Friday, November 10, 2006

You Can Run...

I wrote this in May of 2002. Enjoy.

The great apes gave rise to mankind
I can easily make this thought mine.
As Darwin would say, the strong surely stay
As the weak will be left far behind.

Note the raptor's physique, the bird and its beak.
See how well they intertwine.
If the comet had not, the birds would have bought
Freedom from man as we dine.

We find ourselves at the top of the chain
Mocking a world of gambles and gain.
Take heed lest yee think, man not be on the brink
Of near death by a lesser brain

We toyed with our planet,
Wasting much of it's granite,
But never feeling the pain
Of a creature so small
That within us all
Its effects will drive us insane.

In the Same Vein

Further to What a gas, you might figure, so why tell the story. OK it's predicated on the notion that perhaps I shoudn't have been so lucky.

Had it not been for three varieties of anti-biotics being pumped into me 24/7, I would surely have died a horrible death. These wonder drugs kept me alive to live another day, but is this right?

Our world is over-populated as it is. We put helmets on kids so they can ride bikes. We drink bottled water and have air-bags in our cars. And AIDS... another time. We prolong life only to crowd our living space and mis-treat the elderly.

Anti-bacterial soap and similar products. Don't buy them. They kill bacteria that's good for us and force mutations on the bad bacteria, enabling them to become even stronger. Now a youngster's immune system can't even handle a peanut! Let them swim in the lake and play in the dirt (like we did), if it doesn't kill them immediately, it might make them stronger.

From what I've been told, already our collective ability to make new anti-bacterial agents to fight ever more resistant bacteria, is dwindling.

Technology may help us live longer but eventually may spawn a super-bug that could wipe us all out in days or weeks.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

What a gas

Everyone has some bacteria swimming around in the back of their mouths. And sometimes a sore throat can turn into a not so minor strep throat. That can be treated easily.

That is if the bacteria are well behaved. If the little gremlins get loose, look out! Such was my turning point in July of 1994. The day after working several hours in the backyard I forced myself to go to a local clinic, feeling quite dizzy. After a blood test and Tylenol, the doctor dismissed me suggesting I might have Mononucleosis. That evening, my son roused me from a nap only to discover that my mords were wixed, and I was white and clammy. We then discovered I could no longer walk.

Once in emergency and after being seen by two doctors, I blacked out. Apparently, a visiting doctor then took an interest and, after seeing an ominous rash on my back, called the CDC in Atlanta. The diagnosis... Necrotizing Fasciitis, sometimes called Group A Strep Toxic Shock Syndrome, or the Flesh Eating Disease!

In 1994, at least, I learned that only 1 in 7 physicians are able to diagnose the disease. Moreover, it's very often fatal, not so much because the bacteria kills you outright, but because of the treatment. Many will succumb to the effects of massive doses of anti-biotics, long before any surgery can ever take place.

I was lucky in that my heart was strong, so they say. Also I came out of the hospital two weeks later intact... no amputations. Not everyone is so lucky.

We cannot control the behaviour of bacteria that runs rampant, but we can do things to prevent our immune systems from being compromised, which makes us susceptible to such rare infections.

In the grand scheme of things, did this technology contribute to me having a better life? or just a longer one?

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