Althouse: At the White Flower Café...

August 10, 2017

At the White Flower Café...

... you can talk all night.

22 comments:

Big Mike said...: I can't talk all night. Unsatisfactory visit to doctor; going to bed early.; 8/10/17, 9:43 PM
Ann Althouse said...: I hope you're okay, Big Mike.; 8/10/17, 9:43 PM
traditionalguy said...: We love you, Big Mike.; 8/10/17, 9:49 PM
Big Mike said...: Thanks. Maybe a urinary tract infection. Urine smells like baked ham (no, I'm not exaggerating!). Doctor is flummoxed but lab work isn't back yet. Also he says I'm overweight and out of shape. Ha! I have a medical device called a mirror that tells me that.

I may never be able to eat ham again.; 8/10/17, 9:55 PM
buwaya said...: Current Brave (browser) Windows version seems rather nice actually.
Quite normal seeming.

Give it a try.

DuckDuckGo seems a functional enough substitute for Google. Not noticeably slower on Windows.

On Android device Silk+Bing works fine.; 8/10/17, 9:57 PM
Big Mike said...: Where's Michael K when I need him?; 8/10/17, 10:07 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Hey Big Mike, keep your pecker up and all shall be well, with the blessing. Having just binge watched 3 episodes of Comrade Detective on Amazon Video, I'm not sure if the healthcare here is as good as in Romania, but none the less, medical science will answer all your questions. Hopefully via the internist rather than the surgeon or God forbid the pathologist.; 8/10/17, 10:26 PM
J. Farmer said...: With the question gender equality in the news recently, it reminded me of a thought experiment I like to play with people who take the "men and women are the same" line. Imagine that a female loved one of yours (e.g. mother, spouse, daughter, sister, etc.) was walking alone at night in a largely empty parking garage. She hears footsteps behind her and turns to see who they belong to. In Scenario A, they belong to a woman; in Scenario B, a man. Is it reasonable for the woman to have different reactions in A and B? I know i certainly think so. But why do you?; 8/10/17, 10:29 PM
David Baker said...: Big Mike said: "Maybe a urinary tract infection... Doctor is flummoxed... lab work isn't back yet."

When it comes to serious problems, such as ongoing GI discomfort or pain, you're always better served by going to the ER. A possible urinary tract infection is nothing to play around with - and I'm afraid your doctor has proved himself useless. By now you should be on antibiotics, not waiting around all night for lab results.

The advantage of the ER is that they have everything at hand, including the lab work. And within an hour you'll know exactly what ails you.; 8/10/17, 10:50 PM
Fabi said...: That white flower is insufficiently diverse.; 8/10/17, 11:00 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: David I must disagree. I think that they mean well and of course they have the whole resources of a hospital at their command, but in fact they spare no expense which means you are spared no expense and they just refer you to a specialist in the morning. I would have much rather gone to an ear doctor for my ear infection then to the ER. Of course any monkey could have written me for polymyxin drops and Augmentin, but it took an ER doc to write me for Cipro drops which I think cost about 200 bucks. And this lady doctor I saw about my ankle thought it was gout ran me up a bill for tests which I haven't seen yet but I'm sure is going to be shocking with my deductible, wanted me to take $160 worth of pills which blessedly I did not get, and they still don't know what was wrong. Apparently you just get foot pain sometimes. But no everybody's all go see the doctor.

Sometimes the old saying is true. God heals and the physician sends the bill.

Meanwhile, antibiotics won't do much good if Big Mike has been taking too much protein, or is diabetic, and his urine smells sweet because he is in ketosis.; 8/10/17, 11:03 PM
David Baker said...: Bad Lieutenant, I couldn't disagree more, specifically when it comes to gastrointestinal and potential urinary problems.

I do agree, however, about sprained ankles and ear aches (unless the pain is excruciating); you're better off seeing a specialist rather than visiting the ER. But I disagree about the potential expense; you're future good health is worth it. When you're sick, it's not the time to beat the system.

Short of being admitted, you'll leave the ER with everything you need to solve the problem, particularly regarding prescriptions. Afterwards you need to be your own doctor concerning follow-up and ER referrals. Keeping in mind that certain specialties can be problematic - such as urology. In my experience, urologists are (generally) looking for hostages, not patients.; 8/10/17, 11:31 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Good Lord, that's terrible! Is that who you see about your sperm count and erections and whatnot? The Schwanstucker has always worked for me thank God but I will keep in mind your words about urologists. I know chiropractors like to keep you coming back.

