Via ComicallyVintage.tumblr.com, via FeastingonRoadkill.tumblr.com
The source of this gem was a one-shot issue of “Future World Comics” in 1946. (Excellent summary at Oddball Comics here.)
I always find it neat to compare what science predicted in the past to what science has produced today. In the above example, atomic cars would be feasible in 1946 if the price of uranium-235 (U-235) dropped to $52,000 a pound. A look around the Internet shows the price of yellowcake (triuranium octoxide) to be about $43 a pound today. It’s a quick and dirty comparison, but something tells me that even with uranium 43 bucks a pound cheap, we’re not going to be driving around in atomic cars anytime soon.
But nuclear medicine is an important component in treating some cancers today, so Future World Comics got that part right!
Press Release—Frustrated with the health care ‘options’ coming out of Washington, D.C., six “Mad as Hell” Oregon physicians are taking an unprecedented road trip across America to lobby Congress for a single-payer health care system. A big part of their plan is to take the entire country with them.
Called a “Care-A-Van,” these road-tripping Oregon physicians will leave in a used motor home from Portland, Oregon on September 8th, inviting doctors and ordinary citizens from other states to join them on their twenty-city tour across the country. Their journey will culminate in a D.C.-based event on September 30th, scheduled to take place on the
steps of Congress. Demonstrating with the doctors will be thousands of fellow ‘Mad as Hell’ single-payer advocates, all adorned with the movement’s new symbol – the white ribbon. Their demand: Single-Payer Now!
Coming to a city near you!
“We’re mad as hell because our health care system is run by people who profit from illness” says Dr. Paul Hochfeld, lead Mad As Hell Doctor and producer of the documentary Health, Money and Fear. “The rest of the civilized world has test driven single payer and it works. But elected officials in America won’t even allow a discussion.”
“The public option is a trap.” Hochfeld continues. “It sounds very reasonable, but the problem with it, no matter what the final bill looks like, is that it will continue to allow private medical insurance companies to dictate America’s public health policies. And that’s just plain wrong.”
Several national, single-payer advocacy organizations including Physicians for a National Health Program, Health Care Now, Single Payer Action, and even groups like Progressive Democrats of America and Jobs with Justice are supporting the Oregon physicians by setting up Mad as Hell Town Halls across the country in anticipation of their arrival.
“People need to understand what single-payer is–and isn’t,” says Dr. Mike Huntington, a radiologist from Corvallis, Oregon and fellow Mad As Hell Doctor. “It isn’t Socialism, any more than police and fire are Socialism. And it doesn’t require any more money.
Simply put, single-payer is a way to take the current premium payments that go to a thousand different private insurance companies, and redirect them into a single, public fund that insures everyone. That’s all it is. But when we do this, lots of wonderful things happen, not the least of which is to save Americans 500 billion dollars a year starting day one. That’s billion – with a ‘b.’ America needs this information. That’s why we’re taking the tour.”
Click here for their website.
Check out a Mad As Hell Doctor on MSNBC’s The Ed Show
Joyce’s eBook is available for purchase on her Blog, The Radical Virgo, starting today for the low price of $4.95!
“A specialist on Chiron for 20 years, Joyce is the former editor of the international newsletter, Chironicles (1992-95), and the creator of the Chironic Convergence in 1996, a journey of discovery to the Mt. Pelion region in Greece, Chiron’s mythical homeland. Back to astrology after a long hiatus, Joyce blogs here on The Radical Virgo, a repository for her many articles, both old and new.”
Watch this space for news of upcoming astro-articles by Starcats in partnership with Joyce Mason!
Chiron & Healing -
A Life Long Journey to Wholeness
There is an estimated 47 million Americans without health care coverage, There are many sick people today that need medical assistance but can not afford it, what are they to do?
Is their plight hopeless? No! Thanks to a company called TelaDoc.
TelaDoc is…A national network of board certified, licensed primary care physicians (PCP) that diagnose illness, recommend treatment, and prescribe medication, when appropriate, for its members over the telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. TelaDoc is a convenient, cost-effective alternative for minor medical problems and a current solution for the health care issues of cost and access.
TelaDoc services do not replace the care of the PCP …they complement and enhance the quality of care. TelaDoc physicians are trained and experienced in telephone based cross coverage. They must also meet our strict physician credentialing guidelines.
Telephone medical consult with licensed physicians who diagnose medical problems and prescribe one short-term medication when appropriate
If medicine is needed a prescription is phoned into your local pharmacy.
All licensed physicians specialize in telephone medical consults. They are primary care physicians, internists and urgent care physicians.
Doctors available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Speak to a doctor quickly in most cases in less than an hour, but always within 3 hours guaranteed.
Doctor reviews your electronic health record prior to each consultation to aid diagnosis.
Fast, cost effective medical attention that saves both time and money.
TelaDoc services do not replace the care of the PCP …they complement and enhance the quality of care. TelaDoc physicians are trained and experienced in telephone based cross coverage. They must also meet strict physician credentialing guidelines.
* According to the American Medical Association (AMA), 72% of doctor visits (office, emergency room and urgent care clinic) are for non-emergency care for common illnesses – those medical issues for which TelaDoc is designed to diagnose and treat.
* The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the average employee loses one full day per year visiting medical facilities for treatment of non-emergency minor medical issues.
* Of those employees who tough it out and “work through” their illnesses, 13% loose 4.3 hours of productivity due to reduced effectiveness (JAMA).
* Approximately 4% of total wages are lost due to reduced effectiveness and absenteeism, which could be greatly reduced by utilizing TelaDoc Medical Services.
Members can remain at home, at their desk or in their hotel room and receive quality medical care at a fraction of the cost of going to the doctor, ER or urgent care clinic.
TelaDoc is only one of many outstanding benefits of FDI membership click here for more information
http://bit.ly/2VnrvW
TeleHealth News article written by the National Center for Policy Analysis/Market Watch: Health Issues | Ncpa.org | Published December 2008
Article Title: Ways to Trim Your Health Care Costs
Related articles by Zemanta
Carded for your care? Docs begin checking IDs (msnbc.msn.com)
Now Available – Archived interview on Social Media in Pharma last Friday with Paul Chaney – feel free to forward the link (http://bit.ly/29kAoN) to your colleagues.
TODAY’S NEWS
Abbott wins the bidding for Solvay’s drug unit - Abbott Laboratories will announce today the €5bn ($7.3bn) acquisition of Solvay’s pharmaceutical company, bringing a five-month takeover battle to an end and highlighting continued consolidation in the industry. The US drugmaker beat UCB of Belgium and Nycomed of Switzerland to buy the division, which is valued at between €4.5bn and €5bn…more
The Medicines Company gets encouraging results from Angiomax study – The Medicines Company today announced the presentation of 2-year clinical results from the landmark HORIZONS-AMI Trial. The trial showed that patients who had suffered the most severe form of heart attack were significantly less likely to suffer cardiac death and had better overall survival if treated with Angiomax® (bivalirudin) while undergoing angioplasty compared with those treated with heparin plus a platelet glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor (GPI) during angioplasty...more
Merck’s diabetes drug Januvia with pancreatitis link? Merck says no, but FDA concerned.
RECOMMENDED
Social Media Strategy. We do that. If your company is wrestling with how to move forward with social media, contact us (stevew at impactiviti dot com, or phone at 973-947-7429) to talk.
PLUS
Is the Apple iPhone 3GS good enough to record the video of an entire conference presentation? Well, yes, it kinda can. Here are the results of my little experiment, from last week’s PharmaMed conference.
Coming up next month:
Oct. 19-21 - eXL’s Digital Pharma conference, Bridgewater, NJ. This event will be quite progressive, with more of an informal “unconference” format to maximize interaction. I’ll be co-leading a pre-conference workshop on the 19th on social media, and live-blogging/Twittering. Here’s a discount code for 15% your registration: P615WOO
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Subscribe to the Impactiviti blog via e-mail (which will bring you Impactiviti Daily – a brief of the day’s top pharma news)
Sign up for the Impactiviti Connection twice-monthly e-newsletter (see sample)
As I see it the major cost factor is the cost of medicines.Pharma
companies must be asked to donate at least 1% of their turn over to
healthcare programme
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/55847/
———————————————–
Cost of Medicine in Health Care
by Venkata Ramanan
[Comment posted 2009-08-07 05:36:23]
Referring to Bob’s statement on cost of medicine in health care, I
furnish statistics here below.
“Of each dollar spent on health care in the United States 31% goes to
hospital care, 21% goes to physician services, 10% to pharmaceuticals,
8% to nursing homes, 7% to administrative costs, and 23% to all other
categories (diagnostic laboratory services, pharmacies, medical device
manufacturers, etc.[7] Reports on the percentage of costs that go to
profits varies from 25-30%.”
(Linkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_care_in_the_United_States#Health_care_spending)
GDP of USA is:GDP (purchasing power parity): $14.29 trillion (2008
est.) $14.11 trillion (2007) $13.83 trillion (2006)
GDP (official exchange rate): $14.33 trillion (2008 est.)(
source;http://flagcounter.com/factbook/us)
One can see where the Dollar goes.Why do not the Hospitals,Physicians
,labs and the Pharma industry contribute?
other than pharma Industries,others could charge less or do pro bono
service.pharma, I still can contribute 1% of their Turn over.
Let’s see what Pharma companies make in terms of US $
The following is a list of the 20 largest pharmaceutical and biotech
companies ranked by healthcare revenue. Some companies (eg, Bayer,
Johnson and Johnson and Procter & Gamble) have additional revenue not
included here. The phrase Big Pharma is often used to refer to
companies with revenue in excess of $3 billion, and/or R&D expenditure
in excess of $500 million.
