Muller update – APL still sucks!
June 2nd, 2023
UPDATE: It’s been two weeks now. Alan is settled into room 9-415 in Eisenberg in Mayo’s Methodist campus . He’s still short on platelets and getting a refrigerated batch right now. He IS feeling MUCH better, no longer utterly worn down, no longer bruising all over and the earlier bruises are slowly fading away. Not long ago, Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia was a death sentence, and no longer. Things have changed in leukemia world, and the medical care at Mayo is top notch. I’m particularly impressed with the nurses who are ON this, with multiple infusions going, platelets, arsenic, and antibiotics. As of yesterday (?) antibiotics are done and his hand is healing, almost done, no longer infected.
And yes, arsenic. He’s on half doses and that will be increasing sometime next week. For APL, the treatment that apparently works is ATRA, which is a Vitamin A derivative (weird, huh?), and arsenic (even weirder!). I’d wondered about treating dog’s heartworm with arsenic, particularly when our Kady-Kate lost her marbles and spent her days staring into space, but I’d checked with three vets and none knew anything about potential of impact of arsenic on cognition. We’ll see!
Anyway, Alan’s doing well, now has a PIC line, making the infusions easier, and they’d said in particular they want it in for arsenic infusions. OK, whatever, here we go! He’s up and about, making regular trips to the hospital library down in the basement, bringing back a load of books each time, and it looks like I’m going to have to bring in a bookshelf!
Since he can go hang out downstairs in the library for an hour or more, I’m trying to finagle a picnic with Little Sadie. Alan really misses his doggie, and there’s a good driveway where we could do a pick-up!
Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia SUCKS
May 20th, 2023
Well this was quite a surprise. Alan was feeling tired for a couple of weeks and had a pretty large bruise on upper hip, to over a couple days larges bruises all over, and OMFD, it’s Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. I’d had an inkling of CLL after taking photos of the bruises to send to Mayo here in RW, and hitting google, so I was pushing him hard to get in fast, and thankfully he did. Platelets were alarmingly low from Nurse Practitioner’s rather wide-eyed response, which was to get us to the ER, STAT. We were there most of the day, and then after 2nd big batch of lab results came in, he was rushed to Mayo about 4:30. He’ll be at Mayo now for 3-4 weeks, started chemo immediately, and platelets, as his were nearly zero.
Despite 2nd shift, they were on it right away, the nurses and aids were very attentive, and the Nurse Practitioner on that evening was so articulate about what’s going on. Treatment plan is to start aggressively, pretty much as explained in the link below, and see what happens.
Alan’s just getting settled in, and he’s not sure if he wants visitors yet — feel free to message him or text or call.
Treatment of Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia
It seems APL hits middle-aged folks with average age in the 40s, but for seniors it’s the leukemia of choice. The standard treatment before this regimen (Mayo has links to various study’s participant recruitment!) had some long-term side effects, and apparently this is better. I was wondering about treating with arsenic, remembering Kady who was treated for heartworm with arsenic and lost her marbles, and I’ve asked a few vets about long term impacts of arsenic and neither I’ve asked knew anything about it, and google knows nothing. Alan’s deemed “low risk” because it was caught fairly soon and his white blood count is below the “10k” magic number.
I’d learned some about leukemia when dealing with magnetic fields associated with transmission lines, argued need for regulatory action before the appellate court 20 years ago, but no, earlier bad decision affirmed… And I’ve long known of cancer clusters, and the increases in childhood leukemia in certain scenarios. Environmental impacts have long been ignored, and causation, that ephemeral target, has not yet been established for so many likely agents responsible.
