CHILDREN’S ISSUES – Page 3

SQUIRREL ATTACK DURING HIDE N’ GO SEEK FATHER-DAUGHTER’S BONDING STORY

All my daughter’s friends were over for their little party.

Pushkino These eight or so girls, all about 7 years old were playing crazily. You see wintertime had broken in Minnesota, and the summer was near. But it was one of those days you live for there, vibrant blue sky, gentle breeze, and life’s passions greening up.

purchase Latuda Well, the little girls had played on the playground equipment for quite awhile, and in the sand making “things.” They were drawing chalk style hopscotch boards on the sidewalks, and had jumped rope without any bruises. Such a great day, such harmony in family and friends with nature watching.

My daughter and her little friends decided it was time to play “hide n’ go seek." No one better to hide than dad. Their collective eyes leaked with sincerity of request. How could any father turn such princesses and angels down for this next fun event, on such a great day, in such prime weather, in Minnesota ?

The "search and rescue" group of small girls began to count.

ONE. TWO.

Meanwhile, my scurrying about reminded me to tell them to, “Count Loud” and “NO peeking." They, in unison, guaranteed this with giggles and laughter.

THREE. FOUR.

My eye scanned the topography. Where to hide? How long would it be to hide quickly, yet stealth like? Scanning the local yard’s horizon, a brilliant idea now could become reality. Ha ha ha. Those little ones will never see me there.

FIVE.

Quickly, quietly, and with ease my legs jumped up into the tree. This tree was strong. It could hold an adult, even a hidden stealthy adult. Lots of those huge Minnesota leaves that would cover all the color of the “hide n’ go seek” secret agent. So covert.

SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT.

Hurriedly my arms pulled my body into location, in the tree. Knowing how to quickly judge and climb a tree was like riding a bicycle or swimming to me. All those hours building huge tree houses in the skies of tall ash or elm trees now would pay off. All those limb evaluations of size versus strength and caliber were emblazoned in this climber. This was a confident spot.

NINE.

As my arms lifted me into position, with my sitting spot almost prepared, the little girls were starting to rustle. Shifting my seat gently as not to be heard by doing a pull-up on the branch above, suddenly my stealthy world changed.

TEN.

As my pull-up ended, my line of sight was slightly diagonally upward. A loud noise, a squeal. Then heard of buffalo, a covey of quail, and a wild horse stampede came right at me! My ears were frozen on the word, “TEN” that the little princesses had yelled. My eyes were beyond frozen to see eye to eye with it.

Squirrel attack !!!

Yes, man to female animal, face to face, and eye to eye there it was. No time for a counterattack. It was cold. It was heartless. The attack of the mother squirrel was like no other. Brutally shown teeth, larger than a shark – claws drawn, sharper than the griz. Lightening speed, out of no where. An ICBM loaded and launched at the intruder. No early warning system for the unprepared “hide n’ go seeker.” BAM. The war was on. Knowing my face had been hit, a cover was needed. No where to hide now. Too far up to jump, as a youth might attempt. Age and wisdom prevented that action quickly. Swiping away the blood, my fight was limitless but so ill directed. Not once was there a hit on the enemy despite readjusting my coordinates while in the leaves. Retreat was the only option. Cut the losses. Sooner, not later. This mother wasn’t retreating from the nest she had so preciously prepared for the family.

The gaggle of girls was coming down the sidewalk. They too had heard the noisy breach of the stealthy sacred safe place. It was over…almost.

The “hide n’ go seeker” now did what all attacked, retreating, and severely mentally and physically injured “hide n’ go seekers” do. Swing out of the tree. With two great leaps of caliber-calculating swings, my feet hit terra firma. Solid. Looking around quickly, the attack was over.

All the faithful players of the “hide n’ go seek” family game came running. My position was still of a prepared martial arts stance, ready to counter strike as if a secondary push might occur.

