Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb....

This article is interesting on many levels. There is the "I told you so" factor. Plus, way at the end, note how many people have died of Avian Flu since 2003. Thousands, hundreds of thousands? Millions? Oh my....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071128/hl_nm/virus_prevention_washing_dc

FDA link

This is a link to the FDA's recalls page.

http://www.fda.gov/opacom/7alerts.html

"Company representatives were not available for comment"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071124/ap_on_he_me/fda_tamiflu_safety

Phantom Limb pain

We talked about phantom limb pain in pathology class. The idea of honoring the missing limb as if it where still there came up. I believe this treatment follows the same idea. Read on.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21921002/

Happy Thanksgiving

I just popped the bird into the oven. This is quite monumental for me because this marks the first time ever that I have stuck my hands into a turkey. I usually ask Jess to the job - I think it's because I tend to see it as a "butch" activity. Our ritual started at our first Thanksgiving. I wanted to impress her with my fine culinary exploits and bought a 22 pound turkey even though dinner was just for she and I. I cooked that poor bird for about 6 hours. As she was carving what turned out to be crustiest piece of poultry ever, she noticed something strange in the neck cavity. "Hey Val, what's this?" At that point she pulled out the giblet bag. "I'm pretty sure you're supposed to take this out first". I was flabbergasted. I was starting to cry tears of humiliation when she pulled the neck out of the breast cavity. All she could do is laugh. After chasing me around the house with that damned neck she dried my tears with I love you's. We then went to White Castle and gave thanks that we found each other.

From that year on it's been her job to make sure the turkey had no "innards". But this year she has decided to grow real cahones and turned me down. "Nope, you do it." Just great. Pulling the giblet bag out was not that bad. But pulling the neck out of the breast cavity.... OMG! Nothin' natural about that I'll tell ya. If I wasn't so grossed out and able to make dirty jokes at the time, this part of the blog would be much more interesting!

So what are you thankful for? I'm assuming you are thankful for your family, lovers, friends, children. For me, I'm grateful for my family. Jess is the best thing ever, ever, ever to happen to me. This lady has been through the fire with me holding my hand all the while. My children are, sorry everyone, the best kids ever procreated. So there. My thanks also go out to my employers; Karl Meyer, and Doug Holman, DC. Actually getting paid for doing things I love is a dream come true.

Two things happened this year that have humbled me and for that I am thankful. One, walking away from the should-have-been-fatal accident I had in April. Two, my mother surviving a heart attack earlier this month. Both of these occurances have made me re-evaluate my place in the Universe and I like the changes this has caused.

Hopefully you don't have to through life shattering circumstances in order to feel thankful. Look around; you are in the greatest country in the world, you are a part of the best massage school in Ohio, you have chosen a profession (or if you are like me - it chose you) that is the fastest growing in health care. Do I need to go on? Life is good.

I hope and pray that you feel all the blessings that you are due,
val.

PS: Pass the gravy!!

For your reading pleasure

This is the "tree man" I was talking about. Keep in mind, this is caused by HPV, the same virus that MAY be implicated in SOME forms of cervical cancer. Read the whole article.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3Bjsessionid%3DMLYGYKBGOGQ2DQFIQMFSFGGAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/news/2007/11/12/wtree112.xml

Gastrointestinal System

Finally! We are to the poop and vomit chapter. A real life "garbage in, garbage out". Today we reviewed the gi anatomy; keeping in mind that the alimentary canal is just one large tube. We discussed the organs and the accessory organs. What does the LMT do for the patient with a colostomy bag? We discussed the three body types (and I came out of the closet as a happy endomorph!) When providing massage for the larger patient, remember your treatment area is an area of unconditional acceptance.

Symptoms of gi disease
Abd. pain is never normal
Neither is blood in the stool
Difficulty swallowing
Having a mass in the abdomen might be pretty cool if you are into chanting, incense, and all that kneeling/standing/sitting. It's a joke people!
Nausea or vomiting
oral lesions
rebound tenderness
fatigue or lethargy

Our pathologies d'jour:
Appendicitis
Cholecystitis
Cirrhosis of the Liver
Constipation
Diarrhea
Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)
Hemorrhoids
Hepatitis
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Obesity
Ulcers

The worksheet is the only homework for this week.

Remember, NO SCHOOL NEXT THURSDAY OR FRIDAY NOV. 21 OR 22. You are more than welcome to come sit in the parking lot for four hours those days, but your time will not be used productively as school will be closed. So, your call.

I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving holiday. Don't forget: Thanksgiving is more than just a holiday, it's an attitude.

Hugs and mashed potatoes!
val.

More on MRSA

This article talks about how MRSA is able to be so destructive. The "Superbug" invokes the inflammatory response, then degrades the neutrophils.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/STAPH_INFECTIONS?SITE=OHCOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Your comments are always welcomed. vj

Stuff that amuses me...

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7009072481


I have a feeling we are going to be seeing many articles like this. It's going to be trendy.

Good news/Bad news about depression:
http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1780072007

This is a great idea. Great if you are a part of "big Pharm". Keep in mind that companies can keep a patent on a drug for seven years. After that time, any company can start making the drug under the "generic" name. It used to be that once a patent ran out, the original company lost alot of business to whatever company could make it cheaper. Nowadays, what the original company is doing is providing a slight tweak to the original formula of the drug, making it "different" than the original, thus a new patent is issued for basically the same drug. Prevacid is a good example of that. It wasn't always a purple pill. The color change is what got the new patent. Ok, so now the new way of holding on to your patent (or at least the money owning the patent brings in) is to go OTC. Over the counter means "not prescription". Instead of loosing money to a small company that is going to be making your drug but cheaper, you just decrease the amount of the drug in the pill and make it available to the masses. Genius!
http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2007/NEW01742.html

Respiratory Pathologies

I am so proud of everyone this week. The vast majority of students did very well on a test covering alot of material. Good job people!

This week we covered the respiratory system and its pathologies. When dealing with patients suffering from respiratory disorders there are a few constants.
1. Massage is contraindicated if the patient is infectious and or has a fever.
2. Massage is contraindicated with "acute", clearance is needed with "chronic"
3. Positioning is key. A person suffering from a pathology that makes it hard to breathe is not going to do well with supine. Try something else; modified supine, seated massage, etc.
4. Always focus on the muscles of respiration: diaphragm, serratus, pec minor, SCM, scalenes.

The meds:
Antihistamines-Benedryl, diphenhydramine
Antitussives - dextramethoraphan (the DM in many cough/cold preparations)
Bronchodilators- inhalers albuterol (Proventil), Serevent, and P.O. med theophyllin (Theo-dur)
Decongestants-pseudoephedrine (Sudafed)

The pathologies:
Asthma
Bronchitis
COPD
Common Cold
Emphysema
Hay Fever
Influenza
Laryngitis
Pleurisy
Pneumonia
Sinusitis
Tuberculosis

The homework:
The case studies. I want you to write a paragraph about why you went with the answers you did. Also, I want a paragraph or two about why the other answers are wrong. Go into depth with this. Show me your reasoning.

Next week is the poop and vomit chapter. Yeah!

Call or mail me if you need me.
val.