Revenue Rank 2008 Company Country Total Revenues (USD millions)
Healthcare R&D 2006 (USD millions) Net income/ (loss) 2006 (USD
millions) Employees 2006
1 Novartis Switzerland 53,324 7,125 11,053 138,000
2 Pfizer USA 48,371 7,599 19,337 122,200
3 Bayer Germany 44,200 1,791 6,450 106,200
4 GlaxoSmithKline United Kingdom 42,813 6,373 10,135 106,000
5 Johnson and Johnson USA 37,020 5,349 7,202 102,695
6 Sanofi-Aventis France 35,645 5,565 5,033 100,735
7 Hoffmann?La Roche Switzerland 33,547 5,258 7,318 100,289
8 AstraZeneca UK/Sweden 26,475 3,902 6,063 50,000+
9 Merck & Co. USA 22,636 4,783 4,434 74,372
10 Abbott Laboratories USA 22,476 2,255 1,717 66,800
11 Wyeth USA 20,351 3,109 4,197 66,663
12 Bristol-Myers Squibb USA 17,914 3,067 1,585 60,000
13 Eli Lilly and Company USA 15,691 3,129 2,663 50,060
14 Amgen USA 14,268 3,366 2,950 48,000
15 Boehringer Ingelheim Germany 13,284 1,977 2,163 43,000
16 Schering-Plough USA 10,594 2,188 1,057 41,500
17 Baxter International USA 10,378 614 1,397 38,428
18 Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Japan 10,284 1,620 2,870 15,000
19 Genentech USA 9,284 1,773 2,113 33,500
20 Procter & Gamble USA 8,964 n/a 10,340 29,258
Source: Top 50 Pharmaceutical Companies Charts & Lists, Med Ad News,
September 2007[21]
[edit]Market leaders in terms of sales
The top 15 pharmaceutical companies by 2008 sales are:[22]
[23]
Rank Company Sales ($m) Based/Headquartered in
1 Pfizer 43,363 US
2 GlaxoSmithKline 36,506 UK
3 Novartis 36,506 Switzerland
4 Sanofi-Aventis 35,642 France
5 AstraZeneca 32,516 UK/Sweden
6 Hoffmann?La Roche 30,336 Switzerland
7 Johnson & Johnson 29,425 US
8 Merck & Co. 26,191 US
9 Abbott 19,466 US
10 Eli Lilly and Company 19,140 US
11 Amgen 15,794 US
12 Wyeth 15,682 US
13 Teva 15,274 Israel
14 Bayer 15,660 Germany
15 Takeda 13,819 Japan
( source;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharmaceutical_industry)
I think pharma companies can contribute.
http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/55847/)
comment:
Health Care Budget
by Venkata Ramanan
[Comment posted 2009-08-07 05:45:55]
I forgot to include Medicare budget in my comment.
‘national health spending totaling around $2.5 trillion in 2009, and
projected to grow to $4.4 trillion by
2018′,(http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/158463.php))
.14 trillion US $ is not a small amount in a budget of% 2.5 trillions.
New Scientist brings you sex as you’ve never seen it before: the first video of a couple having sex in an MRI scanner (see video). Just released, it was made from a series of images captured during an experiment some years ago. The study aimed to prove that it was possible to image male and female genitals during sex and to help better understand human anatomy.
As should be obvious, the video is sexually explicit.
more about “Human sex from the inside out – New S…“, posted with vodpod
Today 2 presentations about medicine in Second Life :
Medicine in Second Life, the virtual world
Describing how virtual worlds can be used in medical education (virtual presentation for a course of the Nova Southeastern University).
Virtual Worlds Demand Innovative Roles and Skills from Medical Librarians
OBJECTIVES: As our institutions engage in new online learning and community spaces, the roles of the medical librarian have shifted to encompass these new environments. In Second Life (SL) and other virtual worlds, while the fundamental goals of service, support, collection development, reference, and outreach remain the same, the scope of audience and delivery of health information in support of these goals takes on a vastly different form. METHODS: An academic medical library collaborated with local health sciences schools and programs on developing a SL space. The librarians initiated training sessions on SL skills; organized a seminar series; developed resources and exhibits that bridged the virtual world and online environments; collaborated with local, national and international partners; and broadly served as community managers for the Second Life community and space.
RESULTS: Outcomes of the librarians’ activities as community managers included professional presentations in SL, creation of tools to index health information in SL, engagement with patient support communities, and formation of an international SL health education community.
CONCLUSIONS: Second Life offers exceptional opportunities for health and medical librarians through flexible and innovative new roles.
In recent years, the increasing frankness of breast cancer PSAs has been a bright spot of adult sensibility in what is Americans’ generally neurotic relationship to the female anatomy. Bear in mind that our national dialogue was brought to an inane standstill when Janet Jackson’s breast was briefly exposed during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Compared to the “Save the Boobs” spot, Jackson might as well have been wearing a burqa.
Also, this ad — and a couple more like it — represent one of the few occasions when the male tendency to objectify the female body is put to good use, as opposed to selling beer and premium football cable packages. They seem to answer a question that must have nagged breast-cancer-awareness advocates: How to get men to care?
Now Broadsheet:
According to Cho, the group’s founder believes the PSA will encourage men to help their wives and girlfriends check for breast cancer — despite the fact that the ad never includes such a suggestion, even though it would have been easy to build in. (”Like boobs? Why not spend more time touching them? Help your girlfriend check for breast cancer.”)
But what really bothers me about the PSA, aside from the obvious — how problematic it is to sexualize cancer, the implication that only hot girls with nice racks are worth caring about — is its cynicism toward young men. Does Rethink Breast Cancer really believe that the only way to make guys care is to slap together a sexy ad with a boobs-to-information ratio that’s downright offensive? Is it impossible to believe that men’s interest in breast cancer research might go beyond the selfish desire to “Save the boobs”? I’m all for reaching out to get as many people involved in the fight against breast cancer as possible. I just don’t think insulting men’s intelligence is the way to do it.
Insya Allah this can help you Soothing heart disease
Take a nutmeg. Grate it first then put into a cup and poured with sugar sufficiently. Pour boiling water into the cup. After getting warm, drink this water till it’s up. Do this continuously. When you suffer a relapse of your disease, make new ingredients. ———————————————————————————————————————–
Insya Allah ini bisa membantu Anda Meredakan penyakit jantung
Ambil buah pala. Parut dan kemudian dimasukkan ke dalam gelas dan dibubuhi gula secukupnya. Tuangkan air mendidih ke dalam gelas tersebut. Setelah agak hangat, minum air ini hingga habis. Lakukan ini secara berkesinambungan. Ketika Anda mengalami kambuh, buat ramuan baru.
Today we had an academic half day session on pneumonia, presented by Glen Brown.
I thought that the case based presentation was very effective to bringing us through the thought process for pneumonia management. The interactive portion allowed many opportunities for us to speak out and engage in the discussion.
ESBL- enzyme hydrolyze beta lactamase–> DOC: carbapeneum, avoid using carbapenem in other cases when possible
ESBL=ESBLs are capable of efficiently hydrolyzing penicillins, narrow spectrum cephalosporins, many extended-spectrum cephalosporins, the oxyimino group containing cephalosporins (cefotaxime, ceftazidime), and monobactams (aztreonam).
linezolid: bone marrow suppression
2 agents that is active against one organism is not more effective than 1 agent that is active ( not synergistic)
sputum gram stain results can come back as early as 2 hours
sputum cultures can take 48 hours to get the results of
CURB-65 ( confusion, uremic: CrCl, RR greater than 30, SBP less than 90, DBP less than 60, age 65 or older)
top 4 org in order of prevalence: strep pneumo, moroxella catarrlis, atypical- mycoplasma/clamidyia, h. influ
moxi: broad spectrum ; work for all four org
azithro: increase resistance to s. pneumo; work for all four org
clarithro: many more drug interactions than azithro, BID dosing compare to azithro; better pseudomonas coverage
amox/clav: doesn’t cover atypicals, cover all other org
cefuroxime: doesn’t cover atypicals, cover all other org
cefuroxime + clarithro–> fill in gap of non-atypical coverage that cefuroxime misses
doxcycline: doesn’t cover atypicals
IV vs oral: n/v, admitting pt?, drug bioavailability, GI absorption?
in hospital doesn’t always require IV
if sensitive to Pen G–> can switch if hospitalized–> narrow spectrum used when ever possible
duration: once patient is afebrile for at least 48 hours and stable, WBC not always normal, but should be decreasing// no define number of days–> depends on how the patient responds
chest x ray will take approx 6 weeks to clear
severity of pneumonia affects: antibiotic specturm, antibiotic dose–> NOT duration
single dose of antibiotic pre/post op doesn’t count as a risk factor
8 day therapy is just as good as 14 days
if pt has MRSA–> don’t tx unless pathogen is identified UNLESS they are high risk downtown east side pt
aspiration –> antibiotic needed if pt has altered GI motility or respiratory problem–> sputum should be cultured
Pack year is a term used to describe the number of cigarettes a person has smoked over time. One pack year is defined as 20 manufactured cigarettes (one pack) smoked per day for one year.
Example:
I smoked 1 1/2 packs per day for 26 years, which equals 39 pack years:
1 pack per day x 26 years = 26 pack years
1/2 pack per day x 26 years = 13 pack years
26 pack years + 13 pack years = 39 pack years
NaturalNews) It’s no secret mercury is a dangerous toxin that accumulates in the human body and can produce disastrous health problems involving multiple organ systems. It’s known to be a risk to unborn babies, too. Unfortunately, as NaturalNews has reported, mercury contamination of our environment and food sources is rampant. For example, scientists have found that fish(http://www.naturalnews.com/025935_m…) and high fructose corn syrup (http://www.naturalnews.com/026528_m…) are often loaded with the dangerous heavy metal. Now comes this worrisome news: deposits of mercury in the bodies of Americans are increasing at an alarming rate and the health repercussions could be staggering.
