Archive for the ‘medicine’ Category

A Short Open Letter to Healthcare Companies & Medical Schools who Don’t Want to be Sued out of Existence

Posted: January 28, 2026 by datechguy in medicine, politics
Tags: , , , , , ,
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Draxel Forg: What’s happening?

12th Doctor: Right on cue. Take a look, Eagle men, from Shanroth, planet of the lawyers, that’s one of their justice cruisers, action lawsuit class I shouldn’t wonder.

Doctor Who (Big Finish) The Best Laid Plans 2019

Ladies & Gentlemen:

I would like to call to your attention the recent spate of healthcare workers doing the following:

  1. Openly calling for the death of political opponents
  2. Openly calling for healthcare workers to injure patients with political views they dislike
  3. Openly calling for healthcare workers to not treat patients with political views they dislike
  4. Actually refusing to treat people due to political opinions
  5. Openly taking public political opinions as representatives of the industry or individual healthcare facilities

Needless to say this may be problematic in terms of publicity but I would like to point out a far greater risk to your business than simply bad press.

Medicine, for all its advancements is still an inexact science.

Unlike engineering where the tolerances for various metals and structures can be predicted if the products are properly made, different people will react to treatments differently. There is always a chance that a problem will arise with any med or any treatment or any procedure.

Of course there is always the factor of human error which can be reduced by vigilance but by nature never completely eliminated. Which is why Doctors & Nurses and healthcare workers with any sense carry malpractice insurance.

Now consider for a moment a conservative who comes to one of your facilities, a facility where the doctor, or the nurse, or the person passing meds or even the kitchen staff has been posting on public social media their disgust at conservatives &/or calling for their harm.

Think of what happens if an open conservative comes to your facility for any sort of treatment and has

  • A reaction to meds
  • An adverse reaction to a procedure
  • A bad complication
  • An unexpected death

In any of those cases the patient and/or the family naturally questions why this has taken place. What kind of conclusion might be reached if any of those online political activities come to light concerning any person involved in his or her treatment? How fast will the family conclude that this was not part of the normal risk of treatment but a deliberate act against a perceived “enemy”?

How quick do you think a family like that will decide to sue?

How fast will such a suit become a cause célèbre in the conservative community?

How quickly will pols seeking to make hay grab onto such a case?

How much would that cause previous patients and their families to give scrutiny to any past visit that did not have a satisfactory outcome?

And most importantly will the insurance company that covers your facility decide at best to raise the rates they are charging because of the risk or fight any payout on the grounds that a deliberate failure to provide the proper care is a criminal act?

All of those risks are after the fact, consider this:

A medical college that openly pushes to radicalize doctors or nurses to consider those who don’t share an instructors hatred of conservatives or ICE or Trump as not worthy of treatment.

Can you imagine the risk you will have if you hire a graduate of such a program? Can you picture all of those consequences I already named exacerbated by hiring a person who has done any of those things listed above or marched in events during their college years? The negligence argument writes itself.

That being said I offer the following suggestions:

  1. Instruct your HR departments to screen potential hires social media posts for any such statements supporting violence as noted above.
  2. Instruct your HR departments to inform colleges that train medical professionals that candidates from any facility whose program is even perceived to encourage bias based on political affiliation will not be considered for any position
  3. Discharge any person who has precipitated in any of the above actions
  4. If discharge is not possible due to contract limitation give written notice that any such behavior as noted above will result in immediate discharge from the facility & a lawsuit to recover damages by the facility
  5. Implement immediate training for existing staff to make it clear that any such action will result in immediate discharge & a possible lawsuit to recover damages
  6. Implement training for all new hires to make clear that any such action will result in immediate discharge & a possible lawsuit to recover damages.
  7. Make such a policy an official policy of your facility

Such actions will protect you and your facility from the enormous financial risks involved in this behavior contrary to the best traditions of the medical profession.

It’s your call.

DaTechGuy’s Diet Phase Three The Final and the Hardest Part

Posted: January 25, 2026 by datechguy in medicine, personal
Tags: ,
1

Amy Pond: [To her younger self] Ok kid this is where it gets complicated.

