By Judy Arnall

We brought our two children (a toddler and a baby) to England and Ireland on our first family overseas trip in 1996. During that first trip, we were introduced to the travelling perils of sick infants on cars, trains, ships and aircraft, and jet-lag sleep schedule disruption, and the wonderful task of hauling cumbersome baby travel gear around. Since that trip, our family has grown to five children, and we have logged another six overseas trips. Our recent holiday was to Australia with our five children, ages 5 to 16, for six weeks.  During our flight home, listening to a mother in front of me coping with a toddler tantrum, I reflected that it is easier in many ways to travel with older children. They can carry their own bags and they can immerse themselves in books or movies during long flights. But older children do have their own challenges, such as becoming downright uncooperative when facing situations that they don’t like, picking fights with each other when bored, and becoming just as expensive as adults when venues charge full fare for kids over 12.

Although it can be hard work for parents, children of all ages benefit immensely from travelling.  Travel is a multi-sensory learning experience that is much richer than textbooks, videos or classrooms. In addition to the obvious academic facts that they absorb from visiting science centers, zoos, aquariums, art galleries, wildlife parks and museums  (such as the quantity flow model demonstrating Pythagorean theorem at the Perth science center), children learn many important life-skills while travelling, such as these:

• Perspective:          They learn that home is actually not that bad, compared to some of the rest of the world. Tripping over each other in a 500 square foot cabin helped us appreciate that we have a home to call our own.
• Group decisions:   They learn that they must either provide positive leadership to the group, or must go along with group decisions. Not everyone can get their way even some of the time.
• Consideration:       They learn that when we are guests of others, we must be considerate of their plans, their home and their possessions. They learn to ask permission, that they must limit noise and clutter, and cannot just raid the fridge. They also learn how to socialize with hosts.
• Adaptability:          Things go wrong, such as missing sleeping bags, not enough pillows, unexpected weather, no transportation, lost mp3 players  as well as dealing with clean laundry too wet to pack. Children learn to accept and/or make-do. Our motto when things went wrong while travelling was “Oh well”. Sometimes it was either laugh about it or cry about it!
• Problem solving:   When adapting to new situations or circumstances, children learn how to solve problems. They can brainstorm options and help choose the best ones. Our 15-year-old and ten-year-old son got lost on a hiking trip. I was astounded at their problem-solving ability to find their way back to the camp, all the while not knowing what camp, city or state we were staying at in Australia.
• Different rules:     Rules and courtesies we take for granted in our country are not the same in many other countries. For example, chewing gum is illegal in Singapore.
• Patience:               Travel requires so much waiting around that children learn to be patient. They wait in long lines for check-in, for security, and for boarding. They wait for take-off, they wait for food, and they wait for the washroom. They wait for landing and more line-ups. It’s endless.
• Self-entertainment: Children learn how to cope with boredom from lack of media devices and electronic devices. When mp3 players, DVD players and laptops are not available for playtime, they get into sandcastle building, drawing, card games, board games, word games, scavenger hunts and good old-fashioned conversation.
• Socializing:            They learn to be polite to relatives that they have never met before, and discover to their surprise that they find them likeable.  They learn that strangers can be friends for travelers and it’s okay and enjoyable to strike up a conversation with them.
• Logistics:               For older children that wish to get involved in trip planning, they learn useful skills such as how to book itineraries, rentals, and accommodations. They can learn how to acquire documentation such as passports, visas and consent letters. They learn the protocol for security at airports and museums. They also learn mapping, budgeting, and documentation (photos and journals) skills. They learn how to secure transportation and groceries.
• Tolerance:             Travelling with family members means that for a few weeks or days, family members live in close proximity with each other full time. That means siblings constantly in each other’s faces.  Children get very practiced at learning how to cope with different quirks, personalities and people’s feelings. They may discover a side of a sibling that they never noticed before and actually quite like.

With all these travel benefits, it’s no wonder that many families take several vacations a year together. Whether staying in a tent, trailer, cabin, cottage, hostel, hotel or visiting relatives, travel provides an experience of a lifetime for both parents and children. Guaranteed, it will never be boring.  Have a fun and safe summer!

