I'll let Wikipedia summarize the problem:

• Sacroiliac joint
• Sacroiliac joint dysfunction
• Sacroiliitis
• Surgery for the dysfunctional sacroiliac joint

For a more authoritative (but still easy-to-understand) medical perspective, see "What to Know About Sacroiliac Joint Fusion".  It has a useful, informative video as well.

The infuriating thing is that my symptoms are an absolutely 100% fit with those described in the medical literature.  Why the heck couldn't all the so-called "medical professionals" who'd examined me and my CT scans have picked up on that?  I think it must be that they "locked in" on the fact that I'd had a previous fusion, and my current problems were in the same area as that previous site.  They couldn't look beyond the spine to consider other related issues - which makes me even more angry, because the medical literature indicates that well over 30% of those who undergo lumbar spinal fusion (as I did) subsequently experience sacroiliac problems.

Dr. Hancke, being a pain management specialist rather than a neurosurgeon, was able to "think outside the spine" (you should pardon the expression) and find a way forward.  I'm just sorry for three wasted years until I met up with him...  At any rate, last week he administered the first of what should be two, or at most three, steroid injections into both sacroiliac joints.  It's already had a dramatic effect on my pain levels, cutting them in half.  If, after it wears off, another injection has the same effect, that will probably be sufficient evidence to move forward with fusing both sacroiliac joints to provide long-term relief.  Not only will that be a less painful surgery than spinal fusion, but recovery time should be much shorter - and costs will be lower, too, which is a great help!

Anyway, that's how things stand at present.  I'm very pleased to be able to report what I think is significant progress.  God willing, and all other things being equal, by the middle of next year I might be in a much better position as far as my overall health and levels of pain are concerned.  There are, indeed, additional back problems that will probably require surgical attention in a few years, but that can be postponed until it's absolutely necessary.

Thanks again to all of you who've kept me in your prayers over this, and contributed to my fundraiser for related expenses.  I'm deeply grateful to you all.

Peter

Verily, the mind doth boggle...

 

Believe it or not, this is a genuine e-poster from an outfit calling themselves Mainebreastfeeds.  Click the image for a larger view.

The caption is "National Breastfeeding Month", but the subtitle below it is "Celebrating trans lactation, two-spirit and chestfeeding".  Needless to say, "breastfeeding" and "chestfeeding" are not interchangeable terms (except in the sick minds of those who conceived this travesty)!

I imagine that for most normal people, that image is about as stomach-turning as one could wish.  It makes a mockery of natural breastfeeding, and is medically and physically impossible as well.  I find it nauseating.

I think anyone holding such views, or supporting those who hold them, should have their sanity examined as soon as possible.  That may be the only benefit to such arrant nonsense - to expose those who are, mentally speaking, three or four cents short of a nickel.

Peter

Health update

 

This is an "omnibus post" to draw together threads from various earlier report-backs and clarify the situation for those interested.  If you don't want to know, that's OK.  Go read the bloggers in the sidebar.

Regular readers will know that for the past three years or so, I've been battling some very debilitating medical issues.  One was resolved (after five hospital procedures) with the removal of my right kidney last year.  The remaining kidney seems to be working just fine, for which I'm duly grateful!

The other problem is proving much, much more difficult to resolve.  Briefly, more than 22 years ago I suffered an injury to my spine.  A discectomy didn't work, so the vertebrae involved had to be fused.  Unfortunately, the injury (aggravated by almost half a year's delay in getting initial surgery, thanks to bureaucratic fumbling) resulted in permanent damage to my left sciatic nerve.  Since then, I've had limited mobility (sometimes very limited) and been in pain 24/7/365.  I've mostly kept it under control through some pretty strong pain medication, but that doesn't always work.  I've learned to grit my teeth through the bad days, and carry on regardless.

About three years ago I became aware of a steady increase in pain levels in my lower back, and more frequent difficulties with nerve pain in my left leg.  Over the past couple of years I've undergone multiple CT scans, neurological examinations and other tests, but could never get doctors to agree on precisely what the problem was and/or what should be done (particularly whether a given procedure would solve all my problems, or require other procedures to deal with some of them).  Eventually, in sheer frustration, a couple of months ago I asked for my case to be referred to a top neurosurgeon in Dallas, to ask for his opinion.

