Teetering on the edge…how does Bret Michaels do it?
I have to give Bret Michaels credit, he has battled a life of disease and he keeps bouncing back.
At the age of six, he was diagonosed with Type I diabetes and has struggled to maintain his health all the while becoming an 80’s glam metal rock god, a history of hard hard partying, and what seems to be a constant limelight on his fame and health.
Over the years, Michaels has nearly died numerous times from a lethal mix of booze and his own personal battle with diabetes. Just in the last year, Michaels has suffered an emergency appendectomy, just weeks later he’s rushed back to the emergency room with an intense headache which turns out to be a brain hemorrage. Just the other day, he is again rushed to the ER while suffering a mild stroke and doctors discover a small hole in his heart called a Patent Forum Ovale. The condition is treatable but Michaels will be forced to rest again.
I see Michael’s story as a sort of wake up call to the average person out there who is convinced they are in tip top shape. Granted he has not taken the greatest care of his internal organs over the years, but looking at him, he’s thin, fit, and has the financial means to eat right and take care of himself. What scares me is the thought that diabetes has taken a toll on him. This internal tornado has been wreaking havoc on his body over the years and sadly I think his own doctors know why this is happening. It’s a very hard condition to control, it takes constant discipline, sugar control, and lifestyle modifications forever. Michaels is a shining example of the sick kid who has masked a serious condition for years with glitz, fame, sex, music, and any poppy distraction that the normal sufferer isn’t able to do.
Maybe he’s been hit with incredibly bad luck the last six months, is he being tested by somebody bigger. Be what it may, I hope he pulls through this and he can get back to the semi-slimy Bret we love to follow.
Wow! Those facebook pics sure got some attention!
Interesting story out of Quebec, if you haven’t read the article, do so. Once again, a story comes along that just sends my editorial neurons out of whack.
So, you go to the doctor and are diagnosed with severe depression…so severe that she is forced to go on short term disability for a year from her employer…all the while receiving payments from her employer’s insurance carrier.
All of this sounds normal to me, except for one thing…the diagnosis of the depression. I am not a shrink and I don’t hob nob in the circles of shrinkdom and psychiatric medicine, but I am curious as to how “definitive” a diagnosis of clinical depression really is.
She was seen by a doctor, she was told she was depressed, she was also told to see friends as a way to get herself better…still sounds relatively normal to me….but…..
In my blogging view, if you can jump around the beach, visit your friends, smile for random party pics, and post them on your facebook account…how come you can’t wake up and go to work?
Insurance companies use these tactics all the time to avoid fraud and in many opinions other then mine, this woman committed insurance fraud, or at least in the eyes of the insurance carrier.
There are issues with what happened here. It is sad that insurance carriers are forced to take these measures because there is so much fraud in the claims arena, what other option do they have? Video taping customers is common practice especially when money is involved, money that ultimately is funded by you and I.
The insurance companies definition of “depressed” obviously differs from the doctor’s. All the while, Miss Blanchard fell victim to her own social networking profile (tch tch tch)….and her decision to post them was a costly one. (Oh and for all those “right to privacy” fanatics out there please shush yourself…the Internet isn’t private but you already knew that)
In the end, with a slick attorney, she will probably get her money back…but ask yourself something…after seeing an incident like this…are you sure you want to post some of those pics?
Swayze made dancing cool for a guy…
He passed away on Monday evening after a two year long battle with cancer. A lot has been said about him, I have seen great posts about Roadhouse and all the great lines in that movie, and of course the Dirty Dancing fame.
He was not an overly prolific actor however he had very memorable roles in Red Dawn, The Outsiders, and of course Ghost.
He truly showed that a man could dance and still be masculine and rough. We followed his struggle and learned much more about his strength and his 33 year relationship with his wife.
Goodbye Dalton…
The Russians may have discovered the vaccine for Swine Flu!
The Russians may be on to something. Drink plenty of Welsh whiskey and you will be protected from the Swine flu! The VOB, which is the soccer organization in Russia, is urging it’s fans to load up on plenty of the liquor when they head to Wales for next month’s World Cup qualifying games.
Alexander Shprygin, the head of the VOB, ”We urge our fans to drink a lot of Welsh whiskey as a form of disinfection, this should cure all symptoms of the disease.” He also added that Russian soccer fans have no fear and no virus is going to stop them from travelling to Great Britain to cheer on their team.
Well…raise a bottle and “Na zdorovje!”
Verdict is in…too much food will make you a pudge!
Read the surprising new study! This also just in to the Heard it in a bar news desk: The sky is blue and Elvis is alive.
Thanks again for your continued support.
Bdbdbdbdbd…dat’s just the Swine Flu ee’ee’verybody
As of right now, you probably don’t have it and very unlikely that you will. They don’t currently have a vaccine to kill the media bug but it’s coming…god I can only pray!