Doctor Who The Big Bang 2010

Well nationally there’s trouble in Minnesota and locally we’re just an hour away from what appears to be the biggest snow storm to hit the area since the blizzard of 1978 but in DaTechguy’s house the big story this morning was that when I weighed myself I came out at 259.8 which means I’m down 43.5 pounds and also means that with under ten pounds left to lose (9.8 pounds to be exact) we now enter phrase three of DaTechGuy’s Diet Plan which has the potential to be the hardest part to pull off.

For those who missed my first two posts on the subject here is the base diet I started with when I began five months, two weeks and three days ago:

  • No fast food: McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger king OUT
  • No bread (I get two slices when I go out for breakfast that’s it) no Subs
  • No sausage
  • No chocolate bars
  • No candy, cake etc basically no deserts
  • No Ice Cream
  • No potatoes
  • Salads with a meal whenever possible simple oil/vinegar dressings only
  • Soups when possible
  • Soda only if a restaurant has iffy water
  • Lots of peppers, onions & garlic
  • No Pasta
  • No snacks
  • NO SECOND HELPINGS NO EXCEPTIONS!

Let me note that the rules of this diet did NOT apply on the following days:

  • Birthdays
  • Anniversaries
  • Thanksgiving
  • Christmas
  • Any General Family Celebration

This keeps one from becoming a killjoy on key days while eliminating the concept of “cheat days” which I think sabotages diets.

Using this diet I dropped 33.3 pounds in 3 months 2 weeks and one day which got me to under 270, 20 pounds to my final goal.

Once I cracked 270 Phase Two of the diet began. This loosed some of these rules allowing me to enjoy things I had withheld from myself while still limiting them. Those updated rules were:

  • No fast food: McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger king OUT
  • No Subs
  • No snacks
  • Salads with a meal whenever possible simple oil/vinegar dressings only
  • Soups when possible
  • Soda only if a restaurant has iffy water (always diet)
  • Lots of peppers, onions & garlic
  • No Pasta (UPDATE forgot to include this in the list)
  • No snacks
  • NO SECOND HELPINGS NO EXCEPTIONS!
  • An occasional Market Basket Donut (FAR superior to Dunkin’s) perhaps bi-weekly. (had maybe 3 during this time)
  • No bread at home, if I’m out and it comes with a meal one slice Toast if I go out for breakfast (had maybe four pieces)
  • Breakfast sausage once a week max if I cook at home or once a week out) Only twice at home but regularly if I had breakfast out
  • One candy bar a week if I want it think a Cadbury bar eaten over 3 days (had about four)
  • Ice cream if I go to Friendly’s (the mini cone trio) a taste of what’s at home a week if wanted (ran out of home ice cream never bought one)
  • If at Friendly’s or anywhere & get a burger & fries no BBQ sauce or bacon eat about 1/2 of the fries (I don’t finish the fires and had bacon three times on a burger

This phase lasted two months and two days to lose ten pounds. While this is a considerably slower rate of loss per pound as the numbers show:

  • 62 days to lose 10 pounds (one pound every 6.2 days) vs
  • 105 days to lose 33.3 pounds (one pound every 3.15 days)

…the end result was to allow me to reintroduce foods I enjoyed without binging. There was some surprises in that when I had ribs for the first time in months I found that I didn’t really enjoy them so just dropped them. But this slower rates paid off in habits that have now been established.

But now that I’m below 260 and have less than ten pounds to go that REALLY tough part comes. The phase three diet eliminates almost all of the restrictions above. Here is what remains:

  • No fast food: McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger king OUT
  • Salads with a meal whenever possible simple oil/vinegar dressings only
  • Soups when possible
  • Diet Soda only
  • Lots of peppers, onions & garlic
  • NO THIRD HELPINGS NO EXCEPTIONS!

Here is what is now allowed or loosened:

  • One Sub a week max (Small or Medium only)
  • Snacks (chips etc) Only during playoff games & major sports events
  • Pasta once a week MAX
  • Second Helpings only to avoid leftovers and no seconds on a desert.
  • English Muffin White Bread & Bagels allowed at home for occasional sandwich (weekly) or as an occasional Breakfast item
  • An occasional Market Basket Donut
  • Three candy bars max over any two week period
  • Ice cream at home once a week max
  • No items ordered out if the calorie listing is over 1200.
  • Not allowed to finish any order of fries or onion rings unless they are being shared.

