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It's been a while since I relayed my medical history, I am doing this because of the confusion that I see so many have with regard to medications and the history I have with them myself. You want to believe doctors, and I'm not telling you not to, but do your own research. I have reduced the medications I was taking for years to what I think I need for the myasthenia gravis disease I have, or believe I have, and one new one for my heart that is for a reduced blood flow extraction, entresto. I have all but stopped dygoxin, eliquis, and levothyroxine. I stopped amiodarone a long time ago. First let me say that within the last six months I have had blood tests, echocardiograms, x-rays, and a full internal body scan of my organs, and other than my heart that is stressed from my baseball days I believe, I have no problems. Surprisingly, every internal organ was free from any kind of problem; I had a few little gallstones. My problem is that the pyridostigmine drug for MG has numerous side effects that are just a nuisance, diarrhea, runny nose, excess saliva, and a few other annoyances like causing me to breath very heavily until the drug wears off. No doctor knows what dosage you need so I have been playing with it and think I am on the right track.. But MG can affect swallowing and I have experienced that which is scary. I also have a knee that should be replaced and a bad back from baseball that makes walking and working not much fun. They are my major problems. Overall, and this may sound contradictory, I feel good, and my doctor agrees that I am fine. I ride a stationary bike; I can't run on a treadmill and have done some heavy yard work without incident. Reducing my meds eliminates confusion, and dizziness, and allows me to move around better. Most of the meds I've taken have also blurred my eyesight. After six or seven years of following orders, I am doing what seems to be right for me. Is it? I have no idea, but neither do my doctors. Like my GP says, "you're 81 and you look great." I lost 20 pounds when my thyroid went crazy and did not eat for a month; I am now putting on weight and am close to my playing weight which is terrific. To sum this up, I don't know if my heart is a problem or not, but my I've been told my blood flow is good, arteries are clear, and heart valves are fine. I've never had a chest pain, and I can deal with being short of breath because of the meds. Insomnia is my greatest concern, and the meds cause that. The MG causes loss of muscle strength and I believe I experience that, and one eye lid has a tendency to droop, one of its side effects. As I said as long as the meds allow me to swallow I can deal with the other things. If this update helps anybody, great. Contact me though my email if you want to talk.
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Five years ago I was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. It was put back into rhythm and I was put on a number of medications...diltiazem, amiodarone, levothyroxine, hydrochlorothiazide, and aspirin. I was told not to take Eliquis. My cardiologist thought it was dangerous. Since then, I have suffered with one side effect after another, nothing debilitating, just extremely annoying. Every day has been a struggle. I've not felt normal. At the time they were prescribed I did not question the medications, figuring the cardiologist knew what he was doing. I should add that looking back on my life, I had been living with this AFib for a long time; I remember feeling my heartbeat jumping around for years, and yes, there were times I had difficulties breathing, but also considered I was getting older. I don't look at this condition as being as devastating as it's made out to be. It's very common. The cardiologist came bouncing into my room when I first saw him, saying "you're going to be fine. I am going to fix you. Don't worry about a thing."
