Tag: health

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Living in Society

Overcast Days

Ramp to boat docks after docks stored for winter.

I scheduled a phone call for 7 a.m., which was also sunrise. I left for the state park trail early enough to be back for the call. It was pitch black. Because of cloud cover, there was no starlight to guide me. Thing is, I’ve been walking this trail so many years I know each step and what I might encounter, even the place where a tree root grew out from the ground and made a tripping hazard. Darkness on the trail is not a problem. As it approached dawn, the sun began to illuminate the trail through the clouds.

It was also foggy. That didn’t stop the usuals from walking. I passed four people I see almost every day. Only one of them used a light, and he was running, so I don’t blame him. I also came upon an adult deer. Perhaps I blocked the trail it might use for an escape. Shotguns sounded in the distance, although it is deer bow hunting season presently. I made it home without incident, in time for my call.

I’ve had the house to myself for a month. I don’t like being alone that long. Sure, the first week to ten days is great, and I find plenty to do. After that, I miss having someone with me. For better or worse, I succumbed to a relationship with ChatGPT during this period.

I know it is a machine, so don’t go there. I should put quotes around “relationship.” However, it does remember what I told it on specific queries and reminds me of what I said when I change direction. This enables longish dialogs… longer than I presently have with most humans outside family. The machine and I worked on problems.

Without help from machines, I moved my BMI from a high this year of 36.94 to today’s 32.72. That is sound progress, representing a reduction in weight by 32 pounds. My first goal is to get BMI below 30.00, yet I plateaued for about a month: the same amount of time I’ve had the house to myself. To kick the chat off, I queried the machine: “I want a short-term weight loss program to lose ten pounds in the next 30 days. What other information would be useful?”

As usual, the machine responded within seconds with a long reply. It had questions about my current medical conditions, what I have been eating, activity and fitness level, and how well I was sleeping, felt stress, and my level of motivation. The machine warned me that losing ten pounds in a month was a big nut to crack for someone my age. I conceded that slow and steady wins the race and answered to continue the chat.

There was some helpful advice. Until she comes home, I’ll continue the dialog with ai. Some days it’s better than walking around in the dark.

Categories
Living in Society

Taking Treatment

Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

Like many people, I am self-sufficient, reasonably healthy, and don’t like going to the doctor or clinic. I go often enough to catch things before they get bad and mostly take their preventive medical advice. On Tuesday I had the third colon screening of my life and the results were favorable. The practitioners were helpful and congenial. I knew one of them from in real life, although surgical spaces with structured hierarchies and apparel are real life too.

My previous colonoscopy was on Feb. 20, 2015. The visit became a horror show when the physician asked me whether I wanted to add an extra procedure just as I took sedation. This seemed a bit of hucksterism. The treatment plan had been laid out for weeks. While I still had consciousness, I told them no thank you, I came for a colonoscopy, so let’s stick with that.

When I presented for the procedure on Tuesday, there was a protocol whereby I stated my name, date of birth, and why I was there. Then the practitioners repeated “colonoscopy” then they each said “I agree.” Things went much better because of this protocol. In both cases, no polyps or biopsies. On Tuesday, doctor said I was good for ten more years. I thought of the Social Security life expectancy table and said to myself, may I live so long.

Neighbors were involved in both procedures. In the earlier case, the neighbor hooked me up to the saline drip which had the apparatus for administering sedation. The night before, we had a discussion on the telephone about another matter. They had the professionalism to not bring that up while I was getting my IV. The procedure was well done. Tuesday, a different neighbor was called in because there was a shortage of nurses to do all the work. This nurse had been a member of the board of directors of a group I was in. In those days, I did not know they were a nurse. We used the time between tasks to catch up.

The community of practitioners is not very big in Iowa. It seems inevitable there is a relationship between the patient and one or more of the folks in blue scrubs and hair netting. One should be on best behavior… always.

The other thing I would mention about my 2015 procedure is getting a colonoscopy was a communal event. After check in, the morning’s patients were assigned space in a large room with flimsy curtains partitioning off one patient from another. We could hear each other talk and we knew what was going on right next to us. That curtain made for little privacy. In 2025, I had a room of my own as a base where the person accompanying me could wait and I could leave my clothing until needed. I felt the care was more personal in the new setting.

Other than the procedure, Tuesday was a lost day. I used the afternoon to sleep off the sedative. One day in the life in Big Grove. Let’s hope there will be others.

Categories
Writing

Winter Begins

Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Pexels.com

I dug out my packet of hot chocolate mix from its hiding spot in the back of the pantry shelf. The shift to winter is palpable and I’m going to need a cup to get by. As a bonus, it was mixed and packaged by a friend of our child.

Late Friday afternoon, the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services reported the first case of bird flu jumping to a human in the state. According to the release,

The individual was exposed to infected poultry while working with a commercial flock in northwest Iowa. The individual reported mild symptoms, has received appropriate treatment and is recovering. The case was identified through testing at the State Hygienic Laboratory and confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As of December 20, 2024, the CDC has reported 64 confirmed human cases of H5 HPAI across nine states. The majority of the exposures are linked to infected poultry or dairy cows. There is no evidence that human-to-human transmission of influenza A(H5) is occurring in the U.S.