Mercury especially targets the liver, the immune system and the pituitary gland. Numerous studies have associated chronic mercury exposure with elevated risks for autism, mental impairment and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. Previous research by U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) researchers estimated that chronic mercury exposure caused between 300,000 and 600,000 American children to be born with elevated risks of neurodevelopmental disorders between 1999 and 2000...read more here…
Brushing, flossing, and seeing your dentist regularly for cleaning are important steps in maintaining healthy teeth and gums. In addition, evidence shows that vitamin deficiencies make teeth more vulnerable to decay.
Nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, boron, and B vitamins, which are important in forming strong bones, are also needed to maintain strong teeth. Vitamin D – lack of which is being recognized as a factor in osteoporosis, heart disease, hypertension, autoimmune diseases, certain cancers, depression, chronic fatigue, and chronic pain – has also been shown to prevent cavities. Dozens of studies conducted in the 1930’s and 40’s showed that supplementing children with Vitamin D helped to prevent cavities.
In addition to regular dental care, the following guidelines can help strengthen teeth and prevent decay:
Replace soda, energy drinks, and juices with water.
Reduce the amount of sugar and sweets in your diet and focus on “real” whole foods.
Vitamin D can be made in your skin by exposing it to sunlight. Especially in the spring and summer, exposing as much of your body as possible to the sun on a regular basis can help you maintain a healthy level of vitamin D. It’s important to avoid sunscreen (which blocks the production of vitamin D) and not to get a sunburn (which can increase your risk of skin cancer).
If you don’t or can’t be in the sun, take 2000 IU of Vitamin D3 daily with a meal.
Take a good multi-vitamin that supplies calcium, magnesium, and other bone building nutrients.
Healthy habits combined with important nutrients can help make your teeth stronger and your visit to the dentist more pleasant.
Both Jay Leno and Arianna Huffington have given glowing reviews to Capitalism: a love story. The movie equally indicts Republicans and Democrats for the current economic crisis. The film also features Elizabeth Warren who is now responsible for Congressional oversight of bailout money. She also happens to be the Harvard professor who conducted a study on bankruptcy which found the number one reason for getting in over your head: medical bills. And the number one reason for foreclosures: medical bills.
Yet, as Michael Moore points out in the above interview with Huffington, we never heard this angle reported as mass foreclosures began. Instead ,we heard people lived beyond their means, consumers were irresponsible.
Of course, Ms. Warren and Harvard researchers weren’t the first to learn the impact of unexpected illness on families. The University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research has covered this extensively for years. Harvard’s study just bolsters what academics have already known.
Doing a work on telemedicine is a dream-come-true for someone like Dr. Alvin B. Marcelo who wished, first of all, to become a computer science whiz.
But due to a rare opportunity, he fell into the better lot of taking up Medicine under the shortened seven-year Intarmed program of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH).
The Intarmed is an elite program for Medicine students who pass rigorous entrance tests.
“My first choice was really Computer Science. But I got accepted in the Intarmed where few people get accepted. You’re a fool if you don’t enroll in it.”
Having completed a surgeon’s residency, he worked as a surgeon at PGH. But never forgot his dream at all.
A post-doctoral fellowship at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland paved the way to realizing a practice in medical informatics where computer mixes with medicine.
That became a milestone, not only for Alvin himself, but for Philippine health and medicine.
“I have already reduced surgery work. Definitely (I enjoy this more). I’m just one of the thousand surgeons. In e-health and telemedicine, I’m the pioneer. Of course it’s enjoyable to conduct an operation. It’s very dramatic. But in surgery, you do it one at a time. In telemedicine, you’re able to amplify yourself to more people.
“The impact is less dramatic than surgery. But the footprint is larger. Surgeons could probably operate two, three, five cases a day. We can see 20 cases in one day (in telemedicine). We can get to 100 to thousands per day if we open it to the public.”
He is an advocate of free/open source software (FOSS) which he believes is a way to democratize use of technology.
“I have been promoting FOSS since I started dabbling with Linux in 1994. I had found the freedom offered by FOSS as exactly the liberation that we would wish to endow every citizen of this planet.”
As National Telehealth Center director of UP-PGH, Alvin gets to touch base with many technology professionals.
“There are a lot of people contacting me. Many of them there have devices already. I try to meet with them to see if the device is applicable.”
Some personal notes:
Birthday: April 14, 1966
Civil Status: “Happily married with Portia,” as his website says, with three
children, Athena, 11; Andres, 10; and Althea, 8.
Inspiring book: Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney. I’ts very inspiring.
Leisure / Time with my kids: Guitar. I’m now teaching them how to play guitar.
Outing to Tagaytay, Clark. My children are not very demanding.
Alvin’s motto “Magtaya, magpalaya, magmahal,” as indicated in his website,
tells about risking, losing, and trying to do something about it.
As failing is very common in Information Technology, government should
come in to make things work. It is the instrument through which the unheard of
are cared for.
“Government should be extending services to the underserved, more than to those well-off. But what happens is those who have the money get the services first. Those that have the ability are the ones given the opportunity. Those who don’t have a voice can’t find any help anywhere. They’re voiceless, uneducated. That’s why they will never get to that level where they would ask for their rights.”
Alvin grew up, spending grade school and high school, in a supposedly school for the rich, Ateneo de Manila. He admits to benefiting from the privilege of learning about service for the underprivileged in two institutions.
“It’s a good combination. Ateneo gives you the principle, but you don’t understand it. UP shows you where you actually apply the principle.”
And when it was time to make a hard decision, he chose what could have required a sacrifice for what he felt would benefit more of his countrymen. He was already helping to start out Ateneo’s medical school which is in a tie-up with Medical City when he had to make this choice.
“I chose UP. This is not about compensation. It’s about a principle. Telemedicine has the opportunity to solve needs of very poor people. And the government is in the position, not the type of government we have, but the abstract government which is the organization of the people called government, which should be addressing the problems of the disadvantaged people.
“Private sector will never do it, unless there’s money behind it, if it’s going to put it in the black. Government thinks otherwise. If any of my citizen is in the red, I have to come up with a system and with solutions to get it into the black. But you couldn’t really care whether its profiting or not.”
I am still bedridden, yet diligently researching what else could be wrong with my brain. In all matters of repetitiveness, this is due to my first tonic-clonic seizure that occurred on September 02, 2009. You see, I need to be repetitive as I do not know who may stumble upon this post, or all of the others that I have written regarding this.
However, I will try to not be too repetitive. For all things written prior, you have the above information, so I shall try to keep this as merely an update. Try, indeed. It is all very complicated. Very.
I am, as many readers know, very open on my blog. However, this is…rather…well, how shall I continue. In the name of science? *PA pauses*
Hormones. Well, let’s just say regarding certain “hormones,” I have never felt “better” in one area since I have been (hypo)manic! Perhaps, this is one good outcome of this damn tonic-clonic? *laughing* Oh, my! This is taking me back to…well…oh, my! A certain “sign” or “symptom” of Bipolar that was extremely prevalent for me. In fact, the other night, I may have had a Gelastic Seizure after…erm…yes…some, “hormonal activity,” on my part? But, no. You can not give yourself a seizure.
Still. Rather interesting how one occurred after another…and the other…or others… *laughing so hard*
I think I have alluded to enough here? Or more than? Not to mention, some tiny bits of research I have actually found regarding this and Gelastic Seizures.
If you don’t know what a Gelastic Seizure is, it is a sudden, unprovoked, outburst of emotion. It generally tends toward laughter. I have had two. However, there seems to be a bit of literature that lends to the fact that this form of Simple Partial Seizure, can be preceded by a “psychic aura” (that is also referred to as a Simple Partial Seizure.) That aura can manifest itself as a feeling of emotion as well. That being said, I did experience a feeling of happiness and perhaps even euphoria. This was immediately before I was basically rolling all over my bed, in uncontrollable hysterics, completely laughing out loud, and unable to contain myself.
I do not laugh like this. In fact, I do not laugh out loud…well, ever? Extremely rarely? With my last Gelastic Seizure, I was basically doubled over with tears practically streaming down my face. Then it stopped, and everything went back to normal. Actually, it was nice to have another one the other night? They are quite “funny.” *laughing* Truly bizarre, but I completely loved the two that I’ve had before.
So, at least be thankful for my apparent, “enjoyment” of a certain hormonal surge and another Gelastic Seizure? *rolls eyes*
I am going to take the MRCS (Member of the Royal College of Surgeons) Part 1 and Part 2 examinations in a couple of days time, and feel ridiculously unprepared. In the past weeks, I’ve been cramming at any time possible, and feel very glad that the department I’m working at now has been able to grant me study leave to revise.
That, and a temporary membership at one of two sites: One Examination or PasTest Online Revision has aided as well.
It is almost time… and it’s not even MRCS Part 3 (the most difficult to pass). Why, then, do I have this sense of impending doom?
For quite some time now, we here at the Freedom Medium have been urging all of our readers to contact their members of Congress and make their voices heard regarding their opposition to health care “reform.”
Some of the biggest voices in the conservative ranks have been instrumental in pointing out the twisting of facts and the outright lies of the supporters of what is quite possibly the worst piece of legislation ever written.
For instance, after reading this entry from Michelle Malkin, it appears to me that Joe Wilson was right!
Glenn Beck asked the question is it healthcare or a freedom grab?
The Mobfather, Rush Limbaugh, asked Whose Swastika’s, Speaker Pelosi?
All of this, combined with millions of you contacting your members of Congress, showing up at town hall meetings, and attending Tea Parties is having the desired effect.
