An Experience

There I was standing at a funeral parlor podium about to deliver a eulogy to PNC Morty London; and then again there I was, after blacking out, being held up and led away by PNCs Harvey Friedman and Mike Berman. To say the least, a very unrewarding performance; although Doctors Paul Deutch and Bambi Schleizer did leave their seats in the audience to play a part in the drama. For which I thank them all.

   So, this column is by way of an expression of my thanks to those who called and by way of a learning experience as to the lessons that should have been learned from the JWV program on drug abuse.

   Did you ever end up in a hospital Emergency Room and have a Doctor tell you about churchgoing old women who stand in prayer for long periods of time resulting in a dramatic lowering of their blood pressure causing them to black out? Called Vaso Vegal.

   Well that was my initial emergency room diagnosis which I was unable to accept since I have had high blood pressure for quite a number of years. After making that dramatic observation and determining that I had sufficient health insurance coverage, I was admitted into the Hospital for further testing.

   They proceeded to CAT scan my head and after not really seeing very much, they proceeded to check out my brain waves so as to install some activity into being.

   They then proceeded to CAT scan, ultra sound and EKG my heart, lungs, arteries and whatever to determine why I was still breathing. All the time I was there they continued to draw blood whenever they felt that I had just fallen asleep. Although unsymptomatic, they discounted heart attack and many of the other good things which could have caused the happening. Thus after all of the tests come back clear, you find that, in spite of all of your debilitating conditions, you are healthy. I was then discharged a couple of days later with the same cold that I had had when I was initially admitted to the hospital.

   As is many times the case with diagnosis, they were unable to say, with any specificity, what caused that black out. However they did project, after checking the prescriptive medication which I had been taking, that the inherent nature of and a conflict between some of the medicines may have caused the black out and would have to be changed. So, there I was being discharged with the possible diagnosis that I had been subject to a medication screw-up or to a little old lady in prayer syndrome.

   While I am familiar with our Jewish War Veteran programs, I really had not fully appreciated our Drug Abuse program. Unlike other drug awareness programs, JWV’s program does not target the usual treatment of heroin, crack and the like; but, primarily deals with prescription drugs and their effects on the individuals.

   So, here goes the questions which I should have been asking:

      •  Do you know what drugs you are taking?

      •  Do you know what condition those drugs are for?

      •  Do you know the impact of one drug on another?

      •  Do you know whether they are to be taken on an                                             empty stomach or with food?

      •  Do you know whether they can all be taken                                                      together at the same time, or how the taking                                                        should be timed?

      •  Do you know whether there are alternatives to the                                           medications which you should consider?

      •  Do you know the effect of the drugs on your                                                    body?

   When all is said and done, we should try, at least, to understand what drugs we are putting into our mouth and how we will react to them. This is especially true for the over-65 gang.

            Finally, I guess there is a lot we can learn from a little old lady standing in prayer. Thanks to those who inquired.