Category Archives: Medical, other than PBC

The Brain is an Organ. Concussion Impairs Its Function: Why Bashing Someone’s Head Repeatedly Against a Hard Surface Should be a Felony.

Posted on March 13, 2012 by

[New readers: this continues a series, The Worst Yet, that started here.] Arguably, my daughter’s impairment of vision, demonstrated by a scatter-field test, attributed to a bruised optic nerve resulting from blunt force trauma, could have led to a felony … Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama juvenile courts, Children's rights, Dating or Domestic Violence, Medical, other than PBC, Parenting | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Worst Yet: Summing Up. Some Deserve Acclaim. Others, Shame.

Posted on November 27, 2011 by

I’ve learned a lot this fall. The case is concluded, and my daughter is doing well. We encountered a number of different attitudes and behaviors in our odyssey that involved three fundamental social arenas: the medical, educational, and legal systems. … Continue reading →

Posted in Alabama juvenile courts, Dating or Domestic Violence, Huntsville City Schools, Medical, other than PBC, Parenting | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Another Bloody August. Mysteries and Muddles. And Hospitalists.

Posted on August 27, 2011 by

Silly me. I look back on my post from earlier this month, An Uneventful Day, Unlike Last August 2, and wonder. There I wrote about how on August 2, 2010, I had an arterial lesion burst where the esophagus meets the … Continue reading →

Posted in Dieulafoy's lesion episode, Medical, other than PBC, Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (PBC) | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

An Uneventful Day, Unlike Last August 2

Posted on August 2, 2011 by

I know what I was doing a year ago this afternoon: throwing up copious amounts of blood. I posted about various aspects of my Dieulafoy’s lesion (a burst artery where the esophagous meets the stomach) episode last August, but here I … Continue reading →

Posted in Dieulafoy's lesion episode, Medical, other than PBC | Tagged | 8 Comments

Can a Dozen Photos Be Worth a Thousand Lectures?

Posted on July 30, 2011 by

If I had the task of convincing a group of middle and high school aged kids that having the means and opportunity to snort all the cocaine in Columbia would not make them happy, this is what I would do. … Continue reading →

Posted in Medical, other than PBC, Parenting | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“Drug” Education Failed. Let’s Try “Will Kill” Instead.

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

Is there anyone who disputes that forty years and millions of dollars later, “drug” education is a failure? Had it succeeded the first decade, or the second, third, etc. it would no longer be needed, for then there would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Medical, other than PBC | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Watching Dying: New BBC Documentaries, PBS Frontline

Posted on May 12, 2011 by

I came across this a few minutes ago, purely by accident. Tonight, May 12, the BBC, as part of its documentary series Inside the Human Body is going to show the death from cancer of an elderly man who agreed … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and dying, Medical, other than PBC | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Imminent Death: What Happens in the Last Days and Hours

Posted on November 29, 2010 by

Here are passages from a few more scholarly journal articles on the subject of what to expect when someone is dying. The full text of this first article, “Ensuring Competency in End-of-life care: Controlling Symptoms” by Frank D. Ferris, Charles F. … Continue reading →

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Imminent Death: How Good Are Doctors’ Guesses?

Posted on November 13, 2010 by

This series of  posts continues to look at some fairly technical articles which nevertheless may be of use to you if you are facing the prospect of the imminent death of a family member or friend.  This study,  “Extent and determinants … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and dying, Medical, other than PBC | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Imminent Death and Spontaneous Return to Mental Awareness

Posted on October 18, 2010 by

The day before he died, my father, who over the course of several years had suffered a steadily decreasing awareness of and interest in his and others’ lives, finally appearing to no longer have an inner life, suddenly, briefly and inexplicably … Continue reading →

Posted in Death and dying, Medical, other than PBC | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment