Seriously Big And Out Of Order

I took this photo in Washington, D.C., and I don't know about you, but I hate when things are out of order.

We count on everything to be in normal working condition, and for life in general to function with at least a modicum of structure, process, and according to basic laws of nature. 

But these days, the world is seriously off-kilter and here are just a few examples:

- Russia, post the Cold War Soviet Union, isn't supposed to do a blitkreig and just take over Crimea and fight an undeclared war in sovereign nation, Ukraine. Additionally, our vital economic partner, China, presumably wouldn't have near unfetterd access to our industrial and government secrets, including the personnel records of the entire Federal workforce. 

- The major world powers comprising the P5+1 normally wouldn't treat Iran deferentially and as a negotiating equal or even more than than that with near open negotiations and crucial concessions, especially when dealing with no less than the proliferation of nuclear weapons of mass destruction. 

- Terrorist organizations such as ISIS, Hezbollah, Hamas, Boko Haram, Al-Qaeda, and more wouldn't be taking over swathes of the Middle-East, Africa, and Asia, and we are not sure what our strategy even is or whether we have one yet. 

- Advanced industrialized nations wouldn't be polluting themselves and the rest of the world towards the environmental catastrophic brink all the while denying that our lifestyle is not sustainable and that global warming even exists. 

- Smart democratized nations wouldn't be living incessantly beyond their means and borrowing themselves into national debt oblivion--from Greece to Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and right here in the United States of America. 

- The Center for Disease Control doesn't handle deadly biological pathogens callously and negligently with the potential for a massive lethal outbreak, while admitting to a serious pattern of safety lapses.

- Medicine isn't just another "business and medical treatments for the sick shouldn't cost $250,000 a year for a regiment of one or two pills a day, medical professionals don't simply extend quantity of life without weighing it's quality, and those in hopeless cases with severe pain and suffering wouldn't be forced to go on "living."

- The richest 1% of the world can't truly hold more than 50% of the world's wealth, live in mega mansions and drive fleets of cars, yachts, and planes, while masses of people are malnourished, diseased, homeless or in substandard living conditions.

No life is not perfect and certainly, even those perfectionists among us wouldn't expect everything is be in 100% working order all the time--things break down, accidents and mistakes occur, and sh*t happens--but when life is getting shamelessly more out of order than in order than we need to be asking ourselves some serious and potentially life-altering questions, like what the heck is going on around here? ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Seriously Big And Out Of Order

Can't Find My Dentures

This was a funny sign this morning in the elevator.

Someone found a set of dentures on the table in the lobby!

Uh, what was someone doing taking out their dentures and putting them on a public table in the lobby? 

I remember my beloved Opa (grandfather) who had quite a set of dentures (years ago they couldn't as readily save people's teeth as they can today). 

When my sister and I would go over to my Opa and Oma for Shabbat lunch after synagogue, and sometime right before Birchas Hamazon (grace after meals), my grandfather would invariably end up taking out his dentures and we would all laugh together at how silly those things looked. 

But thank G-d for those dentures, beause I don't know how people would eat solid food or smile a non-gummy smile without them. 

Of course, I hope whoever lost their dentures in the lobby isn't going crazy searching for them, sees the lost and found sign, and claims them soon. 

Anyway, can you imagine going down to the lobby and seeing someone's false teeth just laying there randomly on the table or when they go to the front desk to claim their lost dentures, and the person behind the desk says, "Well Sir (or Madam), can you put them in your mouth and prove that they are yours?" ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Can't Find My Dentures

What Smart Glasses Are Really All About

Sorry, but Google botched the Smart Glasses it called, Google Glass. 

Why?

- Geeky-looking
- Privacy issues (e.g. videocameras in bathrooms)
- Apps lagged with practical applications

However, I am certain that computers wearables or implants will take off--although probably not through this first iteration of the Apple Watch either--still don't know a soul who bought into this!

Until then, what about really smart glasses?

No, not the type that will provide apps and virtual reality superimposed over everything you see.

But rather, glass that medically allow you to see under any and all conditions. 

- It's a "one time prescription"--that adjusts with you as your eyes change. Like the machine the optometrist uses to change the prescription this way and that asks you which is better, only these glasses automatically adjust to whatever your prescription is that moment, day, or year. 

- Autofocus and zoom--want to see what's going on from the bleachers at the game or can't see the sign in the distance, simply focus on the person or object and voila you can see in zoom. 