Well . . . I've received his opinion, and I don't like it (not that complaining helps - it's about as much use as farting against thunder).  Basically, he says that yes, several of my lumbar vertebrae need attention.  However, since the exact issues affecting my pain, mobility, etc. can't be accurately determined, the vertebrae involved should not be fused until that is known, because surgery could not be guaranteed to fix things.  Lacking such certainty, other treatment options should be pursued.

All right, then.  We move on to dealing with the symptoms until such time as we can more precisely define the cause.  I've been consulting a pain management specialist for some months, and will discuss the neurosurgeon's opinion and future options with him on Friday.  I don't want to increase my present dosage of (opioid) pain medication, but I may not have much choice in the matter in the short term.

There are three problems needing to be fixed, or at least alleviated.

1. The damaged nerve in my left leg, and its root in the (compressed) spinal cord, are affecting my balance to an ever greater extent.  I've always been slightly unsteady on my feet since my injury, but over the past couple of years this has gotten worse.  I now have to use a walking stick to cover anything other than short distances, in case the nerve "shorts out" for a second or two and dumps me on the ground.  Thank heavens for shopping carts - without them, I couldn't walk around a supermarket for long.  I've had a couple of bad falls, most recently just last week, where I had to call for help to get up again.  When your left leg and hip has turned into a useless meat deadweight and won't respond to your nerve signals at all, it makes life rather tricky!  Still, I won't complain too much about it.  There are people who've suffered the same injury I did who never walked again.  Compared to them, I'm well off.  If worse comes to worst, I guess I may have to look at a mobility scooter or something like that, although I really don't want to use one.
2. The balance issues appear to be conflicting with pain management.  I've been wearing a back brace for several months while walking, which does alleviate some of the pain and helps me stay on my feet longer (and lift things more easily when that becomes necessary).  However, the more often (and longer) I wear the back brace, the less steady my gait becomes and the easier it is to lose my balance.  When I think about it, it was compression of the nerve in the first place (during my original injury) that caused my ongoing problems, so it's perhaps logical that adding additional compression via a back brace may aggravate things.  A neurological Catch-22, perhaps? That will be a topic for discussion with the pain management specialist on Friday.
3. Some of the newer treatments (for example, caudal epidural steroid injections - of which I've had two so far (ouch!) - and, potentially, radiofrequency ablation for pain management, which is a convoluted medical term meaning they cauterize nerve endings) have side effects that can cause and/or aggravate other problems.  (For example, hope and pray they cauterize the right nerve(s), because there's no coming back from that if they don't!)  If I'm to continue with such methods, I need to understand precisely what's involved, and decide whether the promised benefits are worth the almost inevitable downsides.  On the other hand, what (if any) are the alternatives?

Financially, we're coping.  In case you missed earlier posts on this subject, I've had to argue ad nauseam with bureaucrats in both workers comp (for my original injury) and a medical insurer (for current problems).  Neither wants to pay, seeking instead to pin the responsibility for the situation on the other.  Meanwhile, since we can't wait for them to sort out their turf wars, we've had to pay our own way up front.  We hope to recover at least some of that money from one or the other agency in due course.  Thanks to reader generosity during my fundraiser last year (and a few who've continued that support since then - shout out to C. in particular!), plus our savings, plus a second mortgage on our home, we've been able to cope with the bills racked up so far (several tens of thousands of dollars).  We remain deeply grateful for your help and support, without which our lives would be a whole lot more complicated right now.

Anyway, that's the state of my health so far.  Thank you again to everyone who's supported us, and inquired after my health, and sent up prayers for us.  All are greatly appreciated.

Peter

Animals and aircraft: a sometimes dubious mixture

 

Courtesy of an e-mail from Eaton Rapids Joe, I was led to this account of a massive pig airlift operation.

