FreshMD

Dandelion poetry

Thank you for all your kind comments and well wishes on the last post. As suggested, I plan to link to my Mothers in Medicine posts from here. There's a new one up today.

Finished

When I began blogging, a family member unfamiliar with blogs looked over this site and said politely, "It looks nice. Is it almost finished?" 

Well, now it is. 

I feel hamstrung by the mix of personal and professional anecdotes under my real name in the face of increasing readership. I find myself censoring and second-guessing myself and that really dilutes the pleasure of blogging.

I started this blog for the satisfaction of crafting bits of my chaotic days at home and work into a tidy package. But now my domestic and clinical days have settled into a relatively unruffled routine and I'm eager to pursue other projects. Any creative energy (and time) not exhausted by children or patients is in short supply, not enough to slather over multiple projects.

And so I need to absolve myself of this blog. I'm not sure if I'm euthanizing it or inducing an indefinite coma. The site will remain up but expect this post to greet you for the foreseeable future.

I'll still be active at Mothers in Medicine, Twitter and Flickr. 

Thank you to my little band of readers, especially those who commented or emailed over the last year and a half.

Baby names

I have a post up at Mothers in Medicine on the medical implications of baby names, including my own close call with the name Claudia.

(If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you might remember I did another post on the topic way back here.)

The R-word

There's been a move afoot recently to stamp out the R-word. 

While I agree that the use of retarded as a derogatory term is offensive, I can't help wondering: Why aren't paraplegics protesting the slang use of lame? Why aren't families of schizophrenics fighting the word psycho? 

There are scores of medical words indicating impairment that are used disparagingly in every day speech: Dumb. Idiot. Blind. Imbecile. Moron. 

Some insults are used with no recognition of their medical origins. Cretin is someone who suffers from congenital hypothyroidism, but I've never heard the word used in that context outside of medical school.

I suppose the degree of offensiveness of these words depends on where your sensitivities lie. I cringe when people bandy about terms like brain-dead and on crack; light references to head trauma and addiction bother me as much as the slang use of retarded.

 

I don't oppose efforts to eliminate the R-word. But to be consistent, better ban the L-word, too. And the D-word, the I-word . . .

Island

On the way home as we round one of the final bends before our place, we pass Grey Rocks Island. It's privately owned with a house tucked into the stand of trees. I've never seen any comings or goings; it's always completely still. I imagine the inhabitants lying on the couch reading novels all day. 

As we swing by in the minivan, it almost makes me feel a bit gritty and common, having neighbours and a driveway and a mailbox and all. 

Devils are not real

I took inventory of Saskia's beliefs recently. I asked her to answer 'real' or 'not real' to various characters and she enthusiastically complied.

"Santa?" I suggested.

"Not real!" Said with seven-year-old pride.

"Easter bunny?"

"Not real!"

"Jesus?" 

"Real."

"Tooth fairy?" 

"Not real." (A surprise to me, this was followed by a brief discussion to identify my underminer. Pete.)

"Monsters?"

"Not real."

"Giant whales in the sea?" 

"Real." (What about dolphins, interjected Leif. Are they real?)

"Fairies?" 

"Not real." Said regretfully.

"Angels?" 

"Real." In a soft voice, utterly convinced.

"Devils?" 

"Not real." Said with equal conviction, laughing at the ridiculousness of the idea. "Let's do more!" she urged.

But I was too moved by the last two answers to continue.