I had 24-hour blood pressure monitoring done twice this past week, sort of. The first monitor went kaput after a couple of hours. So the next day, back on the highway I went to the clinic and was hooked up to a 2-week-old one. Brand new is better than well used, except when it comes…
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HPN Awareness Week
It’s HPN Awareness Week this week: 7 August to 13 August. Parenteral nutrition, or “IV feeding,” isn’t just for patients in the hospital. We know that. And it isn’t as uncommon as it once was. The Oley Foundation has set aside August 7–13 for HPN Awareness Week to help spread the word that people can…
Journalists vs. Book Writers on Twitter
Journalists and writers are similar, right? After all, journalism is a specialised form of writing. Well, if you go by Twitter, I’d say they’re different, quite different. Though there are exceptions, generally speaking journalists on Twitter get it, book writers do not. Journalists get that it’s a great way to talk to their readers, to…
Review: Briefer History of Time
Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking My rating: 4 of 5 stars **I’m not really sure you can have spoilers in a non-fiction book and one that was extensively discussed in the press, but if so, there is a tiny bit of a spoiler four paragraphs down and on.** In preparation for my next-next…
Review: Clouded Vision
Clouded Vision by Linwood Barclay My rating: 2 of 5 stars This novella by Linwood Barclay was OK. The point of the mystery is only partly to do with whodunnit, which is a good thing as there are little clues all over the place from the get-go. No, the bigger point is what will be…
Review: The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson My rating: 3 of 5 stars I studied psychology in university and used to be quite interested in the psychopath, what made them tick, how to deal with them (warily). Back then, there was no scientific or physiological explanation for the psychopath. And…
The Grief of Jack Layton’s Cancer Announcement
I am not going to speculate on Official Opposition and NDP Leader Jack Layton’s cancer and condition because the timing of his announcement reminds me too much of the timing of my own catastrophe that it overwhelms other thoughts. It is awful and frightening when you receive a troubling diagnosis; it is shocking enough when…
How Do You Know if You’re Malnourished When Fat?
I was watching ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition (link has annoying video with audio ad) last night and heard the medical specialist inform the 456-lb woman that she was malnourished. I wondered: how did they assess malnutrition? How do we know if we’re malnourished, even when fat? So I asked my resident nutrition guru.…
Sweating Brain Injury Heat
The heat dome rose up out of the US and expanded itself north to smother Toronto in record-breaking heat for July 21st, only 0.1 degrees Celsius off the all-time record for the entire month of July. On the news, reporters warned us to drink lots, to watch for signs of heat stress, and to watch…