My grandmother has been hospitalized for a week now and I'd like to tell you a little bit about her.  Martha Washington Warsop is 88 years old.  She was born on George Washington's birthday, which is why her clever parents gave her the middle name Washington.  She's lead a mostly healthy life with a few bumps along the way.  My grandmother still lives on her own, cooks for herself and cleans her own house.  She is such a good driver that I still trust her to pick up my kids from school and drive them home.  Oh, and she still enjoys meeting her sister for a beer.  Or two.

A little over a week ago my uncle and his wife brought her to the emergency room because she had slurred speech and was very weak.  The ER docs diagnosed it as dehydration, hydrated her up and sent her home.  My step-mother stayed with her over night and she awoke to find that my grandmother's condition had deteriorated so much that they had to take her back to the hospital by ambulance.  She arrived with a temperature of 103.  Grandma was disorientated and extremely weak.  Suspecting a heart attack, Oaklawn Hosptial shipped her to Bronson Hospital where they have an established cardiac care center.

Long story short(ish) the doctors at Bronson first diagnosed her problem as extensive heart disease and began treating her with nytroglicerin, potassium, blood thinners, and the like.  Her condition improved.  However, she still had this pesky fever that would not go away.  After many blood cultures and a down-the-throat ultrasound they found that she had a staph infection in her heart.  The staph bacteria had grown like vegetation around her heart valves, gumming up the works.  She had no heart attack, heart disease, or anything!  Good news, I suppose.  The bad news is she has to go to a nursing home for 6 weeks of physical therapy, occupational therapy and IV antibiotics.  After that she has to go back to Bronson for a valve tune-up.  The bacteria in her heart has likely damaged her heart valves and they will need to be prepared or replaced.  Oink!

Grandma is perking up and getting grouchy, which is a good sign.  Oh, and the staph infection?  The most likely scenario is that it entered her bloodstream during dental work.
 
1. Layers of LeBron James bullshit are what make me dislike modern sports.

2. Reading...a lot...leads to insight.

3. I'd be willing to bet I'm going to download the Carol King/James Taylor album even though it makes me feel incredibly middle-aged.

4. I should scare the dog (I don't much like dogs).

5. I'm fond of creme' fresh and strawberry jam sandwiches.

6. I've been staying up late too much!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a visit from my sister's family, tomorrow my plans include going to my 20th class reunion (blergh) and Sunday, I want to go to a Renaissance Festival!
 
Okay, so we talk about food at my house...a lot.  My kids cook, shop and garden with me.  I include them when I make food decisions because I think it's important for them to be thoughtful about what they put in their bodies.  I want my children to eat a variety of foods, pay attention to the seasons and buy locally.  Most of the time I think this talk goes in one ear and out the other, but obviously some of it is sinking in.  So, I've ordered a copy of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma for Kids.  I think Joe (9) is ready for it.  And don't even get him started on CAFO beef.


Joe's Essay on Corn Syrup, etc.

The way people use corn in our food is bad for us.  They are turning corn into unhealthy things, like corn syrup.  This would be okay, but people use it in food too much.  For example, people now put corn products in most things you may find in the snack aisle at any normal supermarket.  On most ingredient lists on snacks it normally has something in it made by corn.

McDonald's uses a lot of corn products, but that's not all.  I've heard that McDonald's bleaches dark meat in their Chicken McNuggets white so that kids will eat them.

All this "food" shouldn't be called food.  It should always be called "food-like substances"!

People only buy all of this garbage loaded with crap because they don't know what's in it.   Maybe they know what's in it but do not want to pay more for real
food.  Many kids won't eat real food because now they're used to the taste of all these food-like substances.

Pop was never supposed to be healthy, but now it's loaded with more fake things.  Only special pop has sugar instead of corn syrup.  Pop is now mostly a food-like substance.

Now, back to McDonald's.  McDonald's isn't all bad.  It's also what people choose to eat there.  People could choose milk instead of pop or apples instead of fries but most people don't.

I strongly disagree.  Some people think it's great to have fake food around, and it is sometimes.  But many people are now over weight.  Don't become one of them!