Judy Arnall is a professional international award-winning Parenting Speaker, and Trainer, Mom of five children, and author of the best-selling book, “Discipline Without Distress: 135 tools for raising caring, responsible children without time-out, spanking, punishment or bribery” and the new DVD, “Plugged-In Parenting:  Connecting with the Digital Generation for Health, Safety and Love” www.professionalparenting.ca (403) 714-6766  jarnall@shaw.ca

Copyright permission granted for “reproduction without permission” of this article in whole or part, if the above credit is included in its entirety. Pictures added by You Get Well Soon.

Recently I was having lunch with my mom after one of her doctor's appointments and like always she was consulting with me. Now just so you know off the top - I am not a doctor. I am one of those people with years of experience in pharmacies, health food stores, medical research and clinical diagnostics but I am no doctor. I vacillate between recognition of their years of intensive study and therefore remarkable knowledge of the body and their easily bought (no, too harsh), influenced choices when it comes to prescriptives.

Now back to my mom. She's got a whole host of problems which I won't get into but in addition to her previous drug regimen she now needs an additional drug for cholesterol and a different blood pressure drug. The doctor was actually paying attention that day (I mean this literally - she lost nearly 50 pounds which was more than 20% of her body weight and he didn't notice before). So, he went to their stores and brought out a bunch of samples. One of them was a new drug and he explained that it wasn't available as a generic. And a second one was an old drug.

This all confused my mom and maybe this is weird to you too. Drug companies pay millions to develop new drugs. For that money, they've got the FDA in their pockets such that there will be patent protection for the production of the drug for anywhere from 10 to 20 years. So no generics can be legally made and sold. After I related this to mom, I said that that was why he had mentioned the 'new' drug and was concerned about her being able to afford it.

With regards to the old drug - I told her that most doctors are 'encouraged' to promote new drugs so that big Pharma can make money. Old drugs make them nothing. And if you've seen The Fugitive you'll remember that doctors are 'courted' by drug companies. They sponsor

conferences and meetings all over the world to not only help the dissemination of medical information but also as self-promotion. The kind of Old Boys' Club mentality that it would be great to eliminate but given the state of politics (and especially special interest's groups hold on political cojones) is unlikely to happen any time soon.

And speaking of the negatives of Big Pharma, I was recently asked about vaccinations with respect to my own kiddos. The old argument of vaccines causing autism came up and I had to remind the person I was speaking to that we (in Canada) do not get the same vaccine formulations that other countries do. Our regulations are different and an across the board comparison is not accurate. That stated though, another issue I have with big Pharma is how they have vaccination drives for batches of vaccine that are about to expire. The next time you see a push for a vaccine that should have been delivered en masse already (like an influenza vaccine push after January) it may be due to someone noticing that huge numbers of units are going to be thrown out if they don't get out the door.

This isn't to say that vaccine campaigns are always suspect. The recent ones for Mumps Measles Rubella and Varicella or Diptheria, Pertussis (acellular, a) and Tetanus are valid and should be seriously considered by all parents. It used to be that a child could not attend any public school until all vaccinations were up to date. Now things are definitely different. With the recent decline in compliance, herd immunity is down and most all of these are making comebacks in the developed world.

I know this is diverging but I thought I'd include a few pix of what these bad-boys can do.

In order: Measles - identified by cough, runny nose and red eyes - fever in excess of 39C/102F, rash and sometimes spots inside the mouth. Complicated by diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis (swelling in the brain), corneal ulceration/ scarring which would lead to vision problems to blindness. Oh yeah and a fever of 40C can mess up the brain forever.

Mumps - noticeable and painful swelling of the parotid (salivary glands) and testes (also painful for adolescents or adult males that can in rare cases lead to infertility), fever and headache.
Both have recently been enormous problems in the western world with outbreaks dominating diagnostics in many countries.

Rubella - a personal favorite of mine because a schoolmate had it 6 times in 2 years. (And to this day she's mad at me for giving her scarlet fever. sheesh.) Also has a rash, swollen glands, joint pain, headache and conjunctivitis. Mostly a danger to pregnant women as it causes spontaneous abortion and congenital rubella syndrome (heart, brain, eye and ear defects which are permanent, low birth weight, prematurity, anaemia, hepatitis, "blueberry muffin skin lesions" and low platelet levels or thrombocytopenia which causes wound healing problems.)
 

