29 November 2010

Social services for the injured and sick

So, I've decided God hates me. No, not really, but it's what I joke when shit goes wrong. Especially shit that can in no way be someone else's fault. Like I fall down the stairs and break my damn foot. Now, as if that shit isn't bad enough, trying to use crutches to get the toilet, I put my back out. I'm a screamin' mess. Suffice it to say, I'm going to be on the demerol a little longer. Unfortunately, this means that I am on my back (HA!) for most of the day, which makes blogging a lot harder.

Today, I'm off to the chiropractor to align my spine and then to the hospital to see the specialist. I suspect that I'll sit and wait for several hours, messing up my newly aligned spine. Which will suck. I'm going to ask for a bed, I think. Wonder if they'll cooperate. Unfortunately, my husband won't be able to come with me because he'll have to look after the little ones.

So, since this has happened, I've really been thinking about what people do when they get injured and have kids. We have no family in town, and very few friends (that's what happens when one has disabled kids - social life goes kablooie). Because of the autism, we have respite funding, which means we can hire someone to come in and look after the kids. IF we can find someone. Also, because my husband has a good union job, he can take a lot of time off to help me until we do. But what happens to most people? Do they lose their jobs? Do they just screw their bodies up suffering through the pain to look after the kids? Are there social services in place for this? Or do they lose their kids to foster care until they're healed? I honestly don't know.

What I do know is that there should be something in place for people in situations like mine. There should be emergency babysitting services and funding for caregivers who are injured or sick. I have asked everyone I know to pass my name around, and so far, nothing. Not even a bite. And I'm paying WELL over minimum wage. I don't want to resort to advertising on Craigslist and UsedVictoria, but I guess I might have to. At least I'll be home the whole time.

Update: I have to be off my foot for 6 weeks. This blows chunks. I'm sure the chunks like it, but I'm not impressed. I am however extremely impressed with the nurses at the ortho clinic at VGH who bumped me to the head of the line because the two little ones were acting up and their daddy was a little overwhelmed.

26 November 2010

Wally Oppal? Really?

What's wrong with this picture? A lot of First Nations women go missing, and many of them turn up murdered. The person the government puts in charge of the inquiry is neither female nor First Nations. And furthermore, is the person who decided not to proceed with further charges against the murderer (on that, I agree with him, but hello, conflict of interest much?)

Really, we can do better than this. Wally Oppal is the guy who watched the video of the guys who killed Robert Dziekansky and decided no charges were necessary, isn't he?

I'm not saying that this is like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse, but damn it to hell, it seems to me that a hen might be more appropriate.

25 November 2010

bad break

I'm out of commission for a while. I broke the fifth metatarsal bone in left foot last night. I stepped wrong going down the stairs and fell, breaking the bone in a spiral fracture.

So, at least I'll be able to blog. Demerol blogging should be interesting.

I'm glad I hit the ER on a slow night. It only took 4 hours. The doctor was a bit brusque and a little weird, but okay. The only interesting thing at all was the guy who kept pulling his IV out and undressing. The nurses were getting a little exasperated with him, but they showed so much patience and compassion for him, I was really impressed.

24 November 2010

I'm sure she was quite the threat...

A 15 year old girl was chosen for screening at a Sudbury airport, denied use of a private room for her "pat down", and then was subjected to a patdown that included her breasts and inner thighs. The screener said, after finishing her legal assault, "that wasn't so bad", which sounds suspiciously like, "See baby? I told you it wouldn't be that bad!"

You know, all this is blowing up because it started to violate the rights of straight, white men. People of colour, disabled people, and various other vulnerable groups have been screaming about these violations of rights for years. I remember flying out of Denver in September 2001, a few weeks after the terrorist attacks. The guy in front of me kissed his boyfriend goodbye and then struck up a conversation with me. He said that he'd been targeted for strip searches every single time he came to the airport with his honey, but not once if he didn't. Sure enough, he got pulled out again. He called it, "harass the fag".

