My Left Hand

I am a right-handed person. My wife is a left-handed person.

Because of this, I have become a little more sensitive to the nature of being left-handed. When you're left-handed, you angle for the left side of the dinner table. There is also the need to have appropriate scissors. You also must think about how to arrange the buttons on your computer mouse. Lots of small things to consider.

One of my favorite books is Joe Perry's biography "Rocks", about his life as Aerosmith's lead guitarist. He plays right handed, but one of the things he reveals in the book is that he is left-handed, so learning the guitar was an exercise in flying upside-down for him. I wonder how his learning would have changed if he started with a left-handed guitar?

I also remember a golf tournament many years ago. Tiger Woods was in jail, his ball against some brush. He wasn't able to take a normal stance, but to the announcers' amazement, Tiger turned the club upside down and took a left-handed shot. It made sense that he would know how to do this as there are some professional baseball players that can bat from either side of the plate.

As for me, I make an effort to use my left hand when I think I have a choice. For example, I will try to open a bottle of pills or reach into a cupboard for a mug with my left hand. It's a small thing, but I feel some solidarity with left-handed people. Both sides of my brain gets some usage when I spread the work like this, and that's got to be a good thing.

Planking

A year ago I started doing planks. This is a back exercise in which you position yourself face-forward on the floor, lifting your entire body by your toes and elbows. When done right your back and legs are as straight as a plank. After a minute or two your abdomen and back will feel the strain from holding this pose.

Various people have talked to me about this exercise when I mention my occasional back spasms. Planks are easy to perform, but it took a long time to build up endurance. At first I could only hold the pose for 20 or 30 seconds. I eventually reached a minute. Today, I can hold the pose for a minute and a half. I try to plank at least once in the morning and once in the evening.

About six or seven months into this new routine I realized that my back spasms stopped happening. My spasms tend to be a sharp pain that immediately subsides into a tightened back. I have exercises that reduce the tightness, but my back is wrenched for days at a time. Sitting or getting up with a wrenched back can be painful. However, since planking, these have stopped.

I can only conclude that planking has been the difference in my back and core health. The core of your body governs the back but also your torso (abdominal muscles) and your hips. In other words: posture and mobility. I've stopped regularly doing push ups because I'd rather be rid of my back aches than to have well-defined triceps. I suppose I could do both. Maybe I will.

Bottom line: I recommend a planking routine for those with back aches.

Bare Handed Fall

The cold weather and heavy snow made a slippery obstacle course in our parking lot earlier this month. On my way to the car in the morning, I saw a patch of snow that looked walkable. I stepped on it and my foot instantly slipped and I began falling backwards. 

It felt like slow motion. I wore a book bag, but it started moving off my shoulders as I fell backwards. "That was really ice," I remember thinking. My right foot was up in the air, and my left foot soon followed it. My arms and hands started reaching behind me, ready to brace for the fall when I realized: "I'm not wearing my gloves!"

My hands hit the ground first. I was on my back, my book bag next to me. I rolled to my left, slowly stood up and gingerly stepped off the snow/ice. As I brushed away the dirt and snow on my coat and pants, I felt a sharpness in my hands. I looked and my right hand had several small cuts! It hurt a bit too.

I decided to go back inside and get my hand properly treated. Jenn patched up my hand, applying some expired bacitracin and covering my two larger cuts with bandages. Three weeks later, my hand is all healed up. I'm lucky the fall didn't cause any more damage. I think my heavy winter coat helped with that.

From that day though, I made sure to wear my gloves on the way to the car. I also avoided cutting across those snow patches. Taking a fall when you're older can be a big deal so I will be watching my step a little better!

Small number (7) of cuts on my hand

Caffeine Headache

One evening after work this month I came home and immediately took two Tylenol. I had a sharp headache, the kind that made me wince every time I moved my head. Jenn asked if I had my coffee in the afternoon, and incredibly, I had not! I got distracted from having my usual coffee after lunch. 

As an antidote, on top of the Tylenol, she suggested I have a soda. To my surprise, I learned that Diet Pepsi has caffeine in it. It says so right on the can: 35mg! In contrast, a cup of coffee contains 100mg of caffeine. Somehow, my afternoon coffees were enough to keep the headaches away.