Varicella - perhaps better known as herpes / chicken pox / shingles. The pic above is shingles because just about everyone knows what Chicken Pox looks like. They're vaccinating for this because of the increased risk for serious Staph and Strep infections of the lesions.
To note in the shingles pic - the rash is only on half of the body. Usually front and back and there can be limb involvement. This rash is painful in 80-odd% of cases. Really Painful.

Diptheria is one I won't forget seeing as my mom had it as a small child. It causes sore throat (inflamed neck = bull neck), usually low but in rarer cases high fever, adherent pseudomembrane which may require medical intervention to maintain breathing and can lead to heart problems and death. (My mom was sent home to die 3 times.)

Pertussis, also known as Whooping Cough. This one is quite common in the north of Canada and causes a type of cough that is so persistent that the person doesn't get much time to breathe - hence the whoop. Technically called a paroxysmal cough. It is so severe that it can cause eye hemorrhages, rib fractures, incontinence, hernia, fainting, inspiration of vomitting and even vertebral artery dissection. If that didn't spell it out - hey, it's serious!

Tetanus. This one got some press recently when Selma Hayek teemed up with Pampers to distribute vaccines to the third world. This bacteria is of the same parent group that includes botulism (yes, botox), gangrene and an overwhelming intestinal infection known as C.diff. Tetanus causes the muscles of the body to contract (opposite of botulism). It's painful - very painful. Think of a muscle spasm that you may have had in your leg or back and multiply it by all the voluntary muscles of the body. In the industrialized world the fatality rate is about 11% but elsewhere it's more like 50-75%. High fevers, sweating, increased heart rate and blood pressure go with it - but that's no surprise given the muscle contractions. Lockjaw is also a common first sign.

So vaccines in general good.
Big Pharma not always good. I think of them like any big business of today (or say the Catholic Church of the dark ages) with so much power - it's easy to be corrupted. And if a church can justify killing thousands if not millions what can a corporation justify doing?

I'm not sure if that should read mistake or mistakes - either way, please don't do what I did.

They've got a new-fangled panoramic X-ray machine that was a little scary for her because she has to hold onto this huge machine that is all around her and moves around her but no big whoop.  Then they started with the more conventional ones.  This was also a bit scary but she got through it.  Now once the dentist got there to look at the X-rays I really expected him (in this case, him) to say something like "Yup, she's got teeth.  See you in a year."  That's not what happened.  At  All.

Turned out she has more cavities than teeth.  Over 30 for her little mouth of 20 teeth.  So many that the dentist described that it would take 4 or 5 sessions in the chair with some kind of mild sedation, drilling (complete with the smell of burning teeth), needles, etc.  i.e. TRAUMA
Then he went into a description of a surgery to do the same thing all at once.  The cost difference - in the chair about $4000 - with some form of sedation. About $3000 without. (Yeah, like I'm going to cheap out on pain meds.)
As a surgery - - you guessed it, $5000.  She's 4.  With 20 teeth.  That means for the 2 or 3 remaining years they will be in her mouth, they will have cost about $300 each.  Now unless the toothfairy is real and pays hard currency - even with inflation, she's not paying out 3 bills.  So why do people pay for this fix?  The rot can infect the soft tissues, bones of the jaw, get into the blood and cause septicemia and of course could rot the adult teeth before they even break the surface.  Cavities before the teeth come in - not a great options.

So by this time you may be asking yourself - with all of the listed wrongs - what is Wrong #1?  Ah, if only I had remembered my mother's off-handed comment to me sooner.  When I was a teenager, my mom made a comment to me that for some reason I remembered.  She said that she loved my breath as a little kid.  Now my mom is European and says lots of weird things out of the blue.  Why I should remember this one - I don't know.  But what I didn't realize was what it really implied.
I asked what she meant by sweet - she said not like candy (which would be a bad thing - like diabetes) but different.  Now, I remember my little one's breath before it changed.  It smelled like crisp apples.

