Hi gang, does every one feel like they're living in a movie, "Dr. Strangelove's Grapes of Wrath"? And to top it off, Gracie, the sweet orphan kitten showed up with a chewed up foot this morning. Patient home, and purring. But still...
Cathy, thanks for the scoop on the HC system. I wondered, are the subjects you warn visiters of discussing, very much discussed among Canadians. In popular news mags, national, regional papers. Is it a campaign issue?
Back in early 90's I heard that part of the trade agreement signed by Kinnock, or whatever that conservative guys name was, was a change in the way pharmacuetical patents were treated. That C. patents had lasted seven years, but would now last 21 yrs, as with US patents on drugs. I heard that this act alone had greatly escalated costs. Familiar with this? I wonder if that was a public debate.
About the cultural context of disease, I understand that these ideas, like most, are generally put to bad use by those in power, but I have actually had the opposite experiences, and doctors didn't want to hear that either.
Please understand, I don't suffer from anything as serious as CFS, unless this back thing gets radical on a regular basis. The chiropractor doesn't buy the cultural context(emotional), I suspect as a source.
Also, four or five times in the past, my body has broken out, I've had my hands and feet covered in water blisters, once at a Green's Gathering when I was determined to speak out, though I was unaccustomed to that, and I saw a couple of much more articulate people get swatted down, in a really ugly way, my eyes actually swelled shut, and I had to go to the ER.
I know why I had these reactions. I felt the explosions in my stomach, and I've lived the life of paralysis, the absence of ambition, that I was suddenly abandoning, or at least trying to. But the doctors only thought of food, fungus' and that sort of thing.
The cultural context is pretty evident really. The gender, power, and class issues in my nuclear family had been facinateing me, since I was about six. I got over it, when I was 46, sort of, but I couldn't even get the docs to consider stress.
I chalk it up to the arrogance of hyper-credentialism and the torture chamber of medical education. I've only had one doctor who didn't fit this catagory to some degree.
Incidently, I've had to pay for everything that helped me. In addition to my own, non-deductable insurance premiums. My mother's family were canucks, which I think must be derogatory as I remember my father using it.
Maybe they'd let me back into Canada, heh?
As far as Canadian's being boring-not in my limited exposure. No matter where I've been on vacation, it seems that if ya run into some Canadians, you'll find a cooler place to stay, better places to eat, etc, and for much less money. I always try to hang with Canadians when I'm away from home.
Sorry about the ramble, up half the night with the cats, and a bunch of mad men on drugs seem to be in control of the world. Luckily, the pansies and camilias are in roaring good spirits.
smooches Paula