Thursday, May 26, 2005

Fuck It, I’m putting it up incomplete

Although there are still myriad changes I wish to implement on this new version of my blog, including a complete change of colors and the header graphic, I’m just going to go ahead and switch from the Blogger version to the Expression Engine version.  In addition to the overhaul of the look and feel, I haven’t tweaked the templates to my satisfaction, nor added in the links, dynamic elements, banners or buttons I want to include… but what the hell - publishing it in its unfinished state will serve to shame me into working on it sooner rather than later!  It’ll be just the kick in the ass I need to get crackin’!

Here goes…

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Trash to treasure: Embryonic stem cell research

I’m arguing about stem cell research on the G&G board, mostly with my fundamentalist foil Kmumom, who can never pass up an opportunity to proselytize for the glory of Jay-zus.  She started the thread by citing this article on WebMD about the success of transplanted stem cells from the patient’s own nose in treating nerve damage.

So, because I’m a lazy blogger, I’m just going to post my latest reply to her last diatribe against my evil humanist nature.

I chose to reply in particular to one comment she made:  ...your callousness is especially shocking to me. You know full well your own daughter started out as one of those embryos you are so willing to kill and harvest.

No, you’re wrong about that. Neither I nor my daughter started out as “one of those embryos.” We became embryos as a result of natural recreational sex - not extras left over from fertility treatments. THOSE are the embryos I’m asking about. There are thousands upon thousands of them stored right now that will not be used by the people who made them or anyone else, and will eventually be disposed of as medical waste just like tumors and bad organs removed from patients. THEY ARE NOT PEOPLE, nor considering their owners’ already fulfilled dreams of becoming parents by using some of their “batch-mates,” are they even potential people. They’re slated for disposal. So what I’m ASKING and you (and everyone else) keep NOT answering, is why you think it’s more moral for these unwanted embryos to be disposed of (which is their certain fate) than utilized for research?

To be perfectly honest, I’d actually prefer that this argument be rendered moot altogether by way of far fewer people engaging in fertility treatments that result in large batches of eggs and embryos that will end up doing no one any good. If it’s “God’s will” that you cannot conceive, rather than turning to the same medical technology that is responsible for abortion and contraception, you should accept “God’s plan” for you and adopt one of the thousands of children who weren’t aborted but are still unwanted.

Rather than another sermon about the moral bankruptcy of secular humanism, howzabout you answer the actual question I’m asking, which is narrowly confined to why embryos that are destined for the proverbial dustbin shouldn’t be put to use to serve humanity? It seems to me that in THIS case, *I* am the one whose position is that allowing them to be used to further medical research means their “lives” will not have been in vain.

There have been strides in adult stem cell therapy and cord blood stem cell therapy, YES. However, there are some things that can ONLY be done using embryonic stem cells, and it’s ridiculous to stop a whole subset of medical research because some people are inappropriately sentimental about medical waste.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Trying to catch up

I should have been making entries for the past few weeks, since there’s been quite a few things going on.  Quite honestly though, when I’ve not been too tired or too busy, I’ve been feeling too ill or else I’ve been just too damned lazy.  I’ll take a quick stab at providing at least some highlights (or lowlights as the case may be).

We met some very nice families at the Myositis Association event a few weekends ago in Universal City, Juvenile Myositis: A Conference for Children and Families.  It was great for the Princess to meet other kids who are dealing with some of the same things she is, and for us to meet other parents and share our experiences too.  I also found out about a new organization, The Cure JM Foundation and I hope to get more involved with them somehow.  The rarity of Juvenile Dermatomyositis makes it difficult to get funding for research, and Cure JM is committed to finding ways for the much-needed research to get done, and to spread information to the public.  Our kids deserve at least that much for all the hell they go through, living with an incurable autoimmune disorder.

As for my own physical health, I’m still feeling really shitty (literally and figuratively, hah!)… exhausted, with a bellyache that ranges from simply rather uncomfortable to “Screw this, if I don’t eat today, maybe it’ll stop hurting so much!” I’m waiting to hear back from my GI doc as to when they’ll start the Remicade treatments for Crohn’s Disease flare-ups.  If we can get this flare-up under control and get me back into remission, I won’t have to worry about another bowel resection for a long time.  It was 6 years between my first and second surgeries, so at least this time it’s been longer, and there’s far less narrowing than there was before.  All this “good news,” and I haven’t been on ANY meds for almost 4 years now, which really IS a bright spot!  I need all of those that I can find right now.

Is it wrong that sometimes I feel like just copying and pasting parts of the Key Findings of the Study at Voices of Crohn’s in an email to all of the people in my life so they might understand a little better how difficult it sometimes is for me just to do something simple?  Feeling lousy SUCKS, and feeling guilty for feeling lousy just makes things worse.  But feel guilty I do, because I just can’t do as much as I expect of myself - and I’m letting people down who count on me.  I’m sure it’s as difficult for others to hear, as it is for me to say, “I can’t (fill in the blank) because I’ve got the raging trots and my gut’s killing me,” for the 20th time in a month!  So unless I’m hurting so bad I just can’t fulfill an obligation, I suffer through it as best I can.  Admittedly, it’s getting more and more difficult these days… so I want to hurry up and get the damned treatments started and feel better!!! 

Time for the shits I’ve gotta TAKE to stop interfering with the shit I’ve gotta DO, goddammit!