“We see you,” they all yelled. The girls approached quickly to prove they had seen me. But as they received their victory in game, they realized what was different. Suddenly, they all began screaming at the top of their choral lungs, high pitched in fear, yelling and running away faster and faster. My daughter said, "Daddy, you have blood,” and she ran away too, to the safety of the flock. Reaching up to my face, it was warm, and slippery. Looking at my hand, realizing my sweat from the environmental battle was not red – it was blood. Wiping away the blood from my hand to my pants, the flow of blood continued. A painted warrior of sorts.

My wife came outside to see how things were going with the “hide n’ go seek” game. She had come around a corner just as the girls were approaching. “My goodness,” she said, “Why did you fly out of that tree…to scare the girls…They were yelling so loud…And YOU looked like a gorilla flying out of the tree… AND you are bleeding!” “What happened?”
Re-living it…worse….

As my eyes close yet to this day, that mother squirrel is in my view forever. Everyone survived. A family moment. A father-daughter memory forever. And now you know why my 20 something daughter sends reminders once in a while, and why she sent me a shirt with a squirrel on it that states the rules: “ADVICE FROM A SQUIRREL.”

WEST NILE VIRUS UPDATE – IDAHO LEADS NATION DISCUSSION CONCERNING PANHANDLE DISTRICT

IDAHO LED THE NATION IN 2006 AND WAS THE HARDEST HIT AREA IN THE USA FOR WEST NILE VIRUS. 996 cases of WNV were diagnosed in 2006 with 171 neuroinvasive type and 825 fever – and 23 deaths. (neuroinvasive = meningitis, encephalitis, neuro complications during and after diagnosis)

As of June 2007, GEM COUNTY has identified the first positive mosquito pool in Idaho.

Hospitals, physicians, health professionals, and labs must report probable and confirmed cases.

PROTECT YOURSELF AND PROTECT YOUR KIDS THIS SUMMER.

The biggest problem in the Northern Idaho region that I talked with Panhandle representatives about is the standing water drainage systems.

It appears that the Planning and Zoning, government maintainence such as roadways, and the health departments are NOT talking to each other. The ground water grassy swales that are imposed are now the breeding grounds for such mosquito populations. This water is stagnant until it filters down through the ground to protect our ground water. The drains typically are set 8 inches above the level of the ground to allow overflow in heavy rains or runoffs, but this is the rub. The swales stay wet. Hopefully all parties will begin to plan for such health disasters at the early stages of future developments. Revising the swales may need to become a priority.

Review WNV and WNV-birdflu-hunting at the these sites:

http://www.castmd.com/?p=35

http://www.castmd.com/?p=45

www.cdc.gov

www.westnile.idaho.gov

YELLOW BELLIED MARMOTS AND CASTMD BATTLES OF EPIC PROPORTIONS

Those darn "yellow-bellied" marmots. Yes, my wife and I did talk with the Minister of the Blog-O-Sphere last Saturday at the Shabby sale. I was telling him, while my wife laughed WITH me, not AT me the infamous tales of the marmot wars going on at our home.

We live up on a hill. It has always been peaceful. Then one day, while playing my guitar sitting on the deck…I see what?? This big flowered plant in my wife’s garden area is shaking back and forth. What?? Did my eyes deceive me?? Looking around the lawn and into the aspen trees, no wind was noted. Then suddenly, like someone had yelled, “TIMBER” in my ears, the plant fell over..crashing into the lawn. Now one might think I was crazy. But, I carefully placed my guitar on the stool…walked over to the now fallen beautiful comrade. Yup…eaten flat across…sharp dissection as with a scalpel blade…less bloody in vision, but more bloody in revengeful feelings. Let the war begin!

We had been having trouble with some of our plants and flowers. It continued randomly until more lakeside building below us happened. These marmots, cute, furry, and cuddly, are quite the resistant critter. What to do. One of the local varmint guys said, “All’s you can do is shoot ‘em.” In the neighborhood I thought? Hardly. Plus, they’re stealthy and quick. They watch for you. A squeak from a door alone will alarm their defensive dive into the ground.

