When You Know As Many Old People as I Do You Don't Want to Become One of Them

Immortality: a fate worse than death.
Edgar Shoaff

I've noticed that the people of my parents' generation are living longer and longer. I wonder what implications this has for the next generation of old people. The problem is that some people don't age well. Some of it is bad genes.  Some of it is lifestyle.  Drink a quart of soda a day and it will do something drastic to you sometime in the future.

Two generations ago, people barely lived into their sixties. According to the Social Security (or the way things are going Social Insecurity) Administration, a man of 65 can expect to live to age 84; a woman to 86 1/2. My mother is 85 and 3/4.  A close friend of mine just lost her mother at the age of 88 years and 2 months. The ten or so years prior to her death, her quality of life was terrible. She was in a nursing home for a year and a half before she passed, when her care at home became too overwhelming for her only daughter. Arthritis stole her mobility. macular degeneration robbed her of her sight; Alzheimer's wiped away her memory, and congestive heart failure was what finally killed her.

Unfortunately, I'm all too familiar with congestive heart failure. My dad succumbed to it at age 80, and my cat Fatso also died of this terrible disease. The worst thing about it is that it takes away your mobility and as the heart gets weaker, the ability to breathe. It's not a pretty way to go.

I also work in a field where death is a constant reminder.  I work for a financial planner who has many elderly clients and the diseases listed below are usually the reason for their demise.

Here are the top six killers of elderly people in the United States:

1. Heart disease: no surprise here, unfortunately there is a genetic component for this in my family.

2.  Cancer (when caught early survival rates are high; a friend of mine is a breast cancer survivor for 2 1/2 years)

3. COPD, also known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Smokers usually succumb to this one, but my mom is a lifelong non-smoker and she has it.  She is prone to asthma and bronchitis, so I'm surprised she's been around so long.

Here is a commercial for Symbicort.  It is often shown during The Drug Hour a.k.a. Evening News on TV.  The drug companies are making big bucks from peoples' misery. The stockholders are the ones who benefit.



4.  Stroke: (one of my husband's colleagues survived a mini-stroke). The worst thing about stroke is not when it kills you but when it leaves you permanently disabled and you need round-the-clock care at a nursing home.

5. Alzheimers: my paternal grandmother had this one: it is a long, slow death. It is even worse for the caretakers because Alzheimer's patients don't let you sleep, they have to be watched 24-7, and in the late stages they are bedridden.

6.  Diabetes: the family curse. I can name at least half a dozen relatives, including my maternal grandmother, who succumbed to diabetic complications. The husband of a friend of mine had to have his leg amputated due to gangrene. Diabetes is a disease that requires discipline, frequent testing of blood sugar, deprivation (I want that chocolate brownie!) and sometimes medication. I know a lady who controls it with diet and exercise. As far as I know I'm in pretty good shape, but one of these nasties is gonna kill me eventually.

I don't want to get old, If I do I want to go quickly and painlessly.  I've seen elderly people in nursing homes who are but a shadow of their former selves.  They depend on aides and nurses to care for them and I don't want to be dependent on anyone, not even my offspring.

Finally, here is a poem I wrote about five years ago.  It was published in The Art of Being Human Volume 11.  I don't have a real fast food addiction except for fried chicken and chicken wings.  The skin is the best part.  It is also high in artery-clogging cholesterol, but I eat it anyway.

Fast food addiction
fried chicken is my poison
death by heart attack.

Katley Demetria Brown 2012

Copyright © 2017 Katley Demetria Brown (except for YouTube video uploaded by Joestrange8). Site designed by Katley Demetria Brown. All Rights Reserved.

Anatomy of a Pilar Cyst

Death by acne, they all said
when the volcano exploded on his head.
Full of blood and pus and gore,
It dripped and splattered on the floor.

Katley Demetria Brown 2012

In February this year I had a pilar cyst removed from my head.  These are benign growths that contain fat and keratin. When they get infected,  they can become quite painful, especially before they "erupt." Sometimes they don't erupt and and the safest way to remove them is to see a medical professional.  My husband removes them if they have an "outlet", otherwise I make an appointment with the local dermatologist.

Pilar cysts are caused by infected sebaceous glands.  They are genetic, tend to run in families, and are benign growths (not cancerous).

See video below for how the procedure is done.  As long as the doctor injects enough painkiller (the most painful part of the procedure is the needle going in), the actual cyst removal is painless.  Afterwards, depending on the size and the number of cysts removed (three is the maximum that can be removed at one time),  the doctor prescribes a painkiller.  Vicodin works the best for the first 24 hours, especially with larger cysts; then the pain is manageable with ibuprofen. The doctor removes the stitches in about ten days.

The cysts look like globs of fat with streaks of blood.  When they dry they harden because they are made of keratin (same protein that's in hair or fingernails).