- All Terrain--and no more bifocals--wherever you look--near or far--that is where the prescription adjusts to.

- All Weather--sunny days or cloudy skies--the glasses adjust to the light and conditions automatically--no more polarized shades. 

If you ask me, these are functionally smart glasses--and you don't need to go to the likes of Pearl Vision and get gouged on new glasses every year. 

Hey, and if your fashion conscious, you can still pop 'em out and fit them snuggly into another new frame with some designer's name on it, all made in China for about a buck. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

What Smart Glasses Are Really All About

Blogging On Percocet

So I'm one day post op from my 2nd hip replacement.

They definitely gave me a little too much Percocet this morning and on an empty stomach too...so I'm still feeling a little nauseous and loopy. 

I had my first physical therapy this morning and there is another planned for this afternoon.

It was really hard to walk and every little step was in pain...I asked the nurse half jokingly whether it was okay to curse as we went down the hall with the walker.

While I realize that I still have quite a way to go, I am glad to be starting the process of getting back on my feet again.

I am grateful to G-d for all his mercy, for my family and friends,(especially Dossy here with me and my very understanding daughters who put up with my kvetching through all this), and the superior surgical and medical care that I realize not everyone in the world has so readily available. 

Thank you to everyone for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers. ;-)

Blogging On Percocet

New Body Parts

As I gear up for Hip Replacement #2, my sister sent this funny comic to me. 

I heard that something like a million joint replacements are now done in the U.S. every year. 

And these procedures are expected to increase precipitously with projections by 2030 of:

- 3.48 million knee replacements (a factor of almost 7 times)

- 572,000 hip replacements (an almost 2-fold increase)

This also means that revision surgeries will start to rise rapidly as replacements wear out or are in need of replacement themselves. 

Thank G-d that they have these procedures to help people--I don't know how people lived with the incessant pain and degenerative mobility even a generation ago. 

What's it like to have a body part inserted to augment your own?

Just ask this horse! ;-)

New Body Parts

The Best Cut

So I wasn't sure I wanted to share this, but my wife encouraged me in an effort to help others going through similar things.

Recently, I went to the Surgeon about my other hip to read my MRI...

After having read the report myself before the appointment, I was convinced I was heading under the knife again with the pain I was experiencing, challenges getting around, and the verbiage in the report like: 

"Significant..."

"Advanced."

Anyway, my daughter came along because I wasn't sure I was going to easily get parking in this place...always a challenge there. 

Waiting for the doctor, I asked G-d for a miracle, since after all the hospitalizations this last year, I literally thought that another one at this time could very well kill me.

Low and behold, the doctor comes in and as if G-d is directing his speech for the next 40 minutes or so, he does everything to dissuade me from having the surgery this month, even though he was the one at the last appointment that had already booked me on his surgical calendar. 

So today the miracle unfolded...

First, the doctor read my MRI, but then quickly flipped the screen to an MRI of another patient--a 76 year old--and he showed me the unbelievable progression of the osteoarthritis from near onset to ultimately the complete collapse of the joint over about 9 years time for this lady...the last MRI looked like complete and utter bone devastation--I had never seen anything like it!

Next he opened his drawer and took out a horror basket of used replacement joints parts that he had removed from patients that needed revision--he showed me the wear and breakage and described in horrible detail how he often has to dig these out of the bones of his patients and how each revision--which everyone will need after about 10-15 years or sooner if they become symptomatic--becomes more complicated and dangerous in terms of infection, blood clots, and recovery. 

Then he told how in the field so many replacement surgeries do not go well and that he sees 3-5 patients a week who come to him because they are UN-happy with the replacements their doctors did. 

This went on and on, and bottom line...he said, "I love to do the surgeries--I really do--but wait as long as you can before getting it [on the other hip], since while it can provide for short term improvements, each revision is worse, and at your age you could need three--on each side."

Needless-to-say, from this whole thing, I was in utter shock and some disbelief as I had been told these prosthetics can last 20-25 years with the newer models, and I was not aware of what the revisions really entailed in later years or the challenges they brought. 

As he continued to describe the risks in painful vivid details (note, I was his last appointment of the day and he was talking his time here), my eyes were literally welling up in tears.

I looked over at my daughter and she was sitting mouth agape shaking her head at what he was saying. I was deeply sorry that she had to sit through this (what we had thought was a simple MRI reading and confirmation of the upcoming procedure date). 

