LJ Idol Season 9 Week 18 - Had enough of Scheming
o/` "I've got the brains, you've got the looks
Let's make lots of money
You've got the brawn, I've got the brains
Let's make lots of -" o/`
-- "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" performed by Pet Shop Boys
When I'm too sick to do anything else, I recline on the couch and watch television. Most of the shows I do like are documentaries on obscure channels. That means I'm unlikely to run into commercials of any kind unless they're advertising another obscure channel's offerings or a different documentary. When Dee and Mr. Shapeshifter are at work, I watch crime dramas. My favorites are those which stick mostly to the case presented and steer clear of the politics: the early episodes of Law & Order and its cousin Law & Order SVU; NCIS; Criminal Minds. Unfortunately our aged DVR doesn't always assimilate the latest updates from DirecTV and that, combined with these shows being aired on more mainstream channels, means I will not always be able to fast forward through the commercials.
I particularly hate those which air between the midmorning and late afternoon. They're aimed at people like me --- the stay-at-home spouse, the chronically ill and disabled, the out of work and down on their luck crowd. These commercials hawk everything from losing those pounds to get a new man to a chance at a new reality through lawsuits which pay out enough for a lifetime of comfort. One of these commercials makes me see red every...single...damned...time.
They're not exactly selling lies, but the commercials don't give you the full truth either. I guess most Americans are inclined to believe something if it comes from a celebrity. I am not one of those because I have the disease for which they're advertising miracle cures.
I have severe inverse and plaque psoriasis with spondylitis and enthesitis (inflammation of the spine and of the tendons and ligaments connecting to the bones). Most people think of particularly heavy dandruff upon hearing the first but those plaques are a symptom of something much more sinister. The development of psoriasis is partially genetic but also involves other triggers such as stress and injury to the skin. Since I also have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (a genetic disease which impacts collagen tissues throughout the body especially skin), that's probably how my case evolved. The actual cause is unknown but seems related to the T cells in the immune system. Normally these cells would be fighting off foreign substances such as viruses, but mine got confused and attacked my own skin, tendons, and ligaments.
I went through the whole repertoire of topical treatment options and then moved on to oral medications. I take a medication normally used to treat cancer which destroys cells throughout the body --- all the symptoms of cancer treatment without the compassion or empathy. I've heard plenty of "Ew, go take a bath!" and "Look, a zombie" but never once did anyone say, "Shut up, she's taking chemotherapy." When the chemo wasn't enough, my doctor recommended biologicals. These types of treatments are the frontier in cancer and autoimmune treatment. The older ones impact all of the autoimmune cells; the newer therapies can be calibrated to a patient's weight for more effective dosage and can target just those naughty T cells. It's still chemotherapy but you have a better chance of remission and survival.
But they don't tell you that in the Enbrel commercial.
Phil Mickelson looks wonderfully healthy as he opens a jar without help in his parents' kitchen. He mentions having psoriatic arthritis and then talk to his rheumatologist about treating it with Enbrel. The tiny white print beneath him shaking hands with a smiling, compassionate doctor has probably been missed by most viewers: actor portrayal. That's not a real doctor, it's an actor who knows nothing about psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, its treatments, or Enbrel. Reality looks like this: you've probably spent the last year or so in so much pain that sometimes all you can do is curl in the fetal position and cry. When you tell your family doctor about it, he tells you to do more exercise and eat healthier foods and lose weight. It doesn't help. The next doctor tells you to wash your dirty skin more often and prescribes a caustic pumice filled soap which tears the skin and does nothing for the flaking skin or the swollen, throbbing joints. When you finally do obtain help, it's from a dermatologist who gives you the treatment only because he can see the skin lesions. He doesn't like looking at or touching you. He signs orders and his nurse is the one who fills the order.
More tiny print flies by while the actor solumnly tells you the medication relieves pain and stiffness and will allow you to get back to your normal activities immediately. That small print, however, tells at least part of the truth if you can read it at all. The medication is effective for only 50% of patients over a period of six months and results may vary. I was one of the ones for whom the immune system was too far gone for this medication to work. Symptoms would appear to be receding for a few weeks and then would come back with a vengeance. I hadn't expected complete clearance but I had expected the medication to work for longer than that!
Yet again with the small print! The don't mention it until much later in the commercial, but the medicine is given by weekly injection. While glossing over the potentially debilitating and fatal effects, the viewer is distracted by inspiring clips of Mickelson on the course and the same movements translating into private life. They never once mention that it hurts like a bastard every time you inject it. It feels like someone has set your blood vessels on fire. Muscles jerk and spasm for hours afterward. You spend the next three or four days worshiping the Porcelain Goddess with both ends. By the time you feel well enough to wish you were dead, it's time for another injection. That's far from the healthy Mickelson going along a line at a golf course fist bumping after having played a round. It's not even close to the benevolent doctor actor stating within weeks you'll have your old life back.
Phil Mickelson, it turns out, really does have psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. However, he was diagnosed early because he demanded a second opinion at a major medical center and got it. A specialist was able to determine from the onset, the type of psoriasis, and degree of pain what it was and treat it immediately with a biological. Even so, in the an article from the Arthritis Foundation both Mickelson and the expert doctor interviewed admitted that they don't know if he'll be able to play regularly or even dress himself in the coming years. They admit his results are not typical owing to his prior fitness level before diagnosis. In another article, Mickelson admitted he had regained only 20% of his strength and mobility in the affected joints.
I want my Phil Mickelson ending!
