I got the bill for my ER trip back in December. I think they were trying to give me a heart attack so I would come back again! MY portion, after insurance, is almost $600. The total bill was over $2000. That's absolutely insane! I told Marianne that the next time I'm having chest pain, I'd rather just keel over and die than pay that again!
Recently in Health Category
I saw this story over on Medgadget about a "very experimental" technology called the Electronic Nerve Stimulation that has allowed a paralyzed woman to stand up and walk. That is just AMAZING! I still hold out hope that someday stem cell research will find a way to actually CURE paralysis, but this is a great intermediate step!
This one doesn't do me a lot of good, but for those (like my Mother) who have veins that are hard to find this one could be a God send!
"The VeinViewer by Luminetx™ uses a combination of near-infrared light and patented technologies to image vascular structures, thus allowing physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals to clearly see accessible vasculature (or lack
thereof) in real time, directly on the surface of the skin. "
This could make those days of getting stuck over and over while they try to find a vein a thing of the past!! Very Cool!
Gelstat Corporation has teamed up with other Migraine Fighting organizations. They are sponsoring the non-profit migraine disease awareness and support program "Fighting Migraine
Disease." They also launched a program whereby $0.50 will be donated
to migraine-related non-profit organizations for each coupon redeemed off its website (http://www.gelstat.com/newcoupon.asp).
Read more about it at prnewswire.com
I have the official word on the Gelstat Sinus release date. It appears that they put it off a little in favor of getting Gelstat Arthritis onto the market. Gelstat Sinus is now expected to be available through their online store in the third quarter.
I had a migraine last night. It's the first one I've had in a few months. I'm happy to have gone so long without one. I'm also happy I had some Gelstat Migraine on hand. This time, I can definitely say that Gelstat kicked my migraines ass. The bad side is that the sublingual application method feels a little odd and it doesn't taste all that great. The good side is that my migraine was subdued in less than 15 minutes and completely gone in about 30. I'll take two applications of 60 seconds each over a migraine any day.
About.com did a product review of Gelstat Migraine and gave it 5 stars. There are also several articles on the web from doctors who are starting to use it as another treatment. Have you tried it? I'd LOVE to hear from anyone else who has tried it. You can leave a comment here or email me at blog@mjonesweb.com.
While I'm on the subject, I received a sample of the prototype for Gelstat Sinus back in January. I have used it and I found it to be about as effective as Nasonex. I'll see if I can get an update on its release date.
According to the May 2005 issue of Men's Health:
Science is getting to the root of Migraines. Recent research from the Albert Einstein college of medicine shows that an herbal extract called butterbur can cut the frequency of migraines in half -- welcome news for the 6 percent of men who experience these crushing headaches. In a study of 202 people, those given a 150 milligram (mg) does of butterbur daily reported a 48 percent reduction in the number of migraines suffered, compared with a 26 percent drop in those popping a placebo. "We don't know exactly how butterbur reduces the frequency of migraines," says lead researcher Richard Lipton M.D., "but perhaps it acts as an anti-inflammatory agent." For the best results, Dr. Lipton recommends buying a supplement made from only the plant's root, such as Petadolex brand (vitaminshoppe.com)
Apparently, the Catholic Church figured the best way to avoid the ethical problems with embryonic stem cells was to fund research of other stem cells... whatever works!!!
Wired magazine has a cool article on creating a "virtual you" to find out what ails you and to test treatments. They will take a DNA sample and a quick CT scan and model your body and internal organs. No longer will you try this medication or have that operation until it's been put to the test virtually in the computer. Very Cool. It's well under way, but still a long way off from hitting the mainstream.
I went back to the ENT doc for a follow up today. Basically, the drugs (entex and nasonex) haven't really helped. He said the next avenue is surgery. Endoscopic sinus surgery and possibly septoplasty. I had him write it down so I could do some research on it first. I'm not too fond of the idea of surgery, but I'm not too fond of constant sinus pain / pressure either. I think I'm going to take the next couple of weeks during my Hawaii trip and try out the Gelstat Sinus sample I have received. If it's bad enough that they are suggesting surgery then I don't hold out much hope for the Gelstat to help, but I'm willing to give it a shot.
I received an email from Stephen C. Roberts, M.D. He is the CEO of GelStat and managed to find my previous blog entries on Gelstat Migraine. He was interested in my opinions of the product and offered to send me some samples. I agreed to the samples as long as he was ok with my giving an HONEST opinion of the product on my blog. He said, and I quote, "We love honesty."