Later on, I learned (or relearned) that caffeine is an addictive substance. When you stop taking caffeine, your body produces withdrawal symptoms: headache, irritability, fatigue, low energy, depressed mood, and others along these lines. I had never correlated headaches with lack of coffee.

I don't intend to give up coffee any time soon. It's too delicious! But my body has developed a sensitivity and expectation for my two cups a day: once in the morning and once after lunch. It's rare for me to forget my post-lunch coffee, but the next time I have an evening headache, I'll at least know one thing to check!

Generated from NightCafe AI

My Pill Box

I now use a pill box (aka pill organizer). You may have seen these devices in drugstores: a long thin plastic box with seven small compartments. Each compartment has a lid with a label for each day of the week. If you're taking maintenance medication on a daily basis, the pill box keeps you organized. You always know if you've taken your pills just by looking at the box!

I started my regimen of daily medication back in 2010 for cholesterol. Another pill was added to this one in 2016. I take these pills in the evening. Amazingly, without fail, I've always remembered to take this medicine. But in the last several months, I'd be in front of my pill bottles in the evening, wondering if I had taken them already. 

Nothing bad happens if you forget to take them, or if you take them twice. I'd get mildly annoyed by my forgetfulness, but around the fourth or fifth time of me being confused, I realized a pill box would help. I've seen my parents use these pill boxes. It's a definite solution to a definite problem.

I've since learned that you can buy fancy ones: steel-finished with sliding containers and even detachable ones. There are even boxes that accommodate day and night dosages. I hope the number of pills I take won't change, but if it does the pill box will help me remember!

COVID-19: Paxlovid

COVID-19 finally caught up with me last weekend. I woke up feeling sore and weak and achy. I had a mild fever. I was going to start a juice and rest routine when I thought: could this be COVID? Sure enough, I saw my first positive test result. My wife encouraged me to call the doctor to see if I could be prescribed Paxlovid, the antiviral medication for COVID-19.

The next morning, a Monday, I learned that Massachusetts has a free telehealth "clinic" that can determine if Paxlovid would help. I logged into the website, answered some questions, then waited for an online call. Within a half-hour I was talking to a Family Nurse Practitioner. She briefly discussed my answers, declared that Paxlovid would help, and confirmed my closest pharmacy. I had a box of Paxlovid within an hour. (Thanks to insurance, this was $25.)

I took the pills right away. Within a few hours, my soreness and achiness went away. I felt a bit better though my fever persisted. The next day, my fever began to subside. By day three I was feeling about 70-80% normal. This medicine felt like a modern miracle. The only side effect I experienced was a metallic taste in my mouth. Drinking water and taking cough drops helped with this.

The world has moved on from the state of high alert regarding COVID. By now I know maybe 6-12 people that got sick with COVID. During the early months of the pandemic, most just rested and let the virus run its course.  It's only in the past year did I start to hear about effective antiviral drugs. I have a feeling taking Paxlovid early in my illness helped with its efficacy.

This whole week I stayed home, though state guidelines suggest I could have returned to my office to work as early as Day 4 of my five-day Paxlovid regimen. For at least another week I'll be wearing a mask and carefully monitoring for a rebound (something that does occur with people who take this medicine). I highly recommend Paxlovid if you get sick with COVID. It's fast and effective.

Paxlovid

Started Invisalign

A few weeks ago I started Invisalign.

I used to think that Invisalign was strictly cosmetic, but my regular dentist over many visits persuaded me of its health benefits. Moreover, the crowding in my lower teeth would only get worse over time. She said that it would eventually impact my ability to keep that area clean and healthy.

I've been aware of my lower teeth crowding for the past several years now. In my normal smile, you only see my upper teeth, but when I show my lower teeth you can see one tooth bent backwards (#25), almost as if it wanted to hide behind the other teeth to its side.

The orthodontist said that the entire Invisalign procedure would take less than a year. She also said I'd probably need to wear a retainer for the rest of my life. When I finished wearing braces back in high school, I may have received a retainer to wear, but I have no memory of it. However, if I had received a retainer and had worn it regularly, I wouldn't be doing this today.

The Invisalign aligner was tricky to insert and remove from my teeth, but I lucked out because I only have to wear them on my lower teeth. That said, my random snacking is greatly curtailed: removing them is enough of an irritation.

