I Did Right By Me And You. Did You Do Right By Yourself And Me, NC Residents?

 Dear Fellow Residents of North Carolina,

Greetings!  Yes, this is usually the place where I review books or complete a written examination of my most recent experience with a medical professional that went totally askew.  I have been known to write poetry here and call out someone or something in publishing that has completely gone off the rails.  Today, I looked at the percentage of our state population that has completed full vaccination against Covid-19 and I was aghast that only 39.16% of North Carolinians are fully vaccinated.  I'm sorry, but that is HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING! (That does not apply to all of you who are fully vaccinated-  you are the folks with whom I have no beef.  Nor does this apply to the people of North Carolina who are age twelve or younger because there is not a form of the vaccine that is designed for you yet).

As a native North Carolinian, I am fuming.  For heaven's sake people, Florida has a higher number of its population vaccinated than North Carolina!  So what's the problem?  You have time or you can make time or should.  The vaccine is free.  For most folks, it is easy to find a place in which to roll up your sleeve and receive your shot or shots.  Personally, I chose to go with the Pfizer vaccine and had absolutely zero side effects.  I have more pre-existing medical conditions than side effects from both the flu, shingles, and Covid-19 vaccines combined.  And I don't buy excuses.  Don't send hateful comments because honey, I never read any comments here nor on social media.  Don't waste your time.  I am a Generation Xer, I am allergic to people's opinions and all social media.

Here Are 10 Reasons The Population Of North Carolina Should Get The Vaccine Unless You Have A Medical Reason Preventing You From Obtaining It (If you do, I would like to speak with your doctor's head because I really like going toe to toe with those in the medical field).  

1)  It's The Right Thing To Do.    In my opinion, getting the vaccine is the most ethical action you can take as a resident of North Carolina.  You protect yourself, your loved ones, acquaintances, and people you do not even know.

2)  If You Do Not Get The Vaccine, It Could Very Well Cost You Your Life.  Over 600,000 people in the United States have died from Covid-19 or complications arising from it.  Don't become a casualty of the virus.  And yes, people I have known have died from Covid-19 unfortunately.

3) If You Do Not Get The Vaccine, It Could Very Well Cost You A Relative's Life.  I am serious, peeps.  Let's say you opted to NOT get the Covid-19 vaccine.  Then let's say, you get the Covid-19 virus or a variant of it, and pass it to your mom, who also did not obtain the Covid-19 vaccine.  And then mom, dad, grandparent, etc. dies.  That death is tied to you.  I don't want that on my conscience, do you?

4)  You Get The Vaccine Because You Really Do Not Want To Be Sued.  I am as serious as a heart attack folks.  If a person's death can be tied to you, a person who did not get the vaccine and transmitted the virus or its particles to another person who then dies.....Can you say, potential lawsuit?

5)  You Are Holding Back Yourself, Others, And This State From Ridding This Country Of A Known Deadly Virus.  

6)  Get The Vaccine If You Wish To Go To College Or Not.  At least the people who are your compatriots on campus or at work can breathe more easily about residing in a safe environment.  

7)  For Heaven's Sake, Get The Vaccine So People Can Travel Again Without Being Muffled By Masks. When I see people on the national news who have thrown a hissy fit or worse, punched a flight attendant, because the rule is to wear a mask and they choose not to participate, I can also guess that the same person is most likely not vaccinated either.  And then the person winds up being banned from traveling on a particular airline and most likely goes to jail.  You really don't want to be THAT person.

8)  Get The Vaccine So People Who Are Immunocompromised Due To Cancer Or Other Autoimmune Disorders Don't Have To Worry If You Should Be Wearing A Sign That Reads, "Health Hazard", "Toxic", or "Stay Away".  

9)  Get The Vaccine And Stop Participating In Russian Roulette.  If you think you are someone who will not get the virus; therefore, you are not getting the vaccine then you are living a lie.  Because people who have thought that have also found themselves in a hospital for four months and needing a double lung transplant.  Reality Can Bite.

