Category Archives: Health and Medicine

Health Update

Health and Medicine, , , , , , , ,

I was blessed with a good day today! A very good day! Today, I had the least chest pain that I’ve had in weeks. I was able to breathe! I even ran today! Granted, it was only 50 feet — but I ran! Last week Wednesday, I was gasping for air just sitting, and for much of the past week or two, I’ve been barely able to walk without being very short of breath, and today I RAN! 🙂 I am much less itchy today, and I have hope that maybe this poison ivy might be clearing up! 🙂 Except for just a little bit in the morning, I haven’t been dizzy all day!

And…

I had fat free Häagen-Dazs mango sorbet in the freezer waiting for me when I got home from work. 🙂 Yum! (By the way, no, my parents never said I couldn’t have ice cream for dinner!)

And…

Both yesterday and today, I have been disgustingly, sickeningly . . . happy. 🙂

The Only Bit of Good News…

Bioethics, Health and Medicine, , ,

From an excerpt of a University of Michigan press release talking of the Embryonic Stem Cell Research Consortium:

In addition to deriving new embryonic stem cell lines, researchers will use recently developed techniques to convert adult skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, known as iPS cells. These reprogrammed cells display the most scientifically valuable properties of embryonic stem cells, while enabling researchers to bypass embryos altogether.

Yes, please, bypass the embryos.

Antiphon (?) of the Day

Health and Medicine, Prayer/Prayer Requests, Tales of My Amazing Priests

I think we used different readings than the ones in the Magnificat this morning for Mass, but I really thought it was appropriate this one — I think it’s called an antiphon — that you say between the Alleluias before the proclamation of the Gospel. (Not that we said the Alleluia today.)

My sheep hear my voice, says the Lord;
I know them, and they follow me.

Very appropriate, since Fr. John was back at Mass this morning after being sick. He is still sick, getting better, but please continue to pray for him, especially in this cold weather.

Prayers Needed

Health and Medicine, Of Trials Opportunities and Gifts, Prayer/Prayer Requests

I just heard about a woman who could really use your prayers.  Her name is Christina and she is 1 1/2 weeks past her due date.  She went into the hospital for a C-section, and at some point perioperatively, the baby was noted to no longer have a heartbeat.

I haven’t heard any further updates on the condition of either the mother or the baby.  Please pray that both are well and healthy and strong, and pray for a good outcome.  Please pray to ease the anxiety of the parents.  Pray for the wisdom, skill and attentiveness of the attendings, residents and nursing staff who will care for mother and child.

Please Lord, do not let Christina know the pain of losing her baby.

Update:  Lily Anne was born weighing 8 pounds, 3 ounces!  Both mother and daughter are doing well.  Thank you so much for your prayers!  🙂

Bad Pun…

Health and Medicine, Humor of the Day, Jennspeak, Sacraments

I need a knight to save me from the dragon.

Wait….

Did I say that right?  No.  I meant:

I need a night to save me from the draggin’.

Because I am really, really, really, really tired and beat.  All work, no sleep, little food, lotsa caffeine….  Welcome to my world this week.  I don’t think I will have a problem sleeping on the plane — if I ever manage to pack my bags, that is.

I was so excited (or, well, as excited as you can be when you are nearly collapsing with exhaustion) to hear the communion antiphon this morning at Mass:

“Come to me, you who labor and have burdens, for I will give you rest.” (As well as I can remember it….)

Amen!  Sign me up!  (Or was I given that rest in the Eucharist?  I *am* feeling a little less tired now….  s/p megacoffeeofdoom….)

EMG

Health and Medicine


EMG Marked Forearm

Originally uploaded by CadyLy

So, after several months of progressive, intermittent episodes of paralysis of my wrist/forearm, I get sent to Ortho, which does not appreciate any obvious mechanical defect, and who sends me to have an EMG.

EMG = electromyogram AKA they will electrocute you and see how you respond to that. 🙂

Before the procedure, I get some opinions of the test:
Doctor 1: “Oh, they just use really little skin needles, you’ll be fine.”
Nurse 1: “Are you kidding? I took my husband in for one a month and a half ago, and he cried.”
Nurse 2: Made fish flopping out of water motions at my zapping. Quite amusing, thanks. 🙂
Check-in girl at EMG: “Well, have you ever stuck your finger into a light socket? No? Well, if you’ve ever given birth — if you’ve survived that pain, you’ll survive this. *pause* Don’t worry, most people psyche themselves up for it to be really bad, then say it’s not as bad as they thought.”

Just before testing started:
EMG doctor: “So, what have you heard about the test?”
Me: “That you use tazers and cattle prods?”
EMG doc: “Exactly!”