Hopefully by next Summer I'll be able to report a successful treatment!

My Lower Teeth, and Tooth 25

Heal Thyself

About three weeks ago, I cut my left index finger. I was drying a serrated knife and it slipped out of the towel I was using. The knife was in mid-air and like a fool I thought I would reach out and grab the handle. Instead, the knife cut into my finger then clattered on the floor.

I didn't feel anything initially, but when I picked up the knife I noticed a clammy wet feeling coming from my left finger. I looked down at it. The knife had sliced a small quarter-inch pad of skin off my finger tip. It looked like those round pieces of paper that you get from using a hole-punch, except the hole-punch didn't make a clean cut. This hung off my finger by a sliver of skin. I was strongly tempted to pull it off, but I thought that would hurt.

I pressed down on the now bleeding cut. I went to the sink, turned on the faucet and held my finger under running water. The cut wasn't deep. The bleeding slowed down in less than a minute. I turned off the faucet then walked to the medicine cabinet. I dabbed some bacitracin ointment on my cut then put a band-aid on it.

I somehow became determined not to lose this piece of skin. I knew this meant wearing a band-aid on my finger for a while. The band-aid would get loose and mangy after a few days, since I showered and washed my hands and did the dishes with it on. That first week I changed it every night. Later on, I kept it on for two and even three days at a time.

Each time I changed the band-aid, I checked the cut. As the days wore on, the loose piece of skin began to reattach to my finger. The edges of the cut blended into my finger pad. I reapplied ointment with each new band-aid, but towards the end I stopped. I wish I had taken some photos or videos of this healing. It felt miraculous to me.

A week ago I stopped wearing the band-aid. The cut is gone. My finger's skin is smooth and restored. I am amazed and grateful that my body knows how to heal minor injuries like this.

COVID-19: Getting Tested

I had a colonoscopy this month. My original appointment was for April, but a few weeks before the gastroenterologist's office called me and said they'd need to postpone. Many doctors at that time stopped performing non-emergency procedures to help flatten the rising curve of COVID-19 cases.

Fast forward to September, and the gastroenterologist office said that before I could come in for my rescheduled appointment I'd need to have a COVID-19 test, with a negative result. The testing office called me separately and scheduled an appointment for a few days before the colonoscopy. "It's at a drive-thru facility. You won't even need to leave your car."

The day of the COVID-19 test, I drove to a medical building in North Cambridge, and pulled into its garage. The "facility" was a folding table and a few rolling storage cabinets by a side door. There were signs that indicated I was in the right place however. A technician signaled to me, and he walked over to my car.

The tech confirmed my identification. He then put on some gloves, pulled out a labeled test tube from his smock, and broke the seal on what looked like a small cotton swab. I had heard that some tests just need to scrape a sample from my mouth, or just the first 1 or 2 centimeters of a nostril. The way he was holding the swab, I thought it was going to be the latter.

"I'm going to insert this into your left nostril, and twist it around for 10 seconds," he told me. "Now, if you could look to your right at those trees in the distance." I did as I was told, and then he proceeded to insert the swab. Suddenly, it seemed to telescope to about 10 inches because I felt it reaching and probing all the way to the back of my left eyeball.

I didn't dare look at the tech. He started counting down from 10, twisting the swab with each number. It was a very uncomfortable process, and I was glad when he pulled the swab out. My nasal passages and left nostril felt irritated when it was all over. It took 3 to 4 hours before my head finally felt normal.

A few days later, I got an email from the testing facility. Negative. A mild relief. I kept thinking that for my next invasive procedure, the colonoscopy, I would be blissfully sedated.

COVID-19

Earlier in the month, I was still skeptical about COVID-19, the disease that has now become America's central focus. Back then it was still far away, and I thought that everyone was overreacting. I was persuaded by the "it's just another flu" argument. The lack of urgency from the federal government kept me pessimistic.

I changed my mind when I looked at the death tolls from Italy. Then my daughter's college announced that students should not return to campus after Spring Break. Instead, students would resume their Spring semester work online. Soon after, the company I worked for announced an indefinite work from home mandate.

