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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2008-02-27, Page 66 Times -Advocate Wednesday, February 27, 2008 Opinion Forum News LETTERS TO THE EDITOR • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR • LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The unborn need protection In the fall of 2007, three BC hunters were charged with, and pleaded guilty to, four counts of violating the Wildlife Act, two for killing two pregnant female deer, and two more counts for killing their unborn fawns. On Oct. 2, 2007, Aysus Sesen and her unborn seven- month old baby were murdered in Toronto. Her hus- band has been charged with her death, but no charges could be laid in the death of the baby, because under Canada's Criminal Code, a baby has no legal status as a person unless he or she has emerged alive from the body of his or her mother. This case, and several others like it, have prompted a private member's bill to be introduced in the House of Commons. Bill C-484, "The Unborn Victims of Crime Act" would make it a separate crime to kill or injure an unborn baby when attacking the mother of the baby. Liberal MP Paul Steckle, Huron -Bruce, was quoted recently: "This is an issue that goes right across party lines and anyone with good thinking would understand that when you take a mother's life and another dies as a result, the unborn, there's a double murder." Some Members of Parliament are opposing this legis- lation, arguing that the bill would threaten access to abortion in Canada by recognizing the unborn child as a separate victim from the mother. Their arguments fly in the face of science, common sense, and the need for jus- tice for the families grieving the death of the child. Their stance highlights the absurdity of refusing to enact laws to allow charging those persons who harm or kill fetal human beings, while enacting laws that prose- cute persons for harming or killing fetal fawns. Unborn children are not our concern as a society, but unborn fawns apparently are. Please write the prime minister and your MP about this obvious injustice. CARLA REVINGTON RR 2, Lucan Thanks for protecting the environment Thanks to Ray Letheren and the friends of the Bayfield River for their ongoing work to protect our environment from the unnecessary use of pesticides for cosmetic pur- poses. I have just reread the October 2007 issue of the "Canadian Family Physician" -the official, peer-reviewed journal representing all Canadian family physicians. The headline of this issue reads, "Invisible Enemy -Health Effects of Pesticides." This article found a definite association between exposure to pesticides and the subsequent development of brain cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer and stomach cancer. In addition, a possible association of pesticide exposure with lung cancer was noted. Furthermore, an earlier review of this subject by the Ontario College of Family Physicians found an associa- tion between pesticide exposure and the subsequent development of childhood leukemias, childhood brain tumors, lymphomas, Parkinson's Disease and Lou Gehrig's Disease. Fortunately, the current provincial government is com- mitted to introducing legislation which will ban the use of pesticides for cosmetic purposes. The Ontario College of Family Physicians, the Canadian Pediatric Society, the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, the Canadian Cancer Society, the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, the Canadian and the Ontario Public Health Associations, together with many other health care organizations are fully supportive of the pro- posed provincial ban. As Chief Seattle said, "what we do to the web of life, we do unto ourselves." JIM HOLLnNGWORTH, M.D. Goderich Caregivers have identified a growing need for grief supports Dear Editor, Caregivers in Middlesex County have identified a grow- ing need for grief supports. Grief is not a subject society likes to address, yet we each grieve for many things each day. Some grieve ill health, loss of job, divorce, loss of property, or the death of a loved one or friend or pet. Grief is a major factor in personal, mental and physical health, job satisfaction and productivity, social participation i and community support structure. Friends know how to `reach out' to-__ help their friends who ask for help. Social gatherings help the grieving -woo friends along the path to new strength, connections and recovery by continu- ing the exchange of companionship and presence. For grieving widows, their relationship to society has changed. They may feel vul- nerable, alone and unsure of who to `reach out' to or how to care for the many duties of daily life which they shared before their loss. They may become with- drawn, afraid to face others and fearful of sharing their loss. A grief support group allows persons grieving a similar loss to `reach out' and work together to support each other. They can find a way to walk through their sadness to grow toward a new beginning. The VON Middlesex Hospice Volunteer Program is pleased to offer a grief group support program biannu- ally in the spring and fall. The `Reaching Out' Group Support Program for Widows will begin this spring on March 25, 2008, from 7 - 9 p.m. The session will begin with an Open House evening for registered participants and continue for eight more weeks, every Tuesday evening 7 - 9 p.m. until May 20, 2008. The program will be facilitated by trained staff and volunteers. The meet- ing place is the VON Strathroy office at 274 Head St. N. (behind Sprucedale Care Centre -parking off of Head St.) Registration is necessary and a $20 administration fee is due at the Open House. For more information, please call Peggy or Irene at 519-245-3170 or 1-800-265-7058. www.von.ca Letters to the Edit or travellers from the week have also been sent home, more than I