Playa Lung ??!!??!!!???

[C.f.M.]

How do you solve a problem like Maria?

[Roberto Dobbisano]

as far as solutions go, it appears there are nun.

[C.f.M.]

The world’s best chess players were at a tournament. They hung
out in the hallway, bragging to each other about their recent
victories. Suddenly, the hotel manager told them to leave. When asked
why, he replied: “I hate chess nuts boasting by an open foyer.â€

[ygmir]

[quote="C.f.M."]The world’s best chess players were at a tournament. They hung
out in the hallway, bragging to each other about their recent
victories. Suddenly, the hotel manager told them to leave. When asked
why, he replied: “I hate chess nuts boasting by an open foyer.â€

[C.f.M.]

Aaaah-ha ha ha, I can't even think of something witty to reply with, due to laughter.

[Boijoy]

I had a dream last night that an alien landed/visited Burning Man & invited me to visit his ship. I woke up wondering what I would do. Made perfect sense that burning man is the place to experience new things & take risks... somehow though I think this thread contributed to the dream.
weeeiiirrrdddd... I think I would visit the ship. long as they had ac & some cold PBR.

[emergenttech]

Hmm Bojoiy,

I'd visit the ship too, so long as it wasn't dusty.....

[jkisha]

Hmm Bojoiy,

I'd visit the ship too, so long as it wasn't dusty.....

Who you trying to kid...oh wait, maybe you would visit the ship, then afterwards, start researching on alien bacteria and viruses and radiation and start posting on how you weren't warned and now you think you are sterile and dying from radiation exposure.



JK

[C.f.M.]

I spent a lot of time on a ship one night.

[Simon of the Playa]

we were on the PP for the temple burn....it was Purplicious.

and dusty...i'll probably die because i was breathing the WHOLE time...

[ygmir]

*light bulb comes on*

Simon, brilliant solution:

if, you don't breath while on the playa, you won't die from lung cancer.........

*understanding why I'm a second level mind dwarf*

[Da Mule]

[quote=ygmir]now, I'm going to make a fat-free, sugar-free, white bread sandwich, with mayo, drink it with splenda and kool-aid, while sitting on a Mule under the hangmans tree wearing a noose.......

after my meal, I'll be heading to the Zyclon "B" showers.......just in case I spill.......
[/quote]

That meal is going to make you flatulent. You ain't sitting on this mule after that.

[Deb Prothero]

You're new around here tromby24. Suppossed to go to the introduction thread first, you know, so's you can shake hands with jk before you start advertising in your signature.

[ygmir]

Deb, you're sharp........only one of the myriad reasons to admire you.........

[Deb Prothero]

that's high praise comin' from you, ygmir. I'm pretty sure the mods have got the flu too. They usually keep this place spic and span. Must be sleepin' in this morning.

[AntiM]

Not the flu. The sleeping in with MyLarry. Much more fun.

[Bling]

When I first went out to BM. I had no idea that the sand was so fine and could cause a long term health issue.

There doesn't seem to be any question that "respirable crystallized silica (RCS)" is nasty stuff and best avoided if possible. Folks who work as sandblasters, for example--day in and day out for YEARS--are at risk for silicosis.

I suspect you have an anxiety disorder and won't be able to let this go no matter what anyone says.

But here's my question for you: How do you know that the Playa contains RCS?. From my research, it looks like it's next to impossible to determine whether a sample has it or not. See Table 3 in this chart to see what I mean. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/silicacrystall ... index.html

So, how do you know?

[theCryptofishist]

It can't be impossible at some point. Otherwise how would they know what they can make glass out of. The fact that there's a gypsum mine and not a silica mine may indicate something.

[Bling]

Just wondering what the evidence is...

[theCryptofishist]

And I can't believe that competent geologists don't have a pretty good answer already.

