Death is a hard thing to cope with. Realizing that someone you love has only a limited time left to live is equally as hard.
People try to deal with it in many different ways, and Julie Staub chose to express her feelings through poetry.
I heard Garrison Keillor read this on the radio today. I've pasted the words below, but I suggest you listen to him read it. Come on-- do it. It won't take long.
Just click play below and scroll to the 3minute 57second mark.
On second thought, that might be a lot of work so I guess I'll let you get away with reading it on your own if you want...
As if your cancer weren't enough,
the guinea pig is dying.
The kids brought him to me
wrapped in a bath towel
‘Do something, Mom.
Save his life. '
I'm a good mom.
I took time from work,
drove him to the vet,
paid $77.00 for his antibiotics.
Now, after the kids rush off to school,
you and I sit on the bed.
I hold the guinea pig, since he bites.
You fill the syringe.
We administer the foul smelling medicine,
hoping the little fellow will live.
admitting to each other:
if he doesn't,
it'll be good practice.
"Guinea Pig" by Julie Cadwallader-Staub. Reprinted with permission of the poet.
Crashing Jets and Birthing Babies
I started OB today, and since the day was mostly spent filling out and receiving paperwork about the rotation, I haven't done much in the way of actual medicine. However, I did come across this really interesting nugget of wisdom from the OB textbook, page 1:
Maternal mortality has been an under-recognized issue worldwide despite an estimated 600,000 maternal deaths per year from pregnancy-related causes. Put in numeric perspective, this is equivalent to six jumbo jet crashes per day with the deaths of all 250 passengers on board, all of them women in the reproductive years of life.
Choose Your Own Adventure!
Click Below to see the image full size.
Which path best describes your situation.......?!
Which path best describes your situation.......?!
Promotional Spending for Prescription Drugs
Yesterday the Congressional Budget Office released a brief highlighting trends in promotional spending for prescription drugs and market characteristics that influence promotional strategies.
The way that pharmaceutical manufacturers promote prescription drugs has changed significantly in the past decade. Up until the late 1990s, pharmaceutical manufacturers confined their marketing efforts largely to just doctors and other health care providers.
In the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration changed its advertising guidelines and drugmakers then began marketing directly to consumers—a practice known as direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising.
Since then, the manufacturers of many prescription drugs have increased their purchases of air time on television and of advertising space in newspapers and magazines.
This year, drug companies are no longer allowed to give out pens, notepads, refrigerator magnets (just kidding about the magnets...kinda...), or any other kind of product that promotes their drug.
Many studies prove that that kind of "subliminal advertising" actually does persuade doctors to prescribe more of that particular drug, but I still say I wouldn't feel "guilted into" prescribing a drug just because I was given a free ink pen with that drug's name on it.
So basically I've waited all these years to be a doctor and get free pens, and now they've outlawed it!
The way that pharmaceutical manufacturers promote prescription drugs has changed significantly in the past decade. Up until the late 1990s, pharmaceutical manufacturers confined their marketing efforts largely to just doctors and other health care providers.
In the late 1990s, the Food and Drug Administration changed its advertising guidelines and drugmakers then began marketing directly to consumers—a practice known as direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising.
Since then, the manufacturers of many prescription drugs have increased their purchases of air time on television and of advertising space in newspapers and magazines.
This year, drug companies are no longer allowed to give out pens, notepads, refrigerator magnets (just kidding about the magnets...kinda...), or any other kind of product that promotes their drug.
Many studies prove that that kind of "subliminal advertising" actually does persuade doctors to prescribe more of that particular drug, but I still say I wouldn't feel "guilted into" prescribing a drug just because I was given a free ink pen with that drug's name on it.
So basically I've waited all these years to be a doctor and get free pens, and now they've outlawed it!
Today in History: The Iron Lung
On this day in 1928, an iron lung medical ventilator, designed by Philip Drinker and colleagues at Children's Hospital, Boston, was used for the first time in the treatment of polio victims.
The 2 min. video below talks about a woman who has had to rely on an iron lung for over 50 years, after catching polio as a little girl.
So, Mark, just what is an Iron Lung?
An iron lung is a machine that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing is too much for the person to handle.
OK. Well, what is Polio?
Polio, caused by the RNA virus named Poliovirus, first enters the body through the mouth, infects a person's bloodstream, and then sneaks into the central nervous system by getting into the spinal cord.
[Read more about Poliovirus pathophysiology]
When the virus enters the nervous system, it damages the nerves that control your body's muscles, and thus it causes rapid paralysis.
Overall, 5–10% of patients with paralytic polio die due to the paralysis of muscles used for breathing.
How did the iron lung help polio patients?
Now it all starts coming together! As you now know, polio can cause your breathing muscles to be paralyzed, which would quickly lead to death.
With the iron lung, the patient lies within a sealed chamber and provides an effective oscillating atmospheric pressure. The pressure inside the machine goes up and down, just like the muscles in your chest cause the pressure in your lungs to go up and down, causing you to breathe.
An Iron Lung Ward filled with Polio patients, Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, California (1953)
The 2 min. video below talks about a woman who has had to rely on an iron lung for over 50 years, after catching polio as a little girl.
So, Mark, just what is an Iron Lung?
An iron lung is a machine that enables a person to breathe when normal muscle control has been lost or the work of breathing is too much for the person to handle.
OK. Well, what is Polio?
Polio, caused by the RNA virus named Poliovirus, first enters the body through the mouth, infects a person's bloodstream, and then sneaks into the central nervous system by getting into the spinal cord.
[Read more about Poliovirus pathophysiology]
When the virus enters the nervous system, it damages the nerves that control your body's muscles, and thus it causes rapid paralysis.
Overall, 5–10% of patients with paralytic polio die due to the paralysis of muscles used for breathing.
How did the iron lung help polio patients?
Now it all starts coming together! As you now know, polio can cause your breathing muscles to be paralyzed, which would quickly lead to death.
With the iron lung, the patient lies within a sealed chamber and provides an effective oscillating atmospheric pressure. The pressure inside the machine goes up and down, just like the muscles in your chest cause the pressure in your lungs to go up and down, causing you to breathe.
| Poliovirus |
|---|
 Electron micrograph of poliovirus virions. |
An Iron Lung Ward filled with Polio patients, Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, California (1953)
Much respect.
An AL deputy has his hand reattached at UAB Hospital after an arrest this past weekend....
http://bit.ly/Ml0vw
I can run into burning buildings, but there's no way I could be a cop.
I've got so much respect for those who serve and protect us.
http://bit.ly/Ml0vw
I can run into burning buildings, but there's no way I could be a cop.
I've got so much respect for those who serve and protect us.
