I met the newest doctor(s) in town this morning. A husband and wife team, although technically, the husband doesn’t practice medicine. An American trained in the USA is not eligible for licensing here in the PI. The wife, a Filipina, runs the show. I was actually quite impressed with both of them. A thorough intake interview and then some suggestions for natural vitamin remedies that may eventually allow me to reduce some of my prescription drug intakes. I got a shot of B1 in the butt and something else through a drip bag in my arm, for starters. I confessed to my doc that I haven’t been vaccinated, and she responded, “neither have I.” That led us into a nice chat about the downsides, including potential long-term health risks, such as blood clots in my case. Anyway, it was a fascinating discussion with two medical professionals who see things pretty much the way I do regarding the scamdemic. I still may not have any choice but to get the jab since I need to leave the country soon in order to renew my visa. We’ll see. Anyway, I’m looking forward to traveling the road to better health with these two.
Speaking of doctor visits, Facebook reminded me of the Hash run four years ago that left me in stitches:
I came across this article that says that slower walking speed is associated with a higher risk of dementia. That’s pretty scary, given that I’m almost always last on our hikes. Some of that slowness can be blamed on my forays into picture taking, but I’m just not that fast, especially on uphill sections. The article talks about becoming slower as a warning sign, so I paid closer attention to my speed on my walk yesterday.
I forget what I was going to say next. *ahem*
My Saturday evening activities included beer drinking in an assortment of venues. Started at Hideaway Bar.
I had a special coupon for Hot Zone: buy one customer drink, get one customer drink, ALL NIGHT LONG. Well, Hot Zone doesn’t open until 6:00 p.m., but when the time arrived, I hoofed on over to try and get my money’s worth. After I sat down and placed my order, I was surprised to see Anna come in with a Hot Zone uniform. I’ve known her since before I moved here; she lives just outside of Alta Vista and works as a housekeeper for one of my neighbors. And all the time I’ve known her, she’s been a Wet Spot girl. I’m not clear on the circumstances, but she’s now a Hot Zone dancer. Naturally, I sat her down and set her up with a lady drink. My two-for-one deal had suddenly become much more expensive, and after my third free beer (and three LDs for Anna), I reckoned it was time to move on. Damn, those coupons are actually costing me money!
I still had one more stop to make along the way–Alaska Club. My new favorite, Karen, was working the door and invited me in. We shared some drinks and laughter. I was really pleasantly surprised to learn she’ll be participating in next week’s SOB dance contest–the first one since the scamdemic lockdown back in 2020. One more step towards normalcy.
It’s good to be alive, anyway. I’m going to try and keep it going for a while longer. Hopefully, my new docs will help me find a way to do that.
Sounds as though you’ve found a good pair of medical professionals. Here’s hoping they can help you out with the lung issues. Weaning you off meds seems like a good strategy.
I saw that same article re: dementia and thought, “uh-oh!” I used to walk a standard 5 kph, but since the stroke, that number has gone down to around 4.8 kph when I’m feeling energetic. I suspect the slowness is more thanks to the stroke than thanks to dementia. As for the article’s focus on dementia:
At the same time, previous studies have also found that aerobic exercise such as brisk walking, running, swimming, cycling and dancing can enlarge the hippocampus and improve some areas of memory.
I think routinely tackling hills qualifies as “brisk walking.” The article also notes that 10-20% of those over 65 develop dementia, so you’re very likely OK. I also wasn’t clear, after reading the article, whether the experimenters had controlled for simple aging. I mean duh, right? If you’re getting on in years, of course you’re going to slow down, dementia or not! I wish the article had gone into more detail about experimental parameters.
Well, as you yourself said, your current lifestyle beats sitting around and waiting to die in some nursing home. Walk on!
Well, I’ve been doing stupid stuff more frequently lately, especially when I write. And my memory ain’t what it used to be either–I can’t remember all the things I’ve forgotten! (luckily, my sense of humor remains intact)
I may well be in the 10-20% who enter Biden-land. But honestly, if dementia means being stupid and not knowing it, how bad can it be? My biggest fear is breaking down physically and losing the ability to go out and do all the things I enjoy. Not going to fret about it, though; just going to take each day as it comes and keep on keeping on as long as I can.