Last night, I felt kind of cruddy but nothing exceptional. This morning I woke up and thought I was dying. I had my first EVER migraine and it pretty much crippled me - as in I couldn't open my eyes and every little sound made my head feel like someone was smashing it in with sledghammer. Zeke was carrying a plastic cereal bag around and it sounded like a billion plastic bags at war. Add to that, extreme morning sickness puking, not being able to hold ANYTHING down and you've got a very unhappy me. Daniel called the Maternal Health Clinic for me (my midwife's office) and they were closed. They paged the doctor on call and said he would call us back. That was oh....eleven or twelve this morning? He has yet to call back. Good thing I wasn't waiting on him or anything.

We decided to go ahead and go on to the ER. They got me checked in and into a room fairly quickly. The doctor came in and assessed me. He said it was a migraine (which we figured) and it could have been caused by many different things: horomone levels, stress, the morning sickness, etc. I was also a bit dehydrated from having not eaten so they gave me half a bag of fluid for that and Demerol & Finagrin for the nausea and pain. They pumped it in fast and it definitely took effect! Baby Number Two is perfectly fine, nothing wrong there - which relieved me greatly! I got to feeling better after awhile and they released me, told me to go home and rest for the rest of the evening, sleep and try and eat something. They also gave me Tylenol with Codeine for the residual pain which has really helped out too. Daniel stayed home with me tonight and took care of Zeke so I didn't have to be up running around after him. I came home and slept until about 9:30, hence why I am awake now!

Having never had migraines before, I can definitely sympathize with anyone who has them now! They are definitely not something to mess around with. I was going to write more but I think I am going to head to bed. I'll try and write some more posts later...if not have a good weekend!

I spent a good portion of my day driving my son to the E.R. in a neighboring town.  Our little town is too small to have one and our pediatrician thought he should go to the nearest E.R.  His heart was racing and it wouldn't slow down.  He complained of chest pains.  I didn't panic.  It's done it before but we all have that happen sometimes, right?  But it had been fluttering for over an hour and I could tell he was starting to feel bad.

The nearest E.R. is about 30 minutes away.  My parents happen to live in the same town where I was going so I called my mom and asked her to keep my 3 year old daughter while I was in the E.R. with my son.  She agreed and said she'd just meet me there so that I wouldn't have to take her in with us.  Well, when I got there, my mom insisted on coming in with us.  Frankly, it pissed me off.  I understand her concern for her grandson but I knew the hospital would freak out my daughter.  Guess what happened?  She saw them start to hook her brother up to lots of cords and machines and it scared the crap out of her.  She got really upset and started crying.  I knew that would happen.  My mom never listens to me.  So I said "Mom, I want her to leave.  I knew this would scare her."  Mom took her to her house.

After two hours of monitoring, EKG, chest X ray, IV, blood work, and medication, they let us go.  All of these things done on my poor little boy.  His heartbeat was 190-200 beats per minute when we got there and after it came down it stayed at 110-115 for over an hour.  Apparently, the X ray was clear, and the blood work showed nothing.  The doctor said that there was more blood work he could do but it wouldn't be back for days so he wasn't going to do it.  He had spoken to a pediatric cardiologist at OU Children's Hospital who said my son could go home if he was seen by the cardiologist first thing next week (after the holiday of course).

We went home.  I called our pediatrician.  He's the best damn doctor on the face of the planet.  Seriously.  I wish he was my doctor.  He said we did the right thing and that the only bad thing was we were going to have to wait a long weekend before we could get him seen by the specialist.  He said my son could not go to the county fair tonight and ride the carnival rides, he should sit out from soccer practice on Monday night, and just take it easy until he saw the doctor next week.  So do you think that means he is assuming my son will get to see the doctor early next week?  Because that is what I am expecting after what I was told at the hospital.

