Steven Harper's Blog, page 74

Water Day!

Yesterday evening, a major (48") water main broke not far from here and wiped out the water supply for most of the county.  The few people who have water are on a boil alert.  The schools have no water at all.

Snow day!

Wait--

Water day!

Actually, last night I wasn't sleeping all that well.  I kept waking up.  (I think it's because Darwin isn't here.)  At one point, I popped awake and was sure my alarm hadn't gone off.  When I checked, I discovered it was only 4:30.

I had just managed to doze back off, when my phone went off at 5:30 with the news that school was cancelled.  It woke me fully, and I figured I may as well get up.

I woke Max up briefly to tell him school was off.  He acknowledged the news with a "Cool!" and lay back down.  A few minutes later, he was up again.  "Hey, Dad--can you make pancakes?"

And so I did.  6:15 on a no-school day, and Max and I were both eating pancakes.

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Huh. What Do You Do With This?

I had yet another set of doctor visits about the kidney stones today.  I came away with more medications, another date for surgery (this thought still makes me shake), and a number of recommendations, including dietary changes.

I'm supposed to avoid eating foods rich in oxilates.  These include:

spinach (and other dark, leafy greens)
beets
strawberries
peanuts
peacans
soy

Another dietary recommendation: avoid the following:

beef
pork
chicken
eggs
fish
milk

In other words, eat a low-protein diet.  In fact, I was advised against eating a low-carb diet because it can cause kidney stones in people predisposed to them.

However, I'm also diabetic.  My nutritionist said I should eat plenty of:

eggs
chicken
peanuts
stir-fry
yogurt

And avoid:

bread
rice
flour
sugar
cereal

In fact, if it has carbs in it, I should avoid it.  Kidney stones say avoid protein, diabetes says avoid carbs.

So what the fuck am I supposed to eat?





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Heart Update

The new doctor did an EKG as part of their new patient intake.  The nurse who ran it looked at the printout with a furrowed forehead.

"What is it?" I asked, suddenly nervous.  The cardiologist who saw me in the hospital, remember, declared after a dozen tests that my heart was fine, but ultimately wrote "abnormal EKG" on my chart, and I haven't had a chance to call his office about it.

"It's . . . giving me some messages here," she evaded.  "The doctor will talk to you about it."

This made me nervous.  Was this another abnormal EKG?  Whenever the staff won't tell you, it's bad.

After an interminable wait, the doctor himself finally came in, and I asked about the EKG.

"It's just the machine," he said.  "There's nothing to worry about."

Cool.

I also asked about my low heart rate, and he confirmed it was because I run, and that my rate was normal for me.

Good.

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New Doctor

Half my blogs seem to be about health...

I saw a new doctor today.  Dr. S--- replaces Dr. J---, who gave me a prescription that creates kidney stones in people prone to them.  Dr. S--- and his staff gave me a thorough going over that included an extensive back-and-forth interview in his office.  Unlike my previous doctor, Dr. S---'s communication was careful and extensive.

So we'll stay with this practice.

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Mom and Me

Today my mother called just as I was looking for my phone to call her.  Weird.  We talked about her recent trip to Boston and other places on the northeast coast, and we talked about my difficulties with the hospital.

My mother is a retired nurse and is very wise in the way of hospitals.  She pointed out a number of motivations to some of the hospital's actions, and was shocked when I said the hospital tried to put me on Heparin, which is a blood thinner administered to prevent blood clots.

"Were you on bed rest?" she asked.  "Were you told not to get out of bed at all?  Were you barred from walking around the room?"

To each of these, I said, "No."

"You weren't at risk for blood clots," she said.  "They shouldn't have been giving you Heparin for two and a half days when you were getting up and walking anyway."

I'm looking for other health care options now, thanks to my mother.

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My Heart! My Heart!

Hmmm...last night my Fitbit reported that my heart rate went down to 38. I checked the other data. The previous night it went down to 42. The night before that, 40. In fact, every night I've worn the sensor to bed, it reports my heart rate dropping into the low 40s between about 3 and 6 AM (when I get up). Should I be worried?

When I was in the hospital and they administered morphine, my heart rate dropped into the 40s. The hospital freaked out and put me on a heart monitor for three days and conducted endless tests on my heart, to which the cardiologist said everything was perfectly normal. (Did my heart rate drop that low when I was in the hospital? If it did, no one burst into my room to wake me up.) But my medical records from that day diagnose me with an "abnormal electrocardiogram" with a numerical code for "short QT syndrome."

I'm in the processing of dumping my current GP, the one who put me on the prescription that gave kidney stones, and I'm seeing my new GP for the first time tomorrow. I'll definitely bring this up with him. And I have to call the cardiologist.