We saw an ad or product about keeping the varmints away. They were these submarine-torpedo looking aluminum rods. Standing about 20 inches tall and 2 inches in diameter, with batteries loaded, you push them into the ground. At random times, a signal is sent shaking the earth…maybe similar to the new movie, Ocean’s 13. Well, anyway, we had these avenger rods throughout our garden and greenery. Day after day…the plants were felled like a clear-cut in the woods. What were we to do…?

We thought there was a rather large family reunion of these varmints, marmots now called of the squirrel family…near one of our home-grown rock planters. I paid my son and his buddies years ago, a dime for every rock bigger than their hands, to build these planters. This area became ground zero. So, the water hose it was, "water boarding," I thought. We waited and stalked the critters. Flushed for hours, trying to make their life miserable. What did I see? I swear to the Almighty, one of them sliding down the hillside, like kids on a Slip n’ Slide®!

Now knowing that my enemy was strong and well fortressed, it was time to talk with more professionals. Well, my attention was directed to the smoke bombs. These things are more powerful than Superman, more web entangling than Spiderman, and more dangerous than CatWoman. So I purchased a sleeve of these poisonous smoke producing rods. Well, off to the planning stage again, securing a savagely strategic plot against those critters. No more buying flowers and plants redundantly. Think of the money to be saved. Early retirement I thought.

So, I carefully inspected the hillside. Monitoring each and every move by these unwelcome visitors, THIS plan would become the "Mission Accomplished.”

While holding my breath literally, I lit one of these smoke bombs and slid it into the hole. Then number two into another, then number three, and lastly number four…like torpedoes being called from the master.

I thought this will be it. Victory so close to grasp.

After about three to four minutes, happily watching from my perched binocular position, an amazing universal, near existential experience was witnessed. My whole hillside now smoked, not the four holes…but hundreds. Like the exhausting sulfur gas fields of Yellowstone and Glacier, the property was steaming with this poisonous smoke.

Within a few minutes, I thought, someone is going to call the Fire Department due to all the smoke. Outlet after outlet, the rising smoke then diminished. It was over. The offensive was over. My observation keen. Success.

Call me crazy, but thinking back, I swear the smell of cigar smoke was amongst the gas-smoke smell. Could those little furry varmints have been sittin’ back with a cold one, smokin’ a cigar in their cozy dens, watching the doctor’s next strategic play?

The next morning, about three more plants had been felled…But soon, new construction left huge rocks and boulders about a block away.

It seemed they found a new territory.

BREAKING TV NEWS AFTER MY BLOGPOST: MARMOT INVASION

AARP article misses the boat – DRUG SAMPLES AND DRUG REPS – MAYBE NOT SO BAD – BUT LIMIT THE DIRECT-TO-CONSUMER ADS and LAWSUITS

A recent article in the AARP Bulletin highlighted an email of a drug company's inside commentary on drug representatives and their impact on physicians' practices. Congress was on this subject of how doctors obtain information years ago, and rather than mandating legislation, the Pharma Industry limited themselves. Now the irony here is that, all the Pharma Industry now advertises the millions and millions of dollars for their new drugs on television, cable and non-cable, radio, and the print media. How many ads of erectile dysfunction have you seen or watched in the last few years? What about allergy drugs? Those ads seem to be everywhere also.

Meanwhile, most doctors get some of their information from drug company representatives. The doctors of yesteryear were wined and dined – alot. But all that has changed. Company meetings for continuing medical information and education are sponsored for cost. However, the rules are tight. No trips to Hawaii have ever been offered to me, in 25 years or so.

Now the medical appliance industry, like the artificial hips, pacemakers, etc., are not included in the Pharma SELF-imposed rules. This industry works like many others. Recently my awareness was stretched when a person told me ALL hundreds of employees of a beer industry were wined and dined, golfed, and brought to a city with alot of casinos! All on the company. And recently a marketing company took hundreds of employees to another city for 3-4 days, for their needs.

Now, most doctors do like to see drug representatives. We do get good and current information from the reps. If the doctor has a brain, he or she will and can challenge the drug rep with his product, his information, and his competition. This is good information.