If you want to see a doctor at OU Children's Hospital, you'd better have your doctor call for you.  They won't even give you the time of day if you are just some regular old person calling.  They pass you around from person to person for a while before they finally tell you this though.  Our pediatrician had his nurse call to get the appointment and she did - on September 30.  I agreed to this and then I hung up the phone and thought about it.  I talked to my husband and we both felt that our son should be seen sooner.  I mean, that's what we were led to believe needed to be done by more than one doctor.  So I called our pediatrician back and begged the nurse to please call the hospital back to see if they could get him in sooner.  (I had already tried and they wouldn't even give me the numer to the cardiologist's office.)  She told me that she wasn't happy with the fact that they scheduled my son for an appointment over a month away either but they wouldn't listen.  She will ask our pediatrician to call the cardiologist.  Maybe that will work.  There are several of them in the practice and he is friends with half of them.

So I have a son with supraventricular tachycardia.  That was the diagnosis.  I'm not sure what it means exactly.  And I'm not sure if I should worry.  My husband says he's not really worried.  So what the hell do we do?  Pray that our pediatrician can work his magic to get my son in sooner?

Today I am actually quite pleased. It is the first time I have had stitches that can't be attributed to my own clumsiness.

Do you see the ugly looking point on the right side of that lock? That just went through my hand.

In a complete accident during a game, I had my hand on that and a kid happened to kick it from the other side and it went through.

I am actually delighted for a few reasons.

1. Very luckily there was no serious damage to tendons or anything.

2. I now know what the inside of my hand looks like because he squeezed it in the hospital to look for tendon damage and some of it glooped out and back in.

3. For once I got some stitches without it being my own clumsy bastard fault.

4. I can now apply for Padre Pios job [the old fraud] because I am half qualified for it now.

But the serious point is that if you have ever been to an accident and emergency department with something minor then you quickly blow it off because the other people you see in the department are definitely having a much worse time than you.

Well... thats what happened to me today.

The other bed is now also occupied. It is occupied by One.
The Patient wakes.

ONE: And on the third day he rose. Hear ye, hear ye.

PATIENT: Where am I?

ONE: There where the shades repose.
Lunch is at six.

Pause.

PATIENT: What time is it now?

ONE: Six.

Pause.

PATIENT: And who are you?

ONE: I am One.

Fade to black.

I was back in hospital having chemotherapy. I now only have one more cycle to go before they complete another x-ray and decide if they are to complete more chemotherapy or operate to remove the tumour. However, because I now have had 4 cycles of chemo I am really beginning to feel the side effects. I am still suffering from horrendous nausea and vomiting due to the drugs used but a combination of ondansetron and cyclizine is helping but I tend to have that horrible metallic ''just about to vomit' excess saliva feeling in my mouth most of the time. My hair is beginning to fall out which isn't good news for a girl who is a trichotillomaniac and can pull an awful lot of her hair out without even realising it, although I have noticed that as my hair falls out onto my pillow or over my shoulders the need to pull at my own hair has lessened. My immune system is also beginning to become worn down. I am suffering from being thrown by simple things like a minor cold, in fact they were worried about a week ago that I had picked up my Mum's pharangitis and would need monitoring. The only thing I have noticed from having a weakened immune system is that I am having to really look after the sutures that are in place in my legs at present and I feel very run down and tired. That's not tired in a lethargic way but tired in a feeling ill way, like you do when you have 'flu or a bad cold.

In other news I am still feeling very depressed but got home to discover that the valve on the radiator in my bathroom has been leaking whilst I was in hospital and as no one has been in there since Tuesday morning the carpet is absolutely sodden and is now beginning to smell as it dries out, which isn't particularly pleasant. I haven't heard anything from the CMHT or any part of the mental health services. It seems as if I have disappeared off the radar after seeing Gavin nearly two weeks ago. I find this shocking as it is only 2 weeks since I was discharged from hospital and my supposed 'care plan' disintegrated within 72 hours of being released. A part of me wants to tell them to stick their care and attention because if they only want to see me when I'm acutely unwell or when I pitch up into A&E (although on Monday they didn't even bother) then clearly I am well enough to stumble through my own mess and sort myself out. However, I know from past experience that I'm not very ood at coping on my own so I will continue to wait, patiently, or as patiently as I can.

I have to make an appointment with the practice nurse next week to get the sutures out and to have a blood test. I also have to see my GP to get a repeat prescription so these will be ideal times to mention the lack of support and see if they can push it along any faster. I don't hold out much hope though, which is sad because although Gavin wasn't the 'wonder boy' that everyone had made him out to be, he did seem a decent guy who did as he promised (contacting me to let me know what would happen). Maybe something has got lost somewhere along the line. There are a variety of things that could have happened and I guess I need to stop being so paranoid as to assume that I am not worthy or care and support.

