Welcome Ebola To America!

While our self-declared intelligentsia has decided to keep the commercial flights open to Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, experts are predicting that new ebola cases will reach 10,000 per week by December!

Moreover, the United Nations has warned that if Ebola is not controlled within the next 60 days, "the world faces an 'unprecedented situation' for which there is no plan."

But by the time, we get our political will and act together, who knows...

What isn't helping are publications like Bloomberg Businessweek, with another classic asinine article this time by Charles Kenny who writes--get this--that "A Travel Ban Is a Terrible Idea."

While Kenny acknowledges "Travel restrictions have a long history as a tool against spreading infection" dating back already to the Middle Ages, Kenny is concerned about the "trade-offs" of quarantining the source countries--"because the benefits of contact outweigh the risks"--i.e. "People want to travel to see family and friends, visits places, work, or invest."

Well Mr. Kenny, how about that people want to live and not die because of the irresponsible spread of this deadly virus? Two-thirds of the public, as well as many in Congress, and the media have already called for a common sense temporary travel ban. 

Kenny then goes on to exaggerate and talk about how laughable it is that we would "completely seal off the U.S. from the rest of the world" even though what we are talking about are just the countries where this deadly infection is currently raging. 

Further, Kenny is concerned not about containing the disease and protecting the more than 300,000,000 people in this country, but about the possibility that a ban on commercial flights "will deter people from volunteering to work in the region"--here again, Kenny ignores that specialized, trained people from the military, World Health Organization, Doctors Without Borders, and more are already being deployed--although too little too late. 

Incredibly, Kenny even compares Ebola to the common flu, and intimates that since we don't quarantine for the seasonal flu, why should we do it for Ebola--uh, Mr. Kenny have you heard that Ebola has a 70% mortality rate!

Finally, Kenny says in his defeatist way, "We live in a global disease pool. In the end, once a disease begins to spread, there's no escaping an infection."

Hello Mr. Kenny, we have a responsibility to prevent and protect our people--there is no place for your throwing in the towel on all of us--what a shame that Bloomberg makes this dangerous rhetoric the Opening Remarks for their magazine. 

There is long established protocol of quarantine to stop the spread of infection--not that it would necessarily be 100% successful, but at least it would help contain and control the spread from getting worse, and we would learn to improve as we go along, and live to fight and save more lives now and in the future.

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Welcome Ebola To America!

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

Health Monitoring Ad Nauseam

So the new Apple Watch promises to monitor our every virtual health status as technology and person blend to become one.  

However, the question raised in the New York Times is whether this level of continuous monitoring is really all that necessary?

"One central rule of doctoring is that you only gather data that will affect your treatment?"

But how can more data hurt you?

- Change in measurements are often normal: For example, "blood pressure jumps up and down in response to thoughts, hydration, and stress."

- Data sometimes outstrips our ability to understand it:  So collecting more and more data may actually end up concealing the needle in the haystack, rather than culling the crucial piece of evidence we need for a diagnosis and treatment. 

- Data can sometimes belie the underlying truth: "Some patients die with 'Harvard numbers, [and in others] test results can can look bad even when the patient is fine."

- Obsessive-compulsive monitoring may actually stress us out: "If you were dieting would stepping on the scale 1,000 times a day help you lose weight?" Perhaps, the stress of monitoring every stat we generate may actually make us sick from fear and worry.  

The point is that as they say, "there can be too much of a good thing"--monitoring and checking is helpful, but not every minute of every day without some intelligent filtering and analysis. 

Perhaps, the technology will evolve to wear the monitoring is unobtrusive and where the artificial intelligence is there to more or less accurately decipher true warning signs from run of the mill changes in bodily functions, and where data is aggregated to get a holistic picture and diagnosis of the person rather than a snapshot of individual functions.

No one can live under a microscope and making ourselves sick with an endless stream of health tracking and worries is not helpful. 

However, in time, the technology will most certainly evolve to where it will be discreet, accurate, and truly lifesaving. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Health Monitoring Ad Nauseam

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

Robot Man

Don't know exactly what it is about this little robot guy, but I really liked it. 

