Ren's Ramblings & Writings

Contemplations on things tangible and intangible

Saturday, January 29, 2022

I believe, I hope, that this will change the medical community. 

I remember being in lab school and learning how to draw blood from donors and patients-the only training we received on different skin tones was on our classmates, since we practiced on each other. I don't recall learning how skin conditions and even typical skin quirks like a pimple, wart, mole, or anything, would appear on different skin colors, and those early years were challenging- OJT kind of thing.

We've long known that people of different heritages, with lineages of various regions may be more prone to, or more resistant to some things, or have significant side affects based on Race-specific differences in sensitivity, such as the primaquine sensitivity discovered in some service members in the 20s- this caused a type of anemia, and to the point of what I'd mentioned about drawing blood on patients, reactions to primaquine can include skin rashes, so this affects patient care from before the person even walks in the door-if the medical person doesn't understand what he/she is looking at on the skin, important medical information can be missed. And since most medical research has historically been done on white males of European descent, and we now know that these studies don't always tell the true picture of what is happening for anyone who is not a white male of European heritage. That academic medical communities are still so far behind in merely using pictures of non-whites in medical texts and other teaching tools is a painful example of systemic racism that, however unintended, causes some groups to not receive the total medical care we all deserve.



other sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3382019/
https://www.jwatch.org/na54198/2021/10/12/racial-disparities-clinical-medicine

learning to receive

I care for two adult sons with IDD, one with  intractable epilepsy, both on long term care medicaid waivers. And my niece and nephew, who I've had since Jan 2021 for the 2nd time, and now, provided the court understands, permanently. In addition, my adult sister who is lower functioning cognitively (their mother) moved in last June. She wasn't functioning and is vulnerable. While this was hard on everyone, mostly my niece, it was the right move. Plus, she is the bio-mother of my 22yo, who was taken away from her at 4yo due to failure to thrive. It's intense some days, and I'm improving on my own self care (Barbie, crafts and hiking...). 


 So, we have a complex and high-maintenance household. Where-ever we go people compliment me, which I don't feel is warranted; understand the magnatude of my responsibility, but realize that this household, however complex, is worthy of any and everything I can do to keep it stable. Their lives matter. We matter as a family, even though some days it feels easier to climb a mountain than manage my household.  To your point, a dear friend gave a pair of shoes so I could get started walking and hiking again; my first feeling at her offer was to decline, but I realized that not only did I need proper shoes to get started, but that this gesture had meaning to her, as a caregiver to her own mother.  Plus, she's retired, and receives food from a local pantry most weeks, and they give her much more than she can possibly eat herself, and so she gives us some of that. It's one less trip and planned appt that I don't have to deal with weekly, to get the basics. In addition, since everyone in my household receives SSI and Medicaid (medial) there is a limit to how much money we can have in any account for emergencies, so even though I believe that together, we have the ability to save for emergencies, we're not allowed to have that much in an account. That said, I stock shelf-stable items and rotate them as needed, and my friend's "donations" help me with that-keeping our shelves stocked and restocked frequently enough to rotate items so they don't expire. I'm still trying to figure out how to make a plan for this household, the managing piece, but knowing I don't have to worry about the basics because my friend is looking out for us is huge.