It is no surprise that all businesses, non-profit through huge merged conglomerate companies, are in it for the

From the second I published my online business website, I have been inundated by sharks. They contact me every way you can possibly imagine at all hours of the day and night, weekdays and weekends. No time is safe and they seem to never sleep. To whom am I referring? All of those companies who make money selling online businesses the 'service' of generating exposure.

The calls usually come from area code 425 – Washington State. Although some have been from Utah (801). I'm wise to such calls. Mostly because I am not in Washington or the states so there is no particular reason for my initial clientelle to be from WA. 

The claims and approaches from these blood-suckers are as wide and varied as the types and number rain drops that fall on their beloved state.

Some are relentless, somewhat complementary and smooth, some insulting and impossible to get rid of while some try the kindly, helpful approach. No matter the tactic, the goal is the same: separate online business owner from their money. (And in honesty, most new online business owners don't make money. Like other new business owners, they spend money – a lot of which isn't even theirs to begin with. You know that's the truth.)

The claims range too:

              “We'll get you to the top of the search engines.”

              “We'll drive qualified traffic to your site”

(I love this one in particular because – they've called, emailed, used my site's contact page – they're relentless. And note the above website info – not found. Every search of this company yielded other companies and even the usual 'purchase this domain name'. Sure – I'm going to give you $1000s to promote my business when I cannot find yours. Wait by the phone for my credit card info!)

              “You need to optimize your key words and metas”

              “We can guide you through the process of getting seen through blogs, online shopping catalogs, meta optimization, key word searches, etc.”

              “You need to know what people are searching – and sell that”

              “We get 17 000 online shoppers daily to our 'mortar-and-brick' style online shopping mall”

Really? Hmmmm. I buy stuff online. Sometimes I use a general search. Sometimes a proven seller – like the Shopping Channel. (One of my favs. I just bought a few things tonight actually.) But NEVER have I used either an online catalog, or mall. Never.

The crazy thing is to get to the top of the search engines – you need to do what they want. Mostly, have links going to and from your site. The best way to do this – a zillion malls, directories and catalogs that no one uses but that update many times a day, thus re-initiating all of those links making it seem as though people go to these sites.

Another fav of the search engines – press releases. Most of the online press release sites are likewise totally bogus and you can only find them if you are really looking for them. A reputable news site seems to generate more weight than the fabricated, no one sees them 'news' sites, but bottom line; any website that's updated very frequently and contains the links in the format recognized will do the trick.

Personally, I checked my Google search status prior to updating my Google Adwords and found that my site was being found on page 2. With the adwords account re-invested, I was suddenly 4^th on the 1^st page. (Not counting the ad which appeared at the top of the page.) Coincidence? I doubt it. Pay them money – and they'll immediately rank you higher.

So what have I learned about online business by starting a commerce-based website?

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      1. Don't pick up the phone if the area code is 425. If they're reputable, they'll leave a message – and often they will when they're not.

      2. Use metas and key words in a way that will optimize your searchability. No more than 6 repetitions on any 1 page of your key word(s) and make sure your metas match.  And use the reverse search tools to find out how people search for your items.

      3. Publish often. By often, I mean as close to everyday as you can manage.

      4. Exchange links. Find businesses to link exchange with you. This usually means setting up 1 or more pages to accommodate these but the links are what the search engines want to see so you've got to do it. And try to keep these exchanges within your general category of business. (Not always easy since you're all in competition.)

      5. Don't be swayed! Sometimes the sharks will tell you that it's unclear if and/or what you're selling on your site. Or even that your site (that you probably agonized for 100s of hours to build) is awkward to navigate. Ask people close enough to you to check out your site but far enough away from you to tell you the truth. And pick people who shop online!

      6. Blog. Become an expert at something – preferably something related to what you're selling. (There's a reason why so much of the info on the net is crap – businesses are forced to be experts – and often they're not. They're just slogging along like everyone else.)

      7. Ask for and take advice. I'm big on doing research – mostly because I like it and I'm pretty good at it. I've read so many books and articles on how to generate traffic and business online. And most of the advice is the same. Worse still, most matches with what the sharks say too.

