Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ct

1 in 500? I don't like those odds.

ostranenie — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:44:49 -0800

CT scans on children for hearing problems. Worried about radiation risks. Wait? Asking for a friend:

Last year when my son was four years old it was discovered that he has what our ENT called maximum conductive hearing loss in his left ear. A little over two years ago, his older brother had stuck an opened large paperclip into the ear that now has hearing loss. The ENT is unsure if the paper clip incident is related to the hearing loss but has not ruled it out entirely. A CT scan has been ordered to look for "ossicular discontinuity due to h/o trauma, congenital ossicular abnormality, or congenital otosclerosis" (even though he passed his hearing test at birth).

The reason for the CT is so the doctor can determine if my son is a candidate for ear surgery to repair whatever is causing the hearing loss. When my son was tested for hearing the audiologist told me that he is a great candidate for a hearing aid as well, as he could hear well from the ear in question when she had the settings placed at what a hearing aid would acheive for him.

My question is if it's worth getting a CT scan for a five year old. I have read that one CT scan can be the equivalent of 4000 chest x-rays and that a child has a 1 in 500 chance of developing cancer later because of the CT itself. Does anyone know how true these claims are? The CT would be of the temporal bones for conductive hearing loss in the middle ear. I am afraid that unless he is completely sedated he may move and the image will not be clear enough and they will have to take another one, which would only expose him to that much more radiation. I am hoping that if I ask for them to make sure the CT scanner is set for pediatric dosage they will actually put it on that setting.

Thanks for any advice anyone may have. You are not [a / my son's] doctor.

Recs for easygoing pediatricians near Ridgefield CT

mccn — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:20:02 -0800

[kidsfilter] Recommendations for easygoing, vegetarian-friendly pediatricians near Ridgefield, CT? Good friends of mine are moving, rather suddenly, to Ridgefield, CT next week. They have two sons, under two years old - one is about 20 months, and the other was born a few weeks ago.

They've asked, since I live in the NY Metro Area, if I could find recommendations for pediatricians within a half hour of the area, who are "ok with vegetarians and cosleeping, not prone to panic, and not married to charts." Neither of the kids has any medical conditions that require specialty care, and both are healthy to my knowledge.

Any suggestions you have to offer would be greatly appreciated!

This is driving me crazy [or, insert your preferred car pun here]

pemberkins — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 09:59:27 -0800

Where should I register my car? So, I just finished my undergraduate degree (yay!). I went to school in upstate New York, but maintained my permanent address in CT with my parents. Because of this, I have maintained a CT driver's license, and I have been driving a car with Connecticut plates. The car is owned by my parents, and registered in Connecticut.

I am now going to graduate school on Long Island. I could feasibly continue claiming "I am a student" and maintain a permanent address in CT... except that the graduate program requires me to establish NY residency for tuition purposes (e.g. they will only waive my tuition if I am an in-state student).

Because of that stipulation, I need to get a NY driver's license, register to vote here, and so on and so forth. But I'm not sure what to do about my car, because I don't own it. So, my questions:

1) It seems from what I've read that the state requires NY residents to register their cars in NY, but I don't own this car. Does that make a difference as to whether or not I need to register this car in NY?

2) Can I get my NY license and legally still drive this car that is owned by my parents and registered in CT? Or does getting a NY license mean that the car I drive needs to be registered here as well?

3) Is there any way that the car can be owned by my parents in CT, under their insurance, but be registered in NY?

The main reason that this is an issue is, of course, money - trying to pay car insurance on my graduate stipend is a frightening thought, so it's something I'd like to avoid if possible. I fear, however, that I may just have to bite the bullet, have the ownership transferred to me, and start selling my organs to pay the insurance. What's your advice?

Why is there a street called "Yogananda Street" in staid Sandy Hook, CT?

jimmyjimjim — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:58:50 -0800

Why is there a street called "Yogananda Street" in staid Sandy Hook, CT, when there's no apparent local connection to yoga, generally, or to the famous yogi/author Paramahansa Yogananda, specifically? This should not be a tough mystery to solve. But I'm finding it iron-like and utterly un-googleable. It's not that I care so much, it's just that I'm not used to questions that can't be answered via the Internets.

BTW, just to plug the president's "USA Service" initiative, I discovered the street when searching for local civic activities to participate in, and found the following:

37 Yogananda Street (Sandy Hook, CT)
Women Involved in Newtown makes Easter baskets for children who would not otherwise recive them. We work together with Newtown Social Services, Interfaith Aids and...

Would CT scan show gallstones?

muxnaw — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:12:27 -0800

If I had a CT scan (on my bill, it says CT scan with contrast of abdomen and CT scan with contrast pelvic), would the doc be able to tell if I had gallstones? I went in with kidney infection symptoms, and he did CT scans to check for an abcess (thankfully, none was found). Because I presented with back pain, do you think the kidneys were the only thing he checked on CT? Would gallstones be obvious on those scans? Thanks guys.

Why are there so many dead deer bodies on the Merritt?

Jimmie — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 13:48:46 -0800

Why are there so many dead deer bodies on the side of the highway on the Merritt Parkway in CT? Do they die on the side of the road right before they prance onto the highway? They look too perfectly placed and appear to lack much bleeding to have been run over then moved aside. I know every once in a while you see a dead deer body on the side of the highway here and there. However, this weekend I drove down the Merritt Parkway from Milford into New York and saw at least 10 dead deer bodies on the side of the highway.