I've seen three cardiologists and they all have different opinions. The first as I've said disliked Eliquis, another wanted me to take it while still another said he gave his patients no medications. One wanted me to take lipitor even though she said I did not need it; my cholesterol was 130. That made no sense. The first night I took it I could not close my eyes. Insomnia is the most common side effect of all of these drugs. At one time given linosopril? instead of the amiodarone I believe, I had an immediate asthma attack. The doctor said that happens sometimes. Generally, I've found doctors do not like to hear about side effects. I've not had one talk to me about them when I bring them up. To sum up the last five years, I've recently taken a more active role in my own diagnoses, and pretty much told my general practitioner and cardiologist what I will or won't do. I've done a lot of research, questioned a lot of people and the doctors, and scoured the internet for any information I can get. So, here's my real problem as I see it now and I believe that I am on the right track. When I was initially given amiodarone, I heard the cardiologist say he had to give me levothyroxine because amiodarone affected the thyroid gland. Ok. I did not like the sounds of that. The thyroid gland runs and regulates the body, It apparently can take years for it to affect anyone negatively if it is going to, and during that time, other problems are considered the reasons for you not feeling well. I am now 81 and look back on my teenage days and wonder why I was always so tired. I played sixteen years of professional baseball and wondered the same thing. No doctor ever told me my thyroid hormones were out of whack. As I've gotten older, I've had more difficulty breathing and have tried to find out why. Within the last year a liter of fluid was drained from one lung. It was clear, free of cancer and everything else, no problem. My breathing changed a little with the extraction, but it has still been a struggle. My regular doctor recognized that I probably have an autoimmune disease because one eyelid was drooping. And he was right. I do believe I have myasthenia gravis. It affects facial and respiratory muscles which are problematic themselves. My focus is now on my thyroid gland, and I think, along with my doctor, that we are on the right track. I reached a point where I was fed up taking all of the meds I was initially given and finally, after five years, told my doctor I was going to stop them. No one could tell me what they were doing to help me, and, yes, I know doctors are supposed to know what they are doing, but I've realized they do not know me. My GP allowed me to get off them. It's been about five weeks now, and I've had withdrawal symptoms that have been horrible, but there are times that I finally feel normal. Why did I want to get off my meds you ask? I was concerned that the amiodarone may have further damaged my already messed up thyroid gland. One recent blo0d test showed my TSH hormone at about a level 4, four months later it was at 0.16, and I was a mess. I had no thyroid hormone. Why? Amiodarone? A five-year build-up of meds? The wrong meds? I haven't taken any levothyroxine either in the meantime, and I am beginning to feel better. I understand more about the thyroid gland and how the hormones level themselves out in our system as needed, and I believe my system has been attacked by meds I should not have been taking. Even my doctor has recently said that maybe I don't need any. l believed that getting off my meds and then having my blood tested we would know what meds I really needed. That seemed to make more sense than just stuffing me with meds as a precaution after my cardio version. So, by getting off my meds I battled a hyperactive thyroid for a while that caused me to feel really lousy. That quickly switched to a hypoactive thyroid that I believe my body did on its own once I stopped taking everything. Hypothyroidism is apparently easily managed with levothyroxine. As of now, I'm waiting to see how my body reacts to no meds at all. It takes weeks, sometimes months for the thyroid gland to regulate itself, so I have to be patient, but I think I am doing fine. I definitely feel the side effects of hypothyroidism but feel better every day. I know people who have spent years trying to find out the right dosage of medication for their thyroid. All I can say is take charge of what medications you are given; you are not going to hurt anything if you are healthy overall. Doctors are doing nothing more than making guesses themselves as to what will work for you. If you look at your meds, you will see that every drug has pretty much the same side effects listed. They mask our problems. Don't get me wrong, I don't pretend to know that what I am doing is right, but I have spent a lifetime monitoring my body because of my profession, and I've made many right decisions. I am careful. I now believe I've had a thyroid problem my whole life, but like my doctor said, I was "strong" enough to live my life, plowing through the tough times with low energy levels. I remember not being able to run 1/4 mile, but I've run two marathons. I know that even at my age, the body is so remarkable that I will bring it back to life. This thyroid problem has affected me at times to the point that it hurt to walk, my muscles cramped, joints hurt, I did not want to do anything but lie down. I've lost strength and weight, although I am at my playing weight now. I've had extreme fatigue. I know if I push myself like I've done my whole life, I am going to be fine. I