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HPV to vaccinate or not to vaccinate.

Contributors of the Web M.D. article Miranda Hitti and Louise Chang, MD seemed to be on the side of it's okay to vaccinate. Information was vague and often times said nothing more than " in a recent news poll". The article cited CDC recommendations for immunizing girls ages 11-12. They also gave vague information for a national poll on children's health that occurred in May of 2007.  The poll was conducted to get parents opinions on whether or not they would support state laws requiring the HPV vaccine. Scientific research has been conducted on the Human Papilloma Virus ( HPV ) and scientist are making allot of headway in discovering the  effects of the sexually transmitted disease and ,which strains are actually oncogenic. To date there are 100 different types of HPV, 15 of them have been identified as being oncogenic. Only two of those strains are targeted by the vaccines. HPV-16 and HPV-18. The Journal of the American Medical Association published an article written in 2009 by Dr. Charlotte Huag Phd, MSc. She cited work conducted by a scientist named Zur Hansen a noble prize winner. He was responsible for the discoveries leading to the characterization and understanding of HPV induced carcinogenesis. His scientific research lead to the development of the vaccines for HPV.
     The facts remain that the first vaccines were approved for use in 2006 but, the first trials and clinical studies were not published until May of 2007, almost 1 year later. Several factors have influenced the publics views on whether or not to vaccinate. Drug makers created educational materials and programs explaining the benefits of the vaccine but, how could one assume that the information was not biased since it was created nearly 1 year before the research was there to back it up. Not only that, any normal lay person would not consider things like the financial gains for the drug manufacturers or kick back for physicians prescribing the expensive vaccines. I think that the JAMA article was substantially more balanced and provided enough information to help the patient or parent to make an informed decision about whether or not to vaccinate.

Links to articles on HPV vaccine

http://children.webmd.com/vaccines/news/20070523/hpv-vaccine-few-parents-back-mandate

http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/302/7/795

Both articles are well written and present different views on the topic.

It was a wonderful date

After 3 long months of e-mails and phone calls between them, Maria's expectations for their first date were very high. It was a balmy spring morning and, the air was sweet with the smell of flowers and fresh cut grass.
The sun was so warm and bright that it danced across the walls of Maria's apartment. The trees were full of shiney green leaves and the flower bulbs seemed to be poking up everywhere. Maria had planned a simple but elegant outfit complete with sparkly accessories. The dress was a soft brushed cotton in shades of bright blue to match her eyes. The jewelry was silver and glimmered against her tan skin. To complete the look she chose a pair of cute strappy sandals that accentuated her long toned legs. Ron showed up right on time, 6:30pm. It was a magnificent sunset in the west with hues of red, yellow and bright orange. As Maria stepped out the front door to greet Ron, he was instantly captured by her classic beauty and was sure they were in for a great first date.

Dialogue #1

Fall in Onalaska Wisconsin is something you would not want to miss.  The air was crisp and the leaves were beginning to change. The leaves crunched under Betty’s feet as they strolled downtown. They were both spent after a full night of riveting at the aircraft factory.
  “Hey Marge, I’m starving.”
  “Yeah, what are you tellin me for, I only have thirty five cents,” Marge grumbled.
Betty knew she was saving to buy Uncle Henry’s 1935 Studebaker , but she could not resist asking her cousin out for breakfast.
    “Aw come on Marge, I will treat this time,” Betty chirped.

Tintagel Castle

       It was a cool crisp morning at Land's End and, it was also mid October. The sun graced us twice our entire trip. I remember listening to the weather forecast and the announcer would say in his awesome british accent " we'll have periods of brightening today". What that meant was the sun won't appear at all but the clouds might thin out enough that you know it's daytime! The air posessed this amazing ability to permeate anything you thought might keep you warm. Nonetheless we were very excited to be hiking up the cliff trails to the castle ruins. I enjoyed looking out at the velvety green grass that covered most of the grounds. I could also imagine myself in a heavy purple velvet gown walking around the grand hall. One couldn't  help but notice  the distance they had to travel for provisions and water.  It seems that every time I've had the opportunity to explore ruins in another country I always tried to imagine what their life was like. I believe that it really does help to expand one's horizons when they've had the opportunity to travel and see with their own eyes what life is like in other countries.
     

Free write on "Have you ever given birth to a baby"?

