Toad in the Hole

1 | By: kathy a on August 22, 2010 at 02:24 PM

what IS that?

2 | By: Ron Sullivan on August 22, 2010 at 03:26 PM

An underground fire in a coal mine near Scranton. Some of them go on burning for decades, like the one under Centralia, Pennsylvania.

3 | By: VS on August 23, 2010 at 08:36 AM

Can they be tapped for energy?

4 | By: Ron Sullivan on August 23, 2010 at 10:41 AM

Not that I know of; they’re slow-burning and very diffuse. They also give off some nasty gases.

You home?

Ready to turn around and go back?

BTW: No, that’s not a steroid.

5 | By: VS on August 24, 2010 at 09:50 AM

Home, yes.  The FDA (the F does NOT stand for Food, trust me) has reformulated my pancreas med.  It doesn’t work for a lot of people now, including me.  I’m hoping the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has some pull with them, as a lot of CF patients can’t use the new formulation either.

The two changes they *talk* about having made make perfect sense.  One was changing a poor manufacturing choice and the other was removing the mineral oil from the formulation - when a patient has trouble metabolizing fats, why give them more?  Nobody from the FDA seems to be talking about the fact that they changed the ratio, nearly doubling the amylase, and required EVERY manufacturer to do the same.

Basically, without the proper ratio of pancreatic enzymes, my pancreas goes into overdrive and starts digesting itself.  Very painful, plus knowing that the pain is actually hastening my demise adds a level of stress beyond the usual.

Anybody out there have any clout with the FDA?