10)  Get The Vaccine So You Can Participate In All Of Life, Not Just Some Of It.  Honestly, this one comes to mind when I think about those folks who will not get to sit inside a restaurant due to not being vaccinated, be restricted on cruises due to not being vaccinated, and lose out on a whole assortment of opportunities because they did not get the vaccine.  N.C. State men's baseball team, I Am Talking To You.  You Could Have Played For The NCAA College World Series And Won It All.  Now,  you and your teammates will be watching the 2021 College World Series instead of winning it.  Damn man, that just blooowwwsss.

Just Get The Vaccine Already.

Grace (Amy)

Review: This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger

Dear Lit Loves,

Greetings!  Last month I read several books, but the one I will review is This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger.  This was a book selected by a member of the book club I attend.  At 444 pages in the paperback edition, this was not a book I read from start to finish in one day.  The book is about four orphans and has a setting in the Midwest around 1932.  Odie, Moses, Emmy, and Albert are the four orphans who originally meet at an orphanage called the Lincoln School.  The school is for children of Native American descent who have lost their parents.  The school is owned and managed by a couple named The Brickmans.  Mrs. Brickman is the founder/principal of the school.  No one likes Mrs. Brickman and Odie calls her a witch because she is constantly reprimanding him and sending him to sleep in a basement cell.  

Albert is initially revealed to be Odie's brother who is generally never in trouble with Mrs. Brickman; however, he is a wiz at mechanics as he is called upon numerous times to fix any appliance, boat, fence, or distillery.  Emmy is the daughter of one of the teachers at the school named Cora Frost.  Moses is an oprhan of Sioux descent who uses a form of sign language to communicate as when his parents were killed, someone cut out a portion of his tongue so he could never tell anyone who committed the crime.  

Emmy's mom is killed in a tornado right before she had planned to adopt the three boys from Lincoln School so they could help her tend her land and garden as she lost her husband.  Once the tornado passes, the three boys go look for Emmy and her mom.  They find Emmy in an underground cellar, but there is no sign of her mother until one boy discovers her body under mounds of debris.  That is when Odie, Albert, and Moses decide to run away from Lincoln School and take Emmy with them since she has lost both parents and the Brickmans want to adopt Emmy.  The kids utilize a canoe that belonged to Emmy's father to make their way to the Mississippi river.  Albert and Odie want to make it to St. Louis where they have an aunt named Julia who they believe will allow them to live with her.

Along the way, they meet a whole host of entertaining characters who present challenges to them and some who try to help them along their way to St. Louis.    They come upon Jack, a man who has a farm and has lost his wife and child as they left him due to his drinking and volatile behavior.  He uses the boys to work on his farm and has Emmy help make food.  When Odie discovers Jack has stolen their money sack and could potentially hurt Emmy, the boys turn on Jack and are able to escape a bad situation.  They next meet a man named Forrest who is descended from the Sioux tribe and is traveling while looking for work.  The boys think Forrest is there to turn them in to the authorities and collect the reward money that is being offered for capture of both Emmy and all three boys.  They get away from him easily.

The next folks they meet are a part of a traveling religious crusade.  This is where they meet Sister Evie, who leads the evening worship services and performs miraculous acts of healing.  Sister Evie takes in Odie and Emmy and Moses works and resides with the kitchen folks while Albert works and resides with the carpentry/maintenance crew that travels with the crusade.  Odie observes Sid, Sister Evie's publicity manager, pay off folks who were healed at many of the evening services and Odie also finds evidence he believes points to Sid being a bootlegger and drug dealer.  When Albert gets bit by a venomous snake used in the religious crusade evening services, he is taken to a local doctor.  Sid goes to retrieve his anti-venom vials and that is when the kids learn Sid was not into drugs.  The vials Odie found were anti-venom medications which Odie had already destroyed as he thought they were dope.  Albert struggles to overcome the snake bite until someone can get the proper meds to help him recover.

