Jan 28, 2010 O Canada, OMGWTFBBQ?!, Rant
Imagine you’re in a bar or out on a date and you’re enjoying a drink with that cute guy you’ve been chatting up and then all of a sudden you get a bit fuzzy. You pass out and later you wake up in a strange bed with your clothes on the floor and although you have no clear memories you realize that you’ve very obviously been violated.
That’s called date rape.
Now imagine you’re in a hospital and you’re knocked out under general anesthesia so that your doctor can perform a routine surgery on you. You then wake up with no clear memories but later you read an article that says that if you were in a Canadian teaching hospital you may very well have undergone an unnecessary pelvic exam by a medical student or perhaps even *numerous* medical students.
That’s called acceptable by the Canadian Medical Association.
Really? That’s acceptable, to allow medical students to poke around in an unconscious woman’s va-jay-jay without permission? I guess acceptable is one word for it, but I prefer two words: Fucked Up.
This article in the Globe and Mail says this:
The long-standing argument in favour of allowing these exams to be done on surgery patients is that it provides a unique opportunity for students to practice the delicate, invasive examination without causing the woman pain or embarrassment.
A pelvic exam without pain or embarrassment? Okay, fine. I think most people would prefer a small and brief amount of pain and discomfort over the thought of not finding out something is wrong until it’s too late. As for embarrassment, well, I’m not someone who jumps for joy over the idea of a pelvic exam but I wouldn’t say I’m embarrassed either. However, I know some women are, so yes having a pelvic exam while you’re out cold would indeed save on both the pain and potential embarrassment.
But WITH consent! Except, the article goes on to say this:
There is also an assumption that women would never accept pelvic exams by students while conscious so sneaking them in, while not ideal, is acceptable.
I… God. I am almost at a loss for words except no, it’s more like I have too many words that want to get out at the same time and all of them would make a sailor blush. SNEAKING a pelvic exam on someone because you ASSUME that the woman in question WOULD SAY NO is what the CMA calls ACCEPTABLE?
Pardon my abuse of the caps lock and my upcoming profanity but what in the fuck is wrong with this picture? You know, really, imagine a guy saying, “I assume that woman won’t sleep with me so I’ll dump this Roofie in her wine and I’ll just SNEAK IT IN. It’s not ideal but it’s acceptable.”
Maybe the difference in those two scenarios is that some of the people wear white coats and surgical masks and gloves, I don’t know.
I gave birth in a teaching hospital in Montreal. I was followed not only by my obstetrician but by various residents studying under him and that was fine. I had a pelvic exam by a med student - after I was ASKED and after I said YES and while I was AWAKE - and that was fine. I had a bunch of student nurses in the room while I was in labor and other than the fact that I wanted to slap one of them for asking me open-ended questions while I was painfully contracting, it was fine. When I actually pushed my baby out there were so many doctors, residents, and med students watching that they could have brought a film crew in and I wouldn’t have noticed.
I get the concept of a teaching hospital and obviously these students need to practice on someone. Anyone can read the medical books but you won’t get far if you’re not actually practicing what you’re learning.
But permission MUST be sought out to do something as invasive and personal as a pelvic exam. For the CMA to consider this to be acceptable in any way is disgusting and unethical. How are Canadian women supposed to feel safe and comfortable while going into surgeries now?
The sad part is that the article gives this statistic:
Sixty-two per cent of respondents said they would consent to medical students doing pelvic exams, and an additional 5 per cent said “yes” but only if a female student was doing the exam.
So 62% said yes, 67% if it was a female. That’s not everyone but it’s a respectable number of patients who would be willing to left students prod around for the sake of a teaching moment.
What’s scary though is that 33% would have said no but may have had no choice in the matter.
If those 33% were drugged and violated the courts would call it rape, but if those 33% were knocked out and examined then apparently the CMA calls it science.
Over here Catherine is gearing up to write an open letter and petition to the CMA about this horrifying lack of respect. And over here Shannon makes an interesting point by reminding us that even the dead must have given consent for their bodies to be used in any scientific or educational manner, so essentially the CMA is treating live women and their bodies with less respect than someone who is dead.
I know how that makes ME feel. How does it make you feel?
Jan 24, 2010 Blablabla, Photos
Friday: Breanna had been very upset on Thursday afternoon when she found out I had gone for a walk in the woods with the dog without her. I mean REALLY upset. That kid loves the woods as much as I do. I promised her we’d go on Friday and so that’s what we did. Hayley went straight to her grandparents’ house for the afternoon and evening after school so she didn’t realize we were going out somewhere without her. Walking in the woods with a four-year-old wearing snow pants is a lot slower than just going by yourself with the dog, but it was fun and the weather was outrageously beautiful.
I ended Friday by sobbing into a pile of tissues while watching “Hope For Haiti Now”. What an amazing telethon and George Clooney is truly an incredible person for getting it organized so quickly.
Saturday: It was meant to start off quietly but instead it ended up finding me and the kids still in our pajamas (George pulled on sweatpants), bare feet stuffed in boots, standing outside and wondering if our building was on fire. All the tenants were out, though not everyone came right down - some stayed in their hallway, the alarm blared, the kids cried, and the fire department showed up. I would have taken some photos of the firemen traipsing up and down the stairs with their axes and fire extinguishers but I discovered that despite what I used to think, I actually will NOT go retrieve my camera from my desk in the case of a fire. My bag was by the door but I had dumped photos the night before so the camera was too far away and the alarm was too loud and I said, “you know, eff that, I can’t afford a new camera right now but I can’t take pictures if I’m dead either so…” Alas.
