March 23rd, 2011 by IsisTheScientist in Humor, True Stories
Tags: Boundaries, Child Psychology, Maternal Health, Mommy Blogger, Motherly, Musings, Potty Training
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“Anyone who will barge into the room while you are on the commode is the boss of you. And when you explain to them that you’re on the commode and that they should leave but they don’t? That’s a high-level boss.”
– Tina Fey from the new InStyle Magazine.
Sister Fey speaks the truth here. Children have no privacy boundaries. There is also something, perhaps related to the way going to bathroom disturbs the Earth’s magnetic fields, that makes a child need something urgently the second trou has been dropped.
That all said, the fact that a child has no understanding of his parent’s privacy does not mean that said child does not demand privacy for himself. Little Isis is going through a period where he is not to be seen doing the deed. Even the thought that someone might be observing him elicits a scream somewhere in the G6 range.
That kid has me in check.
*This blog post was originally published at On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess*
March 21st, 2011 by admin in Health Tips, True Stories
Tags: Baby, Flat Head, Flat Skull, infant, Neurosurgery, Pediatric Neurosurgery, Pediatrics, Physical Therapy, Plagiocephaly, Positioning, Sleeping On Back, Torticollis, Tummy Time, What To Do About A Flat Head
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Figure 1
This post was contributed by guest blogger, Edward Ahn, M.D.
The head coach of a Division 1 champion women’s sports team brought her baby daughter in to me for evaluation of her flat head at the recommendation of her pediatrician.
While I was examining her baby, I started to say, “Well, I’ll tell you what she has —
She quickly interrupted, “Is it bad?”
I looked up to see fear written on this tough coach’s face. I was struck by how this benign condition can cause apprehension in so many parents.
Often, pediatric neurosurgeons like me or plastic surgeons are asked to assess babies with a flat head, also known as positional plagiocephaly. Usually, parents have developed a fair amount of anxiety, often with the underlying fear that their baby will need surgery or the brain will grow abnormally. These fears are not warranted. Read more »
March 20th, 2011 by Jessie Gruman, Ph.D. in Health Tips, True Stories
Tags: American Society of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Cancer Survivorship, CDC, CFAH, Medical Oncology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Survivorship Planning
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I am a poster child for why everyone who has had cancer needs to work with their doctor(s) to develop and implement a survivorship plan.
Two of my four cancer-related diagnoses were found during routine screenings. Two of my cancer-related diagnoses and one serious heart condition were almost certainly due to late effects of cancer treatment when I was young.
Each was a complete surprise to me, and while there is evidence that predicts most of these occurrences, not one of my doctors used this literature to shape a plan for my post-treatment care.
I was on my own. My fear of yet another recurrence led me over time to cobble together a motley collection of oncologists (one for each body part) and other specialists (cardiologist, dermatologist, endocrinologist, and so forth) to watch over me. I thought I was lucky that this has worked so far. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at CFAH PPF Blog*
March 19th, 2011 by Happy Hospitalist in Humor, True Stories
Tags: Coloring Books, Dog Bite, Emergency Department, ER, Increasing The Census, Pediatric ER, Pediatrics, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, Psychiatry, Stitches
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Every day I go to the emergency room to admit my adults, I can hear the screaming babies and toddlers. Sometimes, the screams are actually from their parents after realizing how much their visit is going to cost. But most of the time it’s really frightened kids in an unfamiliar environment.
Happy’s hospital used to hand out hospital stickers so kids would associate emergency rooms with a fun place to hang out. It turns out, after intense behind the scenes discussions with administration, that this policy was a covert attempt to increase the volume of our pediatric emergency room volumes.
After looking at the numbers, and understanding how hospitals get paid,I have now come on board and am part of a committee think tank that does nothing more than think of ways to get more people through the doors. We invited the intelligence behind the 50% rise in pediatric ICU volumes after implementing the pediatric ICU art project. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*
March 19th, 2011 by DrWes in Opinion, True Stories
Tags: Cardiology, Doctors, Fear, Feelings, High Risk Patient, Psychiatry, Psychology, Surgery
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Every day, doctors do risky things for their patients, often because they have no other options. Today is such a day for me.
I don’t know how it will go, and because of privacy laws I really can’t tell you about the case, I’m sorry. (Nor will you get an epilogue, that’s not the point of this post). But let’s just say that any normal person would consider the case I’m about to perform very high risk because of the patient’s condition. Even though you tell people they could die and take care to mention that fact time and time again, you wonder if they really can comprehend the significance of what you’re saying – after all, there is a fine line between being reassuring in a time of crisis and telling it like it is. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
