Locally, doctors have four kinds of male patients in their sixties.
One group has chronic issues that require medication to manage them and the standards-of-care require frequent doctor visits before the insurance company will pay for the prescription(s).
The second group includes hypochondriacs who spend too much time on the internet. They find obscure diseases that the are sure they have and try to convince the doc that they need whatever Dr House prescribed.
The third group, the one to which I belong, goes to the doctor when sent by their wife.
The fourth group only goes to the doctor when they are technically dead but still mobile.
For the record, the doc agreed with my wife, still coughing enough to wake her at night after 13 days from onset of a cold was too long, too much. She listened to my chest and "heard a buzz".
She prescribed a Z-pack. Mrs ERJ was vindicated even if my Kelly Blue Book value did not improve.
Southern Belle's garden
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| You can see the outline of the freshly tilled dirt. |
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| It does not look that different afterward. |
The grass was sprayed with glyphosate and it was allowed to translocate through the plants for four days. Then I mowed it and tilled it.
The dimensions are slightly less than 20' on a side. SB was gung-ho to make it much larger but 400 square-feet is pretty manageable in terms of fencing it against deer and keeping a lid on the weeds.
Deer cages
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| A picture of the "deer cages" I have been installing. The T-post costs about $5.50 and the fencing about $3.00. |
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| I don't know how well it shows up, but I often have to position the stem away in the center of the cage. |
Species left to graft
- Oak
- Mulberry
- Persimmons
- Chestnuts
- Pecans
- Hawthorn
I used to be a group #4, and preferred getting shot to healthcare because it would hurt less, and my chances of survival were greater.
ReplyDeleteSince then, unfortunately, I became a group #1.
LOL your right about the 4 types.
ReplyDeleteMen who listen to their wives about health matters generally live longer and can-do things like grafting whole orchards.
Group 4 the walking dead who stumble into the ER saying "Fix me up Doc" seldom really progress to the 3rd group and generally better health. Damage done often lifestyle driven doesn't repair well.
Nothing new under the sun:
“Before you heal someone, ask him if he's willing to give up the things that make him sick.”
― Hippocrates
I hope that 2 X 4 fence is sufficient to keep out the deer. Our goats, who love forage, can eat through those tiny spaces.
ReplyDeleteMilton
I will be watching. I think the shorter ones will be at-risk for a longer period of time.
DeleteI have some scraps of fencing that I can double-up in the vulnerable areas, but it is more work and the cages become exceptionally ugly.
I'm group #1, (HBP and kidney stones) but I manage to keep my doctor visits needed to keep prescription renewals down to 1 or 2 per year.
ReplyDeleteMy dogs have the same issue ... the vet requires an annual "wellness visit" for any prescription renewals (like flea and tick meds).
When I went to a doc and they used the auto blood BP machine mine would be 229/118. When my family doc used the pump up my pressure would be 126/79. I now carry a 'note' from doc that they do not use an auto BP. Seems to solve the problem. No more BP's in the stroke area.
DeleteYikes! Hope you feel better soon ERJ!
ReplyDeleteI never really felt 'bad'. Maybe a little bit tired, but not 'bad'.
DeleteThe biggest benefit is that Mrs ERJ will get a full night's sleep.
Sounds like a viral infection. No surprise there, working in the soil like you are.
DeleteI guess administering the Z Pak proves me wrong. Or am I?
A husband & wife from northern MI (not UP) had symptoms. Doctors were perplexed. I suggested my friend push for test for virus infection. Voilá
I suggested Valley Fever because I am familiar with it. My friend's symptoms were a match. MI is not known for VF, but apparently it is there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidioidomycosis
DeleteInteresting!!!
I have more joint and muscle pain than expected. We will see if the Z-pack clears up the issue. If it doesn't, then Valley Fever is something to consider.
I knew an electrician who was diagnosed with Cryptococcosis from exposure to bird droppings he encountered while working in attics. The droppings had dried and he inhaled the dust.
