gdp's Comments

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:51:58 +0000

Otherwise known as The Fox News Handbook of Journalizm.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:44:56 +0000

It's very possible mine was mixed or injected improperly.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:42:04 +0000

Truth. At the district hospital I visited, people were lined up for days to get their chance at accessing a very, very limited supply of vaccines. Unfortunately, (and this part really broke my heart) they did not have access to anti-tetanus serum and the young child we saw passed away very shortly after we were there. All from a tiny little scrap on the back of his heel.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:32:49 +0000

That's what we ended up doing, particularly when it came down to the live vaccines. It was a very limited delay (like, a month or so) and difficult in the sense that you're going for shots far more often. BUT. They're still covered by the provincial health-care plan whether you do them all at once or not. I have some issues with Dr. Sears, but I actually found his Vaccine Book to be very useful. Basically: the diseases you're vaccinating against are terrible, so don't skip them, but if you INSIST (which, a lot of his patients do), then these ones are most likely to fuck you up.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:14:30 +0000

Sorry, lady. It was rill, rill bad. Like, bruises for days. Varicella, in comparison, was almost undetectable.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:11:04 +0000

I don't know if it's the same in the US, but in Canada people who work with vulnerable populations are usually required to provide proof of immunity to certain communicable diseases. This is usually done via antibody titre and the Ministry of Health would set a minimum level at which a person would be considered 'immune'. My MMR titre was very, very low, and I even had mumps as a kid! In sum: bodies are weird.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:06:49 +0000

I just had mine done and it hurt like a bastid.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:04:42 +0000

Ah, yes. Dr. Offit and I are well acquainted. On paper, I mean.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 19:02:07 +0000

I get that, I really do. I'm vehemently pro-vax and still hemmed and hawed over a delayed schedule. The science can be overwhelming. But that was an entirely personal struggle and not one that needs to be made public in the effort to 'educate' or help others. It's yet another example of unchecked individualism and placing the perceived well being of oneself and ones' family over the collective. And it distracts time and resources from legitimate research into the etiology of autism. Which directly affects all of us.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 18:06:58 +0000

It took me 20 minutes to unwrap everything. On the plus side, I didn't have to buy my stapler back via the vending machine.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:59:15 +0000

Have you read 11/22/63? I mean, it's as verbose as any of his later work, but still very enjoyable.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:54:27 +0000

He truly is. And such a nice dude! Incidentally, I went to school with his nephew, also named Rohinton. (We just called him Ro-Ro).

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:02:46 +0000

Especially the unrefrigerated mac and cheese left on your desk all day that you decide to eat anyway in a moment of desperation. NEVER FORGET.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 17:00:07 +0000

"If people don't vaccinate their kids, they should be prohibited from sending those kids to public schools." Agreed, wholeheartedly.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 16:55:42 +0000

I'm still smouldering. Quick, someone get a bucket of sand.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 16:54:45 +0000

The media shares in so much of the blame, here, because they (we), by necessity are always looking for 'the other side of the story' and presenting it as if it has an equal, valid weight. There are no 'two sides' to the vaccine debate. That we can even make a "choice" to not vaccinate our children reeks of unchecked privilege. I'm sure the mothers I met in Uganda, watching their children die of Tetanus (!) and Diptheria would have given anything for the excess stock of vaccines left behind every time yet another armchair MD took them for granted.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 16:39:14 +0000

"On Writing" is so, so good.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 16:38:01 +0000

The Road, and A Fine Balance, both. I had to intercut my readings with fluffy stuff to keep from slitting my own wrists.

Crasstalk : Friday Open Thread

Fri, 16 Aug 2013 15:40:02 +0000

I came in this morning, on my last official day of work, to this. Everything individually wrapped, down to the last pen. So help me, I think I'm going to miss these goofballs! <img src="http://i.imgur.com/bzyotLi.jpg" title="Hosted by imgur.com" />

Crasstalk : Tuesday Open Thread

Tue, 13 Aug 2013 18:25:48 +0000

Guess who just bought a one-way ticket to the cat circus!