"It's just a scratch. Why the big deal about cleaning it?"

Because not cleaning it might lead to a real problem, up to and including death.

This is a tale about cellulitis infection. It's caused by common bacteria that are harmless unless they can get into your body, and all it takes for that to happen is a little scratch or scrape. It's a personal tale.

Last summer, the evening after a day trying to get some mowing and cleanup done between rain, my left foot was a bit sore. No big deal, I thought, I probably banged it on something earlier. That was a Tuesday. The next day it was a bit swollen and a tiny bit more sore.
By Thursday, it was a bit more of each, but no big deal. Come Friday evening, it was noticeably more swollen and definitely had more soreness. I promised myself that if it wasn't better by Monday, to the doctor I would go.

Saturday morning, I knew I had a real problem when I woke up in the driveway, wondering why I was face-down and bleeding. I'm not sure how long it took to get my mind to the proper line of thought, which was "I need help, and that means a phone." I finally made my way back into the house, where I kind of collapsed on the desk. Eventually I remembered why I was there, and called my daughter.

How serious was it? When she first got there she thought for a moment that I might be dead. I passed out again while she was calling 911, and again while the ambulance guys were working on me. 

This was my first ambulance ride, and I'd rather not repeat it. There were no red lights or sirens, but I'll tell you this: if you have a bloody head injury and they've called ahead that you've gone unconscious twice since they arrived, you practically fly into a treatment room.

Happily, various antibiotics will kill this infection. They had me on an IV full of them for two days, then sent me home with a prescription for the oral versions. 

Which brings me to this year. Last month I had pruned some holly and everything seemed fine, but when I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom a few weeks ago, my hand was sore. Yes, I'd gotten a few scratches on that hand, but right after I finished pruning I'd washed and put some New Skin on them. As it turns out, I probably should have done that when the scratches happened.

That morning my hand was more sore, and it had a swollen patch on the back. I went to work about 9 am; by 10 am, it was more swollen and painful, so I called the doctor's office to see if could get in. No joy; it was the Friday before Labor Day, and most people were already gone. By 11 am I told my coworker "I need to head to the emergency room." He wondered why I waited this long, so off I went. 

When the doctor came into the exam room I told him about last year,. He took one look at the hand and said "I think that's what this is," so once again I wound up in a treatment room with an IV of serious antibiotics running. I think part of their motivation involved me suddenly getting woozy and having trouble speaking properly -- again, like what happened last year. This time it was caught early enough, or maybe the hand/arm is easier to treat; in any case, after about an hour of the antibiotics I felt much better, and shortly after that they sent me home. 

In a survival situation, this same illness would have been bad at best, and at worst could easily turn fatal. Take care of those scratches and dings as soon as possible with soap and antiseptics. 

Dementia & Elderly Care

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

This one's going to be a ramble, because my post is less a case of "Here's what you need to do" and more like "This is what I've learned through experience."

To give you a brief idea of what my home life is like, I live with my elderly parents (dad is 85, mom is 82) and in exchange for room and board I do the things they can't do, like drive them to doctor's appointments, take them to the ER late and night, fix the computer, lift things they cannot, climb ladders to reach things, etc. In short, I'm the only able-bodied person in the house, which is rather like having the lamest superpowers ever. ("Behold NORMALWOMAN! She has all the abilities of a middle-aged woman, which makes her the strongest, sturdiest, and fastest person in the house!")

My father has Parkinson's Disease, and his manifests primarily as having bad balance. He falls a lot, and frequently hits his head. He refuses to use his walker inside the house, and I don't know how much of that is due to him just being an ornery cuss (we're Texan) or how much of that is due to his dementia. Parkinson's is a neuro-degenerative disease, and one of the non-motor symptoms is dementia. We knew things were bad when he complained that the remote control wasn't working... while pointing the cordless phone at the TV. 

So, my father falls a lot, injures himself often, and frequently can't get up without help. This means that I have become an on-call nurse, or at least an orderly, 24/7/365. Here's what I've learned:

• If you can at all afford it, get in-home care for your loved ones with dementia or who otherwise need constant monitoring. Not only will they respond to professional care, but -- and I cannot stress this enough -- you need the constant burden off your shoulders. Even professional caregivers have shifts which end and they get to go home at the end of the day, but if you are a live-in caregiver then your shift never ends and that's terrible for your morale and your physical health. 
• The moment your loved one is diagnosed with a degenerative illness you should start the legal paperwork so that someone in the family has both Medical and Financial Power of Attorney over them. This is because, in my experience, it takes a long time for these things to go through; we started the ball rolling in mid-February of this year and we still don't have everything done. 
• All of this has been with my father's help, by the way, and the reason we waited so long was because he was stubborn and didn't want to give up control, and it took him several nasty falls to realize that things were getting worse and not better. If we'd done this sooner we could have had him in a VA home by now; as it currently stands, when we finally get all the paperwork done he'll still have to be on a waiting list. 
• Get the paperwork done early if possible. Even if your loved one fights you on this. It's better to have a fight now and get them help sooner than wait until they give in and then you're trying to beat the clock. 
• Speaking of paperwork, I don't know about other homes but I know that the Veteran's Home where my father wants to go requires miles and tons of forms, including but not restricted to: a checkup at the VA hospital; a transfer of all his medical documentation to them; a form filled out by his primary care physician stating that my father needs constant care; documentation of his disability (in his case he's 100% disabled); and of course the previously mentioned Powers of Attorney. I think we'll be lucky if we get him into the VA home before July, and I honestly don't know if he will last that long; one of these days he's going to take a nasty fall and break something. 
• Finally, remember to take care of yourself. If you get sick because you push yourself too hard, or injure yourself because you try to do too much, you've hurt two people: yourself and the person you're caring for. In my case I hurt three, because then the burden falls to my mother and she's already at her wit's end. 
• If you can afford it, seeing a therapist is highly recommended. It's immensely frustrating having to take care of an adult-sized, adult-weight toddler, and that's what dementia patients can become. It's very, very easy to become resentful of the person for whom you're caring, and that can lead to tension at home and strained relationships. The very last thing you want is for your final years with someone to be filled with anger towards them. 
• To circle back, this is why you need professional help in the home. Being able to take a break, to have "me time", to be able to do things for yourself without filtering it through the lens of "Can I do this or will my duties prevent it?" will help your mental and emotional health immensely. 

That's all I have for now. When I learn more I will post a follow-up. 

CPAP Masks

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

You've had your sleep study done and you've selected your CPAP machine. Now on to the million-dollar question: What kind of mask should you get?

That's a question only you can answer, and it may take some experimentation to find out. I thought that because of my deviated septum and my tendency to be a mouth-breather when I sleep that a mask which covered both my mouth and my nose would be the best choice; unfortunately, it turns out that I cough a lot at night and coughing into my breathing supply is quite unpleasant. I was fortunate in that a friend of mine gave me some spare masks to try, and last night was the first time I was able to wear the mask ( a device which only covers my nose) through the entire night. 

In this post I will discuss the different types of CPAP masks and their pros and cons. 

Nasal Pillow Masks

These are minimalist masks which are much like the hoses which feed oxygen into your nose when you are receiving medical treatment, except that they have straps to ensure a snug fit while you sleep and mushroom-shaped nozzles called pillows which completely seal against your nostrils. 

Pros

• These masks are lightweight and the least invasive of the styles.
• They are the easiest to put on and take off, and can accommodate many different types of noses and faces. 
• If you are claustrophobic or cannot sleep with a lot of gear on your head or face, pick this style. 

Cons

• If you have a deviated septum you may have problems getting the air to flow up one of your nostrils before the pressure ramps up, making you feel like you are struggling for breath. 
• If you sneeze a lot at night, this is not the mask for you. 

A close-up of the pillows

Face Masks

These masks cover your mouth and all or part of your nose. They are the largest and bulkiest of the masks. 

Pros

• This is the mask for you if you have severe nasal congestion or if you cannot break yourself of the habit of mouth-breathing while you sleep. 

Cons

• The sensation of drowning (see below) that many new CPAP wearers suffer is made worse by these masks. 
• Do not wear this if you are claustrophobic or easily feel smothered. 
• Do not wear this if you are a sleep cougher. 

Nasal Masks

A compromise between nasal pillows and full face masks, these are masks which cover all of your nose and only your nose. They are more than a little silly to look at. 

Pros

• Not as bulky or as suffocating as a full face mask. 
• Not as insecure as a nasal pillow mask. 
• If you have a deviated septum, inserting one of these in your nostrils works to open your nose and allow airflow. (They did not work well with the pillows, as the snug seal against the nostril made them uncomfortable)

Cons

• Still pretty bulky. 
• Not very easy to put on or take off quickly. 
• If you have a large or misshapen nose, the mask may not fit you well (the tip of my nose frequently bumps against the part where the tube joins the mask). 

That Drowning Feeling

I'm told that it's very common for new CPAP wearers to have a feeling like they are suffocating or drowning, and that it's something you just have to get used to. I know that I had that feeling and ended up ripping off my mask after a couple hours, and it was only until I found the right mask configuration that I was finally able to sleep through the night with it. 

You may be wondering how it's possible to feel suffocated by air, but it's true. Air is a fluid, meaning that it flows and has thickness; the more pressure air is put under, the thicker it is and the more it flows like water. Think of when you put your hand outside a car window and the way the air changes when you speed up; when you accelerate you are effectively hitting the air at a faster rate, thereby compressing it. This "thickening" is what enables you to use your hand like a wing when you are at speed, and this is how aircraft can fly. 

Now imagine trying to breathe that much thicker air which, being a fluid, is behaving more like a liquid than a gas. That's what a CPAP -- Constant Positive Air Pressure -- does. Even though your brain knows it's air and that you can breathe it and everything is fine, it's very common to feel like you are drowning, panic, and take off the mask. 

It's taken me two weeks and trying several different masks to be able to sleep through the night. Don't be discouraged; find the fit which is right for you and give yourself permission to work up to it. The health benefits are worth the time and effort. 

Get a Sleep Study/CPAP Rx Without Insurance

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

 Like many people in America, I do not have a lot of money. 