Ruth

Two beds in a hospital.
In one the Patient is asleep.
The other is empty.
Beside the empty one is a mirror.
The Patient wakes and looks around; he tries to get out of bed but it is too much effort.
He remains sitting on its side.
He looks at one arm, then the other; he lifts his shirt and finds he is covered in bandages.
He touches them and grimaces in pain.
He sees the mirror and tries to glimpse himself in it, but it is too far away.
He finally manages to glimpse just one of his arms, by raising it high enough.
Fade to black.

Banheiro masculino no pavimento térreo do hospital Barra D'or, na Barra da Tijuca - Rio de Janeiro

Pra cagar: No perrengue vai, não?

Guarda-volume: Não.

Deficiente fisico: Vergonhosamente não.

Cabines: -

Adicionais: O leitor reclamou do piso urinado e do mau cheiro. Alertou também a falta de papel para as mãos e sabonete.

El PP advierte de que el retraso de la obra demorará la apertura del hospital

Nieto espera que Salud no reduzca las especialidades "como hizo en Puente Genil"

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="335" caption="terrenos hospital"][/caption]

El presidente del Partido Popular de Córdoba, José Antonio Nieto, criticó el retraso que a su juicio acumulan las obras del Hospital Comarcal Valle del Guadiato. El dirigente visitó el centro de alta resolución (Chare) ubicado en Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo y avanzó que "no creemos que el hospital vaya cumplir los plazos y esté abierto para finales de año", que es el plazo que maneja la Consejería de Salud.

El dirigente popular afirmó que van a estar pendientes tanto del continente del hospital como del contenido, refiriéndose tanto a la infraestructuras como a los servicios. "No queremos que en el Guadiato ocurra al igual que en Puente Genil, donde el número de las especialidades es menor que las que se habían dicho en un principio", aseveró Nieto, para quien "la Junta no se está tomando en serio las necesidades de los ciudadanos, se han dado ocho fechas de inauguración y ésta aún no se ha producido". En cuanto al centro de salud peñarriblense, manifestó que espera que no se cierre y se deriven las consultas al hospital, ya que dijo que este tipo de espacios cumplen una labor importante en materia sanitaria.

El Chare de Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo será gestionado por la empresa pública Alto Guadalquivir, una entidad que ya es responsable de los hospitales de Montilla y Puente Genil. De hecho, el proceso de selección de personal indefinido se cerró hace apenas dos meses con la recepción de más de 2.400 solicitudes, que optan a 58 plazas no médicas, es decir, para las categorías de administrativo, auxiliar de enfermería, enfermería, celador y técnico especialista. El hospital atenderá a una población de 25.000 personas, dispondrá de una capacidad máxima de 36 camas, 18 consultas en acto único y dos quirófanos, que permitirán realizar unas 1.500 intervenciones quirúrgicas anuales.

El presidente de los populares y parlamentario andaluz criticó también que con dinero del Plan Miner se estén haciendo infraestructuras en la comarca, como es el caso del hospital comarcal o carreteras como La Ballesta. También puso en duda la eficacia de los planes de empleo que se están poniendo en marcha en el Guadiato, como el Atipe. "Peñarroya tienen en la actualidad 1.207 desempleados", abundó.

EL DIA DE CÓRDOBA

]]> http://kashmir.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/gujrat-in-kashmir/ Fri, 29 Aug 2008 12:48:40 +0000 K http://kashmir.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/gujrat-in-kashmir/

"I pleaded before the troopers that I am expecting a baby and have to immediately reach the hospital. But they hit my stomach and private parts with rifle butts and batons. I helplessly cried for mercy but they continued to thrash me. Finally I started to bleed profusely and fell unconscious," she said and broke down.

Source Greater Kashmir

What can you say about a woman eight months pregnant who begged to be spared. Her assailants instead slit open her stomach, pulled out her fetus and slaughtered it before her eyes.

