Body Mass Index

Discussion in 'Homeschooling' started by Cornish Steve, Jul 17, 2010.

  1. Actressdancer

    Actressdancer New Member

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    We're going through this with DS7 right now. He gets horrible, horrible migraines. After years of them, the ped sent him to a pediatric neurologist. The PN put him on a medication that has a HUGE list of side effects. This medication is meant to prevent headaches. ALL headaches. Aside from how scary that is to me, the side effects were unacceptable. One of the side effects is seizures. I'd rather him have a migraine, thanks. Another is weight loss. The percentage of patients who experienced weight loss is so high they tried to get it approved as a weight loss drug. The problem with that? DS' BMI is already dangerously low. He is off the charts, on the low end, for weight. We have to be very careful in how he eats because his metabolism is just insane. And the final nail in the coffin was when many, many sources all declared that this particular medication should be the LAST resort when treating pediatric migraines because a)there are TONS of other meds that work just as well and b)the side effects are far to dangerous for this to be the first choice.

    Ok, so there's a point to this. The doctor had the script pads pre-printed with this medication. So it's obviously something he prescribes a lot. Maybe because he gets a kick back or maybe because it's also an anti-seizure medication and he IS an neurologist. Who knows.

    But now, we're sol. I refused to fill the script after I researched the side effects. So the PN will not see us again. Yep. He said we refused his help, so there's no point in us returning. He has that power. In addition, now DS' primary doctor will also no longer discuss the migraines. She said that if we weren't going to follow the PN's instructions, we weren't really interested in helping DS. She's the one who has his diet on close watch so she's well aware of the consequences of weight loss in his case. But reason and logic fail epically in the medical profession.

    (Side note: I think we've got his migraines under control. He rarely gets them now. But it's not because of a script. We eliminated nearly all contact with BPA.)
     
  2. Meg2006

    Meg2006 New Member

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    WOw, Amie, I'm so sorry he had thosse migraines!! I used to have then as a child and often do have one at least once a month, and they are terrible!!!!

    A similar incident happened w/ my brother. He's on anti seizure meds and one neurologist prescribed him a medicine (like yours...pre printed prescription pad) that was TOTALLY not the best medication for him! I guess it was supposed to be used for much older patients instead of young adults and the side effects could be adverse OR the medication wouldn't work at all. After the seond opinion they took him off the meds (new doctor was apalled) and put him on safer ones.

    When you want OPTIONS and your given only one due to a special interest in it for the specialist, then thats pretty sad. You're HELPING your child by choosing the correct medication for him instead of feeding him exactly what your told and not researching it yourself. So he was allergic to BPA? I have a similar issue with MSG. Like, Pringles have a high MSG and I felt like death the last time I ate them. I feel bad for the poor little guy!!
     
  3. MamaBear

    MamaBear New Member

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  4. Cornish Steve

    Cornish Steve Active Member

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    Just to balance the argument!

    When our third child was an infant, we decided one weekend to get a new child seat for the car. The old one was OK, but we just felt it was time to get a new one - and we paid more to get a good one. The very next week, in a 25mph residential zone, a drunk driver (at 10 in the morning!) passed out at the wheel and slammed into the back of our car at over 60mph. In the car at the time were just my wife and Daniel (the infant). The car was totaled, and the back of the car in particular was crushed badly. Daniel was thrown hard to the front, but the new seat did its job. The emergency workers told my wife that his child seat, for sure, had saved his life. The seat was banged up, but Daniel had not even a scratch. Looking back, the Lord prompted us at just the right time to buy that seat. Plus, my wife escaped serious injury because she was wearing her seatbelt. As you can imagine, we've always been diligent about wearing seat belts. Indeed, we won't drive the car until everyone is strapped in.

    To some extent, we're the product of our experiences. In our case, we go with the statistics: Far more lives are saved from wearing seatbelts than are lost through wearing them. As in everything in life, there are exceptions (and I was sorry to read your story, Amie), but statistics are valuable and can help save lives by changing our behaviors.
     