(To be continued…)

At the end of my testing period, he didn’t have a clear explanation for my symptoms. Basically, my nerves and muscles appeared to be healthy and undamaged, which is good. However, the underlying cause could be a problem with my spinal cord or my brain — both of which sound like excellent options. 🙂

Déja Vu, All Over Again

Health and Medicine

Have we as a society just given up on any sense of morality? I don’t typically read news articles. I don’t subscribe to the paper. I rarely look online at news sites. There’s so much depressing news out there. So, I figure that if there is something really important going on that I should know about, I will hear about it either at church or at work. Otherwise, I really don’t need to marinate in the culture of death that surrounds us.

But, I do leave on my web browser homepage a little box that will give me the top stories of the day, and sometimes I look at that little box. Today, there was a headline which actually made me read the entire article. Apparently, a group in Israel burned a bunch of New Testaments. The head of this group said that it was an unauthorized event, that he was merely trying to round up all of the [problematic] “Christian propaganda” in the city. Oh boy. Haven’t we been here before? At least the last time there was such an event as this, the world actually cared and took notice.

However, we are living in an age where scientists have taken to creating animal-human hybrids. Once, this would have been an inconceivable thing to do, and it would not have been tolerated. Now, why not? Sure, there are articles talking about the controversy and some people are speaking out against it; however, with our lovely consumeristic society, you can buy a T-shirt. Seriously. There is something, really, really, really wrong here. And we aren’t reacting. Or seeming to react. We should be horrified. Seriously. Horrified.

From LifeSiteNews came this (you can read about LifeSiteNews’s mission statement, as it were, here to see what their slant is in news reporting):

In his State of the Union address in January, US President George W Bush condemned the practice. “A hopeful society has institutions of science and medicine that do not cut ethical corners and that recognize the matchless value of every life,” he said. “Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research, human cloning in all its forms, creating or implanting embryos for experiments, creating human-animal hybrids, and buying, selling or patenting human embryos. Human life is a gift from our creator, and that gift should never be discarded, devalued or put up for sale.”

I agree with that. Please pray with me.

Most Ridiculous Thing I’ve Heard All Day

Health and Medicine, Humor of the Day, Theology of the Body

Earlier today, one of our nurses came up to me and mentioned that an insurance company denied a patient a PET scan because they only approve so many PET scans per year, and this particular patient (not one of mine) was not on their list.  Nevermind if it’s a medically necessary study, or the fact that the patient hasn’t had one before.  “We gave a PET scan to “Frank,” so “Bill” will be unable to have one.”  What kind of policy is that?  Assuming that you are an insurance company and you have 100 patients and you only approve 5 PET scans a year, how do you determine who gets one?  Alphabetically?  Certainly they do not have the kind of information to be able to know who is worse off from a medical perspective, especially if a PET can tell you about the extent of the disease, and that’s precisely what they are limiting.

But then, she said the best thing of all.  Apparently the insurance representative told her that it was okay to deny the authorization for the PET scan, since, “The pancreas is an experimental organ anyway.”

Really?  Huh.  And here I thought that God had been making people with pancreases since Adam and Eve.  Apparently not.  Since when did people start becoming equipped with a pancreas? 

So, they are saying that God is experimenting with the human body??  (Obviously, they cannot be arguing from a Darwinian model, since random mutation and evolutionary processes can hardly qualify as an “experiment.”  You kinda need sentience for that, in order to evaluate results.)

What?  To see if people with pancreases sinned less than people without pancreases?  But, God is all-knowing.  He doesn’t need to conduct experiments.  If we are truly free-willed, then the presence or absence of a pancreas (assuming that a pancreas affects the decisions that we make, morally speaking) would have to have no affect on our decisions, or then God would be skewing things either in His favor, or out of His favor, as it comes to our choosing to be obedient or not.

So what type of experiment could God be running that He wouldn’t know the answer to already, and that wouldn’t influence our will?

And more to the point, how is it that this insurance company is privy to God’s experiments?  If they have some sort of direct pipe to know His mind on things — I want in on that!  It would save me a lot of grief if I already knew the correct answer/response to things, instead of trying to discern on my own, because I *know* that *my* thinking is flawed.

But okay, let’s examine this pancreas issue for just a moment.  My vote is that the pancreas would increase our tendency to sin.  Why do I say this?  Well, if your blood sugar is either too high or too low, then you are more prone to mood swings, and behaving poorly because your emotions may be erratic and you are irritable.  This of course supposes that the previous system (in the non-pancreas people) worked perfectly.

 Of course, the other option is that the pancreas is *not* an experimental organ, and is an integral part of God’s design for the body.

Of Terror, Trust and Patience

Health and Medicine, Of Trials Opportunities and Gifts

I had a very nice plan this morning.  I was going to sleep in a little bit, get up, take a shower, go to Chrism Mass down at the cathedral, shop at the new Catholic bookstore, figure out something for dinner, go to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, and then have a few people over for dinner.  Since the Chrism Mass was at 11 am and the Lord’s Supper wasn’t until 7 pm, I would have TONS of time to get some housework done and fit in some extra prayer.