[persephone]

dear emergenttech,
I don't take your concerns lightly; in fact, I came across them because I was gogling to check in on the toxicity of black rock dust (which I enhale annually and even love the smell and feel of it), but particularly thinking about kids there... Anyway, something else caught my attn in your post-- ok, how to say it... your post sounds OCD-ish to me. You are ruminating/worrying about this so much, that that in itself sounds like a symptom. Do you repeatedly check things, count things....? intrusively worry about something you're hyperfocused on...? Talk to a psychiatrist and find out whether you have OCD. If so, meds can make an enormous difference in you life.
Good luck.

[CapSmashy]

As much of a time as I had a BM, whether good, puking my guts out, or rubbing salve into my burnt, chafed skin, I probably won't go back, either. Isn't a big deal.

LIAR!



You're a Raider for life darling.

Even if you slink off and try to camp somewhere else. We'll find you and drag you back kicking and screaming.

[malchik]

Just wondering if anybody heard of (otherwise completely healthy, non-smoking) burners getting pneumothorax (spontaneous lung collapse) after BM? (by "after" I mean a week or two, in this case.)

[phil]

> pneumothorax (spontaneous lung collapse)

So what did the doctor say?

[trilobyte]

Having been out there several times, and inhaled more than my fair share of playa (dust masks? bah!) and managing to survive, I'd have to say that there's more to the story than that. Perhaps a previously undetected pre-existing condition or something. The playa wasn't even that harsh this year.

[malchik]

Yeah, I asked docs. I had to describe, of course; they haven't heard of the playa conditions. They weren't moved in any way, so there's no "confirmation" of any kind.

What's very unsettling is that there were no other visible reasons for this to happen; all lung scans look normal and healthy. I know the weather has been by far the best this year - my tenth, hardly ever bothering with face masks before.

More than anything, I want to know how paranoid and protective I should be in the future, especially if there's a lot more dust than this year... pneumothorax isn't something I ever want to go through again..

[trilobyte]

Even if it was completely unrelated, I'd be extra careful moving forward (dust masks or at least a bandana). Your poor lungs may end up being more susceptible to problems moving forward.

[phil]

Yeah, I asked docs. I had to describe, of course; they haven't heard of the playa conditions. They weren't moved in any way, so there's no "confirmation" of any kind.

What's very unsettling is that there were no other visible reasons for this to happen

>SNIP<

That's the issue with pneumothorax, isn't it? It happens for no apparent reason. Doctors diagnose it because it's not uncommon, generally caused by a chest injury, but frequently is idiopathic. Doctors weren't impressed because nothing on the playa is obviously related to a collapsed lung.

If you didn't suffer a chest trauma, have no underlying disease, and didn't undergo a chest procedure, there's no known cause for the collapsed lung. The great thing about idiopathic conditions is that you can make up whatever cause you want and no one can prove you wrong. So it you want to blame the playa, go for it.

[jkisha]

I had a spontaneous pneumothorax about 35 or 40 years or so ago. No lung disease, no history, no family history. I just walked into my office and as I rounded the corner of my desk felt this terrible pain in my chest and I thought I might be having a heart attack. I couldn't lay flat because of the pain and of course, had trouble taking deep breaths.

I went to the hospital, x-rayed and diagnosed, and while laying on a gurney in the hallway of the emergency ward, the doc came in, injected a local anesthetic, made a slit, stuck in a tube and I could hear the air rush out, the lung fill with air and all the pain subsided. I was then hooked to a machine that kept gentle suction on the lung cavity to keep the lung inflated until the small hole had a chance to heal.

Haven't had another problem with my lungs since.

So, chances are the fact that it happened in proximity to Burning Man was only coincidental.

[Simon of the Playa]

Yeah, I asked docs. I had to describe, of course; they haven't heard of the playa conditions. They weren't moved in any way, so there's no "confirmation" of any kind.

What's very unsettling is that there were no other visible reasons for this to happen; all lung scans look normal and healthy. I know the weather has been by far the best this year - my tenth, hardly ever bothering with face masks before.

More than anything, I want to know how paranoid and protective I should be in the future, especially if there's a lot more dust than this year... pneumothorax isn't something I ever want to go through again..

PUSSY.