Why do Canadian's cross the border?

To get to the other side.  

Does anyone know why countless Canadians save up their pennies and then come to the United States of America?  Does socialized medicine ring a bell?

Yeah, it's no good up there and it would be no good down here.  When a 57 year old who needs a hip joint cleaned up (due to arthritic bony spicules causing severe chronic pain) in the US what happens?  He gets it done and expeditiously at that!  If his insurance doesn't pay for it, he can still get it done without traveling to another country.  If a Canadian needs this done after paying exorbitant taxes all his life, they will say, "Nope, sorry, your too old.  You only have a few years of life anyway, and we can use that money better on someone else.  So here, take some Ibuprofen for the rest of your life".  Crazy scenario?  Yes, but it actually happened to a 57 year old Canadian who saved up his dollars, came to the US, and had this procedure done.  

So, what boarder are we going to cross when socialized medicine hits?  

When to stop having children...

Whoa!  Here is a definite gray zone where I'll probably get put into my place.  A very circumstantial area of opinion for sure.  So, to go about answering the question with my male opinion, I'll first have to explain the circumstance.

First of all, for those with many kids...

I see a ton of welfare patients as a resident.  I get many people who are very demanding people, wanting things done for them on the governments tab (aka: your and my tax tab).  That being said, more than 50% (a guestimate) of the people who have no intent on bettering themselves or improving their circumstances, still have cell phones, cable TV, and a pack a day cigaret habit to quench... and then stop by McDonald's two times on their drive into our office.  If you don't see the problem I'm painting here, then STOP reading.  You are hopeless.  One of these family types came into the ER the other night.  I had just examined the hairy, tatoo laden, smelly man in the ER for an ENT related issue.  I find out from his toothless "fiance" of three years, that they have 7 children total after putting each other's addition from a previous marriage together.  They were very proud of this fact.  I was about as happy for their children as I was for the Octo-mom's children.  

When is it time to stop?  Here are some of my criteria...

Cannot afford to give them opportunity.

Opportunity can be and mean many different things.  For example, 0pportunity to have financial opportunity for... sports, band, dance, choir etc.  Opportunity to have parental monitoring such as... family time, one on one time with parents, education,  etc.  But for me, my criteria is an opportunity to receive love from a married mother and father.

When you start to burden others

You need to be able to take care of their basic medical, dental, and social needs.  When you use Government help to bring these children into this world on a continual basis, then you most likely need to stop.  

When your sanity is at risk

If by reason alone that your sanity is at risk with only one kid, then you are either way too busy being busy, or are extremely self centered.  Get on an exercise regiment to release the stress or get on medication.  In essence, get over yourself!  A wise man once said "Forget yourself and go to work".  Maybe you should have served a mission! (Remember, if your starting to become offended here, read the subtitle of this blog)

When you are putting your health at risk.  

Too many C-sections can become dangerous, talk to your doctor, adoption is a great option.

When you can't manage your life because you become overwhelmed.

Now, if that entails too many soccer, gymnastic, football, baseball practices etc., then cut back on how many activities they do, and add more family time.  But if the kids are only doing one thing and your going bald from trichotillomania secondary to frustration, then Dr. Vas or Tubal are calling.

And finally, when a maxi van (12 passenger) cannot legally fit any more kids.

I guess you can get a bus, or just stop already!

Add or subtract ideas at your will.  

The Human Shield, I married a superhero

If it weren't for being a full time mom, Debbie would probably be a body guard or something in the realms of superhero work.  I have two stories to back it up.  Just tonight as our littlest one was sporting a good solid fever, his body decides to rid itself of all gastric contents.  As Debbie is the wonder woman of cuddling her sick baby, she received the full onslaught to the chest.  Quick as a bolt of lightening, she used the blanket, her hand, and her shirt as the recipient of the barrage.  Not one drop of atrocious smelling slime hit the carpet or surrounding structures.  Yeah, pretty amazing.  

