A Rainy Day in Willow Grove - Ed the Produce Man

   Oh no! Rod Steiger just killed another woman! And George Segal, who plays a Jewish cop with a nagging mother, is perplexed on how to catch him.

I'm watching channel 29.2, replete with commercials.

Water, as we know, has awesome powers. Here on my street, where our leaves are ready for the vacuum machine, the rain whooshed them hither and thither.

I shopped at the Giant twice today. What good is a list if you don't pull it outa your pocket?

 On the back road to the Giant, I saw the erection of the new Wawa gas station. In the distance is the Willow Grove Inn. All I can remember from my meatball meal was the lumpy green seats.

I actually pulled off to the side of the road to snap this. I love carrying my cam with me.

Here's Ed the Produce Man. He's been working in the back, as has Fontaine, filling up the Peapod trucks. They got a new fleet of 14 and carry groceries to people who don't wanna go out in the bad weather, or who are just plain lazy and spoiled.

Jan and Feb will be their busiest months, said Ed, who is going to his sister/law's for Thanksgiving. He'll pick up his 90-yo dad who lives home alone.

Ed's contribution will be his home-brewed beer.

Yeah, I said, you're a (retired) math teacher so you know how to do it?

Yes, he said, I know the right chemistry.

Ed is a wonderful cook, known in his family for his spectacular desserts, most made with liqueur.


Well, I spose if I ate some of his mile-high chocolate liqueur cake, I'd be on my stationery bike for a week!

Honk if you see a Peapod truck. As Suzanne, who works the desk upstairs, said to me, Ruth, you do more advertising for the Giant than we do.

 This sprinkling of white dust is SNOW!

Here it is on the back of my car.

Oh no! Now Steiger has killed four people! Sure hope he doesn't get Lee Remick.

The real Lee Remick died in 1991 at age 55. Kidney cancer.

Quick! Think of something happy.

Larry DiBello talks about New Meds, Exercising, and Over-the-Counter Meds

Larry DiBello, who drove up from his home in Delaware County, never disappoints.

He's wearing his name tag from The Friends Hospital Resource Center. Friends is the oldest psych hospital in the nation.

He was asked to work for the Resource Center 15 years ago by Ruth Seegrist, who became a fiery mental health advocate after her schizophrenic daughter gunned down people at the Springfield Mall in 1985.

Larry projected very helpful slides on the wall. He interspersed his talk with personal examples.

His dad told him, Son, you can go to any school you choose, as long as you can get there by subway. Larry chose Temple University where he studied pharmacy.

The first job he took was for Eli Lilly. It was very stressful, he said. He and his wife Anna were raising four children and the work was very demanding.

Larry began to suffer from depression. His psychiatrist put him on the tricyclic Tofranil.

He found another chemical that made him feel much better than the Tofranil.

"Beta-endorphins," he said, "which are made by our own bodies."

He became a runner who ran in marathons. He joked that he's now a physical wreck with two metal knees, a spinal fusion and a newly sprained ankle. He did have us chuckling.

He rides a stationery bike today while listening to music, for half an hour at a time, about four times a week.

WHY AREN'T THERE MORE NEW MEDS FOR BEHAVIORAL HEALTH CONDITIONS?

Larry said there's not enough money in it for the drug companies. There's more money to be found in oncology, cardiology and other specialties.

The new paradigm for research into mental illness is neuroimaging techniques.

The whole direction of research is changing, he said.

TWO NEW ANTIDEPRESSANTS

VIIBRYD. There are 23 subtypes of serotonin. Viibryd works on one of the subtypes that had never been targeted before. No sexual side effects. SSRIs notoriously affect the libido.

When Larry worked in the Medical Division of Lilly, he set up clinical trials. Met some outstanding psychiatrists such as Gary Gottlieb, who was the head of Friends but moved to the prestigious Mclean Hospital, associated with Hahvahd, in Boston.

We've added him to our Top Doc List.

There's no science to drugs for mental illness. You give them to people and see what happens.

In our group, people complain they're guinea pigs.

Indeed, in our group, a few people actually turned into these adorable creatures and haven't been seen since.

A la Gregor Samsa.

Larry advises us to HELP OUR PSYCHIATRISTS in our painfully short visits.

Mood charting. The idea of charting your mood from 1 to 10 is a terrible one. Simply do 0 to 3.

Bring the chart in to your doctor. '0' means no mania or depression. Also list what was going on in your life at the time.

Gary Sachs, MD, originated the charting. 

Bring a list of questions to your doctor.

He advised patients not to read the printouts that come with your meds. It's an agreement, he said, between the pharm companies and lawyers to avoid litigation.




BRINTELLIX (vortioxetine) is a new antidepressant, introduced about a year ago. I had never heard of it, which means no one in our group takes it. It's a multi-modal drug which means it hits various neurotransmitters.

Here are dual-acting antidepressants.

