Ineffective

Study finds that cannabis ineffective in the treatment of PTSD.

I think these kind of studies are looking to see if they cure the disease or lead to a lessening of symptoms over time.

Booze is also ineffective in the treatment of PTSD, but that has not stopped veterans from self-medicating with it for... as long as I can remember being around veterans.

What booze and weed let you do is not give a fuck about it for a while.

Addressing a symptom while ignoring the cause. 

Self medication leads to lots of worse problems, so getting at the cause is a better plan. 

Unremarkable

Got my results, by mail, of my 24 hour heart monitor.

"Unremarkable."

Excellent news.

I remain suspiciously healthy for a man of my lifestyle.

Itchy Itchy

I just did a 24 hour heart monitor.

The tape holding the little sensor pads on was dreadfully itchy.

I sure hope they got a good reading, because I don't wanna do a repeat.

PS: It's precautionary, not because they think there's something amiss.

What Else Would You Call It?

Viagra is a recreational pharmaceutical.

Change my mind.

Oh Gods!

 

This is a capture of a warning from The Gasmask and Respirator Wiki article on the M25 mask.

I wore an M25 often and for hours at a time.

The filter in question is the M10A1.  The, older, M10 filter sometimes contained asbestos.

Pick your brand of lung cancer!

I don't have any lung cancer at the moment, but the list of potential carcinogens (real ones not just shit that causes cancer in California) I was exposed to in tanks is getting longer and longer.

I'd been all worried about exposure to turbo-shaft oil and the gas mask was what I really should have been paying attention to!

Killed By Death

The men in my family don't have a consistent problem that leads to their demise.

Grampa on Mom's side was a diabetic who didn't bother changing what he ate all that much and a one-two blow of dementia and heart problems associated with that neglect got him.  At 76 years old.

Great Grampa on Dad's side had his brain just quit.  85 years old.

Grampa on Dad's side got done in by undetected prostate cancer that had metastasized into his bones and further.  77 years old.

Dad is trucking along at 84 years old and nobody has told me about any health scares he's had.  We don't talk.

Nobody really did the diet and exercise bit, but all of them remained active.  Mom's dad probably should have watched what he ate though.

My dad's sister tells me that high cholesterol is a thing in the family and nothing really gets it under control and the women in the family have been making it to their 90's regular like.

About THAT Age

Because The Lovely Harvey is entering the post-menopause frisky stage and I have been afflicted with a common problem, I inquired as to the availability of little blue pills.

This triggered a, "let's make sure your heart is healthy enough to be frisky," set of tests.

EKG, then a 24 hour heart monitor, then a trip down to Bay Pines for an echo-cardiogram.

DUDE!

Makes one feel like the Grim Reaper is just the other side of the door.

Also in the visit was a cholesterol discussion.

One of the best ways to get my ratios right is to cut out fried foods.

Um...

Until I decided to follow this advice, I had no idea how much stuff was fried.

Holy snot!

I've been eating all wrong. 

Genes

The Boy's psychiatrist ordered a round of genetic testing for him.

She did a bad job of explaining why, but we have the results in and...

It was a allele compatibility test with certain drugs and it actually explains a lot of observed things.

What it showed is that some drugs don't work like they're supposed to work with certain genetic markers.  Some as bad as having the opposite effect as expected.

This is particularly true of sedatives and The Boy.

The good news is that it also identifies drugs that should work correctly with his genetic markers.

It's kind of neat we're learning enough about this stuff to be able to tailor a cocktail just for one person. 

Hopefully Nothing

My odd throat / thorax thrumming, while probably gastro related, is similar enough in my description to trigger further testing.

EKG and take-home heart monitor next week!

Also the VA has their own brand of gun-lock they're giving away if you even HINT you own a gun.  They gave me two and I will add them to the pile. 

Suggested By Marv

We've begun making a list of the pharmaceuticals ads and going to ask our doctors if each and every one is "right for me."

Should be fun.

Upside Downside

On the down side, I might be getting to the age that I need little blue pills.

On the up side, I might need little blue pills at my age!

Chest Pain And Panic Attacks

Since I put The Precious into a tree, my sternum can be put into a position where it will give a good sharp pain.

For a while now, I get bouts of heartburn.

The lizard portion of my brain does not wait for the monkey portion of the processor to report, "it's just heartburn and we bumped the sternum," before hitting the panic button and pumping my system full of adrenaline.

This is a panic attack.

Then I get to ride it out until the chemical dump is burned off.

Yay?

Happily, this is a known issue for me and I have a bottle of, prescribed, meds that change it from a multi-hour ride to about 40 minutes.

Without Packing

While there was doubts about my mental faculty, I abstained from carrying.

It took some getting used to.

Conceal carry is a lifestyle change and I'd made that change.

But...  I sure didn't want impaired judgement causing me to do something stupid.

Now I know I need to keep my nutrition going.

That's A Weight Off

Had my neuro follow-up today!

I do not have dementia.

Why didn't I mention this sooner?  I must have forgot... ;)

Harvey had noticed I was being irritable and forgetful.

I looked up symptoms for dementia and made an appointment at the VA.