So, even more amazing was a similar situation several months ago with our little princess.  It was church time.  We all arrived with our not so up-to-par family and sat in the token back row seat (less distraction for the rest of the members when Chase runs around waving to everyone). We sat on the bench near an exit in case we needed a quick escape to start the beatings for irreverence ( I'm joking here...okay, when am I ever really serious?).  While Emma was resting her head on Debbie's lap, regurgitated breakfast came up and out like a curdled milk fountain.  Amazingly enough, there was minimal collateral damage.  I don't quite know how she did it, but covered from chest to bottom of skirt, Debbie was a putrid mess.  Incognito, we whisked Emma away and into the bathroom for clean up.  Virtually unscathed, I came back out to a battle brazened yet smiling wife.  How does she do it?  After I tucked Emma in the car and sent them home, I returned to clean up the mess with chemicals found in the janitor's closet.  Since the clean up was minimal, no one in the congregation noticed any part of the ordeal.  No one even knew Emma was sick.  Yeah, Debbie is that sneaky.  

Okay so Deb had to remind me, I forgot to mention the original story.  We were getting ready for my medical school graduation.  We were eating breakfast with the family at the hotel.  Brock had just eaten a good size meal.  This was unusual because usually he is the pickiest eater known to man.  So, after he downed some cranberry juice, orange juice, yogurt, and some toast, Debbie points out that he hadn't been feeling very well last night or this morning.  We were thinking he was on the mend due to his voracious appetite.  Well, apparently his mind was willing but his intestinal fortitude was not.  And yup.  KA-BOOM, mama was covered from head to foot, literally.  Her green bag, sandals, skirt, sweater, and hair.  And yes, minimal amounts hit the floor.  It must ingrained into her DNA somehow.  

So I need some help here.  I'm trying to come up with her superhero name for Mothers day, and have run into a snag.  I can't decide between two names.  I'll take a poll, and you can comment.  

1. The Human Shield

2. The Barf Magnet Extraordinaire

Kudo's to all you loving mothers out there.  I'll wipe bottoms and change diapers with the best of em, but it would freak out if I were the one to receive the brunt of the vomit.    

 

If you watch TV...

Then congratulation, you like me, are being shaped by our world.  What you spend your time doing, reading, watching,  you become.  Desensitization comes by being fed the same stuff over and over again until you rationalize it in your head as not being all that bad.  Then you find others that feel the same way (they watch the same crap) and you start taking comfort because you're now "joining the crowd".  If you don't keep building up on your moral values then it's like getting around in a hover-round instead of walking.   You end up fat.  

You see, after my two year mission to Honduras, where all I did was eat, breath, teach, gospel principles, coming back to the states and re-integrating myself was like jumping into the arctic waters naked.  Walking down the hallway's at former UVSC where mostly naked women were dancing on every TV to RB music almost landed me in the Bishops office.  Then I saw that no one else was fazed by this.  After a few weeks to months, it didn't bother me as much.  Wow, how fast and easy it is to slide down the moral fire man's pole!  

Then there was the Show 24.  One of my favorites by far.  Well, after season four I decided that enough violence was enough.  I felt angry and sick after each violent episode.  Then I thought, oh, Hero's would be a good show.  How cool is that to have a quasi X-men take on modern day practical individuals?!  Then after a few episodes it grew very dark, and the villian was more vile than ever by cutting or breaking into innocent people's skulls to steal their power.  Yeah, sick.  Then, after we have finally found Biggest Loser, and American Idol (not without it's ill of making fun of those with a mental illness), I thought TV was better.  That was till one night after AI, a show popped on at 8:00pm.  The initial scene was a woman sitting in a chair.  Her co-worker comes in, they exchange hello's, then he graphically riddles her with bullets with a machine gun.  I was stunned beyond words.  A few more minutes into the show I realize it was the guy's nightmare/dream.  Yeah, like a 4 year old could have differentiated that!  Good thing 5 minutes earlier I sent Brock to bed.  I could go on and on here.  

Basic's are, that sex and violence sell.  Now that everyone is using that to get their show on television and not to be outdone, more sex and more violence are being prescribed to viewers.  Show's demeaning the sacredness of intimacy such as Sex and the City, or Lipstick jungle are atrocious excuses of despicable soap opera's.  TV has for the majority, become a terrible thing.

