Tom Heston

This is the first Ramadan that I have spent living in the Middle East, in the UAE. Prior to now, to me, Ramadan was a vague word, a concept I knew nothing about. Now, my friends are fasting and I’m joining in. My initial efforts were half-hearted because I didn’t know why people fasted, and didn’t know the spiritual meaning of the daily fast. But now I do, and it is a remarkable thing.

The fist thing I noticed was seeing signs all over saying “Ramadan Kareem.”  What? I was confused. So I asked my buddy, born and raised Muslim, what it meant. He told me that it indicates generosity. During Ramadan, we fast during the day to symbolize that we are giving up something in our life in order to help others. Then at night, when the daily fast is broken, we eat a light meal together with some friends (an Iftar) and discuss how we can help the less fortunate.

What is pretty amazing to someone who grew up on the other side of the planet, in a completely different culture, is that the entire country fasts during the day during Ramadan. In fact, if you are an apparently healthy adult and are seen eating or drinking during the day, someone could complain and call the police. I haven’t heard of the consequences of such a thing, but it is clearly the respectful and courteous thing to do to not eat or drink during the day in front of others, even if you happen to be a Christian or an atheist or follow some other religion.

During Christmas time, a common sermon I’ve heard over and over is how we all need to get the spirit back into Christmas, and it’s got me thinking about the spirit of Ramadan. It isn’t so much about the fast, but that we focus on doing something for the less fortunate (not just thinking about it, doing it). And during the Iftars, it isn’t just about a pleasant social time with friends, it’s a time to pool our ideas and generate an action plan for giving…. a plan that we WILL carry out.

By this self-imposed hunger, we are reminded about how we need to help those with less than us. We get determined not to cave in to the temptations of the physical world and instead strive to live a spiritual life of good deeds. It focuses our thoughts on what’s important.

1982. Beta Theta Pi House at the University of Washington. My fraternity’s “Hell Week” was almost over. It sucked.

Tired and dirty, I was ready for it to the end. It wasn’t “inspiration” week. No, back then it was, well, just what it was called: hell week at the Beta House.

But on the Sunday morning after the week had ended, things were different. Perhaps because we were all still so tired, we actually sat quietly as the guest speaker, a local pastor, tried to give us some inspiration.

This pastor was sort of funny (or was I so tired I’d laugh at anything?). He told some jokes, and then started passing out tons of business cards. But these business cards just had short, inspirational sayings on them.

What sort of nut makes up this kind of business card? It struck me as just a bit odd, but then one card got me. It went through my fatigue and weariness. It woke me up, finally. The card simply said, “I’m Third” .

He explained what it meant: God first, my fellow man second, and I’m third.

I understood this. Putting God first– well that just meant focusing on doing good things with your life, and it WAS Sunday. Do good. Not be good, but really do something good.

Putting my fellow man second, well isn’t that what a fraternity is all about? Through fellowship, we can do more good in this world. That’s pretty obvious.

Finally, I’m third. Only by paying attention to my basic needs – regular exercise, a good diet, regular laughter – could I meet the challenges of life and, well, do good first and be a good friend. This is what I’ve tried to do in the 25 years since then, and continue to aspire to in my career, my family, and in my community.

Out of hell came a beautiful lesson: I’m third.

Originally posted on my Facebook account: http://bit.ly/5UMa0R

Getting old and
turning grey,
I’m going downhill, but
what the hey.

Now I need glasses
and often reply
“what did you say?”
or “one more time.”

People tell me
“It beats the alternative” or
“You’re just getting wiser.”
But I feel old and
have now got arthritis.

So it’s time to give up.
Time for the young.
They can take over,
my daughter and sons.

But I am getting wiser!
and I like this alternative.
There’s still so much to explore
and so much I can give:

1. My dog needs a walk and
2. The sink needs fixed.
3. Chores need to be done…
… and so I’ve begun.

My bag of tricks
still overflows.
My cup runneth over
as everyone knows.

The party is still going,
it’s going ’til late.
But it’s time for my nap.
So can you guys wait?

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dedicated to those turning 50 on November 24th, 2009….

———————————-

Over the past couple of weeks, it has become more and more clear that the world wide obsession with the swine flu is driven by an insane fear. Here are some common arguments, with rebuttal:

1. “But look at what happened in 1918! We’re all gonna Die ! ” – well, 2009 ain’t exactly 1918. Guess what has happened since then. #1 – we now have antibiotics. We have antivirals. We have antihistamines. We have inhalers for people with asthma and COPD. We now know much better the importance of hand washing….. and we now have wide availability of indoor plumbing ! !

The world is much different now. It’s time to stop pretending it’s 1918.

2. “But it might get worse! We’re all gonna Die ! ” – this brings to mind a great Yogi Berra’ism: “It’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” So, yes, it “might” get worse. But we know that right now people are dying everyday from the common flu, from cancer, from gunshot wounds, from suicide, from heart attacks….. and yes, from a lack of clean water and a lack of the basic necessities. We are spending now millions of dollars on something that “might” happen and ignoring what is happening.