Also like many people in America, I am without health insurance. Add that to above and it means getting to the doctor is rare and expensive. 

Also also like many people in America, I snore. I have long suspected that I have sleep apnea, because my father has it and because as I get older it has become harder and harder to wake up feeling rested. My body can get up and function after 8 hours of sleep, but my brain needs another 2+ hours to fully wake up. 

Finally, in America it is impossible to get a CPAP (Constant Positive Air Pressure) machine, a device which prevents sleep apnea without a prescription. I suspect this is because an uncalibrated CPAP can cause damage to to someone's lungs if turned up to high, or be useless if not turned up high enough. In order to be prescribed a CPAP you first need to have a sleep study performed. 

Add all of this together and it means if you don't have health insurance and you don't have the cash to pay the doctor, you cannot get the necessary sleep study done, which mean you cannot be prescribed a CPAP, which means your sleep apnea will go untreated, which means you will suffer the health affects of obstructed and interrupted sleep. 

When I received my stimulus check, I decided that I would spend the money on having a sleep study done, even if I had to pay out of pocket, because I was tired of feeling tired and angry all the time. I did some internet research and quickly found CPAP My Way, a website where you can order an in-home sleep study for $195. I ordered mine, and the package arrived within a week alongside an email which contained video instructions for how to put on the monitoring equipment. 

 

I found the device very easy to assemble and, strangely, was able to get a good night's sleep while wearing it. (Note to women: fasten the velcro strap under your breasts.) In the morning I packed it up and sent it back to CPAP My Way using a pre-paid return label. 

I received my results in about 5 days. Not only did I have sleep apnea, but I have obstructive sleep apnea with evidence of hypoxia and a lowest oxygen saturation of 65 percent!

I quite naturally found this distressing and decided to order a CPAP for my health. Because I had a doctor review the study, I was able to get a prescription issued for a CPAP on their website, and if you order a CPAP along with it the prescription is free. What's more, I was able to use the code 10off to get a 10% discount on my device -- which, given that they start at around $400 and can go over $1000, is a rather substantial savings. 

I also think it's worth mentioning that CPAP My Way takes PayPal. I understand that PayPal is not in favor among many people due to its anti-gun stance, but PayPal Credit is literally the only form of credit card which I have (I make too little to be eligible for regular credit cards). Using PayPal credit's "no interest if paid off in 6 months" policy, I was able to make my stimulus check go further so I could a nice model with features that I wanted, such as an inbuilt humidifier and a "pressure ramp" feature. 

https://tinyurl.com/y8otp2df

I am still getting used to my CPAP, so that review will have to wait for another time. All I can say right now is that it is difficult to fall asleep with it on, but if I can do that I feel much better in the morning. 

All in all, I recommend CPAP My Way for people who think they have sleep apnea, or know they have it, but lack the health insurance to get a sleep study or a CPAP prescribed. 

The COVID-19 Vaccine Explained

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

This is an informative post, not a political post. 

If you're like me, you have some questions about the COVID-19 vaccination, such as:

• How can it work? I thought viruses mutated and that's why we can't vaccinate against them. 
• What is mRNA and what does it have to do with a vaccine?
• Will this vaccine affect my DNA at all?

I am neither a doctor nor a scientist, so I cannot answer these questions for you myself. However, I know several doctors and scientists, and I am able to present to you some information about the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine that will allow you to make an informed decision about whether or not you want to take it. 

I have two ways to explain it: the short, colloquial version, and the more in-depth version which is less conversational. 

The Colloquial Explanation

These are a series of Tweets by a Canadian physician. I know that Twitter is not peer-reviewed, so I asked my Doctor of Microbiology friend to look at them and she said "Other than one typographical error it is correct."

1:

The mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) are kind of brilliant at a science level. I’ve had a few people in my real non-Twitter life ask me to explain how it works so I’m going to try my best here in this thread while I’m waiting for a patient to show.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

2: 

The first thing to know is how your immune system works. Basically, your immune cells attack anything foreign to your body. If it sees a protein or a virus or a bacteria or anything that it doesn’t recognize, it launches an attack.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

3:  

The first thing to know is how your immune system works. Basically, your immune cells attack anything foreign to your body. If it sees a protein or a virus or a bacteria or anything that it doesn’t recognize, it launches an attack.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

4: 

Once it fights off the virus, though, it remembers it. You’ve got memory cells in your immune system and if you run into that virus again, your memory cells say “I’ve seen this asshole before”. Your body uses it’s past experience to demolish the virus before it can make you sick.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

5:  

So, with that in mind, we return to the vaccine. Scientists looked at the COVID virus and saw a protein on the outside of the virus that looked like a good candidate to launch an immune attack against.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

6:  

That protein, by the way, is an important one for the virus. It uses that protein to get into your cells. That protein makes the virus more infectious. In short, that protein makes the virus more of an asshole.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

7:  

Now COVID has DNA in it that codes for all of its parts. So scientists looked at the entire DNA sequence of virus and found the sequence of DNA that is the blueprints for that protein. The asshole protein.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

NOTE: This is where the typographical error lies. "COVID carries its genetic material as RNA, not DNA," says my friend the Doctor of Microbiology.  I asked if this changed the information at all, or if it was simply a case of strike the word DNA in this Tweet and replace it with RNA? "Strike and replace," she says.

