Please make sure you discuss this with a surgeon that really, really knows their stuff when it comes to managing prostate ca. You'll want to discuss very carefully things like doubling times, the actual locations of the tumor foci (if known, usually via ultrasound). Frankly, I suspect laparascopic surgical removal will eventually render other treatment options (other than watchful waiting) obsolete. The only issue is that many surgeons are just learning the technique and you want someone... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 7:14 AM on July 12, 2008

Bend is possibly the most expensive city in Oregon right now, as far as housing goes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:11 PM on June 24, 2008

Unless you adore the rain, you might want to be within an hour or so of the Cascades so you can get out occasionally in the winter and see sun and snow. It's cheaper than shock therapy or a psychologist.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 7:55 AM on June 25, 2008

Can you lose weight?
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:13 PM on June 24, 2008

Cranial MRI's could do with a little more heads-up, as it were. The claustrophobia and noise are the most remarkable elements, imo, and somewhat comical in a way, given the millions of dollars they cost. I imagine the fact that for most people, the MRI is discerning something potentially awful only adds to the distress. I'm a big fan of a stout dose of Valium before going in.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 2:51 PM on June 14, 2008

Injectable steroids are no more effective than oral, assuming you are using equivalent amounts based on the specific corticosteroid potency. And if you have a noxious reaction to the steroid - mania, depression, GI upset, anxiety - you're screwed if you get a shot. Pills wear off quickly.

Remember it takes at least 3-6 weeks for rhus dermatitis (poison oak and the like) to run it's course, and even then you are likely to sensitize the skin where it occurred.... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:23 PM on May 25, 2008

Order Little Dieter Needs To Fly from Netflix.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:18 PM on May 25, 2008

nthing burritos.

I cook rice, beans, salsa, peppers, corn, maybe an egg in a skillet, wrap it up, a little sour cream and guac, and you won't remember for a second why you ever ate meat to begin with.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 5:38 PM on May 19, 2008

Plus you can refrig. the leftovers and make another burrito in about two minutes that counts as dinner, lunch, or breakfast.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 5:38 PM on May 19, 2008

I'm a big believer in keeping a PPI drug (OTC Prilosec) in the medicine cabinet for those three am searing bouts of reflux that seem to happen a couple times a year after a big social event or dinner.

And dental floss. It's uses are innnumerable.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 2:45 PM on May 19, 2008

Really, I'm a bit at a loss since I do excercise

Read what LoriFla said, again, and then again. You are eating to live. Even with superlative BP control, and Plavix, and statins, you are at risk for a recurrent MI. The next one might erase your life.

You need to spend time completely revising how you view food. And sushi? Sushi is basically candy. Eat the real thing (fish). Consider vegetarianism. Read up on the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:33 PM on May 16, 2008

Losing 30 pounds puts him at 155, right in the middle BMI for normal weight. So again, unless you are solid muscle, lose some weight.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:56 PM on May 16, 2008

ethno - you're correct that BMI isn't always useful. Far more relevent in males is waist circumference, which we can't know in this guy.

My point is that, precisely because of the unusual nature of his young-age heart disease (although really not that rare, esp. in a smoker), he needs to come at this like a religious conversion. Most post-MI treatment is meant to stabilize or slow progression of atherosclerosis. He needs to reverse it.

Again,... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 7:02 AM on May 18, 2008

2) he has permanent nerve damage (and maybe pain)

How do you know this? Is the injury more than a year old?
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 1:16 PM on May 16, 2008

Possibly relevant:

I took my Subaru in Salem to a guy named Marv at the Japanese Connection who was very, very good and honest. Since you said Portland and Eugene I thought I'd throw that out there. I imagine an oil change in a German vehicle might be within his scope of skills.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 2:28 PM on May 14, 2008

The most depressing meal of my life was a accidental dinner at a Spaghetti Warehouse. At the time I thought the decor, menu, and general MO were just a terrible accident of incredibly bad cooking and taste, but reading the above business plan it appears to have been deliberate.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:27 PM on May 12, 2008

