What’s top of my mind: My health. There was bad news at The Good Doctor last week. The blood work shows I am on the brink of pre-diabetes. There is no family history for DM, so this is due to diet or covid19 inactivity or both or the work of demons. I was perturbed by this news, much. I was told to seriously get cracking on diet, exercise, burning sage – whatever I can – or I be put on meds for such. Since the news I’ve been better at going to the gym and cutting out eating between meals. My fingers are crossed the non-Rx interventions can reverse the course.
Where I’m going: Nowhere. This category is again a bust. In covid-times I don’t go out. I have plans for October and November but not last week or next. I thought to write Car Repair Shop, but that is Someone’s job; he takes the cars in for these sorts of endeavors. The car needs a routine check up. I hope its labs are better than mine.
Where I’ve been: The pharmacy, to get my shingles shot. The Good Doctor also said I am to get three shots: shingles; covid19 booster; flu. Last Sunday I got the first of two shots for the prevention of shingles. As a boy, I loathed chicken pox. Even then I was thinking like a scientist, wondering why on earth don’t we have a vaccine for this loathsome virus. I got the shot on a Sunday afternoon, and by evening I had chills, mild fever, restlessness, and general malaise. I did not sleep a wink. I was pleased as Punch though: the flu-like symptoms were a good sign my body was reacting as it should to the shot. One lousy night seems a genuine bargain for not getting the shingles. I’ve known countless patients and friends who have had the shingles and sooner I’d eat rats at Tewkesbury than have a case of my own. Next month I go get the flu shot. I have never had a bad reaction to any flu shot. The covid19 booster is due in November ~ 6 months after the first set was done.
What I’m watching: The history of the Medici. On Saturday at supper Someone and I watched another episode of ‘The history of the Medici’. Lorenzo M. was banished from Florence (sensible!) but he’s back and ready to retaliate. It all sounds depressing and familiar. It reminds me of the Mary Oliver quote: “All history is current”. The professor ended the episode with lurid promises of more Game of Thrones shenanigans ahead. Artists and Popes are coming up – also with big egos. This sh-t never ends.
What I’m reading: “Delusional disorder vs. conspiracy theorists: how to tell the difference”. This eye-catching title and article is in the most recent edition of ‘The Psychiatric Times”‘ The article gives some tips on how to discriminate between the patient who believes someone is regularly breaking into their house from the patient who believes in the basement of a pizza joint is a child-trafficking business run by Hilary Clinton. Frankly, I don’t see why it’s necessary to discriminate the two types. Delusional disorders are the most incalcitrant illnesses in the DSM; they do not respond to medication, logic, attempts at reshaping their approach, or even evidence. I don’t see believers in ‘Pizza-gate’ any different. The difference, I suppose, is thems with delusional disorders often have depression/anxiety and they want help with that, which is why they see me. In contrast, thems that believe in conspiracy theories never see themselves as ill and thus would never see a psychiatrist. In a way I’m grateful.
What I’m listening to: Molly’s soliloquy. Whenever I have insomnia, I listen to a recording of the last chapter of James Joyce’s “Ulysses”. For thems unfamiliar with this lofty tome, in this chapter the reader is privy to a woman named Molly, who falls asleep while she thinks about her day, her life, and her future. It is one long free-association and it goes on for pages.* She falls asleep at the end, but I never make it that far. I am usually out long before she arrives at ‘and yes I said yes I will Yes’. Spo-fans who know this story: Someone and I do not sleep head to toe, but I do say ‘patience above!” a lot.
What I’m eating: Manhattan clam chowder. I like Manhattan clam chowder but I am often disappointed in the soups I am served. They seem like watery vegetable soups in which someone has tossed in an opened tin of clams. Oh the pain. I recently found a recipe that makes a thick, flavorful, ‘clammy’ chowder. No rubbish indeed! I am pleased as Punch to report my chowder was delicious. Usually my first attempts at recipes are fair at most, but this was spot-on. The only altercation to make next time is to chop the cubes of potatoes smaller in size and use less of them.
