Rare complication...PO Day 263

In a July 2013 issue of the Washington Post there was an article about a woman, Jan Harrod,who had  undergone  shoulder   replacement surgery following unsuccessful conservative treatment for damage to her shoulder in a fall. While the patient had a good mechanical result, she could move her arm well, she continued to suffer unrelenting pain.

Visits to her surgeon and consultations with other specialists had not solved the problem. She underwent invasive procedures to look for and fix possible reasons for the pain. Nothing helped. Infection of the surgical site was suspected but ruled out.

In a casual conversation with a distant relative, her brother was reminded of her lifelong allergy to nickel, a metal often found in inexpensive jewelry. Since childhood she would react to exposure as if she had been around poison ivy. The brother mentiond it to his sister but she assured him the implant was made of titanium. Actually, there had not been much discussion about the material the implant was made of, she has just read it was titanium. No problem.

But at her next consultation with an orthopedic specialist she mentioned her allergy to nickel. He revealed that, while the implant was mostly titanium, there were some other metals involved, nickel among them. Lots of tests confirmed her allergy to the metal and the extreme solution of replacing the prosthesis with a custom one, totally made of titanium, was decided on.

At the time of the article appearing, she was doing very well. Her surgery was successful and she was finally pain free. It's natural to assume the lifelong allergy was causing the trouble. It's impossible to know for sure. But hers is a cautionary tale to anyone anticipating joint replacement surgery. If you have had any severe allergy be sure to mention it to your surgeon.

You can google the article by By Sandra G. Boodman July 22, 2013 in the Washington Post.

St. Somebody...PO Day 262

The culmination of the closet chaos was to take things to the local thrift shop. I love that it is here. I find it difficult to throw away useful items but have no problem donating or giving them away. And shopping there is fun and inexpensive. It is totally staffed by volunteers so it's a true charity operation. When they first opened I could not remrmber the name of the saint after which the catholic charity that runs it is called. So I started referring to it as St. Somebody's and the name has stuck. I really didn't mean it irreverently, more just smart aleck, I guess.

Anyway, I was there to donate. The volunteer ladies were engaged with a shopper, helping her
pick out clothes and shoes. It was as if they were helping Michele Obama shop. It turns out the fortyish woman is homeless and has been living in a tent in the woods. Someone stole all her belongings so she only had the things she was wearing. The local police had brought her to the thrift shop to see if they could help her.

I was so sad to realize homelessness is so close to my home. I was so moved by the care and attention the volunteers were giving her. I was impressed by how grateful the recipient of the help was. And I was pleased to see how helpful the local police were rather than just trying to move her along.

I don't know what will become of her. We don't have a local homeless shelter. What small assistance our community has is for women with young children. I hope she's not back sleeping in the woods but she probably is. Bless her heart, I hope she is safe. The volunteers took up a small collection from  workers and customers to help her a little. It's a drop in the bucket.

But the problem is bigger than just that one person. I fear she is the tip of the iceberg. We are told that most people are one paycheck from being homeless. Are there dozens of such people, unseen but moving on the edge of our community? Our little thrift shop supports only local people who are in need. Sometimes they supply clothing, often gasoline gift cards, food items, and occasionly rent money. But the need is always greater than the resources available.

I will keep donating and shopping. That's a small contribution. We also make a donation occasionally.  Mainly I think I will show a little respect and start calling them by their proper name, Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Fish for dinner...PO Day 261

We all seem to have gotten the message to eat more fish but we aren't getting the follow up message about the dangers of fish laced with Mercury. Maybe the "powers that be" aren't getting the message out to us.

Factories and power plants are spewing fumes loaded with mercury. The air-borne contaminated air settles and the Mercury concentrates in bodies of warer, streams, lakes and  oceans. The fish absorb the Mercury and the fish at the top of the food chain have the highest levels of mercury. These include tilefish, shark, swordfish, King mackerel and tuna.

Consumer Reports has criticized the FDA for failing to alert people to the danger of Mercury in a diet. It has long been recommended that pregnant women and children should avoid the suspect fish but Consumer  Reports advises no one should be eating canned tuna or tuna sushi. And if you are eating more than 24 ounces of fish a week you should be avoiding the fish high in Mercury.

You can read about the problem in the February 20 issue if The Week. In the meantime, skip the tuna sub for lunch.

Where is Willet? PO Day 260

It all started about three days ago when the closet chaos caught up with the clothes horse and she couldn't stand it anymore. Now clutter doesn't usually bother her. In fact, clutter can be kind of comforting...all your favorite stuff tucked around you. But even Willet began to feel oppressed by the disorganization. Unworn clothing, out of style shoes and purses, unreachable sweaters, jackets that aspire to vintage but really are just old, suits that boast linebacker style shoulder pads, too small slacks- too large dresses, a sequined jacket from the 80, a favorite coat but too much for florida, etc., etc., etc.

