Doctor Stuff

The Daily Breeze is a regular fount of information.  Regular columns include "Ask Dr. Roach" a dubious choice for a doctor's name somehow, but …  this morning he carried forth about the efficacy of ingesting sour cherries - whole, juice, dried, whatever, to alleviate gout symptoms.  Apparently sour cherries have a lot of magnesium.  And that is a good thing re gout. Don't ask me.

The other day he proposed putting a fresh bar of soap under the bottom sheet of the bed to halt nighttime leg cramps.  This didn't make much sense to me - rolling around on a bar of soap all night?  So I moistened a bar and rubbed it on my calves.  Tonight is #3 for this treatment and so far, so good.

Heloise had a contributor who wrote that after handling a restaurant menu, she immediately goes to the bathroom and washes her hands.  I carry a little bottle of hand sterilizer and pass it around the table when we've finished with menus.  This was my own idea some years ago because while everything else on the able gets cleaned, no one seems to think of swabbing down a menu.  Even "Raffish" MD didn't know that one!  I love the (very) rare chances I've had to teach him, a medical doctor! something.  Another example - stick your nose in a cup of coffee and inhale.  Steam clears the sinuses which is a good thing.  He was amazed. Equally so at "milking" the sinuses - run your thumb forcefully along under the brow bone from nose to cheek.

This same menu lady also said she carries her own pen and never uses the pen attached to the clipboard for questionnaires.

O/T  it's medical but it won't cure anything.  Medicare demands patients fill out a questionnaire re family history, your current medical status, any changes since last year and so forth.  Frankly I think cause of parent's death year in and year out is more than a little redundant myself, but …

The appointment to go over this with your doctor will take 45 minutes.  I find this excessive.  So I wrote my GP as follows:

"I did the survey for the annual Medicare thing.  I was told it takes  45 minutes going over it.  This might take eight minutes from to start to finish, so I propose we do that and then go out for a beer.  We'd have time."

He replied, (somewhat icily, I thought)  "I will also address your other medical issues during the clinic visit."

Humorless bastard. I would have treated, too.