The Zombies Are Already Here

Just look around you. How many people do you see walking around with no life in their eyes? How many people don't seem to care about anything one way or the other as long as they have Twinkies, TV, video games, cell phones and pills, lots and lots of pills. How many people you know or see, that are really happy? How many are angry, bitter victims that point the finger and blame everyone and everything around them for the life that they perceive is filled with injustice and deprivation? So, what do they do? Here, take this pill, it will make everything all better.

It seems a majority of people have bought into Madison Avenue's sales pitch, you see it in every other commercial while sitting in a doctor's office waiting room. Here, take this pill, it will improve your life and kill you at the same time. Partaking of prescription drugs or over the counter medications for every little symptom or possibility has become so prevalent that the population in general has been chemically castrated and lobotomized. They don't feel, they have no drive and they just don't care. Sound like Zombies to you? Give me Cheetos! Give me TV! Give me video games! Give me special delivery pizza! Give me! Give me! Give me!

And you know what? That's exactly what they're going to say when we reach the bottom of the slippery slope we're traveling down at break neck speed. The momentum has accelerated to the point of

treacherous, fatal impact. Do the zombies see it? Can they feel the sudden drop as the wheels fall off as the ever quickening decent occurs? No, I don't want to see it. No, I don't want to hear it, stop talking about being prepared and taking care of my family. Where is my anti-anxiety pill? You are crazy. You are a conspiracy theorist. You are using scare tactics. I don't like you, the things you say make me feel bad. I need another pill, I'm stressed. Honey, could you pass the pill bottles and junk food? I just want to relax from a day of stressful interaction with all of these Nationalist, conservative wackos that want us all to die from global warming, climate change and hurt feelings. I don't want to feel like that, pass the other pill bottle over while you're at it.

Folks, do you realize that most prescription medications that everyone carries around by the grocery bag full turn you into a zombie? Yes, some medications are needed and necessary, but we know people that go to the doctor, doctor says, well, you're almost [fill in just about any age] and the survey says you need to take statins for your cholesterol. But doc, my cholesterol is okay, it's not high. Yea, I know, but it's preventative medication and for your own good. Here, take this pill. Oh, OK. What are the side effects?

Well, it may cause fatal problems with your organs, subdue your emotions and sexual drive, make you suicidal, and make you unable to react to dangerous situations quickly if you ever need to, but it's for your own good. Here, take this pill. Oh, OK. For how long? For the rest of your life. Oh, OK. Don't worry about your organs, we'll keep an eye on you. There are other medications that will take care of that if you need them. Oh, OK. And don't worry about not being interested in your spouse anymore, you're almost [fill in just about any age] and things slow down more and more as you get older. We need for you to take all of these pills so you will keep coming back to the doctor with side effect symptoms so we can prescribe more pills that will cause more side effects, then you will need more pills and I will make more money by seeing more patients that need more pills........until you are dead.

In the meantime, you will need to do bloodwork twice a year, and don't forget the occasional MRI and CT scan. To make sure that your organs aren't overreacting to your pills, we'll need to run a colonoscopy, endoscopy, and any other tests you may need. They may also cause hospitalization so we can run many more tests and procedures. With all of these tests, if we find something that is not quite right, you might have to have minor surgery. Do you want to have surgery? It will fix the problem, from taking all of those pills. But after that procedure, I will give you more pills to make you feel better, like some type of opiate pain pill that you will then become addicted to.

Zombies. We have this unfortunate running joke that when you see someone shuffling down the aisle at the grocery store, or driving slow hunched over the steering wheel that they've either just had their daily dose of anti-whatever, or they're taking way too much of everything. Too much Thorazine is our usual statement.

 
If Frank had followed the standard cardiac advice after his double bypass, he would be taking about six medications right now, all of which have major side effects to your organs, emotions, psychological well being, not to mention interest in life in general. That's why his heart surgeon kicked him off of his patient list.

You won't take all these pills? Then I won't be your doctor. Oh, OK, says Frank. See ya, cause I ain't taking all of these pills. Before the bypass Frank wasn't taking any medications at all. His blood pressure was fine, his cholesterol was fine, his bloodwork indicated no problems whatsoever. Now? He takes a very, very small dose of the most un-invasive blood pressure medicine we could find through our research and that his body will tolerate. That's it. Our current medical practitioner is okay with this. Frank is in charge of his body, not the medical/pharmaceutical industrial complex.

