Use it or lose it: recovery from EVLT (graphic image)

Haarlem, today. Recovery [ discovery ]

Above: Compression stocking and bandages after EVLT, Endovenous laser treatment of varicose veins in right leg, yesterday. The vain was opened at two spots -- see bandages --and a laser -- which couldn't move all the way up in one strike -- was brought in by the vescular surgeon and his assistant, to internally heat  the vain up to the groin, eventually resulting in the closing of the vain in a few days, interrupting the blood supply to the varicose veins. Varicose veins give unpleasant symtoms. After deep venous thrombosis in this leg ten years ago -- shortly after trip to The Himalayas in Northern India for corporate film shoot -- it was treated with blood-thinners¹ The unpleasant, forced, bloodthinner-treatment 'cured' the DVT, it did not make the probable cause, the varicose veins, disapear though.This -- getting to the cause -- ironically was the topic of the short film we made there! And, as Johan Cruyff has taught us, "Every disadvantage has its advantage," the running-training has proven to be extremely benefitial -- one of the reasons for perseverance anytime anywhere. Use it, or lose it. To my amazement, shortly after the EVL teatment yesterday, there was very little pain and the leg already felt better than before -- less pain than what had gotten "normal". Prescription: 10 days NO training, that is the most difficult part of the treatment, for the patient!

Min/max temperature: 5°C/23°C; humidity: 65%; precipitation: 0 mm; sea level pressure: 999.06 hPa; wind: East 13 km/h; visibility: 21.0 kilometres; Clouds: Few 762 m .; Moon: full, 97% illuminated.

"I was waiting for a rehearsal outside Aquarius Studio on Half Way Tree, waiting for two of my musicians, and I had a little piece of roach in my hand. A guy come up to me in plain clothes and grab the roach out of my hand. So I say him, wha' happen? He didn't say nothing, so I grab the roach back from him and he start to punch me up. I say again, 'wha' happen', and he say I must go dung so. I say, 'dung so? Which way you call dung so?' That's when I realised this was a police attitude, so I opened the roach and blew out the contents. Well, him didn't like that and start to grab at me aggressively now - my waist, my shoulder, grabbing me and tearing off my clothes and things. Then other police come and put their guns in my face and try brute force on me.

[Question:] Did they know who you were?

No, I don't know. But you don't have to know a man to treat him the way he should be treated. But because I am humble and don't wear a jacket and tie and drive a big Lincoln Continental or Mercedes-Benz, I don't look exclusively different from the rest. I look like the people, seen? To them police, here's just another Rasta to kill.
Now eight-to-ten guys gang my head with batons and weapons of destruction. They close the door, chase away the people and gang my head with batons for an hour and a half until my hand break trying to fend off the blows. I run to the window and they beat me back with blows. I run to the door and they beat me back with blows. Later I found out these guys' intentions was to kill me, right? What I had to do was play dead by just lying low. Passive resistance. And I hear them say, yes, he's dead. But I survived them, by intellect. Yes I."

Peter Tosh from: 'Peter Tosh, Best Of Peter Tosh And Interviews' published by Justice Sound on Soundcloud (approx. 1:11:43). See also: 'Peter Tosh Interviews And Speeches'

"PTSD  is the latest in a long series of diagnostic terms used to describe the state of distress associated with being severely upset or traumatized. PTSD  can follow a distressing event which is faroutside the normal range of human expectation. The event is relived; it just won't go away: "the victim relives sights, sounds or even smells. A 'reminder' incident can start the process off all over again." The pains experienced affect not only the individuals themselves "but all those around them, whether family members, co-workers or close friends." [...] "What we went through in Yom Kippur wasn't pleasant . . . . I saw a lot of wounded, and a lot of guys who died of their wounds because we couldn't reach them. They cried out for help. The shelling was heavy, and you can't get to them. [. . .] I remember the feeling of utter impotence. [. . .] I saw dying men, soldiers of mine, who'd been training for several months, call me to help them. I want to go over, but I can't! My legs won't carry me. Even if it might have been possible to reach them, I couldn't have gone. I wanted to walk, but I found myself crying. I was sweating, crying, and trembling. I was shaking, shaking like a leaf. [. . .] I was rooted in one spot. I was lying there and couldn't get up." […] It was in 1980, after much research by various task forces made of veterans, that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) officially brought a new recognition to the intrusive memories and flashbacks suffered by the veterans. Post-traumatic stress disorder was firmly established in the combat stress lexicon and was recognised as a legitimate disorder."

Sahava Solomon quoted by J.G.J.C. Barabé in: 'The Invisible Scars of the Peace-Field: The Operational Commander's Impact' , page 6, first published in 1999 by Canadian Forces College, North York, Canada

Medical marijuana works for PTSD unlike any other medication. [The ] reason for medical marijuana’s efficacy is its effect on stabilizing both the mind and the body separately. Medical marijuana is touted as a drug that restores homeostasis to the body. Perhaps it does the same with the mind. Our bodies can fall out of balance in a number of ways – appetite, sleep, weight, adrenaline, our bowel schedule, metabolism, progressive chronic pain, etc. Marijuana seems to have an effect on bringing things back to the middle, the default, neutrality. For this reason, appetite is increased in those suffering from failure to thrive and cachexia but decreased in those who eat too abundantly. For insomniacs, sleep is restored. Inflammation is suppressed. Over-sensitized nerves are reset to baseline. This is the way balance is restored and the body returned to its usual state, otherwise known as homeostasis. How does this relate to PTSD? Perhaps marijuana has a similar effect on the homeostasis of the mind. Patients suffering from PTSD have hypersensitivity to certain stimuli that trigger emotional responses anchored to the original incident(s) that caused the disorder in the first place. Thus, marijuana may inhibit dysfunctional neurological pathways from firing. Since the evoked response is a result of afferent sensory neuronal signals, it can be construed that cannabinoids would likely have the same effect as they do on the afferent sensory fibers traversing our dorsal horns. 

Dr. Roman in 'PTSD Most Important Disease to Treat with Medical Marijuana'  on Natures Way Medicine.

See also: 'General use of cannabis for PTSD Symptoms'  and 'Dr. Sue Sisley Shares The Challenges She’s Faced In Researching Cannabis As A Treatment For PTSD' 

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¹ Making the blood so thin, resulting in spontaneous nose-bleedings that went on 'for ever and ever', as happened during a meeting with the Netherlands Society of Cinematographer's board -- the secretary of the board thought is was due to heavy cocaine use, flattering me with the nickname 'Cocaine-king' -- although graduating from filmschool, working for television and film, travelling trough Bolivia, Peru. Equador and Colombia.... with the exception of 1/2 x 1 XTC (MDMA) pill at a new-years eve party in 1997-98 in Amsterdam, I never felt inclined and have never used any other harddrugs. Why should I? Running is my laboratory, it creates the perfect chemical balance, the natural way!