Not only is public support for Obama’s healthcare plan ebbing,…Read the rest of this entry
I am sad to see it go by so quickly. Beth and I did a midpt evaluation for the rotation and these are some things that I should continue to work on:
- communication
- basic therapeutics
- putting learnt material into “actual” patient scenarios
FMI:
UTI prophylaxis if the patient experiences 3 or more episodes per year
UTI prophylaxis: septra 1 ss tab daily OR septra 1 ss 3x weekly
hyoscine or scoplamine: used to decrease secretion
September 17, 2009
In the video below, a soldier claims she has trained with California police to set-up checkpoints and force vaccinations on the public. Those who refuse will be boarded on a bus and taken to a concentration camp. She includes a photo of an RFID device she claims will be used to track people and materiel. She says the military and police will use electronic bracelets to track the vaccinated.
Former Kansas state trooper Greg Evensen underscored this claim last week. “Have you been made aware of the massive roadblock plans to stop all travelers for a vaccine bracelet (stainless steel band with a micro-chip on board) that will force you to take the shot?” Evensen wrote on July 29. “Refuse it? You will be placed on a prison bus and taken to a quarantine camp. What will you do when your children are NOT allowed into school without the shot? What will you do when you are not allowed into the workplace without the vaccine paperwork? Buy groceries? Go to the bank? Shop anywhere?? Get on a plane, bus or train? Use the toilet in the mall? Nope. Police officers will become loathed, feared, despised and remembered for their ‘official’ duties.”
Mr. Evensen made the following comment at an event in Texas:
Source: InfoWars
AN ER is 24 hours 7 days a week. If you are a PA or Doctor more than likely you don’t work the same shift all the time but you rotate through the different shift times. Over a 5 day stretch your shifts could start at 4 or 5 different times. The key is to avoid starting earlier the next day as you started the day before. Also to get adequate sleep in between. Sometimes if you jump from a day shift one day and third or night shift the next, you may want to stay awake into the early hours of the morning to be more accustomed to being awake for the third shift hours. Shifts in my ER start at 0830, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1600, 2030. Its amazing how screwed up your body clock can get. This is one of the unique aspects of working in the ER.
http://www.nationalreview.com/nordlinger/nordlinger_cuba7-30-07.asp
Michael Moore gives it a powerful boost
M ICHAEL MOORE has made another piece of pure propaganda. This film, called Sicko, attacks the American health-care system. You will agree that there is a lot to attack. But Moore glorifies socialist systems, which have problems all their own. And perhaps his worst offense is to glorify Fidel Castro’s system, as has been done endlessly for as long as most people can remember.
Moore hit on an inspired idea: He took a group of sick Amer¬icans to Cuba, to seek health care. Not only are these unfortunate people Americans: They are 9/11 rescue workers, heroes. They have been denied the care they need in America (or so the film alleges), and must get it elsewhere.
As the group is heading to Havana, we hear a song: “I’m on my way to Cuba . . . where all is happy; Cuba, where all is gay.” And it appears exactly this way in Moore’s film. You may remember that, in his previous film, Fahrenheit 9/11, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was portrayed as a nation of happy kite-fliers. The same artistry is applied to Sicko.
The Left has always had a deep psychological need to believe in the myth of Cuban health care. On that island, as everywhere else, Communism has turned out to be a disaster: economic, physical, and moral. Not only have persecution, torture, and murder been routine, there is nothing material to show for it. The Leninist rationalization was, “You have to break some eggs to make an omelet.” Orwell memorably replied, “Where’s the omelet?” There is never an omelet.
But Castro’s apologists have tried to create one. Their hopes rest on three lies, principally: that Castro cares for the sick; that he is responsible for almost universal literacy; and that he has been a boon to blacks. Castroite propaganda has been extraordinarily effective, reaching even to people who should know better. Among the most disgraceful words ever uttered by a secretary of state were uttered by Colin Powell in 2001, when he said, “He’s done some good things for his people.” The “he,” of course, was Cuba’s dictator.
It was hard to know which was worse: the “his people,” which is certainly how Castro thinks of Cubans. Or the imagined omelet, the “good things.”
The myth of Cuban health care has been debunked in article after article, for the last several decades. (Remember that Castro took power in 1959.) But Michael Moore has given the myth fresh legs, necessitating another round of such articles. If I had a nickel for every article I’ve read entitled “The Myth of Cuban Health Care” . . . But here is another one.
SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL
To be sure, there is excellent health care on Cuba — just not for ordinary Cubans. Dr. Jaime Suchlicki of the University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies explains that there is not just one system, or even two: There are three. The first is for foreigners who come to Cuba specifically for medical care. This is known as “medical tourism.” The tourists pay in hard currency, which provides oxygen to the regime. And the facilities in which they are treated are First World: clean, well supplied, state-of-the-art.
The foreigners-only facilities do a big business in what you might call vanity treatments: Botox, liposuction, and breast implants. Remember, too, that there are many separate, or segregated, facilities on Cuba. People speak of “tourism apartheid.” For example, there are separate hotels, separate beaches, separate restaurants — separate everything. As you can well imagine, this causes widespread resentment in the general population.
The second health-care system is for Cuban elites — the Party, the military, official artists and writers, and so on. In the Soviet Union, these people were called the “nomenklatura.” And their system, like the one for medical tourists, is top-notch.
Then there is the real Cuban system, the one that ordinary people must use — and it is wretched. Testimony and documentation on the subject are vast. Hospitals and clinics are crumbling. Conditions are so unsanitary, patients may be better off at home, whatever home is. If they do have to go to the hospital, they must bring their own bedsheets, soap, towels, food, light bulbs — even toilet paper. And basic medications are scarce. In Sicko, even sophisticated medications are plentiful and cheap. In the real Cuba, finding an aspirin can be a chore. And an antibiotic will fetch a fortune on the black market.
A nurse spoke to Isabel Vincent of Canada’s National Post. “We have nothing,” said the nurse. “I haven’t seen aspirin in a Cuban store here for more than a year. If you have any pills in your purse, I’ll take them. Even if they have passed their expiry date.”
The equipment that doctors have to work with is either antiquated or nonexistent. Doctors have been known to reuse latex gloves — there is no choice. When they travel to the island, on errands of mercy, American doctors make sure to take as much equipment and as many supplies as they can carry. One told the Associated Press, “The [Cuban] doctors are pretty well trained, but they have nothing to work with. It’s like operating with knives and spoons.”
And doctors are not necessarily privileged citizens in Cuba. A doctor in exile told the Miami Herald that, in 2003, he earned what most doctors did: 575 pesos a month, or about 25 dollars. He had to sell pork out of his home to get by. And the chief of medical services for the whole of the Cuban military had to rent out his car as a taxi on weekends. “Everyone tries to survive,” he explained. (Of course, you can call a Cuban with a car privileged, whatever he does with it.)
So deplorable is the state of health care in Cuba that old-fashioned diseases are back with a vengeance. These include tuberculosis, leprosy, and typhoid fever. And dengue, another fever, is a particular menace. Indeed, an exiled doctor named Dessy Mendoza Rivero — a former political prisoner and a spectacularly brave man — wrote a book called ¡Dengue! La Epidemia Secreta de Fidel Castro.
INFANT MORTALITY
When Castro seized power, almost 50 years ago, Cuba was one of the most advanced countries in Latin America. Its infant-mortality rate was the 13th-lowest in all the world, ahead of even France, Belgium, and West Germany. Statistics in Castro’s Cuba are hard to come by, because honest statistics in any totalitarian society are hard to come by. Some kind of accounting is possible, however: Cuba has slipped in infant mortality, as it has in every other area (except repression). But its infant-mortality rate remains respectable.
You might suspect a story behind this respectability — and you are right. The regime is very keen on keeping infant mortality down, knowing that the world looks to this statistic as an indicator of the general health of a country. Cuban doctors are instructed to pay particular attention to prenatal and infant care. A woman’s pregnancy is closely monitored. (The regime manages to make the necessary equipment available.) And if there is any sign of abnormality, any reason for concern — the pregnancy is “interrupted.” That is the going euphemism for abortion. The abortion rate in Cuba is sky-high, perversely keeping the infant-mortality rate down.
Many doctors, of course, recoil at this state of affairs. And there is much doctor dissidence on the island. Some physicians have opened their own clinics, caring for the poor and desperate according to medical standards, not according to ideology or governmental dictates. The authorities have warned that, in the words of one report, “new dissidences in the public-health sector will not be tolerated.” Anyone trying to work outside of approved channels is labeled a counterrevolutionary or enemy agent.
Furthermore, the shortage of doctors on the island is acute — which is strange, because there are abundant Cuban doctors. Where are they? They’re abroad. In fact, a standard joke is that, in order to see a Cuban doctor, a Cuban must contrive to leave the island.
Castro will see you now.
Roman Genn
In his film, Michael Moore speaks of the “generosity” of Castro’s health programs. What he means, in part, is that Castro has long sent doctors overseas on “humanitarian medical missions.” These missions are an important part of the dictator’s self-image, and of his image at large. Cuban doctors go to such “revolutionary” countries as Chávez’s Venezuela, Morales’s Bolivia, and Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. The missions are lucrative for Castro, bringing him about $2.5 billion a year.
Yet they are somewhat risky for him, too. The Cubans abroad are vigilantly watched, and the regime seldom sends unmarried doctors: They want wives and families back home, as hostages. Still, the Cuban doctors defect, and do so by the hundreds. They make a run for it in every country in which they serve, in any way they can. For example, doctors in Venezuela flee into Colombia; others try a friendly embassy, or start yelling in some international airport, during a transfer. Many of the doctors’ stories are heart-stoppingly dramatic. And when they have secured asylum, they tell the truth, about Cuban medicine both at home and abroad.
One of the things that sicken them, about their foreign service, is that they see what Cuba can provide: in equipment, in medications, in personnel. And yet this bounty is not available to Cubans (ordinary Cubans). It is sold to foreigners, to keep Castro’s regime in business.
And this brings up a point concerning Castro’s apologists: If they must concede that Cuban health care is a shambles, their fallback position is that it’s all the fault of the American “embargo.” And yet Cuba has no problem taking care of people in other countries, for show and profit. Moreover, American trade with Cuba in medical goods is virtually unfettered, and American humanitar¬ian aid is considerable.