We were talking about this topic at breakfast one morning. That is what gave me the idea for this article. Frank's comment? I want to feel, I want to be a man. I want to have the ability to duck if I see a baseball coming at my head. I want to live the life I have left, not be an unfeeling, medicated old man. Frank has a friend that has long used testosterone medication which caused many other health issues, so now he takes a number of pills to deal with the side effects of the original medication. Frank has a relative that has been taking statins, beta blockers and blood pressure medications for years, just in case. His comment was I don't have to change my diet or worry about my heart, I can do whatever I want......as long as I take these pills. But he also hasn't been with his wife in 20 years, there is no interest or desire there. That may be okay for him, but it's not okay with Frank. He knows he is going to die some day, we all die, but he doesn't want to die being a zombie, he wants to be a man, a real man.
 

This doesn't even begin to address the opioid, anti-psychotic and psychotropic medications that are being dispensed like candy at the state fair. Sometimes I wonder if people seek out these types of drugs to escape from the condition of the world, our country, their lives, or they're just trying to be like the Jones down the road. You know, screwed up in the head by Madison Avenue, Hollywood and all of the social pressure and unrest in the world. Is life so bad? In many cases I would say yes. It's awful. Look around at the hatred and anger that is spewed across the airwaves, right to your TV, your computer, your phone, all live and in your face. 

 A different thought here. Is our government using the medical industry to suppress the drive and motivation of American citizens as a means to appease and subdue the population? Are these medications being used as a means to control resistance? If you have a kid in school that is an issue, medicate them. That way you have a nice, compliant little boy. Just food for thought. Control.

Please understand, Frank and I take medications that our bodies need. We wish we didn't have to, but we do. If you need to take medications, then take them. If you don't need to take medications, it is your choice. It is your body. We all need to have our heads screwed on right. If you don't need it, get off of it. Focus. Keep your mind clear, sharp, vigilant and functioning. No matter how difficult life is now, if it gets a whole lot worse, which many of us believe it will, you will need all of your wits about you. Every last one of them. Folks, the zombies are already here. Don't be one of them.

Until next time - Fern

What Happened to My Hand

Somehow, during the initial surgery on my right hand for trigger finger release, I got an infection, actinomyces. Never heard of it? Neither had we. It's a form of bacteria that is common in the mouth of humans and many animals. Normal old bacteria, they're everywhere and usually don't cause any trouble. Not this time.

The infection showed up in the palm of my right hand when the incision reopened and started weeping a clear, plasma type liquid about two weeks after surgery, about mid December, 2015. The surgeon had already seen me again and cleared me for all activities indicating it was healing very well. We went back to see him and his concern was there was some kind of particulate that was in there causing problems. The hand never got a nasty, pus-like infection, just this clear weeping. They ran blood cultures and all kinds of things, but everything came back negative.

My hand before it broke open and started weeping the first time.

We had scheduled to have the trigger finger on my left hand fixed in late December, so he went back into the right hand as well and 'cleaned it out'. That seemed to work fine until about mid February when it swelled up and got very painful. Back to the surgeon we went. He was very concerned. You see, we liked this surgeon, he was young, very intelligent and a prepper. We had already discussed some of the books his dad made him read which started him down the path of preparing for a collapse. Interesting, huh?

Well, he put a steroid shot in the hand for the swelling, began to massage it in and the incision opened up again - six weeks after the last surgery. He knew something was very wrong and we scheduled another surgery for the next day to take a tissue sample and send it off to be cultured. That took about a week. Then we got a phone call on March 4th, three months after the original surgery in early December.

'You need to come to the hospital right now and start a week of IV antibiotics'. What? And have another surgery for a debridement - removal of the tendon sheath material surrounding the surgery site of the trigger release. Well, we quickly took care of the animals, packed up some necessities and went to the hospital, 60 miles away. Needless to say, this was rather scary. The infectious disease doctor that met us in the ER scared us to death. He couldn't tell me if I would lose my hand or that the infection hadn't spread all over my body.

I was put on high doses of IV penicillin for the week I was there, had a fourth surgery on that hand where the surgeon roto-rootered out the area in the palm and up and down the finger to try to clean out every last bit of that infection. Frank drove back and forth everyday to take care of the animals and be with me at night. He was beyond exhausted and never complained once, not once.