After the doctor removes the cysts, he stitches up the area and cleans it with disinfectant.  There is another visit to the doctor's office to remove the stitches about ten days later.

Pilar cysts, unfortunately, tend to recur.  In my case, I've had surgeries for them every 6-10 years which is not too bad.  My husband has been able to remove a few of them.  Sometimes they have  a small hole where the fat can drain, and then the rest of it pops out with pressure. I use hydrogen peroxide to prevent infection.



There are worse things than pilar cysts, however they can stretch the surrounding skin enough to hurt, and when the hair follicles get infected the damn things have to come out, since they can be quite painful.  When this happens there are bald spots at the location of the cyst because the hair falls out (it grows back when the cyst is removed).

Copyright © 2016 Katley Demetria Brown. Site Designed by Katley Demetria Brown. All Rights Reserved.
Video from YouTube, posted by wkharrismd

A Walk along the Connecticut River: Pynchon Point Park

There is a scenic park not far from where I live.  Pynchon Point Park is diamond in the rough. At the entrance from the parking lot, you follow the path down to the river with a lovely view of the South End Bridge. This is a no-frills park with few amenities: it has no playground and there are no portable toilets.  If you plan to canoe or kayak here, you need a cart to transport your boat since there is no vehicle access to the water.  The photos were taking during the spring of 2016.  There was hardly any snow that winter, and no spring high water, so the park was accessible.

People come here to fish during the shad run  mid-May until early June. Occasionally families picnic here on weekends.Fishermen have told me they have caught striped bass in the river, and they can be over three feet long.

There is a stretch of sand along the waterfront.  I have never seen anyone swim there, although I have seen people launch kayaks. I think it has to do with park located a short distance downstream from the Springfield Wastewater Treatment Plant.  The output from the plant is usually clean except during periods of heavy rain, when combined sewer overflows occur. 

Many years ago, the plant, also known as Bondi's Island, used to stink up the entire neighborhood. When the wind blew the wrong way, the odor wafted into downtown Springfield.  The sewage treatment plant has since cleaned up its act (it no longer smells unless you're actually at the plant) and also does a good job cleaning the crap from the five towns in the Springfield area.  Unless there has been a heavy rain, the water is usually clean enough for boating and swimming, according to this website.

It's certainly a lot cleaner than it used to be.  Before the park was created, there was a lot of illegal dumping done here. Unfortunately, the park is often littered with the remains of alcoholic celebrations, even though there is a trash can next to the picnic table.  You name it they drink it: beer, soda and vodka, and none of it is the good stuff. It's the cheap booze from the local convenience store.

This is the sign at the entrance to the park.  It was originally a ferry landing for boats traveling from Agawam to Springfield until the first South End Bridge was built in 1879. You can read about the park's history from the sign if you enlarge the picture.

A sign in the parking lot reminds people that they can be hit with a hefty fine if they dump garbage and other refuse. So far I haven't seen trash bags and household items, although the fishermen who come here often litter the beach with Dunkin' Donuts cups, beer bottles and cans, fishing line and stryrofoam cups, despite the trash bins located in a couple of places in the park. Unfortunately, fishermen have a bad rep for being slobs.

The best vantage point is right before the bridge.  Since there is no picnic table in this part of the park I sometimes bring a folding chair and enjoy the view.  The bridge was built in 1929.

Pynchon Point Park is a great place to take pictures.  Just don't go there during springtime high water (early April when the snow melts).

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Summer is the Season of Escape

Copyright © 2016 Katley Demetria Brown. Site Designed by Katley Demetria Brown. All Rights Reserved. Photos © Katley Demetria Brown.

The Dangers of Kitty Crack

This is Kitten (a.k.a. Jack) speaking to all humans out there who live with felines.  Remember, you don't own us, we own you. By the way, I ended up staying behind when my original human moved out. They got stuck with me and the vet bills.

Today's post is a warning to your humans about the dangers of dry cat food (kibble).  You probably thought this was about catnip, didn't you?

Last month I was miserable.  My bottom hurt and I had to go to the litter box every five minutes. Mom took me to the vet.  I hate that place, it's noisy with dogs and smells funny.  They also probe and prod you and give you shots.

The first time wasn't too bad.  They pushed my bladder to make me pee and gave me an injection of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory.  The vet told Mom I had a urinary tract infection and that I should be fine in a couple of days.

Less than a week later my bottom became sore again and Mom called the vet for another appointment.  It was back in the carrier (horrible!) for me.  I was also very hungry because the vet told Mom I had to be sedated for an x-ray of my bladder.