      8. Keep at it. I'm sure every person reading this knows someone who's done a multi-level marketing business (Amway, Norwex, Avon, Tupperware, PartyLite, etc.). I'm also going to guess that that person you know gave up on their business. Not because it didn't work – but because they didn't stay in it long enough for it to work. 

      9. Paying the sharks won't get you all the business you're looking for right away - if ever.  When you talk to them long enough, you'll find (if they're honest with you) that they say it'll take 6-12 months to see any marked improvement in traffic. 

This may sound weird but after my mom's trouble with ulcers you'd think that it would be natural to check my dad for the bacteria that causes 90% of all ulcers: Helicobacter pylori. I wrote a blog about this a few months ago and included info about how this little factoid was discovered - and how it resulted in a Nobel Prize for Dr. Warren.

I know that I'm not a girly-girl. Never have been. I do have some experience with being in the hospital and I also know that when you're all alone for 20+ hours a day a nice floral arrangement does make you feel better. (It doesn't do anything for me when I'm at home but hey that's me.)

The thing is there will come a time (and it's here in some places) when flowers won't be allowed in rooms at all. There are already bans in France and the UK and probably more of Europe. The reasoning that's been used has little to do with the real hazards though. So what reasons did they use to create / enforce the ban? Bacteria in the water of flowers, oxygen use (by the flowers and therefore less available oxygen for a compromised patient) and a potential hazard to equipment should they tip. Well these are somewhat valid reasons I suppose. When a patient has very serious and urgent oxygen needs every little bit makes a difference but this won't apply to the vast majority of patients.

Bacteria in the flower water sounds like a possible health risk but it's again unlikely to cause problems. You'd have to drink the bacteria or inhale them. No one's drinking flower water. As for inhaling the bacteria, this sounds easier than it is. The water would have to beaerosolized for that to occur. So it'd have to be put into a spray bottle (and when are those going to be banned in restaurants, etc. Spray bottles cause aerosolization of whatever surface greeblies that are supposed to be cleaned off.) It's unlikely that flower water would end up in a spray bottle. Again, for the very few who would be affected by such a minor number of bacteria of that variety, it would be a health risk but not for every patient.

Equipment risks - that's the third listed issue for no flowers. This is a real possibility given that there is very little space in hospital rooms and always too much stuff. So tipping them over and perhaps having water get on machinery - that could certainly happen. And here, the hospital wouldn't charge us for such an accident so the hospital would have to absorb the replacement costs.

Why didn't they use the real reasons: spores, pollen, water molds, multiple chemical sensitivities, nurses have enough to do and look after? Now there's a question. As the sound bites about severe peanut allergies should have enlightened all and sundry, fungal spores are very dangerous. Fatally dangerous to some. This was enough to handcuff parents to never include any peanut-containing items in kids lunches for school. (What lesseconomically advantaged parents do when peanut butter is one of the best combinations of cost, nutrition and kid-appeal; I don't know?) There are fungal spores associated with soil and therefore flowers. And again, we know from the peanut allergypeople who you don't have to have an appreciable number for 1 to get through and cause trouble.

Pollen. There are tons of people allergic to pollen. Let's face it, if someone's living in a hospital (even short-term) there's something seriously wrong with them. They don't need additional problems. They've got problems already. I encountered this one when I was in hospital. I was there so long that I ended up with more roommates that I could have ever imagined - I think it was 9 in the 17 days I was there. And one of them was allergic to pollen. So I was given a choice, I could ditch the flowers or I could move. I chose to move. It worked out even better for me because I finally ended up with a window. I digress.

Water molds. I know this is a bit of an odd one and it takes time for them to form but the spores from water molds are very dangerous for those who are allergic / sensitive. My sister has this one (and the next one - multiple chemical sensitivity). You'll know if you have this one if you live where there's snow. Snow has more time to develop molds and so with snow melt - the mold spores are released and physiological reactions ensue.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a very real problem for an increasing number of people. This one isn't an allergy but it is a neurological response to chemicals sometimes including those of flowers. Usually it's triggered by chemicals from personal hygiene items (soap, perfume, hairspray, shampoo, hand cream, laundry detergent, etc.) It's a very difficult issue to manage when in public - and there's pretty much nothing more public than living in a place that gets 10's of 'visitors' every day; from the teams of doctors, nurses, cleaning staff, your personal visitors, everyone else's visitors, deliverypersonnel, and the list goes on.

