Wednesday 15 February 2023

DEATH and the AFTERLIFE #2

previous poetic posts (#1)

cardiac arrest
decease in the crease
dining in Heaven
end-of-life care
garbage in Heaven
giving up the ghost
ghostbusters
heavenly pie

CURRENT CONTENTS: (#2)
Homes in Heaven (Shemayim)
Last breath
Memorial service
[Sic] to death
Where bad Jews go
Will's last testament
Bequest (3 verses, a 'brief saga') 



Authors' Note: 

chutzpah (Yiddish): shameless audacity
Shemayim (Hebrew): heaven












Authors' Note: We were inspired, in studying the enigmatic final chapter of existence, to find that OEDILF, as of mid-2022, has about 150 submissions that deal with the subject of 'death'. That research shows that the spectre of death underscores many linguistic idioms.

getting off cheap: an idiom, perhaps further towards the slang end of the scale, in comparison with getting off easy
sick to death of: a cliché, only rarely entailing the imminent demise of the subject
to die in your sleep: a cliché, albeit puzzling biologically
survive to a ripe old age: a cliché; here also used as the basis of a pun




Authors' Note: The above verse was inspired by an essay by Mal Abrams, who named the eternally unsatisfactory restaurant 'Feh'.





 Author's Note:  Although the short forms 'Will' and 'Bill' may be casually interchanged as first names (short forms of ‘William’), the nouns 'will' (as in 'last will and testament') and 'bill' are generally used with more careful scrutiny. ‘Will’ and ‘testament’ being essentially synonyms, the expression is a prototypical example of the redundant binomial expressions that seem to be loved by lawyers.

    Subtle differences in the form of idioms may underwrite important differences in meaning. ‘At last’ and ‘at the last’ seem similar, but in fact their usage and meaning differs considerably.







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Friday 10 February 2023

Breaking News: FUNNY BONES, fragment #2

This blogpost represents a continuation of an earlier post, entitled (not surprisingly) "Funny Bones, fragment #1". 

prior posted poems (fragment #1)
background reading: "The Orthopedic Surgeon".
fractured wrist (distal radius)
scaphoid fracture
anatomic snuffbox
hook of the hamate
olecranon ("funny bone")
bone alignment
heterotopic ossification (HO)

CURRENT CONTENTS:
Metatarsal stress fracture
Jones (5th metatarsal) fracture
Lisfranc fracture
Pelvic fracture (banker's consultation)
Prosthetic hipster
AVN (avascular necrosis) of the hip
Contortionists
Enid's osteopenia
Heterotopic ossification (HO)



Authors' Note:  Stress fractures are injuries caused by repeated undue physical stress applied to normal bone. These injuries, sometimes called march fractures, are common in the midshafts of the bones of the forefoot, particularly metatarsals #2 through #4. They characteristically occur in military recruits and in athletic individuals with heavy training schedules, but also may show up in otherwise unremarkable individuals who have recently increased their level of physical activity. Fortunately, healing is usual in those prepared to reduce activities for a number of weeks.
    To read more about this important topic, check the online medical periodical Bone Bloggers: Opinion by Orthopedic Surgeons.


Authors' Note:  In fact, Syd has the right idea. Current therapy for the Jones fracture (which occurs due to repeated twisting stress in dancers and tennis or basketball players) includes surgical placement of a screw that binds the two fragments, to eliminate the possibility of bone non-union that complicated earlier forms of treatment. In cases where surgery is not selected, treatment usually consists of an external cast and avoidance of weight-bearing for six weeks. 


Authors' Note: 

crank: an unpleasant person who has difficulty with anger control

ORIF: acronym for surgical intervention for bone fractures — open reduction, internal fixation

plain films: medical jargon for two-dimensional x-ray studies, as opposed to CT, although digital media, not 'film' emulsion, are now generally used to analyze and record the images

With these injuries that involve one or more fractures, metatarsal bones of the lower foot are dissociated from the tarsus, making the mid-foot unstable. They were first observed in cavalry men during the Napoleonic Wars and later described by a French surgeon, Jacques Lisfranc de St-Martin. In English medical jargon they are known as Lisfranc (LIZ-frank or liz-FRANK) fractures. Self-diagnosis of this type of injury by a patient would be an unusual event




Authors' Note: 

 post op: medical jargon for 'post-operative' or 'post-operatively’.

   Costs incurred by surgical care in the United States can be devastating. It is, however, unusual for bankers to be consulted directly re the affordability of urgent surgical procedures. 

  Multiple pelvic fractures involving the sacrum and/or pubic rami may accompany major trauma to the lower trunk. These can often be managed conservatively, but instability may mandate surgical fixation.   



                                                                            final approval #120852, May 2023

Authors' Note: Owing to impairment of blood flow, fracture of the femoral neck, a risk for active seniors, may result in the subsequent need for hip replacement. The most common cause for hip-joint replacement, however, remains osteoarthritis.







Authors' Note: The femoral head is the proximal portion of the femur (thigh bone) within the capsule of the hip joint. The blood supply to this area is fragile, and its blockage, presumably due to a variety of disease processes (often poorly understood or not obvious), can result in death of bone cells and collapse of this weight-bearing structure. In medical jargon, this process is known as "avascular necrosis". Replacement of the hip joint may eventually be needed. 

  Orthopedic surgeons (surgical bone specialists), known in medical jargon as orthopods, are involved in monitoring and treating the condition.  






Authors' Note:

Osteopenia (ost-ee-oh-PEE-nee-yah), or reduced bone mass as suggested on regular x-ray studies, is a 'washed out' appearance raising the question of whether the patient has osteoporosis, a significant loss of bone mineral resulting in increased fracture risk. The word break in osteopenia (osteo, Latin root for ‘bone’) at the end of the first line is a reminder of its association with fracture. The DEXA test evaluates the mass of bone reproducibly, and, in the context of age and gender, helps decide on the necessity of drug treatment to prevent 'fragility fractures'. 
You can read more about the DEXA test for bone mineral density (BMD) HERE.

                    -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  --- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 
Here's a LIST OF LINKS to collections of intriguing poems (over 160 of these!) on medical/dental topics that can now be found on various posts. 

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Sunday 5 February 2023

Another Angle: POETS' CORNER #3, in progress


prior poetic posts (part #1)
addiction to limerick writing 
authorly skill
blogosphere
bold-faced / bald-faced
cans and Can'ts (argumentively)
collaboration
creative writing (decompose)
depressed limericist

prior poetic posts (part #2)
editorial state: "Held"
(the poet's) Family
free verse
gender-neutral language
inventiveness (palinkus)
problem of scansion
philosophy of limericks
rhotic-poet school

CURRENT CONTENTS:
Noun-verb contractions
Satirical doggerel
Subtle editorial bullying
Wit's end
More to follow








Authors' Note: In the above limerick verse, seven noun-verb contractions, each characteristically joining its two elements (a pronoun or noun, and a verb) with an apostrophe, are italicized in blue. But, don't be misled: other types of contractions also use the apostrophe, and these are flagged in red font. Aren't is of course a negative contraction, and one's is a possessive form. 






Authors' Note: Used here in a loose sense, with no implications for ownership, cooperative refers to a group effort by like-minded individuals. Collaborative writing sites, such as the on-line dictionary OEDILF (nursery for many of Giorgio's concoctions), have the potential advantage to contributors of learning from peers, and ultimately higher rates of publication. Contributing editors ('eds'), however, may entertain estimations of their personal relevance and productivity that influence their editorial comments on others' work. Rarely, such notions are translated into malevolent actions by these poet-leaders.







Incidental Photo:


a snowy egret, fishing near the old bridge


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