Francesca V.'s Comments
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Dec 7, 2009 | comments: 26
Francesca V. Dec 7, 2009, 3:28pm EST
Beautifully written, every word and every line. It brought tears to my eyes, this touched my soul.
Aug 4, 2009 | comments: 11
Francesca V. Aug 4, 2009, 7:01pm EDT
All I know is this: I work within reach of Canada and it's amazing how many of these patients come to Michigan to receive the care they've been denied in Canada, paying out of their pocket because they choose to live. Over 65 and need cardiac bypass surgery? Soorry! Dialysis and and over 70? Soorry! It's a sterile form of genocide people. And NO! It's not a patriotic duty for the government to decide who lives and who dies. It should be OUR decision to make, not the government. Yes we feel helpless with insurance red tape, Medicare's, Medicaid. Wait until universal health care people! Warts and all we have the best health care for everyone! I've YET to see anyone denied health care where I work because they aren't insured. I don't mind my tax dollars paid toward that and realistically? WE DO HAVE IT IN PLACE RIGHT NOW! It's happening! It's here! But for Sen. Conyers to say it's too difficult to read 1000 pages and to say forget it and just vote on it now without reading it?????? Hitler would have LOVED this form of sterilized genocide and this cannot happen. Our parents are the reason we have what we have. I wil not allow my government to dictate who lives and who dies. End of story.
Aug 4, 2009 | comments: 30
Francesca V. Aug 4, 2009, 1:18pm EDT
What works? Well, first of all, realize what being a parent entails before becoming one. Babies aren't little dolls and playthings and children aren't something you leave on somebody else or the schools to raise. You need to be involved and focused and you need to realize that once they come along, your life is going to change forever. You need to be consistent, you aren't a friend to your kid, you are the parent. You are the strength and the role model. You need to be engaged in everything they do and when they're teens, you need to know where they are and who they are with. Turn the TVs and video games off. Read to them. Take them on field trips. Invite their friends. Eat dinner togther and talk. How are they? How are they feeling? What's new? Don't push them into things they don't want to do because it was something you liked to do. Don't live vicariously through them. Cry with them, laugh with them, hug them, love them. Remain positive no matter what. Compliment them on their attributes. It worked for me, I never had any problems and neither did they!
Aug 4, 2009 | comments: 11
Francesca V. Aug 4, 2009, 12:50pm EDT
I work in a large academic hospital and have for the past 25 years. I've seen a lot of changes and trends, particularly with the technology we have today compared to what we had when I first started out in health care. One trend that is finally beginning to emerge in the forefront is patients becoming more pro-active with the care the receive. No one should be left in the dark. Every hospital has a patient bill of rights, otherwise they wouldn't be accredited. Learn it and use it. If you are a family member, be an advocate for the patient. Question each treatment and medication. The outcome is win-win for all involved.
Jul 2, 2009 | comments: 13
Francesca V. Aug 4, 2009, 12:38pm EDT
I always try to keep my emotions out of decisions that require a logicical outcome. It can be rather difficult when you're financially stressed but it really is a time where a cool head will always prevail. During the good times I saved for the bad and yes, I chose an occupation that will always be needed no matter what happens in the economy. I'm not rich but I'm not poor and I do feel a sense of security, even here in Michigan where our unemployment numbers are nearing 20%. I do feel shaken but the only way I can prevail is to not let it get the best of me by getting my empotions caught up in it.
Aug 4, 2009 | comments: 11
Francesca V. Aug 4, 2009, 12:27pm EDT
I think it depends on the setting. If you are in a large academic teaching hospital you're bound to be subject to the flock of white lab coats discussing your case and it may seem impersonal but these people are learning, they are teaching, they are discussing your disease, not you. It depends too on the service. Surgeons tend to be more impersonal (not always the case) whereas the general medicine internists tend to be more on the empathetic side. But the setting of a large academic hospital provides the best case scenario if you have a serious disease, the latest technology and the knowledge is there for the patient and the clinicians. It's a very complicated relationship for all involved. My take? I want the best care and it doesn't always entail the hand holding. These are highly trained technicians and if you took your car in for repair, do you want a good mechanic or an affable one? The combo would be great but what are the expectations?
Personally I prefer skill over all else.
Jul 1, 2009 | comments: 6
Francesca V. Jul 14, 2009, 3:00pm EDT

I'll give it a whirl, there's a lot of story to this. 
Jul 1, 2009 | comments: 6
Francesca V. Jul 14, 2009, 2:58pm EDT