Just last week at a cancer conference at Johns Hopkins that I was attending, it was mentioned that a patient couldn’t get a PET/CT scan, which they really needed in order to help with their cancer. They had no health insurance. About 20 physicians at Hopkins spent their time at this meeting trying to figure out how to get this patient the care they needed. The problem was solved, but why did it ever arise in the first place? Maybe because of screwed up policies and priorities by our federal government. They are spending millions on what might be, and ignoring what is. Heaven help us if we get “universal” i.e. politician run health care. It will be full of idiotic fantasies that boil down to a single thing… getting the politicians more power.

Obviously, these politicians have never volunteered in a community free health clinic, where those without insurance can get at least some access to medical care. The politicians have no idea about the preventable diseases, the unnecessary deaths, and the pain and suffering that exists, right now. The politicians are too focused on the fear of what might be.

Remember the words of FDR: “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” This fear mongering by the politicians is out of hand.

3. “The swine flu is a pandemic ! We are all gonna die !! ” – OK. This is partly right. Pandemic means a disease has spread around the globe, and isn’t just regional. It doesn’t mean that a large percentage of the population is affected. Typically, it refers to contagious diseases as opposed to chronic or genetic diseases. But we are not “all gonna die” from the swine flu. Much more likely is that you and I will die from the routine, boring, and unexciting diseases of cancer, stroke, and heart disease. These diseases don’t make global headlines, but they are millions and millions of times more important than the swine flu.

4. “That person sneezed. We’re all gonna die ! We’re all gonna die ! ” – guess what. Sneezing isn’t going away anytime soon. Start using a handkerchief or tissue. Wash your hands. And stop scaring everyone to death. Yes, we’re all gonna die, most of us in the western world at about age 75 or so. So prepare for being around for that long and start exercising, eating right, and even having a laugh or two at someone else’s expense (ha, ha).

20090504-we-are-all-gonna-die

Cancer is an insideous disease. But it can be prevented in many cases, and also cured. Here are some “secret” cancer treatments that your doctor probably doesn’t tell you about.

1. The best cure? prevention. Exercise is probably the #1 prevention measure, yet unbelievably, this is not widely discussed in the doctor’s office or in medical policymakers.

2. Radioactivity. Not external beam radioactivity or internal seeds, but rather radioimmunotherapy. For cancer patients, an antibody targeted to the tumor is used to deliver a lethal dose of radiation directly to the tumor cells.

In emergency medicine, I was taught that “a person isn’t dead unless they are warm and dead.” This saying basically means that hypothermic patients can appear lifeless, but when warmed up you can revive them. You should never pronounce a person as dead unless they are warmed up first.

For cancer patients, perhaps there is a similar sentiment. We shouldn’t give up on certain lymphoma patients unless we have tried radioimmunotherapy. We shouldn’t declare patients with advanced lymphoma as “dead” unless we have tried radioimmunotherapy.

This thought was expressed recently at Hopkins during a noon conference. One of the world’s leading experts in radioimmunotherapy said to all of us, in effect, that although radioimmunotherapy has not been perfected yet, it can be life-saving. In particular, certain subtypes of lymphoma respond to radioimmunotherapy. We should not tell patients that “we have tried everything” until we have tried radioimmunotherapy.

It doesn’t work for everyone, but many of us who practice nuclear medicine believe that radioimmunotherapy is really underutilized. Ask your doctor about it.

Walking in the footsteps of a giant.

Usually this means that you are figuratively following the spiritual path of a great person that came before. For example, we walk in the footsteps of a giant when as a young person we work underneath a master, or take a job once held by some larger than life, almost mythical person.

Well, I had the opportunity this last week to literally, not figuratively, walk in the footsteps of a giant. Just after I got off the metro transit train on my way to work, I realized that Dr. Ben Carson had just gotten off ahead of me. We had both taken the 6:31 to Johns Hopkins that morning. As we walked to our respective sections of the hospital, as I followed him into work, I was literally walking in the footsteps of a giant.

As you know, this last week the national and world news is focused upon the financial crisis that we are facing. The stories that are coming out are truly startling: a CEO just ran his company bankrupt, yet received $25 Million USD retirement parachute. Another politician gets on TV and congratulates herself and her political party friends about the wonderful job they have done passing a $700 Billion USD bailout package. Instead of an apology for the mess they have collectively wreaked upon America, they openly congratulate themselves on their plan to spend $700 Billion of our money. The outrageous stories go on and on.

Yet this same week, I got off the metro with a truly great person. An incredible pediatric neurosurgeon with a personal style and approach to life so radically different than all of those politicians and all of those CEO’s. Truly in his prime, Dr. Carson is a person that has inspired millions to learn, to think, and to become the best person they can be.

We got off the metro together. Just before 7am. Going to work.

Walking in the footsteps of a giant is always inspiring, and when following Ben Carson, a profound reminder that the truly great are truly humble.