Laurie, failed health care, crystals & shells

[Guest guest]

Just starting to catch up on the message board after my two weeks in the

hospital (see my

8/6 post or Member Stories for details). Getting stronger, but sometimes hard

to get food

down. My stomach doesn't seem to like having a new hole in it, and I have lots

of

spontaneous burping. Maybe sphincter spasms like so many members have, or

reaction to

the ulcers that appear around the incision on endoscopy pics that doc says

should go

away. I am glad I was able this week to get out and call on two of the shut-ins

I was

regularly visiting for the county and our caring neighbor program.

Laurie, I can't thank you enough for the articles you sent, especially the

surgical text

excerpts that helped me understand the various surgical alternatives. Your 8/11

post re

having a plan to end it all was so well said. The closest I have been to that

was the post-

op bleeding I described in my 8/6 post and Member Story. The fact that no

doctor was

available seemed at the time a failure of the care system, and as I said, I had

resigned

myself to death. Fortunately the nurses attending me apparently knew what they

were

doing, and I was in little pain. It does seem to me that one significant risk

of failure of the

system is that it shuts down on weekends, Except for slowing the bleeding, no

corrective

action was taken from Friday evening when it occurred until Monday, and even

then when

endoscopy did not reveal the problem, angiography and the resulting angiography

was not

scheduled until Tuesday. As you say, we can't force the system to give us care.

Anyway, I

must say that as long as your health allows you the ability to help and comfort

others as

you so effectively do, your life is worth living.

I see you had a great vacation rock and fossil hounding in Montana. Your

mention of

being paranoid about breaking those prized crystals reminds me of a car trip to

Florida

with my parents in the 50's when i began to collect sea shells at Sanibel Island

and

elsewhere. Always a nature freak, I was fascinated with their tremendous

variety and color

variations. I also found some starfish and horseshoe crabs which were not fully

dried out,

so my dad put them between the radiator and grill for the trip back to

Wisconsin. At a

service station somewhere in Georgia I think, an attendant opened the hood to

check our

oil & water (yes, kiddies, they actually did that in those days when you bought

gas), and

remarked " I see you keep the stinky stuff up here. "

Over the next few years I collected more shells at Atlantic and Pacific beaches,

and

purchased some of the more unusual varieties from mail-order suppliers that

cater to

shell collectors. I pretty much gave up the hobby when I started college, but I

still have my

25-drawer home-made cabinet with about 800 specimens, labeled with scientific &

common name and collection site. About 50% are self-collected and the rest

worldwide,

largely from the south Pacific.

Even before my acute attack in 2004, I had begun disposing of many of my books,

music

recordings, and other " stuff " that a lifetime of wide interests led me to

accumulate.

Realizing that the next generation doesn't want much in their homes other than

today's

newspaper, I tried for the past two years to find a non-profit that would accept

donation

of my collection, so I could at least take a modest tax deduction for it. Ebay

or Craigslist

would likely yield a small fraction of the replacement cost, and since many are

breakable,

it would be a horrendous task to pack & ship them anywhere. I have tried

museums,

children and nature museums, conchological groups, schools, and colleges in

Northern

California with no luck. Some promised to look at them, but never showed up. I

would

stuff the drawers with packing and transport them myself as far as 500 miles

from

Sacramento if I knew of an assured recipient. If anyone has any suggestions,

let me know.

Hard for me to relegate such beauty to the dumpster.

You aptly describe the (normal) Wisconsin summer weather as 90's, humid, and

sunny,

with afternoon thunderstorms (which immediatly after their passage brought more

heat

and humidity). Too bad this year its drought instead. Summer with or without

drought

plus the 10-foot snowdrifts were what got me to take a job in California in

1963. Here in

" River City " we have to live with 105 degree plus afternoons though for a few

weeks in July

& August. You said at least no mosquitos due to the dryness. Here this summer

the West

Nile Virus arrived via mosquitos, and its not only sickening people and horses,

but

destroying the birds. Carson's " Silent Spring " seems to have arrived,

but not from

pesticides as she predicted. A tragedy for a nature-lover like me if the bird

population

doesn't come back.

I pray that your current difficulties (dizziness, etc) are quickly relieved.

God bless you.

Kurt (CA)