Look at this and tell me if you can guess what’s happening to my head right now.
Under pressure
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Tag Archives: health
Ode to my big toenails
Remember when I wrote about having my big toenails yanked out? Guess what. I had it done again!
Turns out the podiatrist who advised me that my toenails might grow in correctly after having been pulled out was smoking crack. There was never really any chance that they would. So saith my new podiatrist. Who then proceeded to shoot me up with lidocaine and yank them yet again. She followed that up by applying a chemical burn to the nail beds so that they would never, ever grow back.
Which, unfortunately, made the wound care and recovery process worse than before. It’s been five weeks and only now are they starting to look like they’re healing. Basically what you do after this kind of procedure is soak your feet in epsom salts, change the dressings and apply topical antibiotics–all twice a day. And of course elevate, apply ice, take anti-inflammatories and stay off your feet. This is all typical. But if they burn your nail beds to prevent grow-back, you do this for a month instead of a couple of weeks.
Five weeks later and I’m still soaking my feet in the evenings just to make sure the burns can drain properly. But things are looking up! I’m using plain old band-aids instead of gauze, tape and other bandage paraphernalia. And I’m wearing actual shoes!
Now my only concern is how much an unsightly mess they may still look when I’m on my Caribbean cruise in August.
Subterfuge
I have previously written that the pro-life movement isn’t really about abortion, but about punishing sin and advancing a certain puritanical view of sexuality. I still believe that.
I’m reminded of it as I watch Republicans in my state and in others take measure after measure to curtail not only abortion, but birth control as well. The number two guy running for the GOP presidential nomination came right out and said birth control is “not OK.” The frontrunner has said he was going to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood. Here in Wisconsin, Republicans not only made it illegal for private health insurance to cover abortions, they have again made it OK for Wisconsin schools to teach “abstinence only” sex education and totally forgo any mention of contraception at all.
Why all the controversy about contraception, anyway? You’d think that anyone who wishes to prevent unwanted pregnancy (and thus abortion) would be all for it. And yet they aren’t. When I have confronted conservatives about this in the past, often they flatly assert that it isn’t true, that they are “fine with” contraception. But they are liars. Just take a look around you.
This is why it’s so hard to engage and work with these guys. They aren’t about what they say they’re about. They are not dealing in good faith. They say they’re about saving babies, but when push comes to shove they’re really about stepping on women’s faces and making sure that they bear unwanted children as their due consequence for having sex. The subterfuge is so airtight that I think large numbers of them do not admit the truth to even themselves.
The differences between Republicans and Democrats may be marginal on economic issues. Both parties seem to be entirely owned by wealthy corporations and individuals (although the Republicans are strangely proud of it.) But on social issues like these there is a huge difference. Vote accordingly.
Glasses
I’d been having some vision problems, so I went to the eye doctor. First time I’ve been since I don’t know when. My vision has always been terrific. I was the guy who could read the patent information off the bottom of the eye chart as a kid. Not so these days.
The verdict? I need glasses for reading and other close tasks. He said that because I spend so much time straining to read during the day, my eyes are too tired in the evening to see words on the television. If I wore glasses when I’m working, not only would I see better while I’m doing it, but my eyes would not be so exhausted by the end of the day even for distance viewing. If that makes sense.
So, glasses. Ok. Except that it left me with what can only be described as a fashion problem. Not only am I fashion-challenged in general, I’ve never worn glasses before. What kind of frames should I get? Luckily the office staff helped me. They made me try on a couple dozen frames and told me what they thought looked good on me. Happily, I agreed with them, and my new glasses should be ready in about a week.
I even got anti-glare lenses. The only time I’d ever thought about it before was with regard to photography. People who have these lenses are my best friends. I can flash the bejebers out of them and–no glare. I love it. And now I’ll be returning the favor to other photographers, not to mention reducing the glare of computer screens while I work.
All told, it was a pretty pleasant experience. Except for the eyedrops that made me unable to read for a couple of hours. Ick.
Skip this post
If you don’t like reading about people’s strange medical problems, this post is not for you. Come back later for cooking, movies, politics and technology stuff. Really. Go now.
Are they gone? Good. Never liked those guys anyway. Squeamish sissies.
Right to the point, then. Over time I have developed an odd toenail condition. No, not some nasty fungus and not really an ingrown-type issue, either. It’s called pincer nails. In spite of the text of the article, nobody is really sure what causes it. I chalk it up to a crazy amount of abuse I put my feet through years ago, ill-fitting shoes and a dash of mystery genetics.
Anyway, one great toe was pretty far gone and the other was following suit. And it’s as painful as it looks, my friends. I went to see my doctor about it and he was stunned. The man literally had to leave the exam room to go Google it. He came back and referred me to a specialist.
Even the specialist was impressed. Fortunately, he had a bold treatment at the ready: yank ‘em out and hope they grow in better down the road. So that’s how I spent my morning. He shot my feet up with lidocane and I didn’t feel a thing. Still don’t, actually.
I have a feeling that the next week isn’t going to be fun. In addition to staying off them as much as I can, I’m also supposed to soak my feet and change the dressings a couple of times a day. Good thing I’m on vacation.
Barometric migraines
I had me a doozy of a headache last night. It came on around 7 or so and by 8:30 I was helpless. I spent the night pacing around my apartment until exhaustion finally brought me some fitful sleep.
In spite of such a shitty night’s rest, I got up at around 7 this morning only to discover that the headache is not entirely gone. It’s lingering at around 1 or 2 on the 10-point painometer, leaving me in fear of a full-on return. And I have so much to do today….
I’m convinced that my migraine headaches are related to the weather. Specifically, to barometric pressure. Why do I believe this? Because it feels like pressure in the sinus cavities above my left eye. And occasionally a headache which has lasted for hours can suddenly disappear with an audible squeal of releasing pressure inside my head.
Actually, I felt a headache coming on the night before last. It subsided after I shut off the air conditioning and threw open the windows. I dodged it only to have it return last night.
I’m also convinced that medical science doesn’t have a clue about what is going on.
Healthier men
Anyone want to, um, go for a five mile run or something?
Condoms make AIDS problem worse?
Condoms don’t help the AIDS problem. In fact, they can make it worse.
Can someone help me understand this position? Please?
Links
What happened to skittles.com? Is this the future of the publicly facing corporate web site?
Headaches are correlated with weather changes. Who knew! Besides me, I mean.
Meanwhile, America is becoming less Christian. What does it mean?
Finally Joe Conason nails the current health care debate:
Why do we spend so much more on healthcare, per capita, than other developed countries? Why do we achieve worse outcomes on several important measures than countries that spend far less? Why do we spend up to twice as much per person as countries that provide universal coverage while leaving as many as 50 million Americans without insurance?
Fast Food
On a lighter note, let’s talk about fast food joints. Like any sensible person, I avoid them as much as I can. Maybe I stop at one every couple of months or so when I’m starving and in a hurry. But here’s the question: When you do stop, where do you stop? And what do you order? Let your guilty pleasures run wild.
McDonald’s has the best fries in the business, but I like to hit Wendy’s when I have to stop somewhere. I order a double with cheese, pickles, lettuce, onions and mustard.