Blowin' Up

So my article has achieved 11 comments on The Red & Black Web site now.
My favorite thus far:

"The "poor" people are only that way because they are the lazy ones waiting around for the government to do something. In the neighborhood I was working in, I saw one family chilling in their trailer and roasting marshmallows they undoubtedly purchased with their fraudulent welfare check. Their house was still soggy and nothing had been accomplished. But who cares? They have free housing, even if it is a trailer!"

This was submitted by an anonymous user named "spoon."
Wow.
While reading what people have to say I see a lot of people comparing the damage of New Orleans to that in Mississippi. I hear the "laziness" comment all too much. I hear testimonial of people who "live in New Orleans."
But then again, I'm not sure who to trust. Thanks to the anonymity granted by the Internet, people are free to vocalize their strange and sometimes disturbing opinions.
The difference though, between us and them, is our facts. Those pesky little things that make arguments solid. We know that without them people will see right through us and question us; they know that sometimes people get so wrapped up in emotion they forget to ask for those facts.
If the Internet is ever going to harbor the quality of news existing in print today then we are going to have to make damn sure the quality stays the same. Facts and all.

Published? Check.

So I managed to weasel my way into the final edition of The Red & Black this semester with my OpEd thanks to some quick editing from Prof. Thomas.
Here is the link to it. Leave some comments or links to your own stories!

Tragedy at UGA

I awoke Saturday morning to the sound of my phone going off. I had new e-mail and in my dazed stupor I checked to see what had entered my inbox.
One was a picture of my niece who had just been born 10 hours prior.
The other was an official announcement from the University stating a student had died of bacterial meningitis in St. Mary's hospital early Saturday morning.
The mixed news through me for a loop.
I started to investigate to reacquaint myself with meningitis. We, as college students, were warned of the dangers upon orientation -- but of course this was in a whirlwind of other deadly diseases we were assured would be rare to catch.
As I read down the symptom list, I noticed that the symptoms are concurrent with the flu: high fever, nausea, aching neck, lethargy, etc. They also seem to be comparable to a hangover.
The key to fighting the disease is early detection. Recognizing symptoms right away and getting to the doctor.
But who has time?
Finals week looms at this time of year, and everyone seems to have a head cold. How does a student fighting the collegiate battle prioritize something that more or less may initially feel like "what's going around"?
As college students, we are at a special risk. We live in a 32,000 person cluster, sharing the same classrooms, bus seats, dining halls, etc. Yet we remain overly concerned with our academia and social responsibilities as opposed to our health.
For those of us that march forward towards the elusive degree, we need to remember that our credentials are all for naught if we can't get there with our bodies and minds intact.

From the trench

Being my first foray in New Orleans since I was a lot younger (I'm thinking I was like 11), it is interesting to see this city in a new light. Obviously the devastation of Hurricane Katrina still lingers, and I'm not sure which way New Orleans residents want to focus. I haven't talked to enough of them I guess. I feel like such an out of towner -- which is an odd thing to feel for someone who blends in so well.
Today's medical meeting was a very enlightening session and I learned a lot about what goes on at a major medical conference. Some people see it as a chore, some as a great opportunity to network with old friends -- or as the Mr. Gallagher put it -- a chance to keep up with your training all in one booze-filled weekend.
I won't be seeing the hospitals until tomorrow afternoon late, so it's hard for me to "beat report." I will say that something here sets me uneasy. It could be the negative press or it could be all the foreboding warnings given to me. It might even be all those mausoleums that I'm not crazy about. We will see if my mood changes any in the next few days.
Hopefully I'll find reason to get on the "Renew Orleans" bandwagon and bring it home to Athens where it is so sorely lacking.

Style over substance

As seems to always be the case, leads pop into my head at 1:45 a.m. and I can't sleep without getting it out. My greatest worry lately has been keeping the attention of my audience and hopefully this narrative style (aimed at Athens Magazine readers) will grab hold. I know it doesn't say much, but I'm going to take my other work and put it in here when it's not 2:40 a.m.