In fact, the person who originally tweeted this admitted and apologized for the typographical error as well.
 

8:  

Side note: DNA is the blueprint to make things in a cell. Cells take the DNA and transcribe it into RNA. The RNA is the instructions that tell the cell what to make. mRNA (literally messenger-RNA) literally just gives instructions to the cell to make something.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

9:  

So scientists took the blueprint for the asshole protein on COVID and made an mRNA version of it. Literally just the instructions on how to make that protein.

These instructions “are” the vaccine.

Let me explain.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

10:  

The vaccine contains no actual part of the virus. It has only the instructions on how to make the asshole protein. So, you can’t get infected with COVID from the vaccine. You just get these instructions.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

11:

Your cells see these instructions and say “sure, I’ll make this”. So your cells make a bunch of the asshole protein.

You immune system sees this new protein you’re producing and immediately says “what... the fuck... is this?” And it starts attacking the protein.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

12: 

Remember it hasn’t seen this protein before. It takes awhile to ramp up production. Then it launches an all out war against the asshole protein. The fevers, chills, muscle soreness, etc you might get as vaccine side effects is your body bombing the hell out of the asshole protein

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

13: 

So you destroy the asshole protein (which in and of itself can’t infect you, it’s just a protein, not the virus).

Now here’s the important part. Your memory cells ‘remember’ the asshole protein. They remember exactly how to destroy it.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

14: 

By the way, your body breaks down the mRNA instructions that you got with the vaccine pretty quickly too. That’s normal. You don’t need a bunch of instructions hanging around forever. Your body breaks those down and gets rid of them.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

15: 

So you’ve broken down the mRNA instructions. You’ve destroyed asshole proteins. Everything from the vaccine is gone.

Except for those memory cells who remember that protein very well.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

16: 

So then, a COVID virus enters your body. Your body has never seen the virus before.

BUT it’s seen that protein that’s on the outside of the virus. Your memory cells say “you’ve got to be kidding me, THIS asshole again? Get the fuck out of here!”

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

17: 

Your body’s own ‘natural immune system’ quickly and efficiently launches an all out war, using the template it has from when it destroyed the asshole protein last time. It destroys the virus before it can take hold, replicate, and make you sick.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

18: 

Congratulations! Now, you’re immune to COVID! You’ve got the blueprints to defeat it as soon as it enters your body.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

19: 

What if the virus mutates so it doesn’t produce the asshole protein any more? Well, since it uses the asshole protein to get into your cells, if it mutates away from the asshole protein, it’ll probably also be less infectious. That’s what makes the vaccine low-key brilliant.

— WheatNOil (@WheatNOil) December 17, 2020

The Technical Explanation

The more in-depth and less colloquial version is too large to post here.  Cedar Sanderson, author and scientist, explains it in this post on her blog. 

Now You Know

And now you can make an informed decision whether or not to get vaccinated

Prudent Prepping: Where Have You Been?

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

... and with whom have you been doing things? That is an important question to answer, with what's happening in China, other nearby Asian countries and now here in North America.

Corona Virus
What do we really know about what is happening in China? Only what the Chinese government wants to tell us. To loosely quote a friend, "Any government that willingly starved and bulldozed millions of their citizens into mass graves can't be trusted to give reliable reports on this."

What To Do
Don't panic. Seriously. Continue to do the things you normally would:

• Sensibly add to your emergency stores of food, water and other supplies as needed by your situation.
• Check that those in your group are doing the same things.
• Talk to your friends and help them start prepping.

From talking to a senior RN with experience treating patients with easily spread diseases, adding masks to your preps is a good idea, but only a half-measure. These are where you need to start:

3M N95 Respirator

https://amzn.to/2RDxqqo

From the Amazon ad:

• NIOSH APPROVED N95 for at least 95 percent filtration efficiency against certain non oil based particles and aerosols
• 3M COOL FLOW VALVE helps reduce heat build up inside the respirator
• BREATHE 30 percentage EASIER compared to 3M 8200, breathe easier is defined as initial pressure drop
• ADJUSTABLE M NOSECLIP helps ensure a custom, secure seal with fewer pressure points
• STRETCHABLE, BRAIDED HEADBANDS for comfort
• LIGHTWEIGHT DESIGN for comfort
• COMFORTABLE for long periods of wear

Why is this a good place to start, you ask? My nurse friend mentioned masks are good for you when there is the possibility of you possibly transmitting a virus or germ. However, what's missing is eye protection or a face shield of some type. Since corona virus can be transmitted through the air, exposed eyes are also an easy way to become infected. She mentioned the use of eye protection in most operating rooms, and I know my dentist and the techs are now using it too. Unfortunately for me, all of this is not possible at my work, since we don't have a hazardous workplace or the corporate training to wear this gear.

Is all this overkill, an overreaction to what may turn out to be 2020's bird flu? Maybe; maybe not. Since the apparent incubation time is two weeks, how many of your friends, co-worker's friends, or their friends have had contact with someone from central China?