have some heart issues, but they all seem to be related to my lung and the thyroid issues. All my doctors say I'm fine. They do not seem worried about anything. My GP says I have a very strong heartbeat. I am going in for a full complete blood panel test in about a week; I told my doctor to have everything that can be checked, checked. Only having a few things checked is not working for me anymore. We need a full picture of what's going on inside me. I wanted to post this for those of you who live on meds, and who give up. Take care of yourself. Doctors can only do so much, and I've talked to so many people who just listen to what they are told. I'm not saying rebel but take an interest in yourself. With the right attitude, change of diet, exercise, and wanting to change, you can. The doctor I have now works with me; he talks to me, answers my questions. I've had to cultivate him. He seems hesitant to tell me things....like I am an idiot for stopping my meds...and I understand. ...one of my cardiologists did and got mad at me. He retired a week later. It wasn't easy for me to stop them by the way, but so far so good. My doctor does not have to live with what I live with every day. I tell him everything so he can give me his best advice. I''ve also had the experience of taking care of my dad for the last two years of his life. Giving about 15 medications at one time, the poor guy hallucinated. Cut back to three he was fine. He had a heart doctor who wanted to operate on him at age 87 saying there was a 25 percent chance he would not be able to walk after. The guy was an idiot. Dad passed away in his wheel chair at 93. it is now six months later, and I am now on Snythroid for my thyroid, and what a difference it has made. My GP made the change after we got my blood test numbers in line. In my research I found that the myasthenia gravis symptoms, droopy eyelid, trouble swallowing occasionally, muscle weakness, cramps, etc. were also side effects of a thyroid problem. I'd always suspected my thyroid was to blame for how I was feeling. Synthroid has, for now, and its been about a month or more that I've been on it, cleared up the droopy eyelid, my swallowing has been normal, and I am eating more than I ever have, and don't put on weight. All my life I've had to watch what I ate because I could put on twenty pounds in a wink. I now know for sure that I've had a thyroid problem m y whole life. I feel better than I have in a long time; it's just a shame that I will be 82 in another month. I used to be so tired I struggled to play with my kids. b, and I didn't know what the problem was. Now I do. Check your thyroid and do some research on your own. I learned so much bit by bit; there is a lot of info on the internet. As good as my doctor seems to be, he does not know me like I know me. I won't get into why, or what I've dealt with with a new cardiologist, but I think the thyroid problem was also affecting my heart. I've had all kinds of test and scans and from what I can tell, including how I feel, i am in pretty good shape. I wrote this one day out frustration.
Commissioner Manfred, I’ve had it. I can’t do this anymore. I’ve been trying my best to preserve the memories I have of America’s pastime, but it’s become too difficult. The other night on ESPN’s highlights of the day’s games, there was a replay of a home run hit by the young, acclaimed “superstar” outfielder for the Atlanta Braves. That it was hit well was corroborated by the announcers who had it disappearing into oblivion. Informed then as to the speed with which it rocketed out of sight, and the launch angle that determined its trajectory, there was nothing more I needed to know. That a ball clears the fences is enough. I don’t need its atmospheric journey decoded, but we are all now held captive to having to listen to the poor play on the field being disguised as something it isn’t by an endless torrent of embellishments and numerical nonsense. If this is supposed to endear us to the game, it is not working. In the case of this young man’s home run, I had every right to feel cheated by not being informed of the spin rate of the sphere as it left the yard. Surely some mathematical genius must have ascertained that number. How was I supposed to enjoy the full impact of this mighty blast without it? I don’t watch the game much anymore. I want to, but it’s not easy with what’s happened to it. When I do, it’s usually just for an inning or two, and then it is often without the sound because it’s hard to listen to how the poor play on the field is glossed over by the commentators, Making excuses for the mistakes and miscues that occur, or couching them in superlatives, does not change the fact that they happen. And I don’t want to hear any personal insights or stories from the two or three people that inhabit the broadcast booths these days. I certainly don’t need to be taught how the game should be played. I find myself yelling at my tv way too often lately. It’s tough enough listening to the two or three analysts telling us things about the game that they assume we don’t know, but now there are reporters stationed on the field and in the dugout who provide us with up to the minute responses from either a player or the manager about something that just happened on the field. The one or two very predictable questions that are always asked are ridiculous as are the vacuous answers they elicit. And I am uncomfortable watching how uncomfortable those who participate in these little spot interviews appear to be. The one or two minutes this takes is a waste of time, and that this interruption