Business pard's son flies 747's for Atlas Air. Latest load was around 900 pigs from Cincinnati, stop over in Anchorage. A reverse thruster had stuck, so they had to transfer those pigs to another 747. I figure the big plane can haul around 4 double decker, 18 wheeler (pot) loads of pigs. That's a pot load max of around 50K pounds or so, times 4, still under a 747 max load of 250-300K pounds. They were able to open the 747 nose and side doors to give those pigs some air while the new plane was being readied.

I googled Philippine pig problem and found out they have African Swine Fever Virus, which is contagious and deadly. So the govt is importing 32,000 breeding age pigs from USA and Europe, placing them in ASFV free areas. That virus kills pigs, but does not infect humans. Don't ya know those big planes stank after hauling all those pigs. Bud said the pigs were stomping, were actually shaking the plane. Big plane, but lots of stomping pigs. (Stomping, mad pigs.... would make a great Antifa demonstration).

. . .

Wonder what a "pig ticket" for a half the way around the world trip would cost. And times 900.... And ultimately 32,000 pigs.... Only a govt could afford that, for sure not pig farmers.

There's more at the link, particularly comments from other interested readers.  My favorite:  "Ha! In the Philippines they'll offload 900 pigs and haul them off on three motorbikes, two garongs and a jeepney."  Friends who've been there assure me that's more likely than not . . .

The story reminded me of one of the more "interesting" freight problems involved in flying the Hump, the air transportation of men, machines and equipment from India to China during the Second World War.  I wrote about it at some length several years ago.  One of the most difficult tasks was to fly mules and donkeys to China for use as pack animals, which were essential in the heavily forested terrain of Burma and nearby areas.  The Hump loadmasters would cram anything up to a dozen into C-46 or C-47 transports, and fly them all the way to China.  The trouble was, their urine would seep through the aluminum floor plates and corrode the control cables that ran from the cockpit to the tail.  The problem was discovered one day when a C-47 pilot taxied out to the runway in China, to take off for a return flight to India, and discovered that the rudder would no longer answer to his control inputs.  Subsequent inspection revealed that all the planes used for those animal cargoes were in just as parlous a condition, requiring major overhauls and the replacement of many control cables and surfaces before they could go back to work.

Of course, domesticated (or semi-domesticated) livestock is manageable as cargo.  Wild animals . . . not so much.  One of my favorite episodes was Operation Crocodile in South Africa in 1970.  Conservationist Ian Player was trying to rescue a number of Nile crocodiles from an estuary threatened by severe drought.  He appealed to the South African Air Force, which made available one of its then-new Super Frelon helicopters.

Hilarity - and a great deal of bad language - ensued.  The game rangers and their assistants had to capture, then immobilize the crocodiles, one after another, and load them into cargo nets (a process in which the animals proved to be less than cooperative).  The helicopter would then hover overhead (producing violent protests from the crocodiles, who didn't want anything to do with this strange bird), hook up the net, and airlift the croc to a safer place several miles up-river.  Once there, it was lowered to the ground, the net was removed, and the ropes and tape and other immobilizing bits and pieces were taken off.  This had to be done very carefully, always being prepared for some very high-speed maneuvers to get away from the by now extremely annoyed crocodile.  Video footage of proceedings was very popular with everyone except those immediately involved!

Africa, of course, is a very strange place, and its animals and aviation have their own stories to tell.  One of the worst is, I assure you, absolutely true.  People sometimes accuse me of making it up, so I'll let you read the news report at the link to prove that no, I'm not.

Peter

Be careful what you pick up on or near a battlefield...

 

There's a video on X.com showing a Russian army officer opening some of the candies and chocolate that have been found in the battle zones in Ukraine.  If you're logged into X, here's the link.  If you aren't a member of X, here's an alternative link that will let you play the video.  The candy is loaded with explosives and a detonator, proving that too many sweets really are bad for you!

There are plenty of comments following the video that are worth reading.  My favorite is from user Bitcoin Wizard - mavensbot:

"I'm starting to think that these processed foods are not healthy."

You can say that again!

Peter

Adventures with medicine, part XVIII and counting...

 

Regular readers will recall my misadventures with medical bureaucracy in May, and the follow-up (mis)adventures last month.  Yesterday, Tuesday, most of the results came together, with moderately satisfactory results and a certain amount of pain.