My best answer is, "I don't know." I see nothing wrong with laying in extra supplies of masks, hand sanitizer and maybe goggles just to be safe.

Coming Attraction
Just a little teaser!

Bottle Bag Challenge!

Recap And Takeaway

• Stock up, but be sensible about your purchases. All of the Home Improvement Centers on the west coast are sold out of masks -- from speaking to the shoppers in the stores I've been in, the majority are being bought and sent to China.
• Nothing was purchased by me this week, but things may be bought in the future to complete the Bottle Bag Challenge!

***

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Prudent Prepping: Mixing Right

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

I had a very nice holiday season, staying close to home and spending time with family and friends. This was a good thing for me, since in my last post I wrote about how sick I had been and some of what I did to get better. I don't want to be that sick again for a long time.

I now have the one electrolyte mix mentioned in that post, and I sourced two more from a local health food store. The Dr. Price's mix was an easy choice, since it was recommended by a friend. What else did I get?

The Contenders
One disclaimer: I did mention that Gatorade was going to be in my taste test, but it's not because I wasn't able to find the powder on the shelf locally.

Trace Minerals Electrolyte Stamina Power Pak
I wanted to try the same flavor from every company, but Trace in lemon lime was not on the shelf, so orange had to do.

https://amzn.to/2sZvLSq

From the Amazon ad:

Why Power Pak?
These nutrients will help you maintain proper fluid balance to reduce muscle cramps, optimize energy levels, and protect your immune system so you can function at your best.So play harder, endure longer and feel replenished with Electrolyte Stamina Power Pak.

Provides 18 Vitamins and Minerals
Antioxidants - Vitamin C, Selenium, Zinc, and Manganese are powerful antioxidants that support and protect your immune system and help seek out and destroy roaming free radicals.*B Vitamins – Help maintain energy and support metabolism.*

Electrolytes – Potassium, Sodium, Calcium, and Magnesium are essential electrolytes that help your body maintain hydration, prevent muscle cramps, and maintain energy and stamina.* It also includes an electrolyte concentrate of full spectrum trace minerals from seawater.

BodyTech Electrolyte Fizz
This brand did have a Lemon Lime flavor on the shelf.

From the Vitamin Shoppe ad (This is a Vitamin Shoppe house brand, advertised also on Amazon):

https://amzn.to/2T2F0ff

• 1200 mg of Vitamin C
• All major Electrolytes
• Trace Minerals & Elements
• Antioxidants
• No sucralose

Electrolyte Fizz is convenient, on-the-go refreshment that provides valuable, endurance-supporting nutrients, including:

• Potassium, Magnesium, Chloride and Sodium
• Vitamin C (an essential antioxidant)
• ConcenTrace, a special electrolyte trace mineral blend

Revitalize and recharge your body's natural energy sources with Electrolyte Fizz.
ConcenTrace is a registered trademark of Trace Minerals Research.

The Taste Test
I followed the directions for the correct amount of water listed on each packet.

• Dr. Price's: Does not fizz and mixed well. Flavor is very similar to Gatorade. The recommended amount of water is 16 oz., several times that of the others!
• Bodytech: Fizzes and takes a while to de-fizz. There are some particles in the bottom of the glass that did not dissolve. This also has a similar taste to Gatorade, but since it fizzes there is a little chalky aftertaste. Recommended amount of water is 4-6 oz.
• Trace Minerals: Fizzes a small amount. Did not completely dissolve but has less residue than Bodytech. The orange flavor made it hard to taste compare easily, but it also has a little chalky aftertaste. Recommended amount of water is 3-4 oz.!

The Results
I'm okay with any of these packets, but I do think I'll be keeping the Dr. Price's, because it has no sugar (even if it is sweetened with Stevia) and leaves no residue in the glass. The others are so low in added sugar to be a non-issue, but Dr. Price's wins for me just because it mixes well.

Recap and Takeaway

• I'm sold on Dr. Price's, but any of these will do.
• The test packets were purchased from my local Vitamin Shoppe but are available from Amazon. I highly recommend taste testing them for yourself.
• Nothing else was purchased this week.

* * *

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Prudent Prepping: a "Going" Affair

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

This is a follow-up to last week's post, detailing some of the things I'm doing now to be better prepared for similar 'issues' in the future.

What Now?
I need to be set up with things here and now to take care of intestinal distress not only inside me but also inside those around me. Since the focus of this blog is Emergency Preparedness, I don't see much difference if my distress is caused a virus or possibly bad water after a disaster. Yes, I understand that both of these situations could be closely related.

Since I was lucky to have Gatorade bottles here, that part of my recovery (mentioned last week) was an easy one. If there were an actual disaster, hauling bottles around would be the less than ideal; I need to have an easily portable way to replace minerals. I decided to order Dr. Price's Electrolyte Mix Super Hydration Formula to test out.