It's nice to see a company actively researching what the "common man" thinks of their products. I find it even more surprising that the CEO takes the time to do the interaction himself. He emailed me and he actually read my reply. How refreshing is it to find TRUE customer care in today's corporate world?
I went to the Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) doc today. This is a continuation of my sinus pressure issue. He took a look at my sinus CT scan films (that the radiologist had reported as "normal with indications of allergies") and said "Well, they aren't EXACTLY normal". He then pointed out how my sinus passages were narrower than normal and several spots that "could be" a problem.
This also happened when I went to an ortho with back problems. He took one look at the MRI film and said "Sure, you have a little swelling in this disc", which is what the radiologist reported, "but the real problem are these stress fractures in the spine right here.".
Both times, the docs pointed things out to me and to me, they were QUITE obvious. For instance, the stress fractures had that entire spot on the spine AN ENTIRELY different color on the film. How can a trained technician miss something that stands out THAT much?
Of course, this IS coming from the same diagnostic center that reported my abdominal CT as "NORMAL" and then during another test a year later found out that I only have one kidney. HOW DO YOU MISS AN ENTIRE ORGAN???
I've basically come to the conclusion that all films should be taken out of the diagnostic center and actually read by a specialist.
Is this normal? Has anyone else experienced these problems, or is it just this particular diagnostic center?
CNN.com - Bush pushes for lawsuit limits - Jan 5, 2005
I don't know exactly how I feel about this issue. On one hand, the lawsuits drive up malpractice insurance. This drives up everyone’s medical bills. I know every year the cost of my medical insurance goes up as does the amount of the co-pay I have to pay. If my medical rates are getting high, and I have decent benefits, those who are paying 100% of their own insurance must be paying ridiculously high prices. Many can't afford to pay and therefore don't have ANY medical insurance. At the same time, those high malpractice insurance rates are slowly going to run the small doctors out of business because only the large hospitals will be able to afford them.
On the other hand, if I were to go in for surgery and the doctor amputated something he wasn't supposed to I think there is definitely some seriously justified compensation coming.
I think it all comes down to the need to stop FRIVOLOUS lawsuits. This isn't just in the medical arena, but everywhere. While the low lifes that are trying to get rich from suing people are definitely to blame, the courts are just as much to blame. When someone sues because they spilled coffee on themselves while driving down the road and it was *HOT* and WINS, the courts are just asking for more. (Personally, I think a lawsuit for the coffee being cold and crappy would be more reasonable :) )
Does anyone have any ideas on how to stop frivolous lawsuits? Or are payout limits the answer? Whatever the answer is, SOMETHING needs to change.
There are several articles on msnbc.com with more news on stem cell uses and research. As a matter of fact, there is so much stem cell news now that they have a Stem Cell Research Front Page.
Apparently, they have now found that "Urinary incontinence in women can be corrected by transplanting the patient’s own muscle-derived stem cells into the urethra to strengthen it". (more...) Since the vast majority of moral objections to stem cell research are about embryonic stem cells, it is encouraging to hear news about stems cells that come right from the patients own body.
California has passed a bill to spend $300 million dollars a year for ten years on stem cell research. (more...) Wisconsin has plans to invest $750 million in stem cell research. So while the Federal Government is restricting federally funded research sites, the states are throwing their money into the pot at a much greater rate than anything the Federal Government was spending anyway.
Will stem cells, maybe even ones taken right from our own bodies, turn out to be the miracle "cure all"???
This past weekend I had an occasion to try out the Gelstat. It is kind of odd to try and hold a liquid under your tongue for 60 seconds without swallowing. It did seem to help though. I have a lot of pressure from my sinuses right now which made it difficult to really tell the results, but the pressure subsided and the headache that usually follows the aura didn't materialize. I'll report again AFTER my sinus issues get solved.
I stumbled across a blog on Migraines. It is http://www.migrainedaily.com/. It contains a lot of information on things people are trying and links to interesting articles.
Mens Health magazine (Dec 04 issue) reports:
Mayo clinic researchers say the people with migraines often think they have sinus headaches, which prevents them from receiving the best treatment. When 100 patients who said they suffered from sinus headaches received neurological evaluations, 86 percent actually were found to have migraines, says study author Eric Eross, M.D. If you're plagues by headaches, visit a neurologist, who can give you a more accurate diagnosis than a family doctor or allergist.
It appears that scientists are starting to make some amazing breakthroughs using stem cells. A story in the Australian Herald Sun reports:
.