Don't overthink your bowels.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:54 AM on May 10, 2008

What's the cost of ripping off the wood and going with a cement siding like Hardi? I used it when we built our house - we used the smooth face (no cheap looking, faux-wood grain) and it holds paint incredibly well, weathers beautifully, and has minimal shrink so caulk joints don't open up at all.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:00 AM on May 8, 2008

What sorts of medical therapy has she tried, and is there a physiatry/rehab medicine center anywhere near you?
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 5:51 PM on May 7, 2008

A formal allergy consult to better outline the extent of your aspirin v. nsaid allergy might be a place to start.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 1:17 PM on May 6, 2008

Another option: Go meet your new Pulmonologist. Beforehand tell them where they can find your CT scans. Unless the original pulmo. does the CT's in his office there's no reason they won't just request the films from the radiology suite or hospital and they'll be sent by courier to the office within a day or two.

As for your records, the idea of avoiding a confrontation is silly. Your original pulmo won't even blink, if he even hears about it. Call his office and... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:02 PM on May 2, 2008

And it's your GP's job to run interference if necessary so you can see the new doc, btw.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:03 PM on May 2, 2008

Shingles will not cross the midline of the body (or at least not by more than a cm or two at most).

Have you been working outdoors in the days prior? Because it does resemble rhus dermatitis, caused by urushiol from certain plants (poison oak and sumac being the big ones). It it definitely not pityriasis or tinea versicolor, imo, based on appearance and the intensity or itching. Rhus dermatitis tends to blossom over several days as the oil/skin protein reaction takes... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:57 AM on April 30, 2008

voc - looks like you're on the right track. Derm is often a real guessing game, and most things do respond well to topical steroids. Some earlier posters mentioned heat rash and certainly if you were sweating more, abrading the collar area, etc., it's possible. If it's going to repond to steroids it ought to within a few days, so go back to your doc if not.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 12:40 PM on April 30, 2008

I found that Mac Mail is and was harder for me to get used to and in some ways is still less user friendly than on my Windows XP machine at work. At the risk of sounding like a Mac zealot, though, I went through three Windows PC's in five years or so and switched, and just find so often it's been great for me. My folks in their 70's just switched and feel the same way.

I think it helps also that Apple has stores in a lot of places where there is help. My mom went in... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 10:19 AM on April 29, 2008

seconding jouke on Finder. To this day it's an obtuse, confusing feature that I forgot I simply gave up on trying to understand.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 10:47 AM on April 29, 2008

ikkyu - I'm partial to Smith and Hawken, but would also add that, if you have hummingbirds, agastache is like crack cocaine to them. It grows in hot, arid sunny locales really easily and looks great.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:12 PM on April 28, 2008

nothing.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 3:12 PM on April 22, 2008

seconding thread's link. Excess Vitamin A and E sound like big no-no's, now more than ever.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:20 PM on April 20, 2008

LF - even if, by some metric, you are felt to be Hypothyroid, the reasons for your weight gain will not likely be accounted for by an underactive thyroid, simply because it rarely has that huge an impact on a person's weight. Barring some extremely esoteric source for your concerns, the likely outcome here is you are going to need to do a wholesale review of your diet and exercise routine. And frankly, low-fat was never meant to be carb-heavy. Eat a diet high in whole foods, treat fast food... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:29 PM on April 18, 2008

Writing the insurance company won't accomplish shit unless the doc is employed by them. More likely is that the doc is contracted through the clinic with your insurance. But try anyways if you like. If it were me I'd write a letter to the doctor directly. I'd tell them how miserably they failed to perform up to even a minimal standard, then move on. And your letter will have infinitely more effect if you first find yourself a decent editor. I can't imagine anyone spending time reading it if it... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:21 PM on April 15, 2008