My new CT scan images and analysis were ready, and my pain management specialist (who made the necessary arrangements for them) discussed them with me.  There appears to be more going on "over my head" than I'd been made aware . . . it appears possible that the original surgery, twenty-two years ago, might have been - how shall I put this? - sub-standard.  Nobody used the word "malpractice" - perish the thought!  After all, given the passage of time, that probably couldn't be proved.  Nevertheless, it may be one of the reasons why two neurosurgeons, a neurologist and an orthopedic surgeon had all been noticeably reluctant to commit themselves to a potential solution to my problems.  Armed with this (strictly unofficial and off-the-record) information, I'm now in a position to ask very blunt, pointed, direct questions when I see the new neurosurgeon, and apparently he's one of the few doctors who's willing to answer such questions appropriately.  The next couple of months should be interesting . . .

That said, I had my second caudal epidural injection yesterday morning.  The first one (in March) gave me 2+ months of moderate pain relief, so I'm hoping the second one will be at least as useful.  That, plus wearing a back brace for all walking and driving, will hopefully keep me mobile enough to see the new neurosurgeon in Dallas before the end of August, and (with his help) develop a plan for short- to medium-term treatment in preparation for surgery.  It's a slow, painstaking process, but as I've been told repeatedly, spinal surgery is one of those "measure ten times, cut once" solutions that one daren't rush or mess up.

Right now I can't feel anything in my lower back, the result of the anesthetic used to perform the injection into the spinal cavity.  By Wednesday morning I'll be feeling it again, I'm sure.

Peter

The growing relationship between sound and healing

 

For thousands of years, shamanistic medicine has included music (usually in fairly primitive forms, such as drumming or a shuffling dance rhythm) in its repertoire of healing techniques.  It now appears that perhaps music - or, rather, sound waves - may indeed have an integral role to play in healing.  Ted Gioia tells us more.

Every month, some remarkable new property of sonic healing gets validated by research or clinical practice. And the developments of the last few days are especially exciting.

Consider the recent news from MIT, where researchers eliminated 50% of the brain plaque associated with Alzheimer’s. And they did it with 40 Hz soundwaves—no surgery or drugs were necessary. The procedure is completely non-invasive.

And look at this brand new study, which reveals the potential to counter inflammation and reduce joint pain with low-intensity ultrasound. Body tissue magically starts to repair itself—with potential for use in everything from treating arthritis to recovering from injuries.

And check out this article, published just yesterday, which describes a significant improvement in motor skills among Parkinson’s patients—all because of ultrasound.

But I’m especially excited by the recent announcement from San Francisco research lab Midjourney. They have developed a new scanning technology involving ultrasound—and it sounds like science fiction. “We’re building a bold new kind of machine to reimagine the foundations of healthcare and our relationships to our bodies,” the company boasts.

It doesn’t even feel like a medical procedure—more like a visit to the health spa. In fact, that’s what the company will call its diagnostic centers: Spas.

It starts by stepping into a shallow pool of golden light. You then begin to descend into the water. Your body passes through a ring of underwater sensors, each acting like a dolphin, using its echolocation. The sensors send ultrasonic sound waves through your body from every angle. With enough waves, and enough angles, we form an image of what’s happening inside your body.

The goal is for this process to take no more than 60 seconds.

You go into the water, you come out of the water, and you’re done.

The result is “a 3D map of your body, down to a fraction of a millimeter.” But here’s the payoff:

We think it's completely possible that with enough early imaging in the future, the world could avoid 30% of all deaths and 50% of all healthcare costs.

There's more at the link.

As a musician, Ted is particularly excited by the potential mingling of his field and that of medicine.  He goes into a lot of background detail about it, which should be of particular interest to other musicians, but also to us less tuneful folk who merely want to get better in health terms.  I was particularly intrigued to learn that Midjourney, previously known as an AI-assisted graphics program, was now moving in an entirely new and (as far as I know) unrelated direction.

Recommended reading.

