Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    

Doc Flash!  It sounds like you have just the right thing to say to those
kids - a great way to explain drugs, I think...

So back to the BOOK - what was the process like of taking it from separate
columns into a book - how did the project happen?
  

    
it was not particularly difficult.  the publisher of citybike called
me up and said that whitehorse press, which is probably the best-known
publisher of motorcycling books in the u.s., had called asking if they
could make my columns into a book. 

at first, i was a little suspicious --

"is this, like, a vanity press? do i have to pay to publish it?"

"no."

"do i have to rewrite stuff?"

"no."

"do i have to collect my old columns?"

"no."

"well, what do i have to do?"

"you just say it's ok, and we'll collect all the columns and pay for
all the art work and when it sells, they send you money."

not a tough decision.

                        %^)
  

    

flash, can you say more about being a doctor who's also been a patient?

You said you had had a bunch of angioplasties -- did the need for them come
along in a routine checkup, or were you having symptoms, or what?
  

    
i was up at the big kite festival in long beach, washington, and
developed rapidly increasing chest pain on exertion. i came back to
s.f. and had my first of a number of angioplasties. after that, i'd
have recurrent symptoms every now and then and would go in to get
another one or two vessels roto-rootered out.

i was 38 when i had my first one. i think it's important for folks to
be aware that you don't have to be an old fart to have heart problems.
even relatively young farts can have 'em, too.

know your risks. check your cholesterol.  be aware of your family
history. don't smoke, or if you do, switch to a nicotine inhalation
system that doesn't use tobacco. get regular exercise. take care of
your teeth (there's a correlation between gum disease and heart
disease.

eat right.  get enough sleep. avoid undue stress.  believe it or not,
these things really help.
  

    

maaaan, you're asking too much!!!

so do you find yourself able to do all this stuff? (eat right, etc?) - and I
think what <mnemonic> was also asking was: what was it like to be under
another Doc's care?  Did you question what they were doing?  Were you able
to direct them - "oh hey, you missed a spot!" - was it weird to be on the
other side of the relationship?
  

    
i recall during one of the angioplasties, they turned a set of the
monitors towards me so i could see the fluoroscope images and watch
'em putting in all the tubes and wires and stuff. i could also see my
ekg and my arterial pressure readings on another screen.

i was watching this, in a kind of "watching a TV show" mindset, when i
noticed that the ekg had gone flatline. so had the arterial pressure.
i tapped on one of the leads on my chest to see if it was equipment
failure: nope, the jiggle showed up just fine. 

i was about to yell "hey, ralph!! it stopped!!" when i remembered my
assignment for the week in the type-A behavior modification course i
was taking. we were supposed to find a situation when we were going to
act like typical, pushy, loud, type A's, and stop and think what a
type B personality would do, and then do it.

so i paused, and decided i would say something like "excuse me, ralph,
but how long do you typically tolerate asystole (no heart beat) in
these situations?"

i opened my mouth and just then there was this voice from overhead --
kind of like the Voice o' God (but in this case coming from a speaker)
which said, laconically "pacing."

unbeknownst to me, there was a guy in the next room watching all this
and keeping track of the monitors. when he saw the heart stop (which
it did on occasion when they put the tubes down in the coronary
arteries) he just activated the temporary pacemaker which had been
inserted earlier.

so, of course, my heart started beating nice and regularly, and
continued (at least up 'til now) after the tubes were removed.

one of the nice things about this experience (other than my heart
starting up -- a Good Thing) was the type A class the following week.
here i was, surrounded by folks intent at changing their behavior
because it would reduce their risk of heart disease. we were talking
about how we'd done our homework assignment.

one woman said "i was driving on the golden gate bridge and somebody
cut right in front of me at the toll plaza. i was about to honk and
shout at him, but thought of our assignment; relaxed; and let him in."

another talked about controlling himself when the person ahead of him
at safeway had 11 items in a 9 item express line.

my story was the best. 
  

    
Heh.
  

    

Jeez. I'll say. 
  

    

no kidding.  jeez, flash!!

So what prompted you to take this Type A Behavior Modification class??
  

    

Your story is STILL the best!
  

    

So, flash and chel, I want to thank you for participating in inkwell the
last two weeks!  You are welcome to continue for as long as you like...
  

    
Yes, thank you and please stick around!
  

    

Thanks for having us!  Sorry to get so quiet there at the end - thanks for
being such a patient interviewee, dr. flash!
  

    

And if you'd like to tell us more about your book, we'd love to hear!
  

    
i've got a book?

oh.  yeah.

here's the table of contents:

http://www.docflash.com/contents.html

with a link to a review, and here's where to find it on amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1884313035/flashgordonmdA/

btw, you can still earn a chance to win $50 by being the first person
to review it on amazon.

thanks for having me, folks.
  

    
Thanks, flash!