But what got me thinking was what's going to happen when someone with Autism is targeted for a patdown? Say a teenage boy. He'll be separated from his parents and then touched without his permission. That's going to lead to an epic meltdown, and probably he'll be tased or shot. Especially if he's one of the kind who yells threats he's heard on TV when he gets agitated. I know a young man who is 15. He's very large (he's 6'3'' and about 240lbs). He has a fairly low IQ (60ish), and is echolalic. That means he repeats things he's heard without understanding what they mean. For example, he was at school, working with his aide. She was making him finish his math, which he hates. He was getting agitated and said to her, "Get out of my way or I'll rip your fucking head off, and shit down your throat", which was something he'd heard someone on the bus say. He had absolutely no idea that what he was saying was a threat. He just knew it meant, "move" and "I'm angry". His Mom got to the bottom of the issue and explained it to the aide, who knows now not to take his threats seriously. Just what do you think will happen if that boy is taken from his Mom and felt up? They'll beat him senseless if they don't kill him. The TSA makes no accommodations for people with disabilities. I somehow doubt CATSA does either.

I will not be flying with my kids. My daughter has serious issues about being touched. If they touched her in public, she'd cry. A LOT. And that's if she was properly medicated and on her diet. If they did it on her way back - after the inlaws glutened her? EEP. I don't want to think about it.

23 November 2010

They're letting me talk again?

I've been asked to talk at church on Sunday. This is my sermon on hope (with names changed to protect the innocent):

Hope. Rev. Erin talked about hope a few weeks ago when she talked about God's dream for us that is outlined in Isaiah. She said that God's plan is for a paradise on earth, where no child dies, where there is no illness, no poverty, no crime. That we're not there yet is our failing - not God's. But it something we can hope for. Something that we can work towards. That's a pretty awesome source of hope. But what if we lose hope? What happens when we look at the world around us and see it going to hell? We see war, poverty, misery, drug addiction and might say 'Forget it. God gave up on us. There's no hope.'

Have you ever seen hopelessness? True hopelessness? It's one of the most miserable things I've ever seen. And I can't even fathom how it must feel from the other side of those sad, defeated eyes. Without hope, what reason does anyone have to live? Why even get up in the morning? For some, it's to look for a moment of numbness at the bottom of a bottle. For others it's because they're simply afraid to die. That's what living without hope is like.

And yet, there is always hope. Always. Even if we don't see it. Just like the sun is always there, even when there are clouds, and the world is always there, even when we close our eyes to it. God's plan is here. God is here. And God loves us infinitely. That is cause for hope. But if we're too broken to grab hold of it, then what? What of that person living under a cloud of addiction, or with the scars of abuse, who is just too broken to reach for God?

That's where today's scripture fits.

Oh, how I love that scripture! When Erin asked me to talk about Hope, I immediately thought of this scripture. And about 20 more. But I kept going back to this one. The woman in the story had a bleeding disorder. She'd been bleeding for many years. Probably with endometriosis, which is a painful bleeding disorder. I don't know how well you know the laws set out in Leviticus, but that would have made her completely unclean by societal standards. She wouldn't have been able to go for the ritual cleansing baths after her menses, because her bleeding never ended. Everything and everyone she touched would be considered unclean or contaminated by her. She would have been completely isolated and impoverished.

But that lady had hope. She never gave up. And when she heard of Jesus and his healing powers, she knew that she could get better if she just touched him. And what does that say about her? She was willing to suffer the consequences of touching a man who wasn't her husband, while she was bleeding. The consequences weren't laid out in Leviticus, but I don't imagine they'd have been particularly pleasant! The Talmud was written after this time, but the consequences for her actions by its law would have been death. It was likely the law of her time too. Can you even imagine the faith and hope she had? The belief that she would be cured if she only touched him was strong enough for her to risk death for her action.

What unimaginable hope she had. She's an inspiration to me. She really is. I'm not sick like she was. Thank GOD. But I know what it's like to need to hold on to hope.

All three of my kids have Autism. And that's scary. I don't know what's in store for them. I know Snap will be okay. She's high functioning, and is clever and kind. She'll manage. But I don't know what's ahead for Crackle and Pop. Neither of them talk. But they're little and may yet learn. I don't know though, and that's where I have to just cling to God and God's plan for a beautiful world.

