It just doesn't make sense... A Rant on the Western Medical Industry

Er - it's true that even though most of us live in a country where free speech is valued and practiced, we tend to be a bit wary of the more litigious aspects of society. I highly doubt that anything I wrote below would present a problem to anyone, but since any member of the public could come across this website, let me just be frank and say that the following material is comprised of my personal opinions. Please do not construe any of the below as advice; I am in no way qualified to advise on medical matters.

It just doesn't make sense. God designed the body; He did a fantastic job doing so, putting in place a system that regulates itself - analyzing and adjusting to the various needs it comes across, pulling from the various resources of nutrients that it has available to cleanse, repair, and optimize it's various departments in a ceaseless cycle that continues whether or not it is appreciated. This cycle continues undaunted even when the body is not given the best choices of fuel and tools with which to work. When various tools are missing, however, problems arise.

That's how it works, basically; that's the health model simplified. Now I know there's complicating elements to be thrown in to the equation - viruses, bacteria, lifestyle, hereditary weaknesses, etc. - but in general that's the system that God put in place. This is where my first big beef with the western medical industry lies - for all practical purposes it denies this basic health model. Oh, I know that every doctor breathing acknowledges that exercise is good for you and you should avoid junk food; but where the rubber meets the road - treatment - they practice a symptom-treatment program. Treat the symptom. Perhaps you have a headache; there could be a million reasons why - and you should examine them. Maybe you're dehydrated and you should drink some water, perhaps you injured your spine in a collision and you need to have your vertebrae adjusted, perhaps you're deficient in a vitamin, the list goes on and on. Now, you could analyze your situation and come up with adjustments to your situation in an attempt to rectify the situation - or you could take an aspirin. Why not? You don't have to sit down and think about the details, it's an easy fix, and the pain goes away. Never mind that your head still hurts - you just can't feel it. That's the western medical mindset. Have arthritis? Take a pain pill. Are the joints in your body still rubbing painfully on each other? Yes, but never mind, you can't feel it at the moment. Have heartburn? Take something to quell the acid production in the stomach. Why can't we trace the problem back a little further and take a look at what's causing the problem? When you take a purple pill for your heartburn - you chemically instruct your body to turn off all that acid production at the pumps. However, your body's still calling for it; thus, when you quit taking your purple pill, the pumps turn back on, and the acid is back. Your body is calling for the acid. Imagine this scenario. The next time someone has heartburn, they drink two ounces of apple-cider vinegar (I know, I can't stand the stuff either). Excess acid in the stomach, the body says "Hey, we're good on this acid stuff," the pumps turn back, and the heartburn goes away. Amazing.

"Why the rant and rave?" you ask. All of this stuff is more predominant on my mind of late because of some of my health struggles recently and dealings with my doctor. I've been having some fatigue issues as well as some muscle weirdness - and my doctor has discovered a slight elevation in TSH, a hormone which acts as the messenger when the brain wants the thyroid to produce. His solution is to take a synthetic hormone to fill in what the thyroid is not producing - the brain will see the difference has been made up, it won't call for as much, and my TSH goes back down. It's great math, and I'm sure it works that way, but it's symptom treatment. Can't we go back to the thyroid itself and ask it why it's not producing? To see what it's missing that it needs? I don't blame my doctor for his perspective, and I won't even pretend to know more about medical matters than he does - after all he's the one who went to school for how many years - but you would think that somebody would be able to step back and look at the medical industry as a whole and notice that it's been reduced largely to a pill-assigning program. I believe the vast majority of doctors mean well. I'm not nearly as confident about the motives of those behind the industry, those funding the research and education that the doctors receive.

I know for a fact that natural health works. Teri and I have changed our diet pretty radically from the standard American fare, and we've noticed corresponding changes in our health, how we feel. I've had past experiences in my life where the doctor has said "You look fine," and someone else has had to give me advice on natural health before I felt fine. Obviously there's a place for pills and surgery, obviously. You're not going to patch up a car-accident victim with dietary change, and you're not going to stop a heart attack with proper nutritional and herbal supplements; preventing a heart attack, now that's a different matter... No, I'm not dead-set against taking a synthetic hormone supplement - just almost. I'm involved with some natural remedies right now (I know some of you just read "quack" instead of the word "natural") - and if I don't have success I'll have to re-evaluate my plan of action - what else can I do? But I won't - I can't - pop the pill as my first choice. I know it's not right; I can feel it's not right; so, I investigate my alternatives.

You don't have to agree with me - most people don't - and I don't mind that. It's not my job to change your mind on this stuff, and I love you anyway; I just wanted to rant.

Ah, that's better (although not all that could be said on the matter - by a long shot). It's getting a bit late so I'd best trundle off to bed. I'm running sound for a wedding tomorrow so I must make sure I'm looking awake and enthusiastic. It's a double wedding: two sisters are marrying two brothers. In all probability this will definitely be the only time I ever have this experience.

God bless,
--Nick

Ahhhh, vacation!

Of course, there's no way around it: vacation is nice.

