PF Random Thoughts

OmCheeto

Ahhhhhh!!!!!! Yah znaio shtoe, yah neznam kneeshtah.



argh......

Gad

Huh? Wht language is this?

Borek

That was Romssian. Somewhere between Omish and Russian.

Jimmy Snyder

Tell it you no longer love it.

Borek

i7, 3.4 GHz, 16 GB.

OmCheeto

"Yah znaio shtoe" is Russian for "I only know that"
and
"yah neznam kneeshtah" is Serbian for "I know nothing"

It is supposedly a quote from Plato.
That's what the Russians told me anyways.
Wiki seems to confirm this.

ps. I figured out how to turn off my pro last night. It's the same as my old macbook. Go figure.

i7, 3.4 GHz, 16 GB.
i7 single processor, 4 cores, 2.3 GHz(I don't know where the Turbo button is located), 4 GB 1.6GHz DDR3
15" Standard Display
I didn't go for the high def "Retina" display, as I have low def eyes.

OmCheeto

I have not a clueI've changed HMO's since then.

I've been discussing my condition with just about everyone. Every person has a different diagnosis or cure. I believe their opinions are based on their own experiences.

And after 3 botched medical diagnoses* from a dozen doctors & techs over the last 10 years, I think I might be getting the hang of this.

A. Never give them your self-diagnosis. They will think you are making it up after seeing it on the internet. Just give them the symptoms, and guide them to what you already know.
B. If you have a high tolerance for pain, exaggerate your level of pain by a factor of 2. They will just look at you like nothing is wrong otherwise. Level 2 frowny face becomes a level 4 frowny face. etc. etc.
C. Getting a second and third opinion from doctors that are associates of the 1st doctor is useless. They will already have been briefed on the fact that you are a hypochondriac. Even though you've only been to the doctor 4 times in 53 years. (The first being your birth.)
D. Keep a daily diary of symptoms. After 2 weeks, you will forget how it all started. After 9 months of wildly changing conditions, you'll never remember what happened when.
E. Eat well, exercise, have fun, and don't over do anything.

(disclaimer: I am not a doctor, and am not offering medical advice. I am a patient, and am offering patient advice, based on some very very bad personal experiences.)

ps. I will not be offended if anyone offers me advice. I've heard many a lay diagnosis/cause/cure, and find many of them to be quite humorous.

"Sciatica can be caused by carrying your wallet in your back pocket." (ok, I won't start doing that.)
"Sit like this. It will cure it." (nope)
"Get acupuncture. They stick needles in your face, and the pain goes away." (nope)
"Go to a chiropractor" & "Don't go to a chiropractor" (ok. I'll ignore both of you)
"Physical Therapy is the only cure" (right....)
"Don't have surgery. You'll be paralyzed for life." (I'm already partially paralyzed.)
"Hot pads"
"Cold pads"
"Sit in a hot tub" (ok)

Actually, medical advice is forbidden at this forum, so you'd better stick your tongue out if you try it.

OK to move or delete. Sometimes, I just can't shut up.

*
1. No, you don't have Pertussis. (Um. Yes I do, and this doctor was correct when he said you wouldn't believe me.)
2. Let me screw your arm up more than it is. (It was almost back to normal until the EMG)
3. No, you don't have a fungal infection. (Um, then why did taking an anti-fungal drug, that affects nothing but fungi, cure me?)

Tourettetian tirade sequestered......

Evo

My doctors all said NO PHYSICAL THERAPY (as in massage or manipulation) since many of my problems were spine related and without an accurate diagnosis, they were afraid of causing damage. Final diagnosis actually a number of issues and not to have physical therapy as it can't help my condition.

turbo

About 40 years ago, I was loading my motorcycle on a high-bed trailer with no ramps, so we lifted up the front and and got it started onto the trailer, and my friend lost his grip. the bike (Honda 450 street scrambler) came down on me. I managed to keep it from falling on me but at great cost. I was bed-ridden for weeks and could only get out of bed with my wife's assistance.

For years afterward, I had to try to explain to doctor after doctor what had happened, but still some aggressive ODs wanted to "fix" my spinal problem. One in particular was a very large guy that cracked a couple of my ribs trying to re-align my spine. I switched to an MD, and ended up having a stroke due to a medication that my body couldn't handle. (damn the pill-pushers!) The neurologist (a German woman) ordered MRIs, and when she showed me the images, she asked "how could you possibly have taken that pain?" I explained that my wife and I had no insurance and I had to "tough it out".

OmCheeto

I was surprised when my doctor told me to make a physical therapy appointment without a thorough diagnosis. But my first and second Physical Therapists were both highly competent, IMHO. The first one has a PhD. He realigned my pelvis. (I didn't know they could get misaligned!) He did some other stuff which didn't make things worse, and gave me some mild back exercises to do. I modified them a bit to be even milder. The second Physical Therapist seemed alarmed that I was numb and was basically the one who insisted I get an MRI. He had a trainee with him, and he was asking her all sorts of questions, which she answered, and he confirmed. That was kind of nice for me, as the doctor and first Physical Therapist didn't really say anything to me as to what was wrong. But now I know it's a problem in the L4-L5 region. A problem region common to my family, according to my sister. Both she and my aunt had problems there. I suspect my mother also had a problem with it, as she had similar symptoms when she was my age. Which makes it doubly more likely for me, as my aunt is on my fathers side.