The bodies didn't look like they're run over and even if they are... do people who run over deer really have the time to back up to move the deer body aside? Especially at night when cars tend to speed down the Merritt... deer-hitters actually get out of their car to move the deer body aside risking the possibility of getting hit by a car themselves?

I know it was unusually hot this weekend (mid 90s) so maybe deers are passing out cause of the heat? But I also noticed the high body count of dead deers when I drove down in February when the temperature was in the 30s.

When does the traffic get bad in CT?

smackfu — Sat, 10 May 2008 14:51:57 -0800

When in the morning does the traffic get bad along the CT shoreline on 95 and the Merritt (towards NYC)? The specific reason I ask is that I have to get from Bridgeport to Laguardia in time for an 8:30 AM flight on Monday, and I'm wondering if I'll still hit traffic if I'm on and off the road by 7 AM.

It Ain't the MTA

roomthreeseventeen — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:07:37 -0800

Connecticut Public Transportation Filter: Has anyone used Seatbus? I'm thinking of trying to get to Norwich this weekend, and it seems the best way to get there (from NYC) is to take the Greyhound to Mohegan Sun, and then grab a "seatbus" to Norwich.

The Seatbus website is woefully, um, not good.

Does the bus really run once every TWO hours? Is that possible? And it shuts down at 7pm?

Which state am I a resident of? Where do I file my taxes?

Jimmie — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 16:49:03 -0800

I live in NH but still have a CT driver's license... due to a combination of supposed lack of need and laziness. I currently live and work in New Hampshire, in which there is no state income tax. All the rent, cable, and electric bills are in my name. I've been living and working in New Hampshire for about 7 months now. However, I still have a Connecticut driver's license. I never got around to getting a NH driver's license because I don't own a car, and the CT license doesn't expire for another 3 or so year... so basically a combination of a seeming lack of need and laziness.

So, for the sake of filing my taxes this year, am I a resident of New Hampshire or CT? Do I file taxes for both? As punishment for having never switched from a CT to NH license, does this mean CT's going to try and tax my income?

What can be done now for Julie Amero?

lorimer — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 07:57:04 -0800

Julie Amero. Are there ANY concrete actions a non-expert stranger could take to decrease the chance she'll do jail time? Julie Amero is the substitute teacher in Connecticut who's currently facing up to 40 years in jail, for having been present in the same room as a malware-infested computer when it displayed popup porn ads in view of students. She's gotten international support from amazed techies (including a full-page ad in her local paper, taken out by 28 concerned computer science professors, saying she did not originate and could not have controlled the popups).

Her sentencing has now been postponed twice (maybe a good sign?) and is currently scheduled for June 6th. Her husband has a small blog with a list of local officials' contact info but it's not clear which of these officials would be important or relevant to contact at this point. Beyond that, is there anything else I or others could do? (Legal, sane and non-assholish please... this is a serious situation, please let's talk about real possibilities if there are any left.) There was a mefi thread about this in January but it has no discussion of actions that could be taken.

I find this a truly frightening case -- sure makes me want to never again be in the same classroom as a child and a computer.

Let's Dance! Put on your red shoes and dance the blues.

ZenMasterThis — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 06:23:28 -0800

Good place for old farts (~44 yrs old) to go dancing in New Haven on January 13^th? Wanna do something romantic, surprise the wife. Nothing too loud or crowded. Thanks!

Is a Radiologist Required Under Medicaid?

whitebird — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 09:37:12 -0800

Is a radiologist required to be in the office during an MRI, according to Medicaid regulations? According to the Medicare National Coverage Determinations Manual, in a hospital setting for a CT scan, you need a "radiologist or other qualified physician...in charge of the procedure," while for a non-hospital health care facility, "the diagnostic procedure must be performed by or under the direct personal supervision of a radiologist or other qualified physician." Do the same rules apply to MRI? Bonus points given for a link to specific Medicaid/Medicare regulations applicable.

Curiousity Killed the Cancer

Moondoggie — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 06:38:50 -0800

Need some some software for viewing DIRCOM files of a PET scan. I've downloaded the Julius framework software and it looks like my work computer here isn't powerful enough to run it. I'm hoping someone knows of fast easy and free software for viewing these scans. Now, IANAD, but these are my scans and I can't wait until I go see the doc in mid-January to take a look at 'em. While I used to be an X-Ray tech, it was before all of this digital stuff happened, so I'm at a loss as to how to look at 'em. The CT scans on another disk had a viewer included, but the PETs are all on their own.

Granted, I could wait until I got home, but I wanna see how bad the cancer was before and how good it is now. Plus, it's the last day at work before a three day break, so my mind's not in a work mode anyways. Wait a minute. Did he just try to play the cancer card for sympathy? Ooohhhhh what a bastard.

Save me from driving around in circles!

xo — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 00:09:51 -0800

Seeking Northeastern US towns with particular characteristics: This is for a project, so the towns need not be good places to live/visit or have lodging, dining, etc.

The characteristics I seek are: (and the towns must meet ALL criteria, but it's okay if only part of the town qualifies)
• sidewalks
• on-street parking
• people walking around on Friday nights in the summer
• houses close together
• houses close to the road
• houses intermixed with businesses.

Towns that meet this criteria: Essex, CT. Provincetown, MA. City Island, NY. Newport, RI. So far it seems that being a historical town and/or being in a desireable location often lead to the close-togetherness of buildings in a suitable way.

I am most interested in towns in CT and NY (near NYC), but I'm collecting a wider list as well!