It's not going to happen but I'm a pariah because they've made too many people think it will.
Let's make lots of money
You've got the brawn, I've got the brains
Let's make lots of -" o/`
-- "Opportunities (Let's Make Lots of Money)" performed by Pet Shop Boys
When I'm too sick to do anything else, I recline on the couch and watch television. Most of the shows I do like are documentaries on obscure channels. That means I'm unlikely to run into commercials of any kind unless they're advertising another obscure channel's offerings or a different documentary. When Dee and Mr. Shapeshifter are at work, I watch crime dramas. My favorites are those which stick mostly to the case presented and steer clear of the politics: the early episodes of Law & Order and its cousin Law & Order SVU; NCIS; Criminal Minds. Unfortunately our aged DVR doesn't always assimilate the latest updates from DirecTV and that, combined with these shows being aired on more mainstream channels, means I will not always be able to fast forward through the commercials.
I particularly hate those which air between the midmorning and late afternoon. They're aimed at people like me --- the stay-at-home spouse, the chronically ill and disabled, the out of work and down on their luck crowd. These commercials hawk everything from losing those pounds to get a new man to a chance at a new reality through lawsuits which pay out enough for a lifetime of comfort. One of these commercials makes me see red every...single...damned...time.
They're not exactly selling lies, but the commercials don't give you the full truth either. I guess most Americans are inclined to believe something if it comes from a celebrity. I am not one of those because I have the disease for which they're advertising miracle cures.
I have severe inverse and plaque psoriasis with spondylitis and enthesitis (inflammation of the spine and of the tendons and ligaments connecting to the bones). Most people think of particularly heavy dandruff upon hearing the first but those plaques are a symptom of something much more sinister. The development of psoriasis is partially genetic but also involves other triggers such as stress and injury to the skin. Since I also have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (a genetic disease which impacts collagen tissues throughout the body especially skin), that's probably how my case evolved. The actual cause is unknown but seems related to the T cells in the immune system. Normally these cells would be fighting off foreign substances such as viruses, but mine got confused and attacked my own skin, tendons, and ligaments.
I went through the whole repertoire of topical treatment options and then moved on to oral medications. I take a medication normally used to treat cancer which destroys cells throughout the body --- all the symptoms of cancer treatment without the compassion or empathy. I've heard plenty of "Ew, go take a bath!" and "Look, a zombie" but never once did anyone say, "Shut up, she's taking chemotherapy." When the chemo wasn't enough, my doctor recommended biologicals. These types of treatments are the frontier in cancer and autoimmune treatment. The older ones impact all of the autoimmune cells; the newer therapies can be calibrated to a patient's weight for more effective dosage and can target just those naughty T cells. It's still chemotherapy but you have a better chance of remission and survival.
But they don't tell you that in the Enbrel commercial.
Phil Mickelson looks wonderfully healthy as he opens a jar without help in his parents' kitchen. He mentions having psoriatic arthritis and then talk to his rheumatologist about treating it with Enbrel. The tiny white print beneath him shaking hands with a smiling, compassionate doctor has probably been missed by most viewers: actor portrayal. That's not a real doctor, it's an actor who knows nothing about psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, its treatments, or Enbrel. Reality looks like this: you've probably spent the last year or so in so much pain that sometimes all you can do is curl in the fetal position and cry. When you tell your family doctor about it, he tells you to do more exercise and eat healthier foods and lose weight. It doesn't help. The next doctor tells you to wash your dirty skin more often and prescribes a caustic pumice filled soap which tears the skin and does nothing for the flaking skin or the swollen, throbbing joints. When you finally do obtain help, it's from a dermatologist who gives you the treatment only because he can see the skin lesions. He doesn't like looking at or touching you. He signs orders and his nurse is the one who fills the order.
More tiny print flies by while the actor solumnly tells you the medication relieves pain and stiffness and will allow you to get back to your normal activities immediately. That small print, however, tells at least part of the truth if you can read it at all. The medication is effective for only 50% of patients over a period of six months and results may vary. I was one of the ones for whom the immune system was too far gone for this medication to work. Symptoms would appear to be receding for a few weeks and then would come back with a vengeance. I hadn't expected complete clearance but I had expected the medication to work for longer than that!
Yet again with the small print! The don't mention it until much later in the commercial, but the medicine is given by weekly injection. While glossing over the potentially debilitating and fatal effects, the viewer is distracted by inspiring clips of Mickelson on the course and the same movements translating into private life. They never once mention that it hurts like a bastard every time you inject it. It feels like someone has set your blood vessels on fire. Muscles jerk and spasm for hours afterward. You spend the next three or four days worshiping the Porcelain Goddess with both ends. By the time you feel well enough to wish you were dead, it's time for another injection. That's far from the healthy Mickelson going along a line at a golf course fist bumping after having played a round. It's not even close to the benevolent doctor actor stating within weeks you'll have your old life back.
Phil Mickelson, it turns out, really does have psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. However, he was diagnosed early because he demanded a second opinion at a major medical center and got it. A specialist was able to determine from the onset, the type of psoriasis, and degree of pain what it was and treat it immediately with a biological. Even so, in the an article from the Arthritis Foundation both Mickelson and the expert doctor interviewed admitted that they don't know if he'll be able to play regularly or even dress himself in the coming years. They admit his results are not typical owing to his prior fitness level before diagnosis. In another article, Mickelson admitted he had regained only 20% of his strength and mobility in the affected joints.
I want my Phil Mickelson ending!
It's not going to happen but I'm a pariah because they've made too many people think it will.