Peter

Stories that developed during my absence

 

I've been following a number of stories in recent days, and some others popped up during my absence at LibertyCon.  I thought I'd put them all into a single post here, so you can decide which ones you'd like to investigate further.  Click the title to be taken to the post/article concerned.

1.  The Commies Mount An Across the Board Push: DSA targets local elections around the nation in a well-planned strategy.

Instapundit author Glenn Reynolds points out that "The DSA and its allies have targeted local elections because they can mobilize a small but decisive number of voters in low-turnout elections".  This thinly-disguised extreme Socialist/Communist movement is trying to take over the Democratic Party from the inside, working its way upward through the ranks.  It's a timely warning, IMHO.

2.  Income needed to afford a median-priced home has nearly doubled since 2020, report finds.

It's no wonder younger people today complain that they simply can't afford a home of their own.  The cost of the latter has almost doubled in six years, but salaries certainly haven't followed suit.  I'd hoped for a "price dividend" as illegal aliens were deported (or deported themselves), but their absence from the housing market hasn't yet made much of a difference.  Can things find a new balance?

3.  Everest hospital scrambles for antivenom as snakes migrate to high ground.

"Experts said venomous snakes, including king cobras, were heading up the mountains as the climate warmed, threatening tourists and climbers."  That's a new and unexpected danger in the Himalayas, which have been relatively snake-free until now due to their extremely cold ambient temperature.

4.  Try Not to Crack a Rib Laughing.

"Police say 41-year-old Leonard “Lil Riblet” Barksdale allegedly hopped a privacy fence in Southeast Memphis around 2:13 AM after spotting what he reportedly described as '“a lightly supervised gas grill'. According to neighbors, Lil Riblet moved through the backyard 'with the confidence of a man who’s never once considered consequences.' That confidence lasted approximately four seconds. Because waiting in the yard was Memphiszilla… a pit bull described by witnesses as 'Built like a refrigerator with childhood trauma'."

5.  AI helped diagnose 18 children whose rare diseases had stumped doctors.

"OpenAI’s o3 Deep Research model helped clarify 18 diagnoses for children who had struggled to find causes for their illnesses and symptoms. 'It’s a total game changer,' said one of the study’s lead researchers, Catherine Brownstein, the scientific director of the genetic investigations arm of the Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research at Boston Children’s Hospital."

6.  Pokémon Go Scans Quietly Trained the Navigation Tech Now Headed Into Military Drones.

"Hundreds of millions of Pokémon Go players spent years filming the streets, parks, and buildings around them to earn in-game rewards. Those roughly 30 billion environmental scans are now owned by Niantic Spatial, and they helped train a camera-based navigation model that a U.S. defense contractor is preparing to put into drones and other military robots. Most of the players had no idea."

I hope you found them as interesting as I did.

Peter

More adventures in the medical world, and some light relief

 

You'll recall my adventures with medical bureaucracy last month.  My pain management specialist very kindly agreed to prescribe another myelogram for me.  The first appointment was canceled on the morning of the procedure by the hospital, because they "had the wrong paperwork" and couldn't proceed without correction.  Turns out the problem was one single word that had not been inserted into the relevant form:  and without that one single word, everything ground to a halt.  At any rate, the missing word was duly provided, and a new appointment was made.  This morning it's off I go to the hospital again for another lumbar puncture, a CT scan, and sundry X-rays.  Hopefully this will be enough to persuade the medical bureaucracy to let me proceed to the next step.

(Why is it that medical bureaucrats and departments can't talk to each other?  I've already electronically checked in to the hospital, and provided my co-payment, and confirmed date and time.  Despite that, I received no less than five e-mails, text messages and phone calls, all reminding me to be at the hospital on time, and do all the pre-procedure processing I've already done.  Do these people have nothing better to do but to waste their patients' time with all this duplication of effort?  And what does it add to our costs as patients to have to pay for it all?)

I'm thoroughly frustrated with the hospital before I even show up there.  To cheer me up, and spare you from listening to my complaints, here's some light relief from Stephan Pastis.  Click the image to be taken to a larger version at the "Pearls Before Swine" Web page.

