The Best Laid Plans

hospital where I was first treated (Plano, Tx)


I am going to talk about my legs. This is not just about them, so please keep reading.

I have asked for money before, but I hate doing it and try not to make a habit of it. I only did it to save my house so my brother and I would not be homeless. Now we have an equally compelling crisis. I helped a friend get her lights turned back on, now we don't have enough to keep our lights on. Moreover,I can't buy my bandages.

I need bandages everyday because I have problem called Venus ulcer disease. It means that the circulatory system in my legs has packed up and I am not getting blood back up form my ankles to the rest of the body. The consequences is that I have big gaping sores all over my legs and the skin rots and leaks "ouk." That's not a technical term. The technical term is "interstitial mass." But it's ouk. It's gross, my pants and shoes get all messy unless I bandage my legs.


I will spare you the gross picture of legs with this disease this time. Some things have made the problem worse now. I have infections on my legs that wont go away. This is scary because now I've seen news reports on staff infections, I think they are called "super bots" that resist anti-biotic. The problem with VUD is that if you get an infection and you can't get rid of it they have to cut your legs off. this is not a remote possibility that's less likely than a lightning strike. 20,000 people a year die from these super bot things! There is this stuff I am supposed to put on my legs, its' called "Metr0-gel." It costs $136.00 a tube! needless to say I don't use it. But I need it now.

I have also risked these infections with bad hygiene by not changing my bandages every day as I should because I just don't have the money to buy that many bandages. I leave them on for two or three days to stretch it out.

Here's an article about it but the pictures are kind of gross

I have been to churches and ministries and charities,to government social workers, the visiting nurses; there are no structures to pay for his problem. My family can only help me now and then.

Now I hate asking but you know, there areprofessional bloggers who ask their readership to support them entirely so that they are independent and only blog for a living.

I'm asking the regular readers of kottke.org (that's you!) to become micropatrons of kottke.org by contributing a moderate sum of money to help enable me to edit/write/design/code the site for one year on a full-time basis. If you find kottke.org valuable in any way, please consider giving whatever you feel is appropriate.

This is about more than my legs. It's about more than the fact that my brother and I are trying to get back into a house and we have just enough money for that but nothing more. We have been in this apartment since our home was stolen by mortgage crooks over a year ago. I wouldn't mind so much as far as apartments go it's ok, but our dog has no place to run.



Arnie,aka "Meta pup" needs to run




this is about more than that. I have a vision. I want to start an institute that will do quality apologetics research. for example, the 300 studies I'm always harping on that show that religious experience is so great. I want to get hold of all of those studies and write a book. I want turn Doxa into a book, well, several books. But I have no time to follow up on research. I have to work at a job that is long on hours and short on pay, it took me year to find that.

If you will donate I can buy bandages, sure, and buy food while waiting for the first pay check Otherwise I have to choose between food or lights. But more importantly, if I can use this blog as an income stream (doesn't have to be much)I wont have to look for a job all the time I can work on those books and on making Doxa a better website.

In exchange I make you a promise. I have tried to keep negativity off the blog. I let the frustration of message broads get to me a few times, but no more. I will no longer go on message boards. So I will go back to the positive atmosphere the blog had in it's early days.

I see an institute that can be a major source of publication for the finest quality apologetics research. I have 42 God arguments, I should be able to development into arguments that can be taken seriously by any thinker, and that will spin off theological ideas. I can see an insensitive that will be able to answer any challenge of the future from any atheist movement, and give the Church a clear picture of it's need to interface with people in the world who are groping for an answer to life. I do not want to work real hard for nothing and just trade little petting P-ing contests with atheists on message boards as an outlet.

Please help to build this institute. the first step is having the freedom to publish the materials that will interest thinkers in helping.


Please click on the link to the left side bar under "website links" "save Meta's legs" or go here. This is the link to a button where you can donate through my pay pal account.

Or use the donate button below


If all you can give is two dollars please give it. IF all those who read my blog regularly gave two dollars I could at least not have to worry about bandaging and maybe pay my light bill. Maybe even buy that expensive gel.



from Pub med

Quality of life of people with venous leg ulcers: a comparison of the discriminative and responsive characteristics of two generic and a disease specific instruments.
Iglesias CP, Birks Y, Nelson EA, Scanlon E, Cullum NA.

Department of Health Sciences, University of York, North Yorkshire, UK. cpiu1@york.ac.uk

BACKGROUND: Venous leg ulcers are an important source of morbidity in society. Measuring the impact of leg ulcers on quality of life is important within clinical and economic evaluations.

Thank you