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Our Daily Thread 11-12-14

Good Morning!

On this day in 1815 American suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in Johnstown, NY. 

In 1892 William “Pudge” Heffelfinger became the first professional football player when he was paid a $500 bonus for helping the Allegheny Athletic Association beat the Pittsburgh Athletic Club.  

In 1915 Theodore W. Richards, of Harvard University, became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry. 

In 1931 Maple Leaf Gardens opened in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

And in 1940 Walt Disney released “Fantasia.” 

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Quote of the Day

“The freedom of the press works in such a way that there is not much freedom from it.”

Grace Kelly

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Today is Chris Huffman’s birthday.

 Today is also Neil Young’s birthday.

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Anyone have a QoD?

42 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 11-12-14”

  1. Good morning.

    L. has had a severe migraine since Monday at 10:00am. She’s taken maximum dosage of Imitrex (a vasoconstrictor) and Ibuprofen. I called her neurologist yesterday and asked for something for pain. We’ve seen him for over a year. Office nurse explained it is their office policy not to prescribe pain relievers. Did I mention this is a doctor who advertises he treats migraine disorder?!? By definition, migraines involve intense pain… We have an appointment with a new neurologist today.

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  3. Good morning! Good evening! Good every hour everywhere!

    Sorry to hear about the migraine difficulties, Annms. Good thing to find a new doc. I have known several people who have suffered for years with those. When young, my best friend’s mom had them frequently and would have to go to the hospital ER and get some kind of shot for them. My friend said it was suppose to run in families so they were waiting to see which of the three children would get migraines. I have not heard that any did.

    I not only get to help my husband take care of the psoriasis on his elbows, now I get to add the knee that got scraped yesterday. It seems I am a nurse in training. 🙂 He could do these things for himself, but it is better that I do them because I will be more thorough.

    I spoke with my brother last night about my father’s role in the Seabees. He was originally stationed in the Aleutian Islands which I knew about. My brother told me my father’s group transferred out to the Pacific, but my father was chosen to stay stateside on the West Coast somewhere and become an inspector of building materials the Seabees would purchase for supplies. They had been getting substandard materials and he had to make sure they got good building materials. My brother said because my father was the only son in his family and that his dad was in poor health that he might have been allowed to stay stateside because of that. Anyways, I did not know all of this history that my brother knew. My brother has also seen the movie about the Seabees.

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  4. Good Morning. I think things were successful for my friend yesterday. She broke her ankle the earlier part of the year sledding with her grandchildren in Germany. She had to fly home with a broken ankle and no pain meds. This triggered a nerve disorder and even though her ankle has healed she is still suffering with pain and swelling in all of her joints. Some days she is fine, some days she is on crutches, and some days she is in a wheelchair. This procedure was to insert a nerve stimulator to help

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  5. Janice, in our extensive experience with staph infections over the past four and a half years, we have found any new opening in the skin was potential for another. The docs told us to just put the ointment on anything that had potential. That is the ointment that goes in the nose to stop the infection in the arm or leg or wherever. But we were to apply it topically as well. No staph infections for a while now.

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  7. AJ, your photos make me want my husband to take me to Orlando! (Well, I’ve seen coots in several different states, just never close enough to get a good photo of them with whatever camera I have with me at the time. But several of those species I’ve never seen at all.)

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  9. Michelle, my husband feels somewhat embarrassed about being thanked for his service. He did his job and was in California for the last years of his service. Each member of the service is needed, but not all jobs were equal in sacrifice or heroics. If everyone who served is a hero, does that make the term mean much less in the long run?

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  10. I wasn’t in Korea, but I’m not embarrassed. (Though “Thank you for your service” doesn’t mean much to me, as I explained yesterday.)
    I went where they sent me and did what I was assigned.
    David made a rule in I Samuel 30:24. The guys who stay with the stuff gets the same share of the booty.

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  11. I had trouble with migraines mostly in my 40s, but not now thankfully. I have a friend, though, who gets several a week — doctors have never been able to figure out why.

    Hey Chas, $500 is starting to look like a lot of money again to those of us in the downward-spiraling world of print journalism. 😉

    Well, it’s Wednesday — I have a 3:30 p.m. meeting to cover that could go long so another busy/late day ahead, unless they manage to speed through the agenda.