Literally, thousands of patients through the years have asked for "Any free samples?" Many times we can accomodate some starter paks of medicines that have been given to us by the pharmaceutical representatives. Most clinics get some samples for patients. According to a recent study over 75% of clinics get free samples. Many times the reps will sponsor quick to the point luncheons. Some doctors join company panels to discuss the highlights and controversies of new therapy. So, what is the big deal?

Most pharmaceutical reps are good people. Most earn their living by providing information currently and timely. Most doctors are good people. Most earn their living by providing good patient care. Most patients are good people. Most enjoy and sincerely appreciate a "few samples" to start their drug regimen.

Now, with the costs of drugs so high, and the pressure on the drug companies to limit free samples or starter paks, it would seem to be soon – a policy that will be forced out. This will be a loss for the underinsured, uninsured, family of four parents, and others that look at the costs in general of healthcare and delay or eliminate their prescription all together.

The billions of dollars spent on "direct-consumer-advertising" that is endorsed by the FDA and other federal, state, and societal organizations is the first place to cut drug costs. Those ads drive the physician by patient requests. Get rid of direct to consumer advertising. Next, get rid of the massive class action suits against all the companies. The U.S. has driven the vaccine industry out of the U.S. and the drug making is not far behind. If the vaccine shortage concerns did not awaken some fear in you, this should.

So, soon, patients will say good bye to free samples, free starter cost reduction cards, and reduced up to date physician information.

As for me, trips, rock n' roll collections, and tennis racquets have not crossed my desk….And to say they do is just crazy by a biased author. And some of the doctors will stay "chummy" with professional colleagues in the pharmaceutical representative business. Some might call that professional interaction and ethical education…

SALT USE AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE AND HYPERTENSION

Stroke and other cardiovascular diseases are linked closely to high blood pressure. In many studies, hypertension is a strong predictor of these severe problems, including stroke (brain attack), congestive heart failure, and even myocardial infarction (heart attack).

The importance of salt intake (sodium chloride) with regard to high blood pressure is well linked. Most of these studies have been a type of case control showing high probable causal relationship. Some other studies have shown that higher salt intake predicted the higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases over time.

But a recent published and peer reviewed study, with randomized NON-hypertensive persons, about 3000 of them, has put a strong lock on this issue. In the study, persons were given about 2.6 gms or 2.0 gms of salt daily. Another group of placebo was a control also. The groups were followed out to 18 months or 36-48 months. Then all the groups (cohorts) were followed over the next 10-15 years!

There was a remarkable 30% (approximate) lower incidence of cardiovascular events during this period. This finding was controlled for age, body mass, sex, ethnic origin, and initial blood pressure – when compared to the placebo group.

We have long known this concern of salt and high blood pressure and other cardiovascular diseases. Even back in about 1985, the World Health Organization recommended the salt intake to be reduced to about 5 grams per day.

In "Westernized" countries, bread and processed foods account for the great majority of salts in the diet, with personal use being about 15-20 %. In many developing countries however, the personal use is the burden of salt. Some countries have tried to "legislate" salt reduction, however most of the time, this effort turns to "voluntary" agreement programs with good intent, rather than hard legislation. More efforts of education and the reason for limiting salt intake should be forwarded by all the main agencies such as the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), and others that take the lead to limit cardiovascular disease, morbidity, and mortality.

So think about it. Should we legislate the prepared foods, soda and beer, snack, eat 'n run, cafe, restaurant, and bar industries to limit the salt in their products? Dear ol' Mom probably had it right when she said, "Not so much salt!"

So next time you pick up the product, do a salt survey. Remember less that five grams a day is highly recommended, while 2 grams a day really makes a difference in your actual risk. The debate appears to be over. Salt can take a toll. Be a wise shopper and a wiser eater.

Salty popcorn with butter anyone? Remember, more fiber, less salt, less trans-fats….Yuk!