  5. Marty

    Marty New Member

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    Sorry Steve, you're going to get yourself in trouble thinking like a man while trying to debate with a bunch of moms. :wink: Please don't take that personal!
    You are debating an issue from a man/dad's point of view which is a good thing. BUT mom's don't view their children's sickness in the same light.
    When kid is sick, most dad's will say "Whatever it takes to make them better". Men generally want statistic, percentages & odds. "What are the chances my kid will get better? Will he ever play baseball again? Just fix him/her!"
    Moms turn into "mother grizzly", "What are you doing? Why are you doing it? What will this treatment/pill/ cast/ surgery do to my kid?" Mom's don't look straight toward the end result, we want to know how you are going to get there and what to expect along the way. We are the one who will have to care for that child while it's getting better. We don't always go on experience we have a big tendency to go on "Mother's Instinct". No amount of percentages or statistics will deter a mom from what she can see in her child's eyes and face.
    And that is why most mom will say, "The gov can tell me what to check and how to check my kid over my dead body." We moms reserve the right to follow our maternal instincts over anything the gov mandates or the statistics point to. We will turn into grizzlys to maintain that right and to protect/ care for our children as we see fit.
    While I understand your desire to "balance" the debate, you're not going to with a bunch of "mother bears". :D
    Marty
     
  6. MamaBear

    MamaBear New Member

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    Yep, MamaBear agrees! Ha!
     
  7. Blessed_Life

    Blessed_Life New Member

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    Amen, sister! When we leave it up to an "expert's" or "government's" discretion, then there is no clear cut standard upon which to judge what is or is not in the people's best interest. Just based on what the gov't has been doing now, I don't feel as if my best interests are being represented or protected. So, establishing a clear guideline like regulating or criminalizing behaviors which *clearly can be shown* to be a danger to public safety, is the only sure way to protect our personal rights AND maintain a civilized society.
     
  8. Cornish Steve

    Cornish Steve Active Member

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    I give up! I give up! I'm outnumbered!

    <<Waves a white flag.>>
     
  9. Actressdancer

    Actressdancer New Member

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    I realize my statement about my brother was misleading, and in the interest of truth, I feel compelled to clarify. My brother didn't die. When I said his life was destroyed, I meant his external life (does that make sense? ha!). His legs were both crushed leading to a series of VERY painful surgeries and, twelve years later, he's not fully recovered. Ok, that's not so bad. Except that he was also declared medically unfit and discharged from the Air Force: an employer he planned to stick with until retirement. He never has adapted well to civilian life. And every expert involved agree that if he had not been wearing his seatbelt, he'd have come out with cuts and bruises and that's about it.

    That having been said, I am a seatbelt nazi. I DO agree that, statistically, they save more lives than they harm. I'm OK with that. However, I don't think the government has the right to demand I wear it. One of DH's employees got pulled over the other day and ticketed for not wearing her seatbelt. Thing was, she had it on while driving. She unbuckled when she was pulled over because she couldn't reach the glove box (for proof of insurance) with it on. Yeah, that wasn't so smart, but she wasn't thinking. She knew she'd need the insurance card, so she unbuckled to get it before the cop got to the door. She was trying to be prepared. Anyhow, he let her off with a warning on the speeding (the original reason she was pulled over) but ticketed her for not being buckled. She tried to explain, but he was unwavering in maintaining that he did not see her buckled, so as far as he was concerned, she wasn't. So there's a $75 fine collected for legislating sense.
     
  10. Brooke

    Brooke New Member

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    I had that exact same thing happen to me when I was in college. Stopped for a loud muffler in my smokin' hot Escort station wagon. :cool: Middle of winter so I left the car running for heat purposes after I stopped. Officer told me that if I had shut the car off, I would not have received the ticket. He even told me he saw me unbuckle after I had put the car in park. Grrrrrr.....
     
  11. Embassy

    Embassy New Member

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    It is a $250 fine here.
     
  12. ChelC

    ChelC New Member

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    I haven't read past this post, so forgive me if I'm being redundant.