From the Amazon listing:

https://amzn.to/2Z2EXBe

• THE HIGHEST QUALITY ELECTROLYTE HYDRATION FORMULA. Unlike many other supplements, Dr. Price's Electrolyte Mix has a blend of over 72 Trace Minerals and Electrolytes created to benefit individuals ranging from the elite athlete to your personal hydration needs.
• NON-GMO, GLUTEN FREE, VEGAN, KETO & NO SUGAR! 100% Naturally Sweetened with Stevia Leaf Extract.
• EASY TO USE! Convenient to-go packets that you can take anywhere.
• Powdered water-soluble sports drink formula that mixes with liquid for FAST and EASY absorption.
• Powdered water-soluble sports drink formula that mixes with liquid for FAST and EASY absorption., Balances and Restores HEALTHY Electrolyte Levels for Super Hydration. Minerals, including magnesium, sodium, and potassium. Trace elements of zinc and 72 other trace minerals.

I'll give this a taste test against Gatorade powder as soon as it arrives. Several people in the BCP Facebook group mentioned a sugar-free replacement drink, and that advice and info I have made this a fairly easy product to pick. If you know me you know that mineral replacement is the reason this was picked, not any of the points mentioned in the second bullet point. 

Going through my stores, I saw that my Imodium was out of date by 2 years. Now that isn't that big a deal for me, since it's stored in my house and not exposed to high heat, light or humidity., but I'm still going to replace it as soon as I can get to either CVS or Walmart and compare prices.

Recap and Takeaway

• Having things on hand to make being sick bearable is much better than running around trying to buy them when you are 'running' uncontrollably.
• A 30-count box of Dr. Price's Vitamins was ordered from Amazon: $12.88 with Prime shipping.
• The balance of the replacements will be purchased locally.

***

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Prudent Prepping: To Live and Die In Glacier Bay

Me, on better days than this week

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

Yes, I'm feeling better now. I'm not at 100%, but at least I'm vertical.

This will be a short report on what happened this past week, to the best of my recollection. That is, if I can remember. Things were a little fuzzy, and not just my tongue.

Glacier Bay

What Happened
I started to feel a little poorly Sunday and still went in to work on Monday. By Tuesday noon I was really feeling crappy (heh!); once I got home everything went south at once -- vomiting and diarrhea combined. It was so bad that I ended up sitting all night on the bathroom floor, wrapped in a blanket, because every 30 minutes I needed to be in there anyway, so why not get comfortable... for certain values of comfortable, at any rate.

What I Did

• I made sure that my friends knew I was sick -- but not dying, no matter what it sounded like from my end of the house! 
• I drank small amounts of water, even if it wasn't going to stay around long, to prevent 'dry heaves' which can damage internal organs if they go on long enough.
• I did not try to take any anti-nausea medicines at this time, because nothing was staying in long enough to take effect.

What Helped, part 1
After most of the vomiting stopped, I did take some anti-diarrhea medicine which helped a little. How much, I'm not exactly sure. I keep ginger beer here a regular mixer, so I tried to drink some after shaking it up to knock out the carbonation. Some good old-fashioned saltine crackers were washed down with small amounts.

What really helped was being able to sleep in a bed for about 10 hours straight without running to the bathroom.

What I Did Next
I kept on trying small amounts of ginger beer and crackers until Thursday night, when I made oatmeal. Plain, no milk or sugar, just steel cut oats. That was my first real food in a while.

What Helped, part 2
After making sure food was going to stay in longer than an hour, I started looking for things to get my stomach back to as normal as possible as soon as possible. Since I like ginger soda, I also have ginger teas here.

If you don't know, ginger is a folk medicine that has a world-wide reputation for calming upset stomachs. Along with that I have black tea, which when allowed to cool is also good for stomachs. I was reminded of this by a commenter on the Blue Collar Prepping Facebook page!

I then added Gatorade to the mix to restore minerals that I lost. Normally I have the powder in my kit, but it was getting close to expiring so it was donated. Some plain yogurt was added to the oatmeal for an additional boost to rebuilding my digestive system. So far, everything is staying where it belongs.

I went to work today, still feeling tired and very much dehydrated, but vertical and able to do my job.


Thanks to everyone who offered advice and suggestions on how to recover. I will be taking it to heart and modifying my at-home meds with anti-diarrhea pills and some different sports drinks, one without sugar this time.

You all are the best!

The Return of Norovirus

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

David is out sick today. Based on the symptoms he describes, it sounds like he has a case of Norovirus, which I had the "pleasure" of encountering in February 2017.

The good news for David is that it ought to have run its course by now, or at the latest tomorrow morning.

The bad news is that he's going to be absolutely miserable until then.

Posted here is a recap of my experience, as well as some advice on recovery afterwards.



As I mentioned in earlier, I came down with a stomach bug the last day of MAG40 that left me dehydrated and going at both ends -- often simultaneously.

While I don’t know what it was that I have, my best guess is Norovirus, aka the “Winter Vomiting Bug”. It’s commonly caused by fecal contamination of food, touching a contaminated surface and then your mouth, or directly from another sick person.

Norovirus is a viral buzzsaw that rips through close collections of people, like classrooms or people on cruise ships.

Based on my close, intimate relationship with Norovirus, the biggest problem with it is dehydration. I was desperately thirsty and my mouth was full of cotton, but I couldn’t take more than a few swallows without upsetting my stomach and triggering another vomiting session.

