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| Is there a more perfect concealment holster than a faux-ostomy bag? Even the most ruthless terrorists are not going to frisk it, especially if you can fart-on-command |
Maybe it seems odd to be grateful for medicine when we have so much chaos in the world. But I am.
Without modern medicine, my two oldest brothers and my oldest sister would be dead.
The immune system of one of those sibling decided his bowel was a target and he now poops into a bag. One sibling had sepsis in his legs, twice. The other sibling had appendicitis in her mid-thirties. Without modern medicine they would be dead, dead and dead.
Another one of my sisters would be confined to a wheelchair due to hernias and blown-out joints.
One of my brothers is deceased. There are some things even modern medicine cannot do.
That leaves three of us that are walking around without impaired, missing, or extra parts; my two youngest brothers and me.
My oldest brother is 62. That is a sobering thought. Half of us would be dead and one would be stuck in a wheelchair without modern medicine.
The internet
As much as professionals complain about the internet, it is a Godsent for looking up symptoms. I am grateful for the internet and how it works hand-in-glove with modern medicine.
A quick look-up of symptoms via a search engine and referring to one or two reputable sites and you know if your malady merits a trip to the Emergency Room. Conversely, the symptoms might indicate in-home care focused on comfort and relieving symptoms.
The professionals see the hypochondriacs (over-and-over-and-over again). They don't see those of us who use the internet in a more responsible way nearly as often. I think it skews their perspective.
When we had our title insurance business I would sit in the court house running titles and look at the death certificates that applied to the property record. It was sad seeing the men and women die in their young and middle years leaving a spouse and children on their own. And before WWII TB was a huge killer. When I was a kid I knew several other kids that were being raised by widows that were barely getting by and often with help from the community. If you had a heart attack then you had about a 50% chance of surviving it and you would most surely be dead within a year. When I was born my life expectancy was 59 years. Yes, modern medicine has sure changed things.---ken
ReplyDeleteYep, survivability is up, but the sad part, as you said is the 'frequent fliers', most of whom are drug seeking. Talk to any paramedic/EMT, and they will tell you stories that will curl your hair!
ReplyDeleteI agree whole heartedly Joe. Twice now, all my intestines had to be pulled out so the bad section could be fixed because of Crohns disease. I seem to be immortal until I die, with the help of surgeons of course. Hoping, finally, this is the year for the rapture, which would fix a lot of stuff don't you think?
ReplyDeleteI hear ya Greg. Only had one of those surgeries but it followed a blockage that almost killed me when I was in high school many decades ago. Only thing that kept me alive were some wonderful antibiotics. Crohns did keep me out of Vietnam though (six a one, half-dozen the other I guess).
DeleteYeah, but the REAL hypocondriacs get to use Google to find a list of symptoms....
ReplyDeleteTelling secrets... on command.
ReplyDeleteGeeze, Joe. I'm 67 and the picture of health comparatively. Condolences to y'all.
ReplyDelete