When Odie decides the group should leave the traveling religious crusade, Sister Evie entrusts him with $50 and a sack full of food as the kids continue on their trip.  The boys then keep traveling via the canoe.  They notice that when Emmy sleeps, she has seizures or fits.  Emmy never remembers anything from the fits, but she generally will awake for a moment and tell them something that foretells a future event the group will encounter.  Interestingly, they run into the Sioux Indian named Forrest once again who helps Moses learn about his Sioux heritage while the group takes a break along their trip in a place Odie refers to as Hopersville.  Odie meets another family called The Schofields living in a tent city and develops his first love with the couple's daughter, Maybeth.   When the Schofields leave tent city, Odie opts to give the family all the remaining money his group has.  This does not go over well with Odie's compatriots, especially Albert.  

Finally, the group makes it to St. Paul where the kids look for a person named Gertie who Forrest said could help them for a few days along their trip.   Gertie lives in a shantytown and runs a restaurant with a woman named Flo.  The kids stay with Gertie and Odie, Emmy, and Moses help run the restaurant while Albert tries to help Flo's brother fix the engine of his broken boat.  Odie makes friends with a local kid who teaches him how to jump onto and ride the train cars.  And eventually, Odie realizes he must leave the group since they appear to want to stay with Gertie.  Odie journeys on a rail car until he finally reaches St. Louis and finds Aunt Julia.  I will stop with the summary here because I do not want to give away the multitude of surprises at the end of this well-written book.

In my opinion, this book brought to mind two themes:  family and friendships.  In terms of family, it made me think of who do I define as family?  What is my own heritage?  When I think of home I think of my parents' home and my immediate family, but for the orphans in this book, they essentially made their own family by choosing to be friends and look out for one another.  And in terms of friendship, I think friends are like the family members you choose to have.  People who are not necessarily related via blood, but sometimes you have just as strong a tie with a friend as you would an immediate family member.  In many respects, sometimes a person has a stronger bond with a friend than they may have with any single blood-related family member.    And of course, family and friends are the people who know you best.  They can be the ones who are there for you in tough times and they can be the exact people who also know how to push your buttons.  

Additionally, I saw glimpses of the theme of good vs. evil in this book many times.  And I felt this book demonstrated how people who have been helped by someone they least expected to help them sometimes "pay it forward" and help someone they barely know.  And in the character Odie, I saw myself in that in a perilous situation, Odie often assumes the worst about a person and then later learns the person or their habits were not as bad as he originally assumed them to be.  And in the character Moses, I thought a lot about the Native American population and the horrors they experienced throughout history and today.  And in one couple in this book, I was surprised to read the author's  inference that they were LGBTQ and yet, the whole community surrounding them accepted them and treated them just like family.  This was a truly good book and the character development by the author was just stellar.  Some folks from the book club felt this book reminded them of The Wizard of Oz and Huckleberry Finn.  I would advise you to read the book and determine for yourself what themes or lessons you glean from the book.

Until my next review,

Grace

(Amy)

Review: The Lady's Handbook For Her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramey

 Dear Lit Loves,

Greetings!  It took me about a month to finish this last book I am about to review entitled The Lady's Handbook For Her Mysterious Illness by Sarah Ramey.  To cut to the chase, this book is one woman's call to fellow women who have what this author refers to as "Women Of Mysterious Illnesses" to advocate for the institution of medicine to take more seriously those of us with chronic illness.  Obviously, in the past and oftentimes to this day, there have been more men treating women in various medical specialties and many of those male specialists can and do dismiss symptoms women suffer from and deem those symptoms "all in her head".  And I agree with that portion of content in the book.  And thank heavens, currently more women are going to medical school than men.   I just think the author wrote the book as if it were going to appear in a prestigious medical journal as opposed to writing the book to convey in a more relatable manner the need for medical relevance and advocacy among women who have autoimmune disease or chronic illness.