Hahahahahahahahahaha!  You’re not serious, right?  Okay, my day was NOT like that.  My sleeping in was kind of like: get up at 6 am, go online to verify Chrism Mass time, get directions, etc.  While online, decide that you should add events and things that you would like to attend to your calendar from the bulletins.  Then, you go back to bed.  Skip past the 3-4 times that you subsequently reprogram the alarm clock because you want just 15 more minutes, 10 more minutes, 5 more minutes….

Now, you have to hop-hop-hop out of bed and try to figure out what you are going to wear (it would help if the clean clothes were neatly put away instead of in a “clean clothes” heap at the foot of the bed, but you make a note to do this during your afternoon of housework).

During the course of getting ready to go to Mass (and, amazingly, you are still more or less on schedule), something happens.  ONE OF YOUR GREATEST FEARS IS REALIZED.  Oh, wait, wasn’t that capitalized?  Yes, that medical something that you have been dreading and fearing and praying about for over a year — HAPPENS.  Suddenly, you have no concept of getting ready.  All you can do is stand there, shaking like a leaf, and begin to hyperventilate.  You feel shock and panic creeping in.  Or stampeding in, as the case may be.

Then….  You have this thought come to you, and eventually you come to think that this is Jesus talking to you.

“You’re okay.”

My reaction?  “No, I’m not!”

“You’re okay.”

“Nuh-uh!  This happened.  I can’t be okay.”

“You’re okay.”

This went on for quite some time.  Here He was, trying to comfort me, and I was standing there refusing to be comforted.  Why? Because I was certain that if this situation ever happened, it would be terrible, terrible I tell you, and the pain!  Ugh, the pain!  I was so convinced that this event had to be so ground-shakingly terrifying, that I was, quite simply terrified because it had occurred.  So, here I am persisting in my terror.  The Lord stays with me, even as I begin to get ready for Mass again, still scared, still shaking, still wide-eyed and worried.  Every little thing that I do, I expect it to be this big catastrophe, I wait for the pain to appear and send me off to the nearest ER.  Normally, I wait to go to the ER until I absolutely have to, and I never take pain medication until I cannot possibly bear it any longer, but THIS — no way.  I can’t fathom my being able to handle it, so I assume my way into expecting impending doom. 

So, everything I do, I hear this voice, “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

“Nnnnnnt.”

“You’re okay.”

I begin to realize how silly I’m being, because as scary as the event was, I *am* okay at the moment, but I cling to my panic, not ready to trust, when the reality is so far different from my expectation.  So, I begin picturing Jesus following me around the house, trying to get me to stop being terrified, to face the experience as it was, to trust Him, and to turn to Him for comfort.

You know what? 

The Lord is *really* patient.

He must have followed me around that house for 30 minutes, as I got ready, and then in the car on the drive down to the cathedral.  At this point, I’m picturing Him with a smile on his face, not laughing at me, but knowing that I know that I’m okay, that He’s right there, but I’m just being stubborn.  Classic Jenn.  Didn’t I say something earlier about tending to run away from things that are good for me?  So, He stayed close — occasionally reassuring me — just smiling and patiently waiting for me to get a clue.  I *knew* I was being silly by the time I got into my car — I just wasn’t ready to give up my silliness.

Ah, then I got swept up into Chrism Mass.  It was great.  I loved it.  I was comforted despite myself.  And Jesus never once said, “Haha, I told you so.”

The rest of the story of how my plans went awry is a little mundane.  Just to note that I didn’t manage to do anything else today that I had originally planned except for going to the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (also a very happy thing, and I got to present one of the gifts), and having Stacy over for dinner (which was a very enjoyable time).

So, now it is late and I’m off to bed.  The question now is:  tomorrow am I going to wake up and expect the pain?  Or am I going to trust that the Lord will take care of me in this?  I hope I am far less silly tomorrow.

World Kidney Day

Health and Medicine

Today is World Kidney Day!  Whoo-hoo! 

Why am I so excited, do you ask?  Okay, well I guess any reason to celebrate….  🙂  But no, I *passed* my kidney function tests!  🙂  Who would have thought?  I am notoriously bad to my kidneys.  I think they continue to function just to spite me, some days.  They ignore my coffee-drinking, water-avoiding ways.  They have adapted to my chronically dehydrated state.

 So, today at work, there is a bulletin posted about World Kidney Day with a link to their own website.

Oddly, I have failed my liver function tests.  How bizarre is that?  I would say that I don’t really tax my liver, as I do not really drink, and have not yet been drunk — ever.  However, liver also helps to deal with sugar issues and I suppose that I am defective in that department, along with the whole clotting thing, and the liver makes the clotting factors, and mine are all kinds of wonky.  🙂

 As a P.S., I will have to note that I am starting (again) my medicine.  [Insert whining, kicking and screaming here.]  Just saying, isn’t medicine supposed to make you feel *better*???  /rant