THE PRESENCE OF HEROES
Above, I spoke of doctor dissidence — and a particularly painful aspect of Moore-like myth-making is that some of the most courageous, most admirable, and most persecuted people on the island are doctors: men and women who have rebelled against health-care injustices and injustices in general. Oscar ElÃas Biscet is possibly the most noted of such people. He is in one of Castro’s most wretched dungeons. Michael Moore would not even think of taking his cameras to it (and, in any case, he would not be allowed).
Biscet, like so many of the human-rights figures, happens to be “Afro-Cuban.” And, as Mary Anastasia O’Grady of the Wall Street Journal has pointed out, the regime is especially vicious toward such figures, because they are supposed to be grateful for all the Revolution has done for them. Dr. Mendoza, who wrote about dengue, is also Afro-Cuban. So is Dr. Dariel “Darsi” Ferrer.
He has managed to stay out of prison, somewhat miraculously — perhaps because there has been a fair amount of international attention on him. Ferrer operates the Center for Health and Human Rights. In 2005, he penned a statement called “Health Authorities and the Complicity of Silence.” Though he has avoided prison, the regime has subjected him to terrible abuses, including actos de repudio, or acts of repudiation. These are those lovely episodes in which mobs are unleashed on your home, family, and friends.
Hilda Molina Morejón is another doctor-dissident — a stunning case. She was the country’s chief neurosurgeon, the founder of the International Center for Neurological Restoration. She was also a deputy in the National Assembly. In the early 1990s, however, the regime informed her that the neurological center would start concentrating on foreigners, who would bring their hard currency. She objected, resigning her positions and returning the medals that Castro had awarded her. Then came actos de repudio and all the rest of it (but not prison). She has been forbidden to leave the island, and is banned from practicing medicine. She manages, despite the circumstances, to speak out.
“Live not by lies!” said Solzhenitsyn. “Live not by lies!” And yet Cuban Communism and its enablers have lived by them for a half-century. Totalitarians always depend on these lies. Robert Conquest, the great scholar of the Soviet Union, remembers a health official telling him, in private, that many hospitals lacked even running water. Yet public assertions were much different. And there have always been Potemkin-style visits, such as Moore’s. He is simply more talented than most of the others.
Once Communism collapses in Cuba — or if it does — will there be a reckoning? When I was growing up, East Germany was presented to me, by misguided teachers and professors, as a fine social democracy. Earlier this year, a movie called The Lives of Others won an Academy Award. It told some of the truth about East Germany. What will future generations make of Sicko, particularly its portrait of Cuba?
I have an indelible memory, from the mid-1980s. Armando Valladares was at Harvard, speaking to students. He had emerged from 22 years in the Cuban gulag, and had written the memoir Against All Hope. (Valladares is often called the Cuban Sol¬zhenitsyn.) In the Q&A, the kids spouted at him the usual line about Cuba: health care, literacy, and blacks. They had been carefully taught it by their teachers. And Valladares answered, in essence, “It’s all untrue — a pack of lies. But even if it were true: Can’t a country have those things without dictatorship, without tyranny, without gulags, without torture — with freedom?”
There is no omelet. There never is. But even if there were — so what?
I am in theatre for only the third time since my medical student days. We’ve got two displaced fractures on the list, and my registrar, S, has decided it is time I get involved in some proper orthopaedics.
As we wait, S talks me through the principles of manipulating displaced fractures. Contrary to all you have been told, orthopaedics isn’t just about playing with hammers and pins and casts. There’s plenty of brains, and science, involved. Really.
The first patient is wheeled in and we commence. I am slightly nervous but S is amazingly patient and encouraging. I pull and push and apply pressure in what I hope are the correct places. After a few minutes of poor progress, S decides to take over. “You’re too gentle,” he tells me, and promptly proceeds to yank and tug at the arm in a most alarming manner.
What does he mean, gentle. I am Orthopaedics Senior House Officer Extraordinaire, and Violent is my middle name. I vow to do better with the next one.
And I do. I’m getting comfortable with the routine- pushing on one side, pulling on the other, lifting slightly, tilting at an angle, smooth and sure, when suddenly…
CRAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKK!
I freeze in mid-motion. For what seems like an eternity, I gaze at the tiny hand I am holding, unable to fully comprehend what has happened. I am lucid enough to realise a bone has been broken, and alert enough to also conclude that I am probably the one who has done it. I feel vaguely sick in the stomach and start thinking I should never have come, orthopaedics is not for me, what on earth made me think I could do anything remotely surgical without messing it up. I sense that everyone has paused whatever they are doing and are now looking at me.
I slowly raise my head and meet S’s smiling eyes. He is laughing in amusement, obviously enjoying my discomfort.
“I’ve broken his bones,” I say inanely, as if that weren’t already obvious.
S takes the arm from me and pulls it a little bit more. And as he quickly and expertly applies the cast, he says:
“Sometimes, the biggest barrier to total healing is an intact piece of bone. That’s why some folk say the best way to properly fix someone’s bones is to completely break them.”
He grins and winks and we look at the almost perfectly straight bone on the films and then we walk out to have lunch.
And I reflect that maybe, there is a lot more wisdom in orthopaedics than any of us give it credit for.
Before we go ahead, though, here’s something that needs to be pointed out.
Consent is not a get-out-of-jail-free card for negligence.
No one said it was.
Whenever a complication happens, despite the pre-operative counselling, the patient and his/her family look for someone to blame. It must be the surgeon’s fault! It was the inexperienced one, wasn’t it? The operation wasn’t kept as clean as it should be! The surgeons only want to chop and a smaller operation could have been done!
Of course it couldn’t have been that the patient had had uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and hypertension for years on end and was now presenting to the vascular surgeons with basically an end stage disease of infection in a leg with peripheral vascular disease. It wasn’t that the daughter harassed the doctors who had offered a ray amputation at the time the operation was feasible and convinced the mother to reject the operation. It wasn’t that after weeks of non-surgical treatment despite counselling that even an AKA did not achieve adequate clearance of unhealthy tissue.
Hello, people, can we take some personal responsibility for our health here.
Whether it’s a commodity or a right, coverage should be for everyone.
Until a country-wide debate and referendum determines whether health care is a commodity or a right, no optimally efficient system can be designed. At this point the U.S. has neither a free-market commodity system, nor is health care treated as a right. And in relation to gross national product, U.S. health care costs are larger in proportion than any other Western country, and they are rapidly increasing; furthermore, our nation, unlike many others, does not purchase the highest quality of care.
Many people agree that reform is necessary, but there is little agreement about the form it should take. The Obama administration’s proposed reform includes a public option, which has generated congressional as well as popular opposition. Many variations to the public option have emerged, including the latest, formation of insurance co-operatives, but none of them meet the stated objectives of President Obama: that coverage be extended to all who are currently uninsured and that initial costs to the federal government be eventually recovered by increases in the efficiency of health care delivery systems. It hardly seems likely that decentralized, mutually beneficial ownership systems can accomplish these aims, either. The co-ops would essentially be start-up insurance companies that would engender all the costs of start-up businesses competing for market share. They would have no benefits to scale and their overhead costs might very well exceed that of current private health care insurers. In no time one of the major benefits of the co-op structure, little or no bureaucracy, would disappear.
Rest of Article:Becker @ Forbes
www.teddecorte.com
www.threefishlimit.com
One of the week’s stable of “government healthcare systems are evil” headline hits on the Drudge Report was this heartbreaker about a mother named Sarah Capewell pleading for UK doctors to save her 21 week-old preemie.
The doctors, playing right to Drudge’s surface-level script of heartless, conscience-free bureaucrats, refused, allowing the two-hour old infant to die. The horrified mother is now suing for a change in the country’s medical guidelines, demanding that all premature infants be afforded emergency care, at the very least on maternal request.
But as always, look a little deeper, ruminate a little more, and the story becomes one of those deep ethical dilemmas that’s not at all well-served or represented by a passing partisan summary.
What we have here is a clash between a mindset of singular heroics and the statistical reality of what any given set of “standard” policies will result in. Capewell and her allies, like MP Tony Wright, point to rare cases like that of Amillia Taylor, a preemie that survived after being born at only 21 weeks herself (the doctors in that case misjudged her gestational age, and made efforts they otherwise would not have).
But therein lies the dilemma: they’re pointing to a miracle to define what should be regular practice. It is possible, as Capewell alleges, that medical science is wrong about this: that technology has improved since the last time anyone checked. That the Taylor case represents not a fluke, but a hidden possibility. Maybe, but at this point, decidedly unlikely.
Instead, as the Daily Mail article notes, most infants born prior to 23 weeks (the recommended cutoff in the UK) will not survive no matter what is done: heroic intervention in such cases results in prolonged and painful infections, organ failures, and so on: a very brief life, artificially prolonged only so that the infant can suffer a little longer. Even the preemies who do have a chance face the likelihood of severe physical and mental disabilities along with a similarly grim long-term prognosis.
And yet still: some do make it. Some, for whatever happy set of circumstances, might even make it mostly whole and healthy. There’s always a chance, no matter how slim, that we could be wrong about this one case. Or that some ingenious medical discovery or advance will suddenly swoop in and make things better. We can’t know if we don’t try. And that’s compelling enough for some. Can’t we make a policy that reflects hope? Affirms life?
But focusing on rare cases and ignoring what that might mean for the conventional ones is deeply problematic as a guide to what’s right. Doctors, who see hundreds of cases in a year, and entire medical systems, who treat hundreds of thousands, have a very different perspective. They can put actual faces to the overwhelmingly larger number of preemies and families that don’t, won’t, and can’t make it: faces that loom just as big as any cherry-picked healthcare headline. They know that clinical-sounding words like “futile care” represent unbelievable amounts of suffering. That sometimes pouring on every last drug or piece of medical technology doesn’t “affirm life” at all: it tortures and mangles it, distills it down to a mere quantity of heartbeats, regardless of the physical or emotional cost to purchase each additional one. And doctors know that there is an often brutal trade-off between making efforts to briefly prolong life at all costs and providing peace and comfort through the inevitable (painkillers like morphine, for instance, can provide comfort but often at the cost of weakening respiration and shortened survival).