Since then, major aspects of American life have shut down: all professional sports leagues, college sports, movies, churches, casinos, restaurants and retail centers. It is stark living out without these non-essentials. I would love to be able to go to the library, to the gym, or to the movies. I think all of us would.

Until then, we are practicing social distancing. We go out for groceries, but not with the same frequency as before. The hoarding and insanity of that initial shut-down weekend seems gone, but being in a supermarket feels risky. The virus is invisible. Is this cart wiped down?

We still enjoy take-out, but picking it up from empty restaurants is disquieting. Our take-out orders are a small way of helping local businesses, but they are absorbing a big economic hit. I wish the country were better set up to help people on the edge. Of late, I've been pondering the brutality of capitalism.

As I write this, we're in this situation for at least another month. I hope that we continue to follow the guidelines so that we can flatten that curve. Next time COVID-19 comes around (if indeed it's seasonal), we'll be closer to a vaccine, have more hospital equipment, and have way better protocols. Until then, hunker down, America.

Push-Ups

When I was in high school, one professional athlete that caught my attention was Herschel Walker. He was a marquee football player for the New Jersey Generals (of the now-defunct USFL). What I remember most was that his physique didn't come from weight-lifting, but rather from a regimen of push-ups and sit-ups. He would do 750 to 1500 push-ups daily! This greatly appealed to me. You didn't need to lift weights or use specialized equipment: just do push-ups!

I quickly followed suit. I remember being able to do 100 push-ups at a time. (OK, maybe it was closer to 80.) I did these in one arduous set. Over time I varied my push-ups: clapping between each push; doing them with one arm (my hand planted near the middle of my chest); propping my feet on a chair, to affect an inclined push-up; balling my hands into fists. I never got close to 1000 push-ups a day, but I felt athletic all the same.

A few years ago I resumed the habit of daily push-ups, after decades of not doing this. I started with just 10. Now, on good days, I'll do 50 in two sets of 25. On other days, I'll do 20 or 25. I makes me feel good to do this. Doing this imparts a feeling of strength. I wish I did more exercise, but at least I do this. The habit of this simple daily push-ups started with Herschel Walker.

Root Canal: Part 2

The endodontist performed the root canal last month.

The procedure took about an hour and a half. The hardest part was receiving the first Novocaine injection. But after that sharp pinch, the right side of my face (the side with tooth number 29) began to disappear. I settled in as the doctor and her assistant started their work.

The sounds of drilling reminded me of road construction crews. I felt occasional sprays of water on my chin. At various points the doctor wore magnifying eye-gear. A few X-rays were taken. At no point did I feel any pain. Towards the end, the odor of incense filled my nose, as she announced she would add gutta-percha into the emptied canal.

My wife said the procedure would feel miraculous. It did. After a few hours of feeling tentative, I soon realized that chewing and cold drinks didn't induce any reaction. My mouth now feels completely normal. A few days later, my regular dentist put in a permanent filling in tooth number 29 to close the hole made by the root canal.

My first root canal removed my pain and kept my tooth whole. That's a good outcome!

Root Canal: A Brief Post About Pain

Two weeks before my root canal, the pain underneath tooth number 29 ratcheted up. Big time.

I woke up at 4AM, my lower jaw throbbing with a crushing pain. It felt like my jaw was being squeezed by a vice. My big mistake was not reaching for some tylenol or ibuprofen right then and there. I decided to go back to sleep, but I was unable to get comfortable. I had a fitful few hours before I got up. I had some ibuprofen with my morning coffee.

"See if you can move your appointment up," my wife suggested. I demurred. The ibuprofen had made the pain manageable. But when I got to work, it was clear the pain wasn't going away. I see-sawed between pain levels 4 and 8, and I started a regimen of ibuprofen every four hours. I moved up my appointment by a week. (I'd later try to get an even earlier appointment, but I'd have to wait.)

The pain remained constant. Some hours it was almost forgettable, but other hours it was front and center. I inserted tylenol into my regimen, two hours after my ibuprofen dose. And in between, as needed, I swabbed tooth number 29 with Orajel. All of this dulled the pain, and allowed me to sleep better. And when I did, I dreamed about the root canal.

Root Canal: Part 1

I have to have a root canal. My first one!

