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Wed. Oct 27, 2010

Brain Matters: Surgery Eve

For the complete backstory, you can read earlier “Brain Matters”: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Waiting and Contemplating and The Haircut.

But the short version is that around 8am Thursday, the chief of neurosurgery at Emory, Dr. Daniel Barrow, will open my skull to repair an unruptured cerebral aneurysm. No one can say for sure how long I’ve had this aneurysm, but I’ve been carrying around the knowledge of it for over three months, as well as the knowledge this day would arrive.

» Read the Full Article (409 words) »

Fri. Oct 22, 2010

Brain Matters: The Haircut

If you read much about the type of brain surgery I’m having (for the backstory, see earlier “Brain Matters”: Part 1, Part 2, Waiting and Contemplating and Part 3), you find a wide variety of approaches to “prepping the head.” Occasionally they will shave the entire head. Usually they just shave a patch on the right side above your ear. And sometimes they only shave a half inch wide path along the line the C-shaped incision will be made.

But the bottom line is some nurse is going to give you a bad haircut. I decided to pre-empt this by getting a haircut from a professional. Graphic (hair) photos follow.

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Mon. Sep 20, 2010

A Day For Accounting, 2010

Anyone who really knows me also knows that lists, statistics, and “counting” are Things Reid Likes. The following is a continuation of a now seven year old tradition, “A Day for Accounting.” It was inspired by this from Crystal Lyn, and something that happened 52 years ago today.

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Wed. Sep 08, 2010

Brain Matters, Part 3

In the ongoing story of Reid’s Brain Matters (Part 1, Part 2), we last left off at the neurosurgeon’s office, with him saying he needed just one more test to get the information he needed to make a final recommendation on how best to approach my aneurysm.

» Read the Full Article (1317 words) »

Mon. Aug 23, 2010

Waiting and Contemplating

Responding to a comment late last night once again set me to contemplating. The waiting is the hardest part. In part because it makes you think.

I’ve read the stories of many people facing a brain aneurysm like I am. Some of them were paralyzed by fear after finding out, spending their days waiting for their head to blow up.

I refuse to be that guy. I will not ruin the “now” spending it worrying about a “tomorrow” that I don’t control. But it is also foolish not to think about all the potential outcomes.

» Read the Full Article (491 words) »

Fri. Aug 13, 2010

Brain Matters, Part 2

I suppose it’s time for an update to my Brain Matters. When we last left off, I was just home from the hospital after having a minor stroke, with a referral to a neurosurgeon regarding the aneurysm they found.

» Read the Full Article (649 words) »

Wed. Jul 21, 2010

Brain Matters

Since I met my dear wife, she has been through the medical wringer a few times. A hysterectomy, a cervical fusion, a shattered wrist, the later removal of the metal placed in her wrist, not to mention a hospitalization or two for her Crohn’s disease. And I get to play Nurse Ratched and/or Nurse Bruno (as well as “hairstylist” when she broke her wrist). Meanwhile, I’ve been The Healthy One for the fifteen years I’ve known her. But I always told her, someday, payback is gonna be hell.

And the payback has arrived.

» Read the Full Article (1602 words) »

Sun. Sep 20, 2009

A Day For Accounting, 2009

Anyone who really knows me also knows that lists, statistics, and “counting” are Things Reid Likes. The following is a continuation of a now six year old tradition, “A Day for Accounting.” It was inspired by this from Crystal Lyn, and something that happened 51 years ago today.

» Read the Full Article (991 words) »

Thu. Sep 17, 2009

Health Prayer Reform

Our current “health care debate” has convinced me of one thing. We, as a country, are no longer capable of civil discourse about important topics. This is a straightjacket on democracy. We are no longer capable of doing Big Things, and we give off the appearance of a rather dumb country that is consumed by pettiness and increasingly incapable of civil discourse.

We, as a country, follow the examples set by our left/right leaders-celebrities, and regurgitate the ad hominem talking points they give us, or that we heard from some guy on the Internet. We try to shout each other down.

Because volume is a winning policy.

So many very angry people seem perfectly happy with the system we have. I know the majority of people have always been fully employed at a medium to large company that provides them with access to moderately priced insurance coverage. I know the majority of people have never run a small business, or been self-employed (two activities that allegedly cause this country to “thrive”), or wrestled with a COBRA payment after being laid off from their full time job, or worse, tried to convert COBRA to individual coverage. I know the majority of people have not encountered a major medical issue that strained or exceeded the limits of their existing coverage.

I know I may not be among the majority of American people on this topic. So I might have some differing insights to provide. And I am very very angry, too. It comes from two sources, both of which ought to anger you, too, even if you have moderately priced insurance.

» Read the Full Article (2092 words) »