We always have called my grandmother "Nomie," because it was easy to say when we were little. But the day my mom called me to tell me Nomie went to the hospital, she could barely choke out her name.
"I have to tell you something," my mom said.
"What is it? What's wrong," I replied.
There was a long pause and through the tears she managed to deliver the blow.
"Where is she?" I asked
"Athens." she stammered back at me.
"Athens what? Athens Regional? Or St. Mary's?"
"Athens."
"OK so Athens Regional, what's wrong with her?"
I could hardly control my thoughts at this point and my mother had no solid answers for me. I knew she had been admitted on Sunday and this was a Tuesday. Numbness and slurred speech. What causes numbness and slurred speech? I wish I had that medical degree.
"When are you coming up?"
"After work."
"OK, I'll be there."
I drove up to the hospital that I had grown accustomed to. You see, I am a concerned grandchild by night, and medical journalist in training by day. I had chosen area hospitals as my beat for the semester and had visited Athens Regional Medical Center no less than five times already. Before then, I had only been to the hospital twice before: once to see my other grandmother and the other time was when I was born. I could remember vividly the last time I had visited -- just four days prior.
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"A hospitalist is a doctor that spends most of their time treating patients in a hospital setting," I remembered from a journal article as I mentally prepped myself for my interview. "Patients come under the care of the hospitalist when they are admitted to the hospitalist -- provided their primary care providers choose this option."
"I've got this, I should quit worrying," I thought.
Arriving at Athens Regional right on time, my head was whirling full of questions. I was here to interview Dr. Chris Edwards, director of hospital medicine for ARMC.
As I came into his office, I noted that the office afforded to Dr. Edwards' was nothing too spectacular for a hospital that served so much of Northeast Georgia. As he sat in between two desks, he seemed awkwardly close to his computer. Dr. Edwards was here to explain to me his passion for being a hospitalist as well as how the whole system worked, but as the conversation continued, I even heard a little about his love for the Florida Gators.


Thoughts, comments, criticisms, complaints? Leave 'em here please.

it gets personal

i had no idea when i chose my beat for this class that it would actually turn out to be useful in my personal life.
you see, my grandmother was admitted to Athens Regional on Sunday evening because she had some blurred vision and slurred speech. I went to visit her today and she seemed to be doing well. She had a host of tests all Monday but had yet to see a doctor that told her anything. She said she had three doctors visit her since she was admitted -- which of course made sense to me.
Friday I interviewed the head of the hospitalist program at Athens Regional, Dr. Chris Edwards. The interview was interesting, but pretty much everything I had expected to hear -- save one detail (more on this later). Hospitalists at Athens Regional work in 12 hour shifts for 7 days in a row, with Tuesday being the turn around day for the new shift. So, my grandmother (since she won't leave until Tuesday afternoon at the earliest) will theoretically see three doctors. The first hospitalist, a second when the first goes home, and a third when the shift change happens Tuesday morning.
Is this the best method? Sure, Dr. Edwards was right that hospitalist save the hospitals money by being always available and shortening patient stay -- but how is a patient supposed to be assured continuity of care when a case such as my grandmother's case comes up? Dr. Edwards assured me that the computerized records in the hospital would be able to keep doctors up to date -- but that revealing comment keeps me wary. Dr. Edwards actually works for PrimeDoc, a private company that provides hospitalist services for hospitals throughout the country. According to the site and Dr. Edwards, PrimeDoc has been in Athens Regional since 2004 and just this year has launched a branch at the Barrow Regional Medical Center in neighboring Barrow County. PrimeDoc is obviously on the move in Northeast Georgia and we'll see what an actual hospitalist has to say about this soon.

doctors know best ... not according to the FDA

According to an article in the LaTimes dated October 5th, the FDA is considering creating a new classification of drugs called "behind the counter" drugs which only require a chat with a pharmacist rather than a trip to the doctor.
Wait, what?
So the United States Food and Drug Administration is going to cut out the gatekeepers of certain medications, just for the consumer's convenience sake?
This is the worst idea I've ever heard. It appears the pharmaceutical companies have lobbied hard enough and are now taking a new approach -- direct to consumer advertising.
Sure, there are plenty of ads for prescription drugs now -- but they all say "ask your doctor if this drug is right for you." Do you know why? Because doctors know better than regular people. They have advanced degrees, many of them are board certified and they understand how your individual history will factor into putting potentially harmful chemicals in your body.
The implications for hospitals could be of course a decrease in patients in the emergency room that use the hospital as their primary care provider. But of course how many new overdose victims will there be?
Sure doctors right now are in short supply and this would help tremendously with the patient load -- but it's not work risking the health of citizens. Self-medicating is a dangerous course and shouldn't be taken lightly.
Another question that is raised is where does product liability come into play? What if a customer gets a prescription they are allergic to? Who gets sued? The consulting pharmacist? The company that employs him? The drug manufacturer? All of them? With this question looming, drug companies and pharmacies may have consumers sign waivers -- creating a losing situation for the people the FDA is trying to help.
I understand the world we live in is not always conducive to doctors visits, but c'mon people IT'S YOUR HEALTH. You have it or you don't -- it's not something you play around with.