Pop was only diagnosed a couple of weeks ago. I'd still be adjusting if I hadn't already figured it out before that! Anyway, when he was born, Crackle had just been diagnosed, and I prayed Every. Single. Day. for Pop to be okay, to not have Autism. Not because I'd love him any less. Not because Autism makes him any less wonderful. But because I don't want their lives to be more difficult than life already can be. And with Autism, it sure can be hard. I prayed and prayed and prayed. And when I figured it out, that he had Autism too, I broke a little. I got damn good and mad at God. I cursed God. I screamed at God. I just had a meltdown that would make Crackle's look minor. And then I fumed. Oh, how I fumed. I sat here on the chairs and fumed about God treating my kids like this. And then, it was like a voice in my head said, "Oh, shut up already. I sent you Dr. Marianne, what more do you want?!" And I almost laughed. It was true. Through a large set of well-timed moves, appointments and random discussions, I found a doctor who works with kids with Autism. She only recently moved to Victoria, and actually works about a half a block from here. Now, of course, she's not going to cure my kids. There's no cure for Autism. But she's already done them some good. God gave me back my hope.

I hold on to the knowledge that God's plan doesn't include Autism. Doesn't include tragic deaths. Rapes. Torture. Starvation. Drug abuse. God's plan is for each of us to have enough. Enough food, a place to live, good health. There's a song I like by the Goo Goo Dolls called Better Days. It's pretty much the perfect song for the first Sunday in Advent.

And you asked me what I want this year
and I try to make this kind and clear
just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
'cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
and designer love and empty things
just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words and sing out loud
'cause everyone is forgiven now
'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

I need some place simple where we could live
and something only you can give
and that's faith and trust and peace while we're alive
and the one poor child who saved this world
and there's ten million more who probably could
if we all just stopped and said a prayer for them

So take these words and sing out loud
'cause everyone is forgiven now
'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

I wish everyone was loved tonight
and somehow stop this endless fight
just a chance that maybe we'll find better days

So take these words and sing out loud
'cause everyone is forgiven now
'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

'cause tonight's the night the world begins again

That's a song of hope. Hope for life in God's dream world. For enough. Not for "designer love and empty things". Hope for the chance that maybe we'll find better days. But we have to work with God to get that. And we can't do that if we're too broken to have the hope. In Christ, we can heal.

And we need to heal! Every one of us is broken in some way. By tragedy, by sickness, by death. Sure, that doesn't make us people who are mired in hopelessness. In fact, most of us are so aware of the need for hope, that we try to offer it in some of the most clumsy ways. Ever try to comfort someone at a funeral and walk away knowing you said just the wrong thing? Ever been "comforted" by someone who meant well, but really blew it? Erin gave the example of telling someone who is grieving all about the paradise waiting for them in the afterlife where their loved one is now. I've heard it said even more clumsily. At my Dad's memorial, someone told me he was "in happy land now". Someone else told me, "He's not suffering any more". I was, capital N, Not Impressed. He was happy here. And he wasn't suffering. If I hadn't recognised that they meant well, that they were trying to give me some comfort, I imagine my reply mightn't have been so quiet.

And now that I'm dealing with Autism, I get similar platitudes. They're really just clumsy offers of hope, because we instinctively know how important hope is to our souls. People tell me, "Oh, they'll learn to talk! All kids learn to talk eventually". Not with Autism. Some do, some don't. Or, and here's my least favourite: God doesn't give you more than you can handle. Really? There are several problems with that statement, as I see it. First, that assumes that God gave my kids Autism, thinking, "No problem, Luna can handle it". That is not a God I have much use for. Giving kids Autism? Or anything else that makes their lives harder than they need to be? No. That's not God's plan. Second, even if God does dole out the challenges, LOTS of people get more than they can handle. That's why there are nervous breakdowns, drug addiction, and suicide. To say they could have handled it if they'd just tried harder is truly arrogant. I know God heals. I know people can reach out and be healed. But I also know that some people get the short end of other people's free will. It isn't God's wiil that people get so burdened by circumstance that they lose hope. I flatly reject the idea that God manipulates us like puppets. I firmly believe that God can ONLY act through us. That God whispers in our ear what the right thing to do is, and we either do that, or we don't. Every time we do, we get closer to realizing God's dream. And every time we choose the wrong thing, we hurt someone. Maybe ourselves, maybe others. And all we can do is try to do the right thing next time.

God's plan for the world gives me hope. But sometimes, I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to see it. I'm not self-righteous enough to believe that the end days will appear while I'm on this earth. So, I know I'm very likely not going to be here for the fruition of God's perfect dream. And that's okay. I can watch and be part of it. And of course, there is still hope for what comes next, and that's pretty awesome too.

