tonygoodson

When is a skin burn not urgent?

As if an accident isn’t bad enough, the actual A+E experience is absolutely dire.  Do hospitals deliberately make the experience dire, so we’re not too attracted to going.

My daughter burnt herself on her leg with an electric lamp last night.  It didn’t look like your average burn and was a biggish oval.  Yes, we could have treated it ourselves but it looked serious, so off to Clayton Hospital at 9pm.  Firstly, if something is urgent, where do you park?  There are a few 10min parking bays. Does that mean we’ll be seen to in 10mins and someone will look after my distressed daughter whilst I move the car?  Dream On.  So she hobbled from the carpark to the Emergency desk.

When we arrived at the Emergency desk, three women behind the windowed desk are gassing to each other, no exaggeration, for over 5 mins, and didn’t even turn to acknowledge us.  I was patient, but in the end, rudely caught their attention.  Another 5-10min standing at the desk to wait for the triage nurse.  Now they know they’re admin staff and it needs a triage nurse to attend to us, but when patients show up in distress they don’t know that, and the signage isn’t clear until after you’ve been attended to and sit down.  If no triage nurse is at the window, you have no context for what a triage nurse is, especially as it’s an emergency.

Next, the triage nurse has a look and they tell you to sit down and wait, but without telling you her assessment.  Maybe they’re scared to tell you in case you kick stink at not being top of the queue.  People are really suffering in the waiting area, but only the most urgent (or those who kick stink) are treated quickly.  Why must the rest suffer because the experience of the staff is that most presenting cases aren’t that serious.  We’re encouraged to go to the doctor or hospital just to be on the safe side, but are then made to wait for hours on end in terrible conditions.

So here’s the thing.  If you don’t think my daughter is that urgent and you make us wait for over 2 hours, I trust your assessment, therefore I’d like to take her home and use Google to treat her!  Is that ok.  It’s not as though we don’t know what the problem is, she’s burnt her leg with an electric lamp.  We are then capable of reading up a few treatments and see which ones look like best groupings.  The only issue is finding a late night pharmacy and not being able to use anything that needs a prescription.

Why do we have to wait for over two hours to have a burn treated?  Doctors hate it when we self diagnose and use the internet, but you try waiting for a few hours with many suffering people, and a feeling that the hospital really doesn’t care, until they each apologise in turn for keeping us waiting for so long!!

Movember

It’s Movember, so get growing those moustaches for Men’s Health.  I am!  All donations welcome, and I’ll keep you updated on how that weedy caterpillar is growing across my top lip.

Depression – Part 1

I just noticed that both Michael Specht and Daryl Cook have noted it was BlueDay on Oct 10th to raise the awareness of anxiety and depression.  I was so busy thinking about me, I completely missed the day!

But that’s part of the problem, when you’re thinking about you, when you’re in the hole, you narrow your horizons, just to survive.

I’ve faced a lot of depression in my family.  My Mum suffered from severe depression for two decades, and just as she was coming through the worst of it, my Dad went into depression, and it probably killed him. His brother suffered from depression, and it definitely killed him.  Others in my family have suffered and even been hospitalised with depression earlier in their life.  I’ve been surrounded by it from my early years.

Never felt it myself for any length of time until recently.  I think of depression in two forms.  Clinical/Chemical depression, and Circumstantial.  I once asked a doctor friend if I should be taking anything whilst feeling low, after the break-up of my first marriage, “No,” she replied, “you know why you’re feeling depressed!!  I prescribe anti-depressants when you don’t know why you’re feeling depressed!!”  Good point.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be taking anti-depressants when your anxiety and depression is circumstantial, but you probably have more choices to deal with the circumstances, than if you have a chemical imbalance in your body.

There are days when I’ve felt that chemical imbalance, but not for any length of time beyond that.  However, my circumstances have driven me to anxiety and depression in my 40s.  I’ve found the sheer financial load of having kids in my 40s a challenge sometimes beyond my means.  Nothing that $15m and lots of sunshine (with some snow),wouldn’t cure.

For me, getting physical and getting on my bike works.  But, I won’t always allow myself to have fun, and get physical if I haven’t done my homework.  But I can’t concentrate to do my homework. Like a rabbit frozen in the headlights.  And of course the regret for poor decisions made in the past, eating at me.  And talking of eating, lots of chocolate only gives short term respite, and probably carbs me up so I can’t think straight!!

