WASHINGTON—The people of the United States of America issued a formal request Monday, seeking permission to stop watching the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. “We have dutifully watched segments of the XXIX Olympiad for at least two hours a day for nearly two consecutive weeks, including aquatic events, track and field, and even stupid stuff such as synchronized diving, and while we fully and openly admit that we have enjoyed far more than we had initially expected, we must reiterate—it has been two weeks,” the appeal drafted by the U.S. populace read in part. “Can we please stop now?” The 300 million U.S. citizens said they would be sitting here watching women’s beach volleyball until they receive official word that it’s okay to switch to a rerun of Grey’s Anatomy.

Left Leg - still 90%, rare some fasciculations, no some cramping, no atrophy, now dragging when walking
Right Leg - still 100%, no rare fasciculations, no cramping, no atrophy

Left Hand - about 50% 40% frequent fasciculations, less cramping, little atrophy
Right Hand - about 55%, 45% frequent fasciculations, more cramping, little atrophy

Left Arm - about 65% frequent fasciculations, some cramping, atrophy showing
Right Arm - about  75% frequent fasciculations, more cramping, atrophy showing

Neck - rare no fasciculations

Phrases Recorded - ALL

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Cellulitis:

Cellulitis is an infection of the deep subcutaneous tissue of the skin. Cellulitis can be caused by normal skin flora or by exogenous bacteria, and often occurs where the skin has previously been broken: cracks in the skin, cuts, blisters, burns, insect bites, surgical wounds, or sites of intravenous catheter insertion. The mainstay of therapy remains treatment with appropriate antibiotics. Skin on the face or lower legs is most commonly affected by this infection, though cellulitis can occur on any part of the body. The disease is often called John Wayne’s disease due to the limp that some sufferers develop.

Erysipelas is the term used for a more superficial infection of the dermis and upper subcutaneous layer that presents clinicially with a well defined edge. Erysipelas and cellulitis often coexist, so it is often difficult to make a distinction between the two.

Cellulitis is unrelated to cellulite, a cosmetic condition featuring dimpling of the skin.

Urgent care is the delivery of ambulatory care in a facility dedicated to the delivery of care outside of a hospital emergency department, usually on an unscheduled, walk-in basis. Urgent care centers are primarily used to treat patients who have an injury or illness that requires immediate care but is not serious enough to warrant a visit to an emergency room. Often urgent care centers are not open on a continuous basis, unlike a hospital emergency room that would be open at all times.

The initial urgent care centers opened in the 1970s. Since then this sector of the healthcare industry has rapidly expanded to an approximately 17,000 centers. Many of these centers have been started by entrepreneurial physicians who have responded to the public need for convenient access to unscheduled medical care. Other centers have been opened by hospital systems, seeking to attract patients. Much of the growth of these centers has been fueled by the significant savings that urgent care centers provide over the care in a hospital emergency department. Many managed care organizations (MCOs) now encourage their customers to utilize the urgent care option.

Last Saturday I went out the front door to get the newspaper and after taking two steps outside some “bees” came toward me and one stung me on my arm.  I ran  back inside and called a bee mover guy.  Tuesday the bee guy came and said these were aggressive “bees”.  He put on his anti-sting suit and plugged the outside hole.  In the house the drywall had a small hole caused by the hive.  He flooded the hole with bug killer gas and waited about 10 minutes to kill them all.  He made an opening in the drywall about 6″x8″ and found a hive of,

YELLOWJACKETS!!!

They resemble bees but fly faster, are more aggressive and don’t make honey!  That’s important because there is no hive moving and no honey mess to clean up, and much cheaper!!!  Now, no more “bees” or Yellowjackets!  But my arm STILL itches!!!

All wasps will defend their nests, but the Yellow Jackets and hornets are the most aggressive. They can be distinguished from bees by their thin “waists.” Bees are thick-waisted. They fold their wings lengthwise when at rest. Like all wasps, yellow jackets prey on a variety of insects and other arthropods. Yellow jackets will also forage on foods that people eat, especially sweets and meats.

They are considered beneficial insects, eating other insects. The yellow jacket colony will remain active for only one summer, after which the queens will fly away to start more colonies. The remaining ones, die at the end of the summer, the nest is not reused.[more]

I Just received the beautiful flowers from the _____ Staff.
They are beautiful and made my day. Thanks so much.

I started feeling better yesterday and today and expect to be fully recovered soon.
I am currently working and pacing myself as I go.

Thanks again for everything,

Trish

I was going to write this:

Hi Trish,

I am so glad you are feeling better and will make a complete recovery from your “issue”  I wish I could make a full recovery from “my issue”.

Pat

But I didn’t send it.  I later found out that “Trish” was having a routine endoscopy and went “code blue” and was resuscitated.  She now has hepatitis C…  I’m glad I didn’t send it.

Reuters has an article about stem cells and ALS.

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Ordinary skin cells taken from patients with a fatal and incurable nerve disease have been transformed into nerve cells in a first step toward treating them, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.

They transformed the cells from two patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, into motor neurons — the cells that waste away and die in ALS.

There is no immediate medical use for the cells, taken from two sisters aged 82 and 89, the researchers reported in the journal Science.

“Now we can make limitless supplies of the cells that die in this awful disease. This will allow us to study these neurons, and ALS, in a lab dish, and figure out what’s happening in the disease process,” said Dr. Kevin Eggan of Harvard Medical School in Boston, who helped lead the study.

“We can generate hundreds of millions of motor neurons that are genetically identical to a patient’s own neurons,” added Chris Henderson of Columbia University in New York, who also worked on the study.

“This will be an immense help as we try to uncover the mechanisms behind this disease and screen for drugs that can prolong life.”  [much more...]

Anyway, I miss:

Tearing a sugar (sweet-n-low) bag open
[now I use scissors]

Opening a soda can
[now I use a opener from Sammons_Preston]

Turning the key to my house
[now I use a key helper from Sammons_Preston]

Turning the key to start my car
[now I use a automotive key helper from Sammons_Preston]

Taking my gas cap off
[now I need assistance from someone]

Buttoning my shirts
[now I need assistance from someone]

Throwing a frisbee for my dog
[my Aussie Tucker can catch frisbees for HOURS!]

Unhooking my wife’s bra
[just seeing if anyone is still reading this]

Not jumping at every little noise

Carrying 2 Sparkletts bottles at once

Whistling loudly

Clapping

Writing
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After all that, I still enjoy every day!!