Day 1

Oh wait, this isn't Priolsec, but Nexium stupid.

The one hour before breakfast rule will take some getting used to. But today was worth it.

No acid issues all day. Slight acid when I burp. But it's the beer making me burp, so can't be too upset there.

Tomorrow I will start the liquid diet for a couple days to get my system restarted the right way. But I'm going to add gluten free yogurt to the Ensure since an all liquid diet when you DON'T have to is very difficult.

too good?

Stupid blogger - I had this one written this morning, then got too busy at the lab to remember to try and publish...

I heard about this on the news radio coming home, but was too tired to care at that point. But supposedly we can create stem cell lines without embryo destruction.

I'm not a stem cell researcher. I don't know the nuances of how to make these things work. But I'm highly skeptical. As others pointed out, the embryos used as "donors" for these lines actually were not allowed to be implanted and develop into a baby. However, that was successfully done in mice.

I understand the ethical issues of why the "gold standard" to their claim wasn't done. But mice are not people in a smaller size, no matter how many human genes you put in them.

My guess is that the rate of spontaneous abortion would be higher in these embryos than standard IVF embryos.

But the idea got me thinking about a different approach (though brings up just as many ethical issues). If we understood the cause of identical twins, we could artificially create identical twins, and use those for stem cell lines. This has problems, I know, since identical twins are not the same person.

I wonder if we have the beginnings of a new stem cell scandal in the works. We'll see what happens over the next few months.

Old fart

Okay, I KNOW that 30 really isn't old.

But I do have the arthritis in my back that in the last few months been a constant ache for me. I still have about two weeks before I see the rheumatologist for it. Hopefully it's not too late.

When camping with my best friend/matchmaker, she was obsessing over a few gray hairs. I teased her it's from having a baby. She came over to me and plucked one hair from my head and said it's gray. I think she switched it with one of hers just because I was annoying her. I haven't spend more than 30 seconds looking, but I haven't found any gray hairs.

But another sign I'm getting older. I am now on Nexium for the acid reflux. The GI doc thinks it's from a hernia, but the hernia isn't bad enough to warrant surgery, but it could be causing the reflux. The hardest part is you're supposed to take it 30-60 minutes before breakfast. I forgot to ask if that includes coffee, but I'll be good and wait on the coffee too. But I used to stumble out of bed, start the coffee, and make breakfast while waiting for that first cup of coffee to cool down.

Now I take Nexium as soon as I get up. Then start the AM local news. Today was kinda funny because the weather guy was saying "radar looks like rain on the interstate" when the live traffic cams show dry interstate. Start the coffee to get that yummy smell throughout my place. Then take shower and do the grooming stuff. By the time that's done, it's time for breakfast.

That also cuts one cup of coffee from my morning routine. Probably a good thing.

how did this pass?

In all the politics that the "Plan B" was causing, I never expected it to be over the counter. Okay, the fine print is that you have to be 18 to get it. I still never expected to be able to get it. It's nice to know that I have an option in case I doubt the effectiveness of my birth control.

Speaking of birth control, boo to Ortho-McNeil.