A protective eye

Mr. and Mrs. S. are both 80 years old.

They were in a terrible accident a little over a year ago.

They were told they should have died.

They escaped with relatively minor injuries.

Mrs. S. wasn't surprised.

They have had a turkish evil eye hanging from their car rear view mirror for many years.

I'm really happy it worked for them!

"Attempts to ward off the curse of the evil eye has resulted in a number of talismans in many cultures. As a class, they are called "apotropaic" (Greek for "prophylactic" or "protective," literally: "turns away") talismans, meaning that they turn away or turn back harm."

Ashes of "T (ime)"

Is it Chihuahua or Chiwawa?

I can never remember.

Regardless, Mr. and Mrs. L., who are both in their 90's, have had a number over the years.

They all had names that began with a "T."

When last at their home I met Toby.

When I returned for a second visit, Toby was no where in site.

I inquired.

He had recently died.

Mrs. T. then asked me to follow her to the fireplace mantle.

There sat a picture of Toby next to an urn with his ashes.

Next to Toby's picture was a picture of Tina with a small urn, that was next to a picture of Tiny with a small urn, that was next to a picture of Tubby with a small Urn and that was next to a picture of Trixy with a small urn.

It's quite a memorial.

A wonderful tribute to an incredibly faithful breed of man's best friend.

Mrs. L. let me know that they aren't planning on getting another due to their age.

I sort of bet things might change if/when someone happens to show up at their home with a Chihuahua puppy.

Hopefully, if that happened, they would be able to come up with another name starting with a "T."

A 1/2 page summary

The CDC recently released a 50 page article entitled, "The State of Aging & Health in America 2013:"

http://www.cdc.gov/features/agingandhealth/state_of_aging_and_health_in_america_2013.pdf

For those who want to save some time here's a brief summary:

Get Screened (when clinically appropriate)-less than half of men and women aged 65 years or older are up-to-date on preventative services

Get vaccinated

Be Physically Active

Eat Fruits and Vegetables Daily

Quit Smoking

Take Medication for High Blood Pressure if needed

She's outstanding in her field

I was looking over a resume today and the applicant stated, on a cover letter, that she had a panoply of experiences that would make her a great fit for the position.

Most define panoply as "a wide-ranging and impressive display or array; a magnificent or impressive array."

I had to look it up.

Good word.

It's great to know she thinks so highly of her past work experiences.

A wild and crazy couple

My wife and I did something we had never done before last night while out on a date at a restaurant we had never been to before.

We felt pretty sneaky and very risque.

We're not sure if anyone noticed but since we were feeling so bold we didn't even care.

We...walked out after looking at the menu and the prices (we were already seated and had already been served water).

It seemed like a normal restaurant and not too fancy but we couldn't help but wonder if the owner previously had an establishment in South Beach.

Everything was expensive and a la carte.

The least expensive item was a hamburger-it was $24.00.

A side order of fries was $6.00.

We went to Five-guys instead.

We went home full and with a lot more money left in our pockets.

Oops!

It always amazes me how many patients report that their narcotic medications accidentally fell into the toilet.

I get a kick out of thinking they actually expect me to believe that they precariously perched their narcotics on the edge of the toilet hoping they wouldn't fall in.

A colleague recently sent me a note on a short article that outlines factors involved in prescription abuse.

One is that the provider falls for the hydrophilic medicine excuse when the patient states the medications fell into the toilet, sink or any other container containing water.

I won't say I've never been duped by it but I usually let certain patients know that lightening can only strike once in regards to narcotic medications.

Fool me once...

Compliments always appreciated

Mr. and Mrs. S. have been married for 71 years.

He's 93 and she's 92.

They met in their high school home room.

"What was the first thing he said to you?" I asked.

He said, "Hello Blondie. I really like your hair. He was always so complimentary before we got married but not so after marriage. A woman has to wait a long time for a compliment after she's married."

I obviously struck a cord.