For the past month or month and half I have experienced a sharp stinging sensation in one of my lower teeth whenever I have my first sip of a cold drink. The sensation fades away after a few seconds, and at first I thought I had a loose crown. But then three weeks ago it started to feel painful chewing on that side of mouth.

My wife is well experienced with root canals. When I described my pain, she said I should make an appointment with the endodontist that she used. (An endodontist is a dentist with a specialization in treating the inside of a tooth, usually with root canal therapy.)

"Don't wait until the pain becomes unbearable," she said. This was good advice, since the pain didn't go away following my typical self-prescription of "wait and see."

I made my appointment with some trepidation. My wife said that they would try to induce the symptom by testing the affected tooth with a cold liquid. I wasn't looking forward to that!

The doctor indeed performed a cold test, but she applied the cold liquid to an instrument, and touched that to my tooth. She then had me raise my hand to indicate the sensitivity rising and subsiding. She also took a small mallet and rapped a few of my teeth, with me again indicating when I felt the sting.

After looking at some x-rays, she laid it out. My problem tooth was number 29. It has 1) symptomatic irreversible pulpitis and 2) symptomatic apical periodontitis. Bottom line: pulp in my tooth has to be removed to relieve the pain. This is done by a root canal procedure. That happens in two weeks, after which I'll write Part 2 (the procedure and aftermath).

My Crown Fell Out!

I have at least five dental crowns in my mouth. Each crown replaced a tooth that was filled with dental filling back when I was an adolescent. When my dentist said some of these older teeth had tiny cracks, I opted for the course of action she recommended: dental crowns. My first crown was put in 2011.

Crowns are created in a lab, and then cemented into place after the old tooth is removed. After a week of increased sensitivity where they are placed, they feel and act like regular teeth. I only think of them when I go to the dentist and catch a look at my x-ray. Crowns appear brighter than regular teeth.

One time while waiting at the dentist's office in 2011, a patient walked in all jittery. "My crown fell out!" she said. She seemed to be holding something. The staff at reception ushered her into the patient room. "I was chewing gum!" was the last thing I heard her say. I silently hoped that wouldn't happen to me.

However, in 2014 I experienced one of my crowns falling out. I was flossing, and when I pulled up on the floss, it pulled the crown off as well. It was like a pinball in my mouth, but I was able to retrieve it. The doctor was calm when I reached her via her after-hours service. She said I could use Fixodent to temporarily hold it in place. The next weekday she cemented it back.

My latest incident occurred last week. I was trying to eat some really sticky candy someone had brought to the office from overseas. While chewing the candy I felt a sudden coolness on my lower gums. I kept chewing, but this time I felt something very hard in the candy. It wasn't peanuts. I spit it out and saw a tooth. It was my crown!

Eating without pain is something I no longer take for granted. Eating with a temporary crown, or with the sensitivity of a new crown is draining and difficult, since I have to be careful how I chew. The dentist fixed me up yet again so I'm ready for Halloween candy, and I will restrict myself to just the easy to eat treats!

Fixing My Knee Pain

For the last two years, I've been living with hip and knee soreness. I shrugged it off at first. When I ice skate in the Winter, I usually fall once or twice as I figure out my edges again. Of late, the knee soreness graduated to full-on knee pain. It presents itself when I climb up and down stairs.

As the months wore on, the pain never went away. I went to my primary doctor, who at first suggested a regimen of ibuprofen three times a day. This helped for a few weeks, but it was fleeting. As soon as I stopped, the pain blossomed again.

The next time I saw the doctor, he suggested a knee specialist. "These guys could even give you a shot that removes the pain," he said. Later on, my wife asked "Have you ever seen the needles that they use to administer those kind of shots?"

I finally visited the knee specialist this month. Their office took a few X-rays, and when the doctor walked into the room, I was brimming in anticipation. "Our X-rays show nothing wrong!" he announced.

He examined my knee, twisting my leg forwards and backwards and to the sides. He declared I had Chondromalacia Patella. "Your lateral facet has some wear and tear." He suggested I start doing some Iliotibial Band (ITB) stretches. He also said I should do some simple wall squats.

On YouTube (my virtual doctor), I learned a very basic ITB stretch, which involves stretching each side of your body into a curve. I felt a lot of tightness at first. I kept at it for a few days, skeptical that it would lead to anything, and anticipating needing yet another specialist. However, a few days ago, as I climbed the stairs in my house, I suddenly noticed my knee was completely quiet. The pain had gone away!