Upon release from the hospital, I was sent home with a pic line in my arm and arrangements for home health to assist us in another three weeks of IV antibiotics. My loving husband got to change the penicillin and put another syringe of antibiotics in my line everyday. All of this made me very sick, along with

trying to recuperate the use of my right hand. Yes, I am right handed. During this month I was basically quarantined. I could not touch an animal and wouldn't go around people to minimize the risk of infection through the pic line. Pic lines are scary things, giving access straight to the blood stream and heart if anything gets through the barrier. I didn't take a shower, just did sponge baths for a month. Frank helped me wash my hair by spraying it with the shower head as I knelt beside the tub and used one hand. The release from that pic line was one happy day. After the nurse left that removed it, I went straight to the barn to see my dog and goats. Up until then I had only been able to look at them through the fence for a month.

All through this, we had weekly trips to the infectious disease doctor, with first daily, then weekly blood tests. This doctor wanted me to stay in the hospital for the whole month. We refused and went with home health and frequent 60 mile trips back to see him and run the tests.

Following the IV antibiotics, were five more months of very strong oral antibiotics that also gave me headaches and made me sick. Because of the long term doses of the medication I did a lot of research on digestive track damage and recovery. I took a probiotic capsule everyday, drank gallons of kefir and started adding inulin to our coffee. To this day, I feel that my digestive track hasn't returned to it's former state. We do what we can diet wise, but what is done is done. 

After all of the antibiotic treatment was finished, I had a bone scan, CT scan of my heart, MRIs of my hand, abdominal organs and brain. All to make sure the infection had not metastasized during the three months it was active before detection and that the antibiotic treatment had been effective. The constant blood work throughout the treatment was to make sure none of them were causing liver or organ damage. 
 

In the end, the surgeon was surprised how much flexibility I regained in my hand and finger. He said most people that have had four surgeries at the same site, don't have near the range of motion. I told him it was hand milking goats that did it, along with hours of self physical therapy. It took a long time and I still don't have full range of motion or a strong grip. I drop things a whole lot more, but after about a year my brain adjusted to the new 'normal' of my hand.

Now, life goes on. I can't say I dealt with it very well at the time, I was angry for a while, felt so sick I couldn't and didn't do much, got fairly depressed while quarantined, but finally came out of all of that. Life is what it is and sometimes dishes up some fairly unpalatable experiences. I just had to remind myself that it is not the experience in and of itself that is most important, but what you learn from it in the process. Being a willing learner is sometimes the most difficult part. That is true of what is happening in our world and country. Take it for what it really is instead of what we wish it was. Learn and accept, this is where we are. Then get on down the road.

Until next time - Fern

Our Journey to Better Health

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen. Frank and I have been trying to put together some thoughts lately. It's an odd topic, it goes back 20 to 30 years, and we're going to try to take you from there to where we are today. I'm going to share with you some of the changes we've made in our lives recently, and a little history about where these changes are coming from. We all have different learning levels, some are right in our face everyday, sometimes we ask ourselves, "Why didn't I see this years and years ago?" We're all human, or I believe we are all human anyway, we all make mistakes, and I believe what separates a lot of us is how we acknowledge and handle our mistakes. Here goes.

Back in the late 80's or early 90's, Frank had a persistent pain in his shoulder blade. He went to the doctor, and was given a prescription of Relafen for the pain, which he ended up taking for years. He would go back to the doctor with pain in his shoulder, and after awhile, he was

also getting an upset stomach. Finally, at one doctor visit, he asked if the upset stomach, pain in his shoulder, and the Relafen were somehow related. The doctor said yes. It turns out that the Relafen, though it worked on the pain, was causing the stomach upset, which can be manifested as a referred pain to the shoulder blade. So we asked, "Why didn't you tell us this years ago?" Frank had been taking a medication for a pain that had probably always come from his stomach, that made the problem worse in a vicious, Catch 22 cycle. Frank stopped taking the medication, took care of his stomach and miraculously the shoulder pain was cured. 

This was the beginning of our realization that most doctors are only able to see, or diagnose, or treat, what they have been taught to see, or diagnose, or treat. Very few of them are able to gather data, i.e. symptoms; synthesize that data; evaluate all aspects of treatment, i.e. something besides "Here. Take this pill."; and come up with an effective treatment plan that doesn't just mask the symptoms, but treats the underlying cause of the problem. 