Who needs a good slap: The Maricopa election recall count. Speaking of delusional conspiracies….. for the third time the county’s votes were recounted. Not only did Trump lose again (3rd time) this time, he lost buy a few more votes. This sordid shenanigan has cost the county a lot of time and money. When Someone was working for the county his telephone-based job was continually interrupted by calls from out of state Trump supporters who were beyond the pale in angry expletives, tying up the lines, blocking proper Maricopa county citizens needing service. And the recount did no good. It didn’t do anything to appease the ones hell-bent on their beliefs the election was a fraud (see above: the Delusional disorder etc.).
I give these villains 5 slaps (on a 1-5 scale)
What I’m planning: Making cookies. October is my month for Halloween-based goodies. First on the list to make are snickerdoodles, an autumnal favorite. I don’t make just any snickerdoodles! no rubbish-types! I make pumpkin pie snickerdoodles. Alas, Babylon! I am not allowed to eat any (worse luck!) so I will bring them to work where all will be bedazzled by my culinary craft.
What’s making me smile: “Good Omens“: This book/made-into-a-series is a story of Good vs. Evil. The angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley are assigned to earth at its creation.** They are supposed to be adversaries, but they both end up ‘going native’ as it were, and over the millennia they become close friends. Many have pointed out they resemble a staid old gay couple. The Tube of Yous has this lovely compilation of their more funny and touching interactions. This makes me smile, often. My favorite line starts around 11.00. Enjoy!
**Molly’s soliloquy consists of eight enormous “sentences.” When written, this episode contained the longest “sentence” in English literature, 4,391 words.
*21, October 4004 B.C. at 9:13AM. The whole business with the fossilized dinosaur skeletons was a joke the paleontologists haven’t seen yet.
43 comments
September 29, 2021 at 4:03 AM
David Godfrey
4391 words in one sentence, must have been written by a lawyer who was asked to answer in two sentences or less.
September 29, 2021 at 6:29 AM
Urspo
It was written by James Joyce, which may be worse.
September 29, 2021 at 4:03 AM
Dwight W.
From your photos, It would seem your PCP could find a better victim. You are good to follow his suggestions. I think the feeling of going nowhere these days is very common. I will be glad to have shots once again done. I have had two offers of a booster , Hopefully they will prioritize you. Comforting thought, the craziest never seek care. We eat New England, I would really like to have a bowl of the “other chowder” which sounds scrumptious. I’ll be right over. Yes that whole think is a cock -up in Maricopa but things are worse, your people are obviously recognizably crazy , where mine seem to meet with no resistance, at least yet. Pumpkin pie snickerdoodles , my mother would devour all your baking. I fall asleep very easily and have the luxury of napping. Please slap your County/ State officials for me and Senator Sinema if you see her. Happy Wednesday, DrSpo 😊
September 29, 2021 at 6:30 AM
Urspo
And a very good Wednesday to you too dearie!
September 29, 2021 at 4:20 AM
Lori Hawkins
Happy to hear your clam chowder turned out so well and the pumpkin snickerdoodles sound delicious.
Nowhere is a place I have become very familiar with over the last 20 months.
It is so frustrating to see how much money our government wastes. Slap worthy for sure.
I hope you have a great Wednesday!!
September 29, 2021 at 6:30 AM
Urspo
I hope yours is a groovy-far out Wednesday.
September 29, 2021 at 5:08 AM
Moving with Mitchell
Sorry about the bad sugar news. I avoided that as long as I could. Had no weight to lose. All genetics. Now take pills. Lots of interesting things here.
September 29, 2021 at 6:31 AM
Urspo
when I am told to improve things, I often feel like a sinking ship with no freight to throw overboard. Happily, not so for the glucose. I can improve things; i hope this works.