The dual-acting and Brintellix do not seem to precipitate mania. Welbutrin, Cymbalta, Effexor.

The new drug has no withdrawal effects, which most drugs have, with the exception of Prozac which has a long half-life.

In the pharma trade, it was well-known that if you want people to take your drug, use an XY or Z in the name. Examples are Celexa, Paxil, Lexapro, Zyprexa, Prozac.

ATYPICAL ANTIPSYCHOTICS

SAPHRIS, for schizophrenia and bipolar. Take this sub-lingually - under your tongue - it doesn't go thru your bloodstream. Less side effects.

Most drugs are metabolized by the liver, which may take a beating by the drug. Tylenol has the most liver side effects of any drug.

Drug trials need 5000 patients in a double-blind placebo study.

LATUDA is a unique drug b/c it has less memory impairment and you have an easier time remembering new things vs other antipsychotics. Larry predicts it will become very popular.

CLOZARIL is considered a 'dirty drug' 

A dirty drug is an informal term used in pharmacology to describe drugs that may bind to many different molecular targets or receptors in the body, and so tend to have a wide range of effects and possibly negative side effects. Today, pharmaceutical companies try to make new drugs as selective as possible to minimise binding to antitargets and hence reduce the occurrence of side effects and risk of adverse reactions. - Wiki

Larry said Clozaril is the single most effective drug for mania. I'd also heard the same about Zyprexa. The two of them have terrible side effects, says the blogger.

SEROQUEL has a 'new, hot use.' It's added to antidepressants to boost their efficacy. It's also used as a sleep aid.

600-900 mg antipsychotic

100-300 mg Yawn, I'm going upstairs to bed

ABILIFY is another add-on for depression.

ALSO, amplify your antidepressant response with FOLIC ACID.

Mad rush for handouts, reminiscent of when Apple introduced its new iPhone.

NEW DOSAGE FORMATS

Many older drugs have been revamped to make them more effective.

Sinequan (for sleep, no hangover of side effects), valproic acid, Trazodone (the newer model lets you sleep longer)

TITRATION is a psychiatrist's secret. "Start low and go slow."

A teaspoon of sugar contains 5,000 mg. Imagine if your new drug is as strong as this. You can't jolt your brain with this all at once.

Antidepressants take forever to work, said Larry. Do not stop abruptly b/c you'll go into withdrawal.

POLYPHARMACY, many drugs, is usually the standard treatment.

Two anti-manic drugs work better than one.

WHY ANTICONVULSANTS HELP MANIA (Lamictal, Depakote, Tegretol, Klonopin)

When a person has a convulsion, their brain has big spikes of GABA.

Same with mania.

FOLIC ACID. Large doses are available in DEPLIN.

FISH OIL is good for mania and anxiety. Take 1400 mg, available in triple-strength from Walgreen and Walmart.

Fish oil is composed ot EPA, which is not stored in your body; and DHA, which is.

OTC MEDS

For diarrhea, take Equilacten, not Kaopectate, which isn't very good.

For sleep, take 2 Benedryl at nite. You can also take Melatonin, sublingual, 1 to 5 mgs.

In appreciation for Larry's MARVELOUS talk, we gave him a

Larry couldn't get over the Giant Upstairs Classroom, which is free for nonprofits. We have superb help from Elyse Bonner, Robin Franklin and Suzanne.

Margaret sings in the Abington Presbyterian Choir. Wonder what they're singing for their Xmas Concert.

After the meeting, we always schmooze downstairs in the Coffee Shop, similar to the famous Algonquin Round Table in NYC. 

 Was happy to see Noam and Janice.

 Here's Betsey my paddleboat companion, chatting with Chris.

I drank a small hot chocolate. My blood sugar went thru the roof. Can't a girl ever get a break? So I'm going on my bike now and watch Bill Moyers interview the late Doris Lessing.

Actually, he's interviewing Henry Giroux, a brilliant American, who is super-critical of our society, where greed has become the bottom line. He says to Moyers, 'Say, you and I are on the program Survivor. Our mission is not to help one another, but to destroy each other.'

This is what our society is now about.

I learned at our after-hours table about the book The White Hotel. It's on my reading list now. Will read it after The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett.

I believe Doris Lessing, author of A Golden Notebook, which we also discussed at table, will be on now. The reception upstairs was terrible so I'll watch it online. She just died at 94, a Nobel winner.

Some of my favorite people - I'm thankful they're in my life - Matt Fuehrer and Helene Ryesky

First stop was to say hello to Matt Fueher of Authorized Camera Repair. He's helped me many times with my camera, which is still going strong. Read my story about him here. 

I brought him a dappled poinsettia. Read this poem about 'dappled things,' which Sarah introduced me to.

His partner Robert does the Thanksgiving Day cooking. Matt will return to work the following Friday to catch up on his work.

For Xmas, they're going out to Iowa to see Matt's family.

I love this guy!

