Earthquake!

Around 5 AM on Friday, a minor earthquake (magnitude: 3.6) woke some people in the Washington, DC area. I slept through this one. 

I was awake (well, propped up at my desk, anyway) when another small quake shook nearby Columbia, MD in 1993. My chair rolled slightly. Later, the office comedian yelled over to our Branch Chief, "Hey, Keith!  Your wife called. She said the earth moved and you weren't there."

New post on "And Deliver Us from Meadville."

Read about "the Dreary Erie."

"Departures" (Japanese movie)

Last night we watched a movie recommended by my sister, Margaret, about a young cello player who loses his job when the orchestra is disbanded. Desperate, he returns to his rural hometown far from Tokyo and reluctantly takes a job as an "encasketer". What is an "encasketer," you may ask. For all my knowledge--albeit superficial--of  Japanese culture, I have to admit that I've never heard of this practice. It entails the reverent preparation of the body for burial in full view of the mourners and placing it in the casket, at which point the funeral directors take over. 

Watching the elaborate ceremony, I said to myself, "But I thought everyone in Japan was cremated." Surely they wouldn't go through all this and then cremate the body, but that's just what they did. 

Although I'd never known about this old custom, I was proud to have guessed that the "boss," the apprentice encasketer, and the secretary were observing a new one. One scene shows them digging into a bucket of fried chicken with gusto. I said to Phil, "I'll bet it's Christmas." Sure enough, the camera pulled back, revealing a small Christmas tree with twinkling lights. It's the custom in Japan to order Kentucky fried chicken at Christmas because Colonel Sanders looks like Santa Claus.

Here's my guess about why the husband keeps his job a secret from his wife and why she  freaks out when she learns the truth. The Japanese don't like to talk about it, but Japan retains the vestiges of a caste system. Members of this caste are called the "eta," or untouchables. No one knows how they came to be set apart, but some think they long ago took on the task of disposing of dead animals. The native religion, Shinto, makes a big deal out of ritual purity. Shoes are not allowed in the house, and a separate pair of slippers must be worn for trips to the bathroom. My guess is that anyone who handles a dead body is considered "unclean." When the wife finds out about her husband's work, she screams, "You're filthy!" and runs off to Tokyo. But that's not the end of this story, which is told with love and tenderness. 

Femur Fracture Friends Meet with FDA

On May 24, seventeen members of our on-line Femur Fracture support group* met with eleven key officials of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Silver Spring, MD. We came from as far away as Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Virginia to tell our stories and ask the FDA to put a black-box warning on the packaging of Fosamax and other  bisphosphonates about the side effects and risks of these drugs. 

All of us suffered low-energy fractures or stress fractures of the femur (thigh bone), which is one of the strongest and least fracture-prone bones in our bodies. All of us had taken Fosamax or similar drugs for at least four years. Most of us had been put on Fosamax by our doctors for osteoporosis, but some had been put on it merely for osteopenia ( thinning bones, not actual osteoporosis). Most of us had to have surgery after "completed" fractures, with placement of a titanium rod. Most of us are still in pain several months or years post-surgery. A few have fractures that refuse to heal after a year or more. 

Each of us made brief statements about our situations. The organizer of our group, Dr. Jennifer Schneider, reviewed the research that establishes an association between bisphosphonates and femur fractures. She also pointed out flaws in the research that finds no such association. Dr. Toby Morgan, the husband of one of the victims, noted that the FDA, unlike its counterparts in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, was still maintaining, as late as March of this year, that no association has been proven to exist between bisphosphonates and femur fractures. He also observed that the drug manufacturers have buried the information about the risks and side effects of these drugs in the finest of fine print on roadmap-sized enclosures.  

The FDA officials listened for over an hour. They seemed receptive. We hope that they will act.

PS. I am second to the left in the back row, the one with the gleaming white hair. 
*Our group has doubled in size since the beginning of 2010. We now have about 55 members, including one man.