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Date: | Wed, 1 Feb 2012 08:16:39 -0500 |
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Dear all:
I must admit like all human beings to having areas of deep inconsistency. In developing areas of the world I never ate fresh vegetables. That's right -- I did NOT eat salads. The only vegetables I ate were cooked and the only fruits I ate were peeled. Unless I used the iodine tablets to wash the greens myself. As a result, I never had a case of giardiasis. When I was in Peru, I was mocked for my unwillingness to eat salads until both my colleagues had repeat bouts of giardiasis. Malaria was so severe in the area where I was in Peace Corps and the Peace Corps docs were so insistent that chloroquine resistent malaria didn't exist, that I and all the other volunteers routinely self-medicated because we truly believed we would die. One volunteer had to be medically evacuated out with a very serious case of malaria and anemia. So, when I had a tropical mystery disease many years later and the French doctor wanted to pump me full of quinine and the American Peace Corps doctor was horrified, I went for that quinine IV like a junkie. Apart from my deep phobia of malaria, however, I hardly ever use drugs and really hate anesthesia.
Similarly my view on gloves. My husband was recently hospitalized due to a dog bite. A dog randomly bit him on the street. I MADE him wash it out immediately and thoroughly. Nevertheless, he developed an infection so serious that he had to be hospitalized for 2-3 days. Again, deep irrational phobias set it. I had to restrain myself from wiping down every surfaced with chlorine I was so afraid that he would get some antibiotic resistant germ in addition to whatever nasty germs had invaded the bite from the dog. If I were working in a hospital, I would probably wash my hands every two seconds and wear gloves.
In the home setting I only wear finger cots if I am assessing a baby's suck. I find I can do a lot of observation and mothers can usually describe how the baby is feeding, so I don't always do a suck assessment. Otherwise I never wear gloves. Like many others in private practice it feels like it would send the wrong message to the mother about breastfeeding.
In my home environment I am not paranoid about germs on my fresh vegetables or lettuce. I figure a few additional bacteria will help my gut. I realize this is very inconsistent with my fears when I am outside my home environment!!
Best regards,
Susan Burger
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