They are not fast.

Got electroded.

Played some kindergarten memory games.

Answered some questions.

Came out clear.

Based on my blood work, I was just not getting enough B12 in my diet and the change to the One-TWO-A-Day gummies improved everything.

This has been stressing the shit out of me, because I didn't notice anything amiss; but Harvey sure did. 

New Glasses

Like many people I put off going to see the optometrist as long as I can.

My old glasses work, I don't feel like I'm straining to see.

But I worry about things like glaucoma even if I'm not having trouble reading or shooting.

Usually it ends up being moderately expensive and I get new glasses anyways.

Even if my prescription didn't change, new glasses don't have scratches.

This time was frustrating.

They put the reader portion of my bifocals set to chin distance.

That don't work for me.

They put up a lot of resistance to me telling them I wanted them at lap distance.

Phrases like, "they take some getting used to," were uttered.

I have learned this is a trap.

If you accept them, they're yours and if you don't like them once you've taken them home you get to pay for new lenses to get it changed.  My insurance only covers one set of lenses a year...

So I dug in my heels and insisted they fix 'em.  I explained they didn't even ask what distance I wanted and should have been able to figure it out from my old glasses (like the optometrist we used to go to, who retired).  They seemed very put out about it, but relented.

That was weeks ago.

I was just about to call USAA and ask them about recovering my money when they called and said they were ready.

They are correct this time!  Almost the same as last time, except my astigmatism in my right eye got worse.

Fuck Cancer

I just found out a friend has testicular cancer.

They're in the "just got diagnosed" stage and getting tested to see how far things have progressed, how bad it is and what options they have.

Fuck cancer! 

False Advertising

Harvey buys me multivitamins.

One-A-Day brand Men's 50+ Advanced Multivitamin with immunity and brain support gummies.

ONE a day.

Dosage:  2 gummies, daily.

That sure seems like TWO a day to me.

Alles En Ordnung

A barrier to entry that tried to kill someone.

Apparently, in Kentucky, you have to have a wilderness EMS license to administer antivenom.

In this case, normal EMT's did the deed and saved the patient.

"The Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services (KBEMS) implemented a policy two years ago mandating that only wilderness paramedics can administer antivenom. Now, the first responders will have to show the administrative agency why they should not lose their licenses."

I'd think bringing Mr Harrison, the bite victim, to the hearing would do.

Speaking of these licenses, the story mentions that the zookeepers knew what and how much antivenom and adrenaline was going to be needed to save Mr Harrison from the mamba bite.  They have no medical licenses at all as far as I know.

The information isn't cryptic, complicated or even secret.

This is a super clear case.

The victim, and the zookeeper, knew exactly what kind of snake had bitten them and what they needed to administer.  The EMT's did that.

I'm willing to bet that the wilderness EMS training is centered around, "the victim says that they got bit by some kind of snake, and they don't have any idea what kind."

You don't wanna administer the wrong antivenom and you wanna make sure the person giving it out knows how to determine the correct kind from "some kind of snake" and symptoms.

But like so many of these things, the politicians have no clue about the real world... 

PS: Before you comment; antivenom is a synonym for antivenin and it's a perfectly cromulent word.  Also, I couldn't be arsed to verify the spelling of antivenin when slamming out the post. 

Not Shocked

Based on the flying monkey attacks a while ago, I am totally not shocked to find nurses running at the mouth about their political opinions over Charlie Kirk.

But a clear take away from a lot of them was that there's a shortage of nurses, especially since COVID.

We're now firing nurses for having a political opinion, why would we do that when there's a shortage?

Because these nurses have, essentially, expressed that someone whose political opinions align with Charlie Kirk might not get their best level of care.  Or worse.

Unlike the flying monkeys, these nurses are saying they'd let someone die over their politics. 

 

I'll Try This Again

There's a level of education and skills called a, "registered nurse," or RN.

There are jobs that require that level of education and skill.

There are also jobs that require that level of education, but not that level of skill.  These jobs can be performed by people with much lower levels of education, but have been banned from this job by the license and credential requirements.

Thus, a CNA trained person was able to perform a RN required job successfully enough to earn a promotion because the skills needed for the job were obtained through the education and training a CNA gets.  This was illegal because you need an RN to get the job and they lied about their qualifications.

Do you fuckwits understand now?

I know what an RN does.

I know there's lots of jobs in medicine that don't require an RN to DO the job, but do require an RN to GET the job.

If you think that license requirement means that lower levels of education cannot do the job you're the ignorant fools, not I.  To listen to some of you, no lives have ever been saved by an uncredentialed bystander who knew how to do first aid.

It's not a difficult concept.

Citing jobs and tasks that actually require the full set of RN skills does not refute my point at all.

They way you're citing it, though, convinces me more and more that the medical profession is not particularly well educated and is primarily concerned with gatekeeping rather than treating patients.

Plus your comments have been refuted by people I know in meatspace who are definitely credentialed as RN's, vs your imaginary existence and claims in the comments on a blog. 

And with this, the Aesop Flying Monkey Entertainment Network is signing off.

Regular programming will resume.