Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Hey, Watch This !

    I watched some of the television coverage of the arrival of hurricane Katrina this morning.   At least, it was called television coverage.
    Mostly, I saw reporters playing in the rain and high wind.  Some of them were leaning into the wind, others were hanging on to fences along the waterfront.   At least one goofball was standing outside wearing a pair of goggles.
    At one point, one Fox reporter said the hotel where they were staying had locked their doors and they couldn't get inside.  Good.  Darwin at work.
    I am not making these comments from a position of inexperience.  I have covered three hurricanes.
    The real story is not how much wind and rain you can stand before getting knocked down.  It is telling the story of people who are holed up in shelters waiting for the storm to end.  I saw very little video from places like the Superdome, or any other shelter.  Perhaps the network folks should consider staying with the great unwashed in shelters, rather than hotels.  They story is with the people who are suffering.

    The real story is not in spectacular video of an anchor in a torrent of rain.  It is in the fear in the eyes of children riding out the storm, in old people who worry they will not have anyplace to return to.
    During one hurricane, I was the last civilian on Tybee Island, and reported on the desolation after the evacuation.  Then I got to a shelter, and talked to all kinds of people, from relief workers to evacuees.
    If you want to do stunts- get on a reality show.  If you want to cover a news story...please..more reality.

And leave your goggles at home.


Posted by Dave Foulk at 01:41:32 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, August 21, 2005

Drastic Bypass- Not a decision for the faint of heart

Many of you might not have heard that my wife, Dena decided to have gastric by-pass surgery on August First. Her weight has been an issue with her nearly all of her adult life. From the start, I told her that I was against such drastic action, but even though I love her more than anything or anybody else, I cannot stand in the way of any medical decision she might make concerning her own health. I tood her though I had much trepidation over the procedure, that I would support her, and do whatever the "coach" as designated by the surgeon, would want me to do.

This has been a helluva coaching session.

The first two weeks saw her progressing normally, and improving nearly every day. The diet was not nearly as much of a hassle for her as was the two gastric drains left in. It was my job to sump out the drains, and measure the liquid, then clear the drain. Otherwise, I was the keeper of the official record of intake, walking time pain-in-the-patoot reminder, and all around orderly.

Two weeks to the day after her surgery, there was trouble. Dena had excruciating pain in her right side, the opposite side of her surgery. There was exploratory surgery the next day, and a battery of tests. She has developed a problem with her right lung, where the lower lobe is, for lack of a long medical word, sticking to itself. She has pneumonia, and is in the hospital taking one oral antibiotic, and one IV antibiotic.

Her diet is still progressing...now she is in the puree' stage, and the surgical site looked good. And, it appears that she has lost a lot of weight, although it is hard to tell with those nifty gowns you have to wear.

To sum up her feelings about all of this, I'll use a direct quote: "I hope six months from now I will be able to say this was all worth it."

The initial gastric bypass was not much of a problem, except for the first two days of post surgical pain. And I am told that her experience is unusual.

Dena and I refrain from giving anybody any medical advice, especially in a format such as this. But I did want to make a blog entry, and thank so many of you for your prayers, and your support..from Seymour Intermediate, to New Hopewell Baptist, and many other church and prayer groups that I do not even know of.

For those of you who are struggling with being fat, I understand. I am fat, too. Many will say that we made our own decisions about our weight, and that is true for many of us. But I strongly believe there is a genetic element that somehow causes our bodies to handle carbohydrates and proteins differently, and maybe in my lifetime medical researchers will learn enough about it so that gastric bypass and lap band procedures will be as long-forgotten and antiquated as ether anesthetic, and polio braces.




Posted by Dave Foulk at 02:43:52 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |