Thursday, March 10, 2011

Three boys....Do The Deed Once More?

The snow is melting, spring is in the air, hormones are raving and I am almost 40.

As I walk the streets near my work or outside my sons school I can't help noticing I am not alone. I am surrounded by ageless women in their 40s, who would do anything to fulfill the hormonal urge to copulate once more.

Some are thinking about it, some are doing it, some have already done it!

As my mind entertains the idea of a little princess finally joining our family, I find it increasingly difficult to fight this uncontrollable and  primordial urge which is taking over my body. Reason is temporarily restored when I am brutally awaken by my husband's cynical and reluctant attitude, mainly a consequence of increasing daycare costs.

Still there is no question that the number of children per family is on the raise. Are we being sucked in by  a new trend? Perhaps,  it may well be the Hollywood baby boom or a Brangelina effect or maybe simply a phase we all have to endure.

With the increase in births, a new breed of women is on the raise as well, those who can indeed do it all, balancing the immense demands of work and family life.

As I try to see myself, I live in fear of how others see me.

In an astonishing way, I have recently realized how people perception of you changes depending on the number of children you have: two children make you average, three make you cool, respected and admired, and four just make you an outcast! Something to think about since I am pretty cool right now!

And then there is work, women in high-level positions and the unwritten rules!  Women with children are generally underrepresented and most certainly women with four children! No matter how capable and efficient you are (trust me)! People generally assume that is men that discriminate but I have got news for you it is both men and women.

My 10 years of management experience can certainly tell you that the female of the species is always more deadly than the male. In particular we must distance ourselves from those overachieving single white females that occupy high level management positions and that make the air we breathe instantly frigid by their mere presence.

There is is a distinct possibility that I already unknowingly forfeited advancing my career when I had my third child!

While longing to rock the cradle we must use caution not to rock an entire boat!

Monday, March 7, 2011

The Placebo Effect or simply the art of caring

I am fascinated with this recent article on Boston.com:

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/03/07/can_chronic_medical_conditions_including_depression_be_treated_with_placebos/

I read with great interest all the theories put forward in this article to explain the healing effect of placebos. Irritable bowel syndrome cured by a sugar pill, depression cured by antidepressant with little effect, sham treatments doing wonders....what is the secret?

The article raises interesting questions with regard to placebo effectiveness: How important is seeing a doctor that believes in the treatment? and I will have to add: how important is to see one that cares for the patient!

Yes indeed medicine is an art and modern practitioners have not mastered it.

Francis Peabody said in 1925
" ....For the secret of the care of the patient is in caring for the patient"

What happened to caring for the patient?....As we lose our trust in our doctors who are too preoccupied with the scientific mechanisms of a disease, we also lose trust in ourselves and in our ability to cope.

Medicine has been and it will always be an art, since ancient times a mixture of science and magic. We like spells, potions, herbs and placebos too. Sadly this art is no longer taught.

Diagnosis and treatment of a disease it is only one part of it, but the complicity of a patient-doctor relationship is the missing piece that completes the puzzle and allows for success of treatment and well being of the patient.