And, to compare and contrast two of our largest states:

There.  A midweek humor break to relax me before getting poked, prodded and photographed, inside and out.

Peter

He used his own dying and death to help others

 

Now and then one comes across a story that really touches the heart of what it means to be human, and to live - and sometimes die - as positively as possible.  Dr. Richard Scolyer appears to have been such a man.

Richard Scolyer, who has died aged 59, was a surgical pathologist who, with his colleague Georgina Long, revolutionised the treatment of advanced melanoma (skin cancer); in 2023 he became his own "guinea pig" after developing glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive brain cancers.

As co-directors of the Melanoma Institute Australia, dedicated to researching the lethal skin cancer that afflicts Australia more than any other nation, the two scientists pioneered a treatment which involves administering immunotherapy drugs before surgery so that the immune system is triggered by the whole cancer rather than the few remaining cells after tumour removal. Their work lifted the survival rate for advanced melanoma from less than 5 per cent in 2010 to more than 50 per cent today, saving thousands of lives.

But by 2024, when the pair were named joint Australian of the Year, Scolyer was facing his own cancer battle. It began during a visit to Poland in May 2023 when he found himself convulsing on the floor of his hotel room. An MRI scan carried out in Kraków showed a mass in his temporal lobe, and he knew immediately that it was bad news. A subsequent biopsy performed in Sydney diagnosed an aggressive grade 4 IDH-wildtype glioblastoma and Scolyer was given six to eight months to live.

"I didn't want to die. I loved my life," he wrote in a memoir, Brainstorm. Only three weeks earlier Scolyer, a keen sportsman, had represented Australia at the World Triathlon Multisport Championships. Now he had been given a death sentence: "It didn't sit right with me… to just accept certain death without trying something. It's an incurable cancer. Well bugger that!"

Under a team led by Georgina Long, Scolyer became "Patient Zero" for a radical form of treatment based on the approach developed for melanoma, which involved delaying surgery for two weeks while immunotherapy drugs were administered, allowing the immune system to train on millions of cancer cells. Scolyer decided to go public with his treatment, gaining thousands of followers on social media.

The regimen carried many dangers. Even a short delay in surgery could allow the tumour to grow, and there was a high chance the drugs' side-effects could kill him. "There was understandable resistance from some in the medical community," he recalled.

But early results were promising. When the tumour that had been removed was analysed, Long's team found that there had been an explosion of cancer-fighting immune cells. Then in May 2024, an MRI scan revealed that the tumour had not returned, though it did not mean the cancer was cured: "It's just nice to know that it hasn't come back yet, so I've still got some more time to enjoy my life," Scolyer said.

But in March this year, days before Scolyer was due to part in a charity cycling event in Tasmania, a brain scan showed that the cancer had progressed. "Not the best day ever," he told his followers on Facebook.

His death, three years after diagnosis, far exceeded the life expectancy for his tumour, and a clinical trial based on his treatment is now underway at Duke University in the US.

There's more at the link.

Effectively, Dr. Scolyear allowed his own body, and the process of his own dying and death, to be used for treatment and further research.  As if to acknowledge his self-sacrifice, he survived his cancer for far longer than the norm for gioblastoma sufferers, thereby allowing a great deal of research to be conducted that will benefit others in future.  Sadly, it couldn't benefit him, apart from giving him longer to set an example to the rest of us.

A tribute to him has been posted on the home page of Melanoma Institute Australia.  There are many replies to it from those who remember him with love and kindness.  I'll let this one speak for all of them.

If it were not for his brilliant work, I too would not be here today, having had lifesaving Immunotherapy for my late stage Melanoma diagnosis.

Words alone cannot express my gratitude and thanks, together with the sadness that you too were not able to have been afforded the opportunity of a second chance of life.

May you rest in peace Professor.

Indeed.  May choirs of angels sing him to his rest.

Peter

Tab clearing

 

I've come across several very interesting stories and reports over the past week or two, but haven't had time or space to give each one the attention it deserves.  In this blog post, I'll list them all, and provide a brief synopsis.  I highly recommend clicking over to the ones that interest you and reading them in full.