Source Boloji

But this then is the character of the Nation called India, it matters not whether the assailants are wearing government approved uniforms or not, they have the approval from the corridors of power. Be it the blue turbaned Manmohan Singh or the poet Atal Behari.

O Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) completou 20 anos em 2008. Fomos aos hospitais perguntar aos médicos se eles acreditam no Sistema.

O neurocirurgião Silvério de Almeida, por exemplo, disse que o Sistema Único de Saúde é que proporciona a melhor forma de atendimento para a maioria da população. “O SUS bem administrado poderá dar uma qualidade de saúde boa para a população, desde que bem gerenciado,” completa.

Daniella Carvalho Louro, médica especializada em clínica geral e gastro, diz que o SUS teria mais sucesso se a verba destinada ao Sistema não fosse desviada. “Acho que o SUS tem futuro, mas precisa ser mais elaborado.”

Estas e outras entrevistas estão disponíveis no vídeo abaixo

“Asuransi syariah adalah usaha saling melindungi dan tolong-menolong di antara sejumlah orang, melalui investasi dalam bentuk aset dan/atau Tabarru’ yang memberikan pola pengembalian untuk menghadapi risiko tertentu melalui akad yang sesuai dengan syariah”.
Dewan Syariah Nasional - Majelis Ulama Indonesia (DSN-MUI)

Apakah PRUsyariah?

Asuransi yang dikaitkan dengan investasi berbasis syariah, yang terdiri dari PRUlink syariah assurance account dan PRUlink syariah investor account.
Produk ini sudah sesuai dengan Ketentuan Fatwa Dewan Syariah Nasional - Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI).

Manfaat PRUlink syariah assurance account :

• Manfaat pertanggungan meninggal (Death Benefit)
• Manfaat Cacat Total dan Tetap (Total and Permanent Disability)
• Dapat menambahkan nilai uang pertanggungan (sum covered) setiap saat
• Dapat melakukan penambahan kontribusi tabungan (top-up) setiap saat
• Dapat menentukan sendiri besarnya komposisi dari nilai proteksi dan nilai investasi
• Dapat melakukan pengalihan dana (fund switching)
• Pilihan manfaat asuransi tambahan (riders) yang beragam

Asuransi Dasar pertanggungan meninggal PRUlink syariah

Manfaat meninggal dan cacat tetap total yang diberikan jika Peserta Utama meninggal sebelum atau sama dengan usia 99 tahun, diberikan sebesar manfaat asuransi PAAsyariah dan nilai tunai.

12 Asuransi Tambahan (riders) PRUlink syariah

PRUcrisis cover syariah 34
Memberikan uang pertanggungan PRUcrisis cover syariah 34 apabila Peserta Utama menderita dan memenuhi kriteria salah satu dari 34 kondisi kritis.

PRUcrisis cover benefit syariah 34
Memberikan uang pertanggungan PRUcrisis cover benefit syariah 34 apabila Peserta Utama menderita dan memenuhi kriteria salah satu dari 34 kondisi kritis atau meninggal dunia tanpa mengurangi uang pertanggungan dasar.

PRUpersonal accident death syariah
Memberikan manfaat tambahan apabila Peserta Utama meninggal dunia akibat kecelakaan.

PRUpersonal accident death & disablement syariah
Memberikan manfaat tambahan apabila Peserta Utama mengalami cacat total dan tetap atau meninggal dunia akibat kecelakaan.

PRUmed syariah
Manfaat tambahan yang memberikan tunjangan harian rawat inap, ICU dan pembedahan kepada Peserta Utama jika menjalani rawat inap di rumah sakit.

PRUhospital & surgical syariah
Manfaat tambahan yang memberikan penggantian seluruh biaya rawat inap, ICU dan pembedahan sesuai dengan manfaat yang diambil, selama Peserta Utama menjalani perawatan di rumah sakit.

PRUwaiver syariah 33
Jika Peserta Utama menderita dan memenuhi kriteria salah satu dari 33 kondisi kritis, PT Prudential Life Assurance akan melanjutkan pembayaran kontribusi dasar sampai berakhirnya masa pertanggungan yang dipilih.

PRUpayor syariah 33
Jika Peserta Utama menderita dan memenuhi kriteria salah satu dari 33 kondisi kritis, PT Prudential Life Assurance akan melanjutkan pembayaran seluruh kontribusi sampai berakhirnya masa pertanggungan yang dipilih.