Those are the costs of making it standard practice to hold out for miracles. And there’s just no way anyone should be glib about them. Capewell and every other mother has every right and reason to pray for special intervention in their own case. But we just can’t have the occasional miracles without all the cases in which we’ll expend incredible amounts of time, effort, money, and, most of all, suffering… only to end up with a worse outcome. As far as I can tell, that’s exactly what Capewell and her allies are ultimately calling for: the inevitable price of an expanded policy of unrealistic heroism. Thousands and thousands more mangled, abused preemies, doomed nevertheless to die, oftentimes without measures that could lessen the pain. All in the hope that one or two might survive a little longer.
I’m still not sure it’s an easy ethical call. But take a long, deep breath before calling anyone a monster for coming down on either side of it.
Addendum: Shouldn’t mothers, regardless of anything else, have the final say, even to the point of demanding what is likely futile care? Yes and no. They certainly have the final say, outside of the realm of criminal child abuse, over what is done to their children. And it would be hard to deny anyone their emotional need to never give up.
But just because they can demand doesn’t mean that other people are required to provide. Neither doctors nor medical systems are legally or ethically obligated to provide care that they believe to be futile, especially when doing so violates their own consciences. This is, again, just one of those sticky questions where someone has to make a hard call about what the standard of care is going to be.
…Non-Arsey Neuro didn’t call. Or, he’s working really late and taking his time.
I’ve been waiting all day. My anxiety has been skyrocketing as a result. I think I’m going to pass out now. Or puke. Or both. Well, puke first or I’ll die.
Fuck.
Well, try again tomorrow. There’s nothing else for me to do.
Please, still be in the office working late…you’re probably not. The Receptionist is long gone but…
EDIT: Left completely, zombified, stuttering, out-of-it, repetitive, really, bloody, awful, sounding message on Receptionist’s Voicemail. Couldn’t hurt to serve as a reminder? OMG.
Obama’s Rasmussen Reports numbers steadily improved since the speech in which Joe Wilson cried out “You lie!” when Obama clearly did during his speech. Now 34% of Americans strongly approve of his lies while only 37% disapprove. That give him a -3 index—the best numbers since July 7.
It is unknown the effect of the outburst by Joe Wilson who spoke for all Americans during Obama’s lies given in speech form last week. But, certainly, support for the health care reform plan proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats continues to grow following the president’s speech to Congress last Wednesday night. It has now risen to the highest level yet measured, and, for the first time, shows a slight uptick in support among Republicans and voters not affiliated with either party.
Fifty-one percent (51%) of all voters nationwide cannot, apparently, conceptualize what 700-trillion dollars will do to the economy and this Communist legislation will do to the country. They favor the plan while 46% are opposed. In June, as the public debate was just beginning, 50% favored the plan and 45% were opposed.
Support for the plan fell over the summer and reached a point where 53% of voters opposed it. However, in the days following the president’s speech, support for the plan has been moving up on a fairly consistent basis.
Still, the intensity gap continues to favor those who oppose the plan. Currently, 28% Strongly Favor the proposed reform while 38% are Strongly Opposed. (see day-by-day numbers). In late August, 23% were strongly in favor of the plan and 43% were strongly opposed.
Obama has admitted that the government will take over all health care in the country and the legislation doles it out to the most worthy to the least worthy.
“We expect him back on the ice by the start of training camp or shortly after,” Thrashers spokesman Rob Koch said.
Don Waddell, Day One at Training Camp
Kari Lehtonen, it’s prograssing but it still is going to be a while before he hits the ice.
AJC Blog, September 13, 2009
“Right now, he’s not in the mix,” Anderson said of Lehtonen. “Saying he’s No. 1, that’s not true. I’ll put him in when he’s actually ready, but right now the No. 1 job is up for grabs. Right now there are four guys that look really good out there.
“I want to make sure we get off to a good start and I want to establish a No. 1 goalie early on. If Kari is not here [finding a No. 1 goalie] is a priority of our training camp.”
how ironic to see the Canadian flag in the foreground!
this is those Yankees protesting in D.C. yesterday
Socialists? NAZIS?
The media love to talk about the UN-insured, but my pet peeve is that the majority of Americians are UNDER-insured.
I guess THEY can all afford, e.g., years of haemodialysis, and heart transplant operations, and no one in THEIR families will ever need life-long mental health care, OR…
The measure of a country’s greatness should be based on how well it cares for its most vulnerable populations. – Mahatma Gandhi
With these 4 new community sites, there are now 45 of them in my huge list of biomedical communities. If I miss something, please let me know.
Scitable: A free science library and personal learning tool brought to you by Nature Publishing Group, the world’s leading publisher of science.
Benchfly: BenchFly.com is an interactive resource for scientists dedicated to supporting and celebrating the researcher’s life at the bench. BenchFly provides a sharing platform, tools and insider knowledge to perpetuate the viability of the craft and keep scientists in science. Founded in 2009 by an MIT post-doc, Dr. Alan B. Marnett, BenchFly.com is privately held and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Labslink: LabsLink.com is the scientific and highly effective platform dedicated on high-quality and innovative research collaboration around the world. The programs and services of the LabsLink.com foster the exchange of knowledge, new ideas or technology among scientists.
Lablife: Organize data and materials, coordinate purchasing, analyze sequences, and more
with LabLife’s web-based tools.
The flu vaccine: what does it mean? Normally we would associate a vaccine with the idea that it confers protection against it’s intended pathogen (usually a virus, sometimes bacteria). This is actually, not the case with the flu vaccine. Well, at least not completely. The shot that you would get to protect yourself from “the flu” isn’t actually protecting you from “the flu”, or influenza as a whole. That’s because there are actually hundreds of strains of the influenza virus that have been characterized, and circulate within the human population. The shot that you are thinking about getting? It only works to confer immunity to THREE strains of flu each year the shot is issued. See, the pharmaceutical companies perform research, statistical analysis, and projected analysis on which flu strains they predict will be the most common to circulate during peak infection season. This is, as one would assume, generally reliable, because they are doing good science, but it is not a perfect system, because it is solely based on probability and projected analysis. Now, the strains of influenza have been categorized in three types: A, B, and C. Specifically the “flu” shot you would get contains “dead” virus particles of 2 strains of influenza type A, and one of type B. They do not include any vaccine for type C strains, which, generally, are the mild forms of flu that do not typically cause serious illness (e.g. these are characteristic of the “24-hour flu bug”, that people frequently contract). So, the vaccine is really intended only to protect against strains of influenza that pose a risk of being exceptionally dangerous to our health. But, this can only be accomplished against strains of influenza which are/will be currently known; this is where you find cases like the swine flu and avian flu which are new strains that evolve virulence previously unrecorded. Essentially, there is no way to protect against those scenarios except with antiviral medication, which is really only used to combat cases of acute illness (i.e. when actually necessary). Despite this, the flu vaccine is actually generally reliable, depending on the year, against the most common strains of flu. Unfortunately, the CDC has stated that this year the vaccine only confers around 40% resistance to the most common strains circulating this season. So, as a general precaution, is the flu vaccine good for a shot? Well, for a physically fit, healthy young, or even middle-aged individual, there is really no reason to get the flu shot. It’s most effective use is for people with compromised ability to fight off disease—the elderly, people with faulty immune systems, small children. And just something to marinate on: pharmaceutical companies that develop the flu vaccines each year stand to make a gigantic profit off of marketing and selling the flu vaccine to as many customers as possible. Let me also enlighten you further: pharmaceuticals push their products on doctors and medical professionals so they can use them as advertisers, usually with incentives. It’s a dog-eat-dog market, just like every other one. So there is a reason that the “general disposition” to the flu vaccine is that it is beneficial, and slightly short of necessary for people to get. But if you are 23, and healthy like me? You’ll probably get the flu anyway at some point in the year, even if you spent the $25 and got the shot! That’s the facts, Jack.
Addendum for those interested:
There is also a reason why the flu shot cannot provide protection for the hundreds of strains that we actually do know about. The biology behind a vaccine is a fairly fragile system. What you are doing is taking non-functional, or “dead” virus particles, injecting them into the body, the immune system creates antibodies as markers of these strains, and after these antibodies develop the body can recognize any foreign flu virus of the same kind, and “flag it” for “destruction” by white blood cells (phagocytes) easily. Two problems: sometimes (well, most of the time) the “dead” particles in vaccines actually still carry a small amount of functionality; i.e. you get a little sick. This puts a strain on the immune system for a time (about 2 weeks in the case of the flu) and can weaken it, so you could get sick easier from another pathogen. So injecting yourself with a cocktail of over 100 strains of flu could be really bad for your health. Secondly, the flu vaccine has to be manufactured anew each year to protect against the newly evolved forms of different strains. For a pharmaceutical to develop a product and produce it on a country-wide scale every single flu season is an intensely industrious effort, and next to impossible, because engineering a vaccine is a time-consuming process to isolate ineffectual virus particles. And now you know.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Energize You Now Ezine
Learn to Breathe and Grow Rich Today
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you know you are Running on Empty?
The holiday stresses are just around the corner. Are you ready? Join me for the Breathe and Grow Rich Seminar, Saturday, September 12. Fly in on Friday, join us for a group dinner and fly out Saturday evening or Sunday morning, recharged, regenerated and be responsive once more to the flow of Life.
Learn how you can win in 2010.
