tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post622363221083711400..comments2024-03-28T18:44:08.125-07:00Comments on The Forty-Five: The Collapse LXV: HealthToirdhealbheach Beucailhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-39968382526363961252021-05-30T14:41:52.204-07:002021-05-30T14:41:52.204-07:00Leigh, Seneca is no better than many others in thi...Leigh, Seneca is no better than many others in this instance - quick in some cases, slow in others. I suspect in this case - between his relatively good health and not having to really fact the issue -he has not considered - yet - herbal medicine. Even with all of his efforts, in some ways he is still rooted in "The Modern World". (Although that will have to change here soon enough).<br /><br />My ability to understand the system was eclipsed long ago. At this point I only understand it is terribly complex and fragile. And terribly complex and fragile things do not have a solid history of surviving.Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-2447866942519548992021-05-30T04:39:40.375-07:002021-05-30T04:39:40.375-07:00I am curious as to why Seneca doesn't consider...I am curious as to why Seneca doesn't consider the ancestral skill of herbal medicine. Seems a logical course of action, for whatever it's worth.<br /><br />Regarding the complexity of our economic system, I perceive that, although I do not understand it. Actually, I'm amazed it hasn't come crashing down around our heads already.Leighhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02435811789823712254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-51359088141794778952021-05-27T15:52:42.936-07:002021-05-27T15:52:42.936-07:00Greg - First of all, I am extremely grateful for y...Greg - First of all, I am extremely grateful for your happy ending (and relating the story); my nephew also had this happen to him within the last month (same three holes). And you are correct: prior to the 20th Century, this would have been a death sentence indeed. Now, we take it all for granted.<br /><br />Medical Knowledge is important - something I am actually not as facile with as I should be. Some of it, I wonder if a lack of confidence brought on by our specialized society in which "other" people handle it. But, as a great deal of the country saw in February, it does not take a collapse to have a specialist not available, merely an interruption.<br /><br />I need to start doing as you have done. As you have said, in a significant failure there will be a lot of misery from spoiled food, bad water, and poor hygiene (do people even remember boiling water was, once upon a time, the sterilizing agent available?).Toirdhealbheach Beucailhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14872794169534403463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14404262.post-44571479389813528302021-05-27T09:11:03.995-07:002021-05-27T09:11:03.995-07:00We are all mortal. But the goal of healthy living...We are all mortal. But the goal of healthy living is "compression of morbidity". Instead of declining over years in a wheelchair, we hope to fade away in a week or so when the need is inevitable.<br /> That said, I've had a wake up call like no other this week. Monday I had a general, diffuse but painful bellyache all day. It seemed to wax and wane in severity, but Tuesday morning it had migrated to the right lower quadrant, at which point I said "Uh-oh" and headed for the local walk-in in clinic. Yep, appendicitis.<br /> Now bear in mind that our small town has a Safeway and a good hardware store. Any other shopping is ninety miles away. But our little old country hospital was amazing. The NP who saw me clued right in to the problem, ordered labs and a CT--yes, we have CT, MRI, and Ultrasound. The films are read in the big city 170 miles away, but with everything online, we had interpretations in thirty minutes. We had a surgeon on hand, and as soon as OR could prep the room, they had me in. And it was a modern laparoscopic procedure, no four inch incisions and weeks of recovery, just three small holes punched in my abdomen. I am so blessed. We got it out before rupture (which always was a sure death sentence before powerful antibiotics), so I should be on the mend in a couple days.<br /> My point being that in a true collapse environment, I would be near death now if not already gone. So, as my philosophy professors taught, in thinking the thought through to its ultimate conclusions, no one who does so would want to see us delivered back to 19th century health care. I am always seeking to increase my medical knowledge and supplies, but first aid is always predicated on getting to "second aid" for serious treatment. As Seneca notes, if the facility is a days walk away and closed when you get there, what is to be done?<br /> In a collapse, one of the near term causes of mortality will be people who get hungry and thirsty enough to eat and drink things they shouldn't. Intractable vomiting and dysentery can kill in short order, not to mention a society that has no concept of hygiene when the water stops running. I have enough calcium hypochlorite stored away dry and sealed and the equipment to treat thousands of gallons of water. I have just recently been learning of Dakin's solution for wound debridement. In our ancestors times, the most trivial wound could get infected and kill in short order. Once you can get past the politics in healthcare, we truly do live in an age of miracles.Greghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06183459827508486809noreply@blogger.com