Salvation from Starvation

The cupboards are looking baren.  The bread is running low, the cereal has run out completely.  The half bowl of cherrios was enough to last me through the night.  Thank goodness for Domino's pizza.  The stuff tastes like pepperoni and cheese on cardboard, but it did give us enough sustenance when the cereal was lacking.  Lucky for us, our neighbors invited us over today for hot-dogs to help preserve my withering figure.  Deb, we all miss you, please don't delay on your skyward trek home! 

Deb-less

Well, today my lover left me with Thing 1 and Thing 2 to do a "sister's weekend" out back home.  I was super excited to take them on an exhausting bike ride to the park and back.  As luck had it, I was able to come home to them extra early (5:00), I was so pumped!  So I hurried and packed some water and cut-up fruit Deb left us and we headed out.  The Mongoose bike and the Dora bike withstood the brutal journey.  

We arrived at our destination with photographical proof.  Thing 1 has now progressed to going down the fireman pole, only to be scathed once by the friction of the bar.  That, coupled with Thing 2 wetting her "big girl underwear" ended our journey.  

Later tonight Thing 1 and I sat lonely on the couch thinking of how we miss our mother.  So to lament our loss, we decided to watch the first half of "Incredible Hulk" to take our minds off the sadness.  

Please don't smoke, please take offense

I see dozens and dozens of patients in the office on resident office days for getting tonsils out and or getting ventilation tubes put in their ears.  Yesterday I was not having a very cheerful day for some reason and I decided to be straight up with my patients parents.  Usually I can gauge between those receptive of constructive criticism and those who aren't.  Well, my gauge was off.  I told one dad that smoking outside with an asthmatic child with bad allergies still wasn't good enough and he and the rest of the family needed to eventually stop.  He felt it a priority that the kids see family instead of keeping them away from those environments.  I could see his point, but pointed out that in some states, smoking around a child is considered child abuse and it's a serious matter.  He didn't like what I had to say and told me to stop.  Well I did.  I felt bad that I had offended him, until I started asking him questions about his child's clinical status.  He had no clue how his kids was doing, what medications they were taking, nor even WHY they were actually doing in my office space.  Thankfully the mom (divorced couple) arrived with all the pertinent information and the children were properly diagnosed and treated.

Today I was hit with a breath of fresh air.  I saw a patient who had taken our advice to heart and quit smoking around the child three months ago.  Now, the child was devoid of allergic symptoms and doing great. 

It's amazing how a little selfishness can so largely affect those around you.  

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...

REACH FOR THE SKYYYYYY! Name that movie. :)

Does this remind you of that terrible, horrid song once sung in grade school called "up up and away".  Oh boy.  I never liked the song.  But I do like this picture.

Brock without training wheels

A tribute to good parents

It's amazing to me... I was moonlighting today where I saw approximately 23 patients in 12 hours.  Of these people I saw all types, well to do, very poor, and those in the middle.  In there somewhere was a sweet, well kept elderly woman.  She was very polite and courteous despite all the pain she was in.  Then there was her daughter.  It looked as if the mother had pulled her out of the garbage can on her way out the door.  The description is this: Greasy dark hair, no teeth, T-shirt spotted with grease, sweats, and a heavy load to fill them.  This supprised me just a little.  Don't get me wrong, I see all types of people come through OSU medical center, but they usually all look alike and dress in the same fashion.  Thinking that this was just a one time incidence for the day I went about seeing patients without another thought.  

We live in such a plentiful and primped up society, if you will.   You would think that the second generation would be so much more in tune and live up to and possibly surpass the standard set by their parents.  You may think "oh how superficial can you get, dogging on people like that".  Well, a little later on, I see a chart for "back pain".  As I roll my eyes, I walk into a room with a mother and a 17 year old.  No, it wasn't the well kept, nice looking 45 year old mom with the back pain.  It was the 17 year old severely obese girl with super tight genes and shirt with greasy black hair that stuck to her head when she put it behind her ears.   After evaluation the 5'4" girl, we had a good discussion about several issues in her life, namely the 80 extra pounds she was carrying.  I introduced her to the dark like around her neck.  She tried to blame her boyfriend and a necklace, but no dice.  It's called Acanthosis Nigricans, thought to be caused from elevated levels of insulin in the circulatory system.  A tell tale sign of a future of diabetes if lifestyle isn't carefully assessed and changed.  

Granted as a child, I didn't shower when I really needed to.  I discovered putrid B.O. on a temple trip I had no clue I was capable of producing.  For heavens sake, I even wore florescent shorts to school, the whole time thinking it was cool.  That's okay, my sexy long hair made up for that.  Okay, Deb can stop laughing hysterically at me (not with me) now.  Seriously though, I actually tried to be cooler than my parents and at the same time listen to their advice.  So far it's worked out pretty good.  I have a smokin' hot wife and three adorable kids and a decent job.  I'm still not very cool, but at least I'm headed in the right direction.  Thank you mom and dad for making me listen to you.  And, Happy fathers day.