1.  Tragedy in the Maldives.

DiveMedic offers several blog posts that analyze the deaths of several divers in a deep-sea cave in the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean.  He's a very highly qualified and experienced diver himself, so his words carry a great deal of weight.  Follow each link to his reports, in chronological order:

Dive Accident

Compounding Tragedy

Risks

The Next Chapter

2.  Credit card fraud at the gas pump.

Wall Street Apes warns us that by physically blocking the pump from shutting off after you pump gas, thieves can go to the pump after you drive away and pump gas for themselves on your account.  Their report includes a video clip illustrating how it's done.

3.  Shortage of lube oil?

Tamara at View From The Porch notes that lubrication oils are likely to become a lot less readily available following the Iran war.  She reproduces a warning letter from AutoZone to its managers outlining what they can expect and how the company will try to deal with it.  Very important reading, IMHO.

4.  Our medicine supply is a national security issue.

RealClearWire warns that our top-heavy reliance on China for almost all our critical medications and/or the raw materials that go into them has become a genuine national security issue.  It notes that "More than 131 million people—nearly two-thirds of all U.S. adults—use prescription medications."

I've written about this issue before.  If you rely on prescription medications, I highly recommend that you build up a stockpile of at least six months' worth of each of them - if possible, a full year of each.  If their local doctor and/or pharmacy won't help with that, many Americans buy them from pharmacies outside our borders.  That's technically illegal, of course, and therefore I can't legally advise you to do it:  but what alternatives are there?  Some drive across the Mexican border, where pharmacies will help without turning a hair.  Some who can't do that use mail-order pharmacies in countries like India.  There are several of them.  Whatever you do, don't just sit back and say "Oh, well, there's nothing I can do about it."  That won't help keep you alive if the crunch comes.  All it will take is a Chinese bureaucratic edict blocking all medicine-related exports to the USA, and we'll be in a world of hurt within weeks.

5.  Lessons learned from Argentina's collapse.

The author warns that "many American preppers prepare for the wrong kind of collapse".  He describes how, when Argentina's economy blew up, the result was that "Society did not disappear. It simply became dangerous, unstable, and deeply unpredictable".  He offers practical suggestions to deal with increased crime and violence, and points out that reliance on weapons and ammunition is less important than more mundane factors.

6.  Military snipers are being put out of a job by drones.

An interesting assessment of how military snipers are being displaced in importance by drone warfare.  Snipers are becoming assistants to the drone operators, finding them targets, helping them focus on them, and supporting them as the higher-technology drone delivers far more damage, far more accurately than a bullet could.  Future battlefields may see far fewer snipers than in the past.

7.  But is it art?

To be read with tongue firmly in cheek:

Museum officials at the Louvre announced Friday that a portable latrine recovered from a forward operating base outside Fallujah, Iraq, has been placed on permanent display in the antiquities wing alongside works by da Vinci and Delacroix, with curators citing the interior wall art as some of the most raw and unfiltered human expression documented in the post-9/11 era.

The piece, a standard-issue plastic latrine manufactured in 2002 and last serviced at no documented point in its operational life, contains on its interior walls an estimated 340 individual works including pencil drawings, marker illustrations, carved inscriptions, and what the Louvre’s authentication team described in their formal report as a surprisingly consistent motif repeated across all four walls, the door, and part of the ceiling.

. . .

The Louvre’s acquisition statement, released Thursday, describes the wall art as an anonymous folk tradition rooted in the vernacular of the American enlisted experience, comparing the recurring phallic imagery to fertility symbols found in Paleolithic cave systems and noting that the sheer volume and anatomical commitment of the work suggests multiple contributing artists across a sustained period of time.

“These are not casual marks,” the statement reads. “These are declarations.”

The rest is just as funny.  Enjoy!

That's all for today.  I hope you enjoyed the variety.  If you did, let me know, and I'll probably try to do more such omnibus posts in future.