September 29, 2021 at 5:21 AM
Todd Gunther
Hope the non-rx intervention works for you. As I learned in a diabetes class pre-diabetes is reversible, but no one tells you that. There is a history of diabetes in my family, so my eventual health fate was inevitable as far as I am concerned. I am now on Metformin which has been (knock on wood) been keeping my A01C numbers down.
September 29, 2021 at 6:32 AM
Urspo
A Metformin Rx is waving at me from the sidelines. I hope to ignore its siren summons.
September 29, 2021 at 5:57 AM
Bob Slatten
Why I detest the waste of time and money spent on these recounts that will not change the election, I have to giggle at the fact that they are proving Biden won by more.
It’s the little things in life.
September 29, 2021 at 6:33 AM
Urspo
I liked that too. Alas it won’t change their approach to relentlessly hammer away until they find one bit of ‘wrong’ and make it a revolution.
September 29, 2021 at 6:07 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
I love “Good Omens,” both the book and the mini-series! Apparently, a series sequel is in the works, based on material Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett wrote but never used for a book sequel.
I had a client once who had a delusion. She was perfectly normal in every way except for her conviction that she was going to marry Jesus on Saturday.
September 29, 2021 at 6:34 AM
Urspo
I have learned not to try to ‘change’ a delusion but to get people to be tactful about it. Mostly it is about teaching manners viz. no one wants to hear this so keep quiet about it when at parties.
September 29, 2021 at 6:46 AM
Debra She Who Seeks
Oh, I didn’t try to argue with her or change her delusion. I just wished her and her groom a happy wedding and all the best, LOL!
September 29, 2021 at 6:27 AM
edyjournal
Pumpkin pie snickerdoodle sounds scrumptious, though snickerdoodle is usually too rich for my taste. Post a pic please so my eyes can feast on them.
September 29, 2021 at 6:34 AM
Urspo
Aye! I shall do so!
September 29, 2021 at 6:38 AM
Old Lurker
Baking snickerdoodles and not being allowwed to eat them sounds like self-inflicted torture. Are you trying to test your resolve like Gandhi testing his celibacy by sleeping next to naked women?
September 29, 2021 at 6:53 AM
Urspo
Doing things like cooking in the month of October with its anticipation of Halloween has been my defense for SAD (seasonal affective disorder) of which I am prone at this time of year. Although I should avoid sugar, I think to not do the cooking would be detrimental to my overall well-being. The process of cooking/baking is more therapeutic than the eating.
I will no doubt eat a few cookies.
September 29, 2021 at 7:32 AM
rjjs8878
Have you considered consulting a dietician about the proper foods to eat, or is it matter of knowing what to eat but the wrong foods are more convenient?
September 29, 2021 at 7:52 AM
Urspo
I have some training in nutrition, and I keep on this. I know what to do; the truth is I haven’t been doing what’s right. I am pleased to report I am already losing weigh merely by eating better/less/and more exercise. It is nice to know things do respond with commonsense interventions.
September 29, 2021 at 7:39 AM
Robzilla
I don’t believe in hitting women, but please make an exception for Kelli Ward over there. Despite having more losses than the Diamondbacks, she now wants to have recounts nationwide. If one of her goons shows up at my door step, they’re eating a fist.
September 29, 2021 at 7:52 AM
Urspo
These people won’t rest until their delusions are accepted as truth.
September 29, 2021 at 8:16 AM
Parnassus
When I used to have people over a lot I baked and gave it away to them, but now it has been so long that I am no longer sure I retain the knack. I had even bought some quarter-sized baking sheets to fit my small oven that are still gleaming new.
–Jim
September 29, 2021 at 8:24 AM
Urspo
Have you considered using the baking sheets for sheet-pan dinners? I use mine regularly – far more for suppers than for cookies.