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Oatmeal and Applesauce

I eat a lot of oatmeal.  Real oatmeal, not instant.  It's easy to make:

1/2 cup oatmeal (regular, not quick oats or instant)
1 cup water
pinch of salt
a spoonful of brown sugar (I use Splenda's brown sugar substitute and don't notice a difference)
a splash of milk

Put first three ingredients into a bowl twice as large as a cereal bowl.  Microwave on HIGH for two minutes.  (The mixture will boil and puff up temporarily, which is why you need a bigger bowl.)  Remove from microwave.  Bowl will be hot!  Stir in last two ingredients.  You can also add cinnamon, nutmeg, dried fruit, or fresh fruit.  Serve.

Today, I noticed the home made cinnamon applesauce in the fridge.  It came out smooth, with almost a creamy texture, and it's wonderful.  I added a couple spoonfuls to my oatmeal.  Fantastic!

I'm flying in the face of the food industry with this recipe.  The food industry has successfully worked to convince Americans that food preparation is onerous, difficult, and overly time-consuming.  To this problem, they have the solution--instant foods!  Heat and serve!  Easy, easy, easy!  Fast, fast, fast!  You can't cook.  We'll cook for you!

Instant oatmeal is a prime example.  At my grocery store, entire shelves are dedicated to various flavors of instant oatmeal, while the canisters of regular oatmeal are banished to the bottom shelf that few people check.  Oatmeal is too hard!  Buy instant!  Just add hot water, stir, and eat!  Give you kids a hot breakfast in plenty of time!

Never mind that all the fiber has been milled out of instant oatmeal, and it's loaded with sugar as well.

Also, in the "old" days, one of the virtues of oatmeal was how easy and fast it was to make.  You just add one part oatmeal to two parts lightly-salted, boiling water, let it cook for a minute or two, and you had a meal.  You could add any flavoring you liked--sugar, fruit, even bacon.  In Europe, they eat it with salt and butter--toast you eat with a spoon.  It was the go-to food when you needed a meal quickly, or you burned dinner, or had unexpected company.

Even compared to instant, regular oatmeal is easy and fast to make in a microwave.  Hell, the amount of time it takes to heat up the water for instant is about the same as it takes to make the above recipe.  And regular oatmeal is high in fiber and low in fat.  It's even gluten-free, if you need it.

Making oatmeal is easy.  Avoiding the food industry is hard.

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More Running Away

Friday, Darwin is leaving for a conference. He'll be gone for a week. This is the longest we've been apart since we got married. (The second-longest was when I stayed in the hospital for three days.) Neither of us is looking forward to this aspect of his trip.

However, I decided to take advantage. Max will be at his mother's the weekend Darwin leaves, so I can take a trip, too. A change of scene might help buck the depression. But where to go? After some consideration, I settled on Chicago. It's close enough to drive (making the travel cheaper), I know the city a little, and there's lots to do.

I can also do exactly what I want to do, eat where I want to eat, see what I want to see, without worrying about anyone else's wants or needs. I can be self-centered for a few days.

I scared up a place to stay on AirBnB, which is still cheaper than a hotel. Now I have to figure out what I'm going to do. I always like to have an idea of what I'm going to see and do, though I also build flexibility into my schedule. Any ideas, folks? The Willis (Sears) Tower might be fun again, and I always like the aquarium and the boardwalk, but what else?

And I'm taking my bike. I have a bike rack on the car, and with a bike, I can park the vehicle and not worry about finding a new spot. Chicago traffic being what it is, biking will be faster than walking in a lot of places. A perfect idea!

So I'm running away for a weekend.

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Researching Purple

When we finish MAUS in English 12, we're moving on to THE COLOR PURPLE. I've never taught it before and was floundering over ways to approach the book. Part of the district curriculum requires seniors to compare three different versions of the same work. Previously, I'd taught TARTUFFE, and used the written play, a performance of it, and an updated modern-day version of the story. For PURPLE, I have the book and the movie. I just need a third. Several years ago, the BBC did a radio version of the book, which would have been perfect, but I can't find it anywhere. The BBC's web site doesn't make it available, and it's nowhere else to be found. I finally settled on using clips from the Broadway musical, which are widely available.

But how to approach teaching the actual literature?

Internet to the rescue! I found a set of study questions that beautifully divided the book into sections (very handy for reading assignments). I found another site that gave a number of excellent activities and even PowerPoint slides for introducing the novel. I'm using these as springboards.

I'll have to preview the book heavily. I can already see one set of my students, who are immature for their age, will have problems with the book, which is very explicit. But my other sections should handle it well. I'm looking forward to it. MAUS is already pushing their pre-conceptions of literature. PURPLE will do it further.

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The Dead Sea Cookies

I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies a while ago. But in the oven, they flattened and spread, pressing up against each other and creating flat squares instead of round, puffy cookies. I was mystified. The butter was cool. I'd added enough leavening. The only thing I could think of was that maybe I'd miscounted cups when adding the flour.

I was going to throw them out when Darwin happened by. "Those look great!" he said.

"These are dead," I said. "Dead Sea Cookies. I'm going to toss them."

"Don't do that! I like them that way!"

Er . . . okay. I pried them off the silicone sheet, let them cool, and put them in the cookie jar. Darwin has been munching on them all week.

There's no accounting for taste!

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