I left the doctor's office, of course, canceling the surgery--still in severe pain and with trouble walking--however, "scared straight" to make the best of this for now, but also afraid of what lies ahead. 

I have to have faith that the L-rd who made the miracle to hold off on the surgery for now will continue to guide and protect me through this illness that today has no cure. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Best Cut

10 Reasons In Just 1 Week To Fear Government Breakdown

When I saw this in the store, I knew it was a true sign of the times, as they say. 

When the government that is supposed to sustain order and usher in social and economic progress is dysfunctional and broken, instead we have:

"Chaos, Panic, [and] Disorder"

Here's some news highlights from just this last week:

SPREADING BASE OF WORLDWIDE TERRORISM

1) ISIS murdered 137 and wounded over 300 in suicide bombings at mosques in Yemen.

2) Al Qaeda / Islamic State killed 23 mostly European tourists and injured over 50 at attack on the National Bardo Museum in Tunisia.

3) Iraq's battle to take back Tikrit from ISIS slows as ISIS continues to hold territory in Iraq and Syria larger than many countries--this after the last U.S. troops left Iraq in 2011. 

AGGRESSIVE POWER AND LAND GRABS:

4) Russia annexes South Ossetia from Georgia, just a year after annexing Crimea from Ukraine.

5) China starts up the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with support from key European Countries as well as Australia and South Korea, challenging American dominance via the International Monetary Fund (IMF)--this shortly after China surpasses America as the world largest economy.

PROLIFERATION OF WMD:

6) Iran says "Nuclear deal within reach," while their neighbors in the Middle East shutter and warn of impending nuclear arms race.

FORESAKING STALWART ALLIES AND MIDDLE EAST PEACE:

7) The Administration threatens to back United Nations against Israel, imposing a 2 state solution rather than a negotiated peace and security for the region. 

ECONOMIC MESS:

8) U.S. economic forecast by the Fed was downgraded to just 2.5%, despite years of near-zero interest rates that were supposed to spark growth, but instead has simply driven stocks into overdrive and set us up for another bursting of the financial bubble. 

HEALTHCARE SHAMBLES:

9) Upcoming Supreme Court decision on Obamacare could see 8 million people lose subsidies and ultimately their health insurance coverage.

ENVORNMENTAL CRISIS:

10) 2014 as the hottest year on record and 13 of the 14 hottest years are in the 21st century so far, this as even Chinese officials acknowledge looming fallout ahead in terms of climate change and disasters. 

If this is just one (more) week with the current breakdown of government,  those causing it all, as the sign states, can proclaim:

"My Work Here Is [Almost] Done."  ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

10 Reasons In Just 1 Week To Fear Government Breakdown

Kidneys By The Pound

So this gallery in Santa Fe had a warped sense of what art is...

They had packages of styrofoam wrapped in cellophane with what looked like meat from the supermarket.

However in the packages, they had these disturbing plastic molds of human organs priced by the pound.

Pictured here is one labeled with a human kidney selling for $1,100.

They also had others hanging from the wall for human lungs and liver.

Considering there are a lot of sick people out there in needs of transplants, I did not think this "art" was in the best of taste. 

Also, with many who traffic in human organs and take advantage of those in poverty or otherwise at risk for selling on the black market, these pieces were more than a little troubling.

Perhaps, there are some who just think of human as just another type of planetary animal whose body parts are another form of meat that can be put up for sale or taken by force to make a profit.

The only thing is they are forgetting that humans have a soul and that can't be sold in the supermarket or black market except to the devil and there is no art in that. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Kidneys By The Pound

Amazing Advances In Prosthetics

Watch this video...

Where a man who lost both arms over 40 years ago is fitted with these amazing dual prosthetics that he is able to control with his mind and muscle movements. 

Made with financing from the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).

John Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab shows the possibilities for the future for helping everyone from Wounded Warriors to those disabled from accidents and disease. 

G-d creates and we imitate and together we make an incredible flourishing world. ;-)

(Note: My gratitude to Rebecca Blumenthal for sharing this video with me.)

Amazing Advances In Prosthetics

Cancer 101

I saw this in a doctor's office and thought it was very educational on Cancer.

The first diagram has a brief definition of cancer and the incidence of cancer type for males and females.

The second explains the stages of cancer, I through IV, and is shown in the small intestine, as an example. 

This stuff is so scary and horrible. 

The "C" word...we should never hear it, say it, or know from it anymore!

G-d should help us find a cure to rid this world of this disease.

