a family medicine colleague of mine curbsided me on a patient of hers... it's such a familiar story- on meds, but unknown dosages, hasn't been taking them for months but actually does really need them... then she mentioned that the patient had "schizophrenia?" in their medical history, though it was not obvious on exam... she asked, why would someone put that on their chart if she didn't have it? to which i answered, well some people just don't know any better... and then she asked, why would someone do that if she didn't really have it? it must be so hard to get that off her record, that's so awful... i thought, well yes it's not appropriate to have an incorrect diagnosis on one's chart, but what is so bad about schizophrenia as opposed to something like 'palpitations' or an incorrect drug allergy that one would want to get it off their medical record as soon as possible? oh yeah... it's a mental illness. and not the "ok" kind, like depressive disorder or anxiety. it's one of those that you don't want anyone to know about. because you wouldn't want people to think you were psycho or crazy.
*sigh*
Saturday, November 22, 2008
the freeway complex fire
i was just about to doze off on a lazy saturday afternoon when i got a call from my mom, calmly informing me that they had just evacuated my house and that the hills in our backyard were ablaze. needless to say, i wasn't sleepy anymore. let me just give away the punchline right now, and say- my family is safe, and against all odds, our home is still standing too... this story has a happy ending, though incredibly improbable and unexpected.
i talked with my brother, who described a frantic dash out of the house with embers flying in the air as they rushed into the cars. watching the shrubbery burn through his bedroom window. my family drove away that afternoon thinking that our house was gone- a lost cause. up in our neck of the woods, i was frantically trolling all of the socal tv station websites, watching the live feeds and hoping that i wouldn't see my childhood home razed to the ground.
we don't know exactly how our house was spared- like in many other areas, the damage was seemingly arbitrary. our neighbor 3 houses down the street was not so lucky. however, some family friends of ours did report seeing some heroic neighbors fighting a blaze on our hilltop with garden hoses... by the time my parents drove back to help, after hearing that people were trying to save our house, everyone had left but our house was untouched. our hills were scorched, with layers of ash everywhere, but... THE HOUSE IS STILL THERE. by the grace of God and good neighbors.
i guess it's a common mental exercise- "what would you take if you had to evacuate?" and i realized that the things that i worried about the most, after i knew my family was safe, were memories- the piano that suffered through years of painful dissonant practice, our photo albums, my summer cooling spot on the living room couch directly in line with the AC vent, the collection of disney videotapes that helped us survive the years without tv. i can't even imagine what all of those who lost their homes this past week must be feeling. but there is hope- those phantom neighbors really reaffirmed my faith in humanity... we'll all pull together and rebuild.
i talked with my brother, who described a frantic dash out of the house with embers flying in the air as they rushed into the cars. watching the shrubbery burn through his bedroom window. my family drove away that afternoon thinking that our house was gone- a lost cause. up in our neck of the woods, i was frantically trolling all of the socal tv station websites, watching the live feeds and hoping that i wouldn't see my childhood home razed to the ground.
we don't know exactly how our house was spared- like in many other areas, the damage was seemingly arbitrary. our neighbor 3 houses down the street was not so lucky. however, some family friends of ours did report seeing some heroic neighbors fighting a blaze on our hilltop with garden hoses... by the time my parents drove back to help, after hearing that people were trying to save our house, everyone had left but our house was untouched. our hills were scorched, with layers of ash everywhere, but... THE HOUSE IS STILL THERE. by the grace of God and good neighbors.
i guess it's a common mental exercise- "what would you take if you had to evacuate?" and i realized that the things that i worried about the most, after i knew my family was safe, were memories- the piano that suffered through years of painful dissonant practice, our photo albums, my summer cooling spot on the living room couch directly in line with the AC vent, the collection of disney videotapes that helped us survive the years without tv. i can't even imagine what all of those who lost their homes this past week must be feeling. but there is hope- those phantom neighbors really reaffirmed my faith in humanity... we'll all pull together and rebuild.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
at long last...
i chose a winner. after years of feeling disenfranchised, and in fact never getting the president of my choice for as long as i've been able to vote... years of feeling disgusted, discouraged, and actively considering a move to another country...
finally.
yes we can.
obama/biden '08
finally.
yes we can.
obama/biden '08
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