Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Samsara
Thad's missed 2 days of school. There's a horrible bug going around. I took last Fri arvo off, organised for Marge to have Thad for the night, made reservations at Samsara, picked out a nice dress, IRONED IT (Ironed it fergodssake!) then Thad fell sick. Ah well... will try again sometime soon.
Thad's excited, cause he has Crazy Hair Day this Fri. It's where all the kids at school go in with wild and wacky hairstyles and give a gold coin donation that goes towards Meningococcal Disease research. I said I'd give a talk on the disease to the parents about it - from a health professional point of view, and from having suffered from Meningococal septicaemia 3 years ago.
Essentially,the Meningococcus is a group of bacteria that lives in the noses and throats of some healthy people. It passes on to other people through sharing drinks and kissing. Sometimes, it can make people really, really, really sick, with awful, awful, awful consequences, including, not uncommonly, death. It also frequently causes loss of arms or legs and permanent deafness. The most common after effects, if treated, include memory problems, permanent joint pains, headaches. There are many strains, but the 2 most common strains in Australia are Group B and C. We have a safe, effective and free vaccine for the group C strain, but not the Group B. More research needs to be done to find a safe vaccine for the Group B Meningococcus and more education about the safety and efficacy of immunization needs to be promulgated.
Having worked in Tanzania, rural Victoria, visited rural health clinics in Sarawak and working with migrants in Aus from the African Horn,the rest of Africa, Middle East etc. and the odd Anglo-Saxon who didn't get vaccinated for miscellaneous reasons, it's farking frustrating when educated pseudo-intellects refuse to immunize their children, wielding wordy Internet print-out sheets besmirching vaccinations, proclaiming the immunisation program a governmental conspiracy. We are bloody fortunate to not know / forget what real disease is like.
Thaddeus has a whole school production coming up in Sept. His prep class is singing some Hi-5 song, called Robot No. 5, modeled after Mambo No. 5. So cute. I wasn't able to attend his last performance, but Donald recorded some of it. Will post it up when I figure out how.
I'm doing surgery now. I LOVE IT, which sucks. I really wish I hated it. Surgery is tough - lifestyle wise. I want to be a good mother and wife and I can't if I do surgery. Surgery saves lives. As I've learnt comparing Tanzania (with a surgeon) and East Timor (with a physician), medicine is like a Band-Aid solution, physicians pontificate and dispense panaceas, and at the end of it all, have meetings to discuss why Wonderdrug A didn't work. Surgery acts. It's in the present. It saves lives. Plus, as mom says, my egocentric, demanding, god-complex nature is more the personality of a surgeon than a physician.
Thad's excited, cause he has Crazy Hair Day this Fri. It's where all the kids at school go in with wild and wacky hairstyles and give a gold coin donation that goes towards Meningococcal Disease research. I said I'd give a talk on the disease to the parents about it - from a health professional point of view, and from having suffered from Meningococal septicaemia 3 years ago.
Essentially,the Meningococcus is a group of bacteria that lives in the noses and throats of some healthy people. It passes on to other people through sharing drinks and kissing. Sometimes, it can make people really, really, really sick, with awful, awful, awful consequences, including, not uncommonly, death. It also frequently causes loss of arms or legs and permanent deafness. The most common after effects, if treated, include memory problems, permanent joint pains, headaches. There are many strains, but the 2 most common strains in Australia are Group B and C. We have a safe, effective and free vaccine for the group C strain, but not the Group B. More research needs to be done to find a safe vaccine for the Group B Meningococcus and more education about the safety and efficacy of immunization needs to be promulgated.
Having worked in Tanzania, rural Victoria, visited rural health clinics in Sarawak and working with migrants in Aus from the African Horn,the rest of Africa, Middle East etc. and the odd Anglo-Saxon who didn't get vaccinated for miscellaneous reasons, it's farking frustrating when educated pseudo-intellects refuse to immunize their children, wielding wordy Internet print-out sheets besmirching vaccinations, proclaiming the immunisation program a governmental conspiracy. We are bloody fortunate to not know / forget what real disease is like.
Thaddeus has a whole school production coming up in Sept. His prep class is singing some Hi-5 song, called Robot No. 5, modeled after Mambo No. 5. So cute. I wasn't able to attend his last performance, but Donald recorded some of it. Will post it up when I figure out how.
I'm doing surgery now. I LOVE IT, which sucks. I really wish I hated it. Surgery is tough - lifestyle wise. I want to be a good mother and wife and I can't if I do surgery. Surgery saves lives. As I've learnt comparing Tanzania (with a surgeon) and East Timor (with a physician), medicine is like a Band-Aid solution, physicians pontificate and dispense panaceas, and at the end of it all, have meetings to discuss why Wonderdrug A didn't work. Surgery acts. It's in the present. It saves lives. Plus, as mom says, my egocentric, demanding, god-complex nature is more the personality of a surgeon than a physician.
