Cell 2 Soul: The Humane Health Care Blog

Silver Dragons by Phil Delrosario

Stanford undergraduate, Phil Delrosario, does an amazing job of getting into the mind of a four year-old at a doctor's office.

"Momma, why is she hurting me? Momma wouldn't say anything. She just held me there. The lady stabbed me again with another silver dragon. Stop I yelled out. I was still crying. Why are you hurting me I screamed. She said she needed to give me two more and then she'd be done. She came closer and closer. I kicked her in her face. That's what Aladdin would have done..."  Download Silver Dragons

 

Author Bio:  Phil Delrosario is a junior in Human Biology with a concentration in Psychological Development in Children and Adolescents at Stanford University in California.  He enjoys writing, making short films, and playing his violin/piano/ukulele. He can be reached at [email protected].

Pediatric practitioner Brian Maurer has this comment:  "This unfortunate scenario is repeated daily in pediatric primary care practice.  An interesting twist: told through the eyes of a 4-year-old as imagined by a pre-medical student. see Brian's full comment"  Download Maurer
 

To Screen or Not To Screen?

"The basic strategy behind early diagnosis is to encourage the well to get examined — to determine if they are not, in fact, sick. But is looking hard for things to be wrong a good way to promote health? The truth is, the fastest way to get heart disease, autism, glaucoma, diabetes, vascular problems, osteoporosis or cancer ... is to be screened for it. In other words, the problem is overdiagnosis and overtreatment.

Screening the apparently healthy potentially saves a few lives (although the National Cancer Institute couldn’t find any evidence for this in recent large studies of prostate and ovarian cancer screening). But it definitely drags many others into the system needlessly — into needless appointments, needless tests, needless drugs and needless operations (not to mention all the accompanying needless insurance forms)."

This is an excerpt from an important editorial in the NYT by H. Gilbert Welch, a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, and an author of “Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health.”

Marginal Notes: Omens are made by men

"Night Light" copyright 2012 © Emily B. Maurer

Three nights ago
The sentinel streetlamp
In front of our house
Extinguished itself.
Our dim porch light struggled
To keep the darkness
At bay. more»

 

Brian T. Maurer has practiced pediatrics as a Physician Assistant for 32 years. His "Marginal Notes" column appears periodically in the Cell2Soul Blog. The title "Marginal Notes" is taken from a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "I love a broad margin to my life."

Bayt (House of Stone)

"In Arabic, the word 'bayt' translates literally as house, but its connotations resonate beyond rooms and walls, summoning longings gathered about family and home. In the Middle East, bayt is sacred. Empires fall. Nations topple. Borders may shift. Old loyalties may dissolve or, without warning, be altered. Home, whether it be structure or familiar ground, is finally the identity that does not fade."

Is it all that different for most of us?  Home is where the heart is.

Anthony Shahid was one of the two journalists who died recently in Syria.  He succombed to asthma -- probably treatable had he been in a stable country.  A moving essay of his appeared in the NY Times on Sunday, February, 20.

It was an excerpt from his forth coming book, "House of Stone" which will be published on February 28, 2012.  Will be available for Kindle, as hard cover and MP3.

Henry Miller wrote:  "Chaos is the score upon which reality is written."  Certainly, Syria is the nexus of chaos at this moment -- but "the moving finger writes and having writ moves on."  Concepts like Bayt endure.

Traditional Lebanese "House of Stone"

Coach Lenox Chombo

A story from Malawi

Coach's son, Hobson

Coach is lying outside of his house on a straw mat. We casually chat about the good times we spent together. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a little boy kicking a ball of plastic bags.  I ask Coach, who is the little boy?  He said this is my son Hobson.  The little boy comes over and sits in my lap.  He is not afraid of strangers, like so many children here.  I look him over very carefully and say, Coach, he has hair looks like mine.  Coach agrees and says, we men always laughed at your hair, but secretly wished we had hair like yours.  Hobson was conceived during the time you and I traveled together and I served as your interpreter. You are my brother and we love each other like brothers.  That is why Hobson has hair likes you.  Coach is very sick and I see that he is tiring and wishes to rest. I know that I must talk with him about going to the hospital...   Download Coach Lennox Chombo

 

Dean Sneed (big hair)

Author Bio:  Stephen Sneed is the Associate Dean of the College at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.  He is passionate about Southeast Africa and Malawi,in particular.  Sneed is the recipient of numerous awards and honors.  Among the awards that he has received is a Senior Fulbright Scholar Fellowship and two Fulbright Senior Specialist awards.  He has consulted at many schools, colleges, youth centers and communities on diversity issues and advocating for children of color.  Email.

 

WTF?

"Stop, pause... go refreshed..."
still life, in the frosty grass
cold morning run

South Street -- The Clark

Every Sky!

After this...It's all clear profit...Every Sky!  Basho

Northwest Hill Rd. 7:00 am 2/20/2012

Kidneys: Pay It Forward

Chain 124 - 30 Transplants!

An amazing article in the Sunday, February 19, 2012 NY Times describes the development and implementation of renal transplant chains that criss-cross America and hold promise for saving lives of persons with end-stage-renal-disease (ESRD).  Imagine...  What if this wer global?  Instead of fighting over ideologies we could all work towards the same goal.

This is a long article, but it is a glimpse into a bright future.

See: 60 Lives, 30 Kidneys:  All Linked.  There is a multimedia video piece as well.

What's the single most Important thing you can do for your health?

Dr. Mike Evans is founder of the Health Design Lab at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of Toronto, and a staff physician at St. Michael's Hospital.  He answers the old question "What is the single best thing we can do for our health" in a completely new way.

See: 23 and 1/2 Hours

Dr. Mike Evans

Click here for more about Dr. Mike Evans.  Thanks to Bob Swanell of Vancouver, British Columbia for alerting us to this video.

Mary Armstrong's Tribute to a Wonderful Nurse Practitioner

NP with Patient

"Long ago, when I was in college, I received health care from the university's student health clinic. This is not a place where you would expect top of the line care, as it was run much like a health department. You rarely had the opportunity to make an appointment with the same doctor twice, and the majority of your visit involved waiting to see a doctor who would speak with you for two minutes before writing you a prescription or sending you off for lab work."

This time "When the patient room door opened, a smiling lady walked in and introduced herself as “Suzy.” She continued by saying that she was a nurse practitioner. 'Great,' I thought to myself, 'this is going to be a waste of time. There's no way she's going to be able to figure out what is wrong. She's just a nurse practitioner.'”  Read on: Download Nurse-guest post

 

Author Bio: Mary Armstrong is a writer and editor for Medical Assistant Colleges.   She enjoys writing articles for other sites on various topics of interest. For privacy reasons, she has decided to keep the health condition mentioned in her writing unidentified.   You may reach her at: EMAIL.