    I am a hugely libertarian minded person - to a point. I do however believe in natural law and I also believe anarchy is more dangerous than tyranny - in other words, I don't believe in lawlessness, but I also don't believe legislation is the answer to the problem. Legislation is a convenient vehicle for tyrants and gives us more order than anarchy. It reigns in the wicked, and punishes the righteous.

    I'm of the opinion that we tend have the government we as a society (not individually) are deserving of. When we are a lawless people order is only maintained with intrusion. When we are self governing, the controls stay at bay.

    I find government intrusions to be deeply offensive, but I believe that (unpopular POV warning) the answer lies in repentance, not in legislation. We're just on one end of the pendulum until we're humbled enough to repent, and brave enough to stand immovable against the tyrants who are bound to fill the vacuum this degraded society has created.

    Oh, and I think BMI is crap. My husband has a much lower body fat percentage than I, but his BMI tells him he's obese while mine is healthy. He has a great deal of muscle mass - his legs are probably almost twice the circumference of an average person, but there is zero fat on them. I think eating and exercise habits are better indicators of health.
     
  13. ChelC

    ChelC New Member

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    I like this quote a lot from The Cannibal Queen:
     
  14. mandiana

    mandiana New Member

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    Do you have some kind of proof of this? Or is this something you just heard someone say?
     
  15. Cornish Steve

    Cornish Steve Active Member

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    I'll try to find a news report. It was part of the stimulus package - as were several other items that laid the groundwork for the health care bill.

    PS - here's one link. I'll try to find one in a more mainstream outlet.
     
  16. Cornish Steve

    Cornish Steve Active Member

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  17. Brooke

    Brooke New Member

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    Thanks for the link, Steve. I've really dropped the ball on delving into current legislation. Electronic health records....hmmmm....so much for HIPPA, huh. Sounds like an easy segway for the mark, though.
     
  18. Actressdancer

    Actressdancer New Member

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    She did have a sad but very true point (paraphrasing) when she said that you do give up certain freedoms when you ask fellow countrymen to pick up the tab for your choices.

    Which brings us back to the idea that I don't want anyone paying for me any more than I want to pay for anyone else. Honestly, you know what I think needs to happen with healthcare? Eliminate insurance. Period. Get an HSA or a groupshare program and save the money yourself. Harsh? Maybe. But I think when the big ticket items can't be afforded by nearly everyone, the price tag will suddenly lower. Suddenly an anesthesiologist will be able to give you a few CCs of a drug and stand by your side during a 1 hour surgery for significantly less than the $1500 he currently charges.
     
  19. Actressdancer

    Actressdancer New Member

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    There was a commercial for, um, maybe Intel, not so long ago. In the commercial they were talking about how great it would be if doctor a in New York could pull up your medical records from doctor b if you had an incident while on vacation there. It was a beautiful commercial extolling the company that was making it happen, connecting the world, so to speak. But the more I saw it, the more nagging the feeling in my gut became.
     
  20. frogger

    frogger New Member

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    Two quotes come to mind when reading this thread. Both apply to the overall topic.

    “Why the transfer of decisions from those with personal experience and a stake in the outcome to those with neither can be expected to lead to better decisions is a question seldom asked, much less answered.” Thomas Sowell in Intellectuals and Society.

    and when discussing which things should be legislated..

    "The effect of the people's agreeing that there must be central planning, without agreeing on the ends, will be rather as if a group of a people were to commit themselves to take a journey together without agreeing where they want to go: with the result that they may all have to make a journey which most of them do not want at all. " F.A. Hayek The Road to Serfdom.


    BMI is so messed up. It is for scrawny office workers or people with very specific genetics like Ethiopians. I can't believe that it is the ideal but I suppose it works well for bulimic actresses. I'm right where I should be according to BMI believers but if I were actually in shape (i.e. my muscle hadn't all disappeared in staying at home watching babies all day I might be over the "normal" range.) DH is "obese" but he is in way better shape then me. Way Better! He says he gets great personal satisfaction out of passing the skinny people on the cross country ski trail. No offense to those who are thin. I am one of you. I and three of my children couldn't gain weight no matter what we did. I still feed them healthy food because I want them to be healthy irregardless of how much they weigh.
     

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