I wonder if it would show up in an antibody test.
Southern Belle will give Quicksilver lasting beautiful memories letting her paddle around barefoot with in the garden tending the plants. Now 66 years old, they are some of my most cherished memories as a kid with my mother, both of us barefoot, weeding, pruning, watering, harvesting, canning. Lunch was each of us taking a salt shaker out to the Aurelius Township garden, and eating our wares in the sun. Onions, celery and tomatoes to table inside of an hour for dinner.
ReplyDeleteGroup #3 here. A few months ago I scratched my eye. After a few days of pain and light sensitivity my wife insisted I see the eye doctor. Yep, infected. I not only had to admit my wife was right, the doctor told me I needed to thank my wife for saving my vision.
ReplyDeleteThere's a fifth group, to which I belong. I only go to to the doc when I need to, and that's when nature's been given the chance and has failed. I "wait on it," but DO GO when the malady doesn't clear up on its own. It's a known fact though; most men take better care of their CARS than they do of their BODIES.
ReplyDeleteThat cough you have... I had a hacking cough. It didn't go away. I mean, it didn't go away for MONTHS. I went to the doctor. She blamed it on "long Covid." She gave me some cough meds and sent me for an X-ray. The X-ray came back clear. The cough didn't go away. I went back. More cough meds. This went on and on. Long story short, I ended up in the ER with swelling in my leg. 'Turned out I had a blood clot in there. Shit happens. The doc noticed the cough, and being I had a clot in the leg, he had a CT scan done on my lungs. Turns out I had a MASSIVE clot (pulmonary embolism) that involved most of the veins in BOTH of them. ...This wouldn't show on a chest X-ray, and the person who USED to be my doctor never pursued it further. The words belted out by the hematologist I saw after getting out of the hospital; "JESUS! That thing's HUGE!"
...You might want to keep an eye on that cough... For me, the cure was a NEW DOCTOR!
You are VERY lucky to be alive!!!
DeleteFunny you say that, ERJ, because when I was in the hospital several doctors and med students would come by to talk to me and look at my chart every day. I asked the nurse why I was getting these visits. The nurse said, "Mr. Forester, because most people who have what you have to the extent you have it aren't breathing anymore. You TRULY dodged a bullet!" I'll give my youngest son credit for saving my life... literally... He's an x-ray tech, and when my wife told him about the swelling in my leg, he straight-up called me at work and said, "Dad, you need to go to the ER NOW. You have a clot in your leg. I see this EVERY.DAY in my department." If he hadn't said anything I would have blown it off, as the swelling had gone away by the time he called. Thanks, kid! Thanks, GOD!
DeleteYou might think about getting a Troybuilt Tiller, The older ones are very good. It will make a very nice garden bed, from whatever you want to till up, Ive had mine since 1986 or so .
ReplyDeleteI have a Troy-Bilt "Horse" tiller that's God knows how old. The thing is more of a walk-behind TRACTOR than a tiller! It was sitting behind my barn when I bought my property with its tired half sunk into the dirt. It had probably been there for years. The seller of the house let me have it for $250.00. The engine would roll and it had spark, so I went for it. I had to change swap out the dead-man switches on the handlebars and the "reverse disc" because the rubber was gone on it, but outside of that, all it needed was a carb cleaning to get it going... And it's fired right up ever since, even after sitting for months! I'm not too impressed with the newer Troy-Bilt stuff though. I came to find out that tiller was worth a HELL of a lot more than $250.00!
DeleteSurely you have been married long enough to know that Mrs. ERJ is ALWAYS right.
ReplyDeleteI have been married to Mrs ERJ long enough to realize that she ALWAYS has my best interest at heart. And even if she wasn't always right, it is something that I need to honor and respect.
DeleteYep, the wives 'know' when you need to go. So you go... And Z-pacs work!
ReplyDelete