The simplicity of the body and limbs joined by the connector joints and the head as just a clear crown on the rest.

To me, it looked relatively realistic as how robots of the future might actually look.

Humanoid, but so sleek that they are us but in many ways a step up from our aging selves. 

Perhaps, someday the brains of humans and the bodies of machines will really come together in a better alternative to ourselves.

Living (indefinitely) longer and even pain free in bodies that carry mind and soul into the future. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Robot Man

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

Now's Your Chance To Make Things Right

Day 4...pain gradually subsiding, walking improving.

Still pushing my body...walk, ice, walk, ice. 

But more than the physical, I realized that I was going through something far more spiritual in my journey. 

People are coming out of the woodwork telling me their travails through these surgeries. 

One old time friend, welcomed me to the "Hip Club"--her new hip is 4 years old, but I didn't even know she had it done (albeit that we only keep in touch through Facebook these days).

Another, my neighbor, had knee replacement in 2011--again, was I too busy or blind to know--I felt like an absolute card. She in particular told me again and again, "I cried, I cried."

Later in the day, as I am trying to figure it all out--how am I going to get everything done and back on my feet, my wife says to me, "Now's your chance to make things right!"

Then it hit me, that while I always try to think of myself as trying to do what's right, I wasn't doing enough. 

Open your eyes Andy.  

There are lot's of people that are in pain, that are crying, that need help. 

What are you doing about it? 

Do you even see them?

Are you aware they are there?

WAKE-UP CALL.

Do Better, Make things right. Try harder. Do More. 

It's not too late. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Now's Your Chance To Make Things Right

Making The Transition

Came out of the hospital yesterday.

Able to walk with a walker--thankful for this miracle already.

Thanks to good 'ol technology, I was able to send my surgeon a photo from my smartphone this morning, so he could see for himself what was going on and advise me. 

Later today, having nursing and physical therapy to the house and am glad to have yet another set of eyes on me, while I heal up.

Emotionally, it's trying. 

I am a very active and structured person, and for now I am just physically limited--no getting around it. 

As I push myself to walk, I can see my body pushing back to give it more time. 

Overall, I am determined to get back to myself with G-d's merciful help. 

I've already logged onto work--telework--and been in touch with my team trying to keep things moving forward.

I'm also here, on the blogosphere, sharing my experience. 

While in the hospital orthopedic unit, I got to meet many others with similar or even worse situations.

One guy had a knee replacement in January and was already back and had his hip done. 

Another, I was told had one hip done, followed about 2 weeks later, by the other one.

All sorts of amazing stories of people fighting to recover and get back on their feet, literally. 

One more time, I just want to say how my wife has been amazing through all of this, and I can't thank her enough.

And truly, as my parents told me, "If you have your health, you have everything!"

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Making The Transition

1st Day Post-OP

So surgery was yesterday around 11 am.

I was asleep under anesthesia before I ever even got to the operating room, so can't remember a thing, which is probably good since I hear that a lot of power tools are involved.

Right before, my wife kissed me and told me that the female nurses were all flirting with me--ha! 

After the surgery, I was groggy like crazy.

When the nurse asked me if I knew what year it was, I blurted out "1993!"

Aside from the general anesthesia, I had some sort of nerve block.

Thanks G-d that has made the pain minimal to zero even.

The nurse this morning gave me a percocet in anticipation of the pain with physical therapy today--so I apologize if this blog is a little loopy today.

So far, although very stiff around the surgical area, I have already sat up, got up, even walked a little down the hospital hallway.

Waiting for more PT and OT this afternoon.

I just want to say thank you to G-d, the surgeon, the anesthesiologist, all the nurses,  and my wife and kids and other family and friends for taking such good care of and for all their thoughts and prayers.

One friend, even called me the bionic man this morning. 

It's been a really tough year with the loss of my mom in January and my dad not being well in the hospital and now in a facility to get him back on his feet again too. 

And so far, my wife has been doing great keeping us going with only one big stress attack and trip to the ER to show for it. ;-)

(Source Photo: Dannielle Blumenthal)

1st Day Post-OP

Knees Horror Story

So I'm at a new medical practioner, and he sees on my information sheet that I am scheduled to have some orthopedic surgery. 