I look back at my parent’s generation, many mothers suffering depression, not so apparent the fathers, and I look around me now, and this anxiety and depression is so well hidden in others.  I can smell it, lord knows I’ve been surrounded by it all my life, but there’s a lot of bravado, expensive cars and big holidays hiding it.  I can sense it, but I can’t touch it, only my own anxieties.  Is it just me?  Sometime I feel I’m from a different planet.  I look at other people, look at how other people treat other people, and I shake my head in disbelief.  Is it just me?

A simplistic definition of depression, is that it’s depressed/unexpressed anger.  And behind the anger is a need.  What is the need that fuels the anger and depression. 

For me, $15m dollars please!

Parkinson's Disease and Pesticides

How very interesting. Pesticide Parkinson's Link Strong

There is strong evidence that exposure to pesticides significantly increases the risk of Parkinson's disease, experts believe.
It comes as another study, published in the BMC Neurology journal, has made the link to the neurological disease.
The US researchers found those exposed to pesticides had a 1.6 times higher risk after studying 600 people.
Experts said it was now highly likely pesticides played a key role - albeit in combination with other factors.

This starts to point in Mark Purdey's direction.  Who is Mark Purdey?  He's the guy who suggested that Mad Cows Disease may have come from pesticide, by causing a high manganese and low copper environment.  And he was then starting to look into other neurodegenerative diseases which may each have a high/low mineral signature.  Alas, Mark Purdey died in 2006, but watch out for his legacy which may end up being one of the greatest medical breakthroughs.  Not bad for an organic farmer.

Imagine if the causes of diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, BSE/CJD each had an  identifiable  mineral signature, and hence could be prevented.  It makes sense doesn't it?  What I don't know, is if these diseases have become more prevalent over the last hundred years, and can they be linked to the change/increase of minerals in the environment.  And finally, can someone prove the mineral signature of each disease?  There are hints of it say for Alzheimer's with Aluminium bad and Zinc good, just as Manganese bad and Copper good with BSE (Mad Cow's Disease).  But they're not solidly proven yet, and may only be a co-factor in the cause.

It's a simple and elegant theory, I've been following for years, since I found out about Mark Purdey and his theories.

Cycling - The Good

I'm passionate about cycling right now.  Good weather, so I'm doing more and more, even whizzing into the city for meetings, where I don't need to wear a suit.  And I've found the bike path that goes unbroken from Port Melbourne into Melbourne, which means I'll tend to ride along the bay from Brighton to Port Melbourne, and then cut into the city.  Nice.

Also did Amy's Ride with Daryl Cook on Sunday, 65km circuit from Geelong along to Ocean Grove and then back round.  Absolutely beautiful view along the sea, and the ride was easier on the legs than I thought it would be, except at about 50km the cyclists from the 120km circuit overtook us, which meant they were 60km ahead of us!!  We had stopped for a coffee earlier, so that's our excuse.  In fact, I'd cycled 20km at sunrise to meet Daryl at Westgate Bridge, and of course I forced him to drop me off at Westgate Bridge after Amy's Ride, so I could cycle back and brag about the 100km I cycled in the day.  If it's not windy, I can cycle most things, but the final 20km were murder, into a strong wind.

Of course all this cycling enthusiasm means I've put the bags on the back of my bike to carry my laptop, so I don't get so hot, and uncomfortable carrying my stuff on a rucksack. It doesn't look as cool though!!

And just to keep the obsession up, I've got a bike computer to track my speed and distance, as well as my cadence, which is the beat rate at which I'm cycling.  A year ago, I dropped down to a lower front gear so that I'd increase my cadence.  The higher level cyclists tend to have a higher cadence.  You tend to be able to go further with less injuries on a high cadence.  This has been all the rage for a few years, because Lance Armstrong is known for having a high cadence average of 120 per minute.  To my joy, my cadence seems to be at about 100 on the whole, but let me tell you something, you can push it to 110 in short bursts, but you try even to get 120 per minute.  How the hell did he keep that up!!