PRUspouse waiver syariah 33
Jika suami/ istri dari Peserta Utama menderita dan memenuhi kriteria salah satu dari 33 kondisi kritis atau mengalami cacat total dan tetap sebelum usia 60 tahun atau meninggal dunia, PT Prudential Life Assurance akan melanjutkan pembayaran kontribusi dasar sampai berakhirnya masa pertanggungan yang dipilih.

PRUspouse payor syariah 33
Jika suami/ istri dari Peserta Utama menderita dan memenuhi kriteria salah satu dari 33 kondisi kritis atau mengalami cacat total dan tetap sebelum usia 60 tahun atau meninggal dunia, PT Prudential Life Assurance akan melanjutkan pembayaran seluruh kontribusi sampai berakhirnya masa pertanggungan yang dipilih.

PRUparent payor syariah 33
Jika ayah dan/ atau ibu dari Peserta Utama menderita dan memenuhi kriteria salah satu dari 33 kondisi kritis atau mengalami cacat total dan tetap sebelum usia 60 tahun atau meninggal dunia, PT Prudential Life Assurance akan melanjutkan pembayaran seluruh kontribusi sampai berakhirnya masa pertanggungan yang dipilih.

PRUlink term syariah
Manfaat tambahan uang pertanggungan meninggal selain asuransi dasar, yang diberikan jika Peserta Utama meninggal dunia sebelum usia 70 tahun.

3 Macam pilihan investasi PRUlink syariah assurance account yang dapat Anda pilih beserta risikonya masing-masing:

• PRUlink Syariah Rupiah Equity Fund. Investasi saham, risiko lebih tinggi.
• PRUlink Syariah Rupiah Managed Fund. Investasi seimbang, risiko sedang.
• PRUlink Syariah Rupiah Fixed Income Fund. Investasi obligasi, risiko sedang.

Dewan Pengawas Syariah Prudential beranggotakan:
• Dr. H. Anwar Ibrahim (Ketua)
• Ir. H. Adiwarman A. Karim, MBA, MAEP (Anggota)
• H. Ahmad Nuryadi Asmawi, LL.B, MA (Anggota)

]]> http://pbxmakesfour.wordpress.com/?p=292 Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:38:07 +0000 Clark http://pbxmakesfour.wordpress.com/?p=292 I'm back from the hospital, and Lazyboo has gone back to work for a few hours.

I was more than a bit freaked out this morning.  When I spoke to the midwife, she suggested that I pay more attention to the pain, and I noticed that while the dull ache is always there, it intensifies at regular intervals.  And when I took more notice, that seemed to happen every 10 minutes or so for about 1-2 minutes.  The midwife was worried that this meant they were contractions.

So at the hospital, we had both the baby and me monitored - all was very positive and good and where it should be for this stage.  Turns out the pain is mild contractions.  But my cervix is still closed and long, and I got a negative test for imminent labour.  The contractions are not strong enough to be a concern, and they're not really doing anything except annoy me.

The midwife and the doctor at the hospital were wonderful.  Very reassuring and supportive.  So while I still feel crappy, and still have pain, I have much less anxiety.  The boy is healthy and strong, nothing too serious is going on yet.

Lazyboo was so incredibly stressed out by all this.  But even she has calmed down a bit now, though I imagine that I'll be on enforced resting this weekend!  It was really great how she was included in everything this morning - they even asked her questions when I couldn't answer them.  Complete acceptance of her role as parent and partner.  That was also very reassuring.

Now I just need to get some sleep.  After I pick up the Princess and get her organised and off for her visit with R1 and R2.

Look at my bruiser.

Monday morning, at about 6 am, Charlie was running from the bathroom back to the bedroom when he tripped and landed on the corner of our wooden bed frame, with his forehead.

It bled. A lot.

The cut was so deep I couldn't bear to look at it without wincing.

So we took him to the ER, where he was a very cooperative patient, up until the surgeon began stitching his head. (I can't say as I blame him, surgeons are notorious for their poor bedside manner. This one was no different. He kept saying, "It's okay. It's okay." as blood spewed from my baby's forehead. That was so not okay.)