I was in that office all day and it was torture.  I was starving, I had to pee, and I had to deal with the stink of frightened animals and the noise of barking dogs.  Hell would have been better.  I was so happy when my human picked me up to go home.  According to the vet, there was nothing wrong with me, so she recommended an ultrasound of my bladder for the next day when the sonographer would be in.

Again, it was another day of hell, no food from midnight on, the nasty smell of dogs, and my bottom was on fire until they finally sedated me sometime after lunch.  When the technicians ate lunch it nearly drove me mad. Being sedated was a relief.  Maybe this time I would be put out of my misery.

I woke up and the humans told Mom they had found nothing.  I was sent on my way with antibiotics (ersatz beef flavored pills, horror of horrors!)

Mom tried to hide the pill in my food. That didn't work.

Then she got reinforcements (Dad) who held me down while Mom popped those nasty things down my throat.  I even spit it out a few times. I wasn't taking that abuse, even though the humans said it was medicine. Those pills tasted like poison.

For a few days after the sedation, my bottom didn't hurt.  Maybe it was the pills. It could have been the aftereffects from the anesthesia because I was groggy most of the time.  Then the pain began again and I had this constant urge to pee.  When I didn't make it to the box in time, I went on the paper in the recycle bin. Mom wondered why it was stinky.

Mom called the vet and requested some painkiller.  Now the humans forced some nasty tasting liquid down my throat.  The pain went away.  I was high all the time.  I spent my time staring at the TV and craving kitty crack.

I noticed Mom had put away the kibble.  I craved that stuff so bad that I learned how to open the kitchen cabinet.  I dragged the bag of dry food onto the kitchen floor and dove into the bag..  I ate every morsel until Dad caught me.  He wasn't too thrilled with the mess on the floor.

I became a picky eater for a few days.  I wasn't having those meaty bits in gravy. Why did the humans change my food?

During one of my lucid moments I found out why.  Canned food has meat and water, which are lacking in the dry food.  Mom had been reading posts on the Internet and didn't want to spend any more money on trips to the vet.  She planned to cure me by changing my diet.

It worked.  After several days on the painkiller and a week on Friskies  shreds and Sheba, my bottom didn't hurt any more.  The humans stopped forcing nasty liquid down my throat. The urge to pee all the time went away. I felt good enough to attack my humans' feet again and I lost my addiction to kitty crack and pain meds.

Please tell your humans we are carnivores.  We were not made to eat meat flavored corn, especially the genetically modified kind. Besides urinary tract problems, a diet of kibble can contribute to:

Obesity
Diabetes
Kidney disease
Blockage of the urinary tract
Heart disease

It can also be hard on your wallet. Vet visits are expensive. I haven't been to the vet in several weeks.

Thank you  for reading my message.

Sincerely,

Kitten (a.k.a. Jack)

Translated from Felinese

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Cats and Income Tax Season (you can read about Fatso, who died April 9, 2011.  Cause of death was congestive heart failure.)

Copyright © 2016 Katley Demetria Brown. Site Designed by Katley Demetria Brown. All Rights Reserved.

Fourth Anniversary of The Springfield Tornado: an Anecdote

Winter turned into summer within a matter of weeks.  As soon as the massive snow mountains were completely gone, the temperatures got into the 70's and 80's and in late April we got our first taste of summer.

Since today is June first, all the newscasters have been rehashing the Tornado of 2011.

The weather was unusually hot and muggy that day and thunderstorms were in the forecast for that afternoon.  Things changed very quickly when a funnel cloud started to form in Westfield.  The tornado made its way eastward over the Connecticut River not far from the South End Bridge right around the time my husband was headed home from work.  I was worried because that is the route he takes home, and he was in its path. About ten minutes after I saw the broadcast on the news (in the basement!) he arrived home. What a relief!



A few weeks ago I was at Pynchon Point Park. It is a pleasant place to hang out on a beautiful spring day. Many anglers go there in the spring for the striped bass and the shad run. I have yet to see anyone catch fish there, but I'm sure they do. The river near the park is shallow for quite a distance, and with the warm weather they probably prefer the deeper water. Here's a picture of the bridge that was parallel to the tornado. Notice the fishing rod on the sandbar. The tornado went over the river not far from the spot where I took this picture.

I spoke to one of the fishermen who was there with his family. They had been displaced by the tornado four years ago. His home was totally destroyed and they had to move in with relatives. He was elated that their new house was almost completed and they would be moving in a few weeks. Although he lost everything (and for a few frightening minutes his son was missing), he was very thankful that they had survived the ordeal and that no one in his family was killed or injured by the Tornado of 2011.

You can see some of the houses that were destroyed in last year's post.

Four years later, things have pretty much gotten back to normal, and there is little evidence of tornado damage, except for the spindly trees that were planted to replace the hundred year old ones destroyed in the storm.

