Zen and the Art of Listening to Babies

The role of “new mother” has been quite a learning experience. Of course before the birth of Marina I was full of ideas on how things would be, and should be, but having a baby is something you must experience firsthand to fully understand. I am grateful for my background in OT, and for Darren’s background in child psychiatry. Our educational and professional backgrounds have given us a lot of valuable tools and information.

One of the most challenging things about babies is listening to them, and trying to discern what it is they are telling us. Babies tell us so much. They communicate their feelings, their likes and dislikes, and they tell us exactly what we need. It is our job as parents and caregivers to listen. Imagine how difficult it must be to be a baby. You can’t control your movements very well, you can’t speak, you have almost no control over your life. You are completely dependent upon your parents for everything. If your diaper is wet and uncomfortable, you can’t change it, or even shift to a more comfortable position. If you have an itch, you can’t scratch it.

We were blessed with an incredibly calm, easily soothed baby. Yet, there have been many times when she has cried inconsolably, and we have been at a complete loss. This is where we have learned to listen. Through listening I have learned that my daughter doesn’t tolerate me drinking cow’s milk very well. She is also not a huge fan of fast food or pasta. She also has a hard time relaxing and falling asleep unless she has a cozy warm body next to for cuddling. She doesn’t like to look at things that move too quickly, and when she is focusing on something that interests her, she doesn’t like for me to talk too much. When she is having a hard time winding down at the end of the day, she likes for her daddy to sit with her on the theraball and bounce.

There are millions of other examples, but I won’t bore everyone by listing them. Our culture devalues the art of listening. We are not taught or encouraged to listen to our intuition, or even to our babies. We are told “babies just cry.” While there is some truth to that, I believe that babies always cry for a reason. I also believe that we should listen, and accommodate. Infancy is not the time to enforce schedules or instill independence. There will be plenty of time for that later, when they are more developmentally capable and ready to meet such societal demands. That is just my opinion though…

Health Care Rights

In a previous post I posed the question of whether or not health care is a right, but I did not include my personal opinion, so here goes… I do not agree with free health care provided by the government. There are numerous reasons why socialized medicine is a bad idea, at least in this country. Let me begin by saying that I believe the current system of health care is terribly flawed. I believe that a government system would be similar to the current system, with the only difference being that everyone would have at least basic coverage. I do not believe that universal health care would, or could provide unlimited services to everyone.

First, I do not think that non-medical personnel should be making decisions and policies about health care issues. For example, where to draw the line on treatments, what medical interventions should be provided to what groups of people, etc. With the current system, there are frequently non-medical personnel making these decisions, and the results can be frustrating for all involved, especially the person who needs the treatment. In addition to non-medical personnel making health care decisions, there is the issue of bureaucracy. Valuable dollars would inevitably be spent on managing the health care machine, which seems to be an inefficient use of resources.

I am a strong believer in that people need to be held more accountable for, well, everything. This includes their health. Part of the problem with today’s system is that millions of people are receiving costly treatments for preventable conditions, and only paying a small co-pay per visit. Having worked in health care, I have seen it over and over again. There is the person with obesity who develops diabetes, continues to eat unhealthy and not exercise, and then develops further complications. There is the person who is addicted to drugs, who is in and out of the psych hospital, and who develops medical complications from the drug use. There is the avid athlete who develops numerous orthopedic injuries and requires repeated surgeries and recovery periods in a rehabilitation hospital. I can’t help but wonder, if these individuals had to pay for all, or at least more of their health care costs, would they be more motivated to take better care of themselves?

I speak from personal experience. When I was 21 I got the flu. For years my doctor had warned that I needed to get a flu shot every year because of my asthma. Being so young, I felt invincible and ignored his advice. I had never experienced asthma symptoms that did not respond to a quick squirt from my inhaler. As I developed the flu, my respiratory status deteriorated over several days until I eventually wound up in “status asthmaticus.” I was intubated for several days, and when my mother asked if I would live, the answer was “we can’t be sure.” I eventually recovered and vowed to get a flu shot every year. That particular incident included a trip to the urgent care, two emergency room visits, one ambulance ride, one week in the ICU, and one more week in a step-down unit. The bill was in excess of $40,000. The following year, feeling invincible again, I found myself short of breath one afternoon. I drove to a nearby urgent care, and sat in the parking lot. I talked myself out of going in, not wanting the hassle of nebulizer treatments or oral steroids. Plus, I had plans for that night. Several hours later, there I was at a bull ring in San Antonio, sipping on a beer, surrounded by friends who were smoking. Later that night I found myself at Brook Army Medical Center (the nearest hospital), intubated again. This stay was only a few days, and I was discharged straight from the ICU. The bill was $10,000. In one year’s time I used more health care resources than I will probably ever pay out of pocket for in my entire lifetime, and it was all preventable had I followed my doctor’s advice of getting flu shots and staying away from asthma triggers. I acted incredibly irresponsibly.

I feel that there needs to be some level of personal accountability for use of health care resources, and financial accountability is a one place to start. Additionally, there ought to be a shift toward prevention, which is much less costly than treatment after the onset of illness or injury. Another important consideration is that the health care industry needs to move away from being for profit. Insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies make billions in profits each year while people who really need treatment suffer and even die. By eliminating the profit component, the cost of health care would inevitably be driven down.

The government can play an integral role in allowing access to health care as well as promoting wellness and prevention. Regulating the industry, particularly pharmaceuticals, would encourage more affordable health care options. Healthy living could also be promoted by subsidizing organic farms, providing tax deductions for healthy foods and gym memberships, etc. What if every tax payer had the opportunity to receive a significant deduction for maintaining good health??? This might include eating healthy foods, exercising, getting early screenings as needed, and complying with medical recommendations. Imagine if it were cheaper and more convenient to get healthy food on the go than it is to get whoppers, big macs, and french fries. Our government has the power to facilitate such things. It is up to us, however, to hold the government accountable. More importantly, however, it is up to each individual to take care of their health.

OT: Introduction

I am an occupational therapist, which means that many people have no idea what I do for a living. This blog should serve as an excellent forum to promote and increase awareness of occupational therapy. Being such a broad profession means that even occupational therapists sometimes have difficulty explaining what it is that we do. One description is that we give people “skills for the job of living.” Regardless of how we describe what we do, it is one of the best professions out there (my humble opinion).

Often, when people hear “occupational therapy” they are misled into thinking that we help people with employment. Yes, we might help people with some aspects of employment, but we do much more. The word occupation in this context refers to anything that a person does that is meaningful to them. There are many things that are meaningful to us that we may take for granted, like being able to go to the bathroom independently, or getting into the car and driving to the grocery store.

So, occupational therapists help people to participate in meaningful occupations. We typically work with people who have some sort of disability, either from illness or injury. We also work with people of all ages. Some examples of what we might do include helping a premature infant to safely feed, finding a way for a child with cerebral palsy to fully participate in her day at school, or training an adult who had a stroke to use adaptive equipment in order to continue to live independently.