Friday Fish Wrap: March 12, 2010

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
English novelist (1812 - 1870)

This pretty much describes my week.

I wavered wildly between being an absolute idiot/jackass, and reasonably wise/nice person. I think I may have suffered whiplash of the soul.

The good news: I may be on the road to learning and personal growth.

Fortunately, a great day skiing makes it seem so much better - at least temporarily - that you believe you can get through it. I took Thursday as a mental health day on the slopes.

The really bright moment was friend Russ finding out, after a full knee replacement, that he can again ski the entire mountain. If you need one of these operations, I really would suggest the University of Utah. Their work seems to speak for itself, and only about two months out from his surgery.

How cool is that? This was perhaps the third or fourth run, down Kit Carson this time, and he did Northwest twice.

Talking about medical stuff. My left arm feels like a sore pin cushion after getting four shots - the second in the Hepatitis series of three, Meningitis, a polio booster with DTaP, and H1N1. Then we brought home Typhoid tablets on ice.

I’m still waiting on permission from the cancer docs down in Houston to get the Yellow Fever vaccination next month. Then there will be the Anti-Malaria pills to take.

All in preparation for going to West Africa in June.

Jeeze. I hope the pictures really turn out swell.

You want to know what it cost? $500.00 for Mr. Maven and I.

Jeeze.

I have to tell you though, if you are planning a big expedition to the ends of the world, the Travel Immunization Clinic at St Marys Regional Medical Center here in Reno, Nevada is top flight.

They go us right in, and the nurse was fully conversant in everything we needed to have and why. She brought up the latest CDC alerts on the countries we’d be in, and carefully advised us - taking our individual medical histories into account. She was able to give us all the shots right then, that she could - the Yellow Fever thing being a bit of a hangup.

Mr. Maven and I were both impressed. The price impressed us too.

But that’s the cost of it everywhere here from what I’m told. Natacha, on the other hand, paid a ittsy-bitsy fraction of that back in Africa.

Jeeze.

Now, before I end this post: I want all of you to read the comment that a faithful reader placed on my Impurely Maven post about Mandates. Scroll to the end.

Seriously, I haven’t had the courage to relate all my cancer story. ColinSailor did.

Rock on, ColinSailor.

I’m going to quit whining about the right side of my chest being a scarred crater of skin grafts with subdermal adhesions that are pulling right side of my ribcage bizarrely forward and out of alignment.

For all those who think that once you’re done with cancer treatment - you’re just all cured and it’s neatly over - well, it’s just not that simple.

Anyway, Colin’s story is a wonderfully compelling personal narrative that anybody who opposes health care reform should read. I hope they will, because it could change they way they think about health care.

Oh, and other aside in this same vein.

My brother-in-law, down in Florida (which only exists to make Nevada look good by comparison) has a very serious heart problem. Since he is a German citizen, he will probably go to Berlin for surgery.

My sister-in-law and he are trying to keep their heads from exploding each time they dine at the country club down there, listening to the doddering old “I’ve got mine” bunch who are still trying to sell the fantasy that the United States has the very best medical care in the world.

Klaus would beg to differ. The hospital he will probably go to in Berlin has some of the leading, cutting-edge cardiac care in the world. The Russian president just checked himself in there.

I think I’ll go read a book for a while now. I don’t feel like talking politics in this post.

Bye.

I’ll let myself out.

Comments

[ColinFromLasVegas]

Thanks, maven, for mentioning me in your article. You flatter me. I'm not worthy.

I enjoy your views from northern Nevada and will continue reading.

And every once in awhile, I'll add my stupid comments and add my two cents worth.

What am I up to now? I think it's about $27.92.....