I will end this with a haiku, inspired a man who lost everything, except what really mattered.

death and destruction
sadness and loss will never
replace memories.

If you like haiku, I highly recommend the The Art of Being Human, Volume 11.  There are many talented writers featured in this book.  My haikus are on pages 13-14.

Copyright © 2014 Katley Demetria Brown. Site Designed by Katley Demetria Brown. All Rights Reserved. Photos and poetry © Katley Demetria Brown (with the exception of YouTube video courtesy of Severe Weather & Hard Dance Music)

Where the Hell is Spring?

Where the hell is Spring? Kitty can't wait to go on the (enclosed) porch and spend hours watching the birds.  Instead she's confined to a small perch on the window sill.

I took this picture back in February.  It is now April and the vernal equinox is several weeks behind us. Most of the snow has melted, but it hasn't been all that warm. There was heavy rain in late March which washed away most of it.

As the snowbanks gradually became smaller, I took pictures of them just to see how long they would take to finally disappear.

The first photo was in February after we had a major monster snowstorm.  I used cars as a frame of reference.  My guess was that this snowbank was at least eight feet high.

The next one was taken a month later.  Notice how the snow became darker and dirtier.  The snowbank shrank maybe a couple of feet. 

Early April:  Snow loses to springtime sun, but not quickly enough:  It's about four feet high.  It will take some serious warm weather to make this disappear.

Although it's officially spring (I don't go by the calendar, but by the crocuses in the flower beds), I still haven't ditched the winter coat and the boots yet.  The first crocus came up the same day that I took the previous picture (April 2).  Several days later they popped their purple heads out all at once.

April is a very cruel month, and on tonight's news I heard a forecast for sleet and freezing rain, as well as a winter weather advisory for tonight and early tomorrow.

Maybe spring has been cancelled this year.  After all, there was a year without a summer.  I find that prospect depressing.

Since April is National Poetry Month, and I didn't include a poem for this post since I've been involved in a number of projects (including the dreaded spring cleaning), here's the link to T.S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land."

Once everything turns green and colorful around here it won't look so much like a wasteland anymore.

Copyright © 2015 Katley Demetria Brown. Photography is © Katley Demetria Brown 2015 and may not be reproduced without permission..
Site Designed by Katley Demetria Brown. All Rights Reserved.

The 25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Piece of Berlin Wall by Katley Demetria Brown, 2014

Last week I was at the Smithsonian Museum of American History.  A piece of the Berlin Wall was on display.

I remember that cold November day in 1989 very well.  My daughters were born just a week before.  They were seven weeks premature and were still in the hospital.  I was worried about them since they were both in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

November is not exactly a happy month for me because of the lack of sun (I have a mild form of Seasonal Affective Disorder).  Having two babies in the hospital was also very stressful, especially after a C-section. I tired very easily and had to depend on my husband to drive me to the hospital every day to see the girls; and I also had to take care of my three year old son while my husband was at work.

One night I was feeling down and my husband told me to have a look at what was on TV.  It was a broadcast from Berlin, Germany.  People were partying at the Berlin Wall.  It was the beginning of the end of Communism in Eastern Europe.

I couldn't believe what I saw.  And it made me smile.

The Wall was a symbol of tyranny for so many years.  It was part of an Iron Curtain of barbed wire and watch towers that stretched from East Germany to Bulgaria. According to the Communist Party, it was to keep the Westerners and their capitalist ideas out of Eastern Europe, but we all knew better.  The Iron Curtain was built to keep people from escaping.  And escape they did, often by dangerous means: tunneling, hiding under cars, or floating down rivers One of my closest friends left Hungary as a three year old child with her parents during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Here is a poem I wrote five years ago about the fall of the Wall:

 A New Beginning

Communism
A way of life for so many years
In so many countries
In Eastern Europe
Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Albania, Romania, and Bulgaria
And the nation once known as the
Deutsche Demokratische Republik
Held hostage for over 40 years
Its people imprisoned by barbed wire
Watchtowers and concrete
And West Berlin, an island
In a sea of red its people isolated
Until the wall fell
And everyone rejoiced

Die Mauer ist gefallen
Berlin ist wieder Frei!

And twenty years ago
The people of Eastern Europe
For the most part peacefully
Toppled their communist governments
Like so many dominoes
And tore down the barbed wire
And watchtowers
And we shall never forget

Die Mauer ist Gefallen
Europa ist wieder frei!

If you like Balkan music, please visit my other blog The Alien Diaries.  It features music from the Balkans. Until 1989, some of these countries were behind the Iron Curtain.

Copyright © 2014 Katley Demetria Brown. Photography is © Katley Demetria Brown 2014 and may not be reproduced without permission.

Also, please check out the following websites:

Poetic Expressions from the Heart

Cahaba River Literary Journal