New Therapy (and some new hope)
I've been having troubles lately. I'm behind on everything because I am in tremendous pain on a daily basis. As Carly Simon says, "I haven't got time for the pain. I haven't the need for the pain."
Monday morning of this week I woke up and said "Enough!"
By Friday, I had found a naturopath who thinks he can help me. I hope this works. Chronic pain is extremely tiring. Chronic pain can drain the brain.
There is so much I want to do, say and be. The pain is in the way.
Early results (like the first 24 hours afterwards) are positive. But I would be lying if I said I'm out of pain. I'm not. It is nearing noon here and I'm beginning to feel the wear that happens on my ability to think and act as the day of pain goes on.
So, we are going to give it a 30 day trial. We'll see.
CDC Needs a New Director
I go to Vegas for a break from cyberspace and meat space and all hell breaks lose.
Last week, JAMA published an article that basically says being thin may be lead to death sooner than being fat. Linking to JAMA is worthless unless you are a subscriber, but I have a .pdf version that I can pass along to anyone who e-mails me.
Here's their conclusion:
"Underweight and obesity, particularly higher levels of obesity, were associated with increased mortality relative to the normal weight category. The impact of obesity on mortality may have decreased over time, perhaps because of improvements in public health and medical care. These findings are consistent with the increases in life expectancy in the United States and the declining mortality rates from ischemic heart disease."
Show Me the Data has posted some help in interpreting the article, including some info from Glen Gaesser who is also this week's guest on Size Matters, Too.
Okay, there are a bunch of caveats in their study, but in a world that has considerably exaggerated the consequences of being fat, this is very big news and may mark a break in the ridiculous "War on Obesity."
The wild thing is the strange bedfellows this whole thing is creating:
The Center for Consumer Freedom reported that Dr. Tim Johnson of ABC (co-sponsor of last year's Obesity Summit), has called this study more solid than anything the CDC put out previously and stating that the government has lost credibility on the subject of weight. (Well, duh.)
Tucker Carlson basically hit the nail on the head when he stated that the obesity scare was more about classism and prejudice than science.
Blogs are afire with a big discussion at Alas, A Blog and an equally interesting discussion at Big Fat Blog.
Sandy Szwarc has, of course, written a great piece about the whole fiasco over at Tech Central.
Kell Brigan sent me an e-mail the other day that sums what an important response to this mess:
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Thanks to Paul Campos and Vincent Carroll of the Rocky Mountain News for calling for the resignation of Julie Gerberding, Director of the Center for Disease Control. As Mr. Carroll put it:
"Two years ago the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Congress that we faced 'an epidemic of obesity" that was dispatching 300,000 Americans to the mortuary every year, "second only to tobacco-related deaths.'
"Last year the CDC's Julie Gerberding turned up the volume still further, claiming in a study she co-authored that 410,000 tubby Americans were waddling annually into an early grave.
"So why didn't Gerberding resign Tuesday as head of the world's most prestigious public health institution when her claims were exposed as grossly, fantastically exaggerated by scientists at her own agency and the National Cancer Institute?
"Why aren't there calls in Congress for her to quit?..
"Gerberding is yet another bureaucrat who uses a public pulpit to launch scare campaigns that serve simultaneously to elevate their own importance.
Missing the mark by a factor of 16 is not good enough for government work."
Fat acceptance advocates have an opportunity at this moment greater than ever before to get our message of health at any size and the acceptance of body diversity across, as well as to expose the suspect behavior of so-called public health experts.
We must call for the resignation of Julie Gerberding, as well as that of Dixie Snider, the CDC's Science Office and one of the primary pushers of the "obesity epidemic" lie.
As activist efforts go, this one is simple. All we need to do is write, call, e-mail and telegraph messages to our congressional representatives demanding the resignations of Gerberding and Snider.
Finally, we have something concrete and effective to work toward, and an affordable, accessible way to make it happen.
Let's get the word out, and prevent these dangerous, incompetent, co-opted "experts" from ever spreading dangerous misinformation again.
Find Your Representatives: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
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Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel for the war on obesity. I doubt it with all the spin doctors aspinnin' but it won't hurt to act now.
A Little Self-Promotion and A Lot of Gratitude
Well, we are getting closer to the book being published. Pearlsong Press, Inc.has our author's page up along with advanced reviews.
Thanks to Deb, Jay, Pat, Sandy and Tish for the words of encouragement.
Stay tuned for more details as they develop.
The Rewards of Objectivity
Roche just closed its third annual International Award for Obesity Journalism. Want to know what they think is good journalism? Check out last year's winners.
Roche (surprise!)makes Xenical, which as far as I can tell is the last obesity drug on the market right now as Phen/Fen, Redux and Meridia have all been recalled and the others that are coming soon have not been approved.
Xenical has side-effects which have been dismissed as just one of those things you have to put up with in order to lose weight:
"Abdominal discomfort or pain, anxiety, arthritis, back pain, diarrhea, dizziness, earache, fatigue, fatty or oily stools, fecal urgency or incontinence, flu, gas with fecal discharge, gum problems, headache, increased defecation, menstrual problems, muscle pain, nausea, oily discharge, rectal discomfort or pain, respiratory tract infections, skin rash, sleep problems, tooth problems, urinary tract infections, vaginal inflammation, vomiting"
There have been reports of more severe side effects (warning, this link is not pretty).