Wow, thanks!
Apr 20, 2009 | comments: 4
Francesca V. Apr 21, 2009, 7:04pm EDT
Cape Hatteras Island is part of the Outerbanks, that long spit of land that juts abruptly off the coast of North Carolina. Its lighthouse is the tallest in North America. It's a wonderful place to visit and the beaches are probably the best along the Atlantic coast; there are some days where you might be the only person on the beach for miles. I was inspired to write this while planning my next vacation there and the history there abounds from the original lost colony to Blackbeard and Raleigh and more US/Ally ship tonnage was lost off that coast by U-Boat torpedos than the entire South Pacific during WWII. (FDR kept this quiet because he feared for the national morale.) It's a great place to vacation no matter what your age is. It's kind of a pain to get there but it's well-worth the effort.
Apr 20, 2009 | comments: 4
Francesca V. Apr 21, 2009, 6:54pm EDT
It does feel haunted on the island but I can't seem to stop going back every year.
May 31, 2007 | comments: 3
Francesca V. Apr 20, 2009, 10:30pm EDT
Fun stuff. I've been up there twice. I'm not usually afraid of heights but those spiral stairs gave me a case of vertigo that would make Jimmy Stewart jealous of!
Apr 6, 2009 | comments: 67
Francesca V. Apr 8, 2009, 4:58pm EDT
It's fact-based evidence that mass hysteria creates "copy-cat" acts of violence. Mass shootings are not that far off with multiple suicides that occur within a high school. One kid does it and so on. It's simply an example put forth and it's a tragic one, but I don't think it's a result of over-population. One thing about human nature though, it's amazing what people will do for attention. Can we not look further than the obvious? The media eats this stuff up, it's an influence too. Reality TV doesn't help matters. We're sheeple.
Apr 6, 2009 | comments: 67
Francesca V. Apr 8, 2009, 4:49pm EDT
I rated your article a ten btw, a good conversation is always helpful. We don't always have to agree.
Apr 6, 2009 | comments: 67
Francesca V. Apr 8, 2009, 4:44pm EDT
You can swipe any bit of information out of the air and attempt to make a point. If you've ever taken the time to read up on the newest information concerning the 1918 pandemic flu you'll find that it wiped out people for two major reasons: 1.) Modern tranport and migration. 2.) That flu was bad but we probably had a similar strain in the 50's with the so-called Asian flu. The 1918 flu didn't kill people, the bacteria did when flu victims became immuno-supressed. We had antibiotics in the 50's and this lessened the blow with fatalities. If we hadn't had antibiotics then, the numbers of victims would have surpassed the 1918 pandemic.

The CDC has over-reacted beyond belief with emerging diseases but disease always makes headlines and the CDC depends on grant money. What great publicity! SARS was and still is scary, the bird flu is a non-issue in areas that don't typically have chickens and fowl living within the home. And most disease "waters down" after a period of time of tranmission, like SARS did, and not unlike bird flu also. Reported cases have decreased which is contrary to your point of over-population.

So what is your final solution? Should we kill off half the population now because our planet is warning us?
Feb 6, 2009 | comments: 28
Francesca V. Feb 6, 2009, 9:21am EST
It's a non-issue. And don't even go there with the role-model stuff, he is a role model and he always will be. OMG, this stuff wasn't even news in the 70's and 80's. A bong, oh my! I work on a liver floor at the hospital and you sure don't see people dying or waiting for a transplant in their forties of acute liver failure because they smoked some marijuana.
We glorify alcohol day in and day out and where's the outrage that 90% of the aired commercials for the Superbowl was beer? Such double standards. Lay off Michael Phelps, he deserves to let his hair down.
Jan 31, 2009 | comments: 70
Francesca V. Jan 31, 2009, 4:28pm EST
In the 70's, nothing tasted better after an "herb party" than a bowl Captain Crunch with Hershey's syrup. OMG! Did I really just say that????
Jan 31, 2009 | comments: 70
Francesca V. Jan 31, 2009, 4:27pm EST
If Cap'n Crunch is Elvis, then the Lucky Charms guy must be Elton John.
Jan 28, 2009 | comments: 3
Francesca V. Jan 28, 2009, 3:10pm EST
I'm glad you did too!
Nov 2, 2008 | comments: 29
Francesca V. Jan 26, 2009, 5:05pm EST
My son him in Detroit during the same campaign sweep. Wow, it seems like eons ago.
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Francesca V.
Midwest

Jimmy cracked corn and I DO care!
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