While blogging, I get a phone call from Los Angeles, the City of Angels. I'm wondering if it's from my friend Marcy Belsh who I haven't heard from in years.

It's Herb Ross - yes! Herb Ross (who he?) from the Southern Poverty Law Center wanting a donation.

Apparently I donated $50 the last time.

Herb, I said, dyou know who you're talking to? The Poverty Queen of Cowbell Road. I pledged $25.


OMG, this reminds me of a White Suprematist serial killer who was just executed in Missouri on Nov. 20. Read this Times article about the dirty deeds he performed with his gun.

 I always surprise my friend Helene when I visit her at Rydal Park for the elders. When I arrived she was going thru her manuscripts. Helene is a wonderful writer who is working on her memoir.

While she was discussing her life at Rydal Park, I imagined videotaping her, she was so eloquent in her hatred of the place.

"I guess I'm trapped here forever," she said. 

She described it as a warehouse where people are not real.

For one thing, the staff is paid to be nice to you.

Visitors must sign in. Helene said there are cameras everywhere.

I gave her a choice of several poinsettias. She's a woman who loves choices. I knew she'd choose the brilliant red one, which she set next to some berries that her friend Ruth Almond brought her from the old neighborhood.

 Hadn't realized that Helene knew the people who moved into her house on Bauman Drive. They lived in the neighborhood but wanted a bigger house.

Helene's old house was magnifique.

Helene also was going thru her old recipes.

"I have a lot of recipes of things I made when Ruth Deming came to visit," she told me.

"Yeah," I said. "Like Davy Eyre Pancakes.

For holidays, she would make Brandy Alexander Pie using Grand Marnier. I told her I thought of her when I saw that building in Paris.


Lucky for me, I don't have diabetes and can eat as much as I want.

I remember when she had this gorgeous tall file cabinet made.

When I left, I went out the back door so I wouldn't have to face the security guards in the front and remind me how captive all of the residents are.

Well, at least the prison has nice flowers.

My Dinner Party on the 50th Anniv of the JFK Assassination - Hello Donna, Judy and Scott

We lived in Shaker Heights, OH, as kids. My sister Ellen and her friend Nancy Rose went to school dressed as Mr and Mrs John F Kennedy.

As the article states, we lived at 2929 Glenmore Road, and Nancy and her family - Barbara and Dickie, are her sibs - lived directly behind us on Green Road.

Nancy Rose, who now lives in CA, near Oakland, and is now Nancy Rose Harrington, has apparently kept this newspaper clipping thru all these years. I had sent her a remembrance message on Facebook and she quickly responded with the newspaper clipping.

At my dinner party, we never discussed the anniversary of JFK's assassination. After watching numerous shows about the murder, I'm convinced Oswald was the lone gunman.

Other people will cling to their conspiracy theories.

I was shocked to learn that the Zapruder film wasn't aired until maybe 20 years later.

During one of my great day trips, this time to the Newseum in Washington, DC, we saw an exhibit about the assassination.  



Let's see. I was in 11th grade at Shaker Heights High when the announcement came on that he'd been shot and was dead.

Terry Greenstein, who sat next to me in Homeroom, said, "He would have to get shot on my birthday."

Nancy Wolen and I rode the rapid transit home from school. There wasn't a sound on the train.

Within the week, I mailed Marina Oswald a $20 bill, sent simply to Marina Oswald, Dallas, TX. My dad said it would get there.

I felt awful for the woman.

PBS' Frontline, Nova and Secrets of the Dead did a great psychological portrayal of Lee Harvey Oswald. They included interviews with his brother, who said Oswald liked 'playing with people.'

*

I'm at the Giant and see many vegetables with $1 off coupons on em.

The veggies looked good enough to eat - brussels sprouts, asparagus, mushrooms. I had too many veggies so decided to invite people over.

Excuse me while I get more Tazo Tea, which my barista sister Donna brought me long ago. Say "tah-zo."

Oh! It comes in flavors... mine is Orange Blossom.

Don't you adore the tin box?

I only invited people with bad backs.

Are you losing weight, Ruth? asked my sister Donna.

Yes, I said. I've given up eating cheese. And also mayo. Don't miss the cheese but you can't make very good tunafish salad with olive oil and lemon.

 Since Judy works at Beth Sholem - the Frank Lloyd Wright Synagogue in Elkins Park - I asked her to say the barucha before we ate.

We learned to say SHABBAT SHALOM when it's shabbos, Friday nite. Judy left early to attend services at Beth Shalom.

I gave Judy the white poinsettia before she left.  Note the difficult spelling of that tropical flower.

Soup was delicious. I made it with Coconut Milk, veggies, tilapia, turmeric and cinnamon. Donna insisted on salt.

Scott specializes in taking terrible pictures of his woman.

Marionette lines filled in with Juvederm. 

Since my niece is a dentist, I got it done at cost.

OUCH OUCH OUCH!