August chitchat

[agate]

Your doctor said that? Somehow that surprises me. I've been suspicious of Fosamax for many years and am still keeping a close eye on it. I've heard of a few instances where it did more harm than good but the overall picture has been positive, I think. I guess I'm saying that I reached a point where the benefits seemed to outweigh the risks.

[Virginia]

Jingle, I remember reading way back when I was on it that it "can cause necrosis". I think it was of the jaw bone. Agate, maybe they have additional information now that is more positive.

I sent information to my brother tonight about a one year old dog who is up for adoption. I saw a picture and it is a lab/hound mix. She is beautiful and described as very sweet with other dogs, children and people. I sent the information to him to give to his daughter. Her just turned 3 year old was very attached to Grayson and is still grieving for him. They had two labs that my niece adopted when she was 19. She is now 35. One of the dogs died last year and she told me the other one just lays and seldom gets up other than to go out to the bathroom and to eat. I thought maybe something new and lively might help the 3 year old to heal. I don't know if she and her husband will be interested or will look at this dog. I just thought it was worth a try.

[agate]

My sister had Barrett's esophagus. Tim, I think it's very likely that that is the reason why you're being switched to an infusion. The big concern with Fosamax has been its effects on the esophagus--though jaw necrosis is another worrisome side effect. It's rare but I understand that any symptoms involving the jaw need to be reported to a doctor soon as it's a pretty bad condition to have.

I told my dentist when I started taking Fosamax and hope that he will be on the lookout. Osteonecrosis seems like a ghastly condition.

[Prot]

Yes,Agate that was the reason that was given re having a yearly infusion. I'm going to temporarily stop the Apixiban from Sunday evening till after the extractions are done on Tuesday. That's to reduce the risk of bleeding. Gums,legs, and teeth are OK, but pelvic region feels like it's inflamed and lower back hurts.My daughter has said it could be due to the chronic constipation.

Both my daughter and I are agreed that it's very unlikely I'll get back to walking long distances outside unaided. Even before the debacle with the broken femur, I was not walking long distances outside.

Do either of you of you have hobbies or interests? Mine are genealogy,including the use of DNA, quizzes and tests from playbuzz to high range IQ tests, reaction time tests and their link to cognitive ability, mental health/illness , and politics.

[Virginia]

Tim, I love to read. I have two kindle books on my kindle, but I haven't been able to concentrate lately. I hope to get back to my reading soon. I have continued to read the digital copies of newspapers. I take the Washington Post right now. I was taking the Wall Street Journal, but if I read everything it was taking too much time, so right now I am just taking one paper. When this subscription expires I had considered trying the New York Times, but I am enjoying the Washington Post so much I might just keep taking it. Obviously, this also cuts into my book reading time.

I have ordered a sub from Jersey Mike's for supper. I only order in about once a month because of the added cost. About once every month to 45 days I treat myself.

[Prot]

I used to enjoy reading as a child and teen, but stopped for many years after becoming mentally ill. I had automatically assumed that all people were like me unable to actually imagine characters and scenes from books. What drove a steam roller through that was doing a guided imagery course for anxiety. There was no visual imagery of being on a beach etc for me. Yet other people were saying how much it helped them. That very much told me I was the exception, and not the rule, when it came to visualising characters and scenes.

A few years later I came across articles about something called Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... . I now no longer read fiction . I have total aphantasia in that I can't imagine images,smells,sounds, tastes, and how something feels.

[agate]

I didn't realize there is a condition called aphantasia. So you don't read at all on account of it, Tim? Or is it mainly fiction you can't read? Could you read factual works like essays and biography, material that is commentary on some issue or other?

[Prot]

I'll read articles online and the occasional non fiction book, but haven't read fiction for over a decade. Truth be told I'm too much of an internet 'addict' to allot much time to reading a non fiction book.

[agate]

Is reading going to be a thing of the past, do you think?

I was just looking over a book I picked up for my grandson though he won't be ready to read it for a while. It's a collection of stories for children and includes some classics like part of The Wind in the Willows. Some children's classics are really beautifully written and often charmingly illustrated and have been great favorites of children for generations.

But I have a feeling my grandson won't do nearly as much reading as children in previous generations. The lure of electronic devices is too great. They have sound effects and bright colors and things that move before your eyes. And you can control what happens on that screen. He's already addicted to some games,

His parents limit the time he spends in front of a screen but the day is coming when he'll have his own phone. They're saying not until at least middle school but that's when many children used to do a lot of reading and were making trips home from the library laden down with books to read.

(I seem to do entirely too much moaning about the Good Old Days.)

[jingle]

I love to read - I read solid, paper books. I carry one with me everywhere I go in case I have to wait somewhere. And I keep an emergency book of short stories in the car in case I forget that other book. I buy a book every time I see one that I might like no matter how many I already have waiting.
Last night I finished The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner. Oh, it was good. Today I'll dig in my shelves of waiting books.

[Prot]

I'm waiting on a copy of Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... it's by someone I follow on X. It'll be the 1st book I've read in ages. I will do so a chapter or two at a time. Long gone are the days when I'd spend several hours at a time reading a book.

[agate]

Tim, that looks like an interesting and helpful book. I'd like to know what you think of it after you've read it. I've been concerned about mental health scams for years, ever since (long ago) I found out that "anyone" can hang out a shingle as a "psychotherapist," "counselor," etc. I don't recall if that was just in that one state in the US or in general. I had probably been assuming that some training and credentials and licensing requirements existed.

[Prot]

On X/Twitter there's a battle royal between psychiatrists and antipsychiatry psychologists. The latter work privately and charge high fees for helping their financially well off clients. It's the same in the UK re anyone can be a therapist,counsellor .

Sometimes, sadly, psychiatrists develop their own problems . This Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... sometimes sometimes sat in morning ward meetings when I was an inpatient. That was over 20 years before that newspaper article. He was youngish and regarded as rather brilliant.

[Prot]

On X/Twitter there's a battle royal between psychiatrists and antipsychiatry psychologists. The latter work privately and charge high fees for helping their financially well off clients. It's the same in the UK re anyone can be a therapist,counsellor .Sometimes, sadly, psychiatrists develop their own problems . This Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... sometimes sat in on morning ward meetings when I was an inpatient. That was over 20 years before that newspaper article. He was youngish and regarded as rather brilliant.

[Prot]

Lower teeth were extracted this morning. It was more painful than last time. I've just had to take another lot of painkillers.

[agate]

At least that's over, Tim, but it must have been a miserable ordeal. Are you getting the doctor-prescribed painkillers?