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Am I the only never-married old geezer on this maillist? I should have
been dead years ago. I am 77 years old. When I was a child, nobody knew
what to do about celiac disease. My father died when I was one year old
from kidney failure. They didn't have kidney dialysis back in 1927. My
mother was a great believer in bread. I hated bread. Bread was her
religion. She kept preaching at me that: "Bread is the staff of life." She
kept cramming bread down my gullet the way French farmers cram corn down
the gullets of geese to make pate de foi gras. As far as I am concerned,
what those French farmers do to geese is the cruelest thing that anyone
nowadays does to animals.

According to the medical journals I have read, the treatment for celiac
disease was not discovered until 1950. I was not diagnosed with celiac
disease until 1958. In 1953, after a GI series of x-rays, it was suspected
that I had Crohn's disease. I remember that President Eisenhower was
operated for Crohn's disease. Anyway, I decided it would be a good idea
for me to visit Dr. Burrel B. Crohn himself. I brought him my x-rays. He
looked at my x-rays and said: "Young man, you do not have Crohn's disease.
Your problem is that you're nervous. My advice to you is stop being
nervous." For this I had to pay that quack $35.00. Now, you have to
remember that $35.00 was a lot of money in those days. At that time I was
employed by the New York City Broad of Health. My position required a
college degree, and passing a written examination that most of the people
who took that examination failed. We were only paid $200.00 per month.

I eventually retired from the City of New York on a disability pension.
When I applied for a social security disability pension in 1964, I was
five feet, ten inches tall, and weighed exactly 98 pounds on my
physician's beam-balance scale.

I have since developed a low-thyroid condition and my weight has ballooned
up to 125 pounds. Also, I have problems walking uphill. I'm going to try
that Red Bull drink that I see someone on the list recommended. If it
doesn't give me diarrhea, it will probably help me.

[log in to unmask] (Fred Cherry)

Grand Duke of Yugoslobia
Duke of Vulgaria
Grand Muff-Diver of Jerusalem
Elector of Homophobia
& Baron of Gray Matter

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