Friday, February 26, 2010

I love this visual

This is my favorite story of all the stories I've read this week. I love the ideas of giant dinosaurs doing the backstroke through the tall grass all over the world.

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/paleontologists_weve_been?utm_source=onion_rss_daily

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

Still sick

Spent enough time at the doctor's yesterday to read Kelley Armstrong's Men of the Otherworld cover to cover. Then came home with another 14o dollars worth of medicine, most of which has to be refilled, one three times. Hopefully this will do the trick. My diaphragm has been going to spasm from all of the coughing. Ready to stop now, please.

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Monday, February 22, 2010

The mothers

I was thinking about the meninges this week, as I had some of the same symptoms as when I had meningitis. I like the names of the meninges.

We have the dura mater, which means the tough mother, the hard covering of the brain.

Then the arachnoid mater, or spider mother, who does a lot of work with cerebrospinal fluid.

And finally the pia mater, or tender mother, the closest to the brain. I like to think of her tucking the brain in to sleep at night, telling it stories, just generally being sweet. So tender!

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

Too sick to fight for my health

I've been sick for some time now, missing three days of work this week for the first time in ages. I don't think I missed that much time when I had my last spinal tap.

I lost my voice 11 days ago. I went to the urgent care 8 days ago and was given Bactrim, despite my protests. I seemed to remember that I shouldn't take it for some reason but the pharmacist insisted she'd given it to me for a reason. I had been asking for a specific medicine my family doctor always gives me but she said it would make me throw up, despite not making me throw up in the past. I asked if it was safe to take with my other meds and she kind of blew me off. Too tired to argue further, to go over each and every medicine, which I'd already listed for the PA, I took the medicine and went to sleep.

Three days later I was coughing so much my doctor sent me to the ER, where I got two more prescriptions, a breathing treatment and a PT/INR that was 1.7, a little low.

Yesterday I woke up to thrush, which is exactly what happened last time I took Bactrim. Cam called my doctor for me, since I can't make phone calls (still no voice) and she faxed a prescription for troches over to the store for me. She also warned us that Bactrim is a strict no no on warfarin.

Today my nose started bleeding like mad so I finally looked up Bactrim and warfarin interactions and found it listed on a ten worst interactions site. Sigh.

http://www.scoup.net/m3project/topten/#2

If use of a sulfa drug is imperative, then reduce warfarin dose by 50% during antibiotic administration and for one week following completion of the antibiotic. If sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim therapy is required, then monitor INR every other day for elevating trends.


It would have been nice to know this BEFORE taking the drug.

So tentative plan - halve my warfarin tonight and tomorrow, retest on Monday. Then try and explain all this halfassed science to my doctor on Monday.

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Thursday, February 11, 2010

Parking Lot Crime

I know it's wrong to mock crime but I did find both of these stories amusing.

http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=294567382114

Bravo to the gent who blocked the robber escaping.

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

More about the snow

Here's another look at the snow from across the pond. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8509658.stm

I'm kind of frustrated by the comments like the one about living in Russia or from other people who live in areas that get lots of snow every year.

Those other climes can deal with these kinds of snowfalls because they do deal with them. And their modifications work right through the season. You can slap snow chains on your car when you live in a very wintry, snowy area and then go out. Here not only does nobody have snow chains but if we did we'd only use them every ten years or so. The last time we had weather like this was sometime between 1995 and 1998, when we lived in the house in the woods and ended up with three or four feet of snow and couldn't leave our house for days. No food could come in and the Safeway within walking distance of our house literally ran out of food.

Governments and people prepare for what's usual, with some preparations for extremes and emergencies. It would be wasteful for everyone to own snowsuits (or whatever adults wear) and snow chains and other extreme weather gear when it would be rarely used. And it would be silly for the local governments, which are already running on a limited budget, to spend money continuing to plow during the storm when the plow resources will be better spent after the storm runs its course.

That's what I think anyway. Of course I'm not an expert. But I've lived here for 25 years and only twice have I felt like I've been stuck in my house because of the snow for any length of time.

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Snow pics

Some nice pics of the snow from the Guardian UK. I like the picture of Bo. He looks like he's having fun.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/gallery/2010/feb/10/washington-dc-snow?picture=359209037

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010

I'm fascinated by this painting


The Wounded Angel by Hugo Simberg has me fascinated. Apparently the artist painted it while recovering from meningitis and found it of great comfort. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Wounded_Angel_-_Hugo_Simberg.jpg

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Monday, February 08, 2010

I'm amused by this listing

And I quote:

This gorgeous historic home, known for a wagon wheel embedded in one of the walls, has enormous character and charm


That must have been one hell of an accident for a wagon wheel to embed itself in a wall.

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Baltimore/2541-Pickwick-Rd-21207/home/10455836

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Sunday, February 07, 2010

Snow snow snow

School is closed tomorrow for everyone and my dentist's office is closed, which is good as there is no way in hell I could get my car out of its space. I guess we got a couple of feet, which would be enough to deal with but then some clever person dug their car out and threw all that snow behind my car. That's the second time this season and I'm not any happier about it now than I was when it happened the first time.

So far the electric is hanging in there, along with the phone and the roof, which is more than I can say about the big storm we had in the mid 90's when everything went out and the roof sprung more leaks than I had pots and pans to catch them in.

I also have plenty of books to read and some peanut butter and jelly so I guess we're set!

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Thursday, February 04, 2010

Possibly NSFW, depending on your job


Police Slog Through 40,000 Insipid Party Pics To Find Cause Of Dorm Fire

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