Despite the title this is quite a sad post... A post that describes how disconcerting certain things can get...
Last night I got a call to go out and support a fire victim through a British Red Cross service we offer in conjunction with the fire brigades.
On arrival the fire was extinguished, the old lady whose house went up in smoke was with a neighbour and a friend looking after her and all that was left from the horror was just a river of water running from her flat, the charred walls and an acre smell of smoke.
Tragic - that something like this was done on purpose!
Tragic - that this poor lady has endured molestation from this other person for over 20 years.
Tragic - that there are people out there that would go to any extent to get what they want and when they don't succeed they retaliate in the most awful way.
Comic - it was done by a guy well past his 70's who apparently wants an affair with her!
Don't find it comic? I did...
As a matter of fact I had to get away from the scene to go and laugh quietly for a moment.
You don't understand? I'll explain...
Providing this service we see horrid things, families left without anything but the clothes they are wearing (sometimes not even much of that), people who are left stranded, with no place to go they can call their own, sometimes rejected by relatives because of a baby or a pet they have (yes, it has happened right before my eyes!) shivering in the cold, 90% of the times it happens while it's raining as weather doesn't care about poor people out on the street...
Most of the times we have people in our van, we give them what we can, keep them warm, listen without interrupting because from a starting silence a flow of emotion (and possibly tears) usually erupts.
But tonight I heard the story of this lady who was at the Bingo with a friend and came home to find her flat grilled by an older guy who just can't bare to be rejected... I was very supportive but then I left.
This is my way of coping with what I saw, we all have one...
Some of the fire fighters were discussing exactly the same!
Stereotypically a man like this should be at the pub with mates, or walking a dog, or betting on football as the greatest thrill but no, for passion he set fire to his "object of lust" 's flat...
Good grief!
Don't judge me badly... The private chuckle wasn't due to lack of respect for the lady (that's why it was kept private for starters) but my way of dealing with these things I face as I provide support to people...
Once home I took a shower to get the smell of smoke out of my hair and thinking I would have never seen the day in which I would be thankful for Bingo Halls but there it was, that day...
And another smile surfaced safe in the knowledge that at least the lady was unharmed though she didn't win anything...
DEAR DONA...A life and medical journey...
Wednesday 29 July 2009
Friday 24 July 2009
Old time medicine
Since it's still holiday time I have plenty of free hours during the day to do what suits me.
It varies everyday but today was dedicated to mindless TV.
I don't usually spend time watching TV and never find anything too interesting save a few cooking programs and some fascinating documentaries on the Discovery channels so mostly I sit in the living room having the TV as a background noise...
In the afternoon, while I was searching for something that would induce a well deserved nap, I stumbled on a programme that instead tickled my curiosity.
It was a program on old-time medicine and how practitioners (mostly who didn't really have a clue!) travelled from town to town putting up quite a show in front of crowds...
I'm not sure about the healing properties of the concoctions they used to sell but certainly the entertainment value was outstanding.
Old time medicines contained everything from arsenic to opium and promised instant cures.
Winslow's Soothing Syrup was one of them, seen as indispensable to quiet babies and teething toddlers, it was based on a fantastic ingredient: Morphine!
Thank goodness today nobody would ever dream of calming down a baby by giving morphine (not that they'd confess to it at least!) but there are several other substances that were used at the beginning that we definitely wouldn't use in conventional medicines nowadays.
Opium was commonly used to control coughing
Arsenic and Mercury cured syphilis
Cocaine cured toothache
Heroin was given to help with asthma
Now, I am asthmatic, imagine me turning to my dad and trying to explain that the heroin I'd keep in my drawer only had curative purposes!!!
Some medicines simply took an all-round approach. In 1862, Mixer's Cancer and Scrofula Syrup claimed to treat "Cancer, Tumors, Erysipelas, Abscesses, Ulcers, Fever Sores, Goiter, Catarrh, Salt Rheum, Scald Head, Piles, Rheumatism, and ALL BLOOD DISEASES."
Goodness me, give me the formula for that and who needs med school for the next 6 years?!?
No doubt there will be more medical advances on the horizon that will make some of today's medicines outdated. So perhaps it's wise to avoid smugness.