A SOUTH Korean woman paralyzed for 20 years is walking again after scientists say they repaired her damaged spine using stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood
And a LifeSite News article reports:
RIO DE JANEIRO, November 23, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Brazilian scientists have successfully transplanted adult stem cells into a woman's brain, facilitating her recovery from a brain hemorrhage that left her paralyzed and unable to talk.Maria da Graca Pomeceno, 54, had bone marrow stem cells taken from her pelvis and injected into her damaged brain. Local television broadcasts showed her walking up stairs and talking.
If these reports are true, then medical science is indeed taking some great strides forward. It would be wonderful if we could cure spinal cord and even brain injuries!
There is another story, however, that I find disturbing. It talks about injecting human stem cells into animals. This allows them to grow human organs, a liver or kidney for example, in an animal such as a sheep. This is all well and good for organ transplants. It is the injection of human stem cells into the brains of mice to grow mice with brains consisting of mostly "human" brain cells, along with other statements in this article that I find rather disturbing. A bioethicist, Joseph Fletcher, even "suggested that it would be ethical to create parahumans, e.g., human/animal hybrids to do dangerous and demeaning jobs." Do we REALLY need to do these kinds of things just because we CAN? Who gets to decide which actions are right and which are wrong? There are so many different countries in this world that have different views and ideals. One country may ban an action while another supports it.
The future excites me and scares me at the same time.
For those of you who have never been to the Allergist, let me explain what happens. They put a whole bunch of allergens on the skin of your forearm. They leave that on for 15 minutes and then check to see if anything reacted. For all of those things that do not react, they shoot some of the allergen under the skin. Then they let that sit for 15 minutes to see what reacts. Well, NONE of them reacted on my skin. That meant I had the joy of getting 24 shots today. Of those 24, only 1 showed any indications. So, I have a mild allergy to mold. The Doc gave me a nasal spray to try out and a follow up appointment in a month. He said if this doesn't help then the next step is to talk to an Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) doctor. We'll see how it goes.
My friend Julie called me this weekend and invited me to the White House Christmas party. I figured if I'm going to be partying with the President, I should probably have a new suit. I don't think my ONE suit which is about 8 years old and getting a little...ummm...tight...is the right thing to wear to a party like this. So I planned on going and buying a new suit after work today. I just couldn't do it though. My sinuses are killing me! I would normally take something to help that, but I have an appointment with the Allergist tomorrow and I'm not allowed to take anything for 72 hours prior to that appointment. Hopefully they will figure out my problem and give me some miracle drug to stop the sinus pressure. I've been fighting this problem for a year or two now. I went to the doctor and they sent me for a CT scan of my sinuses. That came back "Normal with indications of allergies". So this is the next step I guess.
Thankfully, I have a couple weeks before I REALLY need that suit!
I started grid computing with the SETI project. Then I switched over to something that hits a little closer to home. I have now donated over 3 years of CPU time to Grid.org. I originally signed on for their cancer research project and then allowed for all non-profit research. My CPU has worked on Cancer, Anthrax, Smallpox and now the Human Proteome Folding Project. While the app allows you to run it only when the screen saver kicks on, I allow it to run all the time and it rarely affects anything I'm doing. I highly recommend that you stop wasting all those spare CPU cycles. Put them to good use in helping the world cure disease (or find alien life). You can read about it at Grid.org. Then just download the app and let it run!
Would you know it. I forgot to bring in some gelstat to work with me today and I ended up with a Migraine. Thankfully it was minor and didn't last long. I REALLY hate the aura... That's what I get for saying yesterday that the migraines had been few and far between lately...
I bought "GelStat Migraine" at CVS today. You would think that it being in this big red box would have made it easy to find. It was on the bottom shelf near the aspirin section and took me about 15 minutes to find. It was $6.99 for 4 doses. It takes 2 doses spread 5 minutes apart which means it should be about $3.50 per migraine. That's cheap if it works. I'll try it out the next time I get a migraine and report on how it works. Thankfully, the migraines have been few and far between lately so, it could be a while.
I received my December 2004 issue of Popular Science and it has an article about the Charite Artificial disc. It is a medical implant to replace a spinal disc and is an option to the spinal fusion surgery. Since back problems run in my family and I've already been diagnosed with some spinal and disc problems, I'm happy to see advances in this area. It's been in use for many years in Europe, but just received FDA approval here in October 2004.
I found out today that there is a new migraine medicine on the market. It is called gelstat. It is basically feverfew and ginger in a gel that gets placed under the tongue for quick absorbtion. Since it is homeopathic, it's non-prescription. I'll try anything once if there's a chance it will get rid of a migraine. If you've tried it, I'd love to hear from you...
