The first email I responded to this morning was from my cousin Joan. She told me that the video she included was great and it lifted her spirits. I watched the video and concluded she was right. What a great story this man Dr. Lombardi tells about his experience with the very first patient he treated in private practice. Watch it and tell me what you think.
A week ago I received an email message stating that my long awaited appointment for getting vaccinated has arrived. I jumped at the opportunity. The last time I had a problem with a virus was in 1957, and there was no opportunity to be vaccinated. The polio virus had already been ravaging the world for some twenty years and it wasn’t ready to stop. All the public announcements advised us to stay away from crowds, (define a crowd) don’t go to the beach, rest, etc. None of the advice seemed worthy of taking. I did stay away from crowds unless one calls my group of buddies (5) a crowd. I never went to the beach it was ten miles away. I thought I rested as does anyone who sleeps at night and I still got the virus. Maybe I it got from going to church, yes that has to be it. The problem with that argument is that my buddies all went to church too. None of my crowd got polio but me.
It was a good five years before Dr. Jonas Salk invented a vaccine that worked. I never did follow the news to follow the progress of how the world became vaccinated, my immune system was fixed for life. Luckily, I survived and did not carry too many debilitating side effects. When the COVID-19 pandemic began I followed Dr. Fauci’s recommendations to a point. The point was that I would not allow myself to get overly excited about catching the thing and that I would let my own common sense rule my activity.
My appointment was set for 10:15 on a Friday at the Joliet West High School which is about thirty miles away. I set my alarm to get up early, showered and prepared a decent KETO breakfast so I wouldn’t pass out from a low blood sugar. What impressed me was the system that Will County had set up at the school. First of all, let me say that this school is a state of the art machine. Except for being thirty miles from Frankfort, I felt like I was inside Lincoln Way East High School two miles from my house. The staff consisted of Joliet Fire Department EMT’s. There was ample parking at door fourteen and upon arriving I checked in at a desk where a man pointed a thermometer at me head and took my temperature. He fired off a bunch of questions about how I felt and then handed me a short questionnaire asking questions like are you allergic to any of the ingredients in the vaccine. To me that is the dumbest question ever. How in the heck am I supposed to know what is in this vaccine? There was one question that I had to answer yes to, I am allergic to penicillin and had an anaphylaxis reaction to it. With that yes, I got to take that piece of paper with me to the vaccination table. There were ten tables lined up with a strapping young man directing people to the next available technician. He directed me to table ten. I walked to the table where another young man was waiting. I handed him my paper, and proceeded to bare my left arm. “Forgive me if I don’t watch this happen.” There is something about seeing a needle pierce my body that makes me squeamish. He followed with “you won’t feel a thing,” and with that he was placing a piece of tape on the injection site. Not only didn’t I feel anything I felt it was a sham and that I didn’t really get vaccinated. Another big guy handed me a card and told me to carry it with me. It was a record of the vaccine. He also told me that he scheduled my second shot to take place four weeks from the day at the same place. “Go to the other side of the field house and sit for fifteen minutes then you can leave.”
I sat for twenty minutes waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. I walked out but ran into another young guy about six foot tall and all muscle who asked me how I felt. “Okay,” I answered.
“Good, you can leave out the door you came in by.”
I felt exhilarated, happy, loose, I wanted to jump up and kick my heels together. I made it through the year without catching the demon COVID.
I was so relaxed that when I got home, I took a nap.
The following two days I kept feeling all kinds of tingles and tickles and asked myself “is that a side effect?” If they were side effects they were acceptable and very mild. I concluded they were not side effects but my mind playing tricks on me.
Last night I attended a meeting of my senior friends. This meeting has been going on for over five years on a weekly basis. We meet, drink wine and shoot the breeze. It is such a good time we won’t give it up, but we have not met since the last spike of COVID hit in October. Everyone of us was happy to see each other again. To date, only three of us have gotten the vaccination, but more will be getting it soon. That is, if our governor would get off his fat ass and push for it to get done. Illinois is number 47 out of the states in progress toward vaccinating it’s population. At least we aren’t in the bottom three.
This morning I slept late even though I went to bed early. My body must be sending me a signal. I lifted the shade next to my bed and saw a winter wonderland. It had snowed during the night and everything is covered in the white fluffy stuff. Oh well, I thought I won’t need a walk today, I’ll substitute shoveling.
I dressed, put on some coffee spiced with cinammon and scoured the fridge for breakfast. I decided my Keto meal would consist of soft boiled eggs, a hunk of Romano cheese, three slices of bacon, and a small cluster of green grapes, yummy. My plan was to eat, dress for outside, and to move snow. I peeked outside and saw a miracle. My entire driveway and the walks in front of the house were absolutely clean, a miracle, or at least a giant good deed by a neighbor. I looked to the left, the neighbor’s walks and drive were still under snow, the same held for the right, but there across the street was a very clean drive and walkways. I spied the remnants of a trail leading from the street toward my drive. It was Tom, he is the angel. Thank you Tom.
Morty Angel on Skye Scooter
That act of mercy left me with more time to kill in front of my computer sitting on my stagnant ass processing KETO into fat instead of using KETO to burn fat.
Yesterday was Friday, and I thought why not treat myself to a home cooked meal? I haven’t cooked in a couple of weeks so I won that debate with myself. The meal would be Chicken Paprikas over one serving of rotini. It turned out delicious and I was pleased. By making rotini I saved the effort of making the usual companion piece of home made egg dumplings called nokedli. Had I made the nokedli I am certain the portion size would have been much larger than that of the rotini. That difference would have kicked me out of ketosis and ruined a week of dieting.
Now it is time to bundle up and take a walk in the fresh clean winter air.
Take this for what it is. I received it over the internet from a reliable source. That doesn’t mean it is correct. I think it is legitimate, and a fun exercise to determine if you are losing it.
Have you been diagnosed with Anosognosia ?
In the following analysis the French Professor Bruno Dubois Director of the Institute of Memory
and Alzheimer’s Disease (IMMA) at La Pitié-Salpêtrière – Paris Hospitals / addresses the subject
in a rather reassuring way:
“If anyone is aware of his memory problems, they do not have Alzheimer’s.”
1. I forget the names of families .. 2. I do not remember where I put some things ..
It often happens in people 60 years and older that they complain that they lack memory. “The information is always in the brain, it is the “processor” that is lacking.”
This is “Anosognosia” or temporary forgetfulness.
Half of people 60 and older have some symptoms that are due to age rather than disease. The most common cases are: – forgetting the name of a person, – going to a room in the house and not remembering why we were going there, – a blank memory for a movie title or actor, an actress, – a waste of time searching where we left our glasses or keys …
After 60 years most people have such a difficulty, which indicates that it is not a disease but rather a characteristic due to the passage of years …
Many people are concerned about these oversights hence the importance of the following statement: “Those who are conscious of being forgetful have no serious problem of memory.” “Those who suffer from a memory illness or Alzheimer’s, are not aware of what is happening.”
Professor Bruno Dubois, Director of IMMA, reassures the majority of people concerned about their oversights:
“The more we complain about memory loss, the less likely we are to suffer from memory sickness.” Now for a little neurological test: Only use your eyes!
If you pass these three tests without problem: – you can cancel your annual visit to the neurologist. – your brain is in perfect shape! – you are far from having any relationship with Alzheimer’s.