I think I was lucky with my undiagnosed fungal infection. The second doctor I saw said I had a choice of either a cat scan or antibiotics. I'd read two case histories, neither of which turned out well. The patient that died was prescribed antibiotics. The other patient suffered permanent lung damage, and will be on oxygen the rest of his life. I opted for the CT scan. It didn't show anything, but neither did the dead patients CT scan, until, unfortunately, after he was dead, when the radiologist showed the patients mother that there was an indication of something wrong earlier. One of the saddest stories I've ever read. He was only 26 years old, and his mother had been a pest for months trying to get the doctors to do a $6.50 test for the fungus. I know how much the test costs, because I purchased the test media myself, over the internet.

One of the worst parts for me is that I will never know exactly what I had. My second doctor had said to me; "You are not here to learn from us, we are here to learn from you". That was kind of nice to hear, but unfortunately, I was apparently the only person who learned anything over the course of 9 months.

The only medical person who I was able to tell this story to was a doctor I randomly ran into away from the hospital. I was sitting at my laptop, as always, when his spouse came over and requested to borrow it to make an online donation. I said sure. Then the doctor and I started talking, which is when I found out he was doctor. I decided to tell him the full story. It took about 15 minutes, and by the end, he looked amazed. He said he was a microbiologist before he became a doctor, and was really impressed that I was able to diagnose and cure myself with no medical or biological training.

ps. Again, I am not advocating anyone become their own doctor. I am only warning everyone that you'd better do some research before doing what doctors tell you what to take and do, until you are convinced they've done a thorough workup. And even then, go read Through Mikes Eyes again. Doctors are not infallible.

pps. I did countless of hours of research on the fungus I thought I had before I took action. So yes, I did take a risk. But, I didn't like the alternative. Take a drug safe enough for pregnant women, or possibly die? My choice. No relapse in 10 months. Cured!

edward

Four years ago I had a cat scan of my kidneys that showed I had a severely deteriorated L5 lumbar vertebrae. By the time the information got back to me ,via my primary care doc's medical assistant, the diagnosis over the phone was "severe lumbar vertebrae".

I had always had some lower back pain so I just ignored it. I was even playing soccer in the yard with my grand son so why worry right?

Recently I started falling a lot and my wife somehow got the silly idea that this many not be normal. S/O... So back to the primary care doc we went.

This time around I had an MRI of my brain, and one of my lower back. I had a cat scan, an angiogram and a blood work up that needed about 7 vials of blood to be drawn. This time around my doctor called back personally and referred me to a neurologist

After looking at the scans and performing an EMG the neurologist doctor person informed me that I had a severely deteriorated L5 lumbar vertebrae, peripheral neuropathy and loss of muscle in my right leg due to the vertebrae. The peripheral neuropathy is supposedly the reason my feet and lower legs are now numb.

But wait there is more:

Mr neurologist never sent any of the information back to my primary care physician and no one bothered to call me.

After falling a few more times I decided to go back to my primary for a bit of consultation. She was a bit miffed that Mr. neurologist hadn't sent her any of his results. She mentioned that she had been getting complaints from other patients about Mr neurologist. By this time I was holding my tongue between my fingers to keep from screaming: "So why did you send me to the jerk".

At this point I am waiting for an appointment with Ms neurologist for a second opinion.

I could go into a rant about why medical costs are so high but I will leave that for someone else.

Evo

Om and Edward, you two should start threads about this in medical sciences or just add to my thread http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=557725.

I'm sure a lot of people have similar issues and it would be great to "compare" stories. My condition is gradually getting worse, as I understood it would, but the only treatment they really wanted to do (for short term relief) would eventually destroy the surrounding bones, and not only was it not helping, the side effects were worse than the pain and restricted movement they said it would help

I was seeing so many specialists that I always insisted that copies of everything be sent to my primary physician, and I would then follow up to make sure everything had been sent. Makes it easy for me, one doctor has all of my records.

Gad

Astronuc

Are you happy?!

http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/world-...233204795.html

AnTiFreeze3

So the first smart-phone that I have ever possessed, accompanied by a wonderful case that my mother graciously bought for me, was stolen out of my gym locker a few days ago at school.

I'm obviously upset, but I cope with my loss by imagining that the person who stole my cellphone is a robinhood-esque character who promptly sold my cellphone and case, and used the money to feed starving children on the streets.

One can dream...

Borg

Too late now but next time, install a Phone Tracker App. Then you can visit "Robin Hood" with the Sheriff.

Gad

Sorry to hear that Anti :(

I like the way you deal with it, though. There are people who can't cope with their loss.

Did you report it to the police? I think you can give them you're phone's.. serial number--I don't recall what's it called, and they can help you find it.