I have a new favorite doctor. Well, no, I mean Gary will always be my favorite doctor for more reasons than I can count. But, when referred to a physician for the express purpose of doing a test that involves sticking needles in me and performing electroshock treatment on my nerve endings, and having him say, "I think that the MRI will be able to confirm what we already suspect in a far less painful way than sticking you with needles," well . . . THANK YOU!

I met with Dr. Herbison and his resident this afternoon, and was expecting to undergo the dreaded EMG (electromyography) procedure. Dr. Harbison had polio and has somewhat limited use of his right arm - Dr. Brock told me that he takes particular interest in patients with conditions like brachial neuritis or ALS. He asked several questions about the onset of the condition and then said, "You were referred by Dr. Bell?"

"No, Dr. Brock."

"Ah. And did Dr. Brock tell you that you have brachial neuritis?"

"Yes."

"Then that's what you have. Dr. Brock is very, very good."

So we did some range of motion, reflex and strength testing and that's when he said that he was not going to poke sharp objects into me just to prove what they already knew. He asked for an additional MRI study, prescribed Occupational Therapy, gave me a hug and sent me on my way.

I was able to sleep through the night last night on my side, by trying to immobilize my left arm. I also took a Vicadin just before going to bed, so maybe the combination is working well. Apparently most patients with BN require something a little stronger like Percoset, but since the Vicadin seems to be enough for me most of the time, we'll stick with this rather than going for something more narcotic.

Thank you for all of the well wishes. I won't bore you with play by plays of this, unless something interesting happens.

[And I've had enough "interesting" for a while!]

We had dinner with Katie tonight. Went to a newish place in Media called "Picasso". Not so good. I had seafood bisque - that was more of an under-seasoned fish chowder, and a chicken quesadilla. Now, how can anyone mess up a quesadilla? Tortilla, chicken, cheese, grill it up and put some sour cream and tomatoes or salsa on the side. I think all of the steps were followed, but again, not so good. Gary's crab cake appetizer was really pretty bad and the burger was just okay, and over cooked. Katie's smoked salmon salad was pretty awful - BUT . . . Gary's french fries were tremendous! So she ate some of those - nice nutritional meal we gave her, poor thing.

At least she's done with school for the year - today was her last final. She has been taking a weekend sewing class at Moore College of Art, and in a couple of weeks she will start a summer fashion design course Monday through Thursdays in town. She will probably come stay with us from time to time since she'll be downtown for classes - we'll have to see how schedules work out.

Have to head out to a client presentation a few hours west of Philly. In the red part of our state. We start at 9:00 on Friday, so we'll drive out Thursday night and come back Friday afternoon. It's been raining cats and dogs for the past couple of days but hopefully the weather charlatans are correct in their call for a nice weekend.

[For a change.]

SAVE YOUR CORKS!!

[Only 7,205 more needed for our wine cellar wall.]

Quote du jour:

"A man who cannot work without his hypodermic needle is a poor doctor. The amount of narcotic you use is inversely proportional to your skill."

Martin H. Fischer (1879 - 1962) scientist

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