Continued elsewhere

I've decided to abandon this blog in favor of a newer, more experimental hypertext form of writing. Come over and see the new place.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Don't let us get sick



So bad living caught up with me and I am typing these words from a bed in the cardiac unit of Stanford Medical Center...kind of a shock since I don't think I've spent a night in a hospital since I was 3 years old. No particularly trenchant observations from this experience...except that it is very jarring to transition from being a relatively autonomous person to an object for all sorts of people to probe, poke, examine, and manipulate. Reminds me that the grammatical term patient is the opposite of agent, "the participant of a situation upon whom an action is carried out".

Also that if you do have a serious or mysterious medical episode it is definitely a good idea to have it near a topnotch hospital, and having that at hand is one of the benefits that the high cost of living around here pays for. My father had the presence of mind to have his heart attack on the street just outside the U of Chicago Medical Center, in front of a group of docs coming back from lunch.

Anyway, having perplexed the local would-be Houses here for awhile, they seem to have me figured out and stabilized and I may get out of here in a day or two.

[[update: I passed my stress test yesterday (a rather ridiculous affair where they have you bicycle while lying down, while hooked to an EKG and an ultrasound tech poking at you), which means my heart can do stuff, so they sent me home where I am recuperating. Thanks for all the good wishes. ]]

5 comments:

lightning bulb (aka ngvrnd) said...

God bless, and best wishes!

JSA said...

Whoa; take it easy and get better!

Anonymous said...

I've been thoroughly enjoying the libertardian blog, so please don't die.

FSM bless, and best wishes!

TGGP said...

Step 1: Get well soon.
Step 2: Cryonics!

scw said...

You indicated in the comments to your post of Oct. 30 that you visited the Occupy San Francisco encampment. Your doctors might wish to be aware of the news reported below:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2011/11/17/san-francisco-officials-fear-disease-will-spread-at-occupy-encampment/

Have you been bitten by fleas or lice? Many diseases generally unfamiliar to the average American physician can be transmitted by them.