Just follow a few standard and simple rules:
1) Don’t share glasses with a stranger in a bar right now
2) Don’t lick door handles in strange places
3) Don’t purposely run into the middle of someone’s sneeze pretending like it’s a sprinkler on a hot, summer lawn
4) Don’t eat fallen food that has surpassed the 20 second rule on your desk. However, food dropped on the sidewalk, in my opionion, seems cleaner so the rule doesn’t apply.
5) You can eat pork and the pork industry wants you to know this.
It should be taken seriously to prevent any further cases like we have seen in Mexico. The influenza virus can be very dangerous if not treated promptly, so take care of yourselves. Wash your hands, cover your sneezes, stay home if you feel poopy, don’t fly to Mexico unless you have a bachelor party scheduled, and lastly drink a lot of water and get your Zzzzz’s. Bust most of all, please do not freak out!
Everyday can be an Earth Day…a little PSA
The recognition of Earth Day is now in it’s fourth decade and I think we’ve come a long way in our acceptance that it’s our responsibility to keep things clean and green. If you think about the effort it takes on your part, it is very minimal.
Don’t throw trash out the window of your car and pick up after yourself. How simple is that? There are a ton of “green”products on the market now anywhere from hybrid vehicles to cleaning products made from biodegradable chemicals. You don’t have to buy anything and everything that has an eco-friendly label on it, just do the little things people.
Mother nature has an amazing way of healing herself and making new but I do believe there is a point where we have to step in to lend a hand. Nobody likes to see Diet Dr Pepper bottles floating in a pond or cigarettes being flung out windows. I’m not saying that you need to dawn the scuba gear and plunge into your neighborhood watering hole searching for bottles and cans, but if you see something outside needing to be thrown away or recycled, do it. You don’t need to pack your trunk full of random garbage, but do something. Yeah, trash is icky and god knows who’s hands have been on it, but most bacteria and viral infections die relatively quickly once exposed to the outside air (hehe).
Seriously, picking up something off the ground is no different then you grabbing a door handle at Arby’s…think about it?
Do something small, walk a block or two instead of hopping in your car, carpool if you can (a lot of metro areas have carpool websites and clubs where you meet people close to you and share rides, or people at your place of employment who want to ride share) In the summer, mow your lawn closer to sunset or early in the morning if you can. Drink more filtered tap water if you can’t stand the thought of doing away with your water bottles (Brita pitchers are so cool and easy to refill during the day)
If the government can’t get it done, then you need to. Don’t wait for someone else to come along and make it cleaner or smell better. Get your hands dirty and quit worrying about your god damn manicure or that new Rolex you just wrapped around your hairy, limp wrist. Get down from the narcissistic cloud you float around on and make a real difference. (I don’t mean you unless this fits) You don’t have to be a granola to be environmentally conscious. Just have an awareness that for every little move you make, there are people nearby who see you do it and think twice about their own actions. Kind of like that commercial you see where random people witness an act of kindness and then perform one themselves? Is blogging going to fix the world, no…but it’s a great way to express myself and get you to think too.
You see this pitch all over the place but obviously it’s an important one or we wouldn’t be bombarded by the message. It’s common sense – you take care of yourself so take care of your world.
Awesome! More “pumps”…now in a pump
Researchers have discovered a spray which can make a man last longer in the sack. Beware of the occasional tingle and numbness. The magic spray is almost here! It does not grow hair or shrink your waistline. Even better…it turns you into the 3.6 minute love machine. They are absolutely steering scientific research in the right direction now and it’s about time.
So it’s technically three days worth of food…it still sounds awesome!
I would say you probably shouldn’t eat a 4 lb hamburger more than once or twice a month (or a year) but it’s probably the best 45 minutes you’ll experience. A minor league baseball team in Michigan has introduced a 4 lb hamburger sold at the games for $20 bucks. What is even more sad is I bet people buy this thing for only themselves, not the kids or the wife, or the guys in there row…nope…this is a solo burger which requires a pizza cutter to slice it. Oh Yeah! (Actual picture of burger posted on link)
Why are we obsessesed with making hamburgers the size of VW bugs? Well, it’s the novelty and exploitation of food. Both of which are not a great thing considering kids starve in underdeveloped countries but maybe that’s the sign of a great (and self-indulgent) country we live in.
A country with huge waistlines, high blood pressure, heart disease (my personal favorite), no desire to exercise, high medical costs, and an assortment of other health related issues that nobody takes seriously.
We do, however, take the art of hamburger making seriously. Food has become an obession for Americans. We have reality shows about chefs, shows about people losing weight, BBQ contests, BBQ teams, cooking shows, nutritionists, caterers, street vendors, online grocery stores, and free sample Saturdays. The food industry is not interested in your health, rather your money. If you want to eat a 4lb hamburger and feel like a hot air baloon for 3 hours afterwards, that’s all on you sunshine.