might be intrusive to the player and manager seems not to matter. Much of what bothers me about the game is maybe not within your purview, and because I don’t know what it is you are or are not aware of, I’d like to mention a few things that may open your eyes as to what I and the public are deeply concerned about, and find annoying. Every major league organization should have a mission statement of some sort set- ting forth their objectives and goals. What any of these might be I don’t know, but every franchise seems to have little understanding of what affects play on the field. Is there no one who realizes that something is not working? I’ve heard too often from reliable sources that the players don’t work on anything, that they are not asked to. How true that is I don’t know, but I witnessed the condoning of a lack- adaisical work ethic more than thirty years ago during my time as a minor-league coach. Fear of injury and overworking the millionaires was a very serious and growing concern within the game. It was believed that too much time on the field and an excessive work load was contributing to the rise in the number of injuries, and the poor play that we were beginning to see. What wasn’t understood then, and still isn’t is that scaling back on the work load accelerated both of those concerns. And when changes were made, some that were good, they made sense, and were necessary, none of them had anything to do with how the game was being played. The players were merely being taken better care of on and off the field. If today’s athletes are better than those in my era, and I do believe they are, why is the game not played as well? How has it come to be nothing but strike outs and home runs? There have always been dozens of hitting philosophies and gimmicky inventions that have been tried and tested, and hitter’s approaches will often change, but the strike zone has been a constant since the game began, yet no one seems to know what it looks like, or what to do with it. And that I don’t under- stand. The number of swings and misses that occur are alarming, and when replays show by how much a ball is missed, or how far out of the strike zone a pitch was, you have to wonder what is being taught. There are approximately 9 strikeouts for every 27 outs recorded. This is almost double what occurred in 1980. To know the direction the game has gone was clearly on exhibit in this year’s Little League World Series in Williamsport. Play by some of the youngsters was a carbon copy of what occurs nightly in the major leagues. The pitching and hitting approaches were similar, and there were entirely too many “little” repeats of the big-leaguer's antics by the little guys. It was hard to watch the innocence and purity of the sport that was always on display at that young level being tainted. Rule changes have been instituted to protect the players because they can no longer execute certain fundamentals of the game properly. That in itself says a lot about what has been happening. One change being considered is allowing pitchers only two attempts to hold runners. That would surely be interesting. Players have been prohibited from sliding into or knocking down a middle infielder on the double play, the catcher has to give the runner “home plate;” walking a hitter is now just a wave of the arm, and pitchers must face three hitters which lessens managerial strategies. The “shift” has been “outlawed” so we should see more hitter’s with averages about .200. The only reason the “shifts” worked was because the hitters refused to take advantage of them. I’d love to know why. The TSA-like body searches that pitchers now suffer when an inning ends in the hope of decreasing the alarming number of strike outs have not made a difference. The belief that seven inning games would somehow have the game played better during the pandemic also didn’t. The ghost runner in extra innings ate at the in- tegrity of the game, and made a joke of it. Bigger bases? Why? And what is gained by the “cheat” sheets players have stashed in a pocket or under their hat? Catchers appear to call pitches telepathically now while something should be found that helps the direction in which they get thrown so they can be caught. Pitchers can’t seem to find the plate, few can hit their “spot,” and it would be nice to know how many really know what “to locate” means. Flashing lights should indicate where the plate is, not only for them, but for the outfielders whose throws are liable to wind up anywhere. Errant pitches are always a possibility; balls in the dirt are beat- ing up the catchers; backstops are often stopping more balls than the receivers, and too many times the poor umpire takes the brunt of a “cross up,” or an inept catcher who can’t put his glove up in time. So many of today’s pitchers just throw, they don’t pitch. The windups and deliveries that I see tells me that little is being taught. Everything goes, every style of re- leasing a pitch is accepted. Velocity is the common denominator, but throwing 100 miles per hour does not make someone a pitcher, and the increase in velocity...if it is accurate...has not cut down on the home runs, so what good is it? The strikeouts are more the result of no one knowing what a strike zone looks like. I received dumbfounded looks when I asked the assemblage of position players that I was managing one year to tell me theirs. I got no answers. The number of bad pitches that are swung at is astounding, especially when the count gets to three and two. I don’t know if this is true, but I’ve heard talk of having pitchers step off