He comes out of his office and sits down next to me, and he is rubbing his knees. 

He proceeds to tells me that he had knee replacement surgery about a decade ago. 

I'm watching him still rubbing his knees, and I say curiously, "So how did it go--were you happy with the results?"

He says, "I still have some soreness"--and I'm thinking, after all these years, yikes!

Then he goes on to tell me this horror story about his brother (I think it was) that had double knee replacement. 

But after the surgery, the knees got infected, and they had to remove the replacements and put in studs (like placeholders) until the infection cleared with antibiotics.

I suppose he couldn't walk around without knees, and I was wondering how long this guy must've been laid up. 

Anyway, once the infection was gone, they put in new replacements for him.

OMG, all in all, the guy had to have 8 surgeries!

Needless to say, this was not the orthopedic success story that I wanted or needed to hear. 

But I guess it's good to know what can happen (bli ayin hara)--in all the gory details. ;-)

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Isbye)

Knees Horror Story

Healthcare Where You Need It

Great new medical examination device from Tyto Care.

Handheld, mobile, cloud-based solution for performing a basic medical examination, anywhere--either remotely guided by an online physician or using the 3D avatar on the device itself for conducting a self-examination.

The device looks like the one in the doctors office that checks your ears, but it also has sensors to listen to your heart and lungs, and for viewing your eyes, throat, and skin, and for taking your temperature. 

The results can be read by the end-user or sent to a physician for review and diagnosis. 

When your not feeling well or aren't sure what's wrong--isn't great to have the convenience to have your vitals checked from wherever you are and the self-sufficiency to even get and see your own basic medical stats. 

In a time where we are under more stress to get adequate medical care due to families made up of dual working parents, jobs that are 24/7, and a declining ratio of medical professionals to patients--the Tyto seems like a breakthrough that can help us get checked and get help, anytime and place. 

Now, we just need to get our medical practitioners online and in regular remote communication with their patients--so the traditional office visit and emergency room aren't the only options for being seen. ;-)

Healthcare Where You Need It

New And Hip

So this is what a new hip looks like.

Well almost, anyway--this is a small-scale model of one.

About 300,000 people per year benefit from this procedure in the U.S.

Thank G-d for such medical advances. 

I don't know what people did in earlier times having to live with the pain and loss of function and mobility before they had this available. 

My father always told me that the doctors are G-d's messengers and they only know and can do what G-d tells and enables them to do.

In that sense, a good doctor is really an angel of G-d's mercy.  

It's amazing and miraculous! ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

New And Hip

Pain Pain Go Away

Pain Pain Go Away, Don't Come Back Another Day.

I saw this ad about controlling back pain. 

The wincing face on the back was very effective. 

Given that back pain is  so common, I am sure many people can empathize with this.

For almost a year, I have been suffering with some arthritic pain although not back-related that has been horrible.

I never realized what this even was!

I'm at the point, where I feel surgery, with G-d's help, is the only answer. 

Of course, I am not keen to have surgery and keep thinking how I may be able to put it off. 

And then the inflammation flare-up and pain comes back and I rethink this again that I have to go forward and just take care of this. 

I feel that I am too young for these problems, but life does not ask when or what.

Certainly, I am thankful it is nothing worse--and there are so many things worse.

And I appreciate that there are modern treatments these days that probably didn't really exist just 20-years ago. 

Not sure exactly, what people did "in the olden days" when they had these things and just had to live (or die) with them. 

I just want to be pain free and completely healthy again, so I can fully enjoy all the things that I always did. 

Please G-d. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Pain Pain Go Away

From Flat Tires To Wounded Warriors

Totally awesome new technology breakthrough for treating hemorraging patients from the battlefield to the obstetrics ward. 

Popular Science reports how a pocket-size syringe filled with sponges can stop bleeding in seconds. 

Instead of having to apply wads of gauze and apply pressure"that doesn't always work...[and] medic must pull out all the gauze and start over again," the injection of sponges into the wound "boosts survival and spares injured soldiers from additional pain."