DRUG ERROR – COLCHICINE – POSSIBLY LINKED TO FATALITIES

THIS IS IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THOSE PERSONS SEEKING MEDICAL AIDES AND MEDICAL CURES. (REFERENCE CITED.)

(generic photos from tufts.edu and generic medicines)

The Herald – Everett, Wash. – www.HeraldNet.com

Published: Saturday, April 28, 2007

Toxic drug at Portland clinic causes three deaths

Associated Press

PORTLAND, Ore. – Three people in the Pacific Northwest have died after receiving a drug that was erroneously made 10 times more potent than intended, the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office said Friday.

ApotheCure Inc., a drug-compounding pharmacy company in Texas, said an employee made a weighing error in the creation of the drug colchicine, which lead to the deaths. Colchicine is commonly used to treat gout, but in these cases it was being given intravenously to treat back pain.

The drug was sent to the Center for Integrative Medicine in Portland, where three people received injections of the defective batch of the drug this spring. All three people, two from Portland and one from Yakima, died between the end of March and beginning of April from the toxic levels of the drug.

The defective doses were sent only to the Portland clinic, ApotheCure said.

The Food and Drug Administration said it is investigating the case but believes the problem has been contained.

The Center for Integrative Medicine has since closed, and representatives from the organization could not be reached.

Colchicine works by stopping cells from dividing, which reduces inflammation in conditions such as gout, said Dr. Rob Hendrickson, associate medical director for the Oregon Poison Center. But in excess doses, the drug stops all cells from dividing – eventually leading to organ failure and death.

The medication is not commonly used anymore and the use as a back pain treatment is less common than for gout.

Gary Osborn, a pharmacist and certified clinical nutritionist for ApotheCure, said the situation could have been contained earlier, but the clinic did not contact ApotheCure until nearly two weeks after the first death. He said the second death occurred before the company was able to complete recalling the batch and sending them a new lot. He said this is ApotheCure’s first incident of this sort.

“We are kind of the leaders in the industry,” Osborn said. “But you know what people say, stuff happens.

POISON CENTERS AND TOXINS AND POISONINGS METH to METHANOL to MUSHROOMS – One Call 1-800-222-1222

This is the time of year when lawn chemicals, yard cleanups, and neighborhood events start to be exposed and available to little hands. Certainly many chemicals, including pesticides, herbicides, fuels, and cleaning agents are ubiquitous in homes and garages. But beware. Many of these chemicals are poisonous and dangerous with regard to flammability, explosiveness, and chemical burns.

Each dollar invested in poison centers saves about seven dollars in expenses not needed if the patients go into their doctor, their clinics, or their hospitals. This is a great public health service.

Over the years since the early 60's, the poison centers have become an integral part of the healthcare network. Now with the terrorism issues, the poison centers have become an integral monitoring source of information, as many times calls come to the poison centers early and often, thereby making a grid of what is happening and where it is happening.

For instance, when the bad botulism toxin product that was being used by spas and clinics that were trying to save money by not buying and using the approved botulinum toxin brand, the poison centers were seeing a problem early. Patients across the country, in pockets, were being paralyzed – not just the muscles of the eyebrow, forehead, and other smaller muscles.

The poison centers across the USA now have a single number. Depending on your area code, your call will be forwarded to the center in your area, or the one contracted by your state officials. For instance, Idaho calls go to Denver's poison center. Alaska's poison calls go to Oregon. Washington's poison center gets all of Washington State's calls. This year that number will be around 150,000 calls! Poison calls are answered by an expert group of pharmacists, nurses, Pharm Ds and have backup by physicians specializing in toxicology and poisonings. It is the number that the experts in all fields, from dermatologists to kidney specialists, call when the patient has been poisoned, or is toxic from unknown sources, or when the patient doesn't act or change based upon "normal" disease states.

The goal of Poison Prevention Week is to reduce illnesses, injuries, and deaths due to poisonings; build safer communities; and reduce unnecessary health care costs for everyone.