Fast forward a few years, and now we live in Alaska. Frank starts having problems with his armpits being dry and chaffed. He goes to the doctor. They gave him this cream and that cream, none of them worked. They 

gave him a shot, they gave him some pills. None of them worked. He looked at the chemical composition of some different deodorants, and he changed what he was using. The problem still persisted. Alaska is notorious for low humidity, sinus problems are prevalent. Somebody mentioned to him it may be dry skin, try some lotion. Wa-la! Put lotion on, wait a little while, put on deodorant, and the medical mystery was solved. Dry skin. Makes you wonder why the doctors didn't tell him that since they see the effects of dryness everyday. A couple of squirts of Vaseline Intensive Care, problem solved.

Fast forward to about four or five years ago. After we moved to our homestead from Alaska, we began an earnest effort to eliminate much of the chemicalized food, chemicalized toiletries, chemicalized gardening techniques and feeding our animals chemicalized products. We haven't been able to totally eliminate them, but here are some of the things we have done.

Frank went first in the no deodorant at all arena. I followed a few years later. Now, neither one of us apply anything at all to our armpits. Nothing. If we work real hard, there may be an odor of sorts temporarily, but we don't go around stinking all the time. It took a few weeks for our armpits to 'withdraw' from the chemicals we were applying daily. They felt a little funny for a bit, but now, I don't notice them at all.

Next we quit using toothpaste. This time I went first. I have had a problem with bad breath at times for years and years, especially if I was taking any medications. But, we'll get back to medications in a minute. I really

thought I would have even more problems with my breath when I quit toothpaste, but you know what? My mouth felt cleaner that it ever had. I was totally amazed. It was then I realized all that taste good, fluoridated, poison stuff I brushed my teeth with every day was leaving a coating in my mouth that lead to bad breath. Amazing! Actually, my reaction was more like, "You've got to be kidding!" Not long afterwards, Frank stopped using toothpaste as well. Now we use plain baking soda. I've looked at many sites that make their own toothpaste with essential oils and other stuff, but I like plain, simple baking soda. It works great.

We've already written about our lip balm and lotion recently, so I don't need to explain that again. I also stopped using any shampoo and conditioner about a year ago, along with commercial panty liners. All of these steps have helped to eliminate more and more commercially made products and chemicals that our bodies were absorbing every single day. 

Now back to some more medications. Over the last couple of decades, Frank and I started having some reflux problems, so we went to the doctor. I think this started sometime shortly after 2000 when we were in Alaska. They put us on Protonix and Nexium which we took for years. Years.

No one told us that these types of medications were initially produced for people to take no longer than six weeks at a time without causing side effects and problems. It was only a few years ago we found out, through our own research, what a huge impact proton pump inhibitors can have, not only on the production of acid and the whole digestive system, but on your entire body at the cellular level. It changes the chemical composition of your body and how it reacts to acid. That's part of the reason it is so difficult to get off of this drug, or it was in our case. We just followed doctor's recommendations and continued to "take this pill." Once we found out just how much damage long term use of these pills could have on our bodies, we decided to wean them down and quit. The only problem is, that once your body has adjusted to having these drugs for a long period of time, it goes through a major increase of acid production trying to compensate for the lack of medication. Most people cannot tolerate the withdrawal symptoms of intense heartburn and stomach pain, so guess what? They go back on the medication thinking there is something wrong. We did. More than once. I even ended up with

ulcers in my esophagus accompanied by serious chest pains (they even did an entire heart work up in the hospital and found nothing), gastritis and h-pylori. Then I did some very serious research on Nexium and found out one of the complications of long term use is ulcers in the esophagus. I was angry. Very angry that I had been allowed, even encouraged to take this medication for years! When I was sick with the esophageal ulcers they had me double the medication. We have now successfully quit these medications and have no reflux, no stomach pain, and don't need to take any over-the-counter antacids. I feel like we have finally been able to heal our bodies from the damage these medications did.

