(Colorized transmission electron micrograph (TEM) revealed some of the ultrastructural morphology displayed by an Ebola virus)
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Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe! YES! Yes it has been a very long time since I wrote or published here at The Other Shoe. Now, as for that and the reasons for my absence? I will leave that for another article later this week. Look for that information in an all new edition of ‘Notes from Behind the Keyboard’. I anticipate that article to be published on Thursday or Friday of this week. Finally, before we get to the subject at hand, I would like to announce that ‘The Horror in Smithville’ will not conclude before or on Halloween… this year. The story, and the one after this one, will continue here for the next several months… or years.
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My Dear Readers, first I am going to tell you a story. A story of the incident that lead me back to my writing and back to this blog with this article in my heart, mind and soul. Alas, I am going to share a few teasers in this paragraph. So! If you do not like spoilers, and would like this week’s reading (and next week’s, too) without any spoilers? Just move on to the second next paragraph, eh? My Dear Readers my cancer has really reared its ugly head, over the past three weeks. That has been the reason (behind the scenes) for my extended absence. Last week I had; another ‘Full Body CT Scan with Contrast’, an Ultrasound of my thyroid, and another MRI of my head, neck and upper torso. This has lead me to be ‘out’ among the masses, more than usual. Well, Allen and I were out and about and we see this middle aged woman, Anglo, with a ‘Particle Mask’ over her mouth and nose. You know, one of those one would use for sanding and painting.
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.[FYI Spoilers are OVER!]
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FYI those are completely useless for stopping something like ebola. So, I just couldn’t help it… I mention that fact to this woman.
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“Hello… why are you wearing a particle mask?”
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Woman responds-
“It is to protect me from ebola!”
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I resist the urge to laugh (for the moment), and respond-
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“You do know that ebola is not airborne and that painting particle mask will do nothing to stop anything but a cold or maybe the flu, right?”
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The woman harrumphs to my statement and merely responds with-
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“Well, that is what they said about AIDS!”
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NOW(?) I am laughing maniacally! I just cannot help myself; I break out into deep loud and unbridled laughter!
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Allen and I go about our business, for that day, but it is in that moment that I realized that I simply must write an article to share FACTS about ebola and dispel FICTION!
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My Dear Readers it has come to my attention that (some) ‘Conservative’ media outlets and ‘conservative’ politicians are spreading falsehoods about ebola. SOME ‘conservatives’ are spreading falsehoods and sewing seeds of fear in the American populace just before elections next week. Spreading fear and falsehoods and proffering that “president Obama is not doing enough to protect the American people from this growing threat” (FYI- THAT statement was taken directly from a very popular show on a very popular ‘conservative’ network.. I witnessed this myself).
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Therefore, I have taken upon myself to write and try to dispel some of these blatant falsehoods, and (hopefully) alleviate some fear. I feel that it is my duty to try to counter some of the fear mongering that is taking place, just before this mid-term election. For anyone that has worked, and studied well, in the medical industry? You will know and understand the difference between these disease spreading modalities.
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Infectious disease: A disease caused by a microorganism and therefore potentially infinitely transferable to new individuals. May or may not be communicable. Example of non communicable is disease caused by toxins from food poisoning or infection caused by toxins in the environment, such as tetanus.
Communicable disease: an infectious disease that is contagious and which can be transmitted from one source to another by infectious bacteria or viral organisms.
Contagious disease: a very communicable disease capable of spreading rapidly from one person to another by contact or close proximity.
(Disease transmission information thanks to the CDC web site[1])
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Let’s take, as an example, the ‘Common Cold’. A Rhinovirus that is highly contagious, in that it can be passed as airborne particles from a ‘wet cough’ or sneeze by an infected and symptomatic patient. Aye, THERE’S the RUB! For there to be a transfer of ebola from one human to another? First- the infecting patient must be symptomatic! They must have a high fever, chills, muscle pain and sore throat. Even a person with ebola that is not yet symptomatic cannot spread the ebola virus.
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Further, ebola is NOT airborne! It cannot be passed through the air. Contrary to some) ‘news’ reports the ebola virus is NOT “mutating”! It is NOT in the process of changing methods of infection or modality. Anyone that tells you that, or makes a statement of that in ‘news’ or other broadcast is merely engaging in fear mongering. Now, I have put the majority of this article in my own words. Now, I am going to hand over the rest of this information to the experts. The World Heath Organization (WHO) has more real life experience dealing with ebola than any organization on the planet.