He got four deep stitches and eight exterior stitches. He had a black eye and a swollen "boo-boo" that gave him a headache.

But he was up for donuts soon after the stitches, and hasn't complained at all about changing his bandage once daily (at least).

That's my bruiser.

Of course, now my heart beats way too fast every time he runs, even when it's in the middle of an open green field, like this afternoon.

I had to bite my tongue to keep from yelling, "Don't run!" Because the park, of all places, is the place to run.

I hope we both recover from those stitches.

Summary: Last week Mom wasn't feeling very well and when she went for her regular chemo treatment they discovered that she had a low-grade fever.  Nothing alarming, but Dr. Lester (her primary oncologist) put her on an antibiotic as a precaution and she felt better almost immediately.  However, this past Sunday night she started feeling fatigued again.  They took blood on Monday at Dr. Lester's office to run tests on what kind of infection she might have, and by that night her fever had returned and rose to 101.5, so Dr. Lester immediately prescribed a different antibiotic. 

Tuesday morning she was scheduled for her brain MRI, but it was postponed by the anesthesiologist and they decided to keep her overnight at the hospital in order to get her temperature down.  She was given an even stronger antibiotic Tuesday night, which they expected to drop her temperature immediately -- and it did -- but when it rose again on Wednesday, the doctors knew they were dealing with a more serious infection than they had previously thought. 

 So ... over the past 48 hours we have discovered a few things:

One, the likely source of the infection is the port that she has installed in her upper chest area on the left side.  This is where they can inject chemotheraphy directly into a vein without having to search for one in her arm.  They can also draw blood from the port as well.  So it is good news that we may have isolated the source of the recurrent infection, but bad news that we have to remove the port since it is so helpful to her overall chemotherapy program.  (in case you are wondering why it is so hard to find a vein in her arm, it has to do with the chemotherapy that she received for her initial primary cancer treatments after her mastectomy.  The chemo that they used at that time was so powerful that it literally shrank her veins over time -- if we had known, we would have put in a port back then to save them.)  A surgeon will likely remove the port tomorrow morning, which is the first step to recovery.  In order to keep the ability to easily deliver the chemo, they will install a vein PICC ("pick") into her arm tomorrow as well.

Two, the port in her chest has also contributed to a blood clot in her left arm.  Mom noticed swelling in that arm this morning, which caused the doctors to perform a sonogram that led them to the blood clot.  We will likely find out more tomorrow about the course of treatment, but it will probably include blood thinning agents for some portion of time.  Ports are known to contribute to spontaneous clotting, and apparently cancer patients are more prone to them as well.  This clot was most likely the cause of her fever returning on Wednesday despite being on the strong antibiotics, so at least that mystery is solved. 

Mom won't be leaving the hospital until the doctors are satisfied that they have resolved the cause of the infection, or at least have made a big dent in it by driving away the fever and improving her overall health, so she will definitely be there a few more days at least.  We still need to know the exact bacterium, or bug, that is causing the infection -- right now they have it narrowed down enough to prescribe a broad antibiotic, but when the culture produces the specific bug they will be able to prescribe the exact antibiotic to kill it.  (It obviously takes quite a while for these blood cultures to develop in those petri dishes, since the samples were taken on Monday.) 

In short, the remaining steps before bringing Mom home are: 1) Remove infected port, install vein PICC; 2) Isolate bug causing infection; 3) Prescribe correct drug to kill it; 4) Kill it.

Mom is feeling okay considering everything that is going on, but these are powerful antibiotics and she is extremely tired.  Dad and I will be at Northern Westchester again tomorrow with her through all of these procedures, so I will try to post again tomorrow night with any updates.  Thanks for all of your support.

Love, Andrea

So, this most recent one is on problems with scanning GS1 barcodes at the NHS. Let's walk through the list of reasons provided. Now remember: this is not a joke. These are the examples cited. Please make sure you are not drinking coffee while you read this or you will be cleaning up your desk.

