lookin

Sorry, kids, we only do Venmo

It's been a while since someone offered me a penny for my thoughts and, now that the U. S. mints are going to stop making them, I wonder if I'll ever get another offer. 🤔 Don't get me wrong. My thoughts have never been a major source of revenue. For starters, there aren't that many of them and the ones that do come along never seem to generate a whole lot of interest. If I get a penny twice a year I'd consider it a pretty good year. Now soon even that little trickle will be gone. Worthless thoughts will slowly pile up, one on top of another, until a random breeze blows through and scatters them to the wind. 💨 And what about you folks? Will there still be a reason to be thoughtful in a country that no longer makes cents? What do you think?

The second pathology lab speculated that the first pathologist looked at the cells sliced through by the biopsy needles and decided they were very strange looking and gave them a Gleason score of 5. The more experienced pathologist at the second lab looked at them and concluded they were Gleason 3 cells that had been sliced through by a biopsy needle. I don't think anyone was trying to "force" the diagnosis. They just had different levels of skill and experience. The first doctor I saw was also a surgeon and his lab was the one that came up with the Gleason 9. Neither was trying to "push the scales". In fact, although he was a surgeon, his recommendation was for treatment with radiation. He based it on my age and his belief that I would have more side effects from surgery than from radiation. The second doctor, also a surgeon, said he looked at functional age rather than chronological age, and thought I'd be a good candidate for either surgery or radiation. I chose surgery because I'd have radiation as a backup if the surgery didn't get all the cancer. With radiation, surgery is not a backup if the radiation fails. Hormone treatment is a backup if neither surgery nor radiation get all the cancer. I apologize for going into all this detail. My intention is to let folks know that prostate cancer does not always lend itself to generalizations. There are a number of variables and they can be dealt with one by one. Second opinions are valuable at every stage. You are your own best advocate and, if that's difficult for you, try asking a friend or loved one to come along to your appointments with you. In addition to President Biden's medical issues that he's dealing with, he's also had to put up with kibbitzers bloviating from the sidelines and reaching useless conclusions. He's having a tough enough time and those who offer snide and uninformed comments are showing cruelty rather than compassion. I'll bow out of this for now. If anyone is going through any of this, please feel free to PM me if I can be of any help. And thanks to the OP for starting this thread! 👍

It turns out the second test from my surgeon's lab was the correct one. When my prostate was removed, they looked at the entire prostate - rather than just the biopsy samples - and confirmed the Gleason score of 7. My surgeon's lab concluded that the first lab had misinterpreted the "worst" of the cells they were looking at. After looking at the entire prostate, rather than the biopsy samples, my surgeon's lab further concluded that the Gleason score of 7 was a 3+4 which was better than the 4+3 they had read from the samples. As you say, that could have led to a period of 'watchful waiting'. The deciding factor for me, however, was the genetic analysis that showed an aggressive form of cancer that would have spread quickly had it escaped the prostate. I lost no time getting the surgery. I realize this is only one case of many but I decided early on that I was going to learn everything I could about the specific form of cancer that I had. I was blessed to be surrounded by very knowledgeable support group members, in the hands of an excellent surgical team, and covered by good insurance.

I feel sorry for President Biden to have to go through all of this and I'm hopeful that the hormone treatments will effectively manage his cancer for the rest of his life. He'll have good doctors who know the latest options. I had a PSA test when I was 62 and it was in the normal range. For the next twelve years, my doctor would give me a digital rectal exam at my annual physical except for one year when she missed. I was out in the parking lot when I realized it and almost walked back in to remind her, but I decided to wait another year. The next year she found a lump on my prostate and sent me for a biopsy. It came back with a Gleason 9 score, the same score Biden got and the highest one there is. I also got a PSA test which came back within the normal range. I wanted to learn everything I could about this unusual form of prostate cancer and I was lucky to join a terrific support group and learn about some other tests I could do. I had the biopsy sample genetically tested and found I had an aggressive fast-growing cancer, but one that did not create a high PSA. I also had a CT scan that told me the cancer had not yet metastasized outside the prostate wall, but that it was about to. My support group recommended one of the best surgeons in the area and he wanted his hospital to check the biopsy results and, using the same biopsy samples, they came back with a Gleason score of 7. So how about that? An aggressive fast-growing form of prostate cancer, that a PSA test wouldn't have picked up, that generated two different Gleason scores, and that a digital rectal exam found just in time. I decided on surgery, one where they check to make sure the walls are clear of cancer cells and, if they're not, they go back in and cut a little wider. The surgeon also took out twenty-three nearby lymph nodes, just in case some cancer cells had escaped from the prostate and were in circulation. The lymph nodes all came back clear. That was seven years ago and I get an ultra-sensitive PSA test twice a year. Knock on wood, they've been coming back undetectable. I'm writing all this to let my esteemed fellow-posters know that there's more than one kind of prostate cancer and that generalities don't cover them all. I think each of us is his own best advocate and should do the level of screening and testing he feels is right for him. If you decide to do little or no testing, the odds are likely to be in your favor. If you decide to go for a higher level of surveillance, don't let anybody talk you out of it. President Biden and I are both lucky to have access to good medical care and I hope that others will have access to the knowledge and support they need to take good care of themselves.

