I’m sure she asks out of concern for unwanted side effects from medication, but she says if I had been wanting to lose weight that I had been “very successful.”

…She wants me. But still nice of her to notice! I’ve lost over 12 lbs, down to 141. Six to go!

Random thoughts you probably won’t care that you read.

So, is there a genetic component to having a deviated septum? I assume there is, since the structure of your face and many deformities are in most ways hereditary. How does a deviated septum even exist today? Everyone who had one would have died off hundreds of years ago and most of them as children. There’s just no way they could have survived multiple winters after the infection began in their sinus cavities…. unless… Maybe some in warmer, more humid climates were okay.

I suppose evolution can’t be broke, so I must have ancestors aside from Irishmen who lived in tropical places. Yep I’m from central America, and thus I have a crooked nose and have to deal with sinus near-death every year. My dad does too… and since his mom is from Hungary this trait must be from his dad’s side… makes you wonder how my Irish great-grandparent met a Brazilian. Oh well.

Thank you deductive reasoning.

So yesterday I helped an associate who had a seizure on the sales floor and it was similar to a number of accidents I’ve dealt with before. This girl, though, was JUST starting to come to and for several minutes wasn’t cognizant at all. She looked at me like a baby would and, with little motor control, just desperately fidgeted with a hanger. She could only make noises at first and had no short term or long term memory at all, constantly becoming confused and trying to stand after having just agreed to stay seated. She became fixated on removing a rubber cover bolted to a nearby fixture and no matter how many times she agreed to leave it alone and sit still, she just couldn’t. The words I could make out and the look on her face never matched what she was helplessly compelled to do with her hands.

When the paramedics arrived they were of course not surprised by her behavior at all and had to give her oxygen for 15 minutes before a constant, coherent conversation could be had with her. Although she was MUCH better after another 15 minutes when they took her to the hospital, she still wasn’t all there. Fortunately she didn’t get hurt at all.

I had no idea that your mind was this scrambled after a seizure! But it makes perfect since once you think about it. When you learn about seizures everything is focused on the shaking, and eventually the shaking is over and they just wake up…

But there’s more to it! And now I know.

Got a cold! Which for me automatically means Defcon 1 for sinus infection. Felt like shit Wednesday but had to get up to help my sister move. Basically I melted in the sun and murdered my stomach, mostly just slowing the process down. By the time I resuscitated myself I was distracted enough by other things that I called into work and fell asleep. Most of the evening was awkward but worthwhile, as expected. As I’ve had a tendency to do, I stayed up too late running my mouth and still felt like shit this morning. I knew I only had one shot at getting any better in time for the weekend…

When I woke up today I decided to do everything I could to 1. heal my mind (empty my stressful to-do list) and 2. heal my body (flush it with meds and vitamins) so that I could rest easy tonight. I thought I might go into work for a few hours later in the evening but it didn’t happen, and that’s probably for the better.

So, at my own leisurely pace, I picked up meds from Walmart, had the new tire that was ordered installed on my car, went to the post office about the passport I need for my cruise in July, and then had the oil changed in my car and new wipers put on. No more “maintenance required” light in my dash! This is all good because I expect to be doing a lot of driving this weekend. Caleb is the lead in a play on Saturday night over in Carrollton (blegh) but I’ve almost never visited him there and I expect it to be totally worth the trip. I thoroughly enjoyed the last play I saw him in even though I pretty much drove up just to see it and then drove back. This time I’ll probably meet up with his friend Alec beforehand so I don’t have to sit alone and then I’ll have dinner with Caleb and his mom afterward, who I’ve never met.

When I got home I had a few precious it’s-practically-5PM-minutes to call my health insurance for my card info since I didn’t know where my card was, and I was able to locate a doctor that took an appointment for 6:30. I thought this was fantastic! I’d get my antibiotics like I always do so I can kick this sinus infection at its very beginning rather than waiting until it was killing me/easily diagnosable…

Apparently the desk lady thought by “doctor appointment” I meant “P.A. appointment.” I didn’t. This old not-a-doctor man that I ended up seeing was almost a complete waste of time. I was immediately grateful for not having a co-pay. He tried to give me an antihistamine instead of a decongestant (been there done that, get that allergy medicine you’re paid to promo out of my face). Then he said since he couldn’t be sure it was a sinus infection yet I would have to wait on antibiotics. Mother fucker what am I doing here?! He at least gave me something to “help me sleep” but he was only competent enough to identify the liquid form (it’s most commonly prescribed as a tablet)… but hey, the codeine in the cough syrup is starting to work right… about… now. Which is really the only benefit I received from the whole experience.

That being said, I’m going to try to go to bed earlyish/soon! I expect tomorrow to be a much better day even though I have to go into work in the morning.

Amplify’d from www.huffingtonpost.com

Bad Memory Worrying You? Scientists Inch Closer To Solution

A new report in the journal Science, however, reveals that an increase of PKMzeta, a protein that Discover Magazine calls the “engine of memory,” might actually help strengthen old memories — long after they’ve been formed.

The protein in question — PKMzeta — acts by strengthening the bond between neurons in the brain, creating a network of connections that Discover describes as the “physical embodiment of our memories.” Researchers surmised that by upping the level of the protein in rats (which they did by creating a virus that expressed the gene for the protein and injecting it into their neocortexes), they might be able to improve memory.

What they found was startling: A week after the rats had undergone CTA, scientists injected them with the PKMzeta protein. Then a week after that, WIRED reports, they tested their memory. Their findings? Rats with more of the protein had better memory retention, which means they improved their memories long after their initial formation.

Another promising development in memory preservation research was published earlier today in the journal Stem Cells. Researchers at Northwestern University were able to use embryonic stem cells to make forebrain cholinergic neurons, or BFCNs, the type of neurons that die off early in Alzheimer’s patients.

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Amplify’d from www.fastcompany.com

In-home monitors detect behavioral patterns and predict medical emergencies.

How Intel and GE Will Monitor Your Grandma—For Her Own Good

Simple hardware combined with behavioral mathematics is helping seniors live free of nursing homes. Intel and General Electric’s joint healthcare product, QuietCare, uses infrared sensors, like those used for motion-sensing light switches, to monitor patients as they move throughout their home and alert medical staff to deviant behavior that suggests a medical threat. The tech giants just received FDA approval, giving hope that their passive monitoring system (and the competitor’s system) can keep the independent spirit of the Woodstock generation thriving for more years to come.

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