I can't reach out and touch Jesus's cloak like the lady in the story. Not literally. But figuratively, I can do just that. I can reach out to God and ask God to heal my soul and restore my hope. Because some days, it's hard to remember. When Crackle is shrieking every 6 seconds, and Pop won't eat because he wants the blue bowl, but I haven't figured that out yet, and Snap is stressed out because the kids are being too loud, and I haven't eaten in 6 hours except for what the kids leave on their plates. Those moments I need to remember to look to God and have faith that things will get better. That's hope. Faith that things will get better.

Please pray with me:
God of Hope, this Advent, let us remember to look to you, to reach out to you, to heal our broken souls and restore our hope for Better Days ahead. Remind us that you are here for us. That we are special and beautiful because you love us. Give us strength and courage to reach for your healing power, so that we might better be useful to you in realizing your dream for the world. Whisper your will to us, and remind us to listen. Because only through you is there hope. Amen.

BREASTS! Now that I have your attention...

I've got a rather strange set of conflicting feelings today. Someone I tangentially know, via another blog and facebook, is getting a boob job today. She's a beautiful woman who feels like her breasts need to be larger for her to look right.

On one hand, I think she's bought into the societal b.s. and it annoys the piss out of the feminist in me that she's surgically altering herself to look more like Barbie. Especially when she's already considered drop-dead beautiful by the vast majority of this society. I mean, when she walks into a room, heads turn. She's stunning.

On the other hand, I know what it's like to have a part of my body that I fucking despise. And if I could afford to surgically change it, I would. But my issue isn't purely cosmetic. It actually causes me physical discomfort, so somehow I think that makes me better. Which is a load of judgmental shit. That's me, Holier than Thou.

And then there's the conflict I feel about her spending that kind of money on herself, when she's a newly single Mom with a deadbeat husband. I feel like she's being massively irresponsible with her money, but at the same time, I feel a twinge of jealousy that she can put herself first like that. I couldn't even bring myself to buy myself new boots to weather the snow. But somehow this woman can spend thousands of dollars on breast enlargement. I'm flabbergasted. Both horrified and jealous. It's a weird feeling.

In the end, it's none of my business, and I wouldn't dream of telling her what I think. It's her decision, her body, her money. And I am pretty good at stepping away from it. It's not that I think she should or shouldn't do it. I wouldn't judge either way.

18 November 2010

All I want for Christmas

Christmas is coming up quickly (ACK! So far behind on crochet gifts!) and I'm really looking at it differently this year. Snap's too old for Santa. Crackle is just the right age, but the Autism prevents him from understanding what the hell I'm on about. I took him for pics last year, and he looked at the Santa with a look I knew meant, "And people think *I* dress weirdly!" Pop's too young for it.

Presents are always big for the kids, but Crackle likes wrapped up presents. He doesn't like to disturb the pretty paper. It took us until NYE to get him to open his last gift. This year, I think the toys will appear under the tree *unwrapped*.

But as I'm thinking about it, it's not presents that I want. It's changes. Little changes like more time to spend on blogging and crochet or Crackle quieting down a little. Big changes like Stephen Harper and his cabinet falling into giant political scandal they can't spin their way out of. I want to hear good things about police departments cleaning up their messes and learning from them. I want improvements in social services for pregnant mothers and new mothers - low income and not. I want to see housing projects for the homeless - and yes, they're welcome in my neighbourhood (in fact, there are already two in my neighbourhood - one low income, one no income). I want to see the end of chemical pesticides for cosmetic purposes (I'm talking to you, poisonous golf course across the street from my house!) I want the BC Lieberals to implode, and for the NDP to take over and repeal all the nasty cuts Campbell made to everything from legal aid to physical therapy services. I want Omar Khadr released. I want pot possession laws repealed. I want men to stop raping women. I want doctors to treat patients with respect.

Basically, I want better days ahead.

16 November 2010

Would it be judgmental of me to call you a judgmental prick?

Have people always been such judgmental assholes, or am I only just cluing into this because I have disabled kids?

It's official now, I have three kids with Autism. Pop was diagnosed on Friday. I'd find that heartbreaking if my heart hadn't broken already when I figured it out months ago.

