oneilltalk

I copy Trish's last email in case you 3 haven't talked about this.

"I feel pretty good. I get a headache  each afternoon and go to bed very early. I am such a night owl ordinarily. A bit of a drip from my nostrils occasionally. Not normal for me.

I am walking back and forth, over and over , on the balcony now. 1:45 today. Over 2 hours yesterday. Not all at once. A stroll, rather than at a real pace, but I keep at it. And so it goes!"

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I have highlighted the part I'll address in this little note.

A drip from the nose is called "coryza" in medical parlance.

Typically caused by inflammation of the nasal lining, most commonly observed with hay fever.

Almost an aside ...

Human, beings have about 40,000 or so thoughts per day.

Most of these never reached consciousness (so stay in the unconscious).

88% or so of these are negative thoughts ("Oh no! Not that I hope!" - or equivalent.

That is because negative thoughts contribute to our survival since millenia ...

"I hope that leaf moving in the jungle on my path just in front of me, doesn't have a tiger behind it. Gee. I'd better turn around or just stay put until the leaf stops moving."

So starting to talk about a drippy nose right away brings negative thoughts into my medically over-trained brain:

"Gee, I like Trish. I hope she doesn't have a runny nose that indicates a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak due to:

• • • a brain tumor (always finds a place quickly on any list of the over-trained)
    • damage to the blood-brain barrier when they stuck a long-Q-tip in her nose a few days ago and traumatized things.
    • Churg-Strauss Syndrome (don't even bother looking it up)
    • allergy
    • a symptom of an infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and now she has this as the only (rather less than common symptom, just as diarrhea is less than most common)
    • acute sinusitis
    • decongestant hasal spray overuse
    • I'll stop there ...

So all of these are pretty rare causes of a drippy nose. I will skip the part which starts: "if its this, do this to prove it, and here is the treatment." Some, like Churg-Strauss Syndrome have no treatment. Swell. Already back into negative thoughts.

So what should be done?

• • • Accept that maybe it is COVID-19 presenting with some delay.
    • We have already discussed that the reception to re-testing for the virus is not well received on this day by those who are in power where you are currently located. So probably, this close to the end of being quarantined, no go on obtaining that test. After this number of days, it would probably be negative and serve no purpose.
    • BUT ... keep in mind that IF you do have it (but probably not given the entire history of events so far), an antibody test might be of use. Even if you felt fine when that blood test was done, a result that showed an increases level of antibody in the blood would permit someone to say: "Hey. You know what? You had COVID-19." (Assumes you haven't been vaccinated, of course).

So when it becomes possible to have a blood test for whatever reason that the medical establishment accepts, make an argument with those ordering tests, for getting a serum antibody level for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Mike and Pete should also get one the next time that becomes feasible, but for different reasons in each of their two cases.

And that's it in the drippy nose department.

An additional observation.

Walking around your balcony for two hours every day, is quite understandable given everything related to your current imprisonment. Pardon me, I meant confinement in relatively comfortable circumstances. (More comfortable for instance, than a refugee camp in Syria).

But if outside of the present circumstances, an appropriate assessment by an overly-trained medical person might be: "OK. That's called physical perseveration, and a perfect example of an obesessive-compusive disorder aimed at minimizing an unrecognized fear carried in the unconscious ..." (or equivalent verbage). I'm not suggesting that diagnosis, since in current quarantined circumstances, that terrace walk seems perfectly defensible and what I would be doing if trapped in your shoes.

Here's another way to pass the time. It's even good for your head.

Perhaps you already do this. If so, let me know.

It's called Lumosity.

I purchased this as A Friends & Family Plan that renews in a year and did not

bankrupt me as Christmas presents go, so I'm grateful.

You will receive an email from Lumosity telling that you have each been gifted this.

In doing this I learned that Mike already has a Lumosity account (A Russian hacker confirmed that for me), so tell him to get on the stick and use his account. I'm betting on you Trish to beat his scores.

This may cut down on the walking in circles or rectangles on the terrace.

Just a few more days to go in quarantine.

Hell. I could do that standing on my head.

OK, gotta go. Still haven't unpacked my suitace from the planned Antarctica trip.

Damn.

Bill/ Uncle Billy