the blog québécois

During a patient’s two week follow-up appointment with his cardiologist, he informed me, his doctor, that he was having trouble with one of his medications. “Which one? ” I asked. “The patch. The nurse told me to put on a new one every six ours and now I’m running out of places to put It!” I had him quickly undress and discovered what I hoped I wouldn’t see. Yes, the man had over fifty patches on his body! Now, the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.

Keeping the lines of communication open.

the blog québécois

Despite Canada’s “free” health care-paid for by their very high taxes-many Canadians have become health care tourists to the private market USA because of Canada’s notoriously long waiting times for doctors and facilities plus a lack of advanced medical technologies.

This article by Ethel Fenig points up a benefit for Canadians of the rise in value of the Canadian against the US dollar, and also reminds us of the very relevant US election year demagogue issue: socialized health care.

Rudy Guliani’s comment during the last debate: “If we do Hillary care or socialized medicine, Canadians will have no place to go to get their health care.” is quite funny but also deadly serious. The hush-hushed failure of socialized medicine is a very deadly problem for thousands of Canadians right now.

On The Fence Films is an under appreciated resource for education about the realities of socialized medicine. It cuts deeply across the framed arguments and unquestioned assumptions of political and “journalistic” useful idiots who are blindly pushing socialized, government run health care in the face of overwhelming evidence of its failure just over our Northern border, and of government’s completely inability at any level to administer the simplest efforts without deadlocking political and personal wrangling.

I thought it was appropriate to visit this issue on the day our host is being tended to by one of our best private hospitals in the State.

Trinidad & Tobago Express [emphasis mine]:

SURGERY was performed on Sunday to remove a coconut from the body of a man who was sodomised with the fruit during an attack by a gang of men.

Ste Madeleine police are now investigating the case, in which the 27-year-old victim was found at the side of a canefield road at Golconda Village, near San Fernando.

Police were told that the man was seen drinking alcohol in the hours before he was found, and a group of men who picked him up are being sought.

The man is reported to have undergone surgery at a private medical centre.

So an impoverished Trinadadian gets to opt for private medical care, while the list of Canadians waiting for coconut-ectomies grows and grows.

And let me tell you, it’s damned uncomfortable after two years or so.

the blog québécois

As spring approaches and people start thinking of looking good for the summer two things come to mind…lossing weight and looking less washed out. Now tanning salons are expensive and take quite a few visits until they are effective. However due to new technology it is quite possible to do yourself quite a nice natural looking tan. So you might want to consider Self Tan Kits to give you that dash of colour you want this time of year.

If you are in the market for a protein drink and looking for something all natural that is not manufactured there is a product for you. Its a protein powder with proven results and lots of positive feedback. Yes that is 100% natural and nothing artificial. One of the fans of this product says it has replaced coffee in his normal morning routine. Check it out if you are into that sort of thing.

As you get older there are times in the middle of the day when you are just completely knackered and can’t function terribly well. I always try to power nap when this happens to recoup my energy and get the brain moving again.

As I am a writer that sits at the keyboard most of the day there are times when I just can’t function anymore. Its amazing what a nice little power-nap of 30 mins or so will do to rekindle the creative fire. I find if I sleep more than say an hour it takes a bit of time to get things going again so I try to keep it fairly short if possible. This also prevents me from sleeping too much and not being able to sleep at night which rather defeats the purpose of the whole thing.

According to this site it is possible to have a good power nap even when you aren’t at home. Its makes for interesting reading and does have useful tips on how not to hurt your back in the process.

It does not actually tell you how to power nap at the office if you drool however which might be a problem. There is nothing more annoying than waking up after a power nap with your shirt all moist from yer spittle. Its probably a good idea to use a towel on yer arm if you do that.

After travelling a long way to New York you might find yourself a bit sore from the long flight, especially if you have flown on one of those rubbish Airbuses. Well there is a doctor in New York who can sort you all out should be truly in pain. He is a New York Chiropractor with a good website to meet all your needs. So why not check it out in case you need one while you are there? This post is sponsored.

Life coaching is one of those things that divides people and opinion. There are even shows that try to expose the good from the bad. Well if you are interested in life coaches and what they do, why not read a bio of a coach and make up you own mind. I suspect life coaches are rather like management consultants.: some are very good, some are ok and the rest hover around useless and are a total waste of money. And as with anything you get what pay for.

The day before yesterday, while helping on a homework assignment, I noticed I could speak perfectly in rhyme. Rhyme was a context I hadnt considered. A poem isnt singing and it isnt regular talking. But for some reason the context is just different enough from normal speech that my brain handled it fine.

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.
Jack jumped over the candlestick.

I repeated it dozens of times, partly because I could. It was effortless, even though it was similar to regular speech. I enjoyed repeating it, hearing the sound of my own voice working almost flawlessly. I longed for that sound, and the memory of normal speech. Perhaps the rhyme took me back to my own childhood too. Or maybe its just plain catchy. I enjoyed repeating it more than I should have. Then something happened.

My brain remapped.

My speech returned.

Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, has been suffering for the last year and a half with something called Spasmodic Dysphonia. It rendered him incapable of everyday speech. (Oddly, it didn’t prevent him from making public speeches, or singing. This resembles, in a way, some people like country star Mel Tillis, who has a severe stutter that entirely disappears when he’s onstage.) He has found that speaking in rhyme for a short while enables him, at least temporarily, to speak normally.

He explains it better than I can on his excellent blog.

the blog québécois