I am utterly astounded by the judgmental people out there. I shouldn't be, I know, but I keep thinking that people are reasonable if they just hear the truth. Stupid, I know. But I hear so many stupid comments, that I'm starting to realize that we are a LONG ways from a society of tolerance and acceptance. And I'm not sure if I prefer the Canadian way of giving someone a dirty look and then muttering too low for them to quite hear, or the American way of calling someone out immediately. I mean, if people were constantly giving me shit about my kids, I'd hate it, but on the other hand, I could respond with, "They have Autism. What's your excuse?!" When people are passive aggressive with their judgmental shit, it's too hard. They have plausible deniability.

And how did we get to a place where every idiot thinks they know more than experts? I cannot tell you how many times I've said that Crackle has Autism to hear, "Oh? Are you sure?" And I say "Yes, three different experts had to agree before he could get a dx". The reply varies from a defeated, "Oh" to "So-called experts can be wrong, you know!" It's mindblowing. The defeated "Oh" people, I feel bad for them. Basically, they cling to hope, and I dash it. It's funny (Ha. Ha. Not.) The other kind of response kind of baffles me: "No! He looks so normal" or "But he's so cute!" Wha? Cute kids don't get Autism on your planet? Or they expect Autism to look like Down Syndrome? Or what? I dunno.

Do me a huge favour. Next time you're in the grocery store or Walmart or wherever, and you see a kid FREAKING out trying to get Mom to buy him (or her) something, and the Mom is basically just ignoring the kid and letting him shout, don't look at her like she's a shitty parent. Note that she probably knows that arguing won't help, acknowledging it may make it worse, and trying to shut the kid up may end in a meltdown. I don't mean a temper tantrum either. I mean a meltdown of crying and screaming that can last for hours. If you see a Mom (or Dad) with a kid who is misbehaving, remember that about 1 in 100 kids have Autism now. You've probably seen 99 typical ones already and the 1 is standing out. So smile at that parent. Or say, "Some days, eh?" or "Rough day, eh?" And if the kid is melting down entirely, "Eep. Looks like you're having a hard day!"

Even if the parent is just a shitty parent, and they are out there, they don't need dirty looks. They don't need judgement. And if they're a parent of a kid with Autism or other disabilities, you'll make their day a lot better.

10 November 2010

And can the guys in the white sheets protect us from racism too?

Hello, Facebookers! I say this as someone posted a link to my humble blog from facebook and my hits skyrocketed. Nice to have you here.

I'm appalled today that Saudi Arabia got a seat on the UN agency for women's equality and rights. Look at the headline there:

Iran loses bid to join UN Women

Saudi Arabia gets seat


Is it just me, but shouldn't the bigger headline be that Saudi Arabia got a seat? I mean, it should be a 'no shit, sherlock' moment that Iran was denied, given that they're currently planning to kill a woman for the dubious crime of adultery. It would be like giving the Pope a seat on a council to protect children from sexual abuse! 

The headline should SCREAM that Saudi Arabia bought a seat, that it's a flippin' mockery of the council itself that a seat was given to a country that doesn't allow women to drive, vote, or appear outside without head covering. 

Am I alone in seeing a positive to this though? With a seat on UN Women, shouldn't the rest of the UN at least attempt to hold them to a higher standard? I'm hoping that the rest of the UN starts pushing them to become a little more progressive. 

08 November 2010

I'm not gluten intolerant. I just refuse to put up with gluten's shit!

I have a love-hate relationship with food. It's not about my weight or dieting or any of that. I don't give a shit about calories or fat or carbs or whatever. I've mentioned before that I have Celiac Disease. Mr.FCS (seriously, he needs a better name, but I told him that and he said calling him Mr.FCS was fair turnaround for a feminist. Love that man!) also has Celiac Disease. This means that all three of our kids also do. That's okay, because it makes it easier to keep the house completely gluten-free. What I'm hating is that no place is safe for us. Especially not for Crackle.

Crackle is affected by Celiac Disease far more than the rest of us. Partially, this is because of the nature of his Autism. When he gets "glutened" (i.e. accidentally ingests any gluten) all hell breaks loose. Without grossing you out too much, dear reader, let's just call it "a stomach flu". Plus, he loses receptive language, gets hyper and then some - have you ever seen someone so hyper that they can't sit still long enough to eat a bowl of their favourite ice cream? Because I have. He has bladder accidents, and is just a plain unhappy little boy. For a good two weeks.

