Dermatology visit. Yes, a poem about body dots! This up-close-and-personal (too personal?!) account is approximately midway through a poem about my first dermatologist appointment. He touches a mole on my neck then dips darting eyes to my chest, to hairy, pigmented spots and rough, pinkish patches. Seborrheic keratosis. Solar lentigo. Normal. No cause for concern. These middle years ...
Health
Hypertension & Cognition
Recent buzz (driven all or in part from a study that originally appeared in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease) is suggesting that high blood pressure at midlife might adversely affect your cognitive tracking and planning abilities in your advanced years. In short, there appears to be a connection between high blood pressure in your 50s and reduced cognitive function in your ...
Thinking of Goodbye
"I think we're all holding our breath and thinking of goodbye... hoping it's gonna turn out ok." ~ David Crosby There's so much beauty and sadness and wisdom and music in this clutter of honest, unselfconscious words shared by David Crosby about singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. Crosby dated Mitchell in 1967 when he was still performing with the Byrds. The following year he helped line up her ...
Inguinal Hernia
Hospital sounds and smells. My bride and three nurses Surround me, comfort me. Scrubs. Questions. Needles. Surgeon arrives, fly unzipped. It’s too awkward to tell him. He marks the incision spot, Reassures me, and departs. I’m sleepy, drifting, dreamy. Jolly discovery, that bulge below the belly... An inguinal hernia. Likely earned in the saddle of a bike, pedaling upward on mountain roads, ...