Just keep your mitts off my Donald!

Personally, I think our Nabob-in-Chief is setting his sights too low with this ‘free’ plane from the Qataris. It may be a “flying palace” but it’s still a used aircraft and it won’t get him anywhere he can’t already go. If you ask me, the answer is right under his nose. Well, under Elon Musk’s nose, actually, but close enough. If he wants to stay on trajectory and go where no President has ever gone before, he needs to commandeer the SpaceX Dragon, order NASA to cut through all the red tape, and become the first world leader to land on Mars. If he times it right, he could touch down before year’s end and celebrate his first anniversary in office gazing up at the Martian moons, conveniently named Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Demon). What’s more, a year on Mars is equal to almost two years on Earth, so he could stay President for two more terms and not even violate the 22nd Amendment. “But, Lookin”, you say, “SpaceX doesn’t have a rocket that could bring him back. Once he gets to Mars, he’d have to stay there.” And you would be right. 👋

I was all ready to poo-poo our President's latest idea of giving undocumented immigrants $1000 to take a free plane ride back to their native country. And then I got to thinkin'. 🤔 Although I'm not an undocumented immigrant, I wouldn't be surprised if he'd like to get rid of me too. In fact, as a radical leftist gay octogenarian, I bet he wouldn't even save me a room in Alcatraz. So I wonder what kind of offer he'd give me to go on a one-way trip somewhere warm and sunny? I'm sure Mike Lindell already told him that I never voted for him and I filled out two ballots apiece for Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden and three for Kamala Harris. And Elon's Musk-rats probably filled him in on the sorry state of my so-called assets and my monthly drain on our national Ponzi scheme and various other entitlements. Not that he could balance the national budget by getting rid of me, but he could probably splurge on a new golf cart. Personally, I think getting rid of me would be one of the best deals he ever made so I'm currently thinking a million dollars and a first class one-way ticket. And then I think of not having to turn on the TV and listen to that droning blather every hour of every day and wonder if maybe I should just settle for fifty bucks and find my own way south of the border. What about any of you folks? What would it take for you to self-deport? And would you take a check, or hold out for cash?

Music - Symphony No. 3 in C Minor Composer: Camille Saint-Saëns - Paris Lyrics: Jonathan Hodge - London Lead singers: Yvonne Keeley - Rotterdam, Scott Fitzgerald - Glasgow Backup singers - St. Thomas More Catholic School Choir - London Reggae musicians - TBD

It's not Trump's IQ - or lack thereof - that concerns me. As I've posted elsewhere, it's the social pathogens that Trump has been blasting out for the past nine years. His skill at dividing people, generating anger and destroying trust is enough to threaten the world's stability. America is in the forefront of the social disintegration but it can spread everywhere within minutes. Look how fast he's getting rid of the separation of powers. Our very intelligent founders spent a decade or more thinking through the ways to prevent a government takeover and Trump is currently undoing all their work. We've spent centuries building alliances throughout the world and he's throwing away allies who won't be able to trust us for perhaps another century. I shared my thoughts on the mental illness I believe Trump is causing in our society with a colleague. He's with a nearby fire department and he said their paramedics are seeing the increase in calls. They're not rescuing cats from a tree; they're trying to save people who have overdosed. A coupIe months ago I told my GP that I thought the Surgeon General should declare a mental health emergency and she said he had mentioned that earlier in the week. Of course that was Biden's Surgeon General and Trump's Surgeon General will be unlikely to admit her boss is driving everybody crazy. You could be right, though, and maybe he can't really fuck up America and maybe I'm just overreacting. I should probably have an early dinner and curl up with a good book.

No, and there won't be either. A municipal water system is designed to deliver a couple hundred gallons of drinking water to each of its residents on a daily basis. It's more than enough to put out isolated house fires across the area, but not nearly enough to control regional fires like LA had. For that, you need air tankers dipping into large bodies of water like reservoirs, lakes, and oceans. LA never ran short of those water sources and Trump's releases from Northern California had no effect.

Drat! I was hoping no one would ask.

I was sitting at a light behind a Tesla today and leaned forward to see the bumper sticker. Glad I did. 😄 I BOUGHT THIS BEFORE ELON WENT CRAZY

I was thinking Gaz-a-Lago. And right next door will be the Trump Tower of Babble . . . . . . Shouldn't that be Babel?

Well, he won't go empty-handed, that's for sure. After trying for a week or so, he now has access to the federal payment system. It's the federal government's 6 trillion dollar checking account used to pay salaries for federal workers, Social Security, Medicare, tax refunds and payments to grant recipients and government contractors - including Musk's competitors. Previously, only a small number of Treasury Department career officials had access to the system but now Musk and his 'DOGE' buddies have their hands on the account. That's thanks to Scott Bessent, Trump's newly appointed Treasury Secretary who turned over access to the personal data of millions of Americans who never imagined Elon Musk would have access to their financial and medical information. Don't get me wrong. It's possible he's not looking for a few trillion dollars to fund tax breaks for billionaires, and he may find that I've actually overpaid my taxes and Donald Trump has underpaid his. And if my Social Security checks go up and my Medicare payments come down, I'll be sure to post an update. In the meantime, here's hoping that none of these new super-users gets hacked. 🤞