I'm thinking of putting together an expose on diet drugs and specifically on the problems associated with Xenical, publishing it on the Internet and then submitting it to their 4th annual award. What do you think?
Oh yeah, and if you want to know why they are willing to give journalists nearly US$10,000 a year, well, check these out...
Can Obesity Fatten Your Wallet?
Investing in Controlling Obesity
Fat Profits
Seriously, I don't believe in objectivity in journalism. It cannot exist as long as human beings compose the stories. I think it is a ruse to spend time trying to be objective. The lack of objectivity in so called "obesity journalism" isn't the problem.
The problem is that no one owns up to their biases. The only way a media consumer can critically assess what is being consumed is to have the background information as well as the foreground information. Biases show up in what is omitted more often than in what is said. Things can look fair and balanced until one sees the larger picture.
My favorite scene in the movie, Contact (with Jodie Foster) is towards the end when after Ellie has been raked over the coals by a government inquisition. Rachel Constantine is the president's chief of staff and Michael Kitz was the president's secretary of defense who resigned in order to head the inquisition. The conversation:
Rachel Constantine: I assume you read the confidential findings report from the investigating committee.
Michael Kitz: I flipped through it.
Rachel Constantine: I was especially interested in the section on Arroway's video unit. The one that recorded the static?
Michael Kitz: Continue.
Rachel Constantine: The fact that it recorded static isn't what interests me.
Michael Kitz: [pauses] Continue.
Rachel Constantine: What interests me is that it recorded approximately eighteen hours of it.
Michael Kitz: That is interesting, isn't it?
Ellie claimed that she left earth for 18 hours. She had no proof of where she had been or what she had seen because her video unit failed to record what she saw. But the little detail of 18 hours of tape changed everything. Keeping that small piece of information quiet covered up a great deal.
Obesity journalism rewarded by the manufacturer of obesity medication leaves one wondering about a lot. Or it should.
Living in the Material World
I sometimes seek counsel and creative lateral thinking by looking at Medicine Cards. The totem spreads help me focus on things I wouldn't think about other wise.
I am surprised at times at how pertinent to my life. This past two weeks have been especially wild. I pulled a card that suggested that I would have difficulty staying in the materials world. My heart and my head have been elsewhere. The physical world has not worked for me lately. My computer has trouble. My car has trouble. My legs have trouble. My mind is floating around in a dreamworld.
It might be spring in the desert. It is beautiful here. If someone had told me a year ago that I would have fallen in love with the desert, I would have laughed. I love trees. I love water. I love snow. No way, I could enjoy sand and heat. But I do. There is a spiritual quality to the Arizona desert that I cannot describe or show.
It might be Anne William's fault. She and Peggy Elam came for a visit a couple of weeks ago. (Actually, they came for a retreat in Phoenix and took an afternoon out to visit us.)They brought us an advance copy of Anne's book, Unconventional Means. I read it in less than a day. Carl and I took them to Tonto National Forest and Saguaro Lake Park near Phoenix. Between the book and the trip to the desert, I seem to be off in another dimension. Both reminded me of a part of myself that gets neglected at times.
Of course, it might just be that I'm finally getting some good sleep. I have been sleeping in a chair since I had pnemonia in December 2002. Well, I no longer have to sleep in a chair. I now have an adjustable bed. I got one for $35.00!!! Yep, the decimal is in the right place. This is the only thing in the material world that has been working right for me. I have been sleeping like I have years to make up for, which I do. So perhaps the dreams and the daydreaming and the spring fever is just my mind and body catching up on sleep. Maybe the feeling that I am not quite in the material world is a material matter after all.
This dreaming is not practical. I have started a new career, which is why I have not been writing much here or at Ample Ramblings. I have accumulated a lot of wisdom over the years. I say that not so much as a brag, but as an affirmation. In about two months, I will be on this earth for 48 years. They have been hard years, but they have taught me a lot. The greatest lesson they taught me was that process is important. Sometimes the journey is more important than the destination because once you know how to take the journey well you can find your way to many other things.
I have begun working with a company that provides learning processes to businesses, nonprofit organizations and youth. I like the materials. I like the network of people with whom I am working. I like what I am doing a lot. But it is going to take time to establish myself and my work (and to make money). In this work, you are not only selling the materials, you are selling yourself. That is a new experience for me.
Promotion has been the thing I have resisted the most. I spent some time this morning going through old diaries and old pictures, mostly from the past five years. I started out this century moving to a new country and trying to be an immigrant. That didn't work out the way I had hoped. I learned a lot from the experience, but in many ways, sitting in Arizona after six months, I find myself in the exact same position I was four years ago. I am starting a new job. I am living in a new culture. I am making new friends. I am not sure where all of this is going to lead.
The difference this time is that I have changed. This time I have a clear idea as to where I want this to lead and I have tools to find my way to those goals. I am stronger and clearer on who I am and what I want. I have let go of some people, places and ideas that held me back.
I am not the person I was in 2000/2001. That is important. I guess.
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