I WAS going to write a post this morning about the end of the world that didn’t happen…but then Ralph covered it in his news wrap for the week.

Well…figgering if I was going to copy someone’s work, it might as well be the work of a GOOD writer…***snicker, snicker, snicker***…not to mention that I wanted to avoid a charge of plagiarism (after all, I’m a redneck from Georgia, not a liberal writer for the New York Times) I decided to post a post from one of my other blogs, JuicyMaters, that I wrote last week.

This way I can avoid taxing my limited mental capabilities by having to come up with a Plan B, and at the same time get some important information to you folks who don’t frequent my other sites.  After sorting out the slightly deranged parts of the post below, you might find some important health information that might help you or a friend or family member.  We here at Coots try to insert, occasionally, information that you can actually use…other than How To Be Cantankerous, of course.

For those of you who read both this and my other blog(s) and have already read this, sorry to bore you with what you’ve already read.

For those of you who haven’t been to my other blogs…why?  You can learn all about yurts, homesteading, and other cool stuff at JuicyMaters, and I’ll piss you off with my political ramblings at Common Sense Conversation.  You need to come over.  You REALLY need to come over.  I CAN find you, you know?  If you’ve stopped by here we have your IP address, your browser type, and much more.  With modern computer technology, stopping by here tells us a lot.  We even know what you are wearing while reading this, right down to the color of your underwear…LOL.  Visit our individual blogs of we might have to visit YOU!!!

 

Without further ado, here is that other post:

 

Ya know…I kinda like y’all

 

Reading time: 6-7 minutes

 

Yes you!  When I say, “I kinda like y’all” I’m talking about you…the folks reading this. Besides being readers of my blog, I kinda sorta consider you folks friends…and that is why I’m writing this post.

You see, I like writing this blog, and since you are here reading it I assume you like what I write. It is sort of a symbiotic relationship. I write stuff, and you read my stuff, and we support each other that way.

The only way we can do that is for both of us, you and I, to be able to do our part, and that is what this blog post is all about… Staying able to do our part.

In case you all haven’t noticed, my posting has been a bit sporadic. Sometimes you will see two or three posts in a week, and sometimes you’ll be lucky to see two or three new posts in a month. Off and on, I have been having some cognitive thinking issues for about a year, and in the last two or three months the frequency and intensity of my “altered mental state” (fancy medical jargon for “more nuts than usual”) have been getting closer together and lasting longer.

That, combined with a few other health issues popping up, spurred my doctor and I to decide that I really needed to go in the hospital, have a few tests done (“few” being relative. I think I ran out of places to poke and prod) and find out just exactly what was going on.

Now for your regular readers of JuicyMaters, especially the ones that spend much time at the Family Homesteading and Yurt Yak categories, you already know that I tend to lean toward homeopathic medicine and I avoid big Pharma drugs as much as possible. With that said, there is a time and a place for allopathic medicine as well. This past week has been the time, and Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta was the place.

You have to be wondering where I’m headed with this… And if I’m in one of those “altered mental states” that I was talking about. Bear with me… This is actually going someplace that makes sense.

Among the other things they found at “Big Piedmont” was that my carotid arteries, both of them, left and right, were clogged with plaque. The right carotid artery was 30% clogged… Not enough to do the Roto Rooter on, but the right carotid was 100% blocked…TOO occluded to fix, oddly enough.

From a 50% occlusion to a 99% occlusion, doctors can clean out your artery, but once it’s completely blocked it is blocked for good…maybe. We’ll get back to that “maybe” in a minute.

Here is where I try to keep you folks, my readers and friends, able to read all this stuff that I write.

This problem has been coming on for a year or better. At first I ignored it, actually finding it mildly amusing. “Oh gee, I feel drunk and I haven’t had a drink in a few years…ha ha ha.” As time went by, as the episodes got more frequent, more intense, and lasted longer, I still played the typical macho American male… “I’ll get over it.”

As late as three months ago the problem probably could have been fixed, but I waited too long. Now, doctors tell me I’m just going to have to put up with it for the rest of my life. Understand, as long as my other carotid artery stays open it is really not that big a deal. Some mild disorientation? Yes. Occasional trouble finding a word I know as well as I know my own name? Yes. A need to nap occasionally what I was never much of a napper? Yes. But it is not a tremendously huge deal. For example, I’m still safe to drive.

But dammit, it is inconvenient… And was totally unnecessary.

The problem is simple to find before it gets too bad, and fairly simple to fix. In fact, it is so simple to find that many insurance companies pay for annual carotid artery ultrasound that will find the problem quickly and painlessly.

For those of you who might already have the same problem I do, remember that “but once it’s completely blocked it is blocked for good…maybe” back up there part way through this post? Well, while a 100% blockage might not be repairable surgically, I’m holding out hope that there is a homeopathic way to fix the problem. My research starts today, and I will let you know if I find anything that will help clear the blockage.

For those of you who do not have this problem, or who think you might but are not sure, here is my recommendation, from someone who learned the hard way:

For folks over 50, and certainly for folks over 50 who have diabetes and/or cholesterol problems, get an ultrasound of your carotid arteries annually.

If you and I both do that, I’ll keep writing stuff, and you’ll keep are reading this stuff that I write. I kinda like it that way, don’t you?

 

Related articles

• Will I be awake during my carotid surgery? (zocdoc.com)
• FDA Expands Approved Use for Carotid Stent (nlm.nih.gov)
• What will a carotid doppler show? (zocdoc.com)
• Is a carotid doppler ultrasound painful? (zocdoc.com)