Something my uncle sent me...
A Holiday From Illness, All Too Fleeting (New York Times):I realized there must be something profound that I did not yet understand about being sick, despite working with sick people every day. Cause and effect, interventions and outcomes, costs and benefits: these are easy to contemplate when someone else has to take the pills twice a day, sit in the chair for four hours, have blood drawn every week. For my patient, being hooked up to a dialysis machine was one kind of illness, and taking pills that protected a new kidney from failure was another. Maybe for him there was only one kind of freedom, and it happened for a few days on holiday: no pills, no symptoms, no doctors, no disease.
Thought some folks could relate, in a way. On the one hand, yes, it seems it should be crystal-clear: if you stop taking pills to suppress your immune system, logically, your immune system will be no longer suppressed and thus free to kick some non-indigenous kidney ass. It's usually on the little stickers slapped on the bottles, "Don't stop taking this medication, even if you feel well." So it's probably not unreasonable to lack sympathy for a patient like this... but, on the other hand, I know how he feels.
Sorry for being so quiet lately (other than the occasional Youtube video). Haven't had much to say, and I know I should probably be able to come up with something a little more upbeat than a kidney transplant article. Made it in to work Wednesday night after being out for, Jesus, three weeks? Glad I still had a job -- they rearranged our department a bit while I was gone, so now I have twice as much desk space than I did before, which is sort of nice -- but it still wore me out. Body is driving me nuts this week. Brain's stupid from painkillers at the moment. I think there's really only one thing to do tonight: watch one of the Resident Evil movies and be stupid with my cats.
How the hell did May get here so fast?
Edit: Just so this post isn't a total downer, here's the AV Club being awesome and snarky about movies.
Thought some folks could relate, in a way. On the one hand, yes, it seems it should be crystal-clear: if you stop taking pills to suppress your immune system, logically, your immune system will be no longer suppressed and thus free to kick some non-indigenous kidney ass. It's usually on the little stickers slapped on the bottles, "Don't stop taking this medication, even if you feel well." So it's probably not unreasonable to lack sympathy for a patient like this... but, on the other hand, I know how he feels.
Sorry for being so quiet lately (other than the occasional Youtube video). Haven't had much to say, and I know I should probably be able to come up with something a little more upbeat than a kidney transplant article. Made it in to work Wednesday night after being out for, Jesus, three weeks? Glad I still had a job -- they rearranged our department a bit while I was gone, so now I have twice as much desk space than I did before, which is sort of nice -- but it still wore me out. Body is driving me nuts this week. Brain's stupid from painkillers at the moment. I think there's really only one thing to do tonight: watch one of the Resident Evil movies and be stupid with my cats.
How the hell did May get here so fast?
Edit: Just so this post isn't a total downer, here's the AV Club being awesome and snarky about movies.