Inane ramblings because I have nothing better to do

Definitely too much time on my hands. Reading at a greater pace than even I used to. Buying books at an unprecedented rate, Thanks to ABE and EBay. Playing a lot more poker than normal and now that I’ve returned to writing the dreck that fills this blog I’m pushing out as much crap as an overfed goose. If you aren’t sure how much that is go take a walk around one of those small ponds where the lazy ass birds have set up year round residency rather than migrate. Then go throw away your shoes. If you don’t have one of those handy then think of this; a county park in this area had to close down its lake to swimming a few years ago because of the bacteria count in the lake due to the goose population. Now that’s a lot of shit, almost as much as I shovel. Maybe I should hook up the nurses at the rehab hospital I spent some time in with a flock of geese. That should make them, the nurses, happy.

No book review today. Reading Clavell’s Tai Pan which I had first read in my college years. My copy had fallen apart and so hadn’t read it in many moons but found a copy sitting on the shelves of a used bookstore I was checking out last week. Not a great copy but for two bucks who can complain. Besides, I wanted to stay on the good side of the proprietor so figured buying something would help that. The store deals in used paperbacks and while I deal mainly in hardcover these days there are some books that never made it past paperback stage that I collect and wanted him to keep an eye out for me if any came in. Have another store I want to check out soon but don’t know when I’ll get there.

Not a good morning on Friday. Doctor visit and a funeral. Funeral was for my uncle even though I find it strange to call him that. First, he was only a few years older than I. Second, he was related through marriage being wed to my father’s youngest sister who grew up with a group of us cousins who we never really viewed as an aunt either. She was always Pat as opposed to Aunt Pat and he became just Bill. Bill has had lung problems for a couple of years and last year was finally put on the list for a transplant and was called to the hospital in the middle of the night last Dec. Everything seemed to go well and the doctors were optimistic that he would be out of the hospital soon. After the usual time he was moved from ICU to a regular room. That’s when the roller coaster started. As they were getting him ready to leave he caught an infection and then spent the next few weeks in and out of ICU. Doctors still thought they would get him through it but earlier this week he finally succumbed. The last thing he said was that he was tired. Guess he just couldn’t fight any more. What is ironic is that I heard the doctors said the transplant had been good and the lungs were in good shape. It was the infection that finally got him. Even more ironic was that the day after he passed there was a big article in the Philadelphia paper on a push by local hospitals to take steps to try and cut down on infections as they were causing too many problems and deaths. I just want to say again to his family that I’m sorry for your loss. He was much too young.

Could not stay for the memorial service as I had an appointment with the podiatrist also this morning. Might have canceled but it took me two weeks to get the appt. and another month and a half to get the name of the podiatrist to make it. Needed the visit because I have a wound on the bottom of my toe that just won’t heal. Being diabetic that’s a bad sign. Problem was a strange peculiarity of my health insurance, provided by Aetna. While it’s an HMO and I have a primary I can usually find a specialist that I like provided they are willing to take the HMO. For some strange reason this does not apply to podiatrists. It seems they link a podiatrist to the primary and you are required to see that podiatrist. Ran in to this same situation when I went for out patient rehab after the stroke. (What was that you said about the government health plan restricting choices if it passes?) Why they have these restrictions on certain specialties I have no idea. Be that as it may I had run in to some problems with the podiatrist assigned to my primary a few years back and he did not inspire a whole lot of confidence in me thanks to that situation. Other members of my family had found a podiatrist they liked whom my primary had recommended to them but when I checked him out his office rates were not something I could afford without insurance, especially in my current situation. A couple of my aunts had a podiatrist that they liked and seemed to have reasonable rates but getting his name was a struggle in itself. I don’t have a lot of contact with my aunts so I asked my mother to find out who this doctor was as she speaks with her sisters on a regular basis and I speak with her. However every time I would ask my mother if she got the name it was “I forgot to ask”. After a few weeks her memory improved and I finally got the name and then it was another week and a half before I could get an appt. Popular doctor.

So I get in the chair, slide off the boots and wait for the doctor when in marches an army. Seems I’m there on guinea pig day. In addition to the doc are 3 budding doctors, med school students in podiatry on the verge of graduation. So the doctor is asking them questions and letting them do the routine work while he supervises. All 4 of them were very personable and the doctor seems pretty knowledgeable. He inquires about my stroke and how it affected me and after I answer him he asks the students how they could have guessed my answer before I gave it. When they couldn’t answer he said to study my feet, that it was apparent that I was placing more pressure on my right so that it had to be my left side affected. Hell, even I didn’t realize I was still favoring my left leg when I walked. This is what is leading to my problem. When I damaged my toe most of it healed except for this one small spot. Since that spot is where you put the most pressure on your toe when you walk, and I’m putting more pressure there than I should anyway, I’m not giving it a chance to heal. He has a student do a bit of trimming around the spot, looks at it and says it looks well taken care of, no sign of infection but unless I can get off it, it ain’t gonna heal. So I ask him about a walking cast, an idea that came to me about two weeks ago and he says good idea. Also asked a couple other questions and found he agreed with what I was doing except I was using the wrong type of bandage. I was using a non stick telfa which I had been told to use when I had screwed up my toe in a similar fashion years ago. Good for that purpose he said but with this small little spot it was no good because the non stick bandage keeps in moisture which won’t allow it to heal and promotes infection. Who knew? Plain gauze from now on. As he was called away for a minute one of the students made a remark about my knowledge of certain medical facts and procedures. I tell her that when you are the genetic train wreck I am you kind of pick it up as you go through life and they all laugh. Doctor comes back, gives me some scripts including one for the walking cast and some x-rays and says come back I two weeks. I say ok and wish the students good luck in their future practices. If they keep their “bedside” manner the way it is now the patients they see will consider themselves lucky as long as the have the knowledge necessary which they did seem to have, at least as far as the routine care went. Only problem materialized when I got home. Tried reading the script for the cast to see if I could price them online before hitting a pharmacy or medical supply house and discovered what they say about doctor’s penmanship is true. At least this doctor’s. And I have plenty of practice trying to read my own chicken scratch. Well, we’ll figure something out.

OK, enough about my problems. We’ll let you go for now. Thanks for the listen.