So, to put it mildly, I'm the gluten police. I am super careful that he not get any gluten. I mean any. We don't eat food that is produced on the same line as food that contains gluten. We tried that for a while. I developed seizures from malnutrition (damage from celiac causes malabsorption, which in turn, causes malnutrition). I'm ready to kill anyone who comes near my kid with cookies or bread.

And it's EVERYWHERE. There are no safe places. I probably won't be able to send Crackle to school, because nowadays, there's no lunch room. The kids eat in the classroom, and I can't very well tell them they can't allow bread or crackers! Crumbs on the toys will be enough to make him a very sick little boy. I see kids eating at playgrounds, in grocery stores, at church. Yesterday, a little girl was eating cheerios at church and Crackle nabbed one off the floor and ate it before I could stop him. And I was watching him like a hawk because it was communion day. I FREAKED. I mean, I totally lost it. Grabbed him, and bolted. Got him home and got charcoal into him immediately (charcoal absorbs everything, If you get it into someone who's just ingested a small amount of gluten and you do it quickly enough, the gluten never hits the small intestine lining and no reaction occurs). In the process, the Mom of the girl with the cheerios cried, which I feel really bad about, but I didn't have time to explain to her that I wasn't mad at her, and that we were just leaving to get charcoal, blah blah blah.

And it's a social problem. We can't go out to eat. Ever. We can't eat at friends' houses. We can't enjoy a potluck supper at church. None of it. So, I've begun to really really hate food and its ubiquitous nature. And yet, last night, I made the most amazing penne with clam sauce paired with gluten-free vegan bread (Pop's allergic to eggs, and none of us eat any dairy). And it was fabulous. I love good food. But food's place in society, the burden it puts on us, is just so defeating.

Beyond the pale

If you for one second don't believe that the Conservatards are racist, misogynistic fucks, please, watch this video. Gist: The feds cut the Sisters in Spirit program by a third, is forcing them to change their name (why?!), and won't let them maintain a database on missing and murdered aboriginal women.

HOW can they be so absurdly hateful?! I always think that they cannot shock me any more with their evil shit, and then they go and do something like this.

Women matter. White, aboriginal, it's all the same (except that the police seem to give a rat's ass about white women - or at least, they pretend to because the media actually cover missing and murdered white women). They are women, and they matter. To be told, no, no more funding for you, not if you do the work you're doing to advocate for missing and murdered women? That's just plain evil.

This post inspired by:

03 November 2010

But Canada has cheaper prescription drug prices!

We've all heard about the people from the US who come to Canada to buy cheap prescription drugs, right? But have you ever heard of anyone going to the US to buy cheaper prescriptions? No? Now you have.

Crackle is on a medication called Diflucan (generic: fluconazole). It's an anti-fungal that treats candida. It's doing wonders for him. It's not a miracle cure, but it has been a godsend (and he's 4 and autistic and doesn't know he takes medicine or what it's for, so it's not a placebo, so shut up). Anyway, when I bought it on Oct 13 at Shoppers, it cost a whopping $372, including the $11 dispensing fee (and the pharmacist was a douchebag, but that's another story).


I flipped and called my doc. She said that it was way cheaper last time she prescribed it, but that was in the US. So I called a pharmacy across the border in Snoqualmie and was told that the same amount would cost ~$20. WHAT?! So I ordered the refill from them. Sure enough. $3 shipping.

Astute readers will notice that the dosage on the second prescription is doubled. That's because he went up to a higher dose after 10 days. The price of the 200mg tabs here is twice the price of the 100mg tabs. Which means that the second batch of meds would have cost me $733.70 ($361.05 x 2 + 11.60). I suck at math*, but isn't that about 26 times as much? Like as in a markup of 2500%? i.e. a metric buttload?

Can someone explain to me how the pharmaceuticals get away with this shit? Because it's not the pharmacies themselves. I called around and they're all identical except for the dispensing fee. And how is that legal?

*No really. I am absolutely terrible at math. I had to msg someone to check this. :)

Update: I had to blur the name of the pharmacy, because after I originally posted this, they got a call from Health Canada telling them they weren't allowed to send meds to me. They have since decided they can do whatever they like, and send them to me anyway, but I don't want them getting more calls and changing their minds.