All I know is that I found a few pictures that I want to share that really had me torn between horror and seriously thinking "Come on... you know it works!" :-)
Cocaine Toothache Drops - You'd end up so high that for sure you wouldn't feel the pain anymore
Bayer used to sell Heroin syrup as a non-addictive alternative to cocaine - REALLY?!?
Coca Wine - A Tonic... yeah, for sure
Syrup to calm babies - Opium and 46% alcohol... They would definitely sleep well on that! I know a few adults who calm down on a 4% alcohol!!!
Saturday 18 July 2009
The best plans are the ones NOT laid out...
I am an organised being... there is no denying it!
Some people would call me a "control freak" but honestly I don't mind if that means I know what is happening... I have to have everything laid out, square and sorted (way before it's needed...) so I can relax.
In September I'll start med school at St. Andrews university and since commuting from Edinburgh presents many options, Stu and I explored a few
So, in view of that, husband and I yesterday took a drive to Inverkeithing to visit the train station. Driving there in the morning and taking the train to Leuchars resulted being our choice for the cheapest and most convenient way to commute.
After having seen the station, the car park and having walked from the car park to the station to see how long it would take me, we decided that it was a good day for a drive and opted for the arrival station close to St. Andrews. Since we had seen where to start we might as well see where it ended and where I'd need to get the bus to get to uni.
So we set off towards Leuchars and once arrived there and seen what we needed to see we headed on to St Andrews. Weather was typical Scottish but we weren't discouraged... After all, when you live here you have to put up with it!
From Inverkeithing, I had called my friend Leia just to check if she was around and maybe have a coffee together when we arrived.
We met at Costa and what was supposed to be just a friendly coffee became a fantastic day of fun together. We moved from Costa to a pub, waited for Leia's boyfriend Andrew to join us after work, realised that "shy" Andrew close to my husband Stuart definitely wasn't so shy and moved over to his restaurant for dinner.
Had a massive bottle of wine, tons of food, weird (but delicious) ice-cream, an undrinkable cocktail that was drunk anyway and... took a couple of pictures!
Yeah... erm... well... funny!
Then we went to the Raisin pub, played pool, met new friends, chose cool songs from the juke-box and, after what seemed like a long long time, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways...
It turned out to be an amazing day, despite the pouring rain, the blister on my foot caused by the new shoes (after all I wasn't really supposed to walk anywhere!!!) and even managed to take home a half sober husband... what a night!
So yeah, sometimes things done on the spur of the moment turn out just as great as the organised ones...
Though never ask me to apply the same principle when I'm dealing with school stuff... the control freak in me may just rebel!
Some people would call me a "control freak" but honestly I don't mind if that means I know what is happening... I have to have everything laid out, square and sorted (way before it's needed...) so I can relax.
In September I'll start med school at St. Andrews university and since commuting from Edinburgh presents many options, Stu and I explored a few
So, in view of that, husband and I yesterday took a drive to Inverkeithing to visit the train station. Driving there in the morning and taking the train to Leuchars resulted being our choice for the cheapest and most convenient way to commute.
After having seen the station, the car park and having walked from the car park to the station to see how long it would take me, we decided that it was a good day for a drive and opted for the arrival station close to St. Andrews. Since we had seen where to start we might as well see where it ended and where I'd need to get the bus to get to uni.
So we set off towards Leuchars and once arrived there and seen what we needed to see we headed on to St Andrews. Weather was typical Scottish but we weren't discouraged... After all, when you live here you have to put up with it!
From Inverkeithing, I had called my friend Leia just to check if she was around and maybe have a coffee together when we arrived.
We met at Costa and what was supposed to be just a friendly coffee became a fantastic day of fun together. We moved from Costa to a pub, waited for Leia's boyfriend Andrew to join us after work, realised that "shy" Andrew close to my husband Stuart definitely wasn't so shy and moved over to his restaurant for dinner.
Had a massive bottle of wine, tons of food, weird (but delicious) ice-cream, an undrinkable cocktail that was drunk anyway and... took a couple of pictures!
Yeah... erm... well... funny!Then we went to the Raisin pub, played pool, met new friends, chose cool songs from the juke-box and, after what seemed like a long long time, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways...