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  12. Good Frosty Morning to you all….it is 5 below zero, light snowflakes are falling upon the two inches of snow on the ground…our high is to be 3 above today….needless to say…I’m staying indoors!
    Lots of shuffling going on at Paul’s company too Donna…I’m just hoping he isn’t shuffled out the door! Trusting the Lord in all things 🙂
    Paul feels ill at ease when someone thanks him for his serive in the AF….he was in for 4 years..worked at the base gymn…got out and went to school on the GI Bill…thankful for opportunities presented to him..but, does not view his role being that of “hero”….
    Ann, I have experienced migranes, but not cronic…usually when the barometric pressure changes rapidly, have too much caffiene, chocolate, stress…that is when they come on…praying for your girl…

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  13. I have never served in the military although I have been around it in some way for a number of years. I now have my own disabled veteran. My thoughts are that we have so over compensated for the way Vietnam Veterans were treated (horribly). To me it is like “bless you” is when someone sneezes. Now we hear someone was in the military so we say “thank you for your service”.
    Yesterday the Broker in my office took one of the agents, a Vietnam veteran to lunch. Carmike Theaters were offering a pass to see Fury–too bad we already went– and I think IHOP was offering the Red, White, and Blue Breakfast.
    What did my veteran do? He took the dogs to the dog park and went to the gym.

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  15. I find it embarrassing. My accountant thanked him last year. A friend sent me a text yesterday asking me to tell him that you. I wasn’t married to him when he was active so I just kind of hang my head or step back.

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  16. I am about to ask some questions that may make some uncomfortable to talk about. It involves the female reproductive system. Feel free to skip this if you want.

    Men, you definitely will want to. 😯

    What can be done to help elevate her PMS symptoms? The poor thing is in such obvious pain and discomfort 2 days every month, yet Tylenol does nothing for her. A heated pad on her stomach area helps some, but not much.

    Anybody know a natural remedy?

    I understand the pill might help (you can’t tell but there’s a look of horror on my face at the thought of it) but am reluctant to consider it. She’s 12 for cryin’ out loud.

    My primary concern is her pain, not attitude. The attitude that accompanies it are a whole ‘nother nightmare. 😦

    I had a plan for dealing with that, but it appears locking her in her room for 2 days a month is unfeasible. Logistics aren’t a problem, but it turns out it might be unethical, illegal, and violate a couple different UN resolutions on unlawful detentions. So that’s out…..

    So I’m out of ideas and any tips would be appreciated.

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  17. I think Kim has a point about overcompensating for past errors with returning Nam vets.

    I would prefer they save it for returning/returned combat and disabled veterans. They’ve given so much more than I did. I appreciate the sentiment, but it’s unnecessary.

    And do it any day, not just now.

    When we were in Florida I met a young man in a wheelchair. The first thing I noticed is that he was wearing a Disabled Iraq Combat Veteran hat, and that he had a prosthetic leg. He came out of his room into my path as I walked to my room. As soon as he saw me he apologized profusely for getting in my way. I told him no problem and noted his hat. He lost the leg in Iraq and had just finished extensive rehab and was now vacationing with his wife. I thanked him for what he had done and he again apologized for the chair. I told him I’d yield to him and his chair any day. He’d earned it, and I was happy to do so.

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  18. The Real, exercise. Have her walk a half mile several times a day. The act of walking helps the muscles to relax and the cramps to diminish. It also helps the attitude.

    You have seen nothing until you have seen an emotionally disturbed autistic child in PMS. Spectacular.

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  19. AJ, first, do not put her on the Pill. Virtually everyone I know who has been on it for at least two years had problems with it (many of them had problems with less than two years on it)–the way it messes with hormones is so horrid for so many women that I think it might be an illegal or highly regulated medication today if it wasn’t considered so “crucial” to have it readily available. This wouldn’t be an issue for your daughter, of course, but I’d urge married women to keep a distance from it because apparently it is very likely to lower a woman’s libido . . . but that isn’t the only way it messes up hormones, and I know more than one woman who has been off it for years and still has physical side effects that started while she was on it and that she believes to be connected. As far as I’m concerned, it should only be used for life-threatening problems. Others will disagree . . . but I have heard so many horror stories that I wouldn’t touch the stuff, and I definitely wouldn’t give it to a developing child.

    You don’t want to “elevate” her symptoms, by the way, but to alleviate them. 🙂 Motrin works better than Tylenol for many women; have her take one and wait an hour, and then take a second if she needs it. Prescription strength can be several times the OTC strength, so two or even three should be safe, but two should cut most any pain. They say it helps to start taking pills a day or two beforehand and keep them in your system that way, but I wouldn’t recommend that unless “as needed” isn’t effective. For me personally, I found that taking one at the first hint of pain was helpful in keeping it from getting bad, and if I found it getting worse and not better within the hour, I’d take a second . . . but then, I never had issues as serious as many women do, anyway.

    My best advice: Order a copy of the book Jump Off the Hormone Swing by Lorraine Pintus. It has all sorts of practical advice for all sorts of female hormone issues, from PMS to going into menopause, and I suspect your wife might find it helpful too.