I've been extremely happy with the fellow who does my endoscopies and found my ulcer, all in his office. Of course my cousin is a top neurosurgeon so I've always counted on him for referrals. Getting old though. Sigh.

I can't stand these people who rely on the ER for everything, they're surely blowing out the budget. Of course you can't always get a specialist 24/7 so you gotta do what you gotta do. That earache I had tried to halfass for days but it finally broke me at like 9 at night.

Meanwhile the ER doctor's PA misdiagnosed the ear infection one way and he misdiagnosed it another, so it was probably just as well that I saw the specialist. I admit the ER gave me all the Rx I needed, but again, what with that defensive medicine, I paid much too much for the drops. With a $5,000 deductible it's not so funny.; 8/11/17, 12:18 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: But what you say is totally correct, when you are in the acute crisis it's very difficult to be a smart shopper. And yet of course it would seem to be a good time.; 8/11/17, 12:20 AM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Good luck with your kidneys, E. It becomes a balancing act, then juggling.; 8/11/17, 1:47 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "Trump and Self-Worth: the Story of a Broken Man" (excerpt)...

I cannot sleep. How can I sleep? -- I live within missile distance of North Korea, a country needlessly antagonized by our crazed Orange President...

And -- when I cannot sleep -- I find myself returning to the bathrooms of seedy bars, where strange men fuck me in my herpes-riddled ass. When I cannot sleep I find myself sucking diseased cocks in the alley for drug money. What does all of this matter? I will be consumed in a nuclear conflagration of our President's own making...

But if I must die in a nuclear holocaust then I will die RESISTING: that is what I CAN do, and it is what I do each time I have men pee on me in dirty hotel room bathtubs...

I remember Why I Am Here. I remember Who I Am, and What I Stand For. Trump will NOT define me. Trump will NOT define me. Trump will NOT define me...

I am Laslo.; 8/11/17, 4:46 AM
Curious George said...: "David Baker said...
When it comes to serious problems, such as ongoing GI discomfort or pain, you're always better served by going to the ER. A possible urinary tract infection is nothing to play around with - and I'm afraid your doctor has proved himself useless. By now you should be on antibiotics, not waiting around all night for lab results.

The advantage of the ER is that they have everything at hand, including the lab work. And within an hour you'll know exactly what ails you."

True that. Two weeks after replacement this spring I developed symptoms of infection...first heavy discharge from the yet to be healed wound (which can occur without infection), and then very high fever. My doc instructed me to go to the ER...and I was on three antibiotics via IV inside an hour. I had acquired not one but two infections somehow...staph and a more unusual one called pseudomonas aeruginosa. I've had two additional surgeries and have been on three antibiotics for four months and still have five more months to go.

Pro Tip: If you have surgery, especially joint replacement, avoid infection.; 8/11/17, 6:18 AM
sparrow said...: Japanese anemone, nice; 8/11/17, 6:47 AM
Danno said...: Curious George said..."Pro Tip: If you have surgery, especially joint replacement, avoid infection."

One way to do this is have joint replacement surgery at a surgery center rather than a hospital. The odds of infection at a surgery center are a fraction of those at a hospital.

I had a hip replacement about two years ago at one of these surgery centers owned by the orthopedics practice.

I came in before noon on the day of surgery. Had the surgery around 1pm, and was up and walking a bit by dinner time on a special device on a track that holds you up if you fall. You stay in a hotel-like suite for the night after having dinner brought in by a local restaurant. In the morning, the Murphy bed folds out of the way, you get breakfast from what you chose brought in by Panera. After a little more walking and a visit from a physical therapist/terrorist?, you are discharged.

I was back on my bike in two weeks. And I have ridden about 3,000 miles since then.; 8/11/17, 6:50 AM
Curious George said...: Danno, I had both of mine done in a surgery center also. Less than a year old. They're great. But no guarantee.

Another Pro Tip: Insist on at home wound care.; 8/11/17, 7:10 AM
Unknown said...: If I'm reading this right, Gerogetown is not requiring LSAT as an entrance requirement in the name of diversity. If I were in a minority group I would be offended. http://www.lifezette.com/polizette/universities-slash-standards-goal-boosting-diversity/; 8/11/17, 8:09 AM
Rick.T. said...: Looks like Japanese anemone 'Honerine Jobert' or as we call it informally "what the deer eat in August."; 8/11/17, 9:04 AM