Medicine 4 The Masses

Lots of meds here for everyone. 

What I want to know is what are in the 3 BIG vials at the top (in blue, green, and orange)?  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Ten ‘Points to Ponder’

 
Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Ten ‘Points to Ponder’.”

My dear father, Fred Blumenthal (ZT”L), like many from his generation, used to read Reader’s Digest. I remember that there was a section called “Points to Ponder,” which I thought was a good title for things that can have a deeper and more profound meaning in our lives. So in this vein, I’d like to share a variety of thoughts that may give you pause to ponder as well.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Facing Hardship, Finding Humility

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Facing Hardship, Finding Humility.”
Like Celine Dion, no matter how much fame, fortune, or power any of us amass in our lifetimes, none of these things make an iota of difference in the time of G-d’s eternal judgment of us. The only thing that matters and carries on are our good deeds!

When we are young and vibrant and the world seems so small in a way, we can tend to think we are invincible, but as we get older and more mature, we learn that everything we do in life that strays from the Almighty’s path for us has a price to be paid and a humbling before our Maker.

(Credit Photo: Anirudh Koul via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celine_Dion#/media/File:Celine_Dion_Concert_Singing_Taking_Chances_2008.jpg)

Sleep Apnea and Respiratory Disorders

The pharmacy now has all these options on display for respiratory disorders (Sleep Apnea, COPD, etc.)

You can get full face, nasal mask (2 versions), or nasal “pillows”.

How does one choose? I guess your doctor knows.

Looks challenging to try and sleep with these, but I guess you may have to do what you have to do. 

At least, there are therapeutic options these days, and hopefully many more in the future for all the illnesses out there!  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

 (Note: Not intended as medical advice in any way!)

Covid Ultimate Mr. Clean

Check out the ultimate Mr. Clean .

Not as good looking as the muscular bald guy.

But I have a feeling this colorful character gets the job done.

I wonder if Mr. Clean was transformed into this guy after he took the vaccine!  

I had the first dose yesterday, and I’m feeling horrible today.

Hopefully, it will all be worth it. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

What’s With This Crazy World?

I don’t recognize this world. 

This world has gone to sleep. 

It’s not the world of life I used to know. 

Now fear and isolation pervade about. 

Things aren’t even what they seem or they seem to be what they aren’t. 

Everything is glossed over and black and white are easily substituted. 

There used to be a moral ground and a forward path. 

Now you have to have a stronger faith and inner conviction than ever before. 

To see the light at the end of the tunnel and hope it’s the light we all yearn for.  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Horrors in U.S. Healthcare

So I have been sick the last 9 days, and don’t really know what it is (bad cold, flu, or Covid). 

But I am hearing that Covid is spiraling around just about every family that I know now. 

The new most contagious Covid variant is in at least 3 states, but I would suspect it’s in all of them by now.  We’ll find that out way after the fact. 

G-d only knows whether the Covid vaccines will work on the mutated Coronavirus and how this will impact the runaway pandemic.  Will it be back to the Vaccine drawing board?

While many healthcare workers have been extraordinary during these difficult times, I’ve been appalled at some recent cases of horrible care. 

Example 1:

Went to CVS Minute Clinic, they gave me some antibiotics, but said go this afternoon for a Covid test, which I had already booked prior at another CVS location that does the tests.  

I drive 10 miles sick to go there, and when I arrive they tell me, they don’t have my appointment anymore even though I show them “black and white” my confirmation!  “The system must’ve kicked you out because you were at another CVS earlier in the day.” I said, I need to be tested, and they were adamant that there was nothing they could do.  Their completely incompetent store manager told me to call and make another appointment for another day.  I said, I waited two days for this appointment, drove ten miles, and waited a long time on line.  He said, that’s too bad and I should call the 800 number if I wasn’t happy. I said, it’s your mistake, so you call the 800 number.  I told him I wasn’t leaving the line until they resolved this. The manager was a rude SOB, but finally one of the pharmacists said the nurse can put me back in the system and they would in fact see me. 

Well, lo and behold, a day passes, and I get a call the test didn’t work.  Make another appointment.  Ok, now I really have no choice.  I go to another CVS, this one was actually much better and gave comprehensive instructions on how to take the Covid test. So much for good CVS and bad CVS!  

Example 2:

Someone else in my family was sick and also goes to the CVS Minute Clinic.  They give her not much more than Tylenol.  But tell her to make another appointment to take care of her ear.  She makes an appointment, and I take her to yet another CVS location the next day.  Well guess what, the Physician’s Assistant refuses to treat her ear.  He sits us down and tells us that he has a wife and kids at home and doesn’t want to possibly get Covid since she was at the Minute Clinic the day before.  I explain that all they gave her was Tylenol.  He says, “Anything can be Covid!  And I’m not going to go in the room to clean out the ear for maybe 20 to 30 minutes.”  Well then why in the hell did this guy go into the medical profession?

Example 3:

I contact another pharmaceutical outlook (not CVS) for a prescription.  They quote me $2,500 dollars.  I say “That’s 10 tens what they usually charge me so there must be a typo.”  Oh no, that’s the price for the branded drug.  Maybe you meant the generic which is only $250!  Same drug but ten times the price!

I’m sorry folks our healthcare system in the U.S. is very broken indeed.  By calling attention to these things, I hope to bring positive change for all our sakes. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Vaccine: Too Little Too Late

So just about everyone I know now has Covid going all around them. 

Heard from 2  people in the last 2 days, and yet a 3rd person that died miserably from it this past week. 

Aside from almost 120,000 currently hospitalized, including 20,000 in the ICU, this thing is spinning rapidly out of control!

I am now convinced that by the time they get the vaccine out (and it’s going awfully slowly so far), it will be too little too late and almost everyone will already have had Covid. 

Incredible how many billions of dollars have been spent on the vaccine research, manufacturing, and now on the distribution, and frankly it will have been another great big wasted boondoggle.

Vaccinate away…despite the valiant efforts by many, it’s basically a throwaway for this round of the virus, and it all points to our woeful state of unpreparedness to begin with! 😉

(Credit Photo: Pixabay)

Vaccine Fears

So I was talking with someone about the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines coming out to protect again Coronavirus. 

They tell me that the news is reporting 95% effectiveness and then they pull out their smartphone and show me a cartoon of someone taking the vaccine and their face is all deformed (I won’t go into the details). 

So I ask him:

Are you going to talk the vaccine?

He says:

“No!”

I ask:

Do you take the flu vaccine?

Again he says :

No, it’s poison!

He thinks some more and says (jokingly, I believe):

And if some big burly guys try to hold me down and make me take it, I’ll tell them I’m gonna go out and get a gun and come back tomorrow and shoot them. 

Bottom line: there is some real fear and apprehension out there about these vaccines. 

And surely, some people do have negative effects–whatever that percentage is. 

Personally, I will take the vaccine. I would rather try and fail (hopefully not), than never try at all!  

How long the vaccine is effective for–that’s another matter all together. 😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Vise of Migraines

 This guy has his head in the grips of a vise.

Yet it’s, perhaps, not as bad as your typical horrible migraine. 

Actually, the pressure of a vise-like feeling may actually provide some sort of sick relief.   

Migraine headaches can be so incredibly debilitating. 

This guy looks like he needs to close the lights and lay down before his head pops! 

Consider taking some medication as per your doctor, ice packs also helpful, close your eyes, and say a prayer.  😉

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)