There is new hope for people with rare illnesses. Netflix has a new series called “Diagnosis” which relies on crowdsourcing to “help solve medical mysteries.”
Crowdsourcing is the method used to obtain information on a particular topic by using the services of a large number of people on the Internet.
This should make us all very happy because someone, somewhere, may have the answer to cure a medical condition, or help improve it. That was my intent last week when I wrote about the child of a my friend who can’t swallow. We actually got a few leads that the family is pursuing.
The new TV series is based on Dr. Lisa Sanders’ column in the New York Times magazine, which features people who are searching for medical answers. Sanders, a Yale University professor, was the doctor who had inspired the hit show “House.”
CNET, a tech site, details exactly how Dr. Sanders, uses the Internet to help gather helpful medical information. It also mentions that TNT has a new show called “Chasing the Cure, hosted by Ann Curry, that helps people find answers to their medical problems.
What a great summer for movies. Everyone is always asking me what I recommend. Here is the line-up. Let me know your choices. Everyone wants to share!!!!!
It may be a good idea to read the New York Times article below which asks the question “if older people smell differently?”
The article brings up the fact that most older folks take all kinds of meds that could give off an odor that is associated with seniors. Some older people just don’t groom themselves well enough.
It’s true. When I was younger I often noticed the musty odor every time I visited the home of an elderly person. My mother was fastidious about keeping her home clean and I hope I follow in her footsteps.
The New York Times says “the best advice for combating age-related odor is simply to take care of yourself and your home: exercise, stay healthy and hydrated, eat clean food, open windows, launder clothing and sheets.”
One would think seniors would know to do this already, but as we get older maybe some of us relax the rules a little bit.
Beginner Friendly Baby Blanket With Jonah’s Hands! Crochet Tutorial
At 11 years old, Jonah Larson has 196,00 followers on Instagram. He is also one of the top draws on YouTube. He is not a rock star, an actor, or a comedian.
He is something far more unique and astonishing. Jonah crochets. He started when he was five and soon became one of the most admired crocheters in the country.
He is so good that he sells many of his items and donates the proceeds to the orphanage where he spent his early years. Jonah even created a GoFundMe Page in partnership with the non-profit, Roots Ethiopia, so that “other children and their families can find their passion and achieve their dreams.”
Jonah’s mother said her son “has tackled complex projects that many adults would struggle with. Jonah shares all of his creations, from colorful blankets to an amigurumi octopus, on his popular Instagram account called Jonah’s Hands”.
This is just what I was looking for, a tiny iron that can do touchups. It’s so affordable. Amazon has it discounted at $25.99. It’s usually $50. I can travel with it everywhere and never again have to worry about straightening out a few wrinkles here and there. Don’t miss this opportunity to get one. It works so well. It reminds me of the flat iron I use for my hair. I wish they were interchangeable, but they’re not.
I’m writing this blog post with every hope that somone can help find a cure for the eldest daughter, Issy, of my friend Jeena and her husband Frank Kwei. Issy can’t swallow and has to be fed through a feeding tube. It’s all explained below.
The following comes from their Go Fund Me page.
Fundraiser for Jeena Choi by Liz Grennan : Issy’s Health Care Fund
We are keeping this page up so that we can share Issy’s progress.
So… seasons have changed, school year has come and gone, countless medical appointments, consultations and therapy sessions were attended, and now, summer is here and we are approaching the 1st anniversary of Tumor Independence Day!
But here’s the thing: this update is a difficult one for us and it took me weeks to muster up the energy to write it.
Last update left us all full of hope that the myotomy surgery will help Issy swallow. Well, it didn’t. The swallow team is dumbfounded and no one at MGH nor Yale can give us an accurate prognosis when it comes to her dysphagia.
After the surgery on 3/20, and seeing there is no progress even with surgical intervention and continued therapies, we brought Issy home from Boston. She had been away for 18 weeks and our family set a record for the longest stay at Christopher’s Haven. It was time to come home.
Amidst the continuing challenges and heartaches, there has been good news too:
Back in Dec., Issy left on a wheelchair, but returned home in April without one! Her recent MRIs are clean and her hair… wow- grew back in full force in thick, WAVY (she had stick-straight hair prior to chemo) strands! She also got back in the saddle thanks to New Canaan Mounted Troop’s adaptive riding program, turned into a teen on May 4th, watched Hamilton in NYC (thank you, LivFree organization!) and one of her wishes came true: a Westy puppy to call her own!
What’s more, on June 17th, Issy went back to school (Middlebrook Middle School). It was the last day of school and it was just for an hour, but a monumental progress for Issy. She had a wonderful time cocooned in a favorite teacher’s room full of special friends who wiped away her anxieties about walking into school for the first time since cleaning out her locker last June. We are confident she will return this Fall as a 8th grader.
We’ve seen many specialists and added in psychologist and alternative therapies like hypnosis and cranial osteopath. But at this point, all of them agree that Issy needs to focus on healing… her brain was basically assaulted back-to-back-to-back with neurosurgery, chemo, radiation and more intervention. So now we watch her enjoy just being Issy as much as she can bear in her current situation, and let her do things she loves, like horseback riding, playing with her puppy, hanging out with sister Lucia and friends. Let her be a kid and not a patient. That is where we are and that is for once, all of the doctors’ ONLY orders.
We will be home all summer so stop by and say hello~
The New York Times published my brother’s letter, print and online, last Thursday. We are very proud.
To the Editor
Regarding the proposed so-called “red flag” laws which, one may hope, will recover guns from unstable people thereby helping to prevent mass shootings.
While I support taking guns from perceived unstable people and gun regulations in general (no one, not in the military, needs an automatic weapon, for example), these “red flag” laws are “prospective facto” and probably will not survive constitutional testing. Who on earth can tell what is in a person’s mind and future intention? It’s a slippery slope.
And, if those proposed laws do survive, how does one calculate the effectiveness of mass shootings being prevented?
It’s a gun advocate’s mild sedative to those who want stronger gun control.
Introducing the true hero of Woodstock, the sound engineer. Bill Hanley is regarded as the “father of festival sound.” He was told he needed to prepare for 100,000. Five hundred thousand showed up and he didn’t disappoint. The Woodstock festival was located in Bethel, New York, in August, 1969. Does Hanley ever go to CES? Who in the industry knows him? Tell us more.
If you think selfies serve no purpose, think again.
I just found out there might be a way for the medical profession to look at a selfie video and see if the person in question has high blood pressure.
How wild is that?
Researchers at the University of Toronto are close to figuring out a way “to accurately measure blood pressure on a smartphone. First they have to zero in on a technology known as transdermal optical imaging (TOI).”
They are testing sensors on all smartphones that can actually capture the red light reflected from hemoglobin under our skin.This permits TOI to visualize and measure blood flow changes.
Very exciting times ahead. Watchthevideofor exact details.
I’m so proud of the Internet show my young friend, Katerina Cozias, did today. I just wanted to devote a DigiDame post to it.
Katerina did an entire show on the Warriors For Peace (WFP), a theatre company comprised of US military veterans and civilians with a two-fold mission: Provide catharsis for our returning warriors through Shakespeare and promote peace, healing, and foster the principles of global citizenship by bringing veterans of different nations together in the arts.
WFP has a simple philosophy: Who better to promote peace than those who have seen the face of war? Believing that art transcends politics and brings people together, in these tumultuous times that we are living, watch LA40 host Katerina Cozias as she sits down with the members of the WFP theater group to discuss how their projects are designed to build bridges between communities, promote ethnic diversity, empower women, and of course, foster peace.
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DigiDame 