I had my first child at the tender age of 38. Actually I had Adam on Nov 5, 2000 and turned 38 on Nov 18th.
What I thought would happen and what happened were two Totally different things. It's absolutely amazing the amount of things that go through your mind when your expecting a baby. I can't speak for all women but, I can tell you that one minute I was thinking about a labor plan and the next minute about what color to paint the nursery. The one question I asked myself over and over again was, "Can I really do this"? Delivering a baby is such a natural process. Your body makes all of the hormones it needs and your muscles contract all on there own. The biggest challenge for me was coping with the pain. Ah yes the pain, they say you forget about it once the baby's born. B.S. I vividly remember how I was sure that I would be dying any second after the doctor broke my bag of water. The nurses did there best to have the anesthesiologist there asap but in those 5 minutes
I was sure it was over. Now for the epidural, God love that doctors heart. He had the medicine working in record time and the relief was so overwhelming that I threw my arms around him and kissed his cheek and nearly fell out of bed doing it! My legs where completely numb so my balance was off a little bit. 4 hours later the doctor said I was ready to deliver and I dutifully followed all of the instructions the nurses gave me. Adam was born at 10:20 pm and I was born a parent.  I don't think there are any words that can express the transformation that takes place in you when you've had a baby. You can mark my words though, you'll discover the true meaning of Love and Patience.

Free write on " Have you ever experienced a lethal heart arrhythmia"

It was February of 2009 and I woke up in the middle of the night with a severe episode of acid reflux. I had a horrible burning sensation in my right lung and realized I had unfortunately aspirated some stomach acid into my lung. I took a couple of Tylenol and went back to sleep as I had to be in surgery at 6:30 in the morning. I was in the middle of my clinical rotation  for the Surg Tech program  at Tri-City hospital. I reported to work and got a surgery schedule and assignment. It looked like a good day was in store with a variety of cases and good docs to work with. About 10:30 that morning we were well into a procedure and I realized that I could not breath very well. I told the R.N. that I had to "scrub out" and she took over. The O.R. supervisor hooked me up to a device that checks the amount of oxygen in your blood and it wasn't good. (78% on room air) I called my primary care doctor and went straight to his office. I was immediately taken back for a chest x-ray which showed a right lower lobe pneumonia. So lucky me , off to the pharmacy with a prescription in hand. The doctor gave me an antibiotic called Levaquin. The next morning I woke up with palpitations in my chest on top of feeling like crap with the pneumonia. As it turns out the antibiotic was partially responsible for exciting certain cells in my heart to fire at will. The arrhythmia I experienced was called ventricular tachycardia. I was seen by specialist and finally taken to the cardiac cath lab  on 2 different occasions for a catheter ablation procedure which burns the cells that are not supposed to be sending impulses randomly. It took a total of 9 months before my heart was in a normal rhythm again. The experience made me aware of many things I had taken for granted and, I am more appreciative of my good health.

Have you ever......

1. Experienced a lethal heart arrhythmia
2. Traveled to Egypt

3. Stood on the grounds of Tintagel Castle in England
4. Worked in a hospital
5. Grew -up with a mother that was a minimalist
6. Taken a master gardeners class
7. Given birth to a baby
8. Called off a wedding
9. Gone back to college in your 40's
10. Scuba dived in St.Thomas VI

Self Aware at 47

Being able to identify stress and manage it are two essential skills at my age. I want to enjoy my life and although it is important to "look" at the big picture ,sometimes I have to break it down to the next right decision. I am raising the kids on my own as their father passed away a year ago. My personal goal is to be an example of perseverance and determination for my children. Basically if you put your mind to something then you can accomplish it. (With grace of course)
I tell the kids " its not about being perfect, just make progress". I am grateful that I'm enjoying the classes I'm taking. I'm also very grateful that I dropped the Algebra class that nearly had me in tears by the second day! I will back track a bit and start out with a more basic class then continue to eat this elephant one bite at a time. Anyone have ketchup?

A State of Mind

What an awesome morning! Both kids wake on time, dressed, fed and, out the door with big smiles and plenty of "I Love You Moms" as they rode off on their bikes. My goals are simple now. I want the kids to realize that this never ending learning process called life can be alot of fun.

Pajamas Rule

Showing up after class to find your house spotless and, your 2 children dressed for bed is a wonderful thing. Adam and Emily were well behaved and enjoyed the time they spent with the
sitter. Now to organize the homework!