We're doing well down here in our little Florida world. The semester finally finished up - and we survived the whole thing (praise the Lord!). It really wasn't bad as far as semesters go, but things do tend to get busy at the end and this semester was no exception. Teri and I both had the privilege of being in the Fine Arts play that the college produces at the end of the semester. I am usually involved with the productions from the technical standpoint of working on the sound crew (part of my job), but this semester I traded that in for a costume and hit the stage as one of the twin Dromios in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors; Teri was the lovely lady Abbess. It was an awful lot of fun taking part in the production, we both have a very real acting streak and we miss the stage after an extended absence, and it was very nice to have both of us involved - we actually got to see each other even when the schedule was gearing up closer and closer to performance. Don't let anyone tell you that acting is not a lot of work - it is, but it's also highly rewarding work if it's in your blood at all. We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves even in the fevered pitch of busyness. But, as is often the case with things that require a lot of work, we were not entirely sad to see the performances end. It's one thing if your involvement with a production represents most of your responsibilities in life, but it's another thing entirely (as is the case for most non-professionals out there) if your involvement is only one more item on your list of things to attend to in a day. Working all day and working all evening does get a bit wearisome at times, so it is not without some feelings of relief and gratefulness that we relegate the semester's performances to memory.

After the semester ends we have a two-week post-term schedule - so our lives returned to normal work as well as some course wrap-up time (this all felt like a vacation in itself simply from the absence of constantly having to be somewhere). After our post-term ended we began our summer vacation week - which we're in the middle of now. On Tuesday we'll wade back into the waters of productive labor, but for now we are thoroughly enjoying pretending to be retired. We took last weekend and made a road trip out to Louisiana where we visited my Grandparents. We hadn't seen them in a while, so it was good to relax and spend some time with them as well as other family who managed to stop in as well. Pictured above is my wife, myself, my mother, my cousin, and my grandmother (she goes by "Nan," I've never called her "grandmother" in my life). Cousin Christopher happened to be near the area picking up his spiffy new ride (which we're all standing in front of), so it was great to see him again after about six years. Things are usually pretty low key when this side of the family gets together, but that suited Teri and me just fine. A little reading, a little tube watching, some conversation, a little wandering around Natchitoches (no, it's pronounced "Nack'-i-desh"), and some Louisiana cookin' made for a wonderful weekend.

Now we're back in Pensacola and planning out the rest of our vacation on the home front, and despite the fact that we're at home, it feels every bit a real vacation (although I did cancel a dentist appointment this morning simply because it didn't seem like something I wanted to do on vacation). Tuesday we hit the outlet malls in a little town about an hour from here and did a bit of bargain shopping; today we ran out to the Naval Air museum and took in a couple of IMAX shows; tomorrow we're going to try to hit the beach and do a bit of parasailing and perhaps rent a jetski; and Friday we're thinking of hitting Mobile and poking our noses in their museum, strolling through their flower gardens, and perhaps touring the USS Alabama or checking out their art museum. All in all a fun little collection of things that we don't normally take the time to do.

After the "retirement" is over (Tuesday), we'll settle back down into a working routine, gather our wits about us, and attempt to be productive and profitable with our summer time. As Ecclesiastes says, there is a time for everything. When the fall semester rolls back around we'll be more than ready for it, excited about leaping back into things and getting the chance to impact lives, but for now, it is good to relax.

God bless, --Nick

The Beat Goes On

Okay, so it's actually a constant vibration and not so much of a beat, but nevertheless, I'm ready for it to stop. Nick and I have managed to plop ourselves in a home surrounded by four separate construction sites, and the nearby heavy bull-dozing vehicles are about to drive me up the wall. (Unfortunately, my walls are just as unsteady as my shaking floors.) I'm not entirely sure which site is responsible for the vibration of our block, but the disturbance occurs most afternoons and evenings. In a way, it's almost amusing to walk into the kitchen and hear all your dishes rattling. It reminds me of the scene from Mary Poppins where the Banks family must, at certain times of the day, hold onto everything that could topple in their house when the crazy old navy captain on their roof fires the cannon up there. (Or something like that -- it's been a while since I've seen it.) The family is so used the ordeal that they hardly even acknowledge the occurrence and just go on with normal conversation with one hand on a vase and the other holding the hutch closed. In my home, nothing is actually in danger, and there's no exploding noise to damage my ears. It is a little wearisome, however, trying eat dinner with a quivering stomach.
Annoyances aside, I am thankful for the construction, honest! Some of the work is widening a much-used road to eliminate the constant clogged backup. Another site is constructing the annex to the sport center on campus. This exciting addition will provide for our students rock-climbing, a flow rider, and other nifty things I don't remember at the moment. So the rumbling beneath my feet is beneficiary. I just need to remember that. And thank my God for all the blessings I do have, instead of complaining about petty grievances.
A while back I was enjoying the blossoming trees outside my office building as I walked up to the back entrance. The wind was blowing gently, causing both blooming petals and aroma to waft my way. I ask you, who wouldn't be swept with glee to stroll beneath a fragrant blossoming tree with petals swirling around you on a lovely spring morning with blue sky above and -- Then I spied the construction on the roof of the building over to my left. I was tempted for a slight moment to roll my eyes in disgust of the noise and grime and all, but the ugliness somehow seemed unimportant in light of the beauty above me. Returning my thoughts to the trees, I simply reminded myself to "look up, Teri. Keep your focus up!"

