jjablkowski's blog

The Vancouver Sun recently reported that the foot-lift, sometimes referred to as “Cinderella surgery,” is becoming a fast-growing and somewhat controversial sector of the cosmetic surgery industry. Surgical procedures include bunion removal, toe shortening or lengthening, separation of webbed toes, varicose foot-vein removal, and foot plumping (fillers introduced to smooth bony feet). Some physicians think that surgery may be indicated to correct painful foot problems but that cosmetic surgery would not be needed if people would just wear sensible, well-fitting shoes.

A wide range of adaptive sports, sometimes referred to as disabled sports or parasports, are well known to all who watch the Paralympic Games or the more recent Invictus and Warrior Games. Apart from the rehabilitative and enjoyment value these sports offer to individuals with physical or mental disabilities, both permanent and temporary, the astounding individual and group accomplishments also help remove stigma associated with disabilities.

Lynn Holden, MD (UBC 1974) killed herself on 1 December 2015. She was 67 years old. Her family remembers her as a generous, kind, vibrant person, an accomplished baker, highland dancer, trumpet player, pianist, and poet.

At the time of her graduation from medical school she wrote:
    I dream I was alive
    Energy suspended
    The first rocket of a firecracker
    Ready to burst in lightening beauty of hope
    Radiant blush . . .
    I am waking up.
    My time is now.    

In medicine a gold standard is the best available diagnostic test or benchmark under reasonable conditions. So I found it ironic to learn that the toilet seat at home is becoming the gold standard for office and even hospital hygiene. The reality is that, for example, our average office desk may contain 400 times more germs per a defined unit of space than the otherwise unheralded toilet seat. On our way up to our office or hospital facility we have already deposited and picked up germs from the elevator buttons—well in excess of what we harvested in our bathroom facility.

I was searching for historical material for a Labour Day blog post when I discovered that there are walking tours in Vancouver focusing on working class life and labor history—commemorating the importance of labor unions, individuals, collective actions, and much more in Vancouver’s history. A thought struck me: how fitting it would be on Labour Day to be able to travel back in time to the 1860s and 1870s and take a walking tour in the town that was yet not even called Vancouver!