Save us from that which afflicts us, and send us a complete healing of body, mind, and soul, Amen!!!

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Cancer 101

Cure Cancer B4 It Kills Again

Nice seeing these signs and slogans against cancer posted today in Washington, D.C.

Looking at the 2014 statistics, there were almost 1.7 million new cases and almost 687 thousand deaths in the U.S. alone for cancer including of the brain/nervous system, female breast, colon/rectum, Leukemia, liver, lung/bronchus, non-hodgkin lymphoma, ovary, pancreas, and prostate.

Way too much suffering and death from cancer...we must fight this killer. 

Whatever we can do to raise money, caring, and empathy...we should do. 

Run, walk, give, support, remember...even just hold someone's hand. 

Thank you American Cancer Society and everyone out there helping to find the cure. 

"14 million cancer survivors are celebrating birthdays this year."

Won't it be miraculous when everyone is a survivor in a world without cancer anymore. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Cure Cancer B4 It Kills Again

Medicine Back When

I thought you may find these photos interesting of how medicine used to be--not all that long ago.

I took these at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. 

1) The Circo Electric Bed rotates a patient 210 degrees to help them go from a prone to a vertical position; push the button and you go almost loop de loop. 

2) A Hospital Ward--no private or semi-private rooms yet; say hello to a dozen or so neighboring patients sharing a room, moaning and groaning, each their own. 

3) An X-ray--say cheese as this machine peers inside your body, hopefully not emitting too much radiation to the patient.

4) An operation--looks serious, almost like an alien abduction, hope they had plenty of anesthesia so it didn't hurt. 

Okay, medicine has come a long way...but we're not there yet, not by a medical tricorder longshot. ;-) 

(Source Photos: Andy Blumenthal)

Medicine Back When

Psychotherapy, In The Beginning

Wow, I love this early photo of psychotherapy.

The girl is lying on some pillows on 2 chairs. 

The Freudian doctor leans over the girl and is yanking on his goatee listening intently...and analyzing!

A man, that I assume is the girls dad is in the background, hovering protectively and hoping she is feeling better soon. 

The mind, like the body, unfortunately can get sick. 

And we need to take care of ourselves and seek help to get better. 

Fear not the competent doctor who really cares and sincerely wants to help (and is not just in it as a pure business).

Pray that G-d guides him to heal you and give you strength in body and peace of mind. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Psychotherapy, In The Beginning

Ebola Has Arrived

The Washington Post ran an article on August 1, "Why You Are Not Going To Get Ebola In The U.S."

As of about 10 minutes ago, they are now reporting, "As Ebola Confirmed In U.S. , CDC vows, 'We're Stopping It In Its Tracks.'"

What do you think we'll see in the news about Ebola within the next 6 months or year--completely eradicated, mostly contained, spreading slowly, or G-d forbid a global pandemic? 

G-d should help us to conquer this disease quickly and completely. 

(Source Photo: here with Attribution to European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection)

Ebola Has Arrived

Doctor In Context

I took this photo in the doctor's office. 

No, this is not my doctor, but a statue of one on the countertop.  

What's funny to me is how he looks in context of the bottles and anatomical models all around him.  

Either the doctor has shrunk or the other things are really huge.

My dad used to tell me that doctors only know what G-d tells them, so we should pray that G-d gives them the wisdom to help us. 

And my grandfather used to say in German that "G-d is my doctor."

Maybe that's why the image of the doctor is looking up--to get the guidance from the one above to help us. 

That's the intersection of medicine and faith--where truly big things can happen. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Doctor In Context

The Ebola Bomb {^}

Ebola is the "one of the most virulent microbes" to mankind--there is no known cure and it has a 90% mortality rate. 

The death toll from the current outbreak of ebola in West Africa has now hit 1,145.

And according to the U.N. Health Agency, the number of deaths are "vastly underestimated."

Already, as of two weeks ago, more than 100 health workers had been infected. So who is going to care for the infected and sick, when the medical professionals themselves are sick and dead? 

According to the World Health Organization, Ebola is spread by "direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs, or other bodily fluids of infected people, and indirect contact with environments infected with such fluids."

However, as frightening and deadly as ebola is as a disease that spreads and must be contained, what is even more terrifying is that there are those who believe that terrorists may try to harness it into a dirty bomb.

CBS reports that a disease expert from Cambridge University says that "A bigger and more serious risk is that a [terrorist] group manages to harness the virus as a power, then explode it in a bomb in a highly populated area."

