Grand Rounds: Give me some sugar!

By Jenni Prokopy, the Editrix

candy hearts Valentine's Day is just around the corner, a celebration of all things lovely. We at ChronicBabe are simply in love with the Grand Rounds blog carnival, so what better day to host?

I'm from the South, where Sugar is a pet name for anyone you love. My grandpa used to sit me on his knee and say "give me some sugar" and tickle me into a massive giggling fit. Asking someone to "give me some sugar" is also a creative way of asking for a kiss or some other treat. So this Valentine's Day Eve, I've asked my fellow health and medical writers to give up the sugar - to share their treats.

Love is in the air...and on our plates

Living with celiac disease is no picnic, so when Laurie at A Chronic Dose went on her first date post-diagnosis, she was apprehensive to say the least. But John was game, and now they're married...and he's planned a romantic - and safe - Valentine's dinner for tomorrow.

candy hearts Are you cookin'? Make a Valentine's meal that's not only tasty, but also beautiful...with the addition of edible flowers. Cynthia at The Diet Dish: A Guide For Healthy Nutrition walks you through first steps toward a gorgeous plate.

And when you're hungry, what's more tempting than donuts? Rachel (who has diabetes) at Tales of My Thirties tells how she heroically resisted the urge to chomp on a sugary treat, even though they sat next to her office desk all day long. Meanwhile, The Prof at InsureBlog examines the match of the century: caffeine-loaded donuts. Oh boy.

Too much - or too little - of a good thing

America has a torrid love affair with food, and evidence of its ill effects abound. Patrick at Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments tells us that binge eating has become the most common eating disorder in the U.S.

Dr. Deborah Serani shows us how we can learn more about binge eating, along with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and eating disorders not otherwise specified during February, observed as National Eating Disorder Awareness Month in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.

For once, love in the workplace isn't frowned upon

Valentine's Day is one of the few days of the year when it's not considered weird to express affection toward your co-workers. Dr. George of Odysseys of George tells us his work days are always full of love: patients and their families who touch his life, colleagues and friends who work as a team. He's spoiled, and good for him! candy hearts

For Kim at Emergiblog (and the nurses she works with), it's all about the chocolate: "Chocolate is to the ER as hemoglobin is to oxygen. We crave it. We grab for it. We hold onto it. We want 100% saturation. And we have no shame." She takes us on a tour of the chocolates ER nurses love and hate.

Nick at Hospital Impact tells us that he's learned to treasure his team. "It's about caring for the people who do the job because they will take care of the people who need the care," he says. "That's what health care could be. That's what health care should be!" We agree.

Love what's on the inside

Poor pancreas: For diabetics, it's sad times when you stop sending your little insulin love letters. Kerri at Six Until Me shares the letter her 6-year-old pal Demarco wrote to his pancreas, which shows us just how patient and kind children can be.

Amy at Diabetes Mine shows her pancreas some love, too: "I'd like to preserve you just as you are now - before you age any more along with the rest of me - so that you'll be in the best possible shape when some day soon, the scientists and researchers come up with a way to revive you. Do you hear me? Hang on as best you can!" Go, pancreas, go!

Tara at Aetiology wants you to love your insides, too, starting with understanding your normal flora - those little microbes that help us stay healthy and fight infection. Who knew you could love a microbe?

Affection in the most unexpected places

Kerrie at The Daily Headache is feeling the love...for her housekeepers. Funny how a simple act of kindness and caring can make living with chronic illness so much easier. more candy hearts

In ERs, homeless "frequent fliers" are considered by some to be a nuisance; others accept their presence with (at times begrudging) affection and do what they can to care for them. Susan at Rickety Contrivances of Doing Good tells the tale of one homeless frequent flier who came to the aid of a grateful hospital staffer during a stand-off over some hamburgers in a dark alley.

Recently, Indian Medic unexpectedly caught a baby - literally. A split-second delivery resulted in a handful. The tiniest patient was eventually lost to complications, but not without a beautiful name bestowed on him by his Indian Medic catcher: Aditya, or "Sun" in sanskrit.

Lucky in love

And there are some of us who are just darn lucky. Over at Nurse Ratched's Place, she's a Princess Nurse who works 16 hours every Saturday - and her Prince brings her breakfast in bed every Sunday. Sweet!

How about some exotic Thai massage? Got your attention? Thought so. Jolie at The Fitness Fixer writes in a series of posts about how to properly - and safely - massage your partner. If you're lucky enough to have someone to rub down, read her posts first.

Young people are lucky to have advocates like Nancy at Teen Health 411, who writes on research showing that good communication in adolescent lovers translates into happier relationships - and more effective contraception. Let's hear it for pillow talk!

Try a little tenderness

Vitum Medicinus tells the story of performing his first breast exam, which came as a complete surprise to him. Sounds like someone could have at least given him a heads-up. "Yay for me for reading up what my first clinical breast exam would probably be like, and yay for it being absolutely nothing like that," he says. You go, Vitum!

Obese women are not getting the treatment they deserve, says Sandy of Junkfood Science. She cites a recent instance where a woman complained for 12 years of symptoms and was repeatedly told to "just lose weight." Finally, doctors performed an exploratory surgery that turned up a 93-pound ovarian cyst. Come on, people - it's time to show all ladies, big and small, some respect.

And while we're at it, maybe we should be a little more kind toward drug reps, says David at Health Business Blog. They're just doing their jobs, after all.

John at NHS Blog Doctor would also like to see more tenderness in medicine - toward patients in the U.K.'s National Health Service, who apparently get the short end of the stick on a regular basis. Watch out: his post is heartbreaking.

Hope we satisfied your sweet tooth

Thanks to everyone who contributed this week, and as always, to Nick Genes for creating Grand Rounds. Next week's edition will be hosted by Pure Pedantry - see you there February 20!

And if you'd like to comment on how we did...

Shoot me an email. Unlike most blogs, we don't support comments, but we make rare exceptions - like when we host Grand Rounds. So let me know what you think!

- Love, Jenni the Editrix

Comments:

Indian Medic: Great job!!! It sure was a sweet edition of Grand rounds!! And thanks for including my post!! Happy Valentine's day!

David at Health Business Blog: Lovely job on Grand Rounds!

Kerri at Six Until Me: Quick email to let you know that I loved your edition of Grand Rounds – excellent visuals and a solid selection of posts. (It was an honor to be included!) Thanks for "the sugar!" (Funny phrase, coming from a diabetic.)

Jon at Anxiety, Addiction and Depression Treatments: GR looks awesome! If I haven't mentioned it before, I love your layout. Great job.

Kim at Emergiblog: When you put your theme out there, I had NO idea what you were going to get back as submissions but this is really a great collection of posts! It's amazing what a literary challenge can bring out of the blogosphere! Well done! And thank you for hosting!

Henry at InsureBlog: What a great job! Thanks for including our post, and for putting together such a great confection of entries. Outstanding!

Amy at Diabetes Mine: Happy V-Day, Sweetheart!

Rachel at Tales of My Thirties: Thanks for the mention (again). You did a fantastic job with the intros to all of the posts!

Laurie at A Chronic Dose: Terrific job with Grand Rounds today! Thanks for coordinating, and thanks especially for including my post!

Posted: 2/13/2007 in Cool Tools

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