My blogic entry for the day

Why have the terms telephonic and telephonically become so popular?

It initially annoyed me (I'm often easily annoyed) but, like most other things that bother me, I'm getting used to it.

"I will get in touch with them today telephonically," announces a co-worker.

"I had a telephonic consult today with the nephrologist,"says one of the nurse practitioners I work with.

"If he doesn't answer the e-mail I sent shortly, I'll try to get in touch with him telephonically," says an office assistant.

Even the sports radio talk show I listen to every morning has a "telephonic coordinator."

I admit that it does sound like a more prestigious position than "telephone answering dude."

It's amazing to think that all the telephone needed was either an "ic" or an "ically."

Maybe, in a few years, others means of communication will join in?

We could send an e-mailic to each other or communicate e-mailically.

Wings sure would be helpful

We discussed a patient today who is quite overweight.

The nurse let me know the patient doesn't understand why he can't lose weight because "he eats like a bird."

"That could be the problem," I said, "mature birds eat close to half their body weight in food everyday (baby/young birds are known to eat close to their full body weight in food everyday)."

""Birds are also known to eat all day long."

Everyone briefly chuckled.

The above facts are (pretty much) true.

But you know, even with their daily consumption, I can't remember ever seeing a fat bird, in it's natural habitat, can you?

So if we could just teach our patient to fly, the pounds might come flying off...

Unfortunately, we'll just have to come up with some other weight loss options.

DIAPERS ANYONE?

A drop down list, in the pharmacy menu, under the title "DIAPERS" exists for health care providers to order different styles of adult absorbent garments/briefs or depends for incontinence.

Most medical professionals have been trained to use alternative terms rather than diapers for the sake of an individuals dignity.

(The most common definition of diaper is an absorbent product worn by a BABY)

I asked why such a term was being used in the drop down menu.

A pharmacist informed me that a lot of hard work went into developing the drop down menu and that the term "DIAPERS" was felt to be the most inclusive given the assortment of styles and sizes to choose from.

I asked a simple question (via e-mail of course).

If/when you are in the latter stages of your life, living in a nursing home, cognitively intact but frail, and incontinent, which would you prefer?

A. For a nursing aid to SCREAM down a hall for a co-worker to "bring me ANOTHER DIAPER for (fill in your name)-he/she just soiled him/herself again!"

OR

B. For a nursing aid to SCREAM down a hall for a co-worker to "bring me ANOTHER BRIEF for (fill in your name)-he/she just soiled him/herself again!"

(Even though I would prefer no SCREAMING whatsoever, I'd have to go for choice B every time)

I haven't heard anything back yet from the pharmacist.

I came across a statement I like from the Health Guide (By Jasmine Schmidt): using an alternative term to diapers is "an important step towards helping the public to perceive incontinence as a medical condition that should be treated with dignity and respect, just as you would with any other disability."

Something special

“To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you're going to have something special.”

Jim Valvano, former college basketball coach, 8 weeks prior to his death from cancer in 1993

Less than 1%

"War is an experience that keeps on giving-addiction, divorce and flashbacks."

Suicide rates among our military men/women are at an all time high.

It's hard to imagine many of the things that these young men and women have experienced.

It's hard for most Americans.

"At any given time in the past decade, less than 1 percent of the American population has been on active military duty, compared with 9 percent of Americans who were in uniform during World War II."

"The result is a military far less connected to the rest of society. Typically when our nation is at war, it's a front-burner issue for the public. But with these post 9/11 wars, which are now past the 10-year mark, the public has been paying less and less attention."

Another reminder: the 24/7 national hot line for ANY service men/women contemplating suicide is 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).

Please help to pass the word.

Reference: November 25, 2011 NY Times: As Fewer Americans Serve, Growing Gap is Found Between Civilians and Military.

1-800-273-8255 (TALK)

A headline from today's newspaper:

"Army suicides hit 26 in July, doubling June to set monthly record"

An editorial  in a medical journal (http://www.jfponline.com/pdf%2F6105%2F6105JFP_Editorial.pdf) reminds of all of the following:

"War is an experience that keeps on giving-addiction, divorce and flashbacks"

The Defense Department has made suicide prevention a top priority. More behavorial health care providers have been added to front-line units and primary care settings.

"To combat it effectively will require sophisticated solutions aimed at helping individuals to build resiliency and strengthen their life coping skills," said Army vice chief of staff, Gen. Lloyd Austin.

A (24/7) national hot line has also been set up: 1-800-273-8255 (TALK).

No more room at the Coffee House

I went to see Mr. D. recently.

The home is in a nice neighborhood but the grass was about 2 feet high.

A middle aged woman, who was holding a cup of coffee, answered the door.

I said, "hello, are you with Mr. D?"

"I guess you could say that, he's in the kitchen," she said as she turned around and walked away.

Mr. D. was sitting in his motorized scooter, in the cigarette smoke filled kitchen, with the lights off.

As I was starting to sit down another middle aged man appeared.

He said "hey," as he turned on the lights, got a cup of coffee from the coffee maker and walked away.

I could see another middle aged man sitting on the back porch, presumably drinking coffee.

A short time later another middle aged woman appeared from a back bedroom. She saw me, did not answer when I said "hello", got a cup of coffee, turned, walked back into her room and closed the door.

A short time later another younger woman appeared and said "hey" as she also got a cup of coffee from the coffee maker, put in about 4 tablespoons of sugar and walked away.

"That's my daughter," said Mr. D.

It was all a little strange but we still had a good visit.

I noticed both the den and the dinning room had bunk beds but didn't inquire.

I said goodbye and walked to the door.

The first man who had appeared in the kitchen, other than my patient, walked me outside.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Hanging in there," he said.

"It seems like you have a pretty busy household here."

He then proceeded to connect all the dots. "The woman who opened the door is my wife. She's pretty stressed out right now. She and I have owned this house for about 15 years. Things were fine when it was just the two of us. The other woman you saw, who probably didn't talk, is my wife's sister. She had a breakdown a few years ago and she and her husband, who hasn't worked for years (the man on the back porch), would have been homeless if they hadn't moved in with us. The younger girl is Mr. D.'s daughter. She's married to my son who's in jail for selling crack. She also has a problem with drugs but seems to be keeping clean lately. They lost their home so she and their 4 children moved in with us also. The 2 girls sleep in the den and the two boys sleep in the dinning room. They started back in school this week. When Mr. D. got sick, he pretty much lost everything and after his wife died of breast cancer, he tried to commit suicide. We told him he could move in with us. It's helped him a lot being around his grand kids. I've just about lost all my savings because I got laid off from my trucking job last year and no one is looking to hire a 56 year old long distance truck driver with a screwed up back. So we've got 10 of us living in this house and no-one is currently working. When our son gets out of jail next month we will be back up to eleven."

I thanked him for filling me in and wished him all the best. I wasn't able to begin to problem solve after such a rapid fire revelation but will contact a social worker for assistance as soon as I get my thoughts together.