Text 38733, 134 rader
Skriven 2010-06-07 11:57:14 av Janis Kracht (1:261/38)
  Kommentar till text 38637 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
Ärende: X-ray stuff                                              [1]
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Hi Ruth,

>> She sounds very thorough, which is great :) Patients appreciate
>> doctors who think like that, that's for sure.

> I do appreciate her.  We had an appointment with another doctor closer
> to where we live but neither Steve nor I felt comfortable with him.  We
> felt like he was trying to say that he knew our bodies (after only one
> visit) than we did.

Know what you mean there... We're happy with our gp since he seems to stay on
top of things in general regarding health issues and seems pretty sharp.  He
suggested the neurologist I'm seeing now since he felt this neuologist was the
best in the area.  We're both real happy with him as well.  I'd been to a
different one in the area when we first moved back to NY, but I wasn't crazy
about his attitude in general... nor of his office workers.

>> > And the interesting thing is, 30 some years ago, nobody was aware of

>> People have known about the dangers of radon in mines since the 1800's
>> IIRC. Even in Germany they knew about a long time ago.  I forget where

> I never heard/read much about it until the mid 70s.

I'm not sure when I first read/heard about it.  It could have been when my
parents discovered other problems, not sure.

>> > Then it popped up, almost made you think it was a gimmick issue at
>> the > time.

>> Not at all :(

>> Radon is an odorless invisible substance, and can be close to
>> impossible to detect unless you own a "radon detector."  At high

> Then why did it not get a lot of publicity in the States until the 70s?

Perhaps because people weren't aware of it's dangers in this country until
then, I'm not sure.  When you think about it, a lot has changed in the last 30
years :)  Just in X-Ray itself, enormous amounts of knowlege about
'side-effects' are now known that say 50 or 60 years ago, were completely
unknown.  My mom and dad always felt bad about my oldest sister's exposure to a
lot of X-Rays which were necessary at the time, but not thought to cause
tremendous problems 'back then'.  She was born with both her legs 'curled up'.
When she was an infant, specialists had to break both her legs and straighten
them.. naturally, it required a lot of X-Ray proceedures and surgeries.  She
walks fine these days, except for a limp since one leg is shorter than the
other.  We two commiserate over backaches that we both get from the way we walk
(bg).

>> required to keep radon at a healthy level and you have to use a radon
>> detector to keep track of it. We've had one here since we bought the
>> house. It's no gimmick :(


> I don't know if any place we lived has had one.  Then too, we've never
> had a basement except in Germany in the military "apartment houses."

From what I understand, the collectors can be installed in crawspace areas as
well, though I am not any kind of expert about this stuff (g).  It's just
something that I've been aware of since we first started searching for homes
for sale in New York.  The first house we bought was in about 1978 I think.

>> > I still wonder if it's all it's purported to be. You don't hear
>> about > people getting sick from exposure to radon.

>> Radon is the second leading cause of _lung cancer_, second only to
>> smoking and the leading cause of lung cancer among people who have
>> never smoked.  :(


> Interesting; I didn't know all of that.

It can be nasty stuff, that's for sure.  IIRC, we're not in the worst Radon
zone.. I think the north west and south east are about the worst according to
the EPA.

>> > It's hard now to to imagine a time when they weren't in every home.

>> That's true :)  I use it a lot.. warming coffee, defrosting meats,
>> raising bread dough, sometimes a quick(er) stew (g).

> Ours get used several times a day.  We usually heat the water for our
> tea in it in the morning and then various uses thru out the day.

Ron really prefers using the tea kettle for tea.  It's funny because he decided
a while back to get a whistling teapot, which drives me crazy haha.. I swear,
the noise it makes reminds me of someone scratching fingernails on a blackboard
(vbg).  When I have tea, I always use the microwave :)  I can understand his
using a pot to boil water though; the water stays hotter longer when you use
the stove.. I'm guessing that temperature difference may make a difference in
the flavor when you are steeping tea, but I can't tell (g).

>> That's great :)  I've got an older one that's 750W, but I keep it
>> because you can set it to 1%-100% of the power, and others I've seen
>> cannot do that.  I use it at that lowest power with 2 cups of boiling

> We've had a couple like that; it seems like all the new ones just go by
> 10 %.

That's what I've found as well :(

> I'd rather have the more precise but..............  Same as all
> the new ones have discontinued the probe since you can't use it with a
> turntable.

Is that the reason.. I guess it does make sense.. you can't have it swirling
around while the probe is attached (g).


>> usually make our appointments at the same time so he sees the two of
>> us at once... he generally glances at my chart, says 'hi, looks great'
>> and then turns to Ron (bg).

> Keep it up!

Ron's blood pressure is doing well, which is also good.  He's lost a little
weight and that probably helped.  The doc will probably either have him drop
that medication or cut down on it, which is great I think.  He's got an
appointment this month sometime.

>> $40.00, not $70 and not $50.. she really did have me write down the
>> amount my copay would be ... now I know why (vbg).

> Good; it sounded like he was planning to pocket $10./month and you
> called him out on it.

That or going for points from his employer (vbg).

Take care,
Janis

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