A biological bomb like this "could cause a large number of horrific deaths," and would further spread the disease--and until it stops, no one knows. 

Visiting any number of local doctors offices, emergency rooms, or hospitals that are already filled with patients and with lengthy wait times to be treated, I cannot imagine what an Ebola (type) outbreak would look like.

I hope and pray we never find out the suffering, death, and havoc something a virus like this would cause--whether transmitted through human-to-human contact or by one of the dirtiest, sickest bombs you could imagine. 

(Source Screenshot: here with attribution to Unicef)

The Ebola Bomb {^}

Upside Down in D.C.

So coming downtown this week in D.C., I see this quite unhelpful posted sign. 

If you can read upside down, while rushing down a busy street with a million and one things on your mind for the day, it says, "Sidewalk Closed. Use Other Side."

Of course, the people flowing speedily down the streets in the morning, were still walking on this sidewalk, despite the construction and potential dangers. 

But in a way this reminds me of a bigger question here--is this really a sign of the times?

Today, I read in the Wall Street Journal about continued problems with Healthcare.gov--no, not related to the crashing websites, exemptions and delays, parts being overturned (such as with the contraception mandate), low enrollment (particularly after accounting for over 5 million people that lost their coverage with the new law and in effect had to sign up), but now in terms of thousands of people who signed up not getting their benefits due to continued problems with the enrollment system.

This is not just an issue for this party or that, but rather matters of government that we as a unified nation must tackle togther to grow our capabilities and competitiveness econically, militarily, and socially. 

Are the signs pointing us in the right direction and what streets should we be going down as a nation in order to succeed? 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Upside Down in D.C.

A WOW Wheelchair

Absolutely loved the article and video in Bloomberg Businessweek on the Tankchair.

Brad Soden makes these amazing ruggedized wheelchairs for wounded veterans and other disabled people in need of getting around some rougher terrain. 

They are customized for each user and cost about $15,000 each. 

They are built on tank-like treads and can go up stairs, through fields, across streams, and over snow.

"Basically, it's get off the couch and go enjoy life!"

They are tough and can last 15-20 years!

He first made one for his wife who was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident and was having difficulty keeping up on a family camping trip. 

Soden is truly inspirational--he produces these not too make money, but too help people. 

"The body can't keep up, so we're gonna fix it."

This is an awesome man making an extreme machine. ;-)

(Source Photo: Tankchair)

A WOW Wheelchair

Saw It Right Off

This was something amazing that really gave me pause. 

In the physical therapy center, hanging on the wall, encased in this wooden box.

A saw from the civil war that was used by the doctors of the time to amputate soldiers legs and arms. 

The saw was so ominous looking, especially with it's design of medieval-looking torture, it's raw industrial quality, and the age and rust. 

I could literally envision the utter fright on the faces of the young men upon seeing the doctor approach with this tool. 

They would give you a piece of wood to sink your teeth into, so you wouldn't bite your tongue off when they started sawing away at your limbs.

Not sure how people lived like this...not all that very long ago. 

(Source Photo: Rebecca Blumenthal)

Saw It Right Off

Outrunning The Needle

This nice gentlemen who works in the medical profession was telling me a funny story today.

He grew up amidst a collection of small villages in El Salvador.

The person who gave the vaccinations to the children used to go to the school to administer the medicine to them.

When the kids saw him coming, they would run out of the school, through the school yard, over the fence, and all the way home to try to avoid the shot.

He also said that the school personnel would chase them to their home to bring them back…one way or another, they were getting the dreaded needle. 

It reminded me of when I was a little kid in the pediatrician's office, and the doctor was pulling out a long needle to give me a shot, and I hopped off the table, and ran for my life. 

I ran out of her office, past the nurse's station, and into the welcoming arms of the patient reception area.

But the doctor and nurse caught up to me as well and brought me back for my shot too.

It sort of reminds me of the saying, "You can run, but you can't hide."

In life, it really doesn't matter whether we want to do something or not.

When the time comes to face the challenges that await us all, even if you try to ignore it, avoid it, or run away from it…it will eventually catch up to you.

Maybe it's worth a run sometimes, if you can avoid an unnecessary fight, but if it is something you have to face, like your medicine, you might as well just stay and take the needle like a man/woman and get some cookies and ice cream afterwards. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Dan4th Nicholas)

Outrunning The Needle