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Ebola Signs and symptoms
(Image thanks to Centers for Disease Control Web Site)
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Symptoms of Ebola include
- Fever
- Severe headache
- Muscle pain
- Weakness
- Diarrhea
- Vomiting
- Abdominal (stomach) pain
- Unexplained hemorrhage (bleeding or bruising)
Symptoms may appear anywhere from 2 to 21 days after exposure to Ebola, but the average is 8 to 10 days.
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Key facts
- Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a severe, often fatal illness in humans.
- The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads in the human population through human-to-human transmission.
- The average EVD case fatality rate is around 50%. Case fatality rates have varied from 25% to 90% in past outbreaks.
- The first EVD outbreaks occurred in remote villages in Central Africa, near tropical rainforests, but the most recent outbreak in west Africa has involved major urban as well as rural areas.
- Community engagement is key to successfully controlling outbreaks. Good outbreak control relies on applying a package of interventions, namely case management, surveillance and contact tracing, a good laboratory service, safe burials and social mobilisation.
- Early supportive care with rehydration, symptomatic treatment improves survival. There is as yet no licensed treatment proven to neutralise the virus but a range of blood, immunological and drug therapies are under development.
- There are currently no licensed Ebola vaccines but 2 potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.[2] (From World Health Organization web site[3])
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Further, here are some more salient FACTS about ebola.
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Here is great information on just how ebola can be transmitted!
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Ebola Transmission
(Image thanks to Centers for Disease Control Web Site)
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Transmission
It is thought that fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family are natural Ebola virus hosts. Ebola is introduced into the human population through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals such as chimpanzees, gorillas, fruit bats, monkeys, forest antelope and porcupines found ill or dead or in the rainforest.
Ebola then spreads through human-to-human transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
Health-care workers have frequently been infected while treating patients with suspected or confirmed EVD. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.
Burial ceremonies in which mourners have direct contact with the body of the deceased person can also play a role in the transmission of Ebola.
People remain infectious as long as their blood and body fluids, including semen and breast milk, contain the virus. Men who have recovered from the disease can still transmit the virus through their semen for up to 7 weeks after recovery from illness.[4]
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So, My Dear Readers, one can clearly and easily see that ebola simply cannot be transmitted via airborne contact. An uninfected person MUST come in contact with the bodily fluids of an infected and SYMPTOMATIC patient. Period.
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Ebola Virus
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Now, I promised myself that I will keep my re-introduction to writing and publishing… limited. I am going to do my best to keep the first articles short, and only write three times a week. I hope to publish, again, on Tuesday or Thursday. I will not be publishing on Wednesday… as I am going back to my oncologist on Wednesday. I am returning to chemotherapy. But, that is a story for another day.
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Before I go I would like to share a handful of other sources for good information on ebola:
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Now, My Dear Readers, having shared this information I would like to express my deep concern about the way certain elements in our political universe have used this disease. First, there is no need to “stop all flights into and out of areas with this disease”. That is just ignorance meant to stir up fear and to act out of ignorance. We need to keep moving people (medical and support personnel) into and out of these effected areas. It is illogical to stop all air traffic, and in the end, it will make the situation worse! These (few ‘conservative’) governors that are implementing draconian measures based not in science but in fear. We need to monitor, closely, all people that come out of the effected areas… IF they came in contact with symptomatic patients! I am just deeply offended and deeply upset by this politicalization of a deadly disease!
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Finally, My Dear Readers, I am very happy to be back. I will do my best to keep writing and publishing all through my chemotherapy and treatments. I have every intention to complete ‘The Horror in Smithville’ as the story unfolds in my head. I was wrong to try and put some artificial deadline on this work, I realize that now. You see, just in the past two days I have had several major revelations about character development and pot lines… that, well, I would have totally missed out on if I had stuck to the deadline of Halloween!
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I will be back tomorrow or Thursday. I do hope that you, My Dear Readers, will be bac… too!
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Adieu!
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Thank you!
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Danny Arrives for PET Scan
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© 2010 – 2014
Hanning Web Wurx and The Other Shoe
Notes From Behind the Keyboard – February 6th, 2015
February 7, 2015 Leave a comment
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Danny Rolling Hills Estates
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Welcome back My Dear Readers to The Other Shoe. My goodness has it really been over a month since I last posted? Yes, it has! For most of you, My Dear Readers, this comes as no surprise. My battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma has taken the last little bit of strength from my body. Leaving me quite bereft of the physical abilities needed to write and publish. Normally, I would apologize for this extended hiatus, today… I am not. My adventure with chemotherapy has come to an end.