Nurses have enough to do. This one is self-explanatory. They do an impossible job and somehow manage to be nice (most of the time) while doing it. They really don't need to watch out for everything that comes into the room that isn't 'hospital equipment'.

I'll just add one more thing. When I was putting together the inventory for my business (YouGetWellSoon), we needed bags. So we went to our local people for some compostable bags and got into a discussion with the girl at the counter. Turned out she was the daughter of the owners and had been in hospital for a kidney problem. She had received flowers but since she was in the ICU was not able to have them with her. If she craned her head, she could see them sitting on the nursing station table. Not quite what her benefactor had in mind.

Bottom line - this once stable of the hospital gift may soon be no more. So before your gift gets turned back, perhaps check with the facility or give a gift that is more in keeping with what a patient may want / need. It may be less fun but it'll get through the door.

Nearly ever since the advent of Viagra, there has been a search for a female counterpart. (For a recap on how Viagra saw the light of day - check out The Viagra Story.) Don't get me wrong, many women find Viagra works well to improve their sex life. The drug companies need a new compound to market to women. Since Viagra is so well-known as a treatment for men, there needs to be a separate drug for women. This is just marketing. So which behemoth drug company has come closest to the finish line - Boehringer Ingelheim with their new Little Pink Pill Flibanserin (and I do hope they come up with a more catchy name). Not surprisingly, this drug is not trying to physically 'up' women's sexual responsiveness. Instead it is geared toward the psychological aspects of sexuality.

Boehringer Ingerheim doesn't even claim to have any expertise or interest in this area of research. Here's a pic from their website:

Nowhere on this list is anything to do with emotional issues. The only area that comes close to brain function alteration for the purpose of emotional enhancement is Parkinson's - and it's not close enough for my blood.

Here comes the question - does the medical community know enough about how the brain works to play around with it? And for sex? Really. How many reports have their been that antidepressants led to suicides? Or how about the rampant use of Ritalin. If your kiddo is not paying attention to you or to school - give them a pill. Ritalin is a central nervous system stimulant similar to amphetamines targeting the dopamine neurotransmitter in a manner similar to cocaine. The side effects are numerous: Short-term effects can include nervousness and insomnia, loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, palpitations, headaches, changes in heart rate and blood pressure (usually elevation of both, but occasionally depression), skin rashes and itching, abdominal pain, weight loss, and digestive problems, toxic psychosis, psychotic episodes, drug dependence syndrome, and severe depression upon withdrawal. (Taken from a webpage of Partnership for a Drug-Free America.) How are these Side Effects better than a kid who has trouble focusing? Let's face it - kids don't pay close attention. They just don't. And what's more - with time, they get over it. But somehow we've bought into the idea that it's not only OK but necessary to mess with the developing brains of our children. How do we know that we won't be permanently altering the course of their natural development? And here's the rub - is there any way for us to know this with certainty?

And so I question, do we really know enough about the brain and it's changes with not only puberty and early development (as is the question with Ritalin) but with the hormonal cycling of female brains (and yes the hormonal cycling triggers do also come from the brain) and menopause / peri-menopause? It seems as though we haven't figured out how best to handle the hormonal changes of menopause - and now we're going to further complicate matters by mucking with women's brains on top of things.

In a time when a large proportion of the population and even the medical profession is rediscovering the efficacy of natural approaches why are we being bombarded by these 'medical interventions'? Pharmaceuticals are big business. They're so big they can force compliance of governing bodies like the FDA and they can also lure physicians into prescribing drugs when they could be exploring the nature of the problem. If you think I'm off my rocker - do you know someone who is taking 1 or more drugs to counteract the side effects of another drug their taking? Or perhaps you remember the Vioxx scandal - the NSAID that caused heart attacks?

So yes there will be a Little Pink Pill - backed heavily by Boehringer-Ingerheim with the help of their paid researchers and marketing team - don't believe it - check out Sex, Brain, Body. They even produced a special panel with 6 of 8 specialists supported directly by them. And in the field of research it may as well read - owned by Boehringer. But like big oil - it's up to the consumer to make as many alternate choices as possible and put pressure on our elected officials to ensure that our Best Interests are being addressed - not big business's.