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  20. First of all MUMSEE. I know I wasn’t supposed to laugh but I did. Then I felt guilty. But not enough to still laugh at the word “spectacular”,
    AJ I have a 17 year old daughter. I wouldn’t have put her on the pill at 12 although my experience with it was completely different from what others have had. I was a very happy person when I took BCP’s it was when I came off of them to try to have a baby that things got wonky.
    I would look for natural remedies. Evening Primrose Oil is good for a multitude of female issues. There is also a tea I bought BG at the healthfood store. I can’t remember the name but I am sure if you asked someone there and they will know. As Mumsee said, exercise cures a multitude of illnesses. Midol has been around for ages…try that too.

    Just tell her/yourself that “this too shall pass”. When BG was 13 or 14 I KNEW that if I had acted that way someone in my family would have slapped my teeth down my throat. She is 17 now and much better. My point is that I was probably the same way at 13 or 14 and God got even with me.

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  21. The Real, I know something of what your daughter is going through. I started younger than her and it was always hard on me – I frightened my family once by fainting dead away. As a young teen, the pain from my cycle left me alternately shrieking and throwing up with the pain. It so unnerved my family, that I ended up in the emergency room a couple of times. In the end, I learned to live with it. I only take a pain killer – one ibuprofen – when it starts, and then I work through the rest of it. I haven’t thrown up or shrieked in years, though I do occasionally moan.

    Do not even consider the pill – it is a dangerous medication for a fully grown woman, never mind a developing girl. The pain is normal – it isn’t just pregnant women who experience the effects of our curse. As Mumsee said, exercise can take off the edge off the pain. Distraction also helps – something that takes concentration that she enjoys (I play the piano or read an interesting book). Education also reduces the pain – much of the reason I screamed and threw up is because I was afraid that the pain meant I was dying. Once I understood that I was experiencing a normal part of life, it didn’t seem as bad. Finally, and this will sound harsh, don’t spoil her. Reduce the work on those days if she can’t handle a full workload, but don’t let her lie in bed all day. Unfortunately, pain is an increasing feature of life as one grows older, and she will have to learn to not only endure it, but also be productive in spite of it.

    As for the PMS, my mother would sometimes say, when one of my siblings* had a meltdown, “I think it is the wrong time of month.” That drove me crazy, and I would snap back, “It’s no excuse.” I still think that. If I wonder why I’m getting so upset or depressed, it helps me to think that it might be PMS; but only to understand my emotions, not to excuse my behaviour. Controlling the emotions in spite of triggers is also a part of maturity. So, parent with understanding – I’m not advocating harshness – but also with firmness. “Tough, but fair.” 😉

    *My father and mother had four daughters, and women tend to sync their periods when they live in the same house 👿

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  22. AJ, our youngest has had great difficulty with monthly excrutiating pain…it was suggested by the PA to take three ibuprofen at 7AM…and then three at 7PM (Hannah weighed just under 100lbs) and do this while the pain is an issue… this regime works for her…and laying down with her feet elevated with a heating pad seemed to help as well. PMS is short for PoorMrSmith…or so said my husband 😛

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  23. part 2 from me: get rid of the junk food. Especially whatever is craved at that time as it tends to exacerbate the problem. Drink water.

    Kim, since she has started, about six months ago, she has run away three times at that time. Only at that time. She pleads to go back to foster care. She tells me how much she hates me. Fortunately, we have good understanding neighbors and when she runs away, they listen to her, tell her how valuable she is and how much she has grown here, and send her home. I thank them and remind them we all would prefer that to her ending up in a car with a crazy person. Crazier than her and crazier than me.

    Phos, we don’t allow it to be an excuse here either. With all of the girls I have had, between bio, foster, adoption, and friends, all have thought they were dying but none was on meds for it when they left. I do realize there are exceptions but I would shoot for not being the exception first. Of course, there was a reason the Indians sent the women at certain times to their own lodges….

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  26. I am sorry Mumsee. It was just the phrasing
    I am on the side of not letting it be an excuse. I was thinking about it on the way home. My younger life revolve around my mother’s cycle. It dominated my one and only trip to Disney World. I vowed at an early age to never give in.
    My point in that is too some degree it is mind over matter she my thinks she’s dying but she’s not. None of us have yet.

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  27. I think we scared all the men away. Hmmm. an effective tactic…
    In the words of G.K. Chesterton:
    “Women talk to each other; that is why their conversations are frightfully fascinating, but too terrible for us to listen to for long without running away.”

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  28. It’s timely that you asked, AJ. Just this week I was riding by where I would get off the school bus and walk home from that point. I had the one big memory of how awful I felt one day just getting back to my home. I did feel like I might die because of the pain and sickness from my period. I am sure I had no aspirin at school to take. I remember that pain more than childbirth. So, validate what your daughter is feeling, and she probably needs to have extra rest until the pain med makes her feel better. I also had diarrhea along with the cramping at that time so I could be really down for a bit. Your daughter is fortunate to be at home and not have the extra stress of being in public school and worrying about not getting to the restroom in time. I have heard some have such a bad time of it that they need prescription pain relief. I am with the others who say no to the pill. And yes to exercise on a regular basis to help all the body function at the best level.