Delaware is a waste dump of the U.S., polluted in so many ways, and Alan’s horror stories make me wonder why anyone wold live there. I’ve thought about Alan’s cancer risk having lived next to 3 nuclear reactors…
… probably downwind of TMI, and for sure downwind from the Delaware refinery that spews all over everyone in Delaware City, Port Penn, and beyond. Somebody asked, “Who’s Alan?” Just google Green Delaware! For decades Alan worked to improve Delaware, from exposing the ractice of dumping raw sewage into the Brandywine River, and being arrested for putting a “Danger Raw Sewage” sign at the outflow:
Busted again at the legislature when public participation was prohibited — with John Kowalko, later STATE REP. John Kowalko, who just retired:
And then in 2007 starting work against Minnesota incinerators, when he got a call out of the blue from someone in St. Paul wanting help on the Rock Tenn incinerator. He’d worked for DuPont as consultant, and part of that was worldwide promotion of incinerators, and he learned a LOT about what incinerators inflicted on those breathing nearby. The call from St. Paul came in when I was out there on my 2nd trip to Port Penn, and they’d wanted him to come out for a Neighbors Against the Burner gathering on the date we’d planned to get back to Red Wing, all just too coincidental! That was the start of a long collaboration with Neighbors Against the Burner and challenging Rock Tenn, the E. Phillips “Eco-Crapper” burner later tried in Rockford and stopped there too; expansion of HERC, and pushing to shut down City of Red Wing’s incinerator, now closed:
So back to Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia — need to get on the road. Suffice it to say, I’ve started on my “research.” Don’t cringe, beyond google, DOH! Years back when I was doing radio, I’d done a program. on bendictin, and another on DES, which was used with wild abandon and without informed consent on Native women. I was working at HCMC and using their medical library a LOT, and in the short time I worked at Bone Marrow Transplant I learned a lot I didn’t really want to know, that was a difficult station with so many babies and young children… I also am well aware that much has changed over the last 40 years, so there’s a lot of reading and evaluating to do to catch up.
A few available things, hope to tap into some deeper sources, but these are interesting:
How retinoic acid and arsenic transformed acute promyelocytic leukemia therapy
The right to be rude!
March 24th, 2023
In Massachusetts, a case has come down supporting a person’s right to be rude in seeking redress from government:
Keep in mind this is Massachusetts, but we had something similar in Minnesota, after Robin Hensel was hauled out of a Little Falls City Council meeting, and she took it up to the Minnesota Supreme Court:
This Minnesota opinion so concerned Red Wing’s former police chief Pohlman that he initiated Ordinance 115, designed to give police additional power to remove people from City Council meetings, even after consulting with the County Attorney (hmmmm, why?) who said it was not necessary, not needed. What was Pohlman trying to do? Why? What was he afraid of?
Red Wing’s Ordinance #115 – Why?
Here’s the letter I’d written then:
Ordinance #115 – disruptions at Council meetings?
Monday night, the Council took up Ordinance #115, triggered by the recent Minnesota Supreme Court’s Hensel decision. That decision held that the law defining conduct that “disturbs an assembly or meeting, not unlawful in its character” as disorderly conduct was unconstitutional, “a serious overbreadth problem.” Here, the City has decided to consider an ordinance of its own with language that puts the City on the wrong side of the law. Why would the City want to do this?
The discussion was good – I’m grateful members raised Constitutional issues, the 1st Amendment, and its broad definitions. One said “We’d instructed staff after we got information,” the City Attorney had been instructed to draft the ordinance. “We were asked to address this.” By whom? It’s not gone through committee process. The packet’s item 9B was a memo from Roger Pohlman, Chief of Police, requesting a Motion to introduce the Ordinance. Councilor Hove noted that there haven’t been disruptions for years, since back when the Council met upstairs! Others, including the City Attorney, noted that in addition to city policy, there is applicable law. Only part of the disorderly conduct statute (Minn. Stat. 609.72) was held unconstitutional, and parts remain, including “engages in offensive, obscene, abusive, boisterous, or noisy conduct or in offensive, obscene, or abusive language tending reasonably to arouse alarm, anger, or resentment in others.”