Sorting begat  trying on. Shoes had to be worn, tried to see if they pinched toes. Bags filled with rejects, perfectly wearable relics of past parties, previous pastimes, and prior peccadilloes.  A small stack of sewing projects, repairs or remodels, grew. Long pajama bottoms became short. An ankle length dress became more practical at knee length. Shoulder pads were snipped out and discarded. Bell bottom jeans ... Now we get to the point of the story.

It's no small project to convert boot cut or bell bottom jeans to the new ankle length skinny leg jeans. The flat felled seam, double stitched, has to be picked loose. The hem, also double stitched, is ripped out. A new side seam is marked and stitched. Double check to be sure the legs are the same width at the bottom. The raw edges have to be edge stitched to prevent fraying. Finally, the narrow hem is resewn. Almost finished but Disaster!!! It's hard to explain what happened. Forcefully cutting a thick tab of doubled denim, the tip of the left index finger met the fulcrum of the strong sewing shears as they burst through the fabric obstacle. Unfortunately flesh yielded more readily to the scissors than did the denim.

So now the two fingered ipad typist is a one fingered iPad typist. It's a temporary handicap but it totally chills enthusiasm for creating the written word. Dear husband has offered to be the chief cook and bottle washer but no offers of being a ghost writer are forthcoming. All this just when its time to do the taxes...is there any chance for an extension?

Under construction

Today's blog will be a little late. It should be up by noon.

Loss of muscle tone...PO Day 259

How have I been so unobservant? This didn't happen yesterday. My right arm is the operated shoulder side. And my right upper arm looks like a raisin, an old shriveled up raisin. I guess the muscle has withered enough to allow, even encourage, the skin to sag. I haven't been remiss in using the arm but there was a long period of forced inactivity.

I guess the lack of strength should have been a clue that the muscle was out of order. It's been a year and a half since I broke the shoulder and eight months since rTSA surgery. So that arm has been just hanging around all that time. Muscles atrophy without use. I knew that. I just didn't realize it would happen to my muscles!

But I looked in the mirror today and there was no denying it...My right arm looks a hundred years old. I admit my arms are old lady arms already. But I didn't use to be embarrassed by them. I wore sleeveless shirts without a second thought. But now....well, thank goodness it is winter and long sleeves or jackets are de rigueur.

The only thing to do is put that arm to work even more. We'll see if I am able to build some muscle again. I guess this reveals my true priorities...I could ignore the weakened arm but the saggy look demands drastic action. 

Peanut allergy....PO Day 258

You hear a lot about children and peanut allergies these days. Schools have peanut free tables in the lunch room. I was on a flight one time when the flight attendant announced there would be no packets of nuts dispensed as there was a child with an allergy on board. Product labels warn if the factory also processed foods containing peanuts. No wonder. The possible risk of exposure is frightening, possibly deadly.

But...recent news questions the current belief that one should prevent exposure to the nuts. I am just copying and pasting here recent news.

A study suggesting that exposing kids at risk for peanut allergy to peanuts may actually help prevent an allergy was covered by all three of last night’s national news broadcasts for a total of more than four minutes. The study also received extensive coverage online and in print. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which provided funding for the trial, is quoted in nearly every article. Most sources tout the study, with some calling the findings a “landmark” or “ground-breaking.”

        The CBS Evening News (2/23, story 5, 1:56, Pelley) reported, “A new medical study...could transform the way doctors prevent peanut allergies. Turns out keeping kids away from peanuts may be the wrong thing to do.” ABC World News (2/23, story 6, 1:42, Muir) and NBC Nightly News (2/23, story 4, 0:31, Holt) also discussed the study during their respective broadcasts.

        The AP (2/24, Marchione) reports that the research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, “involved more than 600 children ages 4 months to 11 months old,” all of whom “were thought to be at risk for peanut allergy because they were allergic to eggs or had eczema.”

        The New York Times (2/24, Pollack) “Well” blog reports that these children “were randomly assigned either to be regularly fed food that contained peanuts or to be denied such food.” Those “feeding patterns continued until the children were 5 years old.”
   USA Today (2/24, Szabo) reports that “babies regularly given peanuts for at least four years cut their risk of peanut allergy by an average of 81%, compared with children who avoided peanuts.” 
These “results are ‘without precedent,’ said” Dr. Fauci, who added that “the results have the potential to transform how we approach food allergy prevention.”

        The Washington Post (2/24, Bernstein) “To Your Health” blog reports, “An accompanying editorial described the research as a ‘landmark study,’ called for quick issuance of new guidelines on peanut consumption by children and recommended that some infants between the ages of four and eight months who are at risk for the allergy be started on small amounts of peanut protein.”

I WOULDN'T FOLLOW THIS ADVICE WITHOUT TALKING TO MY DOCTOR!