Day: 06/11/2015

The Alien Invasion

Day One
I was the only human left alive
when the aliens finally arrived
The only one left to document
The very last to comment

Day Two
Aliens seeking
new home and hearth
checking out life
found here on Earth

Day Three
Fire in the sky
What else could it be?
But a bunch of aliens
coming to visit me?

Day Four
Alien or flyboy?
I can never tell
Should I just ignore it
or ring the alarm bell?

Day Five
They arrived in a cloud
that took over the sky
I wondered aloud
Big fish or small fry?

Day Six
Then a big hole appeared
in the sky up above
and just as I feared
the aliens were here

Day Seven
Wonder what they look like
How would I even know?
Alien craft or bush?
Friend or foe?

Day Eight
Could be the remains
of an alien craft
Am I being cautious?
Or have I become daft?

Day Nine
Here to document
every possibility
Are these aliens?
or just plain weeds?

Day Ten
They multiplied like weeds
in buds, flowers and trees
Can’t be too sure
but looks like aliens to me

Day Eleven
Doesn’t look like a flower
Could be a weed
Think I could smoke it?
Find some relief?

Day Twelve
My human vanity
led me to believe
when all was said and done
the aliens had won

Day Thirteen
When in actuality
Earth had always belonged
to the flowers, buds and trees
As it turns out
the alien was me

Transformation
And then the pain was gone
the pain of humanity
I was now just a weed
part of nature’s family

A pretend call with imaginary phone

Hello, Nurse?

See, I’ve been cursed
it’s my poor head
about to burst
this constant pain
so damn perverse

But I’m poor
ain’t got much purse
just a few pennies
for me to disburse
and there’s no one
to reimburse

Don’t want no snake oil
no rhyming verse
don’t you understand?
this pain’s the worst!
no way to ever
be reversed

Can’t help me?
your voice, so terse!
oh, never mind
just send the hearse

(Photo taken 12/5/2014.)

Why So Many Domestic Violence Survivors Don’t Get Help — Even When They Ask For It

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/10/domestic-violence-help_n_7537554.html

On Sept. 10, 2014, a woman arrived at a domestic violence program in Nevada desperately seeking emergency shelter. She had been living in her car with her four kids for two weeks, she said, hiding from an abusive partner.

The program turned her away. Its shelter was too full.

Her plea was just one of almost 11,000 requests for help that were denied that day because of a lack of funding, according to a report released Monday by the National Network to End Domestic Violence…

Another response from Dr. Katzman

Wed, Jun 10, 2015 9:30 am

From:  Joanna G Katzman
To:  painkills2@aol.com

Re: An alternative to suicide?

I am happy to get you an appointment with one of our UNM Pain Center providers if you’d like at this time. I did want to let you know that we don’t sign off on medical cannibis in our clinic.
Please provide me with your date of birth and best contact number so that our UNM Pain Center can call you for an appointment.  I am copying our charge nurse Jill Norris, RN, so she can have the information ready to go. Also, please plan to bring in your medical records and have any sent before the appointment as well.

Thank you so much,

Joanna G Katzman

Do you ever feel like you’re talking to empty air?  Or that doctors just don’t listen?  I’m not sure how I could have been more plain, especially about not having a phone. Or about being financially bereft. How much would it cost to copy and send my medical records (including MRIs) by courier to UNM?

I said I couldn’t afford the medical cannabis program, but it’s interesting to know that her clinic refuses to certify for the program. What kind of pain clinic would refuse access to cannabis for its patients? Sounds pretty cruel to me. If the clinic won’t even certify for cannabis, why would I think they would be willing to prescribe anything that might help me?

And I mentioned how complex my case was, so why would I want to see any other doctor except this purported expert, Dr. Katzman? She doesn’t know that I’ve seen pain specialists with more experience than she will ever have, or that I traveled from Texas to California to see the top specialist in her field. So actually, even seeing her would be a step down. No, she wants to pawn me off on one of her lackeys.

Does she mention if they take Medicare or not? No. Does she mention how much an appointment would cost? No. Does she mention how long it would take before I could see a doctor? No. Did I think mentioning suicide would give her an idea that we’re talking about a rather urgent problem? Is unmanageable intractable pain considered urgent? No. After all, pain doesn’t kill, right? Maybe I should have mentioned some of the other symptoms (besides suicidal ideation) that I’ve been experiencing from the constant, unrelieved, high-level pain, like heart palpitations. Would that have made a difference? No.

Does she even comprehend why I’ve given up on the medical industry? Apparently not.

Just imagine, if you will, how many times in 30 years I’ve paid for my medical records to be “evaluated” by a doctor. Just for the Medical Cannabis Program, I paid about $300 for two different doctors to review my records and certify my chronic pain condition. But that was only good for one year, which is one of the reasons I couldn’t afford to renew.

Does she understand that I’m not interested in any invasive treatments? That paying a doctor to prescribe acupuncture, massage, or mindfulness is a useless waste of my time and what little money I have? Will this doctor agree to prescribe the medications that help me or will he or she try to give me a prescription for antidepressants or any other drugs used off-label for treating chronic pain?

I really don’t know how to respond to her email. It’s obvious to me that she’s not interested in helping me and is just going through the motions so she won’t look bad or feel guilty.

How does one respond to empty air?

The Myth of “Female Viagra”

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-myth-of-female-viagra/?WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20150610

The new drug, Flibanserin, is designed to alter women’s brain chemistry over time to help increase sex drive. Unlike Viagra, it does not spark an immediate physical change in the body…

Whereas Viagra is a little blue pill men would take directly before sex to help direct that blood flow, Flibanserin needs to be taken daily. Over time it can affect two neurotransmitters in the brain and that may help influence libido. Exactly how Flibanserin restores desire, however, is murky. The drug acts to increase the neurotransmitter dopamine—a chemical that modulates motivation and reward—by binding with dopamine receptors. It also suppresses serotonin—a neurochemical linked to appetite and feelings of fulfillment or satiety—by acting on serotonin receptors…

Flibanserin was originally developed as an antidepressant drug by pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim although it is now produced by Sprout Pharmaceuticals. Several other antidepressants are currently prescribed off-label to treat sexual desire disorders but some of those drugs have can cause unwanted side effects such as irregular heartbeat or shortness of breath. Flibanserin, in fact, was rejected by the FDA twice for side effects that include fainting spells and low blood pressure…

“Beautiful Mind” John Nash’s Schizophrenia “Disappeared” as He Aged

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/beautiful-mind-john-nash-s-schizophrenia-disappeared-as-he-aged/?WT.mc_id=SA_WR_20150610

Mathematician John Nash, who died May 23 in a car accident, was known for his decades-long battle with schizophrenia—a struggle famously depicted in the 2001 Oscar-winning film “A Beautiful Mind.” Nash had apparently recovered from the disease later in life, which he said was done without medication.  But how often do people recover from schizophrenia, and how does such a destructive disease disappear? …

It’s not clear why only some schizophrenia patients get better, but researchers do know that a number of factors are linked with better outcomes…

People who have a later onset of the disease tend to do better than those who experience their first episode of psychosis in their teens, Moreno said. (“Psychosis” refers to losing touch with reality, exhibited by symptoms like delusions.) Nash was 30 years old when he started to experience symptoms of schizophrenia, which include hallucinations and delusions.

In addition, social factors—such as having a job, a supportive community and a family that is able to help with everyday tasks—are also linked with better outcomes for schizophrenia patients, Moreno said…