Stress Proof your body and Supercharge your Health, Wealth and Harmony at the Breathe and Grow Rich Seminar. Don’t wait…this is your last chance to sign up before the seats are gone! Register today for the Breathe and Grow Rich Seminar. Register today for the Breathe and Grow Rich Seminar. http://tinyurl.com/mkek3c
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Date: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2009
Place: Fort Worth, Texas
Time: 9 AM to 5 PM
Location: DFW Airport Marriott
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Remember, the wise words:
“We change the world not by what we say or do, but as a consequence of what we have become.”- David R. Hawkins: Psychiatrist, spiritual author, and lecturer
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.”- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Qliance is now offering health care for a monthly fee, usually $40-$90, with no health insurance accepted. In a sign that this movement may be growing, the company also obtained $4million dollars worth of new venture capital to expand their centers. Hey Qliance: if you want to open shop around here, let me know, I would like to have a clinic like this.
Qliance offers primary care offices for lowered prices and advises clients to get catastrophic insurance. From personal experience, I can tell you that even with health insurance, we were bankrupted from medical bills. The doctors made mistakes; I was injured; lost coverage; bad bills. I like the idea though of being able to get primary care again. I like the idea of being able to get checked for the sinus infection that may be coming on with fall allergies, get my basic blood work done at a reasonable fee, maybe even get that foot x-rayed that keeps hurting. What Qliance offers, and I feel will be a real threat to the health insurance establishment is: individual choice for consumers. I like the idea, I really do. Qliance, here is some Unasked Advice: go to a rural community and see how many people would buy into your coverage. In rural communities, health care opportunities are scarce. If you can make a go of it there, you could go anywhere else. Besides, I like the idea of not paying health insurance, because for me, frankly, health insurance still equaled bankruptcy.
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Mandatory Reading Before President Obama’s Speech Tonight On Health Care (healthcarebloglaw.blogspot.com)
There Will Not Be Health Care Reform in 2009… (thehealthcareblog.com)
In the latest column of Speaking of science, D Balasubramanian talks about this paper from the latest issue of Current science (pdf) and this commentary on it (pdf) from the same journal. Here is the abstract of the paper:
This article reports our attempt to explore the possible plants that could represent Sanjeevani – the mythical herb from the epic Ramayana. Our search was based on a set of criteria developed from the consistent details available from the epic on the names of the herb in different languages, its habitat, medicinal values and the ability to ‘resurrect’ life. Accordingly, from an initial list of potential candidate species, we have filtered two species on which initial studies can be focused. However, our search is not complete and hence not final, as there could be other approaches and accordingly, other suggestions as well for Sanjeevani.
Balasubramanian’s piece is also a nice summary of the work. Take a look!
Woke up to a delightful migraine this morning. Not fun, but it’s better now. I took my BP med and some ibuprofen, and that’s gotten rid of most of it. There’s still a little bit of a twinge behind my left eye, but it’s manageable.
It’s really my fault for getting it. I ran out of my BP med a few days ago, and I was slow to get it refilled. Didn’t have a chance to go get it until last night, and when I did, it turned out my doctor hadn’t approved the refill yet, because she wants me to come in for a check-up. They gave me a three-day supply to tide me over until I can get in to see her. It’s pretty crazy how I can already feel a difference after taking the one this morning. I don’t feel as… well, high-blood-pressure-y is the best way to describe it. It’s one of those things where you have to actually experience it to know what it’s like. It’s a crappy feeling, to say the least. Big relief once you’re back on the med.
It’s not just that, though. I think my body’s starting to get pissed off at me about consuming so many freakin’ sodas. I think it’s time to take myself off of them completely. Dr. Pepper, Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite… they all need to go away. Gotta get back to drinking water all the time. Flush the evil junk outta my system. I’ve done it before, so I know how amazing it feels. It should be a no-brainer for me, and I’m disappointed in myself for slipping as bad as I have. Time to put my foot down.
*stomp*
Anyway, it’s a pretty nifty day at work today. As part of Homecoming week, today is Superhero Day, where you get to dress like your favorite superhero (sans masks). First time EVER that I’ve been able to wear my Green Lantern t-shirt to work, so I’m pretty dang excited. It’s nice to be able to wear a t-shirt and jeans to work for once. Nice and comfy.
Oh, Jenn’s first day with her new kids went really well. She’s feeling a whole lot better about her class, so that’s a huge relief. Thanks to everyone who’s been praying for her during this transition.
I have a great challenge for you tonight. What do you want to give your life for. No, I’m not talking about dying a noble death. I’m talking, no, I’m asking you to find something worth liveing for, not dying for. I want you to find one or more passions; things worth spending your life doing or learning about. Something worth dreaming about for hours during the day. A thing worth planning years ahead, plotting, laying out a trail to lead to a golden end. I have three. First, the life of the mind takes center stage. How do we actually learn. Why is it that so few of us live exciting intellectual lives when I believe that most of us could live a passionate intellectual life. And, on the practical side of it. How do kids best learn. I am convinced it’s not at school for most kids. For me, school was a 12 year long prison sentence. As a teacher I work everyday of my life to try to make schools – or at least my little corner of the school world into a vibrant place that young people love. Second, I practice two arts; photography and woodworking. They are my connections to sanity as well as an extra income stream. I am fascinated by the beauty of transcendent craft in wood. The beauty of an artfully produced photograph always stuns me. I drift from one to the other. The third is bird watching. Bird watching is as much a connection to God as the church. In birds I see the magnificence of His creation. I see the infinite variety, infinate adaptations, transcendent colors and the thing I dream about most – flight. The photography, the woodwork, and the bird watching are for me. The study of the mind as well as how it learns is for the world. I want you to find something to change the world.
Egotistic you say? Not at all. The field I have set for myself is impossible. How people learn, how they make knowledge their own, then grow into experts is so hard a mine to explore that I will not live long enough to make a change I fear. That is probably one of my greatest nightmares; that I know I will die before I have learned it all or made the difference I want to make to kids and other people who are trying to learn. Not all people do learn. Some shut down after the 12 year prison sentence that school was for me. They never want to pick up a pen or pencil again because we have squeezed the guts out of the pleasure. By the time many kids get out of school they find themselves ready to cast away the vestments of school to run as far away as possible. To be naked of school is their goal. But so many never find the joy out of school. These unfortunates have been so convinced that learning cannot be a thing of transcendent joy that they look upon learning as a child looks upon vomit. So they run, ridicule and resist any further intellectual life. They have had enough. They have fed at the table of knowledge and found it poisonous.
What I am asking you to do, if you are one of the many who have started to follow these electronic scribblings, is to find a new passion. It’s there. Somewhere in the darkest, cobweb infested mind there is a corner where a dim flame still burns waiting for holy breath to blow it into raging flame. You had something you wanted to learn to do, or say, or perform at one time. When you were a little child still resisting the poison of industrial education you still had it. You looked at it with love. Perhaps it was a love for a subject or a project that was so deep it went beyond love into obsession.
You will find something to take out of that corner which can be dusted, made new and shiny, ready to be loved again. You will find something as beautiful as I find discovering what it is that really, genuinely brings out that passion in a child. That passion that says I have to do this thing or I will just wilt. My life will die. Look around you on your commuter train or look from your car. Look at the faces of those going to work at jobs where they will labor with a sense of quiet desperation. Perhaps you are one of those. Stop it! At least devote some of your time to the thing that makes your soul soar to the Heavens when you are doing it. I’m not telling you to quit your job. No, but, I am telling you to become an independent learner with a purposeful life seeking to add to human knowledge.
Eric Hoffer discovered his passion. Hoffer wrote ten books while he labored as a longshoreman. His “True Believer” which set the standard in the social science study of self-esteem as it effects fanatical movements. While he labored on the docks he contemplated the rise of totalitarianism and the loss of the self. His postulate was that fanaticism had its gnarled, arthritic claws firmly planted in self-hatred, self-hate and insecurity. All of this Hoffer did with little formal education and a labor job on the docks. Eric Hoffer is now a major figure looked up to in the social sciences. Had he let himself believe that he was less worthwhile for lacking the college degrees and the paper expertise of the dilettante, he would never have changed the course of American social thought.
Frans Lanting is a photographer. He discovered his passion in the Albatross. These magnificent seabirds of the deep oceans are slowly yielding their secrets to Lanting. He has made photographing them, documenting their lives his life’s work. As he developed his photographic skills he came back to them over and over. He is now the leading photographer of this magnificent species as well as one of the world’s foremost experts on the Albatross. All through his pursuit of photography he intended to show the world the magnificence of the bird he loves.
Don’t live a life of quiet desperation. Discover your passion. Perhaps you left it years ago feeling that I can’t make a living at that. You were probably wrong. But, for whatever reason, you left it. Maybe you wanted to become a premier doctor in some medical field. And maybe the time of medical school has passed you. But you can still form a foundation to raise money for the field. You can still write scholarly articles and books to help the laymen understand what it is that you want them to know about your passion in medicine. You can also help them by writing passionately about the disease from which they may suffer.
In the next while we are going to explore how to do this. We are going to look for a life project. This will be something that will be significant to you perhaps to no one else. It doesn’t matter. You are going to use your full talents for something that will give life meaning to you. Give your life a renewed purpose, a new hope, a new direction. Pick your field, master it and make it your own. Thousands of men, women and young people such as yourselves have done this without the Ph.D.’s Don’t be intimidated by the terminal degrees. Often these degrees take the joy out of the hunt for the people who earn them. They focus so finely on one small swatch of the fabric of their discipline that soon they may know the most about nothing among all the experts in the world. Being the master of a cubic centimeter is not a match for having a broad understanding and feeling for the width and breadth of a whole discipline. Hang on for the ride is going to be fun and bumpy. But what a ride it will be. It will be the ride of your lifetime – a lifelong learning project to take you down roadways yet unknown.
