The life and times of . . . - Latest Comments

Re: Waiting for Inspiration

Dad — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:11:01 -0000

You are the Best of the Best!

Love,

Dad
now go fishing with me

Re: Hospital Food

xyz — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 16:51:29 -0000

dude, how do you not understand that?!? Its how hospitals stay in business!

Of course these days thats how governments, militaries, dictators and everything else stay in business. Sadly, the bottom line is money and/or power.

Re: Ways to Get the Most out of a Hospital Stay

JSFer (stoner)? — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:29:51 -0000

crap, I saw "blah, blah, blah simplicity" and "blah, blah, blah living" and thought this was going to be the site for that nate guy on Oprah. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Re: Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

Audra (Bama4life-LCF) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 09:26:12 -0000

I saw you in LCF and had to check out your blog, I must say I really am enjoying reading it !! Keep it up!!

Re: 8 Easy Ways to Save Money and Beat Gas Prices

Nathan_Lanier — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:17:30 -0000

Thank you. I appreciate your patronage! :)

Re: How To Make Exercise Not Feel Like Exercise

Nathan_Lanier — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 00:17:06 -0000

Thanks for your comment. There are absolutely cardiovascular benefits to snorkeling. They aren't that great, but it sure beats the gym and ESPECIALLY beats the couch!

Re: How To Make Exercise Not Feel Like Exercise

Jonis — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:30:10 -0000

I cancelled my gym membership because I got depressed thinking about going. I've been exercising outside and went kayaking and it was a blast!

I went snorkeling with a friend recently and it was very fun and refreshing to go out into the beautiful Florida ocean. Are there cardiovascular benefits to snorkeling?

Re: 8 Easy Ways to Save Money and Beat Gas Prices

Save Gas — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:15:45 -0000

that's unique list new angle. nice job!

Re: On Ted Kennedy

codedisaster — Thu, 29 May 2008 13:27:06 -0000

Nate,

Sorry I didn't even sign my post. My name is Bryan. Also, it would probably be appropriate to point out that I'm speaking only from the personal perspective of an ER employee and not on the behalf of MGH. In fact I just happened to stumble onto your blog via Seesmic.

That said, I do completely agree with the difficulties that a patient faces in the ER. I can't pretend to understand the specifics of your situation since I don't even know what they are. But frankly, if you are there to see us at all, it's safe to assume it's not one of your better days. I'd say the majority of the staff understand that (although I won't be so naive as to speak for everyone).

-Bryan

Re: On Ted Kennedy

Nathan_Lanier — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:32:18 -0000

Sir or Madame:

I sincerely appreciate your comment and I apologize for my naive perspective. As a patient, it is very refreshing to get both sides of the story and it's also very encouraging to know that Mr. Kennedy did not receive preferential treatment.

And your point about White Coat Rants is correct: The comparison of Cape Cod Hospital to MGH is an embarassment. Not to say Cape Cod Hosptial isn't a fine institution; it's just his lack of knowledge on MGH was troubling.

At any rate, I have had a very difficult time with things and I have done a lot of homework on a lot of hospitals and I am keenly aware that MGH is one of the finest in the world. As I am sure you understand, it's easy as a patient to become bitter and make excuses when you are notting getting an answer to your "why" questions.

Thank you for the advice on calling the clinic. I will do that today. The person discharging me didn't make a mistake unless they also made a mistake in my discharge notes where the instructions were the same.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to stop by and voice your opinion - It is much appreciated.

Take care,

Re: On Ted Kennedy

Nathan_Lanier — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:31:46 -0000

edit: mistake

Re: On Ted Kennedy

codedisaster — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:09:17 -0000

Hey Nate,

Just a couple comments I'd like to throw out there.

I'm not sure I would completely trusting the information provided on White Coat Rants. I'm not a regular reader of the blog so I can't speak to the general validity of their articles. However I do think there is something odd when they cite a website (which provides no apparent documentation of their benchmarking process) and use it to claim "Mass General isn’t even on the Top 100 list" but completely miss a more well known publication (#1 result in a google search for "hospital rankings") in which MGH is ranked #4 in the "Neurology and Neurosurgery" category.
http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/best-hos...

Also, the MGH ER takes in quite a few transfers every day from other hospitals and even more that bypass the ER as direct admits. I can also tell you first hand that the decision to send Mr. Kennedy to a hospital like ours is not an unusual decision and was likely not due to his status as a public figure. A family member of mine recently had similar symptoms and was medflighted from their local hospital to the Neuro ICU at Brigham&Womens Hospital (which actually jointly employs the Neuro team we have at MGH).

Finally, if you still haven't heard from the neurologist, I would try calling the outpatient neuro unit directly. Our systems in the ER are not linked into the scheduling systems of the other units. USUALLY patients are instructed to arrange the appointments. It's possible the person discharging you misspoke.

Re: Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

Nathan_Lanier — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:09:44 -0000

True. . . I could write a book about the Vitamin but I tried to keep it concise. Google is your friend, this is just a starter :)

Thanks for reading.

Re: Are You Getting Enough Vitamin D?

Jay_Woodward — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:00:07 -0000

Mercola talks about it all the time... You can get it from Salmon or Mackerel or any other fatty fish...

Re: Watch NASA’s Phoenix Mars Landing LIVE on the Web

Nathan_Lanier — Sun, 25 May 2008 21:58:35 -0000

Success!!! HUZZAH!! NASA kicks ass

Re: Watch NASA’s Phoenix Mars Landing LIVE on the Web

Jay_Woodward — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:22:47 -0000

Sweet!! Hope it doesn't crash like Beagle!

Re: Five Dead Simple Ways to Improve your Health and Lose Weight

Jay_Woodward — Sun, 25 May 2008 16:21:46 -0000

Very helpful info, thank you!!

Re: It must be my lucky day . . .

Nathan_Lanier — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:28:46 -0000

What's amazing about it is that I had JUST received some incredibly bad news and I was on the phone telling someone (in jest, of course) that I was going to drive off a bridge. That was either God's (or something else) way of telling me NOT to drive off a bridge or a sign that I shouldn't leave my house for a few days!!! haha

Re: It must be my lucky day . . .

howardlindzon — Sun, 25 May 2008 00:18:39 -0000

not good. stay away from vegas until this happens three tims

Re: It must be my lucky day . . .

Nathan_Lanier — Sat, 24 May 2008 22:48:00 -0000

I guess that's only true if I'm driving on rural roads, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone that drives 100 miles on a rural road every day!

Someone over on Reddit said it best: Apparently my chances were 100%. haha

Re: It must be my lucky day . . .

Dan — Sat, 24 May 2008 21:46:21 -0000

Doesn't it depend how much you drive? If you drive 100 miles a day your chances are higher than if you drove 30 miles a day. What kind of tree the limb came from would make a difference too. Every limb falls eventually ;)

Re: It must be my lucky day . . .

Nathan_Lanier — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:46:14 -0000

Not even a little bit. I can't find any statistics for tree branches falling so I wouldn't even know where to begin.

The likelihood of such an event is certainly much greater during a storm, but on a sunny late spring day AFTER a week of wind? I should have played the lottery!!!

Re: It must be my lucky day . . .

Jay_Woodward — Sat, 24 May 2008 15:37:14 -0000

Ahh, but was it windy. . . ?

Re: Happiness

Nathan_Lanier — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:10:09 -0000

Testing :)