The idea here is the same as phase two. Allowing me to introduce items back to my regular dietary rotation in a way that doesn’t cause me to binge. There is nothing wrong with having some chips, there is a lot wrong with finishing a bag in one sitting. Bagels & bread are fine, but not overdoing carbs that become fat. Pasta is a wonderful thing but feasting on it daily is bad news.

Now I want to point out that these are things are CAN do. This doesn’t mean I’m going to be having all of this stuff even as much as it’s allowed. Basically I’m giving myself more options and it’s my job to not abuse any of them. The three and a half months at the start of the diet built up the discipline to do without, the two months that followed built up the discipline to enjoy things in moderation. Now this home stretch is going to be all about allowing most of the things that I haven’t had. Given that it took me 2 months to lose those 10 pounds I’d not be surprised if it took till April to finish the job although the snowfall and the shoveling involved will likely help a bit as will the coming of spring and the ability to walk again outside as exercise at public tracks and parks.

But the reality is all of this is a means to an end. My last set of blood tests were a huge improvement on the results that prompted this diet. This is all about getting those numbers where they need to be. I’m scheduled for tests in two weeks. That is where the rubber meets the road.

Wish me luck.

Postscript: So what is the plan once I get to below 250 and have lost the full 53.3 pounds that I set out to do?

Well all the restrictions will be gone. The diet will be ended and I’ll count on the good habits I’ve developed to be maintained. Since weight fluctuate a few pounds in either direction what I’ll do is I’ll weigh myself once a week. If I stay in the 245-255 range I’ll leave things as they are. If I get above 255 the phase three restrictions will again apply till I get back to 250. If I really backslide and hit 260 again then the phase two restrictions will return.

But I’m ten pounds away from worrying about any of that.

Postscript two: Some might wonder why I didn’t go on any of the weight loss drugs out there. My answer is the same as last time. The whole point of this exercise was to not have to take pills and shots for the rest of my life. It was not to take a different set of pills and shots for the rest of my life.

Diet Update: Entering Phase 2

Posted: November 23, 2025 by datechguy in medicine, personal
Tags: ,

I thought you might be interested in an update on the status of my diet:

There are two critical updates the first is the round of blood tests that the Doctor ordered after three months of it being in place: These tests were all drawn 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Test Progress

  • My A1C is out of the Diabetic range and now in the pre-diabetic range
  • My glucose is down but still not in the “normal” zone but I’ve moved half the distance to the goal
  • Bun is now in normal range lowest in 10 years
  • My total cholesterol is now only a single point above normal the lowest since they started checking 12 years ago
  • Triglycerides are now deep into normal better than half of before
  • Non HDL cholesterol down 15 points still over normal but the lowest ever measured in me

The big news is the A1C If I can drop it by half as much as I’ve already had I’ll actually be in the full “normal” range and given the history of heart attacks in my family the HDL number is a big deal.

These are all good signs. My next set of tests are scheduled for February, we’ll see where we are there.

Diet progress

At my last post I was at 280 on the nose. At my doctor’s appointment on the day of the tests I was at 273.4 Today I have broken the 270 barrier and am at 269.6. I’m at 63.2% of my goal under 20 lbs away (250).

This means my diet is now entering phase 2 which is what I call the adaptive phase.

Phase one was very strict. Here are the details again:

  • No fast food: McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger king OUT
  • No bread (I get two slices when I go out for breakfast that’s it) no Subs
  • No sausage (I had one piece a week ago) 1st since Aug 8th
  • No chocolate bars (had one since the 8th)
  • No candy, cake etc basically no deserts
  • No Ice Cream (I’ve had two servings since Aug 8th)
  • No potatoes (two servings since Aug 8th)
  • Salads with a meal whenever possible simple oil/vinegar dressings only
  • Soups when possible
  • Soda only if a restaurant has iffy water
  • Lots of peppers, onions & garlic
  • No Pasta (UPDATE forgot to include this in the list)
  • No snacks (chips , Cheetos etc forgot to include this on the original list but it’s been from the start)
  • NO SECOND HELPINGS NO EXCEPTIONS!