September 29, 2021 at 10:22 AM
Angela Mize-Pisciotta
My husband has been battling shingles. He broke out on his chest and received medication. A week later he developed tunnel vision, then his vision was uneven. He was checked for a stroke and diabetes. All tests were good. Yesterday he saw a neuro ophthalmologist and had more tests. Everything checks out. The latest dr said this could be caused by anything. So I’m making sure to add the shingles vaccine to my list.
September 29, 2021 at 11:16 AM
Urspo
Good for you!
I strongly suspect shot #2 will lay me low but it will be worth it to avoid matters like you describe here.
Thank you for commenting !
September 29, 2021 at 1:05 PM
Will Jay
Good job on getting your Shingrix vaccination! You are a trend setter! On Saturday I shall mimic your sensible vaccination regime and go to the exotic destination of the out building at Kaiser South for my seasonal flu vaccination. Then I shall return home and perform seasonal yard work.
This is probably sufficient excitement for a person of my years. 😁
September 29, 2021 at 1:15 PM
Urspo
the word ‘boring’ comes with negative associations and affect in my patients below 40. Over 40, the word ‘boring’ is given with a face lit with joy like the radiance of a brilliant sunrise.
September 29, 2021 at 1:07 PM
Sassybear
I love clam chowder (Manhattan and New England.) Can I get the recipe? We love Good Omens and just finished up the last episode available.
September 29, 2021 at 1:15 PM
Urspo
I will send you the recipe/link anon.
September 29, 2021 at 1:24 PM
Glenda
The delusional do spout their foolishness on you whenever they can get you cornered. It’s just a shame there are so many of them. I don’t see how you can bake and then not indulge. Oh, do let the slapping begin.
September 29, 2021 at 1:34 PM
Urspo
Truth doesn’t mind being questioned, but a lie does not like being challenged. I wish I had a shilling for each time I cast doubt on a patient’s delusional belief only to see them react as if I had physically attacked them.
Indeed, studies show the brain parts that light up when so challenged are the same ones that light up to a physical threat.
September 29, 2021 at 5:31 PM
janiejunebug
I’m glad you got your shingles vaccine. As someone who worked in a nursing home, I wanted the vaccine as soon as I could have it. Between the last time you mentioned Ulysses and this time, I have not started the book. I haven’t even ordered it. Is it possible I’ll go to my grave without reading Ulysses? Magic 8 Ball responds: Signs point to yes.
Love,
Janie
September 29, 2021 at 7:42 PM
Urspo
It is the Mount Everest of reads, more so than War and Peace.
September 29, 2021 at 6:02 PM
Pat
As a man of medicine, you may have more knowledge of this than this patient. But after months of salads and cardio and a weight that dropped to
close to acceptable range, my A1C wouldn’t budge. I was already taking a blood pressure med and the doc substituted veperamil for another calcium blocker I was taking. And in two months the levels were fine and five years on remain so. The chemistry of drugs and their interactions with the various systems of the body varies so from person to person that this may be of limited use, but I thought I would share.
September 29, 2021 at 7:43 PM
Urspo
I thank you for sharing
It could be I am a sinking ship and no matter how much freight I throw overboard I am destined for DM Rx. We shall see.
September 29, 2021 at 7:52 PM
Pat
verapamil that is.
September 30, 2021 at 7:19 AM
Urspo
I don’t want to take that lest I become pregnant.
September 29, 2021 at 9:57 PM
Linda Practical Parsimony
Exercise after every meal is a key. So, don’t just exercise once a day. Get an exercise bike and set it up and ride for your life!
September 30, 2021 at 7:20 AM
Urspo
I have three a day: two dog walks and a gym date. Four if you count my constant moving about the house doing things.
September 30, 2021 at 5:20 AM
Sam
I tried liking Good Omens as those two actors are fabulous. Maybe I’ll give it a try. The read sounds interesting but frankly, I’m trying to ignore conspiracy yahoos.
September 30, 2021 at 7:22 AM
Urspo
Please avoid conspiracy yahoos. One basic recommendations for treating depression is to avoid negative people (if possible) and be with positive sane persons.