Some time when we were living in Alaska, one of the doctors recommended Frank take a blood pressure medication since his readings were just borderline high. He didn't take anything for years, but started taking one off and on after we moved here. But his blood pressure was

never really high. So, we bought a little blood pressure machine. Well, a number of months back Frank's blood pressure was what we thought was really high. We have a couple of nurses in the family, Frank called and we went to visit one of them. To her, his blood pressure was no big deal. She's an active, participating, veteran nurse. We all have stressful days, and Frank had a major surgery recently, and before that was in a tremendous amount of pain. But the words of our in-law nurse, "That's not bad." So, Frank quit his blood pressure medication. Nothing happened, and his blood pressure went down. The next time we visited the doctor he wanted Frank to take a beta blocker along with his blood pressure medication, and we said no. He has since quit taking the blood pressure medication altogether.  His blood pressure is now fine.

I haven't mentioned it, but Frank and I have our blood work done twice a year. Each time we have it done, our doctor wants to put us on medication to lower our cholesterol. Frank has a long term running joke. "If you want me to lower my cholesterol, just give me a pencil with an eraser." He has found that, believe it or not, what you have to eat the day before affects everything that is tested in your blood work, especially the biggies, like cholesterol and sugar. But the medical folks will tell you that your diet the day before doesn't make any difference. Hogwash! If he has a bowl of ice cream before he goes to bed the night before his blood test, the next day his sugar is elevated. We keep all of our old blood test records. Frank started experimenting to see if what he ate the night before affected the tests and it does. So, what you're told and what is reality, don't always fit together.

There seems to be a pattern. I have a headache, take this. What you're taking for the headache upsets your stomach, so take this. What you're taking for your stomach causes your blood pressure to rise, take this. And then take this. And then you don't know why you're taking anything. It's a difficult thing to see and figure out.

We have all been taught to do what our doctor tells us to do and we want to believe that the medical profession has our best interest at heart. Speaking of heart. A number of years ago, back in Alaska, Frank had a stress test done on his heart. Everything was great, except for one spot they couldn't see and it was a dark spot, or sometimes called an artifact. This lady doctor was going to schedule surgery, Frank told her no, and she was appalled that someone would question her. Follow me here. A couple of years ago, Frank had another stress test here in Oklahoma. His heart is just fine, except there is another dark spot, or artifact, in a different location, and the doctor wants to schedule surgery. Now isn't this ironic? That there is a dark spot, or artifact, a place they cant' see in two different parts of his heart on two separate tests. I don't want to think that this is some kind of high level con game, but if you can't see it, then I guess you've got to go in and look, don't you? Makes you wonder. So, does the medical profession have your best interest at heart? Makes you wonder. By the way, Frank never had any surgery. The answer was still no.

Moving on. When Frank went back for his five month check up after having back surgery, we had a pleasant conversation with the surgeon. Earlier on, Frank had asked him if weight was a factor, related to his surgery, and the doctor's response was, weight is always a factor. Now, Frank and I are both big people, and we're also overweight big people, which boils down to we're both fat. You know, corn fed. And we've both been told for years by

assorted doctors that we needed to lose weight. We've done the token diet thing a time or two, but something was different that day with the back surgeon. He introduced us to a program where you cut carbohydrates sharply. We talked about it in his office some and when we left that day at around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon, we walked out to the truck, and sat there for a minute. We both agreed it is time, and that we can do this. That was December 2, 2014. I cannot tell you what is different. There was no strike of lightening or epiphany, but we both knew it, and we both felt it, and we both agreed that the time is now. So, like we do most things, we came home, got on the internet, looked up the books,

downloaded the ebook version, and the next day we started our diet. And I'm reluctant to call it a diet, we just changed the way we eat. If you eat food in any form or fashion, you're on some kind of diet. We just changed the way we eat. This is the way we plan to eat from now on. It's not a starvation diet, I eat more and bigger plates of food than we ever have. Frank the carnivore has learned to like the color green better. In 10 weeks now, it has made some dramatic effects upon our lives. You know that humble turnip we have talked about for months? That accidental, experimental animal feed project? It has been a major part of our diet. I can't help but believe in my mind that this is all part of some master plan. But that's kind of getting out there, I guess. But for those of you that feel and see that way, then you know what I'm talking about.