Turns out that there was no fire, someone’s smoke detector was defective, tripped the system, and set off the building’s main alarm. Whew. Still, when I got up on Sunday I put on jogging pants so I wouldn’t have to stand around with my neighbors while wearing my snowman flannel PJs, gah.
That ended all hopes of peace but I did manage to take both kids and the dog into the woods yet again for a two hour walk. They argued with each other most of the way so the woods were less quiet than usual but at least it gave them exercise and helped them sleep later.
With the kids bickering non-stop all day long I had posted to Facebook saying that I was undergoing a personal tragedy because while it was a definite “wine day” I had no wine and didn’t foresee acquiring any. A friend read it and since George was down in her basement at that moment, helping her husband with reno work she asked if I’d like to bring the kids over for supper. Upon arrival she practically immediately poured me a glass of wine - yay Facebook! We had delicious chicken fajitas but the best part was truly just escaping my own home and having some adult conversation with a friend I hadn’t seen for awhile.
Sunday: Today I expected a lot of crappy weather since I woke up to weather warnings in my email from the Weather Network (I know, geek) but it was actually pretty nice out all day long. I took the dog into the woods for a walk for the fourth day in a row, but solo this time and it was a good way to unwind from the whole weekend, especially since I spent much of the day cleaning the kids’ room out.
Tomorrow is technically the beginning of the week but it will feel a little bit confusing to me since Hayley has a Ped Day. That means I’ll be off all week long.
I hope your weekend was a good one too.
Jan 22, 2010 Blablabla, Me, Photos
I’ve said it before, but I really don’t live in the right place. I need to live on a good acre of land, surrounded by a forest, out in the middle of nowhere. A log home would be a nice bonus. I don’t have that but at least I have some woods within walking distance.
Yesterday George took the kids to visit his parents for a couple of hours and since I found myself alone, and it was really nice outside, I grabbed the dog and went walking in the woods for about an hour. I had my iPod (playing a whole lot of Ke$ha, and I am so far out of her intended age demographic but damn if I don’t love her musc, no matter how bad it might technically be), I had sunshine and vitamin D, and I had fresh air.
Spending time outside is always good but being near the ocean or being in the woods is what really calms and grounds me. Since I am nowhere near an ocean - for now - the woods fill the void quite well.
Even in the winter.
Jan 14, 2010 Blablabla, School Daze, Volunteering
First things first. Today is January 14th, 2010 and apparently it’s also International De-lurking Day. What does that mean for you? Well, it’s not mandatory. After all it’s not like I can come over and force you to participate. However, it would be fun if you’d take part because it’s really easy - all you have to do is leave a comment. I’ll take comments even from those of you who do so regularly but I’d especially love to hear from people who (yep, lurk) read but don’t usually say anything.
Are you shy? Or not sure what to say? Here are some ideas: Tell me what your favorite TV show is. What’s the best book you read last year? What movie did you rent that you wish you had seen on the big screen instead? Share a link to your favorite blogger. Tell me what you had for breakfast or what you’re making for supper. Make me laugh with a bad joke. Whatever! Or just say “hi, I read but I’m too shy to comment on a regular basis!” Just let me know you’re there because that’s the purpose of the day. And remember:
And we don’t want THAT.
*******
Did you ever have one of those days where you woke up, dragged yourself out of bed, got yourself ready to leave… and then you woke up and realized it was just a dream and you still had to get up and do it all for real? Because that SUCKS.
I sort of did something similar all night long. I guess I’m still worried about sleeping in on the days that I volunteer for Breakfast Club and it’s taking a toll on my ability to sleep. I desperately want to avoid ever showing up really late because I hit snooze on my alarm clock or turn it off altogether.
Because of this, I woke up repeatedly last night. My night table is higher than the bed so I can’t see my alarm clock unless I prop myself up on my elbow. The thing is, it’s so dark out when I wake up on volunteer mornings that it may as well be the middle of the night. I wake up at 5:45 and the sun doesn’t really make much of an appearance until about 7 am. For instance, this is what it looks like outside at 6:15 am lately:
Doesn’t that just make you want to WAKE RIGHT UP? Anyway.
All night I woke up thinking that my alarm had gone off and that I had to hurry up and get up before I dozed back off again, because on those mornings I don’t have the luxury of hitting the snooze button. Each time I woke up I groaned, propped myself up, and saw that I still had hours to go before I had to get up. I did this at 12:45, 1:30, 2:00, 2:30, 2:45, on and on. I think the last time I did it was a little past 4:30 and then I finally went back to sleep properly until my alarm went off for real. It SUCKED.
As a result I pretty much faked being awake as I helped prepare the breakfast (cutting plums and oranges while half-asleep is quite the feat, as is toasting English muffins when you’re trying not to burn yourself) and served food to all the kids. When I got home the coffee didn’t seem to help much since I dozed off on the floor while playing Littlest Pet Shop with Breanna. I startled awake to her saying, “Terrence! Terrence! Mommy, you’re supposed to make Terrence the Turtle talk to my dog!”
Whoops.
I’m volunteering again tomorrow so I’m hoping for a better sleep. Last week I slept much better the second night because I was so exhausted. I think I might set the alarm on my iPod as a back up so that my brain will feel like it can shut up and let me sleep properly tonight.
Now to get my work finished up so I don’t have to stay up late finishing it when I should be sleeping later!
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