Why use Council time on this non-issue, particularly where the City has policies in place regarding disruption? What was most concerning were Chief Pohlman’s reasons for requesting this ordinance. First, he noted that police use of force practices limit what level of force may be used, and “if individual becomes passive, resistant” this ordinance was back up to use force to remove someone. He raised this issue of level of force twice. The other claimed justification was liability issues if someone claims injury when removed, that it’s “difficult to use policy to support our case.” This is an issue?
As Alan Muller was quoted in your article, “people disrupt meetings — people behave aggressively — when they feel that behaving politely and with restraint isn’t working.” Council President Biese cut off Muller’s statement just as he was finishing! In my own experience, I’ve been shushed by Biese for objecting when my Ash Mining clients had no opportunity to speak before the Council approved that scheme. I’ve also been ordered removed from a St. Croix Falls/Taylors Falls joint Council meeting by then Mayor Lundgren for merely asking a question, raising a financial corruption issue, in a public comment period. Lundgren was later charged and plead guilty to Theft and Misconduct in Office. Sometimes being heard requires standing up.
A primary outcome of the Red Wing Citizens Assembly was recognition that the City Council needs to be welcoming, transparent, that the Council must listen to citizens, and welcome public engagement. Ordinance #115 is a visible step in the opposite direction
Carol A. Overland
Reality check for RW’s Gang of Four
February 28th, 2023
Last night’s Red Wing City Council meeting (here on youtube, (Agenda Item 10C starts ~2:22) was a display of Council President Biese, Council members Kliewer and Farrar, and Mayor Wilson’s inability to “read the room” in putting forth a proposal to eliminate public comment for those participating virtually, people like MOI who often comment and show up virtually, and to make the “Statement of Intent” optional.
In the bEagle:
Virtual public comment discussion divided council
What these folks did was meet in secret, a meeting with no notice, not public, and developed Resolution 7852. They tried to claim that it was an Agenda Committee meeting, FALSE! It was NOT an Agenda meeting. Thankfully Kay Kuhlman, Council Admin, did correct that false statement for the record, noting it was separate from the properly noticed “Agenda Committee” meeting, it was NOT an “Agenda Committee” meeting. GOOD, except Kuhlman DID participate in that private, secret, meeting. And nevermind that the purpose of an “Agenda Meeting” is to set the agenda, not to go over Council Rules & Procedures and rewrite them!
Here’s the “Statement of Intent” that they want to make optional:
Apparently some have a problem with, and do not “agree to treat everyone with courtesy, dignity, and respect.” And that they “will listen to all sides of an issue, encourage participation…” yeah, obviously some have a problem with that…
Big thanks to, in order of appearance, Patricia Allende De Jung, Martha Harris, Alan Muller, Terri Cook, and MOI, who spoke against adoption of these changes.
CLICK HERE FOR LINK, Agenda Item 10C begins at ~2:23. Oh, great… the video is screwed up on the City’s page. Until then, this youtube.
Ft. DuPont campground?
March 24th, 2021
The other day, while hanging out over pizza, REAL pizza, at the DNREC park where we used to run the doggies…
MOV00166 – At Delaware City Park
MOV00165 – At Delaware City Park
MOV00164 – At Delaware City Park
MOV00163 – At Delaware City Park
MOV00162 – At Delaware City Park – check Ken running!
MOV00161 – At Delaware City Park – Look at them go!
And now they want to wreck this park with an RV parking lot.
I realized yesterday that I’d not posted about this dreadful idea:
Here’s the powerpoint with the “preliminary plan” from August, 2019. There’s no final plan in the Delaware City Council’s Agenda or Minutes.
Blue Water’s Proposed 422-Site Del. Proj. Receives OK
Delaware City Council okays controversial RV campground near Fort DuPont State Park
Given the water table, I cannot imagine what they intend to do with the sewage from that many sites.
Despite that approval, I don’t see any sign of construction starting. There were dump trucks up and down the road, but they went to the C&D canal and then headed east!