Here are some ways to be poison cautious:

Obtain syrup of ipecac and keep it in your home – but use it ONLY if instructed to do so by a poison center or physician

Use child-resistant containers and remember, they are not childproof

Keep products in their original containers

Never call medicine candy or take it in the dark

Return products to storage areas immediately after use

Teach children about Mr. Yuk

Put Mr. Yuk stickers on all poisonous products

Call the Poison Center for a free information packet and Mr. Yuk stickers

Keep emergency numbers next to your phone:

1-800-222-1222

What is National Poison Prevention Week?

Public Law 87-319 authorizes the President to designate annually the third week in March as National Poison Prevention Week. This act of Congress was signed into law on September 16, 1961, by President Kennedy, after which the Poison Prevention Week Council was organized to coordinate this annual event. Congress intended this event as a means for local communities to raise awareness of the dangers of unintentional poisonings and to take such preventive measures as the dangers warrant.

(PC week and listing adapted from WAPC.org website with commentary from castMD.com)

PACK RATS AND SAVERS – CLUTTERERS ADDICTION

Have you ever wondered why you saved something? You find the dust accumulation, like fresh snow on the sidewalk, on the old book or stack of papers. You can’t live without it, or them, or the files, or the boxes of the papers or files or smaller boxes. You absolutely know, beyond any shadow of a doubt – that you, yes you, will indeed, one day, not soon, but some day – require that item to be whole. Wow….

Why do the savers do this? I remember walking into an office of a professor once. Little did I remember of our conversation. Overwhelming amazement and disbelief warped my mind as the mountains of papers sat from the floor to the ceiling. Not only papers, but also the books, the binders, the boxes of books, and the boxes of binders. Why would he need a conference syllabus from 1979?

That little seashell gift from your Auntie is still valuable and taking up space not only on the mantle, but also in your brain. She gave that to you in 1960!

Clutter is intimate. Clutter represents the untapped resource of the final idea. Clutter is the soul of what can become. All those articles neatly filed, catalogued, scanned into a progression of finding it someday. All the unread, partially read, outdated books that may become part of your next book, or writing, or an editorial.

Possibly the worst offending clutterers? Certainly teachers hit the top of the list, at all levels. Hobbiest are great clutterers, never know when you need that spool or dried up glue. Some of that remaining blue yarn could become the hair of that unique doll for the grandchildren. But everyone is a clutterer.

Your next dinner party, social engagement, or backyard barbe will prove my point. Just look around. Why is the broken golf ornament still on his desk? Big Bird finger puppet – thought he went out years ago? What’s behind that door?

Offices, garages, and closets make great hideaways for the clutterer’s calmness. But overall the problem rests somewhere between poverty, obsessive-compulsive disorder, ADD, and depression, all mixed for normality to hypomania. Within all of this, is creativity. Clutterers are creative, like the addictive mind. They find the place, the time, the hidden capacity to make the world around them in the mirror look normal. But the reflection from the mirror tells a different truth and perspective.

Now, not all clutterers, savers, and pack rats deserve such painful insight. But as the time train continues the “eternal project” remains incomplete for another day.

The rules:

1. Experiment with throwing something away. Calculate in advance how you will feel, then, in a day or so, compare your reality with what you calculated. Pain or gain?

2. Start clearing by starting with smaller boxes of items, a drawer, a desk, a closet. Can’t eat the elephant with one bite.

3. Feel good about donating to others who might use it, like Goodwill or other charitable agencies.

4. With the modern day video cameras, photograph the things that represent memories and get rid of the junk. It is the memory we clutch to, not really the item.

5. Talk with your family, friends, colleagues. They do it too. Every family has one !

6. A nice compromise for families that distress over the junk…make a memory box.

7. Remember, only the feelings are real, the uncompleted task is still part of the soul.

8. Professional counseling is required to break the grip of this strange yet sometimes funny process of the human spirit.

Well, today, I was going to go find a cheap storage unit. Which stack of paper was that ad in? Which box? Which room? Oh, ya, in the bathroom…oh, it was at work…….