Category Archives: Advice To My Children

ANFSCD: Old Fashioned Marriage

Posted on September 27, 2022 | Comments Off on ANFSCD: Old Fashioned Marriage

Note conversations you need to have BEFORE MARRIAGE.

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Posted in Advice To My Children, ANFSCD

Adherence to Mediterranean diet linked to  health-related quality of life in children and adolescents

Posted on September 3, 2022 | Comments Off on Adherence to Mediterranean diet linked to  health-related quality of life in children and adolescents
Photo by Guduru Ajay bhargav on Pexels.com

Nearly all studies demonstrating the healthful effects of the Mediterranean diet were done in adults. Here’s one suggesting benefit in children.

Our findings suggest a positive correlation of Mediterranean diet  adherence with health-related quality of life in children and adolescents. However, future research is needed to strengthen the evidence of this relationship.

Source: Adherence to Mediterranean diet associated with health-related quality of life in children and adolescents: a systematic review | BMC Nutrition | Full Text

     Steve Parker, M.D.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
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Posted in Advice To My Children, Longevity

Cincinnati Facing a Nursing Shortage Due to Vaccine Mandate

Posted on September 2, 2021 | Comments Off on Cincinnati Facing a Nursing Shortage Due to Vaccine Mandate
Photo by Cedric Fauntleroy on Pexels.com. A healthcare hero putting her life on the line, whether or not vaccinated

A hospital bed is worthless unless there are support staff to service that bed’s occupant. Hospitalized COVID-19 patients need nurses, PCTs (patient care technicians), respiratory therapists, physicians, pharmacists, and housekeeping. In this circumstance, nurses and respiratory therapists are more important than physicians.

From Cinncinati.com:

Pushback against area hospital systems’ mandates for employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 continues with the latest coming from more than 100 nurses who say they’d quit before complying. 

A number of UC Medical Center nurses, responding to a union survey, indicated they would leave their jobs if the hospital system’s vaccine mandate is finalized. 

The Ohio Nurses Association survey was conducted immediately after UC Health and other area hospital systems announced they would mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for their employees. The survey, done Aug. 5-12, was made public Wednesday. Results show that 136 of 456 nurses who responded – balked at the mandate. The medical center has more than 1,500 nurses.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/09/01/survey-shows-nurses-quit-over-uc-health-covid-19-vaccine-mandate/5680714001/

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: To avoid the hospital, you need to stay as healthy as possible, which includes regular exercise and weight management. At least change your weight category from obese to overweight. I can help.

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet
Buy Now at Amazon.com
Buy E-book Now at Smashwords

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Posted in Advice To My Children, Coronavirus

The Three Questions #LifePlanning #FinancialPlanning

Posted on April 12, 2020 | Comments Off on The Three Questions #LifePlanning #FinancialPlanning

I’ve been reading and watching Downtown Josh Brown for three years. Recently at his website I watched Blair duQuesnay interview George Kinder. He’s a financial Life Planner who now trains financial planners.

The title of the interview was “How Would You Change Your Life If There Were Only Ten Years Left?”

Nobody knows how much time we have left on this planet. My answers to the questions at age 25, when I though I’d live forever, would be different than my answers now, at age 65.

Now that you’re under house arrest by your governor in this time of Coronavirus Pandemic, you should have time to watch the interview and answer the questions for yourself. If you have a “significant other,” the two of you should discuss.

So you’re not going to watch the video? Below are the questions, in order. Decide your answers before moving to the next question. In fact, it’s best if you don’t even read the subsequent questions before answering the earlier ones. I suggest writing down your (and your SO’s) answers. It may take a few hours or days of contemplation.

  1. If y0u had all the money you need for the rest of your life, how would you live? What would you do?
  2. Assume you don’t have all the money you need for the rest of your life. (Or maybe you do already?)  But now, you have a trusted physician who informs you that you have an ailment that will kill you between five and 10 years from now (you’ll be fine until you keel over unexpectedly), what would you do with your life?
  3. Your physician says you only have 24 hours left to live. The question is not how to spend your last 24 hours. The question is what did you miss? Who did you not get to be?

George says that five areas typically come up for consideration with these questions:

  1. Family and relationships
  2. Values or spirituality
  3. Creativity
  4. Community
  5. Planet Earth

Blair volunteered that when she considered the three questions, the issue of children came up. My sense is that she decided to have them, and did.

Go.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: Have you ever heard of The Sinner’s Prayer?

PPS: Happy Easter to all my Christian readers!

Steve Parker MD, Advanced Mediterranean Diet

Click the pic to purchase at Amazon.com. E-book versions also available at Smashwords. com.

 

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Posted in Advice To My Children, Longevity

What’s Your Ikigai?

Posted on October 22, 2017 | Comments Off on What’s Your Ikigai?

My children are young adults trying to figure out their place in the world. The Venn diagram below may be helpful. I’ve seen versions of this before, without reference to Japan. This one’s from World Economic Forum:

 

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ATMC: Misfortune or Good Fortune? We’ll See…

Posted on July 10, 2015 | Comments Off on ATMC: Misfortune or Good Fortune? We’ll See…

Java

Java

ATMC = Advice to my children (a series)

The Parable of the Farmer, His Horse, and His Son 

Hundreds of years ago in a poor Chinese village there lived a wise farmer and his son. The farmer’s only significant possessions were his patch of land, his shack, and a sturdy horse that helped him work the land.