This same technology developed by RevMedx for the military is being adapted for postpartum hemmorages, and I would imagine could eventually be used in other serious bleeding cases whether caused by accident, trauma, in surgery, or other medical necessity.

The sponges are about 1-centimeter circles and are coated with a blood-clotting, antimicrobial substance.

Once injected, the sponges expand to about 20 times their size to fill the wound, apply enough pressure to stop the bleending, and clings to moist surfaces, so they aren't forced out by gushing blood. 

The sponges have X-shaped markers on each that are visible on an x-ray image to ensure none are left inside. 

The solution is sterile, biocompatible and in the future may be biodegradable so they don't have to be removed from the body. 

And to think that the inspiration was Fix-a-Flat foam for emergency tire repair. ;-)

From Flat Tires To Wounded Warriors

Prosthesis Anyone?

This was a picture I took from the office of an orthopedic surgeon. 

The surgeon is listed as a top doctor in Washingtonian Magazine. 

Next to the medications, bandages, and splints was this statue of a sailor with a wooden leg. 

I suppose the message is clear--if only he had a good orthopedic surgeon, he could have a modern functional prosthetic instead of this old wooden leg. 

Well, thank G-d for modern medicine, and hopefully it will only get better and better with time. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Prosthesis Anyone?

Have You Ever Seen A Shark With Cancer?

For a long time people have learned from the animal kingdom. 

We learn how to fly from birds, how to swim from fish, how to fight from lions and tigers, and so on. 

But an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal gave this new and expanded meaning to me. 

Researchers are now looking at animals to learn how to ward off some of the worst diseases known to man. 

For example, apparently Sharks do not get cancer, but more than that even when scientists spent 10 years trying to induce cancer in sharks, they couldn't!

Shark have compounds that actually kill tumors--WOW!--If we could learn how to mimic that in humans, imagine the death and suffering that could be prevented, and the extension and perhaps quality of life that could be gained.

Similarly, grizzly bears, which can weigh 1,000 pounds, and can eat 58,000 calories a day, put on 100 pounds or more in the weeks right before they hibernate for the winter, yet bears don't suffer from routine ailments of obesity, such as diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes. 

Not that any of us want to be 1,000 pounds, but imagine if heavy people did not get all sorts of diseases from clogged arteries and the like.

While heart disease and cancer each accounts for 1 out of every 4 deaths in the U.S. and are the top two leading causes of death--how amazing would it be if we could not only "talk to the animals, walk with the animals..." but also fight disease like the animals? ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Have You Ever Seen A Shark With Cancer?

Nasty Flu Shot

I took my daughter for a flu shot last evening. 

We went through the typical drawn-out paperwork and long wait to get something so routine. 

When the medical practitioner finally arrived with the flu shot, there was a little baggy with all the acoutrements including alcohol wipe, band-aid, cotton, etc. 

As the lady starts taking out the items to get ready for giving the shot, she drops the cotton on the floor. 

She picks it up quickly, and pretending we didn't see, she quickly throws it back on the medical tray. 

Now I am watching...

She open the band-aid and places it at the ready on the side.

Then she get the syringe AND the cotton that had just fallen on the floor, ready in hand. 

As she is about to give the shot, I say, "You're not going to use the cotton on my daughter that just fell on the floor, are you?"

Her eyes look askance and she throws the cotton back down on the tray, and says, "Oh, of course not."

I spoke with my daughter afterwards about this as it was hard to understand how a medical practitioner could on one hand, be administering a helpful medicine to a patient, and at the same time, was about to use a dirty cotton on the wound afterwards.

What happened to people actually caring about people and taking pride in the jobs they do, rather than just being in it for the paycheck only?

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Sun Dazed)

Nasty Flu Shot

From The Window In the Nursing Home

I visit the nursing home pretty often to see my mom who is there. 

While I try to focus on my mom and her needs, I do notice other patients there. 