"I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1,2

How Happy is Spring

In honor of this lovely month, I wanted to share a poem that I enjoy. I often perform this playful lyric for Freshman Speech Lecture or my Oral Interpretation of Poetry class as an example of proper delivery. Those of you who read my April 11 post will understand why I like it.


April
by Marcia Masters


It's Lemonade, it's lemonade, it's daisy,
It's a roller-skating, scissor-grinding day;
It's gingham-waisted, chocolate flavored,lazy,
With the children flower-scattered at their play.

It's the sun like watermelon,
And the sidewalks overlaid
With a glaze of yellow yellow
Like a jar of marmalade.

It's the mower gently mowing,
And the stars like startled glass,
While the mower keeps on going
Through a waterfall of grass.

Then the rich magenta evening
Like a sauce upon the walk,
And the porches softly swinging
With a hammockful of talk.

It's the hobo at the corner
With his lilac-sniffing gait,
And the shy departing thunder
Of the fast departing skate.

It's lemonade, it's lemonade, it's April!
A water sprinkler, puddle winking time,
When a boy who peddles slowly, with a smile remote and holy,
Sells you April chocolate flavored for a dime.

Teri

"Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy"

Guest preacher Bill Fennell delivered a convicting message tonight about faith. He defined faith as "obeying God even when it isn't logical, comfortable, or desirable." He spoke out of Hebrews 11, and touching on the second part of verse six, told a story about his young son, Trevor.
His family was at the dinner table and Trevor asked "Daddy, may I have some potato chips please?" Pastor Fennell responded, "Yes, you may." But Trevor didn't take any. Then he asked again, "Daddy, may I please have some potato chips?" "Absolutely, Trevor, take some chips." Trevor responded, "No Daddy, I want you to give them to me, you have bigger hands."
Oh, how wise and happy the Christian who will cease from trying to attain the things he wants and just obey God and let Him do the blessing. He's better at it anyway.

Teri

A Few of My Favorite Things

I (Teri) was walking home today, when I was arrested by one of my favorite spring/summer-time aromas -- that of freshly cut grass. It came so suddenly, I had to stop right where I was when I caught the first whiff and just savor the moment. I like earthy smells. Always have. Tilled sod for gardening, rain-soaked ground, pine needles, hay bales, etc. They're among my favorites in a world of colorful fragrances.
Somewhere between 4th and 8th grade, I studied the art of creative writing. My mom had to practically pull teeth to get me to reproduce thoughts on paper, and to this day, writing is not an activity I enjoy. However, I love to READ most types of literature, poetry or prose, and I thoroughly enjoyed some of the exercises from my textbook used to stimulate the writer's awareness of sensory images. Exercises included thinking of all the sounds your hear in a season, or associated with a particular holiday.(go ahead, try it, it's fun! example: summer= lawnmower, lawn sprinklers, fireworks, swimming pool splashes, children shouting "ready or not, here I come!", wind rushing through leaf-laden aspens, the trilling ominousness of rumbling thunder, etc.) Another was to use sensory images in poetic form to describe an emotion. (I think I tried to depict sadness as a slowly melting ice cream cone... or something) Sights, sounds, textures, and tastes are all glorious blessings, but there's nothing quite like smells to really communicate an image. To me, a smell is not just a smell, it's an experience. The heady sweetness of lilacs, husky campfire woodsmoke, sharp Christmas pine, comfortable fresh-baked bread, country breeze-dried laundry, musty wisdom of old books, the crisp excitement of new ones -- I could go on and on. All of these smells are associated with an experience. When I enjoy a fragrance, it is not an isolated incident, it brings me somewhere. This is one reason why I like poetry so much; a great deal of imagery contained in a small space.
When I smell mown grass I can't help but remember my childhood summertime revelries when my dad mowed our lawn. Sometimes he would mow it in a triangular pattern which, when he first began, created a labyrinth of mown strips. Through the pathways of cut lawn, I chased or was chased by my older sister. Or we would invent some adventurous story wherein our characters had to courageously find our way through the maze without being overcome by the lawnmower.... Our shrieking and giggling continued tirelessly until dusk had settled or so much of the lawn was mowed that pathways no longer existed. Then, contentedly weary, we would tumble into the bath to wash away the itchy grass and green-stained feet.
I once read in a science book that of all our senses, the sense of smell was most closely linked to our memories. I believe it.
How marvelous it is to be blessed with all my senses! These abilities make life so much more livable.
Now I can smell dinner in the oven, which reminds me of... my need to set the table. ;)

God bless!
Teri

In A World...

Our lives are so much more adventurous than we let on...