She also has significant caregiver stress.

He developed Dementia a few years ago and she's cognitively intact.

I did let her know I would have our social worker talk to her about looking into some respite care in the home.

I also made a mental note to be even more complimentary to my wife of 21 years.

Always open

I went to a pretty rural section of Central Florida yesterday to see a patient.

Within a less than 10 mile radius I passed three churches:

1. Open Door Bible Church

2. Open Gospel Bible Church

3. Open  Book Bible Church

It seemed like a great place to live.

The folks there are well covered.

They can walk through an Open Door of any Church and hear the Gospel from the Book.

I wonder if that's what the churches had in mind all along?

One busy dude

A new patient had a thick medical file.

Unfortunately, he had also been Baker Acted (admitted to a psychiatric facility against his will due to an acute emotional decline) a few times over the last year or two.

In looking over the records, on every admission LEO was involved:

"After being seen by LEO, he was Baker Acted;""LEO was notified and he was Baker Acted;" "the family called LEO and then he was Baker Acted."

LEO seemed to be available 24/7.

WHO WAS LEO?

I hate asking stupid questions of co-workers so of course I goggled "LEO and Baker Act," and up popped the answer to the identity of LEO:

" A Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) is usually involved to help carry out a Baker Act..."

Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin' into the future...

Mr. and Mrs V. have a strong desire to stay at home.

She's 97 and he's 93 years old.

They live in a mobile home park and three different residents, of the same park, rotate shifts to help care for them 24/7.

Connie, a next door neighbor, helps to coordinate everything.

The day and evening shift (from 8 am until 10 pm) get paid $10/hour and the night shift (10 pm-8 am) makes an even $25 (for the shift to sleep in their home and be available for emergencies).

It's $165/day, approximately $4950/month and about $60,000/year for their 24/7 care.

They're rapidly going through their life savings.

They been given other options.

However, they love their home and don't want to think about moving.

I don't know which will run out first; their time or their money.

Music for romance

Mr. C. has been sick for awhile.

He lost a lot of weight but his wife knows he's starting to improve.

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Two reasons, " she stated, "he recently started to play his guitar again, which he hadn't wanted to do the entire time he was ill, and his penis is starting to grow and get hard again. It was shriveling up while he was ill. We're both glad to see it starting to come around again (She grinned)."

He's 82 years old and they've been married almost 60 years.

I think her clues to his recovery are probably as good as, or much better than any sophisticated medical test could possibly be.

Independence Day 2013

• The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation-Woodrow Wilson
• This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave-Elmer Davis
• If our country is worth dying for in time of war let us resolve that it is truly worth living for in time of peace-Hamilton Fish

The most beautiful legs in Trinidad

Mr. T. met his wife in Trinidad.

He was stationed there while in the Navy and she had recently moved there from St. Vincent for a job.

They dated only a few months before they eloped.

They report neither knew each others age until they filled out the marriage certificate.

It was only then that they realized he, at age 20, was seven years younger than her.

"She had Betty Grable legs...she was so beautiful...I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of getting married. When I left for boot camp my mother told me to bring back a souvenir from wherever I ended up. She was my souvenir."

They married 64 years ago (he's now 84 and she's 91).

She was wearing long pants.

I admit I was curious (to see her legs) but didn't ask!

Excavation

During the question and answer period, an individual asked why it seemed the transgender surgery for male to female was so much more advanced (and successful) than the transgender surgery for female to male.

I'm sure it wasn't the first time the speaker had been asked this question but he gave a thoughtful pause before answering, "frankly, it's much easier to make a hole than a pole."

Most of the audience nodded in agreement (and did a good job of not laughing too loudly).

I'm a cissy!

I went to a talk today on working with transgender and transsexual patients.

In the midst of many definitions, I found it interesting to learn that if a person's self perception of their gender matches the sex they were assigned at birth they are now, from a research standpoint, being called a cisgendered individual.