Worse, diarrhea causes an electrolyte imbalance within the body, which in turn creates more diarrhea. In other words, diarrhea is self-perpetuating, so for those who are curious, you can indeed shit yourself to death.

What’s more, after a case of Norovirus the gastrointestinal tract may be severely inflamed, or not used to digesting food, and may need to be re-started. So what’s a prepper to do?

Obligatory disclaimer: I am not a trained health professional, do not take this as strict medical advice, consult your doctor if you have an erection for more than four hours.

First, always have an antidiarrheal medicine, like Immodium AD, in both your bug-out and get-home bags. Heck, after this weekend I’m keeping several doses in my every day carry kit. Oof.

Second, have a way to get electrolytes back into your system. Since you’re trying to prevent dehydration at the same time, the best way to do that is through liquids. I’m a big fan of Gatorade, but any sport drink will do, as will Pedialyte for children and of course regular old water. You can also buy packages of oral rehydration salts from Amazon -- just mix them with clean water and you’re good to go. They’re light enough that you could fit them into any bug out or get home bag.

There are however some liquids to avoid:

• Milk, because while you may not normally be lactose intolerant, your digestive tract may not be able to process milk in your weakened state.
• Alcohol and caffeine, because both of these substances also contribute to dehydration and would only make things worse.
• Excessively sugary drinks like soda and fruit juices, because while sugar is important in electrolyte solutions, too much has the opposite effect. Avoid any liquid that has more than 3% sugar in it.
• Don’t use artificial sweeteners, either, as those often have a laxative effect.

Third, when it comes time to eat -- and it may be days before you want to think about food -- it’s best to start small. There’s something called the BRAT diet - Bananas, rice, applesauce, toast - which is supposed to be easy on sensitive guts. Other foods which are good for recovering digestive tracts are oatmeal, boiled potatoes, plain crackers, and baked chicken without skin or fat. You’ll notice that a lot of these ingredients are in that universal antidote, chicken soup.

Preppers ought to consider adding some packages of oatmeal and chicken broth to their bug-out bags, and perhaps some dehydrated bananas as well.

Finally, keep a dark-colored washcloth in your various bags. Don’t use it for regular hygiene of the hands or face; use it just for cleaning “down there.” When the S hits the F, it’s good to have a soft, absorbent, dark-so-it-won’t-stain cloth to clean that S from your body.

• Norovirus - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norovirus
• Treating diarrhea - http://www.webmd.com/first-aid/diarrhea-treatment
• Oral Rehydration Salts - http://amzn.to/2mxD12X
• What to Eat When You Have Diarrhea - http://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-awareness/what-to-eat-when-you-have-diarrhea.aspx
• The Many Uses of a Washcloth - http://bluecollarprepping.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-many-uses-of-washcloth.html

Prudent Prepping: Checkup

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping. 

The weather is finally changing here, just not as fast as some of you seem to be experiencing! Friends in Minnesota said they didn't have their normal two weeks of fall this year; it lasted a weekend, and then went right to winter. Reports from all over are saying if you normally have snow, expect some far sooner than normal if you don't already have some. Since the weather is changing, my preps will be changing too.

Changing Up
What is my normal winter gear? I add a wool sweater, rain gear and extra socks to my GHB. Water and food stay the same as last year, since I'm normally now a manageable one day walk from home. Rain gear and socks go in because it will rain here, eventually.

Checking Up
This is also the time I go over my car for winterizing fixes. I don't usually see temperatures below freezing, but I do travel to the mountains, so window washer fluid that is rated for just a little below freezing is on my shopping list.

Where I live now has very large pine trees that drop sap and pine needles pretty much all year, and so my car has little sticky droplets all over the body and the windows. I have to use a tar and pitch remover before washing and waxing or else I'm just covering up the mess. The windows are especially bad when sap is on them, since light hitting the drops wants to start a microscopic light show in my face. In the heat, the drops soften a little and just smear around: when it's cold in the mornings I don't get the smears, but the wiper blades take a beating trying to clear the mist over the hard sap.

Check Up
I went in to get myself looked over/at recently. It's been a while for a really thorough check up, so the doc went overboard (in my opinion) with what was done. I need to be in shape; not to look good, but to be a benefit to those around me. If you have ever flown, the boring Emergency Speech can be used as a wakeup call for me and others: the part about placing the oxygen mask on yourself and then others applies to life as well. I need to be able to help those close to me in an emergency, and If I'm not in as good a shape as possible, I'm failing what I think is my job.

So, the usual fluid was drawn and a probe was made in the usual uncomfortable place for men. Preliminary results say I'm doing quite well for someone my age: blood pressure is in the lower range, cholesterol is what they say is a little high but they don't want to listen to what I have as hereditary numbers -- my family runs well over 200, with a couple close to 250, and I can keep mine about 180 with a good diet and an OTC supplement. So far I'm blessed to be in fairly good shape, even after crashing motorcycles, Achilles tendon surgery, a dislocated shoulder, and bad thumbs from the crashes. What is important is checking on the diseases and health issues that seem to affect we men in particular. That's why I'm following a movement this month...