One day the horse ran away into the wilderness. His neighbor said, “I’m so sorry. This is such bad news. You must be so upset.” The farmer just said, “We’ll see.”

A week later the horse returned to its corral, with three wild horses following it back. His neighbor said, “Instead of one horse, now you have four. Congratulations on your good fortune! You must be so happy!” The farmer just said, “We’ll see.”

A month later the farmer’s son decided to break in one of the new horses. But the animal bucked wildly and threw the young man off. The son’s leg broke when he landed. This could cripple him for life.

His neighbor said, “I’m so sorry. What bad luck. You must be so upset.” The farmer just said, “We’ll see.”

A few weeks later, barbarians from the north invaded the province. Every able-bodied young man was drafted to fight. The war was terrible and killed nine out of every 10 warriors, but the farmer’s son was spared since his broken leg prevented him from being drafted. His neighbor said, “Congratulations! What good luck. You must be so happy!”

The farmer just said, “We’ll see.”

*  *  *

The moral of the story is that we don’t really know if an event is “good” or “bad” until passage of some time. Secondarily, it’s a reminder that things always change. So don’t go off the deep end emotionally right away, especially when something doesn’t go your way. It may seem like the end of the world when that cute girl you’ve had a crush on turns down your request for a date, when you make a C or a D in a class instead of an A, when your boyfriend breaks your heart, when you don’t get into vet school, when you get arrested for drunk driving, when you get divorced, or when you lose an eye to cancer. It may seem like the end of the world, but it’s not. Wait.

The parable above is from the East; it’s claimed by both Taoists and Buddhists. It reminded me of my first day of medical school, during which an East Asian professor told us, “Every day not sunny day.” His lecture was on Sir William Osler’s essay, Aequanimitas. Equanimity is a word you don’t hear much. It means mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation. Cultivate it.

—Dad

Romeo

Romeo

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ATMC: Get the Best Bed You Can Afford

Posted on June 6, 2015 | Comments Off on ATMC: Get the Best Bed You Can Afford

I slept in a sleeping bag on a 1-inch thick foam pad in this Eureka Solitaire 1-man tent.

I slept in a sleeping bag on a 1-inch thick foam pad in this Eureka Solitaire 1-man tent.

You spend a third of your life in bed. Make it a good bed.

When you’re a kid or young adult, you can sleep just fine on a couch or a pallet on the floor made from a few folded blankets. After the age of 25 or so, your body won’t appreciate that sort of treatment. You’ll sleep fitfully and wake up with scattered aches and pains. Sleep in a bed that gives you support, comfort, and peace. By no means is that the most expensive bed on the market.

Back in 1981, I graduated from medical school and moved to Austin, Texas, for three years of internship and residency. My starting pay was $14,400/year. If that doesn’t sound like much, you’re right. The low pay was a hold-over from ye olde days when interns and residents were mostly young single men who actually resided in the hospital. They didn’t need a house or apartment. $14,400/year was just enough for a single guy to survive. We were working 100-hr weeks—no time for a second job. By the third year of residency, I was making $16,000-sumpin’.

I was new to Austin and needed a bed, so I went to a cheap furniture store in the low-rent part of town and bought a crappy twin-size box spring and mattress, $40 I think. At least it was new—I didn’t have to worry about anybody else’s bedbugs, fleas, or germs. Good times.

I upgraded as soon as I could afford it.

—Dad

PS: Remember those cars back then that had a vinyl-like covering over the roof? I had one of those in 1981, probably a Chevrolet or Oldsmobile sedan. It was so old that the vinyl was half gone, rotted off. One of my pulmonology attending physicians said they shouldn’t let me park that embarrassing mess in the doctors’ lot at the hospital. I think he was only half-joking.

PPS: I graduated medical school with only $22,000 of educational debt. I made monthly payments for 10 years. Medical student debt these days averages $176,000. Consider that before you gripe that doctors make too much money.

 

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Advice to My Children

Posted on June 5, 2015 | 2 comments

"Listen up, son"

“Listen up, son.”

I think it was Hunter S. Thompson who gave avuncular advice in Rolling Stone magazine 40 years ago:

  • Never play cards with a man named Doc
  • Never eat at a place called “Mom’s”
  • Never get involved with a woman who has more problems than you do

I’m starting a new category of posts: Advice To My Children (ATMC).

My father died six years ago at the age of 83. I can’t remember a single specific piece of advice he ever gave me. Which may be a reflection more on me than him.

He was a good father. I would say he taught me through quotidian action rather then with words. Allan Edward Parker, Sr., was a great provider for the family. He respected and loved my mother. He was always available and always seemed to be in a good mood. We had some great camping, fishing, and sailing adventures.

My two children, a boy and a girl, will probably be leaving home in the next few years. Any ability I have to influence them will wane significantly then. For the last few years I’ve been thinking about core concepts I’d like them to remember, if not take entirely to heart. Maybe they’ll refer back to these posts when life throws them for a loop or after I’m dead and gone.

Life can be hard, and we don’t get an owner’s manual at birth. We build our own manual by trial and error, learning from our elders or other reasonable adults, reasoning, observation, and through literature.

Why make your own mistakes if you can learn from others’?

Steve Parker, M.D.

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