Please also make sure an MMA was performed when the B12 was drawn. Different labs use different reference levels for B12, and there is no "normal" per se, just different amounts that may or may not be protein bound. An MMA is a more exact way to determine whether or not there is sufficient B12 available for the body to properly repair neuronal tissue, specifically myelin. Your case is definitely peculiar, and I think that calling it fibromyalgia is so much nonsense until you've... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:54 PM on April 12, 2008

Consider speaking to a doctor (psychiatrist, perhaps) about Provigil or Adderall.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:20 PM on April 10, 2008

Diaphragmatic (or abdominal) breathing works really, really well for most people (me included).
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:19 PM on April 10, 2008

North shore of Kauai, check out the Princeville if you want comfort and luxury.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 7:09 AM on April 2, 2008

Explosions In The Sky?
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 7:49 AM on March 29, 2008

Sorry - you said singer, and as far as I know there's no one in EITS singing.

Radiohead, I know, consists of classically trained musicians, and are known for their unusual time signatures, but aren't a US band, of course.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 7:58 AM on March 29, 2008

gorp
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:57 PM on March 26, 2008

Look at Vanguard, for starters. The majority of their funds are no load and with very low annual fees. You could consider an Index 500 fund that tracks the S and P as a whole.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:29 PM on March 20, 2008

People withdraw in the hospital all the fucking time on lots less than your habit, if you care. They're usually the social/functional alcoholics that don't come clean about their habit when they're admitted for something unrelated. Ethanol withdrawl kills people, so unless you're Superman (you are anonymous, after all), get an opinion from someone with a diploma from somewhere besides Metafilter or a liquor store.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 3:59 PM on March 20, 2008

Yeah, likely diastasis recti or a ventral hernia. You mentioned a nasal cannula, so I'm thinking maybe a guy with emphysema, therefore likely skinny, so any ventral hernia would look like a heap of trouble, except it isn't, so he might not even know it's there, so to speak.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 3:55 PM on March 20, 2008

Complete horseshit. BUT - the occasional fast does feel quite pleasant, tough that has little to do with cleaning out your gut.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 8:55 PM on March 18, 2008

It might help to simply remember all the many ways you could have wound up dead, or morbidly disabled, and get on with living your life grateful for every day you get to wake up in an intact body and a functional brain, with your family near. It's a lot better hand than many are dealt, and may be the best existential gift you ever get in this life.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:08 PM on March 16, 2008

Best thing I can see them doing at this point is getting a good social worker in their corner and staying in their shadow after leaving the hospital until they get help finding assistance. No hospital could survive without the social workers.

I'd say it's outside the realm of normal/appropriate if she went more than 24 hours without being seen by an MD - you'd have to see the chart to know that's truly the case. I can tell you I've been paged plenty of times in the... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:57 PM on March 11, 2008

insomniax here too. free, works great for itunes.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 9:18 PM on March 10, 2008

Call It Democracy, by Bruce Cockburn
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:41 PM on March 6, 2008

neti pot. look into it.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:07 PM on March 5, 2008

You sound like a total ass in your email. My guess is the fact that you even come into their house with a dog, if they indeed choose not to own a dog, tags you as a boorish clod. The errant pile of dog shit is just further confirmation of your stepmom's desire not to have one in the house.
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 4:48 PM on March 3, 2008

did you forget to take your meds

That's also the sort of rejoinder, right alongside, "are you on the rag?" that stands as a fairly reliable litmus test for what kind of protoplasm is on the production end. Are you twelve?
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 4:51 PM on March 3, 2008

jairus, I flagged your answer as noise.

Schubi, I feel like from your description you are in a very normal place. That is, I find that anxious people also tend to be quite meticulous planners and tend to like to sort out options in life well in advance and dislike uncertainty. I say this as one of those people and as a doctor that treats tons of anxiety. It seems to be more prevalent in highly functional, effective people.

I think it's probably... [more]
posted to Ask Metafilter by docpops at 6:42 PM on February 18, 2008 marked best answer