Since I was speaking with my mentor this morning it brought me back my days in grad school and with it the health topic I was most closely associated - meningitis.  Let's start at the beginning; meningitis is an inflammation of the membranes (or meninges) of the brain.  Because the brain is housed in a solid bone cavity, there is no room for this inflammation and if left untreated is fatal.  The symptoms of meningitis are headache, visual or hearing impairments, fever, fatigue and stiff neck.  Most people are aware of these ones.  The one I wanted to focus on (and make a point of bringing up at every lecture I lead on molecular biology) is the rash.  The rash associated with meningitis is very specific and easy to spot.  It is my belief that it is missed due to, of all things, awkwardness.  You see this infection is common in 3 age groups.  The very young are usually infected with a bacteria called Haemophilus influenzae B.  This is the same bug that causes flu but if it accesses the brain of the very young (less than 5 years of age and often younger) it causes meningitis.  Thankfully the vaccination campaign that backs HiB has been incredibly successful and the rates of infant meningitis have all but bottomed out.

The elderly are also at risk for meningitis but again the causative agent is different.  They are more likely to get meningitis from the bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae.  This bacteria also causes meningitis in the very young which is also why it is included in the infant vaccine schedule but it is also the cause of otitis media (ear infections), sinusitis, skin infections and pneumonia. 

The one that I wanted to spend some time on is Neisseria meningitidis.  This one is the cause of most bacterial meningitis in young adults (teens to 30s).  It is particularly an issue for those who live in close confines or those whose behaviour puts them in close contact with others.  What do I mean by that?  People who live in barracks or dorms or find themselves in smokey filled-to-capacity rooms on a regular basis are more likely to be in the kind of contact which enables the transfer of these bacteria.  They do not survive well outside of the body so this kind of transfer is a requirement.  Naturally, contact is not enough to cause the infection to become meningitis.  The bacteria has to not only colonize the individual but also needs to cross the blood-brain barrier. This happens very infrequently.  The human body is exquisitely ordered so that its functions are continuously managed.  Again, there is a vaccine for this bacteria BUT it is targetted to 4 of the 5 serogroups (differentiated types): A, C, Y & W135.  Unfortunately, the 5th one, B, is the cause of 30-50% of this bacterial meningitis in the western world. Vaccine research continues but thus far has been unsuccessful. 

This bacteria also causes a septicemia which is to say it causes infection throughout the body.  Such infections become very painful but before this symptom is evident, a purpuric rash appears.  This is the symptom that if recognized will save someone's life.  It is a non-blanching (when pressed the color remains) rash of very small red or purple spots (0.3-1mm).  It is found primarily on the trunk of the body which brings me back to my point of awkwardness.  Most people would not dare to ask to see the chest of a teen who is experiencing fatigue, headache, stiff neck and/or fever.  I am not one of those people anymore.  If you cannot do this, get them to look in a mirror and report to you.  This rash is the sign that there is a medical emergency.  Right Now.  Get them to a hospital and before you even let them start up all the forms - show the rash.  You'll get the best service of your life - and it will save your life. 

What do midwives do and why would a pregnant woman chose this birthing experience verses the hospital?  First off, the quality and level of both prenatal and postnatal care are unsurpassed.  Doctors and their staff do not have the time to devote to each patient.  Not to mention the wait times.  I remember several obstetric appointments lasting less than 3 minutes which I waited for for well over an hour.  That never happened with the midwives.  Ever.  I never felt like I was an inconvenience or yet another person to be dealt with.  Midwives give that personal touch backed up by a wealth of information that helps to keep this most remarkable experience very personal and special.

They gave me tips to help me to prepare my body for the actual stretching of the skin (with evening primose oil on the labial skin), stretches to prepare my body for the positions that would best work for labour, teas to help with pregnancy symptoms (and later lactation and even helping to stop lactation once weaning was done) and all of this was done in an 'office' that was more like a living room and a 'exam room' that was more like a bedroom.  This helped keep me calm about the whole, rather scary experience.