remember. Not enough beds! So what is wrong with this leg of the trip? Nurses and doctors who planned on several surg- eries today are discouraged, say- ing this is the very hardest part of their job — telling the patients that surgeries are cancelled. I will have the operations, all four of them set back by weeks (at least) now. We have been told that long waiting lists for surgery cost Ontario citizens $14 billion a year. I can assure you that does not include the cost of nurses and doctors who plan to work but cannot; and gas put into cars by family members who have taken time off work to assist those of us who need it. The hundreds of little things that go into planning a few days in hospital and weeks of recov- ery are useless now. They tell us there is nothing they can do. That it is a government issue. Will you encourage those of us on the trek to recovery by letting your MPP know that this state of affairs is intolerable? Will you write letters to anyone you can think of who might have influence? That medicine, by its very nature, must take emergencies into account and not take needed beds away from others who need them? That long-term beds hi nursing homes and pallia- tive care must be greatly increased so that there are beds for those of us who have waited months and years for our time to be healed? I cannot wait for my journey to restart — but for now, I really do feel that the roadblocks are many, and those of us who have to overcome them don't know how to do it. Thanks for listening, and remember — if you have a pain in your knees, your shoulders, or even your hips — be afraid! Be very afraid! KRISTY MCQUEEN Manager, Community Support Services VON Mlddlesex-Elgin Too many roadblocks in health care system I invite you to come along on a journey with me. And if your knees have a twinge, or your shoulders feel sore in the travelling — be afraid. Be very afraid! The journey begins three years ago in the Dominican Republic. I am working with a missions team (YWAM) for three months and realize that the old knees just can't do it anymore. They are too sore, and climbing up and down the hills is too much. Good old Canadian health system and my teachers' pension insurance have done a great job until now, keeping me in anti -arthritis pills. But they just aren't cutting it any more. Back home in Ontario — good old trustworthy Ontario Hospital Health Plan! See more doctors, and severe osteoarthritis is diagnosed in knees. My wonderful fami- ly doc finds a surgeon for me. Many months later I have an appointment — surgery in four to five months. OK, a doable part of the journey, but seems like a long trek. Meanwhile, both shoulders become too painful to bear, and same disease and cure diagnosed for them. Good old OHIP. Finally, many months later, same wonderful family doc finds me an appointment with a specialist who refers me to a surgeon in Oakville. This part of the trek could be closer to home, but would take years longer! Doesn't this remind you of Moses crossing the Sinai? It feels like it too. We can sympathize with our fel- low traveller. Specialist says, "Good old OHIP. Everyone has access, but you can't get in anywhere!" (At this stage of the trek, let's pass along the news that nowhere in this province is there a list that tells doctors how long the waiting list is at other hospitals, or how long a patient could reasonably expect to wait for surgery). Good news. This surgeon does not have a long waiting list, but knees need surgery first. So back to London. Many, many months later, I find out the surgeon has himself met with an unfortunate accident and cannot do the surgery. This is found out after repeated phone calls that I make, and I am set up with another surgeon eight months after my first appointment there. Appointment made for surgery Feb. 22! Aha! Great news! Plans are made, suitcase packed for this leg of the jaunt, and hopefully, the beginning of assistance with the increasingly medicated pain. Family member comes to help, home is prepared, post-op plans are made. Journey to University Hospital (nothing but the best, right?). Preparations made. Hospital gown put on, IV put in. Prayers uttered! Then the sweetest operating nurse comes to the stretcher, and utters the words I cannot believe I am hearing! "All surgeries are cancelled for today. I am so sorry" (and indeed she is). On further investigation, we discover that fellow travellers for this day are also sent home, discouraged, in pain, angry, plans askew. Fellow MARY CASSELL Exeter This Little Brother is 12 years old. He is interested in playing video games and watching hock- ey. He would like a Big Brother to hang out with, go to the beach, go for bike rides, watch movies and go to demolition derbies and car shows. This Little Brother is one of the many children lc" waiting to be matched within a mentoring friendship. If you are unable to commit to being a Big, consider our In -School Mentoring pro- gram. For infor- mation on becoming a Big or our other volun- teer programs, call our office at 519-235-3307 or visit our website at www.shbbbs.on.ca cooking with memories BY DEBBY WAGLER TURKEY a la KING AN OLD STANDBY AT OUR HOUSE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE TURKEY A LA KING DISH! TRYING VARIATIONS OF THE SAME RECIPE IS ALWAYS FUN. MY MOM GOT THIS ONE FROM ONE OF HER MANY FRIENDS THAT SHARED RECIPES AND SHE PROCEEDED TO PUT IT IN A COOKBOOK OF HER OWN FOR MORE FRIENDS. WE SERVED IT UP ON HOT BISCUITS OR FRESH BAKED PUFF PASTRY SHELLS. TRY MAKING IT SOON WITH LEFT OVER CHICKEN OR TURKEY. VZ cup onions chopped 2 tbsp. butter Dash pepper I V2 cup turkey diced I I0 oz can mushroom soup 18 oz pkg. cream cheese I can mushrooms drained VZ cup green pepper In a saucepan cook onions in butter till tender. Blend in soup, cheese and green pepper. Stir in turkey and mushrooms. Heat to boiling. Serve hot over your choice of biscuit or pastry shell.