Don't get me wrong, just like any invention such as planes, rockets, cell phones, etc.  They were all developed for the good and progress of mankind.  This is so for programs (oh how I wish I had more than local channels) like the Discovery channel or Disney etc.  Every invention has been used for evil as well.  Planes deliver bombs, rockets kill and can deliver massive death, cell phones are used in bomb ignitions.  So, I suggest using your TV for good and use your moral values as a gauge of what should be brought into your home.  You are shaped by that which you educate yourself.  Your children hear, see, and learn more than you think they do, whether it came from the "Boob Tube" or your regurgitation by word or attitude.  Molly Mormons and Peter Priesthoods make good parents.

Stop the madness, Stop the Benadryl

You got it, I'm riled again.  I've seen countless advertisements on Benadryl (diphenhydramine) now.  One of the oldest and dirtiest antihistamine medications out there.  It's like using Aspirin for all aches and pains.  Yeah, useful, but too much and you cant stop oozing from a little cut.  

Well, if tylenol, ibuprofen, aspirin came out on the market today as prescription drugs, you would see them pulled off the market the next day for litigious fears.  Too much Tylenol, you fry your liver and sometimes its irreversible leading to ...yeah, death.  Too much Ibuprofen, and you fry your kidneys.  Even if you don't take in enough water after a race and take it.  It can send you into acute renal (kidney) failure.  

So, what about Benadryl?  Death is not really an option, but turning you or your kids into an actor in "Dawn of the Dead", is not a probability, it's more of an actuality.  You see, there was a study that came out about 2 years ago comparing driving skills of those on normal Benadryl dosage and those just at the legally drunk blood alcohol levels.  Guess who did worse?  Nope, not those intoxicated with alcohol.  That is why I called it a dirty drug.  Not only is it a class ? antihistamine, but it has central nervous system side effects.  It slows down brain function and it does this longer (about 36 hours) than the antihistamine side of the drug works.  They even put the stuff in Tylenol PM and Advil PM.  You can sleep well, then be a numb brain at work all the next day.  Makes me feel comfortable driving to work every day, doesn't it you?  

Now armed with this information, who of you would like to send your kid to school with a slow brain without the buzz?  Well, I'm sure you don't want your kid with an alcohol buzz either, but, I'm sure your asking now about other options.  And in our God blessed country of a free market society, at least still for a little while, we have many wonderful antihistamine medications developed and now out on the market, even over the counter!  No, we wouldn't have such medications if B. Obama gets his way with socialized medicine.  (see my post on socialized medicine)   Claritin and Zyrtec are the latest and greatest over the counter medications out there.  Ask your friendly doctor on dosage, but where safety is concerned, they are much better options.  Unless of course you like your kids to reenact your favorite horror movies during the allergy seasons. 

WHO's happy? Not the pigs

World Health Organization is not happy at all, nor should they nor you be thus.  They are freaking out about the newest and latest bad guy virus to hit the market.  The epicenter of such is Mexico City from their swine.  It could be the most feared epidemic (locally spread)/pandemic (global spread) which has been predicted to arrive.  You see, the Spanish flu epidemic which happened in 1918 which killed from 20 to upper 50 million estimated was one of the three this century.  Usually 3 occur each century.  They say that the severity of the virus increases in the century but the initial pandemic has the highest mortality (more people die), and this is our first of this century.  It has been reported 1,400 thus far have been infected and 86 Mexican's have died from this swine flu virus.  It has shut down the Mexican capital and has spread to the US where now 20 have been infected, however not yet one mortality.  

I hope it fizzles like the 1974 case did, but as I quote the Incredibles "Luck favors the prepared, darling..."  Time to start listening to the prophets voice and get those food storages and gardens planted.  If your quarantined to stay home, then life will get rough without the fresh food stuffs around.  I recommend getting some backyard chickens too.  And why not?  

And finally, a fun little pun...

It had once been said, that when our country had elected an Afro-American as president of the United states pigs would fly.  Well, 100 days after President Obama's election, swine flu!

Go OLKAHOMA! Go WOMEN!

Makes me proud to be a part of this state.  Though not a native, I'm certainly proud of the citizens here.  They actually stand up for what is morally... "right". :)

Oklahoma has become the first state to give a pregnant woman the right to use force to defend her unborn child.