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Unfortunately the chemotherapy did not have the desired results. From what I am told, these drugs did not “knock back…” my disease as much as my oncologist has anticipated. Therefore, we have started a round of radiation therapy. This will last another couple of weeks, and then I will be finished with all the toxic… exposures. With any luck, once I am finished with this current treatment I will be relatively free of this cancer.
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My Dearest Readers, I have many videos from the past several months. Videos of me heading to treatment, videos of me during treatment, and a few of Prince Alexander playing and being my little boy rat. It is my desire and intent that, once I am recovered from these treatments, I will be sharing all of these videos with all of you. My Dear Readers, I genuinely long to return to a regular and full writing and publishing schedule.
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Do you all remember what that was like? Five to seven articles every single week. A weekly edition of ‘The Mars Report’ with all the newest information and images from Curiosity and the Opportunity rovers. Weekly editions of ‘News From Around the World’ with all the news that does not appear on the major media outlets web sites. Weekly editions of ‘The Horror in Smithville’ with the latest antics of Timmy and Archer if their fight against ‘The Tall Man’ and the upcoming adventure @ the Harvest Carnival. Weekly editions of ‘A Week in Review’ and the antics of Prince Alexander in ‘Sunday Funnies’!
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I have not forgotten all the wonderful articles and all the wonderful experiences that we shared here at The Other Shoe. Nor have I forgotten how wonderful it is to write and entertain all of you, My Dearest Readers, from all over this great planet Earth. I really had no idea just how bad these chemotherapy treatments would slam my health. I really had no idea just how much these treatments would negatively effect my neruopathy in my left hand. I really ad no idea just now bad things would be, or I just might have opted out of getting these treatments.
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All I can hope is that you, My Dearest Readers, will come back once I start writing and publishing, again. For I have dearly missed all of you… deeply. I would like to promise that this weekend I will return to my regular writing and publishing schedule. However, I have never lied to you, My Dearest Readers, before and I am not about to start now. Terrible as it may be? Just writing these two pages has taken a great deal of energy and focus. Looking back? I really am amazed at the amount of content I generated all by myself. Over just under five years I wrote, edited, and published nearly SIX HUNDERED articles for your reading pleasure.
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When I consider all the effort that goes into just one edition of ‘The Mars Report’! Downloading images for the article, writing the article and embedding the images, uploading the images on to both blog servers, uploading the text, and then integrating the images (and adding descriptions) for as many as ten images. Honestly, it would take me up to four to six hours just to get from start to finish for just one edition of ‘The Mars Report’. It was a labor of love, My Dearest Readers. A love of all things extraterrestrial, and a love of all of you My Dearest Readers.
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Well, that brings us to the end of this edition of Notes From Behind the Keyboard’. I do hope that all of you, My Dearest Readers, keep checking back and drop by often. With all luck and a bit of extra strength, you can look forward to me adopting a partial publication schedule by the end of February, or the first of March. I know that, sometime in March, my oncologist will start (again) the process of ‘Staging my Cancer’. That will mean PET scans, blood tests, and most likely another bone marrow test.
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As always I will keep all of you, My Dearest Readers, fully informed on the results of these tests. Fear not, even if I loose this battle with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma? I will continue to write and publish so long as I have life. It is my heartfelt desire to complete ‘The Horror in Smithville’. I already have the final chapters in my head… and the bloody and violent conclusion… it just is not on paper or saved on a hard drive. It is my deeply felt desire to start, and finish, ‘The Adventures of Princess Nadia’, too. At least the first book of the series. If I have my way, I will manage to write (and get published) all FIVE books that will make up her story.
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In closing, I would like to take a moment to say “Thank you!” to; Ian Cottier, Jason Kleppinger, and James Coate for their kind support during the holidays past. Without their kindness and support I would not have had the genuine thrill of a Christmas Dinner or ANY presents under the tree. Times are tough all over, and I fully understand. I am just thrilled to have friends, and My Dearest Readers, that care enough… and trust me enough to make donations to help me find some small happiness. I am hopeful that when I get my novel works finished… that I find a receptive publisher. That I can get my works published… and never have to ask for the help or assistance of friends, readers, or family… ever again. I just hope that I make it that far. 🙂
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Adieu!
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Thank you!
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Danny in Rolling Hills Estates – Rancho Palos Verdes – PV Medical Group Noember 2014
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© 2010 – 2015
Hanning Web Wurx and The Other Shoe
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