So I had a little lecture on nutrition today and part of it was an exercise designed to get us to think about the things people consume each day without really thinking about how many calories they are eating – like when someone stops at Starbucks for breakfast on the way to work.  Now, I’ve actually looked at the nutrition details for Starbucks fare in the past and was astounded at the shear number of calories that can be packed into a little pastry (or a big drink).  I decided to look up the nutrition information on my favorite pastry, the Marble Loaf:

				Marble Pound Cake A little lighter than the original English cake (made of a pound of butter, sugar, eggs and flour), but still deliciously dense and buttery with decadent chocolate marbled into the batter. Availability may vary by region.   Serving Size 113g Amt Per Serving Calories  400 Fat Calories  180 Total Fat (g)  21 Saturated Fat (g)  11 Cholesterol (mg)  130 Sodium (mg)  370 Total Carbohydrates (g)  49 Fiber (g)  <1 Sugars (g)  29 Protein (g)  6 Vitamin A  15% Vitamin C  0% Calcium  4% Iron  10%

So yes, eating one piece of Marble Loaf counts for about 20% of my total calories for the day (assuming a standard 2000-2500 calorie diet).  Good thing I usually share it with A.J.  🙂  And I can order one of my standard drinks – Venti Unsweetened Black Iced Tea (and then add Sweet-n-Low) for no additional calories.  If it’s cooler weather and I go for my favorite Grande Vanilla Steamed Milk (no whip) I tack on 330 calories (120 from fat).  I should start ordering my drinks with nonfat milk – that would reduce it down to 230 (0 from fat).  And finally, if I am in one of my rare iced mocha moods, I get 180 calories (20 from fat) with a Grande Nonfat Iced Mocha without whip.  Adding the whip gives you 130 more calories, 110 of which are from fat!  Good thing I like iced tea. 🙂

Just a little note to let everyone know that A.J. and I will be graduating in May 2006.  His hooding ceremony for law school is on Thursday May 18, and my hooding ceremony for medical school is on Friday May 19.  This is all going to happen here in St. Louis – so if anyone wants to take a little vacation and come to see us graduate next year we’d love to see you!

My sister got a new puppy a little bit ago and sent me some pictures… and since the puppy left a comment for me I figured it was time to put her pictures up here too.  I haven’t gotten to meet her yet, but in two weeks I’ll be back in Seattle and we’ll have lots of time to play.

So this is something I ran across while reading the Parade Magazine that comes with the Sunday paper.  It was in the "Ask Marilyn" column, which is usually my favorite part of Parade.  This particular question (and her answer, especially) really hit a nerve with me because it is so far removed from the truth.  Since I don’t want my friends and neighbors to be misinformed, I decided to post my thoughts on the subject.

First, here is what was printed:
A question has been bothering me ever since I moved to a city that is home to some of the finest hospitals in the world. When I use public transportation, I see people wearing scrub suits to work. Is this acceptable? I had thought employees were supposed to change into scrubs provided at the hospital in order to leave outside germs at the door.

You’re right. I’ve noticed the same phenomenon in other cities too. If those people are hospital employees, they are endangering patients and should be reported to hospital authorities. Another growing problem is scrubs being stolen and worn in other places (such as the subway) to convey an impression of respectability. Anyone seen wearing scrubs outside an appropriate environment should be regarded with caution.

And now my rebuttal:
     Scrubs are worn to protect the wearer from getting their personal clothing contaminated by the wide variety of, shall we say interesting, substances that are present in any medical setting.  They are NOT worn to protect patients from "outside" germs – that is what sterile gowns and gloves, masks, head covers, drapes, and all those other coverings are for.  Those are the items that medical personnel don once they arrive and CHANGE each time they attend to a new patient.
     While it is true that hospitals have problems with scrubs being taken by employees, I assure you that it is the rare person who steals scrubs "to convey an impression of respectability" in other places.  Another point is that while most hospitals provide scrubs for their surgeons and other physicians, nearly all other personnel (nurses, technicians, transporters, etc.) purchase, maintain, and launder their own scrubs.  These people are merely dressing appropriately for their occupation, much as businessmen wear suits and Burger King employees wear those embroidered shirts and visors.
   So, if someone in scrubs approaches you on the subway and tries to get you to take your clothes off by playing on the power of the scrub suit, please don’t be fooled or intimidated.  But please don’t condemn the run-of-the-mill scrub-wearers you see outside a medical setting simply based on their attire.

"Go confidently in the

direction of your dreams.

Live the life

you’ve imagined."

– Henry David Thoreau

     Thumbs down to being sick.

It still baffles me that we have come up with so so SO many antibiotics (meaning, specifically, antibacterials) but the methods of fighting off viruses still eludes us.  Sure, we’ve got some that reduce the suffering during a herpesvirus outbreak (acyclovir, gancyclovir, etc) and even a couple that, if used quickly enough, can shorten the misery of influenza virus infection (amantadine, zanamivir).  And thankfully we’ve come up with a few medications that seem to stave off HIV for a while (the reverse transcriptase and protease inhibitors).  But why can’t we tackle the common cold?  What about these coronaviruses, rhinoviruses, adenoviruses…?

I know, I know:  "They mutate!"  "The antigens change!"  "We just can’t keep up!"

Viruses.  Little capsules of genetic material without brains, without thought, without intent or purpose… just carrying out their hard-coded genetic instructions that just so happen to bring mighty humans to their knees.

I saw Star Wars III last night while sitting on a comfy leather sofa at the Moolah.  I will just say it was very good (better than I and II) and I am looking forward to seeing it again next weekend… mainly because I want to take my mom to the Moolah and that’s the only movie it’s playing, but also because it was good and I enjoyed it and I’m sure I’ll understand it better the second time around. 

See, unfortunately for me the whole Star Wars saga, no matter how many times I’ve seen or talked about it, seems to evade my brain’s attempts to hold it in long term memory.  Luke and Leia, Obi Wan, Darth Vader – I can remember them and I know who is good and who is bad…. but then you through in Jabba the Hutt, Darth Sidious, Boba Fett, Count Dooku, Emperor Palpatine, or General Grievous and I get all confused (I had to go to IMDB.com and look up those names because I can’t even remember them..).  Who are they?  Do we like them?  If not, why not?  Were they always bad (or good)?

So confusing it is. (That’s Yoda.  I know Yoda.  He’s cool.)

My new neice was born May 12, 2005  —  7:09PM  —  6lbs 15oz  —  20.5in
She joins mom and dad (April and Jason) and siblings Jacob, Hailey, and Hannah

Yesterday AJ and I went to "GOLF Headquarters" and hit a bunch of balls at their driving range.  I had only done this once before (a couple of years ago), and I really enjoyed it then so I was looking forward to doing it again.  We had a great time, and so today we went back and played their 9 hole par 3 course.  It was awesome! 🙂  I have some pictures below.  (At the bottom I am holding up 4 fingers because I scored a kosher par 4 on that hole – oh yeah!)