“Last November, a new type of gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease, championed by the Michael J. Fox Foundation, was abruptly withdrawn from Phase II trials after unexpectedly tanking against placebo. A stem-cell startup called Osiris Therapeutics got a drubbing on Wall Street in March, when it suspended trials of its pill for Crohn’s disease, an intestinal ailment, citing an “unusually high” response to placebo. Two days later, Eli Lilly broke off testing of a much-touted new drug for schizophrenia when volunteers showed double the expected level of placebo response.
It’s not only trials of new drugs that are crossing the futility boundary. Some products that have been on the market for decades, like Prozac, are faltering in more recent follow-up tests. In many cases, these are the compounds that, in the late ’90s, made Big Pharma more profitable than Big Oil. But if these same drugs were vetted now, the FDA might not approve some of them. Two comprehensive analyses of antidepressant trials have uncovered a dramatic increase in placebo response since the 1980s. One estimated that the so-called effect size (a measure of statistical significance) in placebo groups had nearly doubled over that time. It’s not that the old meds are getting weaker, drug developers say. It’s as if the placebo effect is somehow getting stronger.”
Placebos Are Getting More Effective. Drugmakers Are Desperate to Know Why. – Wired
Hey everybody, Nadia was doing fairly well with her J-pouch for about six months. Then she had some complications. Most recently, she spent a week in the hospital after watching her J-pouch get sick (bloody stools, all that fun stuff).
They did a pouchoscopy and found some slight inflammation and ulcers developing. This video covers most of her time in the hospital, right before she starts college for the first time. She has yet to make a video describing the treatment plan for her J-pouch problems but hopefully it isn’t a serious issue.
I love my evidence based medicine (EBM), (maybe i should get a t-shirt with that on it…) i love my journals, and studies and audits.
They simplify medicine for me. I love reading through characteristics of certain classes of patients and their symtoms and findings and test results. And how if you put enough of this together that you can then figure out what their disease is.
And then once you’ve figured out what their disease is you can provide an intervention and hopefully make them better. The science behind all this is great.
However. There exists a bit of a gulf between the numbers, between the audits and the papers and the list of characteristics, between all these and the patient sitting in front of me.
You see the patient sitting in front of me doesn’t care about any of this. They care because they’re short of short of breath or whatever. They care about getting out of here and going back to vegetating in front of the TV eating twinkies or getting back to the farm to get the cattle in. They care not for evidence based medicine. They hurt my feelings.
Perhaps patients are irreducibly complex in an equation. EBM makes them reducible – and saves lives as a result. However it makes me dehumanise them a bit to get there. Is that too strong? Perhaps so.
Patients are the most wonderful, annoying, fascinating, frustrating bunch of people to work with.
They do not tell you about pure pathology, about the narrowing in their coronary arteries. They tell you about this funny “tightness” that they get. And they won’t tell you that it’s exertional, they’ll tell you that sometimes they get it when they watch TV, sometimes they get it on tuesdays.
Patients are too complicated. They do not have typical symptoms. They will have their chest pain while feeling suicidal. They will have classic symptoms of a pulmonary embolism while at the same time having classic symptoms of pyelonephritis.
They quite clearly haven’t read the script.
Perhaps this is why I love evidence based medicine and logistic regression analysis and Bayes theorem (I’m not sure about the last two, I have only a vague understanding) so much. Because it makes life simpler. Honestly it does.
To do this I must ignore their love for twinkies and the need to get the cattle in. I must ignore all their glorious complex humanity.
As much as I love you dear patient you must become a collection of symtpoms, signs and test results if you want to live through the night.
Hello world! Long post today, so I tried adding in photos to keep it slightly interesting, hopefully. Sorry if this sucks up your internet! (;
Well, it was UNSW Open Day today and not surprisingly, another Ruse party ;D Pretty hectic day, and lots of awesome stuff to talk about (if I can remember them) and lots of PHOTOS. I think now that there’s so little time left, I’m just carrying around my camera everywhere, something I never ever ever did. Funnily enough, today was a really good way to just forget the stresses of my morbid life and just play, really. Thank you everybody for just being there. (:
Here’s just a “short” recount of today:
Before I start: Not sure if you read this but I need to say another GINORMOUS HAPPY 18th TO KELLY CHEN. Sadly, you’ve crossed to the DARK SIDE but I wish you the best… again (: I LOVE YOU KELLY!
The day started too early for my liking – 7am ew – met Sandy, Richard and Angelina at P-matta and caught the damned trackwork bus to Granville. After a pretty uneventful train trip to Central, we met up with people like Ben, Jackie and Tanya and caught the UN-FREE bus to UNSW. As soon as we got there, we found the freebie stands. There we grabbed the bags, guides, maps and a CD! I just listened to the CD now, and I gotta say the CD itself and the cover is quite pretty but I think I’m too ignorant to appreciate the music itself haha. So it’ll just have to sit on my desk and be watched… Moving along, we walked across the whole university to get to the Matthews Theatre. We walked in at like 9 35 (just enough time to grab the last seats) and listened to the hour long lecture. I actually thought it was informative, most likely because I didn’t know much to begin with.. Basically confirmed my fears that I’d be leaving university at the ripe old age of 30. How daunting. But it’ll be worth it, for sure (: PEDIATRICIAN HERE I COME!
After intense navigating, we arrived at our second destination – Optometry lecture. I, the great map reader, lead us all the way to Keith Burrows Theatre BUT Angelina decided to doubt me and asked some fat old guy in a red shirt. He led us in another direction, and after 5 minutes of walking around the map led us back to where I pointed all along. Freaking sabotager. Anyway, I gotta admit that I walked into the lecture thinking optometry would be the most boring thing you could do with your life, haha. But the guy who spoke was interesting and now I think optometry might be in my backups (quite far down, but still there). Still hoping for that medicine entry haha (:
Burning in the evil sun.
Well, after meeting Winnie at the optometry lecture… everything’s kind of a blur actually. Honestly – how sad. I’m guessing it’s because we did nothing for like the next few hours. We did, HOWEVER, bump into the marching band before they started marching! They were really nice and for some reason one of them carried around a stuffed turtle toy… I couldn’t even fit them all in because there were so many of them and so I think I left some of them smiling, thinking they were in a photo but were in fact smiling at nobody hehe.
:D
On the way, we met people like LeeAnne, Bryan, Deva, Jero, Nathan, Eddy (gosh I could go on). LeeAnne and Winnie did a million rounds of fairy floss and one of the highlights of the day:
The Victor look-a-like who seemed to be following us everywhere.
Can you spot him?
It was also pretty funny how Thashan, Swami and Winnie turned up in the same outfit. No photos, sorry.
After many happenings, Deva, Sandy, Angelina and I were the only ones left. Because of Doug’s crappy directions “We’re at the glass. We’re at the Y-shaped building” we wandered another 30 minutes or so searching for them. After finally meeting with them, we came across the inflatable man (yet again) and took this photo:
Back to his origins.
We waited in the free-sausage-line for 30 minutes I think. Oh well, we were hungry and it was a free meal, so why not (: We sat around, playing with cans of drink and trying to take photos of Markass. Strange boy. Here’s Deva and his super tower (which ended up spilling onto somebody’s things hehe)
Next up! Psychology lecture with Winnie and Benny. The lecture theatre was PACKED and we met up with Chris, Andrew, Richard and others (sorry). At first we thought the lecture was going to be as boring the USyd one – luckily we were wrong, sorta. Haha, the lecture talked a lot more about the sort of things you were learning – not so much the boring subject choices talk (if you get my drift). Overall, I think we left the lecture more satisfied than that of last week and although I don’t think I’d do psychology on its own I really wish I could do it as an extra thing.. I duno what I’m talking about now. Oh well.
We found the rest of Ruse09 on the lawn by International Square. Sat around for a while, waiting for the last people to finish their lectures. Haha, more photos here. Connie’s so rude.
Caught a bus to Central, and split – guys went somewhere, most girls went to kareoke and LeeAnne, Angelina, Winnie, Sandy and I had a Starbucks break and went “shopping.” Wandered around too much ): and met Chris, Shaun and Jessie by the Golden Tree, where those weird people were giving us fake 100$ bills. We ditched them and ended up at Chilli Cha Cha! Party for KELLY! What did we order… no idea. I just ate what I was given. I had to note that the restaurant itself was really small and cramped, especially for the twenty five of us. Howeverrrrrrrr, the service was really good and we got our food within like TEN minutes of ordering! Ate, camera whored, and sang happy birthday to Kel. (:
birthday girl !
Ahh, so many photos. I guess I’ve got to pick and choose the best.
I love Jackie.
Annie's infamous smile and Angelina's fugly face. (:
The photos with Kel/Mindy seemed to turn up nice. Damn photogenic people ;D
DESSERT TIME. French Reviera time! After walking what felt like a million miles, we got to the ICE CREAM HEAVEN (: Of course most of us loved it, with the occasional random commenting on the “prostitute lighting” and how it wasn’t “romantic” or “French” enough for their liking D: It was here Angelina said the quote in the title of this blog and I’m assuming only those that were there will get it. Our table got some giant tub of ice-cream with chocolate sauce and nutty sprinkles. Flavours included cheesecake, chestnut, mango, coffee, RUM AND RAISIN?! After pigging out and taking a million photos we realised we couldn’t even finish the so called “2-3 person share” of ice cream between the seven of us.
WOW LOOK AT CAROL... and Winnie.
One of the many gay photos...
I don’t think I’ll upload the photo where somebody looks NAKED, haha but I’ll share my favouritest luvo ever. (Don’t hurt me please)
Hehe. (;
Walked to Town Hall station after stuffing ourselves and parted ways (:
Such an eventful day – probably one of the last until HSC is over seeing we promised ourselves no more outings, and the start of damned study. Hope you had a fantabulous day, Kelly – cus I sure did tehee.
I don’t know if I want to blog for a little while. So until whenever that is, goodbye (:
(I’ll probably come crawling back…)
