Bite Point

The effects of the actions we take are written all around us. Sometimes, literally, in stone.

When I was a kid I was somewhat afraid of people with disabilities. A number of older female relatives had various degrees of dementia and the very randomness of their demands and commands was frightening. Also we belonged to two swim clubs at different times and each had a member- one about my age- who was an amputee. Yep- scared by them too. Maybe in a child's mind it's the threat, "hey, this could happen to me too!" I dunno.

Then I read Douglas Bader's "Reach For The Sky". He was a British fighter pilot in WWII- and a double amputee. Flew Spitfires in the Battle of Britain, was shot down while on a Rhubarb over Nazi occupied France, taken prisoner and tried to escape... Twice!!  After the War he spent much of what most people spend as leisure time in helping other amputees to enjoy an active life. He and his wife golfed and danced and led lives that he pushed right into normalcy in spite of his wounds.

I had a chance to meet him in 1979 and blew it, by the way. One of the Top Three Regrets of my life...

In any event his story totally changed my views, as did going into the medical field. Ever since and especially in my residency I'd wade right in to treating people with various disabilities with none of the old reservations. Came to regret my fears and reservations as a youth, too.

So it has been with our country. In its youth and indeed far into middle age it tried to hide away many of its citizens. Much of the population had absolutely no idea that FDR used a wheelchair most of the time due to polio. There are countless other examples.

I went to the supermarket today and it seems so did everyone else in Havertown. When there are crowds of cars and people and lines and such I've taking to amusing myself with being hyper-aware and noticing the little things. It passes the time.

I was walking along and saw this ramp built into the pavement for wheelchairs and bicycles and probably many other vehicles to use. How many times have we seen the newer concrete, of a different shade and texture than the old? We pass by these many times per day and never give them a thought and yet they sit there in mute testimony to our own indifference in the past. The Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990. How long have we been building asphalt roads with curbs?

"The first road use of asphalt occurred in 1824, when asphalt blocks were placed on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Modern road asphalt was the work of Belgian immigrant Edward de Smedt at Columbia University in New York City. By 1872, De Smedt had engineered a modern, "well-graded," maximum-density asphalt. The first uses of this road asphalt were in Battery Park and on Fifth Avenue in New YorkCity in 1872 and on Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington D.C., in 1877."
-http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blasphalt.htm

1872 to 1990. That's a long time without ramps being commonplace.

I'm just always amazed that some progress takes place so quickly, and some takes so long. And it's usually the simpler things that take the longest.

Teething- Let's Scotch That Pain

I refer, of course, to the old home remedy for teething pain of rubbing baby's gums with Scotch or other strong spirits.  Not PC and not recommended, but the practice goes back a long way.

Let's define "teething" first.  This is the time period during which infants' baby teeth or primary teeth teeth grow and push through their gums.  Usually the two lower center teeth, incisors by name, come through first.  The upper central incisors usually follow, then there's a cascade of the next (to the side) incisors followed by canines and baby or primary molars...  There's no worry if things seem a bit out of order, though.  A little bit of spacing or even crowding is not harmful at this stage either.

There is a great deal of variation in the timing of this process.  The average time span is that baby starts getting fretful for no apparent reason at around 3 months, the first primary teeth come in at around 6 months, and the last at around age two and a half.  (With the implication that she is unusually cranky and ornery for about 2 years straight, which gets repeated in the teenage phase- but I digress...)

The variation among children can be astonishing.  One couple finds that their baby has his first teeth at age 3 months, another as he nears his first birthday.  One couple finds that their baby never seems to mind what's happening in her mouth, another that their daughter makes life miserable for the whole family each time a new tooth comes in.  20 teeth, 20 trips to the gym for desperate experiments to see if Spinning at frantic new levels will ease the tension caused by it all...

Normal teething symptoms include being fussy, sleepless and irritable, loss of appetite and drooling.  Diarrhea, rashes and a fever are not normal, however, for a teething baby. If your infant has a fever or diarrhea while teething or continues to be cranky and uncomfortable, call your physician- it's probably something else.  Early intervention is always an excellent idea especially when it comes to bacterial and viral diseases.  Catching them in the earliest part of their growth phase makes antibiotics and other treatments more effective and prevents a great deal of trouble.

A clean teething ring for your child to chew on may help to alleviate the pain in the gums that so often accompanies the teething process.  The most important aspects of a teething ring's design are: that it cannot easily be swallowed and that it has no hard edges that could cause injury if (I should say when) your child falls with it in her mouth.  Remember- they're still figuring out this whole walking thing!  The most extreme treatment that I'd recommend is to place a numbing salve on the gums during the most painful episodes, and if you do this only use a little, so that not much can be swallowed.

Oh, and finally, I have worked out a scientifically sound answer to the perennial question, "When should I stop allowing my child to use a pacifier?"

Answer: When your dog chews up the last one.