You’ll note some of these items are in bold that means they remain the same in phase 2 that is:

  • No fast food: McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger king OUT
  • No Subs (covered by ‘no bread’ but need to clarify here)
  • No Candy cakes, basically no deserts
  • Salads with a meal whenever possible simple oil/vinegar dressings only
  • Soups when possible
  • Soda only if a restaurant has iffy water (always diet)
  • Lots of peppers, onions & garlic
  • No Pasta (UPDATE forgot to include this in the list)
  • No snacks
  • NO SECOND HELPINGS NO EXCEPTIONS!

You’ll note some items are now in italics. That’s because we’re reached this point in under 4 months of the full year I have some flexibility so here is what will change

  • No bread at home, if I’m out and it comes with a meal one slice (Toast if I go out for breakfast)
  • Breakfast sausage once a week max if I cook at home or once a week out
  • One candy bar a week if I want it (think a Cadbury bar eaten over 3 days)
  • Ice cream if I go to Friendly’s (the mini cone trio) a taste of what’s at home a week if wanted
  • If at Friendly’s a burger & fries (no BBQ sauce or bacon) eat about 1/2 of the fries
  • An occasional Market Basket Donut (FAR superior to Dunkin’s) perhaps bi-weekly.

The idea is to slowly reintroduce foods to my diet that were once staples (sausage, burger & fries) and some deserts (ice cream, chocolate bars). This is to teach me to eat them in moderation and not to binge. If this means I get to 259 in January or Feb that’s fine. The idea is to learn moderation in foods I enjoy.

As before there are no “cheat” days but Birthdays, Holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas) are days when none of these restrictions apply.

Once I hit 259 we’ll begin phase 3. The home stretch. When I get there I’ll fill you in on the plan.

You might ask yourself: “Hey DaTechGuy? There are now drugs that will help you lose weight? Why bother with all this dieting?”

I say. The whole point of this exercise is to not have to take medications (pills and shots) to stay alive, not to take a different set of pills and shots.

Plus if you use the diet shots & pills then but don’t change your lifestyle once you stop all the problems return. Much better to do this myself and train myself to be sensible.

Wish me luck.

I haven’t really written about DaDiet on the Blog…

Posted: October 23, 2025 by datechguy in medicine, personal

…but so far it’s going pretty well.

Basically on Aug 4th I did something I hadn’t done in years, got a physical that included blood tests.

The tests didn’t come out very good to say the least and it looked like a lot of drugs and needles heading my way when the only medicine I have every been on was for blood pressure and that has only been for the last year or so.

I saw the results on MyChart and read them to my wife who gave me the bad news before the nurse-practitioner could call me. At that moment I resolved that I would try to take care of the problem myself, no shots, no pills, no cutting out half of my stomach.

I called the nurse-practitioner on the Feast of St. Myron of Crete (August 8th) and told the doctor that I was going to give myself one year from that date to get myself in better shape and if next year on that date my blood tests were still horrible I’d submit to whatever medication she would prescribe but I got myself into this problem so I want to try to get myself out of it.

On Aug 3rd I weighed in at 303.3

As of 15 minutes ago (Oct 23rd 6 am) I’m at 280 on the nose. My goal is 250. I choose 250 because all my old clothes will still fit me at 250 if I go below that weight I have to buy new stuff and nothing becomes more discouraging than losing weight, buying new clothes and then slowing growing to big for them again.

For those interested here is

DaTechguy’s Personal Diet

  • No fast food: McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger king OUT
  • No bread (I get two slices when I go out for breakfast that’s it)
  • No sausage (I had one piece a week ago) 1st since Aug 8th
  • No chocolate bars (had one since the 8th)
  • No candy, cake etc basically no deserts
  • No Ice Cream (I’ve had two servings since Aug 8th)
  • No potatoes (two servings since Aug 8th)
  • Salads with a mean whenever possible simple oil/vinegar dressings only
  • Soups when possible
  • Soda only if a restaurant has iffy water
  • Lots of peppers, onions & garlic
  • No Pasta (UPDATE forgot to include this in the list)
  • NO SECOND HELPINGS NO EXCEPTIONS!

I don’t have “cheat days” but what I do have is a rule that if there is a birthday or a holiday (Christmas, Thanksgiving) all these rules are suspended for the day but I don’t go nuts.

That and I’ve added walking when possible and the elliptical twice a week when It’s not.

I’m on track to hit my goal by Valentines day but I do have till aug 8th so It’s looking good and the NP has scheduled a blood test next month to check on the progress.

Wish me luck

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