Infection

The doc at the wound clinic told K today that her ankle wound is infected. She said she was stopping at the pharmacy for antibiotics. I hope they work. They often haven't for her, especially below the knee where the circulation is poor.

Smackdown

Dad and Adele were making a valiant attempt to drive out and see us again this summer. They had almost made it to their first stop in Acworth, GA, when they got hit. They're fine, but the car needs a few days of repair, and they're discussing their options. I fear they may be headed back to FL, when they come to their senses.

Humalog overdose

Now we're playing the same old (not fun) game: K accidentally took 20 units of Humalog (fast acting insulin) instead of Lantus (slow acting insulin), just before 2am. Just as my head was finally hitting the pillow, she said "Oh, God..." Not good. 20 units will drive her blood glucose (BG) down about 1400 points. If it gets below 50, things get very serious quickly. Unfortunately, her BG was just about perfect (126) at the time, instead of being really high, which is not uncommon, and would have helped a lot. Now she's got to eat 300 grams of carbohydrates (7 bottles of apple juice or cans of Coke, or 15 slices of bread, etc) in a short period, to avoid having a low glucose crash, and possible ER visit. She's eaten 216 grams of apple juice, glucose gel, and ice cream, so far. Now we're staying awake and waiting to see if her BG plummets, or if we've caught it in time. Heavy sigh. When it first happened, I was so frustrated, I just told her to get dressed, so I could take her to the ER and get her setup for IV glucose, because I was sure she couldn't eat that much. But she disagreed, and attempted to distract me, by having me make several (wasted!) calls to health care advice numbers. Those people are required by HIPAA regulations to ask the most stupid questions possible, and to refuse to talk to me, practically forcing me to call 911 instead. Idiots! The one person I did finally talk to, who was very helpful, was the doctor on call at her Endocrinologist's office. He got me calmed down by focusing on the current BG which was still OK, and pointing out that this was an opportunity for K to eat all the sugary junk she's supposed to avoid, like candy bars and ice cream. Anyway, it looks like it's going to work out, after all.

Asiana Flight 214 Crash

I have been sadly but avidly (it's a compulsion for me) following the news about the Asiana airlines flight 214 crash at San Francisco airport. It appears they hit the seawall on the approach end of runway 28L.

I just found this informative analysis of flight 214's speed and energy profiles on final approach. http://flyingprofessors.net/what-happened-to-asiana-airlines-flight-214-2/

They say the flight was high and fast, several miles out, then the throttles were pulled back to idle for a rapid descent, but then they ended up low and slow at the sea wall. What a crying shame.

The FAA, and I think the airlines, all recommend a missed approach, if the aircraft isn't on a stabilized approach, by the time a flight is within 500 feet of the ground.

There's an FAA circular that defines a stabilized approach, as:
1) On the correct track.
2) In the proper landing configuration.
3) No big corrections required, to maintain track and glideslope.
4) Speed within acceptable range specified.
5) Rate of descent no greater than 1000 fpm.
6) Appropriate power setting for the landing configuration.

They must've been asleep at the controls, to not have realized several of the above were out of whack. Very sad.