Just in case anyone noticed, I've been missing for a while.
About 4 weeks ago I had the first really serious flare-up of colitis in some 15 years or so. So I've been completely off line for the past three weeks or so. I finally logged in tonight, of course found that my mail box was full, and so realized that I've probably been bouncing messages for some time.
So, if you've tried to email me and it bounced back, please resend. My email is still active and I've cleaned out my inbox. I hope to check it often enough now to keep it from overflowing.
I'm still nowhere near back to 100%, but I think I'm on my way back. I'm afraid with this illness, the downward slopes are very steep and fast, while the climb back up takes MUCH longer.
BTW, if anyone knows any really good gastro-internists, ODs, or other "real" doctors who are also versed in (or at least friendly towards "alternative" or holistic medicine) please drop me a private message here. I live in Sandy, so a good practice somewhere along the Wasatch Front is preferred.
The last time I had any kind of long term relationship with a medical doctor, she just couldn't wait to cut out my entire colon and hang a bag on my side. (This after another doctor did an endoscope on a fully enflamed bowel without bothering to wait for the anthesia to kick in on me!!) She swore up and down that such WOULD be necessary within 5 years. As a teenager, I checked myself out AMA at that point and haven't had much to do with doctors since. (We had a visit from whatever DCFS was called back then and narrowing escaped a "Parker Jenson" long before he was even a glimmer in his parents' eyes.) That was well over 15 years ago and my insides are still inside where they belong, with, the last month notwithstanding, very few problems to date.
Anyway, this time was serious enough (and I figured I'd eventually need a doctor's note for my employer) that I finally went and saw a doctor about it. (It only takes 2 to 8 weeks to get an appointment these days.) It is apparantly one of his specialties and while he seems more reasonable and competent than what I experienced as a teenager, I still came away reminded very forcefully why alternative medicine has grown so much. Simply put, there doesn't seem to be more than about 1 doctor in 100 (maybe not even that many) who is capable or interested in looking at a person as anything more than a case, an ailment, or a piece of meat; certainly not as a living soul who ought to be given some credit for the experience of having lived in that body for as many years as he has. (Apologies to the rare shining star among traditional medical practioners.)
Rambling a bit now, reminds me of what is currently happening with government day-care camps (aka "public schools"). Administrators, the teachers' union, and too many union drones masquerading as "teachers" (with full apologies to those really dedicated teachers), are doing everything short of smacking students and parents over the head with two by fours and shouting, "Go away, we don't really want your business." And so the home schooling and private school, and neighborhood co-operative schools continue to grow...along with chiropractic practices, midwives, herbalists, and other alternatives to the traditional medical doctor and his approach to medicine.
Back on topic, I hope I haven't missed anything too important and that nobody has thought I've snubbed them or refused to answer them. There is no way I'm even going to attempt to go back through 3 weeks of news groups to see what happened, so if somebody really wants me to see something, send it to me privately. Thanks.
