Synvisc Treatment: I assume you've received the treatment by now? Last year, when my arthritis acted up, I got a course of PT and an offer of SYNVISC. My ortho similarly said the results could be limited or non existent. I read up on it a little and decided it was something of a money-making scheme; three visits every six months; a nice way to maintain some cash flow between major surgeries.
But I could be convinced otherwise. How was yours?
washingtonpost.com: Lame Humor, ( Post Magazine, Dec. 9)
Gene Weingarten: So far, of limited or no value.
So, cross that one off my list until I hear convincing evidence it's worth my while.
This jibes nicely with Secretlife's advice in previous entries' comments sections. In these comments she has reported that many elective interventions end up making problems worse. My procrastination has served me well. One humdinger of an elective surgery was my oral surgery with Dr Aredo. Only after five years did Dr. Woodmont straighten out that quack's herculean disaster.
Weingarten then spoke of a condition he suffers from: Prosopagnosia. Read his stories about it here:
http://wittgensteinforum.wordpress.com/2008/03/31/losing-face-by-gene-weingarten/
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In a nutshell, this is the inability to recvognize people, even after substantial exposure. There's a continuum of this phenomenon, I expect and Mr. Weingarten has a far worse case than I. The magician/comedian/radio host Penn Jillette reportedly has a case of this that is so extreme that at a book signing he failed to notice that one of his adoring fans that wanted his signature was... his mother. Jillette and I both have healthy egos and laugh this off as the cost of eccentric genius in other parts of our lives and Weingarten appears to have accepted his flaws as well. I am grateful to Weingarten for having provided a name for this condition. It's also great to know that opeople I respect a great deal have the same problem (even worse than I do!) and I can recognize that this flaw is no sign that my brain is noticibly more defective than anyone else's. A great deal of mental health may be a comfort in your own mind's limitations and realization that those that fret over things like Prosopagnosia may be experiencing worse effects from the worry than from the "problem".
The "non-blog" (Yeah, whatever.) has this clip:
Washington, D.C.: Because of my prosopagnosia, I need to get a full briefing from my wife before going with her to any event attended by her friends or colleagues. I need to know: 1. Who's going to be there? 2. What do they look like? 3. Where have I seen each of these people before? I then need to keep going over all of that information in my mind -- sometimes even asking my wife for a celebrity lookalike for the person we're talking about, so that I'll know what to expect -- so that at the event, I don't let on that I wouldn't otherwise recognize these people.
Gene Weingarten: Yeah, worst for me is work-related parties
where I must introduce people to my wife. Very difficult. She has
learned to put her hand out first and introduce herself, saving me the
humiliation of not remembering the name.
This is how Barry reacted to his:
http://www.miamiherald.com/548/story/427603.html
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I'm not looking forward to it and may procrastinate a bit longer. I suspect I take care of myself far better than he does in this respect so I'm justifiably less concerned about my tract than he.
The health of your colon appears to have a fair amount to do with what you put in it. With that, I'll see you next week to give you a slice of a Dyingman's life.
Bon Appetit!
Dyingman blog note: Today I change a category to the statistics section that I have newly christened "The Chart". "PROGNOSIS FOR FOLLOWING WEEK" has been changed to simply, PROGNOSIS. My prognosis was far too predictable as the conditions that might lend interest to this category have been almost exclusively colds and minor symptoms that I correctly expected to shrug off. Removing the weekly parameter, I can speculate long term about which conditions will give me grief first. Some surprises will inevitably get thrown at me and I can speculate as to my chances of healing or correcting the problem as they occur.
*DM
Next: Dietman.
THE CHART:
Fitness Goals:
60 beats per minute resting pulse.
10 minutes hard cycling. (intensity 5 out of 10)
Weights: 3 days - 100 lbs. - 6 cycles of 5,5,5,10 repetitions (2 cycles/day)
Current Fitness Record: (since last entry)
6 x < 2 min cycling - average intensity 3.5 - 65 cycles (Pulse = 126 at last check 2-2008)
0 day - 65 lbs. - 0 cycles
Miscellaneous Activity:
30 minutes of laser tag
Pulse: 70
Blood Pressure: 109/72 6/24/08
BMI 25 (barely overweight)
Workout Partner's Progress: Position Vacant
RECENT SYMPTOMS : Stuffiness.
ONGOING SYMPTOMS: Clicking knees, Pain in right knee when kneeling and shifting knee to the right. Hyperhidrosis.
DIAGNOSIS: Recent cold. Unknown injury to right knee, possible impact from small stumble (c. 2006) onto landing of concrete stairs. Injured knee joints from sprinting (c. 2007)
DRUG REGIMEN: Aspartame. (3 diet sodas daily) Caffeine (three cups of coffee daily. two colas.)ONGOING TREATMENT: Tri-Annual dental visits.
PROGNOSIS: Gradual decay of knee function.
POTENTIAL TREATMENTS: Fish Oil supplements. Axillary vacuum curettage.
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