Peter

Adventures with medical bureaucracy

 

Last Friday I mentioned that my blog post that day would be abbreviated due to a medical appointment.  I duly attended it, and it accomplished what I wanted.  I asked about alternative neurosurgical practices, since I'm not happy with the one I've been using, and the doctor referred me to another neurosurgeon in Dallas for further investigation.  (It seems the problem is to decide precisely what surgery I need:  to fuse two or three more vertebrae in addition to the existing pair, or to remove the latter and encase my entire lumbar spine in a sort of metal cage to stabilize the whole area.  There appears to be serious disagreement over which approach would work best, so I've asked for a second opinion from a more professional professional, if you know what I mean.)

So far, so good . . . but then I called the new doctor's office to set up the appointment.  The conversation went something like this.

Me:  I've been referred to Dr. X for further investigation of my spine injury.  You should have been sent my medical history, copies of X-rays and myelograms, and all that stuff.

Doctor's nurse:  Let me check . . . Yes, we have those.  You'll have to get another myelogram, though, because the previous one was done more than six months ago.  Dr. X won't see you until the new results are available.

Me:  Er . . . this is a problem.  A myelogram is a very expensive and complex procedure.  I can't just ask for it as a private patient:  I have to be referred for it by a doctor.  However, if Dr. X won't see me, he can't issue the referral;  and my local general practitioner certainly can't do so, because it's a specialist procedure.  I can't ask for a referral from my previous neurosurgeons, because I'm moving on from them.  What now?

Doctor's nurse:  I'm afraid that's Dr. X's protocol.  He won't see you without an updated myelogram.

Me:  Well, his protocol has just run headlong into medical bureaucrats, and I'm pretty sure they're going to win.  You're asking me to do the impossible.

Doctor's nurse:  I'm sorry, but my hands are tied.  You're going to have to find some other way to get that myelogram.

Me:  Hangs up, bites tongue, bangs head against brick wall, etc.

I checked with my general practitioner, and sure enough, they can't refer me for a myelogram because it's a specialist procedure, outside their area of competence.  The neurosurgery practice that ordered the previous myelogram has no good reason to order another one.  After all, I'm going to see one of their competitors for a second opinion,  so they'll expect the new doctor to prescribe whatever tests he thinks are necessary.  They're not going to do it for him.

"Laugh!", they said.  "Things could be worse!"  So I did.  And they were.

Oh, well.  This, too, shall pass . . . I just need the administrative equivalent of an enema for the bureaucrats, to make sure it does!

Peter

Another fiddly Friday (medically speaking)

 

I have an early appointment with a pain management specialist today, so I haven't been able to put up my usual longer blog post.  If I have time later, I may do so.

In the meantime, here are two cartoons from the past week or so that caught my eye and made me laugh.  Click either image to be taken to the cartoon's Web page for a larger view.

Wish me luck!

Peter

Kat really needs our help

 

Late last month, I wrote about Kat Ainsworth Stevens.

She's a friend and occasional member of the North Texas Troublemakers, and an active gun writer - you've probably read articles by her if you read gun mags or several well-known Internet sites.  When last I wrote about her, she was facing imminent surgery for breast cancer, and since she's a free-lancer, she doesn't have medical insurance to help.

She's had her surgery, which was massive - double mastectomy, every lymph gland in sight, all that sort of thing.  She's recovering from it at present, and is facing both radiation and chemotherapy to knock down any remaining traces of the cancer.  To make matters worse, her four-year-old son developed some sort of intestinal disorder that required him to be hospitalized as well:  but Kat can't visit him much, because her wounds are still draining and the risk of infection is simply too great.  That's a very tough row to hoe.

Kat's received her first bill from the hospital.  It's well into the five-figure bracket, and it won't be the last, either, what with chemical and radiological therapy still to come.  Her friends have therefore organized a raffle for a Foxtrot Mike Ranch Rifle (description at link).

The one on offer in the raffle has been upgraded even further, making it a very desirable firearm.  Click the link to see it in more detail, with more and larger images, and enter for the raffle.  Any donation up to $100, no matter how small, gets one ticket, and multiple tickets are given for larger donations - details at the link.

Kat's good people, and deserves our help.  Please donate whatever you can afford, either to the raffle, or (if you prefer) to the original GiveSendGo fundraiser, which is still in operation.

Thanks, friends.

Peter