A long time ago, seven or eight years back, we came to the realization that things are changing profoundly in our world. This could be one of those times where we wonder why it took us so long to see it, or we can be thankful that we saw it a number of years ago. But the deal is, we did see it, and there are changes happening. On the chemical issue, I'd rather

get off the chemicals on my schedule, than get off chemicals on somebody else's schedule. Withdrawal is not always a pretty thing when you don't have access to what you're used to, whether it be illegal drugs or legal prescription drugs. And then there are the chemicals that we are just exposed to daily, whether we eat them, drink them, breathe them or absorb them through our skin, if we have to have them, then when the time comes that we don't, things may not be pleasant at all. If you have things in your life that you've been wanting to change, I hope you find the inspiration and the motivation to do so. Even if it's not a chemical, or a pharmaceutical, what about behavioral things that we have become addicted to? Picture television. The winds are changing, and the winds may change at your house soon. It might be time for you to give thought to change also. 

We've taken the time to share these personal notes, and some of them are very personal, in the hope that they will help someone in some small way. If you can find any motivation or inspiration in some of our trials, please use them. We hope these stories and views will give you something to think about.

Frank & Fern

Is Your Head Stuffy?

I do my best not to use medications for my stuffy sinuses. There are times that I'm okay, but many times my sinus cavities are just stuffy, and if I don't take care of them, I am very prone to sinus infections, even after surgery to decrease that problem. For a number of years I used over the counter medications such as Sudafed (before the clamp down because of use to make Methamphetamine), Muscinex (which works well, but affects my whole body), and Flonase (Fluticasone, generic prescription) which is a steroid nose spray. It was just easier to take a pill or inhale a mist than to try something different.

We had a great ENT (Ear, nose and throat doctor) in Alaska that introduced us to a sinus wash. The air in Alaska is very, very dry and that made us even more prone to sinus infections, since it tended to really dry out our nasal passages. Once we started using the sinus wash, it helped a lot. 

There are several different types of sinus wash techniques. The Neti Pot has been around for a long time. It's not something we have tried, even though for a while, Frank just used a bowl of saline in the shower. Once I got used to the really weird feeling of squirting water up my nose, I prefer a sinus wash bottle. It is simple, quick and effective.

The first sinus wash bottle we bought had individual packets to mix in each application. When we realized the contents were salt and baking soda, we started mixing our own. Before we used the last packet, we measured the contents. A slightly heaping 1/4 teaspoon works just fine. So now we fill a little bowl with salt and add a pinch of baking soda.

The directions for use are printed on the bottle. This is our backup, just in case the original one finally bites the dust. We have been using it for nine years. After each use, we rinse it with hot water. One thing we learned was to leave the bottle sitting upright with the lid off between uses, just for air circulation. Periodically, it can be cleaned with a vinegar solution. When cleaning, a narrow tube cleaning brush works on the straw portion and a regular bottle brush works well on the bottle.

A friend asked me if we used sterile water when we mixed up the solution. Our ENT indicated tap water is fine for this procedure, even following sinus surgery. I use warm water as close to body temperature as possible. Cold water just doesn't seem to work as well.

After we started using the sinus wash we found out that a young lady we knew swore by them. She was a very active, athletic young woman that had serious allergies and asthma. Once she discovered and started using a sinus wash, she had fewer asthma attacks and was able to decrease the medication she was taking for these two issues. She found that washing out the irritants that kicked up her allergies not only helped alleviate some of those symptoms, but in turn, decreased her asthma reactions as well. I don't know if this would be the case for others since I do not have any serious allergies, or suffer from asthma, but I did think it was very interesting.

Using a sinus wash instead of pills or nose spray, is a little more work and not always convenient. It is definitely easier to swallow a pill or squirt a mist in my nose. But in our efforts to decrease our chemical intake, this is a low-tech, no medication option. And along those lines, when the time comes when we don't have easy access to the plethora of over the counter medications, this may be a very important option. If we have access to water and salt, we can treat allergies, sinus congestion, colds and any other ailment that comes along to decrease the air flow in our nasal passages. Is it a cure all? No. Is it a sustainable way to help increase our health without bombarding our bodies with yet more chemicals? Yes. Happy breathing.

Until next time - Fern

What We've Learned About Shingles

The things we've learned about shingles recently have nothing to do with the finishing touches on your house, or improving the looks of an existing structure. They also don't have the life span of the average asphalt shingle, thank goodness. While both can be a challenge to grapple with, one is a much more personal test of endurance, patience and tolerance. Replacing shingles on a roof is hard work and takes time, planning and patience. Waiting for an outbreak of shingles to leave your body is truly a test of endurance, because, after all, there is nothing you can do about it. You can't wish them away, or take a pill and have them disappear. The duration is different for different people, as is the severity or intensity of the symptoms. This much we have learned.