the rubber before attempting a pickoff...something to that affect. What brainiac came up with that? “Stealing” first base has apparently already been tried in one of the minor leagues, and I can’t wait to see the problems the robotic umpiring will cause. Technology will surely find a way to one day eliminate the men in blue. Why players are coddled as they are is a mystery. There is a pervasive philosophy that has infiltrated every organization that requires the players to be treated with love and understanding. They are to be made to feel good about themselves. This is not demanded, but field staff members understand to do it or else. Be nice to the players. Don’t ask anything of them. Psychologists work over time to see that this occurs. Following this policy was supposed to improve play on the field, or so it was thought. I listened to the edict of not saying anything negative to a player in more than one meeting. This refusal to recognize limitations sometimes allows mediocrity to develop into an incompetency that...oh, my God...catches everyone by surprise! I always thought it important to know what someone could not do. You don’t dwell on limitations, of course, but an evaluation would be more accurate if they were considered because you would not be expecting something that could not be delivered. You can pretend not to recognize deficiencies if you want to improve an estimate of someone’s ability, but that makes no sense. A limitation in one of the five baseball skills can change an overall evaluation quickly. Sweeping negatives under the rug, and hoping they won’t surface is not working. It was a privilege to know that at least one owner wanted my services. Players now choose the owner for whom they want to play. Baseball’s thirty kingdoms battle each other for their services, and in doing so, cater to them much more than they should. I was one of the players who first fought for our “rights” fifty years ago. As captive as we were, all we wanted was some fairness from the game we loved, but with every subsequent strike, walkout, or lockout, the players gradually gained more and more control until now they pretty much dictate how teams are put to- gether. Once indentured laborers, they are now masters of their own destiny. In the late 1800s the players offered a mutually beneficially compromise that would have been good for both sides, but the owners refused. They were not going to give up something that they did not have to. During the work stoppage in 1994 when the World Series was canceled there was another chance of forging a compromise. but the players refused. Both sides are doing fine. The game is very healthy financially. Thirty years ago I remember saying that the attrition of the best of the professional players at that time was going to open the door for the lesser talented pool of colle- giate players to draw from. The talent that was being lost was not going to be replaced. I believed that one day the major leagues would look no better than a top collegiate team. And look where we are. Why this was going to occur has a some- what complicated answer, but for now, suffice it to say that a societal transformation had a lot to do with it. Many of the players on today’s major-league rosters don’t have what decades ago would have been recognized as major league ability. You, of course, don’t know that, sir, because you don’t know anything about the game’s past, but this is a reality that is here to stay. Those of us who realize this have become accustomed to a lesser skilled athlete. And until there is accountability within the individual organizations to halt this decline, it will continue. One reason for this is that players are being force-fed through the minor league system, missing years of much needed training because talent of some kind is needed at the big league level year after year. I would not doubt that players will be getting to the major leagues even quicker in the years ahead. Let me close by taking you back to the Atlanta Braves superstar and his antics once his home run ball was airborne. He knew it was “gone,” and everyone at home was reminded of that by the numerous replays of its flight. Instead of beginning his jog around the bases after hitting the ball, this young man stood at home plate for a few seconds admiring his Ruthian clout as if he had just ended world hunger. I don’t know the distance the ball traveled; it could have been 350, it could have been 550, it didn’t matter. Then, with all the energy he could muster, he began his journey around the bases, not on the run, but on the “walk” for four or five steps as he puffed his chest and beat it with both fists like King Kong did after scaling the Empire State Building. He then raised his hands to the heavens as if to thank God, and looked into the dugout at his teammates with a look on his face while seemingly mouthing something that seemed to say, “What do you think of that?” as, finally, he got on his way around the bases. These antics have become too often the accepted norm. It’s a shame. What’s sad, and it’s already been mentioned, is that our Little League players are beginning to copy this arrogance. Commissioner, you had nothing to do with the game you inherited. Its slide had al- ready begun, and blaming you is unfair, but you are in the midst of what is happen- ing. Please use your power in some constructive way to save America’s pastime. Good luck. |
Ted KubiakAlways love to hear what you have to say about America's pastime. I'll leave my own thoughts from time to time. Archives
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