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  31. Have any of you ladies here had endometriosis? I’ve always heard how horrible it can be, but recently have heard more detail from a friend who suffers from it. It seems that it can truly be debilitating, in that it can grow on other organs & fuse them together. That is part of my friend Jenn’s many health issues, & it may be why her bladder doesn’t work, but sometimes spasms painfully.

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  33. I have a wonderful dentist now. In the past I had an evil seeming dentist. So must depends on the individual personality and approach. I hope my current dentist will be there for me for many years. It has been quite strange that two of my hygienists died from different health issues. Then the receptionist died from something else.

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  34. My sister-in-law ended up having to have a hysterectomy due to endometriosis. Years before that, she had been enrolled in an experimental trial through Yale Medical School, but they rejected her because she was pregnant.

    That’s how she learned she was pregnant! She & my brother had been trying for a while, & she had gotten very discouraged. Niece was born about three months early, but after over two months in the NICU, she ended up growing & thriving, & there were no ill effects of her prematurity.

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  35. My sister died from endometriosis. Well, she went to the doctor in significant discomfort, the doc did surgery, and she died from infection a couple of days later. The tissue had grown around her intestines.

    I am not wanting to say the discomfort of PMS is insignificant. It often is. And often has more than just the cramping and aching, as Janice mentioned. But sometimes the fix can be less than giving meds with side affects of their own. Sometimes a combination works. And sometimes bedrest is needed. I know that perimenopause definitely put a damper on my travels when overseas. Especially living in countries with squats and slots for toilets! Dealing with the unfamiliar….Anyway, I certainly understand not wanting to get out at that time. But, generally i have found that if you give the child an alternative that is helpful, it can be all that is necessary. So often, they hear their peers discussing the pains and cures of medication that they think they cannot live without it. But even ibuprofen can be misused and cause significant damage. A little is fine. But becoming dependent on it could be problematic. Lots of young folk take lots of stuff even when they say they would never do that and damage their bodies. They tend to think of it as equivalent to a drink of water.. No big deal.

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  36. I had endometriosis, had surgery for it 25 years ago (they took out one ovary) and they had me on BCPs (no problems here with those) to control it. Never came back to the best of my knowledge. Primary symptom was pain during my periods — I’d never been one to be bothered much with PMS.

    But they actually diagnosed it when I had a bladder infection that would not completely clear up. After numerous antibiotics and tests they found what they thought was a cyst on my ovary. As it turned out, spots of the endometriosis had landed on my bladder so that explained the infection I guess. And the cyst wasn’t a cyst, but was more of the endometriosis.

    Weird disease, but not fatal, and I haven’t had any problems since.

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  37. Re the photo of the day: I’d never seen coots close enough to realize they had such evil-looking red eyes, nor had I noticed the white feathers on their tail. So that photo helped me see more about what they look like. Last year when we went to look at eagles there were a lot of coots in the water, but quite some distance away. I’m hoping they’ll be there this next year, too, and with this camera I’ll be able to photograph them. They were just black dots in the water in my photos this year.

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  38. Mumsee, I’m with you on the less medication, the better. (Though I probably take more than you do.) Many months I wouldn’t take any, and some months I might take half a dozen pills–but that would be a bad month. But for me personally, cutting pain off at the pass works a lot better than waiting. For example, if I have a hint of a headache I may try something non-medicinal first, but if it isn’t gone within half an hour I take a Tylenol. That is because I learned years ago that within half an hour, one Tylenol (sometimes two) will take care of a headache. But if I wait an hour or two, I might have that headache for days, and Tylenol won’t work. Same (for me) with cramps–I didn’t get bad ones very often, and more often than not I didn’t even get cramps. But if I got them, cutting them off at the first hint was far more effective than trying to suffer through and then taking a couple pills six hours later. By that time, pills wouldn’t work.

    But that’s also why I recommended a book that has lots of good ideas, because if non-medicinal options help, that’s a whole lot better.

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  39. Aj: I recommend Aleve for cramping. Ibuprofen doesn’t work as well for me. I can’t take the pill; it makes my migraines worse and makes me extremely moody. I’d be reluctant to give it to a developing child.

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  40. Cheryl,

    I agree with taking pain meds early on when needed. Which is why I am probably addicted to Excedrin Migraine. Because those headaches ruin my day. So at the first twinge, medicate. I may have outgrown migraines years ago but would not know it with rebound headaches because I was so sick with them I never want to experience the full affect. Bye bye kidneys and liver.

    By the way, the package arrived today and has been read by four children and critiqued by three. They were very much enjoyed.

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