Gimpy Mumpy

Daffodil Days

Today begins the annual Daffodil Days by the Canadian Cancer Society.  The daffodil is seen as a symbol of hope and volunteers will be selling daffodils in a fundraising effort to benefit the fight against cancer.  For more information check out the Canadian Cancer Society website .

The GimpMobile

Friday night the brakes went on my car.  Scary, yes very scary.  Fortunately for me (and for Gubaru) this happened in my driveway and no one was hurt.  The car made horrible screaching noises going back up the driveway but there was nothing to be done on Friday night of a holiday weekend (but stew about what this was going to cost).  Saturday I checked the paperwork to see I had over a year or 20,000 miles left on my warranty.  Great right?  Not exactly.  Waiting, waiting, waiting.  Monday finally arrived to a plethora of phone calls to arrange things with the garage and the towing service.  Good news; towing covered by warranty.  Bad news; breaks not. 
After watching my car be towed away I sat around waiting for the dreaded phone call.  While gazing out at the spot where my car had been I noticed a large chunk of break material on the ground.  Ooh, this cannot be good.  I called the service folks to tell of my find and they said  'oh that makes perfect sense since our mechanic just informed us that your breaks had completely disintegrated'.  Hmmm.......  They went on to tell me this was at no fault of Gubaru, although 'they had never seen such a thing before' .  What made even less sense to me was that I have not driven this car, or any car, for over a year.  Ironically when I do need to go out my car is the one used for the ride because it is the 'safe' car.  These rides have only accumulated 3,000 miles though since last year at my last inspection at same garage.  Funny they didn't notice anything peculiar with the breaks then, isn't it?  When this was all brought to their attention they then turned the lack of mileage against me.   Well the breaks must have seized up and become all rusty from lack of use.  Grrrrrr..... 

Vitamin D Could Prevent Elderly Gimpification

Vitamin D helps strengthen muscles and bones.  Studies have shown that when persons over age 65 take Vitamin D supplements they are less likely to have a serius fall resulting in injury.  This is especially true for people who do not travel outside of their home often (Vitamin D comes naturally when the skin is exposed to natural sunlight). 
However, this information should come with a warning.  Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and can become toxic if supplemented at too high of a level.  Vitamin D is often present in fish oils so if you are already taking a fish oil supplement then you may not need to take additional Vitamin D.  Also be sure to check fish oil supplements for a guarantee that the product is mercury, pcb and other contaminant free. 

Gimpy Bunny

Limpitty Hoppitty Easters on its way.........

$100,111.54

Hospital Room for 7 days:  $4,382.00
EKG:   $155.00
Laboratory:  $432.00
Radiology:   $542.00
Recovery Room:  $1,200.00
Operating Room Services:  $83,932.68
IV Solutions:  $709.27
Pharmacy:  $1,863.22
Anesthetic  Drugs:  $4,092.00
OT:  $712.00
PT:  $1,515.00
Pulmonary:  432.00
M & S Supplies:  $144.37
A scar you can gross out all of your friends with? 
PRICELESS.

Fastfood Chain Gives Customer the Finger

A customer was eating chili from the Wendy's fastfood chain in San Jose, California this week when they noticed that something extra was in their mouth.  After spitting it out they realized that it was in fact a human finger.  Officials are investigating the incident but the medical examiner did confirm that the object was a human finger.

Good News: Needle in a Haystack

Quick post to pass along that the CT Scan results for my eye came in today and everything looks normal.  I have had pressure and pain problems in that eye ever since my surgery when there were drastic blood pressure fluctuations and I was face down for over 8 hours.  Now how to celebrate for an eye?  A new pair of glasses? a cool patch so it can feel like a pirate? Perhaps a bit of a drink? Visine anyone?

Killer Beds Gobble Gimps

What does a Vail Products hospital bed and a mutant venus fly trap have in common?  More than you would think! Feed me Seymour....Feed me! 

The FDA has ordered a seizure of all Vail Products Inc. enclosed hospital beds due to reports of at least 30 people becoming trapped in these beds and 7 of those people being killed by the incident.  US Marshals seized the 500, 1000, and 2000 model beds and related materials yesterday working on FDA orders.  The FDA reportedly had sent two warning letters to Vail Products detailing quality requirements which the company ignored.  This just demonstrates the insensitivity and lack of compassion towards the clients that they provide products to.  I have long held the belief that medical equipment is not developed by the people who utilize it.  This often leads to ridiculous products (see my Feb. 7th-Feb. 13th archives for related "Monkey Business" and "Sock Darner" posts) and in this case unsafe products. 

Gimpy Survival Tip# 002

Gimpy Survival Tip# 002:  Avoid weekend and  holiday hospital admissions and hospital stays.
Studies have shown that medical care received during weekends and holidays is often of a much lower standard than a normal non-holiday weekday.  Reasons for this often include fewer staff and less experienced staff during these periods.   Not only does care worsen during these times but studies have demonstrated that patients admitted during the weekend are 28% more likely to DIE than patients who are admitted to the hospital on a weekday.   Patients, especially those suffering a heart attack, are more likely to die when admitted during the holiday period between Christmas and New Years.   A study by the Duke University Medical Center has shown that cardiac patients treated during the last two weeks of December and the first two weeks of January are statistically less likely to receive life saving treatments, testing, medications and procedures. 
I experienced this phenomena during my surgery and hospital stay last July.  I was in the hospital during the entire July 4th holiday week and weekend and received deplorable care.  It was evident that the hospital was short staffed and the nurses were often confused about who was in charge at any given time.  Many of the nurses commented that they were working different shifts and units than they were used to. 
Something needs to be done to correct this problem, but in the meantime follow Gimpy Survival Tip# 002 and avoid weekend and holiday hospital stays!

Gimpy a Go Go

We Got The Beat
See the people limping down the street,
Fall in line just watching all their feet,
They don't know where they wanna go,
But they're limping in time,

They got the beat,
They got the beat,
Yeah,
They got the beat.

Hmmm, I'm picturing choreography a bit like the zombies in the old Michael Jackson Thriller video.  But don't worry, My Lips Are Sealed.