It turned out to be an amazing day, despite the pouring rain, the blister on my foot caused by the new shoes (after all I wasn't really supposed to walk anywhere!!!) and even managed to take home a half sober husband... what a night!
So yeah, sometimes things done on the spur of the moment turn out just as great as the organised ones...
Though never ask me to apply the same principle when I'm dealing with school stuff... the control freak in me may just rebel!
Thursday 16 July 2009
Human Chimera
In ancient Greek mythology the Chimera was a monstrous animal whose body was composed of parts coming from different species: the body of a lioness, the head of a goat and a snake as a tail.
In Italian a Chimera is a foolish fantasy, something unreal (a bit like the animal I suppose)
In genetics a Chimera is an animal that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different zygotes.
In vitro, embryos of a species are mixed with cells of another species to create an animal composed of different parts...
Sounds difficult?
Let's make it clearer...
Imagine a mother discovered one day that one of her two children was genetically not hers.
Suddenly the question becomes not “Who?” but rather “Huh?”
It's almost unheard of and yet it does happen... The mother is a human Chimera
The most common form of human chimera is called a blood chimera. This happens when fraternal twins share some portion of the same placenta. Each twin is genetically separate except for their blood, which has two distinct sets of genes, and even two distinct blood types.
What happened to "the mother" is a much rarer occurrence. Rather than a simple exchange of blood, "the mother and her fraternal twin" merged in utero, leaving only one fetus. The cells in her body are a mosaic of genes from both of the original embryos.
After a bit of research I found out that doctors at the University of Edinburgh in 1998 had a patient referred to them for an undescended left testicle. However, when they examined him they could not find a second one. Instead they found something unexpected, an ovary and a fallopian tube. This patient was a chimera formed from the fusion of male and female embryos.
And I thought I had it all figured out! ...
In Italian a Chimera is a foolish fantasy, something unreal (a bit like the animal I suppose)
In genetics a Chimera is an animal that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different zygotes.
In vitro, embryos of a species are mixed with cells of another species to create an animal composed of different parts...
Sounds difficult?
Let's make it clearer...
Imagine a mother discovered one day that one of her two children was genetically not hers.
Suddenly the question becomes not “Who?” but rather “Huh?”
It's almost unheard of and yet it does happen... The mother is a human Chimera
The most common form of human chimera is called a blood chimera. This happens when fraternal twins share some portion of the same placenta. Each twin is genetically separate except for their blood, which has two distinct sets of genes, and even two distinct blood types.
What happened to "the mother" is a much rarer occurrence. Rather than a simple exchange of blood, "the mother and her fraternal twin" merged in utero, leaving only one fetus. The cells in her body are a mosaic of genes from both of the original embryos.
After a bit of research I found out that doctors at the University of Edinburgh in 1998 had a patient referred to them for an undescended left testicle. However, when they examined him they could not find a second one. Instead they found something unexpected, an ovary and a fallopian tube. This patient was a chimera formed from the fusion of male and female embryos.
And I thought I had it all figured out! ...
Wednesday 8 July 2009
The Stanford Prison Experiment
"Prisoner 8612, against the wall!" The prisoner ignores the guard.
His mind is reeling. It feels like everything is pressing in on him, as though he is going mad.
"Against the wall!" the guard shouts again. "Come on, somebody get him back in line"
Suddenly 8612 wheels to face the guard. "Listen, if I have to be in here I am not going to put up with this... I mean, really!!!" The prisoner turns and grips one of his fellow prisoners by the arm. "I couldn't even get out" he hisses. There's a desperate edge to his voice. "They wouldn't let me out. You can't get out of here."
The other prisoners laugh nervously, but you can see it in their eyes - the sudden flash of panic. He couldn't get out? That means that this is an actual prison. And they're stuck inside
This is a brief account of an episode that happened during the Stanford Prison Experiment
Started as a game, 20 persons volunteered to spend two weeks in a fake jail in the basement of the Stanford Psychology Department, dressed up as prisoners and guards.
The idea of Philip Zimbardo was conceived to investigate what situations make good people turn bad. A prison sounded like the ideal place to get answers to his questions.
What makes prisons such violent places? Was it the character of the prisoners or the guards to blame? Or was it the structure of the prison itself that brought out the worst in people?
He ended up getting his answer quite fast and in a brutal way...