Essentially Ms. Ramey grew up with parents who are doctors and twice during her life has been diagnosed with Lyme Disease.  Initially, the author has problems even obtaining a specialist who will give her more than twenty minutes of his/her time and take her symptoms seriously.  I think she was diagnosed with what she refers to in the book as ME/CFS or Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  She goes through a mile-long list of medical specialists to even find one who takes her seriously and begins treating her utilizing Functional Medicine.  I can tell you that some of the procedures she endured to try and treat her maladies often caused more damage than she had before she consented to the procedure.  And many times, what one specialist thinks another surgeon is going to perform surgically is mishandled because the medical specialist and the surgeon do not communicate with one another and are most definitely not on the same page.  

The disappointing part of the book for me was that Ms. Ramey had so very much time to sit and think about as well as recover from what is ailing her.  Why?  Because those of us with chronic illness more often do not have the privilege of having parents who make big salaries and can afford to have an ill daughter live with them for two years or pay for a daughter to reside somewhere without a job.  That is not the reality of the majority of women with autoimmune disease or chronic illness. The author even gets evaluated by specialists at a renowned medical specialty hospital and her parents foot the bill.  I am not taking anything away from individuals who suffer from quite serious chronic disease because personally, I have four chronic illnesses I live with on a daily basis.  It was hard for me to relate to this author's experiences because that kind of privilege is not my reality nor is it the reality for the majority of women in this country suffering from autoimmune disease or chronic illness.  I do agree with the concept of women with chronic illness and/or autoimmune disease seeking medical specialists who take an active, respectful interest in their individual medical case and who work in partnership with a patient to devise a treatment plan they can complete that involves a reduction of painful symptoms and helps a patient achieve a better quality of life.

Ms. Ramey does have a clear idea of how the medical system in our country needs to change:  doctors need to listen more and work with a patient to get to the root cause of what is causing a chronic illness.  I work best with a medical specialist who does not dictate my treatment plan, but who helps me devise one with which I agree and believe I can implement.  No doctor should belittle women with chronic illness and suggest that a patient's symptoms are "all in her head".  When I encounter medical specialists with that attitude, I usually leave immediately because there is no need for the doctor to waste my time.  Yes, we need more funding for research on the fundamental causes of autoimmune diseases and chronic illness.  I often see many funding campaigns for breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer, but not funding campaigns for Lupus, Uveitic glaucoma, or Fibromyalgia.  And yes, I think the idea among patients and doctors that a pill can fix it all is not only foolish, but can cause addiction and lead a patient to never truly uncover the real cause of a medical issue.  

Now, Ms. Ramey appeared to be healed by and wholeheartedly supports Functional Medicine which she describes as medical practice that gets to the root of a malady by addressing triggers of illness such as a person's diet, level of stress, exercise and activity levels, environmental toxins and intestinal toxins, genetics or medical history of a patient, and the microbiome which includes the bacteria living inside and on the body.  No problem.  I totally support it and strive to work actively with my own medical specialists to address all these areas regarding my own chronic illnesses.  I would also add to that list of triggers the amount of emotional duress a patient has such as is the patient in a toxic relationship with his/her significant other?  Is the patient a full-time caregiver to an elderly parent?  Or is this patient plagued by anxiety or depression?  There should be no stigma associated with seeking the help of a psychiatrist or social worker.  Full stop.  End of discussion.  

All elements considered, this is a good book.  I think it could have been written in a more understandable and relatable manner.   As an author, you want as many people with mysterious illnesses, autoimmune disorders, and chronic disease to read this book as possible.  And I am not sure Ms. Ramey achieves that with this particular book because she writes from a more privileged perspective than the vast majority of patients with mysterious illnesses.  Also, the length of the book initially excited me because I thought as a reader, "Finally, someone who is going to tell it like it is!"  Parts of the book accomplished that objective while other portions of the book just left me wondering what does throwing in this information have to do with helping female patients who suffer from mysterious illnesses and chronic disease?  The best I can suggest is that people read the book for themselves and form their own opinions about how well this book is written, particularly if you do truly suffer from autoimmune disease, chronic illness, or both.

Until my next book review,

Grace (Amy)