We all know that animals (even humans) have their familiar habits and routines which make us all feel comfortable.
Rusty, of course, has his. Below are the 2 videos that make up our daily morning routine. Of course, I usually have to interrupt my breakfast to accommodate him. He can be bossy at times (all the time!). If I’m not quick enough, he lets me know about it!! But it’s worth it.
It’s heartening to see that Rusty’s back legs are working better. But, when I can, I encourage him to walk down the steps near the loveseat; otherwise, I pick him up from wherever, and gently place him on the floor. For at least the next couple of weeks, I have to be careful about his jumping, even though he might want to do it. Not easy when you’re dealing with a cat.
I mention “Down Pat” in the title. For his reward, he gets Pat-ted Down.
For those who missed the Green Party Town Hall on CNN on Wednesday… Dandelion Salad America today news on Aug 17, 2016 CNN hosts Green Party town hall on Wednesday night with the Green Party’s nominee Jill Stein and presumptive running mate Ajamu Baraka. Source: Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka: CNN Town Hall
Solve ME/CFS Initiative President Carol Head said that following last year’s Institute of Medicine report, there is no reason for the federal government to drag its feet on aggressively funding research on the disease.
“It is the role of NIH and CDC to care for the health of their citizens, and the health of those citizens is currently being funded by ourselves for ourselves,” Head said.
The protest included a series of demonstrations by ME/CFS patients and their loved ones at locations around the country and across the world, including: Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Philadelphia, London, Melbourne, Seattle, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Raleigh, Canada, the Netherlands and Belfast. Protesters in D.C. assembled outside the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) headquarters. Other U.S. protesters assembled outside the regional HHS offices.
#MillionsMissing demonstration in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mary F. Calvert)
The shoes represent the active lives lost by the owners of those shoes due to being stricken with this devastating disease.
Imagine what it’s like to be so sick you cannot function. Imagine there is no known pathology for your illness, only symptoms.
Imagine you are too weak to find your own voice… and because you are silent and confused, your physician says, “It’s all in your head.”
Imagine.
Because your illness is invisible, you disappear.
Rik Carlson was afflicted with a sudden onset case of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis on January 2, 1995 and 18 months later was passed the baton to form the VT CFIDS Association, now ImmuneDysfunction.org. He wrote the book We’re Not in Kansas Anymore: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the Politics of Disease and has written numerous essays about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. In 2006 he testified before the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee in Washington D.C. In 2009 he was part of the published Obama Biden Transition Team report on Health Care in America. In conjunction with Michael Thurston, Rik directed the film Invisible. He lives in Burlington with his wife Barbara, and their cats. Their son, David, is a Marine Corps Veteran and works with Veteran’s Services at the University of Vermont.
The movie, “INVISIBLE” gives voice to a select group of Vermonters who are gravely ill, and until now, have been out of sight. You will hear first person accounts from your Vermont neighbors as they talk about living their lives with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, CFIDS, Fibromyalgia, or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, the disease with a thousand names and no known cause or cure.
Please click on the link below and you will be taken to a new window to view the video.
What is it that causes the chronic, severe pain and profound fatigue in patients suffering from fibromyalgia and ME/cfs (commonly known as “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome”)? On a youtube video, uploaded on March 28th, 2016, Dr. Jared Younger is questioned about his knowledge and research on how inflammation in the brain affects the rest of the human body.
Dr. Younger received his PhD in Experimental Psychophysiology at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He completed his post-doctoral fellowship at Arizona State University and the Stanford University of Medicine, before taking an assistant professor position at Stanford.
In 2014, Dr. Younger joined the faculty at the University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB). He is currently funded by the NIH, the Department of Defense, and several nonprofit agencies to develop techniques for diagnosing and treating neuroinflammation, pain, and fatigue.
Dr. Younger starts off the program by explaining, in simple terms, how inflammation is a good thing and when it turns around and becomes a bad thing that our bodies experience.
Dr. Younger talks about the hormone Leptin (what circumstances cause an uptick in the levels of Leptin?); the role of the hypothalamus; what role do the vagus nerve, cytokines and microglia play?; and many other factors controlling the inflammation in the brain.
The questions posed to Dr. Younger are intelligent, and thought-provoking (IMHO). Dr. Younger’s responses are enlightening and are easily understood by the average person who has an interest in the subject of how inflammation in the brain causes pain and fatigue.
One of the things Dr. Younger is asked refers to the use of LDN (low dose naltrexone) which has been found to be of help to many patients.
There is so much information correlating to chronic pain and profound fatigue and the inflamed brain. I highly recommend this one hour video, if you have the time. Watching only a portion can be quite edifying.
The following video is one of the best I’ve seen, showing the cowardice of dogs to cats’ existence. Don’t get me wrong – I love dogs, too – I used to have dogs in my life as well as cats – a long time ago.
I’ve decided to be totally not serious, and not deal with reality in honor of it being Hallowe’en.
Some of you may remember these songs; for some of you they may be new. But they’re some of my favorite “monster” songs, from when I was young.
The first is Vincent Price doing a wonderful cover of the Monster Mash. For those of you who are too young to know the wonderful Mr. Price, he ruled the Horror films in the 50’s and 60’s, and did the ghoulish rap at end of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
Flying Purple Eater is what was called a “novelty song” from the 60’s and it’s always been one of my favorites, never failing to make me laugh!
I have to go now, to chase the Zombies on the River!
Sunshinebright 