And the bad news.  I'm sitting in a cafe in Middle Park.  Yes, you guessed it, another puncture!!  The count is now, no punctures in 10 years, and 6 punctures in less than a year.   What the hell is going on.  It might just be that the tyres that were replaced after 10 years were better at resisting punctures, or I'm cycling more, but I just don't get it.  I'm paranoid now, and perhaps it's time to learn to repair my own punctures.  I haven't needed to learn, until the last year, but just for peace of mind.

And finally, more good news.  Cycled 20km yesterday back to the doctors, and my blood pressure is down, so that's good. Oh, and I've cycled so much recently, I've run out of podcasts to listen to!!  I've caught up with my backlog, and I'm now wondering what the hell to listen to.

Healthy Eating

Yeh Baby, I'm back.  Let's try to post one entry per day!
I went to a talk yesterday by Phillip Day.  He's a writer, speaker, presenter, on health issues.
Most of what he said was a great reminder of stuff I've heard and read over the last 12 years.
I totally agree.  And he supports Dr Mercola, which is the website to read on health issues.
So today, I started my new health regime.  I've been cycling for quite a few months now.  Just got to keep it more often per week.  The tennis will be back soon, after 3 weeks of injury.

But more importantly, eating.  Or not eating.  I'm a continual grazer.  From waking moment to last thing at night.  Healthyish, but with the chocolate and sweet stuff added, and more recently the salty snacks.  So, it's back to;

• Fresh Food (It's amazing how many aisles you can cut out in a supermarket, by declaring "Fresh") and one good measure of fresh, is if the bacteria won't eat it, then why should you!!
• Water Water Water (and Green Tea (with roasted rice))
• Some fruit, and lots of veg (Greens, Tomatoes, but not rice, potatoes, and corn)
• No red meat (well a bit!), and fish, and oily fish
• Nuts, but not many.

It's not rocket science is it, just a matter of breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack, and working out what you're going to eat.  Me, I'm in favour of the idea of delaying breakfast to keep the cleansing going, and then eating fruit up until lunchtime.  I don't practise it, but I preach it!!
I've followed diet trends for years.  Never dieted myself, except once (Scarsdale Diet, very sensible) 16 years ago.  My view?  I think it's come a full circle and it's back to calorie counting.  As far as I know there's no scientific proof of any diet working, other than by energy in body = energy out of body.  Of course, it's a good idea in the long run to take your calories from good raw food, and not sugar, bad fats, cooked and preserved food.

Two things to consider.  Gorillas do very well on a vegan diet or raw food.  Chimpanzees every so often fancy a nice raw Gibbon!!  It's a disturbing sight, to watch a community of Chimpanzees hunt down a Gibbon and eat it.  But what it tells us, is we can be very healthy and survive on a vegan diet, and once in a while we have a taste for meat. Make your choice.

Tony's Tips...actually I realise I'm repeating myself;

1. Don't eat after 8-00pm,
2. Drink lots of water
3. Eat fruit, preferably organic
4. Fill yourself up with green veg (not rice or corn or potatoes)
5. Eat less
6. Reframe why you eat and what hunger is (see Allen Carr's EasyWeigh)
7. For most people, cut the Carb and Sugar, but not in an Atkins obsessive way
8. Fat people don't necessarily eat more than thin people
9. If something rots quickly, then it's good for you (Apples cut open, Avocados, Bananas), if it doesn't rot quickly then not even the bacteria like it.
10. Eating less has significantly more effect than, exercising more

Just one other thing.  By coincidence, this article in The Guardian just happened to cross my path yet again, Super Skinny Me, this is about Calorie Restriction.   This is a theory that extreme calorie restriction will prolong life.  It's proven in other animals on a severe calorie restricted diet, but it's a fine line between Anorexia and Calorie Restriction, the difference being in the lengths that CR people will go to, to ensure they eat the right nutritional mix, and besides the aim isn't to "diet" to nothing, but to live a CR life which will prolong life.
And there are some interesting side-effects!!