The images are deeply impactful on me...here are ten that are on my mind today:

1) The husband and wife who are both in the home in a shared room--the wife is wheelchair-bound and the husband dutifully pushes her around the floor. This weekend, I saw them together at the nurses' station asking for some crackers. When the nurse came back with some individually wrapped crackers in cellophane, the couple took them and went off down the hall happy as clams.

2) The lady at the table who is overweight, but always asks for more food. She doesn't talk much except to ask for more dessert. She stares at the other patients and seems annoyed and upset with them.

3) The guy who was a lawyer, but now has dementia, and sits and talks half to himself and half trying to engage others, but all that comes out is sort of gibberish. So others just nod or say something to politely acknowledge him, but can't converse with him with any meaning. 

4) The lady in the room who sits in a chair hunchback. She never seems to leave the room or the chair. Sometimes, she watches TV and other times appear to be crocheting. Mostly she sits hunchback, looking uncomfortable, but settled for the long hall like that. 

5) The woman who sits outside her door in the hallway. She is in a wheelchair, and she doesn't say anything, but she stares at you while you walk down the hallway. She sits there watching--sitting and watching. 

6) The younger but still old disheveled guy. He comes into the dining room to eat, but gets food all over himself. He sits alone, always. He eats quickly, leaves half his food, and gets up and goes out while everyone else is still picking away at their food. 

7) The lady with a wall of baseball caps. She has no hair, maybe she has cancer, I don't know. She usually is in bed, sitting up. The caps look like they have a lot of meaning to her, but I'm not sure if it's because she's a sports enthusiast or why.

8) A lady in a wheelchair that pulls herself along down the hall. She puts one foot in front of the other in these baby steps motions, and the chair moves along, slowly, but at least she is mobile, somewhat. 

9) This weekend, I looked out the window of the home, and there was a woman on the sidewalk. She had fallen on the ground, on her butt. Her walker was next to her, but she could not get up. Some people were near here, apparently trying to get help, but not wanting to touch or move her themselves. I ran for the floor nurse, and she came to the window to see. She said is that so and so, which meant nothing to me, and then she ran off to help her get up. 

10) A lady sits downstairs by the glass windows--she is dressed up fancy like older healthy people are want to do. Next to her is an older gentleman in a turtleneck, but he is just visiting and is her son. They seem to be sort of wealthy as they sit upright in the high-back chairs and discuss family and what she's been eating at the home. They look askance at some of the other patients who are crying out in pain. 

The nursing home, like the hospital is a horrible place to be, even when you have to be there.

In both places, even the most caring doctors and nurses and attendants, cannot make up for the fact that you are a prisoner of age, failing health, and disability--and let's face it, even if many are nice or attentive, not everyone is. 

I am still unclear why people must suffer so--why we haven't found a better way to end good, productive, and loving lives.  

I am not sure that people are really even focused on this issue of old age, because it's not sexy, it's at the end anyway, and "they had the chance to live their lives."

Maybe, it's because we simply don't have the answers yet, can't afford what they would take, or we would just rather not deal with mortality, pain, and suffering when there are so many other things to do. 

But one day, we all will face the piper--and it would be comforting if we had better answers.

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

From The Window In the Nursing Home

Pain is Relative

I've always found it a little strange when the doctor (or nurse) asks you, "On a scale of 0 to 10, how much pain are you in?"

Why?

Because pain (like many emotions) is relative to our understanding of it. 

To me, when someone says a 10 for pain, I think of someone under the most excruciating pain--like when someone, G-d forbid, is being tortured. 

However, someone else may think of 10 as just being really sick and uncomfortable. 

That's why I like this graphic that is used to level-set what each number in the scale represents. 

Using this simple graphic, our definition of pain is not purely subjective, but rather each person can look at the faces and expressions and see how they relate to them. 

Of course, the goal on the right for zero pain is a great goal, even if not always achievable. 

In a sense this is a very basic personal architecture--where you have your "as-is" on the scale and your "to-be" which is your goal. 

Then the doctor and patient work together to figure out a transition plan on how to get there (medicine, rehabilitation, healthier living, etc.). 

While pain is usually just a symptom, it is a beginning to get at the root cause of what is bothering us and needs to be fixed. ;-)

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Pain is Relative