PATIENCE FOR PATIENTS

 

 

It’s not always easy to find comfort when you are ill, whether you are at home, in the doctor’s office or in the hospital.  First of all, it takes the ability to cope with your condition and be aware of what you are feeling.  As long as you are fully conscious, you are the only one capable to communicate what is wrong.  A caring person, be it your loved one, physician, dentist, nurse, therapist, or even a friend can’t do much for you unless you are alert and willing to share what’s bothering you.  Regardless of the professional skill a caring person has, each one has to have personality attributes such as patience, ability to listen, build trust, show empathy and encouragement.  Those qualities are critical for helping a person.

 Medical care is facing challenging conditions today more than years ago.  In some areas, hospitals are understaffed which makes it difficult to provide adequate nursing care.  Doctors, who are in public or private practice, have heavy caseloads.  There have been tremendous advances in medical science; however, accountability for medical services has become computerized.  It appears that more and more doctors are finding less time to talk with their patients.  When the patient goes for an office visit, the doctor does give a thorough examination but less time to relate with the patient because the doctor has to spend time typing into the computer medical data on the patient in compliance for insurance coverage.  At the time of a patient’s visit, the patient often sits there waiting for him to complete inputting data into the computer.  The good old days of the patient relationship with the doctor is much shorter.  Oh yes, often the doctor’s bedside manner still exists but, the time is brief.  Also, the doctor has other patients waiting to be seen. So, patience for the patient is often kind but limited.  There are a few doctors who manage to massage the environment by using a (PA) Physician’s Assistant.  But, doing so can disappoint the patient because the (PA) is not the equivalent of a doctor.  But the (PA) serves a legitimate role to alleviate the load of the physician in attending to a patient as an assistant to the doctor. This assistance may be unsettling for a patient.

Yes, times have changed.  As a matter of fact, a doctor’s home visit is rare and in the past.  Although, there are doctors who will take the time to make a phone call to the patient as a follow up to find out how one is recuperating.

Patience is a virtue.            

 

 

    

 

 

EATING TOOLS

 

 

The waiter is called to our table to remind him that there are two setups missing.  We cannot enjoy dinner without utensils for eating.  Yes, how easy it is for us to use a fork, knife or spoon.   It’s hard to believe that there was a time when no such cutlery was available.

 During the Stone Age of humankind, sharp stones were formed to cut meat and fruit.  Simple shapes of spoons were made from hollowed out pieces of wood or sea shells that were connected to sticks.  Animal horns were used to consume liquids. The Iron Age introduced the use of metalwork which allowed small “sharped tipped” knives to become commonplace for eating.  The rise of the fork came with the arrival of the 16th Century Italian Renaissance.  Forks were used by nobility.  They were used primarily with exotic foods which brought finger stains that were harder to clean.  The use of the fork spread across Europe by the early 17th Century.  However, the American colonies did not implement its use until the early 19th Century when multi-tinned forks created in Germany and England came to the United States.

 Nevertheless, today there is a great concern about the excessive use of disposal cutlery in the form of plastic utensils.   In 2010, a former researcher for The International Corps Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) Narayana Peesapaty founded Bakeys, (sometimes known as Bakey’s) an Indian edible cutlery manufacturing startup company in Hyderabad, Telangana.  His product is an eco-friendly alternative to disposable utensils prepared with plastic, wood and bamboo chopsticks.  His goal is to produce products which will contribute to waste reduction.  His primary concern is that there are an estimated 120 billion plastic utensils thrown in the garbage by Indian diners annually. 

 Bakeys uses a variety of different flours to bake one-time edible spoons, forks and chopsticks which can be consumed after their use.  The products are vegetarian manufactured using all natural ingredients, primarily sorghum as well as wheat, rice, and millet.  The spoons have a shelf-life of 18 months and are made so that they will naturally decompose between three and seven days if not consumed.  The spoons are made with several flavors, such as cumin, mint-ginger, carrot-beetroot and sugar.  As of April 2016, the company is only marketing edible spoons, but plans to expand its operation to begin distribution of forks and chopsticks. 

 Peesapety’s effort to campaign funding has been slow but increasing and he looks forward to his product reaching Europe and the United States. His project is another advance toward awakening an eco-friendlier environment.  Yes, it is true that metal utensils can be washed and reused.  But, think about the thousands of fast food places that distribute the plastic utensils.

 

 

 

PAST IS PRESENT

 

It has been said often that we need to look to the future and not linger on the past knowledge of our life.  But, then it depends upon what we consider as lasting.   Considering the past, opens up much information that is continually available to us in printed matter such as books, newspapers, periodicals or oral conversations.  All the information that has accumulated through the centuries even before written history has given us insight about life.  Archaeologists and historians have provided us with knowledge of past civilizations such as the Persian, Greek and Roman empires.  They have long gone and passed; but, we have learned from their past existence.

 Then again, there is a different kind of past that we often resort to that is more personal and found through reminiscence or nostalgia.  At first, one might think they are alike because they take us into the past.  Although they allow us to experience past feelings and thoughts they are slightly different from one another.   Reminiscing allows us to remember or recall certain instances.  For example, when having dinner in a restaurant and looking at the couple at the next table, we are reminded or we trigger a reminiscence of our trip to the islands just by seeing blouses each is wearing that shows a Polynesian pattern.  We find ourselves looking back to the beautiful sunsets we saw in Hawaii.  

Nostalgia is similar to reminiscing but has a slightly different meaning. Nostalgia has usually been associated with a longing for a past setting.  It has been likened to feelings of homesickness. It is sentimentality for the past.  The term itself is derived from the formation of a Greek compound, (nostos), meaning homecoming and a Homeric word (algos), meaning ache or pain.  It was coined by a 17^th century medical student to describe the anxieties shown by Swiss mercenaries who were fighting away from home. It was described as a medical condition of melancholy.  Early studies of nostalgia showed that sensations of smell and touch could sometimes evoke nostalgia by the processing of these stimuli first passing through the amygdala, the emotional seat of the brain.

 Some people experience a normal form of nostalgia as a wonderful feeling that is a combination of joy of what once was and, at the same time, a pang of regret that it is no longer.  However, there is a form of nostalgia that is psychologically negative and basically arouses a feeling of longing that limits one’s ability to understand how to let go of the past and accept the moment that was lost.   Such a negative nostalgia can promote defensive and depressed feelings. 

 Overall, it appears that indulging in enjoyable recollections of past events offers a peace of mind.  Casting one’s mind back to good times can maintain good mental health.

“Oh, for the good old days!”.