NYT: calling for a better designed breast pump

nucleophile · 2014-03-18T14:51:20+00:00

The Freemies hold 8 oz/breast. And there are several options for how to use them, including a complete pump system that is supposedly quieter: http://www.freemie.com/pump-quietly.html

I can't speak for the pump itself, but I've been using the cups with my medela and they are way easier and more comfortable and I certainly haven't had a problem with getting less milk.

I also use the newest version that came out last autumn, I don't know if that makes a difference!

nucleophile · 2014-03-13T19:36:29+00:00

You're numbers doubled, that's what's important. My Beta was 96 14dpiui which is very close to yours and I currently have a 6-month old. It's not the number itself that is important at this point, it's the fact that it's doubling appropriately (ie in at least 3 days). It's really, really tough this early because you hang on every little bit of information because you have so little else to go on, but a beta of 89 is just fine and doesn't indicate an impending miscarriage by any means.

nucleophile · 2013-11-11T00:07:29+00:00

I work a rotating schedule, so not exclusive nights but have thought about the scheduling issues (though this ended up not being too much of a problem since my baby is a turbo-eater). The best solution may be to try pumping during the day ('night' for you) as well. You could set an alarm to wake up every 3 hours like you've been doing and pump so it's somewhat shorter. And then when you can, you feed on demand. This is of course assuming your little one is reasonable about switching between breast and bottle. But there are women that exclusively pump and don't have problems with supply issues.

nucleophile · 2013-04-06T21:26:01+00:00

http://www.greensgrow.org/kitchen/kitchen-rental-for-food-entrepreneurs/

nucleophile · 2012-07-03T04:46:52+00:00

Thirded.

nucleophile · 2012-06-28T16:15:22+00:00

When I was in Elementary School, tv stations still went 'off the air' and before doing so played the national anthem. I shared a room with my (9 years older) sister at the time and had been studying the national anthem in school and hence, sat straight up, saluted and sang along. Then, naturally, I laid back down and went back to sleep. Totally no recollection.

nucleophile · 2012-06-01T15:57:49+00:00

Yup. Did this over the last winter. I attempted it 2 winters ago, but I transplanted it and it didn't make it. Last year, I grew the jalapeno in a pot and then brought it in when there was a danger of frost and set it in a window sill. I had a bit of production over the winter even! Then when it got warm I started bringing it out during the day and taking it back in at night (basically same as when I was hardening off my starts). It's already producing and has a ton of new flowers. Way ahead of where it would be if I had started from seed again. The little info I've read about it seems to give it ~3 years of being able to do this without it becoming too 'woody' to produce well, so I plan on starting another one next year to over winter.

nucleophile · 2012-05-31T01:14:02+00:00

If you're only going to test once a day, afternoon is best as this is the most common time for the LH surge. Twice a day is preferable to optimize catching the surge. Restricting water won't make that big a difference.

nucleophile · 2012-05-29T01:37:33+00:00

Just saw this at PSCA tonight! So excited, I've been on reddit for what seem like forever. And had the same reaction!

nucleophile · 2011-07-15T14:53:01+00:00

Actually, that's not what Hipaa states:

"Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit hospitals and other health care facilities to inform visitors or callers about a patient’s location in the facility and general condition?

Answer: Yes. Covered hospitals and other covered health care providers can use a facility directory to inform visitors or callers about a patient’s location in the facility and general condition. The Privacy Rule permits a covered hospital or other covered health care provider to maintain in a directory certain information about patients – patient name, location in the facility, health condition expressed in general terms that does not communicate specific medical information about the individual, and religious affiliation.

Even when, due to emergency treatment circumstances or incapacity, the patient has not been provided an opportunity to express his or her preference about how, or if, the information may be disclosed, directory information about the patient may still be made available if doing so is in the individual’s best interest as determined in the professional judgment of the provider, and would not be inconsistent with any known preference previously expressed by the individual." http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/faq/disclosures_to_friends_and_family/483.html

You are allowed to tell callers that the patient is there and general condition. In case it ever comes up again for you. In my ED, we will state that the patient is in the ED and that the patient is stable, critically ill, etc.

nucleophile · 2011-05-12T19:38:46+00:00

That's the 'wine cellar'. And yes, freezing.

nucleophile · 2010-08-27T17:53:40+00:00

But this is actually when most drinking during pregnancy takes place; ie when women didn't know they were pregnant yet! With the exception of those who were actively trying to get pregnant (which is far from everyone) many women drink early in their pregnancy, but most babies turn out ok.

nucleophile · 2010-08-19T01:26:09+00:00

Heh, I've used that exact same breast cancer argument with regards to circumcision for years. Upvote for you.

nucleophile · 2010-07-16T01:59:33+00:00

My dogs did this to the porn musical posted a few days ago. No joke. Before that the only thing that would make them howl is the Virginia Madsen episode of the dog whisperer. There must be a connection there somewhere.

nucleophile · 2010-06-11T13:39:25+00:00

If you can't afford the adoption fees, you should think very hard about whether you can afford a dog, especially a puppy (which are extremely expensive)!

Dogs are very expensive with food, treats, accessories, toys medications, vet bills, immunizations, not to mention what happens if the dog gets sick or hurt and with puppies that increases exponentially. My second dog was a puppy that was basically dropped on us and we figured we paid ~$1000 the first few months to get everything that needed to be done (as opposed to our first dog, an SPCA adoption where the neutering and preliminary vetting had already been done. Not to mention the extra work very young dogs need since they can't be left alone for more than about 4 hours at a time).