 

Under the "Use of Force for the Protection of the Unborn Act" -- signed into law by Governor Brad Henry -- a mom-to-be is legally justified in using deadly force if she "reasonably believes" an attacker is "threatening her unborn child" and "use of force or deadly force are immediately necessary to protect" that child.   The law was actually prompted by an incident in Michigan, according to Maressa Treat, Oklahoma state director of Americans United for Life (AUL). "There was a lady who was attacked -- she was pregnant with triplets, and she ended up losing her babies," she explains. "The attacker ended up dying, and she was convicted."   The conviction was later successfully appealed, but Treat tells OneNewsNow the incident sent shock waves all the way to Oklahoma.   "Oklahoma has the highest rate per capita of violence against pregnant women," she says. "So it's incredibly important that we are not only going out and saying that we're going to protect life, but that we make the proper steps to protect all life."   The legislation was developed by Americans United for Life, but it is available for any state to consider. An AUL press release argues that every pregnant woman in America "deserves the right to protect her unborn child from violence and harm."

Aspirin update

For all of you whom have loved ones on Aspirin like I do.  Here's the latest and greatest...

Recommendations for Aspirin Use Updated

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued an update to its recommendations for use of aspirin as a cardiovascular disease prophylaxis. According to the recommendations, published in the March 17, 2009, Annals of Internal Medicine , physicians should consider prescribing low-dose aspirin, about 75 mg per day, for men age 45 to 79 who are at risk for heart attack and for women age 55 to 79 who are at risk for stroke. USPSTF notes that the low-dose seems just as effective as higher doses but poses less of a bleeding risk. USPSTF advises physicians considering recommending aspirin use for patients to consider risk factors such as age, blood pressure, diabetes and smoking habits, and the guidelines target patients whose heart attack or stroke risks outweigh their risks of gastrointestinal bleeding. Additionally, the guidelines do not encourage the use of aspirin in women under age 55 or men under age 45.  

Obama's homies... continued attraction to the criminal type

Is it just me, or are there an insurmountable amount of crooks B. Obama hangs around?  It hasn't become any better for him either.  Kathleen Sebelius, a sketchy Governor of Kansas at best has been caught lying about funds.  Is this a good sign?  I mean, oops, I messed up on my taxes.  Well, okay, who doesn't right?  Maybe she should get an accountant.  Or, maybe she actually did like everyone else does in her realm.  But then to lie about getting donations from a Doctor Till who's an abortion provider.  She admitted to the first $12,450.  But then the next three installments adding up to $23,000 she "forgot" to include on the public record.  But no problem, after all, it was just another "slip up".  I guess we as the american population are as gullible as they think we are.  Believe me, this instance is only the tip of the iceberg of many other scandalous things she has done as Governor.  It's like finding a cockroach in your house then thinking, "ah it's probably the only one".  Do we really want such a fiscally irresponsible candidate for our Secretary of Health and Human Services.  I think not! Obama, go fish! 

Me me me all the way home...When to have kids?

A highly debated topic in the field of medicine with female physicians.  I always hear the phrase, when I'm in (...you name it...)or when I'm finished with (...you name it...) THEN I'll have children.  Fill in the blank with things like, college, medical school, residency, after a few years in practice.  I don't think this is something just isolated to medicine.  I think it's an epidemic reaching out much further.

Is it any wonder why families now only have one or two children when just 50 years ago people were having 4-6 kids as a norm.  I'm going to extrapolate a little here... why are people being so dang selfish?  Is it because we want what our parents have, so were willing to sacrifice having children for objects, and things?  Is it because it's hard?  Is it because our tax burden is so great that we can't survive on one income alone?  Is it a combo of any of the above or are there things that I missed?  

I admit children take a bunch of time, are demanding, and you can't get anything "productive" done.  But when you take a step back, look at life in the long perspective... what is the meaning of life?  Why are we here on this earth?  Is it to serve ourselves?  Is it to get self gratification?  Are we just a selfish generation, not willing to serve and raise children in the kind loving way our parents raised us?  Are Chrisitians not so Christian after all?  If they aren't, and are actually selfLESS people, then why is the population of non-christians rising, and that of Christians falling?  

I personally have a great wife with more patience in one pinkie than in my whole body.  Don't get me wrong, I love wrestling my kids and playing with them as much as I can.  But as a man, (and as all men need their cave time), I couldn't handle kids 24 hours a day.  I don't know how she does it.  I guess she has that greater perspective.