As for the delivery process, the midwives I worked with were in a team.  There were always 2 people to help me and they had some amazing supportive care. I chose to birth at home with my family present for support.  This made things far more relaxed and helped me to feel comfortable regardless of the positions I was taking or what I was wearing. For me personally, labour did not progress well and I did have a surgical procedure to bring my little one to light.  Nevertheless, I remain confident that their attentive, knowledgeable care enabled me to have a remarkable experience that I will never forget.  Not the horror stories that most people love to share.  Birth is special and despite the intensity of the experience, in the whole of your life this is but a moment.  A profoundly important moment that brings you (as it did for me) new joy and wonder to your life.

If this seems like something that might work for your personal situation, check out the various resources local to you.  There are fabulous books on the topic and one of my favorites was by Ina May Gaskin.  Please note that there may be a considerable wait time and perhaps an associated fee for these services.  So be proactive about your pregnancy and birthing experience as quickly into the pregnancy as possible so that your options are all open and available to you when you need them.

Back in the day, when balloons were permitted as hospital gifts to be stored in the room with the recipient this event played out.

This is how it was told to me . . . A Canadian gymnast was practicing before a competition but for the first time ever in a domed gymnasium.  So when he went to do a release move on the high bar, he caught a glimpse of the uneven surface above him and got disoriented, missed the bar, and fell all the way to the floor below.  This injury landed him in a shared hospital room with a broken back in the orthopaedics ward.  Thankfully, the break occured past the cervical vertebrae that would otherwise have meant paralysis and he was 'merely' in very bad shape.  One day, his roommate received a ton of visitors and one left balloons.  Not unexpectedly, as this was the orthopeadics ward, this roommate was completely incapacitated in a full-body cast.  Lucky for him, the poor guy with the broken back (our gymnast) was lying awake and bored after listening in on this visit (you know that you can't really watch tv while someone else is having a visit) and he heard some awkward breathing coming from the neighbouring bed.  He moved the curtain and found that the balloons, instead of being bouyed up by their helium centres, were instead lilting over the man's face impeding his breath.  A fast trigger finger (for the call button) and some very prompt healthcare workers prevented a serious catastrophe.  They rushed into the room and got the bad balloon free of the man's face before any permanent damage could occur. 

Everyone wants to be thoughtful and bring some joy to a loved one in an unfortunate situation but no one wants to cause additional suffering.  Stay tuned for our follow up piece on hospital gifts with a look at flowers.

Breast is best also refers to immunity benefits. Immunity is the term used to describe one’s ability to fight off illnesses we get and/or are exposed to. Not only are you able to give your child antibodies (the proteins that fight against illness) but there is also a very useful component that most people don't know too much about: lactoferrin. 

Lactoferrin, like transferrin (in red blood cells), carries iron.  Bacteria need iron to reproduce.  And bacteria that are reproducing are far more likely to cause problems. Problems like infection. So lactoferrin can essentially hide any free / extra iron and keep it away from bacteria so that they can't grow (bacteriostatic action). 

Research has also discovered that the immune response is activated by lactoferrin.  This means your baby gets more than a double shot of immunity just by eating your breast milk. Lactoferrin levels are especially high in colostrum (the first milk that emerges after labour).  I assume this is to give your little one the best immunological chance possible – and thank you nature!

Breast is best.  We've all heard it but how on earth are we to manage that in the middle of the night? We really don't want to have anyone nodding off (mom or baby) and possibly hurting themselves.  You can breastfeed lying down but how is this accomplished? 

The method most often recommended involves using the breast that is on the side mom's laying on (right breast if laying on right side).  I, myself, tried this (it felt like a million times) with my crying babe in the night and had zero success.  But one night when she was completely inconsolable I decided to go downstairs to the couch and let my husband sleep. Sweet of me, wasn’t it? In the process I had a bunch of blankets and pillows out and discovered that if you prop up the baby on a pillow you can breastfeed off of the higher breast.  So if lying on down on your right side, prop the pillow against your chest and the baby can lie comfortably and nurse off your left breast – the higher one.  

I have since used this method consistently with my kids in the night. We found that we could all get more rest and better quality rest using this modification.

Give it a try – you might find it as helpful as I have.