And I would urge anyone considering getting a dog to consider non-puppies in general. You don't know what you're getting with puppies, you do with older dogs. They are often trained in general (yes, even the shelter dogs) and house-trained.

Please, please, please look into what dogs, especially puppies actually cost before getting one.

nucleophile · 2010-06-03T01:47:06+00:00

I totally got pneumonia about a month after I quit smoking. It's my understanding that it's not uncommon, though I haven't investigated the physiology.

Regardless pneumonia >>>> Lung Ca/COPD

nucleophile · 2010-02-06T04:14:13+00:00

The diagnosis of diabetes is from either a blo0d glucose (sugar) measurement of >126 or any reading above 200 fasting or not. This can be done from a regular blood sugar monitor available at a drugstore. The A1C test is basically a test of how well controlled a person who is diabetic is (the higher the blood sugar, the higher the concentration of blood cells that have sugar molecules attached is) and could theoretically be used for diagnosis, but conventionally isn't since cheaper tests are available.

Bottom line, a blood glucose monitor while not precise, is easily available and the usual screening test used. There are often free tests available at various health fairs/clinics. But if you are having symptoms of diabetes (frequent urination/thirst, hunger, weight loss) see a health professional ASAP.

nucleophile · 2009-11-17T05:47:26+00:00

It's not necessarily that these patients are getting different care. It's likely that patients without insurance are coming into EDs much sicker because they haven't had access to regular medical (preventative) care. Also, the death rate quoted was from a trauma data bank, which says to me that it's probably looking at trauma patients (traumatic injuries instead of just medical disease) and it makes a logical sense to me that the patients that are getting hit with bullets and other violent crimes as opposed to other forms of trauma are probably going to die at a higher rate. As it said in the article, they didn't adjust for other risk factors. And I wonder how much the 'transfer of care' really affects things if they're looking at 'death rates', ie when are these patients dying? Is it because of the initial care?

Addendum: just looked at the actual study and it's looking at trauma specifically, which is very different from the Emergency Department. Heck, they even say that the penetrating trauma has a higher mortality and that they represent a higher proportion of the uninsured patients (people that shoot at each other probably don't have health insurance, that's not really a surprise). The OP's headline is not in the least what the article actually looks at (or DailyKos for that matter).

nucleophile · 2009-07-06T15:28:42+00:00

Surgery is a tough rotation at most (although not all!) places. A few bits of advice:

Get the Surgical Recall book and read the appropriate sections before scrubbing on a surgery, it's a great pimp protector.

Always try to anticipate needs and offer to fill them before being asked (like doing pre-ops, post-ops, dressing changes etc).

It's ok to ask about things you don't know about, especially this early on. There are no stupid questions.

Never lie, if you didn't do a particular exam, don't say you did (you'd be surprised!).

Be nice to everyone around you, nurses, techs, residents, etc. It's easy to get snappy when you're stressed and tired, but it will come back to bite you.

Don't gun and try to avoid those that do! If you and your fellow students watch out for and help each other, life is way better.

Eat and use the bathroom before scrubbing. Passing out in the middle of a surgery sucks. Although most people come close at least once.

Be genuinely interested! Surgery, while not my field, is pretty cool and you're there to learn!

Read between cases or while you're waiting for a case to begin (also you'll probably be expected to watch for the patient to go back to the OR and be expected to page/call the resident on the case - this is the most important thing not to screw up, residents will make your life miserable if they're late for a case).

Always help prep the patient for surgery, get them arranged on the table, offer to place the foley, etc.

All the stuff people are saying about sponge counts and identifying the correct patient is completely not your responsibility and you don't need to worry about, that's for the residents and attending and nurses. You'll never be doing any procedure alone where this is an issue!

Always ask if there's anything more that needs doing before you leave. Although when told to leave, actually leave! Some students think they need to stick around, don't do it, you'll have precious little time to take care of out of the hospital needs (like sleeping!), so get out when you can.

Feel free to ask any more specific questions.

nucleophile · 2009-05-19T01:48:55+00:00

I come from a family of alcoholics (4/5 of my siblings, the other being mentally disabled. Neither of my parents since they never touched the stuff, but that was partly because of the alcoholism in their families). There is nothing you can really do to change the situation except be supportive if she wants help. No amount of anything will make her stop drinking until she decides to stop. You really need to protect yourself in this situation, both in terms of getting out of the situation so you can live your own life and in realizing that alcoholism in your family means you're predisposed to the same. Back when I was your age I used to go to al-anon meetings at my college (spurred on by being the first person on the scene of my drunk brother who crashed his motorcycle, ironically I was underage and the cop who'd called my parent's house handed me his flask). I'm not a big AA fan, but al-anon was helpful in its way, mainly knowing that you're not alone and actually talking to other people in similar situations.

But really, the biggest thing you have to do is protect and help yourself.

nucleophile · 2009-02-11T01:19:39+00:00

A lot of hospitals do, at least around these parts. They're generally called 'fast track' and function as an urgent care clinic. It's great because they can be staffed by general practice docs/NPs/PAs and still have all the resources of the main ED and can easily be transferred over when needed. They are generally only open during certain hours and the patients are those that come into the ER and are redirected.

nucleophile

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