So now I'm trying to maintain a routine of ITB stretches in the morning and evening. The pain reawakens now and again, but the fact that simple stretching alleviates it is a miracle to me. The ITB connects the hip to the knee, which explains why my hip seemed affected at first.

Maybe I'll try to find an off-season rink, to really test things out!

Sick Day

I had to call in sick this morning. My third sick day this year. The first two were in late February.

Before this year, however, I've rarely called in sick. Despite harsh New England weather, despite miles of air travel (during my travel years), despite a daughter in school (all those kids and their sniffles), for the past ten years my work attendance was free of sick days. I suppose those were my indestructible years.

To coax myself into feeling better, I guzzle orange juice, suck on cough drops, and take DayQuil. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow: maybe it'll be the start of another sick-free decade.

A Decline in Weight

I have lost almost thirty pounds over the last year. When I turned 40 in 2008, I made it a point to start visiting the doctor regularly (prior to this appointment it had been over five years since I saw a doctor). He ordered a blood test, and the cholesterol numbers that came back were high. With a glib note on the test results, he said "cut out dairy and meat fats."

My wife looked at the results, winced, then showed me exactly how much half and half cream I use in my coffee. Let me tell you: it's more than two tablespoons. "From now on, no cream in your coffee," she said. So...this was how it was going to be.

Since that change, I've made other adjustments, all of which I've accepted grudgingly. I've eliminated butter and toast for breakfast, favoring yogurt or cereal (and just a cup of cereal at that). I've stopped eating peanut butter. Every now and then, I'll enjoy a salad for lunch.

Just these few changes caused my pants to feel loose in a few months. We made other changes, including dropping out or greatly reducing certain take-out choices (good bye lovely Chinese food; good bye tasty sandwiches from Panera; good bye McDonald's; good bye Dunkin' Donut breakfast sandwiches). Over this period, I've become a fan of reading the nutrition label of anything I eat.

My next blood test seven months later showed a marked improvement, but the doctor still saw some high numbers, and he recommended a meeting with a nutritionist. This meeting was eye-opening. The nutritionist diagrammed how the body digests food, and how "bad" fat is created. He pointed me towards the South Beach diet for other principles. He introduced me to "heart-smart fats". He told me about the work of Dr. William Castelli and the Framingham Heart Study.

I didn't necessarily get "diet religion", but I have started taking Omega-3 pills, and redoubled my effort to eat more fruit instead of sugary or overly salty snacks (mixed nuts are good, in moderation).

My next cholesterol test will be sometime in late April or May. Who knows how these changes will affect those numbers, but the weight loss is undeniable evidence that these changes are having effect. The weight loss has been uneasy to me. I associate my weight with prosperity. Or maybe I justified it? Either way, tightening the belt is an easier thing for me today.

Daily Walk

Since the ice rink where I used to skate at lunch has closed for the season, I've slowly begun taking walks at lunch. Call it a nod to exercise, of which I get very little. It's been a good daily routine, and I've rarely missed it.

I take a left out of my office building, and walk across the Longfellow Bridge. In my routine, I walk to Boston on the west sidewalk, which is the narrower sidewalk. When I get to the other side, I walk back on the east sidewalk, which is the wider sidewalk. The views are gorgeous, even when the weather isn't ideal.

Mileage maps show the distance to be under a mile (.88 miles, to be exact). I get the whole thing done in about twenty to twenty-five minutes. Some days I'll walk briskly, but mostly I walk normally, affecting no rush. Sometimes I'll even stop along the way and take pictures.

The walk is good for the heart, supposedly, but I've been finding that it's good for the mind. The work that I do is quite immersing, so the walk clears my head. A little brain reset in the middle day. I recommend it, highly.

Knee

Boy, does my knee hurt. The left one. I have pain when I flex it. So walking up and down the stairs tonight, I've been favoring the left leg, being all ginger with it. Even sitting stings a bit. On the floor, when I bend my leg to pull my knee up to my chin, there's a tension as press my leg closer to me, as if I'm approaching some breaking point.

I hope sleep takes care of it. Maybe I'll put a little ice on it.