Movember
Yes, I'm growing a mustache this month. It's been most of 30 years since I've had a mustache and a friend challenged me to participate this year. There is more to this thing than just growing a mustache; the Movember movement is there to shine a light on more than just Prostate Cancer. Just a small sample from the website:

From the Men's Health sub menu:

At 50, talk to your doctor about prostate cancer and whether it’s right for you to have a PSA test. If you are African American or have a father or brother with prostate cancer, you should be having this conversation at 45. Know your numbers, know your risk, talk to your doctor.

Something that also affects men disproportionately is suicide. From the Mental Health page:

Globally, every minute, a man dies by suicide. In the United States, 75% of suicides are men. 

What can we do? 

Talk. 

Ask. 

Listen. 

Encourage action.

Check in.

Look at the video on the above page. Think about who you talk to and who you can share problems with. I know that most men try to be the Lone Ranger, fighting the good fight by themselves, but having a friend to talk to can make a real difference.

Please look over the entire website, apply what you can, and encourage the men close to you to read it also. Even if you get a late start like me, it's never too late to take care of yourself!

Takeaway And Recap

• Nothing was purchased this month, but I've saved maybe $0.10 in shave cream.
• Take care of yourself first, so you can then care for those around you.

***

Just a reminder: if you plan on buying anything through Amazon, please consider using our referral link. When you do, a portion of the sale comes back here to help keep this site running!

If you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.

Hypertension

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

As I've mentioned before, I am prone to headaches. This year I've had a particularly large crop of them, sometimes every other day or so. At first I thought this was just due to the weather; Hurricane Season in Florida begins in May, which means it's also thunderstorm season and that means storm fronts pushing pressure fronts ahead of them. If the barometric pressure drops quickly, I develop sinus headaches because my allergies cause sinus congestion which prevents the pressure within my sinuses from equalizing quickly.

However, I soon noticed a few things:

1. The headaches didn't always correspond with weather changes, nor were they always sinus in nature. Many of them felt vascular (dealing with blood vessels) and it often felt like the veins in my head were throbbing and constricting as blood pounded through them. 
2. They frequently happened after I performed an activity involving strain (carrying in heavy bags of corn) or after family members deciding it was a good time to have a screaming fight with each other. 

One day, after a particularly bad headache that ate most of the afternoon, I decided on a lark to check my blood pressure to see if that was causing my headaches. My mother has an Omron blood pressure monitor and I asked her to show me how it worked. I don't recall what the reading was, but it was high enough that she expressed concern. I thought it was high because of the headache, and resolved to take more readings at the same time each day. 

However, I became distracted by work and forgot to do that for a week, possibly more. It wasn't until yesterday -- a very crappy, stressful day -- that I decided I'd check because I could feel my blood pressure rising. 

It was high. Amazingly high. "Get thee to the doctor" high. I figured it couldn't be right, so I waited until everyone in the house was in bed, I was sitting comfortably, and after an hour of "me time" to settle my nerves. Here's what it read:

That's definitely not good. I'm not a doctor, but I know that if that isn't a fluke then I have Stage 2 Hypertension.


I took this after I woke up today. I had a good nights sleep, felt completely rested, and hadn't yet had any coffee (or, in fact, anything):

All right, this is definitely a pattern, I thought. So now the question becomes "What do I do about it?"  I don't have a job that provides me with health insurance, and I don't make enough money that paying out of pocket for a series of doctor's visits is feasible long-term. (I also don't think that the world owes me anything, so I refuse to steal from other people by enrolling in the ACA.)

I've been told that blood pressure medications are very affordable even without insurance, but first I need that pesky prescription to get one. I've decided to visit the local free clinic, which is an option a lot of low-preppers may not realize exists. Because it's a charity and not government funded, I won't feel like I'm stealing from people. They don't accept new patients until Monday, however, so I can't do anything about this until then except continue to monitor myself and hope that this spike in BP was an anomaly. 

I measured myself right before supper and the systolic is slowly going down. 

So what prepping lessons can we learn from this?

1. It's a good idea to have a blood pressure monitor in the house. If mom hadn't had one I wouldn't have thought to check mine, and months from now I could have a heart attack or stroke. 
2. Check your vitals at a regular interval once you're in middle age.  If I had been checking my BP sooner (like I intended) I could have gotten ahead of this sooner. 
3. Don't immediately assume the worst. I admit that I'm greatly concerned that I'm not healthy like I thought, but instead have hypertension. But I'm going to measure myself 3 or more times a day this weekend, and hopefully my resting blood pressure will continue to drop. I have no illusions that it will be "normal", but if I'm lucky I 'll simply have an elevated BP. I'm more likely to have stage 1 hypertension, but I'll take that over stage 2!
4. Have options for treatment.  There are ways to get medical attention in this world even if you don't have health insurance. For example, if you have the cash then the Minute Clinic at a local CVS can see you without an appointment. If you don't have a lot of money, then see if you qualify for treatment at a local free clinic. 

The only thing you truly have in this world is your body. Keep it healthy, because the only thing the world owes you is death.