Tough times lately, folks. Been bed-ridden for 2 weeks trying to close the wound on my ass and overcome the extreme fatigue of this latest abscess/MRSA round. I’m getting better, the abscess is dying out, hopefully, and the wound has no necrosis; whew! I’m effing skinny, though; damn lousy way to drop weight, I’ll tell ya, ‘the vgrafen staph infection diet, guaranteed to strip all unwanted fat, plus some muscle mass, right off the body!’
They’re calling me ‘the Gaunt Man’ lately, that wan, sallow fellow…
Food is beginning to appeal to me, though, augmented by some fresh harvest Bubba Cush straight from the organic grow fields of —– at 2800 feet in the Sierras.
I’ll get there, gotta get into my hot tub soon and can’t with an open wound. And geez, duck season started this weekend; the kid’s gotta be healthy to get into the blind…
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Many of you probably read about the MRSA scare in the news lately, and while that’s good in one sense to increase public exposure to the ravages of this illness, the media did a great dis-service by saying this is a new, super-bug we can’t stop. As I’ve been saying, it ain’t new, been around for decades and the docs and clinicians damn well have experience with it, and there are effective treatments. That said, it is, as an infectious disease doc told me earlier this year, potentially an epidemic, and it is sweeping locker rooms and public facilities. The community-based MRSA, which I have, is resistant to most antibiotics, though there are a handful that will kill it but require hospitalization (Vancomycin for one).
Personally, I’m hoping (what a foolish thing to cling to, eh? Hope; what a whore she is…) that I’m rid of the bug, as yesterday was my last antibiotic; they’d put me on a whopper of a regimen: Flaggyl for E. Coli, Augmentin, Septra and another oral I’d already tried before for MRSA but the doc seemed confident it would work this time. Hmmm. I’m back on my turmeric and baking soda/citrus-alkalizer mix. We’ll see, but my strength is coming back, and the brain fog diminishing… kinda.
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Shit news from Poway, San Diego: my brother, Richard, and his wife and 3 kids had to evacuate their home this weekend due to massive fires sweeping the area. Luckily, they were able to get out with clothes, necessities, several boxes and a couple trunks of personal effects and important papers, and Nancy had a trunk ready with heirlooms, so they were able to save that, but the home…
Yep, toasted. They’re staying with friends in Del Mar and haven’t been back up to see the place, but news footage has shown their hilltop… is just cooked.
Dick was my mechanic/pal for my early years in the 80’s; when I was on the east coast/south doing the enduro circuit, he would search out small town pawnshops and buy up old guitars, mostly Fenders, and built up a hell of a collection at one point, then sold many of them off for top dollar. He took some of his money and bought 12 acres in the hills above Poway, view of the Pacific, really nice. Spanish-style home, now gone. He only lost a few guitars, most were in storage in town, and is heavily insured. Oh and a 1943 DKW 100cc two-stroke dirt bike, totally under-powered but one of the very first two-strokes, built at Hitler’s request, who wanted light, fast machines for his blitzkrieg. I was ‘offered’ the bike when I was in Europe (can’t tell ya how, whom or what, but it was definitely not a legal transaction) and managed to get it and a twin back to the States; my dad has the other, but the one Dick got was absolutely clean and worth a mint. Maybe something’s left, who knows?
Yeah, they’re in shock, as anyone would be, and the flames are not even close to being done. They even increased the cleared space around their house this year but that wasn’t enough to stop 60 mph winds. My mom and dad are in Del Mar now and Mom called to say the fires were set by arsonists. Geez, a little fun at everybody’s expense, huh? Fry those bastards when they catch ‘em. No mercy.
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Political winds are beginning to pick up, and it’s good news for the CDRPA, the paralysis bill that finally has cleared the House. Reports suggest it will pass the Senate and that Bush will sign. HOWEVER, PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS AND URGE THEIR SUPPORT! It wouldn’t hurt to call George W and let him know this one HAS TO PASS, and isn’t stem cell-related.
We need this one signed into law, plegics, bad.
As for which and whom to choose for president, man, we got a conundrum at our fingers. Sir Hillary the Vengeful, Obama the Slick, Edwards the Slimy, Richardson the Oaf? All of ‘em sing the Stem Cell song, but will they be there when the bill needs a signature? As for the Repubs, Guliani, Romney, Thompson, McCain? Nobody’s talkin’ stem cells from that group, so I’m still leanin’ Richardson, as the other three Demos do not inspire and I trust them less than the Repubs, but this is a weak set of candidates no matter how you slice it; meanwhile, George W is draining the cashbox of any reserves, and now needs another 50 billion to kill bad guys, with no end in sight!
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Finally, of modest interest is that I have odd and new feelings up and down my legs lately, especially the skinny, jumpy, dead little left leg. Got some thigh muscle twitching and awareness, a lot more sensitivity, and the bladder now almost always lets me know when I have to do a catheter. All good; don’t know what it’s all attributed to, perhaps last year’s stem cell gig in Baku, but here’s to hoping it keeps goin’.
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(Note: My book, ‘Scouring the globe for a cure: a disabled man’s experiences with stem cell treatment’
can be purchased at the following Web address:
www.booklocker.com/books/2857.html)