From mystics to anorexics, people who go for long periods without eating often report feeling more awake and energetic, even euphoric. It's nice for a while, but even the calorie-restricted can get too much of it. When April started CR, she often went long stretches between meals and eventually decided something was a little off. 'It makes you feel like you're on drugs; I got too euphoric,' she says. 'You know, thinking you're in love when you're not.' She switched to a more consistent, balanced eating schedule, and came back down to earth........
....Before CR, I was hornier than most men,' says Michael. 'But some people find that, when they go on very severe CR, their classic male libido - that sort of aaaargh-there's-a-pretty-woman-I-can't-stop-my-neck-from-moving libido - goes down.' And Michael, it turns out, is one of those people.'I've often thought that if you could explain to women that, on CR, men improve their sexual performance but decrease their skirt-chasing, women would be like, "I'm cutting your calories, honey. Half your dinner tomorrow,"'

Caveat.  I don't recommend a CR diet.  I couldn't and probably wouldn't want to live on a CR diet, but there's a lot to learn in understanding a CR diet.

Health Stuff (Mercola and EFT)

I let my SPAM filters take out the Mercola and EFT newsletter for the last 2 years, because I'd use up too much time reading them!!
But I've finally let them through again!

Mercola is a fantastic health site and newsletter run by Joe Mercola, a real life doctor who takes an alternative and questioning approach to health matters.
2 great videos for your introduction.  The first one is a tip on gaining concentration and losing stress. Energy Psychology (Neural Vascular Points) As soon as I saw it I realised that it's the pose of many chess players, so it must be true!  The other video is Joe Mercola talking about the FDA and how they let Vioxx kill 60,000 people!

The other one is Gary Craig's Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). It's a way of relieving both serious and not so serious issues, by tapping on acupressure points and developing a phrase to tap along to!!  Sounds freaky but go research for yourself how many people swear by it.  I have my own theories about why it works, which differs from the founder and followers, but who cares!  If it works it works!

Soya - You have been warned

Do not for one moment think that Soya is good for you.
Certainly not in most foods we eat.
Read this Guardian article and be afraid, be very afraid, Should we worry about Soya in our food?
Followers of people like Dr Joe Mercola, have known for quite a while that Soya is not good for us.
How have we managed to convince ourselves it is good for us!!

Pellet gun fires dog treats for fat pups to chase

  Pellet gun fires dog treats for fat pups to chase.
Now wait a minute, surely you have to work out the calorific value of the snack versus the amount of calories burnt by the doggie chasing the snack!

Otherwise you'll end up with a redundant gun and a fat bitch!!

Getting Things Done in 2006

I'm just having a look at my 2005 New Year's Resolutions, and almost everyone of them ended up as the opposite, which is largely how I intended them.
More Chocolate in 2005! was an attempt to give up chocolate by eating more.  And it worked.  I ate so much chocolate in the early months of 2005 that I think I've become allergic to chocolate by the end of 2005, so now I don't eat any or drink it.  Fantastic Tony, well done! Other 2005 resolutions;

2005 Resolutions
1. More Chocolate
2. Longer meetings!
3. More chocolate!!
4. Less food More Food!
5. More Cycling/Windsurfing
6. More holidays
7. More Blogging
8. More Improv
9. More time with Annie

I've blogged less, done no Improv, forgot about longer meetings, eaten the same amount of food as I always eat, cycled a bit, not windsurfed at all (but that wasn't a literal resolution), not been on holiday, and we now have a pool of babysitters, so Annie and I do spend more time together.  So all in all, my resolutions have mostly come true and how I wanted and expected them.

And so to 2006.  Getting Things Done.  Yes, partly following the book, and it's something I want to help more people with this year.  I think how we manage our lives, especially with information overload, is a big thing, and even if I can't get it right for myself (Ha Ha!) I can help others, who can then help me.

2006 Resolutions
1. GTD.  Work, Home, Network, Money,
2. Health.  I think this can be solved in one event.  Drink more water!
3. Cycle/Windsurf.  When it's windy windsurf, when it's not windy, cycle.  This applies to life.
4. Family.  I'd like to help teach Georgie to read, this year.  And more sport with Jay.
5. Tablet.  Take notes in meetings on my Tablet, with MindManager (and maybe learn OneNote).
6. Fun.  Go-Kart, Beach, Improv, Football, Ski/Snowboard, Annie.
7. MP3. Listen to more, maybe create more.

Oh, and one more thing.
8. $15Million!

p.s I've used Performancing, a Firefox add-on to create my first 2006 Typepad weblog entry.