1) You have a ruined or unreadable barcode that can't be scanned. Well, duh, if its allowed to be applied to anything and its so degraded its unreadable, it won't get read. If it was ruined en route to the patient bedside, should it have been delivered? I mean, if the label is ruined. . . It's in violation of GS1 label quality standards. So your label printing is out of ink or the paper was loaded cock-eyed -- the label is the cause of that  problem?  Somebody manning a label printer somewhere should be spanked.  Oh, and the example of the patient eating the barcode wrist band -- weren't they supposed to have been restrained in the first place?

Score: barcode: 1, Researcher: 0

2) A single 20mg order is delivered as two 10mg containers and the system the barcode scanner is connected to refuses to allow the scan to be accepted. Okaaaaaay. Is it just me or does this reflect a total misunderstanding of how computer systems work? The barcode on a 10mg bottle is not going to match the order because it isn't what was ordered. Period. That's because they aren't the same, never were, never will be.  That's good news, folks. Perhaps if the system reconciling orders and administration at the bedside was a little better programmed (as in: oh, yeah, 10 + 10 = 20) it would accept the scan.

Score? Barcode: 2, Researcher: 0

3) Nonbarcoded medications dont have barcodes. Exhale slowly now. Yes, this was cited by the researchers. Err, let's see if I can muster a response where I'm not laughing at the same time: Um, yes, there probably is a problem with your barcode scenario at the patient bedside if you are attempting to scan something that has no barcode on it. What I don't understand is why this wasn't an example of a barcode positive . . . and I . . . really . . . don't know what else to add. (Although I had to edit out several jokes on this one, feel free to provide your own. It's shooting fish in a barrel.) This one should be worth double-points but no reason to pile on.

Score: Barcode: 3, Researcher: 0

4) Malfunctioning or broken scanners don't read barcodes. Okay, I realize the barcode has to get read but this is like blaming your car keys because your car broke down. I've posted about those crappy linear scanners and I know that's what hospitals are buying because they are cheap. They got all the value they paid for and that has nothing to do with the barcode.

Score: Barcode: 4, Researcher: 0

These were some of the top cited, so you can imagine where the quality of complaints goes from here.

I can go on but hopefully it's coming across clearly: barcodes are an enabling technology and if you don't enable them, they don't enable themselves. I do wish "researchers" would at least ask this question first when they look at "the evidence" they are compiling to produce their research report: does this anecdotal example pass the idiot stick test?

I agree there are serious issues with the wokflow around using linear scanners at the patient bedside. They should not be using cheap scanners if they are going to require scanned barcodes, among other things (all of the other things, in my mind, relate to workflow issues). Calling this a "plethora of problems" caused by the barcode itself isn't research, it's anecdotes dressed up as analysis.

[audio http://onineparty.free.fr/mp3/10%20So%20Here%20We%20Are.mp3] Bloc Party - "So Here We Are"

Italy police probe monastery raid

Police suspect the attackers were looking for money

Italian police are investigating a brutal attack on four Franciscan friars in a monastery in northern Italy.

Italian media are comparing Tuesday's attack, at the San Colombano Belmonte monastery near Turin, to the violence in the story A Clockwork Orange.

Three or four hooded attackers entered the monastery and bound and gagged the friars, the oldest of whom was 86.

One managed to raise the alarm two hours later, when he regained consciousness after being beaten.

"They unleashed an incredible level of violence against them," Gabriele Trivellin, in charge of Franciscan friars in the area, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

"It was wild and gratuitous violence because they did not resist the attack at all," he said.

The youngest friar injured - 49-year-old Sergio Baldin - is currently in hospital in a coma after suffering severe head injuries. The other three, who range in age from 76 to 86, are expected to be released from hospital in a month.

Police believe the motive may have been robbery, as some cash was stolen from the monastery during the attack.

But the only object of great value in the building - a golden crown which decorates a statue of the Madonna - was placed behind protective glass after the original was stolen two years ago.

INTRO

Little Ellis as we like to affectionately call him was born July 7, 2006. It was not an easy birth as we had to have an emergency caesarean section. My mother had a C-section with me and by far a more difficult birth, so I somehow always knew and prepared myself for that moment when they would tell me they needed to prep me for my own CS. As a matter of fact, I can remember voicing my concern to my new OB-GYN (my original retired after I FINALLY got pregnant~go figure) who then snobbishly told me that all CS's were emergencies and cannot be planned which is bull poop because plenty of people have planned CS's.