The researchers had held an orientation meeting for the guys playing the role of guards the day before the experiment, during which they told them that they could not physically harm the prisoners but they could use the type of language they preferred to insult them, they could withhold basic necessities such as food and blankets.
They could create in the prisoners feelings of boredom, a sense of fear to some degree, take away completely their privacy and individuality in various ways.
At night, when the guards thought the researchers weren't watching the worse type of abuses were used.
The experiment went so far that after just 36 hours into the two weeks one of the prisoner (8612) had to be released.
After 6 days the experiment was halted because the prisoners were mentally broken and the guards had turned into monsters.
This was just an experiment but it was a very good way to prove how power has a very poisoning effect on many people turning them in some cases into greedy, selfish, heartless beings. There was no need for the guards to punish the prisoners in that way, they were not told to abuse them but they did. Strong in the fact that they had unlimited power over the prisoners they used it in the worst way.
In my own little surroundings I have seen it happening too... even if on a small scale, when people got promoted to a new job and all of a sudden they were in charge of other workers... they became lazy, rude and demanding. Mind you, not all of them but I have seen my fair share of this happening... a bit too many times to consider it just a coincidence.
It makes me wonder if this is what happens to people who hold the utmost power in our countries, those who make decisions on our behalf, those who are caught stealing our money for their own benefit, cover their mischiefs so we don't find out since it would be only fair we asked for them to be removed from their places... are they like the guards?
I certainly hope not... but I fear I might be wrong on a few accounts...
His mind is reeling. It feels like everything is pressing in on him, as though he is going mad.
"Against the wall!" the guard shouts again. "Come on, somebody get him back in line"
Suddenly 8612 wheels to face the guard. "Listen, if I have to be in here I am not going to put up with this... I mean, really!!!" The prisoner turns and grips one of his fellow prisoners by the arm. "I couldn't even get out" he hisses. There's a desperate edge to his voice. "They wouldn't let me out. You can't get out of here."
The other prisoners laugh nervously, but you can see it in their eyes - the sudden flash of panic. He couldn't get out? That means that this is an actual prison. And they're stuck inside
This is a brief account of an episode that happened during the Stanford Prison Experiment
Started as a game, 20 persons volunteered to spend two weeks in a fake jail in the basement of the Stanford Psychology Department, dressed up as prisoners and guards.
The idea of Philip Zimbardo was conceived to investigate what situations make good people turn bad. A prison sounded like the ideal place to get answers to his questions.
What makes prisons such violent places? Was it the character of the prisoners or the guards to blame? Or was it the structure of the prison itself that brought out the worst in people?
He ended up getting his answer quite fast and in a brutal way...
The researchers had held an orientation meeting for the guys playing the role of guards the day before the experiment, during which they told them that they could not physically harm the prisoners but they could use the type of language they preferred to insult them, they could withhold basic necessities such as food and blankets.
They could create in the prisoners feelings of boredom, a sense of fear to some degree, take away completely their privacy and individuality in various ways.
At night, when the guards thought the researchers weren't watching the worse type of abuses were used.
The experiment went so far that after just 36 hours into the two weeks one of the prisoner (8612) had to be released.
After 6 days the experiment was halted because the prisoners were mentally broken and the guards had turned into monsters.
This was just an experiment but it was a very good way to prove how power has a very poisoning effect on many people turning them in some cases into greedy, selfish, heartless beings. There was no need for the guards to punish the prisoners in that way, they were not told to abuse them but they did. Strong in the fact that they had unlimited power over the prisoners they used it in the worst way.
In my own little surroundings I have seen it happening too... even if on a small scale, when people got promoted to a new job and all of a sudden they were in charge of other workers... they became lazy, rude and demanding. Mind you, not all of them but I have seen my fair share of this happening... a bit too many times to consider it just a coincidence.
It makes me wonder if this is what happens to people who hold the utmost power in our countries, those who make decisions on our behalf, those who are caught stealing our money for their own benefit, cover their mischiefs so we don't find out since it would be only fair we asked for them to be removed from their places... are they like the guards?
I certainly hope not... but I fear I might be wrong on a few accounts...
