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Donald's Blog
April 17, 2018 George Washington Trumpet A hundred years ago, give or take, a journalist took down the maunderings of George Washington Plunkett, a New York politician, in his office (actually a shoe-shine stand). The essence of what he said was, "I seen my opportunities and I took 'em." That irrepressible American attitude has finally taken him the to the White House. April 17, 2018 Them bones them bones them dry bones You do not have osteoporosis until you have had an "event". Since September 30th I have had five compression fractures of vertebrae. I definitely have osteoporosis. I will soon have a prescription for Forteo, and I will shoot myself with a teeny weeny needle every day for two years, which will build up my bones and help two fractures heal (I probably won't have any more surgery). It has taken several weeks to find out what my copay might be for Forteo; it's over $723 a month, which is out of the question. There is something called Tymlos, said to be a generic, BUT IT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE FDA FOR MEN. This is almost enough to make me a wingnut. Get rid of the FDA. Let people buy snake oil from Canada.The next step in to apply to Lilly Cares, a charity set up by the gangsters who make the stuff. The surgeon who repaired three of my fractures refuses to put me under any more; it is his professional duty to make that judgement. But he and his staff told me that they would refer me to IR people (Interventional Radiology) (for a second opinion, or just for advice? I do not know). They were supposed to call me; I have tried to call them, but they are protected by banks of telephone technology: when I tried to leave a message, all I got was their lousy music. That was weeks and weeks ago and I've never heard a thing. Obviously somebody somewhere has dropped the ball. The last time I saw the tiny, glib, bustling Dr. Little Kid, to try to find out what was going on, he insulted us with a line of childish, high-school Facebook-shaming horseshit about how we were complaining, criticising, disrespecting his staff yada yada. The last time I heard trash like that was from an ungrateful grandchild; I would not have expected it from a medical professional. "I didn't give you osteoporosis," he said, a non-sequitur if I ever heard one. No, Doctor, but since you mention it, I first met you six months ago, and now I am twenty years older. I am 77 years old and for the moment my life is over. Ethne is going on a road trip soon, promoting her new book; she will see old friends in Kansas City and Des Moines, and I can't go, because I can't sit in an airplane seat for an hour or two, nor ride for hundreds of miles in a rented car. That's probably how I got screwed up in the first place. April 17, 2018 And as long as I'm whining While everything else has been going on, I have had cataract surgery. I haven't had a decent pair of glasses for years now; in particular that seems to be a problem in Colorado Springs, and I've been warned that I will have a cataract problem down the road, so I thought I'd get it over with. My long-distance vision wasn't that bad; I was amused on the rare occasion that I jumped in the car and drove away forgetting my glasses on that I could drive perfectly well without them. Now however my distance vision is 20-20: we have big windows and lovely trees in the yard and I can see every twig and bud. But I used to be to read without glasses. Since I have been getting older I have been wearing reading glasses, but I could still read without them, in bed for example, especially if I held one hand over the worst eye. Now I am dreadfully nearsighted. For the rest of my life I will never be able to read anything without glasses, not even the label on a pill bottle. If I had known the trade-off was going to be that dramatic I would have stayed with the cataracts. I can only hope to end up with a useful pair of glasses.
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