I have the shingles. It started off with an eye that was scratchy and uncomfortable. Then I got a tender place on top of my head for no apparent reason and no visual indications. The next day my eye began to hurt so I went to the optometrist (who we have been seeing for years. He is very knowledgeable and we trust his judgement.) and got some drops for the inflammation. We then went to our internist for basic checkups, and he looked at the tender place and the eye. This appointment had been scheduled several weeks before. The next day my eye still hurt and the whole side of my head was becoming tender or sensitive. Fern asked the nurse at school what she thought, and absent any other symptoms, she said it may be shingles. We called our doctor with the new symptoms and he called in a viral antibiotic made for shingles. 

Shingles are new in our household. My symptoms were not the classic, large patches of red skin with little bumps that blister and burst. We don't know if catching it early and starting the antibiotics prevented this, or if I would ever have had this, but I don't. The right upper half of my head is extremely tender, and I have a half a dozen little red spots, one directly under my eye and two on my forehead, which we've been treating with Caladryl. All of this is liveable. Well, I guess it's actually all liveable. But, on occasion, I will have a shooting pain behind my ear, or right above my eye socket, this is to go along with the moderate headache that I have constantly. I also have had a low grade fever most of the time. One minute I can be burning up, and the next minute, I'm freezing.

Other symptoms include sporadic nausea. We don't know whether this comes from the shingles or the medication to treat the shingles. My appetite is off. Sometimes I'm starving, which is normal for me. But there are also periods where I have no appetite. My sleep has been disrupted, and for the last ten days I have woke up every morning with the pain behind my ear pounding and a severe headache, but only on the half of my head that's tender. But there are times when I feel just fine, but we can't find a pattern to this, and it doesn't last long, at the most a couple of hours a day.

I believe at times I'm delusional, because once, when I was looking in the mirror at the red spots, I actually thought I was charming and handsome. Good to see I haven't lost my sense of humor. We've been told by multiple folks that have had shingles, that these symptoms will pass, from start to finish in about two weeks. Others say, these symptoms can linger for months. We're shooting for two weeks. So, if you're wondering why you haven't heard a post from me in a while, it's because I feel terrible. And even ice cream does not cure this. More humor.

Things we have learned. Shingles are related to and in the same family as chicken pox. Shingles for the most part, are not contagious, unless you have an open sore, similar to chicken pox. There is a vaccine for it, like chicken pox. But, like chicken pox, you have to get the vaccine before you get the shingles. Some sources say you can't get shingles more than once, like chicken pox, but in rare cases, it can happen, like chicken pox. Does shingles kill? Not normally, but it can. 

So, now here's the question. About ten days ago, I got in my car, drove to the optometrist, then drove to my internist, and drove home. The next day, we talked to the school nurse, called the doctor, he called in a prescription, we picked it up, came home and started treatment, while also using over the counter skin products. Now. The question is: Would any of this have been possible during a grid down situation? Or any type of collapse, whatever the reason being? Would I have been able to diagnose this myself? Maybe in the advanced stages. So, what would I have done? Sometimes we need to ponder these thoughts. 

Outside of the rare, rare occasion, we always have electricity, and our cell phones always work. The pharmacy always has medication and on that rare occasion they're out of something, it will be there in a short period of time. What about the gasoline we need to drive there? What about the relative security of free travel? What about the liberty and freedom to choose what doctors I go to? These are all things that I and most folks take for granted. They will just always be there, because they always have been. Always have been. Always have been in my life time. 

But my grandmother lived on the same planet I live on, and they weren't always there during her lifetime. But then she was born in a covered wagon. Folks, my grandmother lived during the same time frame that

many of our grandmother's lived. When she was born, there was no electricity. There was no telephone, school nurse, and the conveniences that we always accept as always being there. My grandmother is not some mythological creature from the dark ages, this is my daddy's mother. Folks, there may come a day soon when we can't say, it's always been there. We have very short memories. It hasn't always been there. And tomorrow, next week, next month, it may not be there again. So my question was, what would I do without all the above mentioned? I would have to make due, just like my grandmother did. She lived to be a fruitful old woman.


We'll talk more later. Frank