Old/New Friends
Mexico was a magical place for many reasons but possibly the most important one and the one I feel I have to talk about has been giving me the opportunity to reconnect with two friends that were kind of "lost"
It wasn't Mexico "per se" but since it happened there it really made my holiday even more special.
I tend to protect the people I write about because I am of that nature so I won't give any names or too many details about them but their stories are pretty amazing and mean quite a lot to me so I want to share them.
One is a girl, a lovely girl who apparently at birth was diagnosed as not being able to survive past her 5th birthday (or there about), she's well past her 30s now and very well. This girl was a passenger a few years ago on one of the cruise ships I was travelling on.
Bond doesn't even cut it as a word to describe what united us.
"Someone" had a plan and she told me things that, even if at that moment I didn't realise, changed my life in so many ways they literally turned inside-out my reality making it exceptional.
She works as a missionary speaker now, has an amazing husband, got one of her dogs from a bush and is one of the persons I admire most amongst all my friends.
I met this girl only once in my life, have been in contact with her for years, lost her because life gets in the middle but found her again... and it was like if nothing had ever changed (or better, things had substantially changed for me but between us everything was just the same...)
The other friend is a guy, a very fascinating person who travelled a lot though, instead of sailing the seven seas, he flys the blue sky.
One day I helped a passenger sort out some problems with her excursions on the ship, and the next day again and the one after again... we became friends... we had dinner together on board a couple of nights and as she was about to disembark the ship she asked me if she could get my email for a guy she knew because she thought I was the "female" version of him and I would make an excellent friend.
I smiled, what a weird way of getting a friend!
But I did give her my email and I did receive a message from this guy a few weeks later.
The message got my answer, and then an answer back and soon this person became essential in a way I can't quite explain for me to get through the long months on the ship.
He got my thoughts and tales about my travels, I got his humor and reflections on daily life.
And I just loved it!
As for the girl, I have met this guy only once in my life, have been in contact with him for years, lost him because life gets in the middle but found him again... and it was like if nothing had ever changed... again.
I love that life challenges you in so many ways and then it surprises you with things you wouldn't expect and, as I'm getting to know my two old/new friends again, I can't help but being grateful for the memories they both brought back and the ones I know I'll build with them from now on.
Love to have you back guys!
It wasn't Mexico "per se" but since it happened there it really made my holiday even more special.
I tend to protect the people I write about because I am of that nature so I won't give any names or too many details about them but their stories are pretty amazing and mean quite a lot to me so I want to share them.
One is a girl, a lovely girl who apparently at birth was diagnosed as not being able to survive past her 5th birthday (or there about), she's well past her 30s now and very well. This girl was a passenger a few years ago on one of the cruise ships I was travelling on.
Bond doesn't even cut it as a word to describe what united us.
"Someone" had a plan and she told me things that, even if at that moment I didn't realise, changed my life in so many ways they literally turned inside-out my reality making it exceptional.
She works as a missionary speaker now, has an amazing husband, got one of her dogs from a bush and is one of the persons I admire most amongst all my friends.
I met this girl only once in my life, have been in contact with her for years, lost her because life gets in the middle but found her again... and it was like if nothing had ever changed (or better, things had substantially changed for me but between us everything was just the same...)
The other friend is a guy, a very fascinating person who travelled a lot though, instead of sailing the seven seas, he flys the blue sky.
One day I helped a passenger sort out some problems with her excursions on the ship, and the next day again and the one after again... we became friends... we had dinner together on board a couple of nights and as she was about to disembark the ship she asked me if she could get my email for a guy she knew because she thought I was the "female" version of him and I would make an excellent friend.
I smiled, what a weird way of getting a friend!
But I did give her my email and I did receive a message from this guy a few weeks later.
The message got my answer, and then an answer back and soon this person became essential in a way I can't quite explain for me to get through the long months on the ship.
He got my thoughts and tales about my travels, I got his humor and reflections on daily life.
And I just loved it!
As for the girl, I have met this guy only once in my life, have been in contact with him for years, lost him because life gets in the middle but found him again... and it was like if nothing had ever changed... again.
I love that life challenges you in so many ways and then it surprises you with things you wouldn't expect and, as I'm getting to know my two old/new friends again, I can't help but being grateful for the memories they both brought back and the ones I know I'll build with them from now on.
Love to have you back guys!
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