Baseball, beer, and red faced belchers stuffing their hole with half a cow’s rump between bread…now that is just plain fun!
I sadly admit I would probably partake in this gluttony fest. The sheer irresistable lure of a fat, juicy burger is hard for the mere mortal to resist. On the flipside, it makes that run on the treadmill feel all that much better…if you wait at least a half hour.
Obama already turning the page on stem cell research
Obama’s personal views are evident on this subject- he supports it. His Liberal backers will love him and social conservatives that Obama is trying to win over – probably won’t.
I think science is leading the charge on this one – not moral implications.
Obama is essentially overturning Bush’s stance on Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. The issue is debatable among Evangelical Christians and Left-Wing radicals but I’m not getting into it.
It’s too early in the morning and the “science vs right to life” drama doesn’t settle too well with me.
Science has always intrigued me especially medical science. Do I want labs creating humans from other humans? Probably not- the idea of identical humans walking around seems to serve no purpose to me and seems very 1984′ ish eery spooky.
Do I support medical research of stem cells to possibly cure spinal cord injury, Parkinson’s, and other conditions? You bet.
In a nut shell here is the issue…when researchers harvest stem cells from these embryos, they are destroyed in the process. That’s the basis of the controversy- pretty simple – but not simple in the eyes of those who approve funding for the medical firms who perform such research and human trials.
Ya see, it all begins to generate the heated discussions of when does life actually begin and does this research cross the ethical line of medical science.
Ask the quadrapalegic or ask the man on the church pulpit- you’ll probably get two very different responses. Either way you perceive the issue – the President just put his stamp of approval on moving forward…with the science…as he sees it.
Heard It In A Bar RSS Feed- Texas – what the hell is wrong with you!? September 3, 2010I’m going to be honest with you, it is going to be very difficult for me to be calm about this. First, we had the Rep. Barton apologizing to BP for the Obama “shakedown”. Even his own party rolled their eyes and popped their Tums. I was up in arms over this and even got [...] […]She
- Lost is over and I actually miss it… September 3, 2010Six years of roller coaster loop de’ loops, dozens of undeveloped characters, and a story line that was as easy to follow as a chicken in a barnyard. If you didn’t watch Lost, you missed a show which challenged the fan to no end. Season after season of questions, theories, hypotheses’, cliff hanging plots, and a [...] […]kansasview
- Teetering on the edge…how does Bret Michaels do it? September 3, 2010I have to give Bret Michaels credit, he has battled a life of disease and he keeps bouncing back. At the age of six, he was diagonosed with Type I diabetes and has struggled to maintain his health all the while becoming an 80’s glam metal rock god, a history of hard hard partying, and what [...] […]kansasview
- A softball player who just happens to know the law, sign her up… September 3, 2010Does this woman really matter to you? If you look deep into the background of a possible supreme court justice, do you want actual bench experience or do you prefer someone who knows the law and has written a few hundred papers on well…the law? Princeton graduate, Harvard Law Dean,…on the surface at least Elena Kagan [...] […]kansasview
- When it rains for Tiger, it pours… September 3, 2010The muscle of this man has shrunk and shows more sign of atrophy as each new story surfaces. This blog did a pretty good job of leaving Tiger alone and I have to say after the recent events, I still stick to that credo. The bomb of the last couple months has dropped, the shrapnel has [...] […]kansasview
- Where have we been? September 3, 2010Well, a few good men and an even better woman started the idea of this blog and we owe it to someone to unspill the contents of our head, or at least mine. The time has come to once again say all the things I want to say and it’s an invitation for you as well! It’s [...] […]kansasview
- Brittany Murphy’s death is troubling September 3, 2010Not that it’s another tragic celebrity death, not that it’s another young life taken so early…these are all troubling and sad in their own right. It’s another tragic case of someone getting caught up in the web of drugs…the legal type! It truly saddens me that so many of these stars seek out more and more prescription [...] […]kansasview
- Internet fun for the weekend… September 3, 2010By far one of my favorite websites of late is called GraphJam.com. Essentially, the website attempts to break down the world and how we interact with it in a series of graphs. It is hilarious when you see how the world around us can be so easily summed up in a pie or bar chart. [...] […]kansasview
- So why are more companies not yet hiring? September 3, 2010U.S. Workers are still filing a large amount of unemployment claims and this is after five weeks of declines in this area. Where are the culprits and which industries are still hurting? It’s apparent as we have seen over the last year is that a gradual stabilization of the economy does not naturally translate to a increase [...] […]kansasview
- Facebook is down…Facebook is down…5:42 (cst) September 3, 2010This website is not a help desk for Facebook but it’s a civic duty to keep the American public aware of all possible natural disasters!! Facebook is down! Facebook is down! Don’t toss your Iphone in the river or hurl it at your wife and complain that it doesn’t work worth a s***. Here is the current [...] […]kansasview
- Texas – what the hell is wrong with you!? September 3, 2010