I really hate doctors (okay, not my ND, but the rest of 'em)

I know, I'm Posty McPosterson today. Sue me.

I've been watching this story for years. I can say "for years" because I know someone who knows him intimately. I can't say how, because that'd give away who she is, but suffice it to say she knows Dr. Henderson.

Since she started telling me about it years ago, I haven't been able to stand him. One of those "heebie jeebie" things that a person can't explain. The guy is a sleazebag. A user. And the story doesn't cover a lot of it.

It really makes me wonder what could be done to monitor doctors better. Clearly, the College failed two women (more, I'd say - but I don't wanna get sued for libel) because they cover the asses of the doctors. But they also scare doctors, and malicious complaints can be a real problem.

I've had some terrible doctors myself. One who made me cry during a pap test because it was so painful. One who made a comment about my stretch marks during a pap test and accused me of lying about ever having been pregnant (I hadn't been then - he thought I was lying because I had belly stretch marks). One of my doctors was this guy. Fortunately, only once, in an emergency. But I know people who saw him regularly. One guy got a hard-on while examining my feet. And that doesn't even account for the ones who were just uselessly incompetent.

So what do we do with doctors who abuse their doctor-patient relationships? What if the patient initiates it? Does that make a difference to the sentence? What do we do with doctors who are totally incompetent? And how do we find them? How do we stop them? How do we prove it? Regular testing? At whose expense?

Discuss. Show your work. :)

Hurray! WOOHOOO!

Gordon Fucking Campbell QUIT!

Good riddance, Gordo!

Now, if we could only get Carole James to do the same. We need a decent alternative to those bastards. Someone who wouldn't be afraid to restore all the stupid funding cuts. Cuts to health care (physio, chiro, podiatry), cuts to Autism treatment, cuts to the arts, cuts to sports, cuts to social justice programs, to legal aid, welfare, disability, cuts to lottery charities, you fucking name it.

FGM refugees

If this isn't one of the best reasons to approve a refugee claim, I don't know what is!

For the love of God and all things holy, please don't send this woman and her daughters back to Nigeria! And can we PLEASE stop calling it "circumcision"? There is not an incision made around the circumference of something to remove a flap of skin. Rather, the ENTIRE clitoris is removed, rendering the girl unable to ever have an orgasm. That is HORRIBLE, and as Canadians, not only should we be fighting to stop this everywhere, we should definitely allow this family safe harbour.

01 November 2010

omg! the gay!

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/christian_hero_megachurch_pastor_jim_swilley_comes_out/

A pastor at a megachurch in Georgia has come out as gay. Because of the "bullycides". That is a good man. Somehow it doesn't surprise me that he's not one of the types that preached homohatred, but for inclusivity and love. Had he been the other type, he'd still be in the closet until someone caught him.

Jim Wallis, a left-wing Christian, says, "There is disagreement within the Christian community when it comes to issues of human sexuality. But, there should be a united front against all who would disrespect, disparage, or denigrate anyone created in the image of God."  That's great, but doesn't go quite far enough, unless disrespect includes prevent from marriage (which it doesn't - Wallis preaches equal civil marriage, but wouldn't marry gay people himself) or other positions. Gay clergy? I'm all for it. Many Christians aren't. Hell, lots of them don't even want female clergy, at least not as pastor. Sure, they can do Children's ministry, but running the show? Nuh uh! Ridiculous. One of the best things about my church is the inclusivity. Women in leadership, flamingly gay ministers, it's all good.

Love is love is love.

The Bible's denigration of homosexuality has been a big problem for gays for way too long. The problem is interpretation and historical ignorance - that is, not understanding *why* there were rules against homosexuality. It was a law against being slutty more than it was a law against being gay. See, back then, getting your groove on with a guy (if you were also a guy) was considered an act of lust in the form of "OMG! NEED SEX! WILL FUCK ANYTHING AVAILABLE!" rather than an act of love between two people. Most Christians, even progressives like me, still think that it's best to keep it in your pants unless you have a loving connection with your partner. That the people writing the laws didn't understand the act totally changes the reading of it. No, it's probably not a great idea to engage in casual sex, and I truly believe that is what they were railing against.

So good for Jim Swilley for coming out. I hope he finds peace in his life. And good for Jim Wallis for preaching tolerance. I'll pray he'll one day find acceptance.