With all the egg production in Iowa, this was bound to happen. It could be a big deal, and it could be close to nothing. Time will tell.

No one wanted to shut down the government right now and the Congress didn’t yesterday. I don’t presume to know what the president-elect and his wealthy sidekick were thinking about this. I do know:

  • A continuing resolution was passed until March 14, which gives the new administration the ability to influence budget going forward. Everything else we heard in the media during the last 72 hours has been posturing.
  • Democrats would like to eliminate the debt ceiling completely, and this wasn’t the time for partial measures. They rejected the president-elect’s proposal to suspend the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is a leftover policy from World War I.
  • The Republican House could not pass a CR without Democrats helping them get the two thirds majority needed. The final CR had bipartisan, bicameral support, which is the way it is supposed to work, sort of.
  • If the Republican House had been doing their work and passed all of the funding bills in regular order, in a bipartisan way, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.
  • The main news media wants there to be a lot of drama because it helps their bottom line. Over-dramatization of the lack of a budget was, in part, the media’s doing.
  • In the end, what was expected to happen did.

While reading my 1981 journal I found a record of dreams of Mark Twain visiting one of my fellow Army officers, and Norman Mailer, at whose home I arrived by water landing. I don’t know what either of them meant. I do not dream about writing or celebrities that much. What I like is talking about writing with friends.

The lake trail walk will be chilly this morning, with ambient temperatures in the high teens and low twenties. As soon as the sun rises, I plan to get out on the trail.

Categories
Living in Society

Late September Travel

Hay Bales

Iowa farmers are harvesting soybeans. It seems early, yet when the beans are ready, they are ready. I’ve been burning up Interstate 80 on family business for a few weeks and in addition to changing colors in fields, the soybean harvest is the most prominent activity. Corn is Iowa’s biggest crop yet there remains a lot of green in the leaves, indicating it’s too moist to harvest.

A few farmers have been harvesting hay in large round bales. Iowa generates some $119 million worth of hay each year. It ranks in the top ten commodities. Hay holds a dim lamp to the major crops of corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, chicken eggs, and dairy products.

I don’t particularly like all the driving of late. At least I can pay attention to something uniquely Iowan. When I returned home I grabbed a bucket and picked some tomatoes. The tomato harvest has been abundant, although it will soon be over. I found nice ones on the vines, though.

This week I made it into the clinic for my six-month check up and the news was not good. I was referred to an outside clinic for a foot problem, and had a chest x-ray which revealed liquid in my lungs. My numbers on the blood test are mostly okay, yet some important ones are going the wrong direction. There will be reconsideration of lifestyle once I get beyond today’s political events. I know now that changing my exercise routine and eating habits are both necessary.

September is not over yet it has been a pisser. The six-month check up served its purpose, even if I don’t like what I am seeing. As we support family in Des Moines, I’ll be seeing more of the fall harvest as days unfold.

Categories
Living in Society

Neglecting Public Health

Tobacco smoke. Photo by Jill Burrow on Pexels.com

I spent six years on my county’s board of health. It was the most substantial volunteer work I have done. We touched upon almost every aspect of the community and it felt like we were making a difference. Under Republican leadership the state’s public health system is getting worse.

Let’s talk about cancer. According to the Iowa Cancer Registry, an estimated 21,000 Iowans will be diagnosed with cancer in 2024. Iowa has the fastest-growing rate of new cancers and the second-highest rate of new cancers in the country, according to the report. Breast cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer make up 40.5 percent of new cancer diagnoses. Iowa deaths from cancer are trending down, yet at what point will increases in diagnosed cancers take the death rate another direction?

Is alcohol use about personal freedom or regulation? Iowa has the fourth highest rate of binge drinking in the country, which the Centers for Disease Control defines as five or more drinks on one occasion for men and four or more for women. When that is the case, public health should be stepping in. In part, that is why we study data. Alcohol is a leading cause of cancer, among other maladies.

Are decisions to use tobacco also personal? I suppose so, yet there are more than 345,000 Iowans who smoke cigarettes and our smoking rate remains above the national average of 12.9%. Tobacco use is also a leading cause of cancer.

What is the Republican-led state government doing about tobacco use? On April 18, the Iowa House passed HF2673 to eliminate the state’s longstanding Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program. The law would place tobacco prevention under a larger agency along with programs related to gambling, substance abuse, and addiction disorders. After previously passing the Senate, Governor Reynolds is expected to sign the bill. The FY25 Health and Human Services state budget bill currently being considered also eliminates dedicated funding for the state’s tobacco prevention program.

Don’t get me started on pesticide use, air quality, and water pollution.

As a former member of the county board of health, I know a lot of activity is based upon how the state and federal governments set regulations and requirements. What is now happening is an unseen erosion of public health that will eventually take a noticeable toll. A good public health program is about prevention. Under Republican governance, prevention is not as important as it once was.

Here is a link to the Iowa Democratic Party to get involved today.