ANYHOO

As the day of my son's birth is oh so special and close to our hearts, I'll share some of the highlights!

01 DARTH VADAR in the delivery room

The nurses had me hopped up on all kinds of goodies. I  originally came in not wanting any medications, but agreed on a sleeping aide which was a HORRIBLE experience. I was hallucinating and everyone was a bobble head. My husband loves to reminisce about that because after the nurse medicated me, she placed an oxygen mask on me and I apparently (I say apparently because I vaguely remember, the world was oblivious to me at this point, understandably so) began to impersonate Darth Vadar saying to the nurse "Luke, I am your father" repeatedly. My husband says he couldn't stop laughing especially since I scared off the nurse *tee hee hee~wish I wasn't so anal and would've agreed to have a camcorder for that moment.

02 MOMMA said knock you out

After a few hours, I felt I was in need of an epiderul (if no one ever told you, labor is painful). I was extremely upset by my decision and still am til this day. That too was a horrible experience because if you have never seen the needle or felt it, you will never understand the horror I felt (this is something no one will tell you, everyone raves about how relieved they were when they got the damn thing, not me-it hurt like hell!). It was so bad that my husband had to be escorted out of the room while they inserted the needle into my back. The medical team thought my husband was feeling nauseus from it, but in actuality he wanted to knock out the anesthesiologist.

03 NO PAIN, NO GAIN

Several hours before they told me I would need a CS, I awoke to a loud beeping noise in which my self-medicating epiderul machine was telling the nurses, I was almost done? That's when we discovered that I had in fact not been receiving the epi because the machine came unplugged! Here I was pushing the button like crazy wondering why these labor pains were getting more and more painful to the point that I thought, wtf is the point?!!! I should've had my husband knock out that anesthesiologist after all!

04 BOTTOMS UP!

Next thing I knew, a few hours later, I was waking up to my legs in the air and my head towards the ground as the bed I was laying on was elevated and all of the machines were beeping like crazy. My heart rate and little E's (his other aka) heart rate was out of whack. Not only that, but little E swallowed some meconium (womb poop). There was a panic in the birthing room as the doctor argued with another doctor (who became my surgeon savior) about performing a CS right at that moment. My surgeon savior won and I was in surgery in no time.

05 THE PREP

They strolled me away from my husband and my mom-in-law into the prep room and I can remember the team had to carry me over to another bed. It was quite scary as I overheard some of the nurses/docs talking about how unsturdy one of the beds were. That freaked me out. I was 195lbs and felt like I could squash just about anything. The last thing I needed to ehar was that something I was going to be laying was unsturdy. As they prepped me for my CS, I kept wondering where my husband was. I had the oxy mask over my face and it was scary as sh!t bc it kept slipping off and I had restricted air due to my laying on my back. My husband finally showed up after having to practically fight to get into the room with me. I tried not to laugh as he looked like the Jolly Green Giant in the paper uniform they gave him. I was so happy he was there though. I was numb from my head to my toe and could feel only my left arm. My husband got to hold my right hand which I would've never known if I weren't completely awake for all of this. He kept rubbing my hand and I kept saying, "Uh I can't feel a thing, but thank you for being here with me."

06 Hello Baby

After, over ten hours of craziness at the hospital, our son was born within 15 minutes through a CS. He was born 8lbs, 6 oz and 21 1/4 inches long. He was beautiful. Since I was numbe from head to to toe, I could only meet him and give him a kiss. I just kept crying because I just couldn't believe how amazing and how gorgeous that he was. I mean I have seen some ugly babies in my life, so it was a bit of a concern.lol. My husband went with my son for his first bath, which makes me sad that I didn't get to be there, but I was still geting sewn back up. I think I wasn't out of there for about 1-2 hours. I came to my room with my sister wanting to take pics of bloated giant swollen faced, hands, and legs. To give you an idea of just how HUGE I was, when I went in I was 195lb, when I left the hospital I was 196lbs, WTF?! Yeah, it was alot of water weight. I lost 20lbs of it in two weeks, Thank God!

Some other highlights such as the battle of my son and my boob are listed in my Journey into the Autism World blog. Hope you enjoyed!