Posts Tagged ‘Sickness’

20 items.

Radiation in the Land of Milk (and Honey)

by Seraphine Khorana on April 1st, 2011
Posted In: Comics
Radiation in the Land of Milk (and Honey)

The Japanese government conceded yesterday that they can’t contain the radiation at Fukushima Dai-Ichi’s damaged nuclear reactors. The likely solution will be to entomb the reactors with sand and concrete. Water around the reactors is currently emitting a deadly 1,000 millisieverts of radiation per hour. Small levels of radiation have been observed in milk as far away as California.

The ongoing health impacts of Chernobyl has had a devastating effect on survivors: damaging immune and endocrine systems, leading to accelerated aging, cardiovascular and blood illnesses, psychological illnesses, chromosomal aberrations and an increase in foetal deformations.
Quotation from Greenpeace, Chernobyl death toll grossly underestimated.

They have concluded between themselves that it is inevitable some of them may die within weeks or months. They know it is impossible for them not to have been exposed to lethal doses of radiation.
Quotation from the mother of a 32-year-old worker at Fukushima Dai-Ichi, according to Fox News.

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Day Old Cake

by Seraphine Khorana on July 8th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
Day Old Cake

Out of curiosity, I googled how many days old I am. Then I tried to remember as many of those days as I could. I found eureka moments, childhood memories, people, places, my wedding day, adventures, some Christmases. I remembered important days as well as insignificant days that were somehow important enough to be retained. I regretably confess I cannot remember all 14,368 days.
No, today isn’t my birthday, but I will nonetheless try to make it memorable.

Here is a “How Many Days Young Am I?” calculator. (Derbyshire Guide)

Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you’re alive, it isn’t.
Quotation from Richard Bach

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On Being Blonde

by Seraphine Khorana on May 2nd, 2010
Posted In: Comics
On Being Blonde

April 28th marked the third anniversary of EncoreSeraphine.com. 793 comics. Much love. Thank you. ~Sera

You treated me like a goddess
When we were around everyone else
Now how come you couldn’t notice me
When I was standing by myself
Lyric from Meiko, Sleep

If every angel’s terrible
Then why do you welcome them
You said you’d provide the birdbath
If I’d provide the skin
Lyric from CocoRosie, Terrible Angels “It’s perfectly flawed imho”

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In Deep Yogurt

by Seraphine Khorana on April 10th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
In Deep Yogurt

Why do some food companies put gelatin in yogurt? To add firmness and consistency. The gross part is (if you are lacto-ovo vegetarian like I am) gelatin is made from the skin, boiled bones, internal organs and intestines of animals like cows, pigs and horses. It’s a by-product of the meat and leather industries. Gelatin is also commonly found in marshmallows, gummy bears, margarine and even beer. Check your food labels!
P.S. Yogurt has a 10-21 day shelf life according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

No, the serpent did not
Seduce Eve to the apple.
All that’s simply
Corruption of the facts.
Adam ate the apple.
Eve ate Adam.
The serpent ate Eve.
This is the dark intestine.
The serpent, meanwhile,
Sleeps his meal off in Paradise
Smiling to hear
God’s querulous calling.
Poem by Ted Hughes, Theology

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Sickie Sera

by Seraphine Khorana on February 17th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
Sickie Sera

Wouldn’t it be ironic if my imaginary friend is really my guardian angel?

It is somewhat of a revolving door. Children are nimble in coming up with these imaginary companions and sometimes we have a hard time keeping up with all of the ones a child has.
Quotation from Stephanie Carlson, Assistant Professor, University of Washington

One child said the [imaginary] friend put yogurt in her hair.
Another quotation from Stephanie Carlson

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The Sick Olympics

by Seraphine Khorana on February 15th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
The Sick Olympics

Yay, after a week, bronchitis is no longer contagious. In theory. But if I were you. I’d stay as far away from me as possible.

Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world are fools and the rest of us are in great danger of contagion.
Quotation from Thornton Wilder

So many journeys may the sun and moon
Make us again count o’er ere love be done!
But, woe is me, you are so sick of late,
So far from cheer and from your former state,
That I distrust you. Yet, though I distrust,
Discomfort you, my lord, it nothing must:
For women’s fear and love holds quantity;
In neither aught, or in extremity.
Quotation from Wm. Shakespeare, Hamlet

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I’ll cry at anything

by Seraphine Khorana on February 13th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
I’ll cry at anything

I’ll cry at anything when I’m sick. I get emotional at inappropriate moments– during game shows, talk shows, comedies, even during car commercials. I can’t help it.

This much we do know: All of us do it in varying degrees of blubbitude. Some of us are waterfalls, soaking fellow moviegoers with our public displays of empathy. Others are Saharas, for whom tears are about as rare as oases.
Quotation from Desson Thomson, The Washington Post

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

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Name Brand Placebo

by Seraphine Khorana on February 10th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
Name Brand Placebo

Placebos are scientifically shown to be effective 40% of the time against pain and depression. However, I haven’t found any studies that specifically compare the beneficial effects of a “name brand” Placebo versus a generic sugar pill. I suspect that this is one case where the name brand drug would be more effective than the generic version, despite both having the same “active ingredient.” Yes, I will accept a research grant to prove the point.

Reportedly, patients have even become “addicted” to placebos: According to an Internet paper by Ben Z. Krentzman, M.D., one patient ingested 10,000 placebo units in one year; another had a compulsive desire to take placebo tablets, tended to increase the “dose,” couldn’t stop taking the “medicine” without psychiatric help, and suffered “abstinence syndrome” when deprived of it—classic characteristics of drug addiction.
Quotation from Kenneth E. Legins, Is Prescribing Placebos Ethical?, American Council on Science and Health

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No Sympathy

by Seraphine Khorana on February 8th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
No Sympathy

I am sick. I’ve been in bed all weekend. Since we’re both sick, I don’t get any sympathy.

The sick grapes on the chair by the bed lie prone; at the window
The tassel of the blind swings gently, tapping the pane,
As a little wind comes in.
The room is the hollow rind of a fruit, a gourd
Scooped out and dry, where a spider,
Folded in its legs as in a bed,
Lies on the dust, watching where is nothing to see but twilight and walls.
Poem by D.H. Lawrence, Malade

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Swine Flu Vaccine

by Seraphine Khorana on January 5th, 2010
Posted In: Comics
Swine Flu Vaccine

This really happened to me. I won’t mention the name of the pharmacy, but it rhymes with Fright-Aid. The pharmacist said the best way to avoid getting the flu is “don’t touch your eyes, nose or mouth.” I’ll assume I can still use my mouth for eating as long as I wash my hands beforehand?

So the C.D.C. says 50 million [Americans] have been infected so far. Another 50 million have been vaccinated. And maybe 20 million have got innate immunity because of their age. You do the math — that’s 120 million who are immune out of 320 million, so two-thirds of the population is still not immune. It’s amazing how many people are acting as if this is all wrapped up. The numbers could still go up dramatically.
Quotation from Michael T. Osterholm, Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota

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Purgatorily Yours

by Seraphine Khorana on December 11th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Purgatorily Yours

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Yet, some people argue passionately about everything. They enjoy testing the strength of another’s convictions, or else they have a mood disorder. Perhaps they are simply bullies. Or it’s PMS.

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) has a wide variety of symptoms, including mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability and depression. An estimated 3 of every 4 menstruating women experience some form of premenstrual syndrome.
Quotation from MayoClinic.com, Premenstrual Syndrome

[FYI: Don't argue the fact that 3 out of 4 is almost 75%.]

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Gerascophobia: Fear of the Mad-Fall

by Seraphine Khorana on November 25th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Gerascophobia: Fear of the Mad-Fall

I’m not afraid of growing old; I’m afraid of *being* old. But I’m not aged yet– and tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day– so I’m thankful for having the opportunity to grow a bit older.
I’m also thankful for having love in my life, and I’m thankful for YOU, dear readers.

Worried you will die alone,
You expect the crucifix
Around your neck to save your soul.
A hint of growing old, and losing beauty.
Fear of impaired mobility.
Your face deteriorates
as your insides decompose.
Lyrics from Burning the Masses, Gerascophobia (Gerascophobia is the fear of growing old)

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26 Comments

Bothered

by Seraphine Khorana on September 16th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Bothered

This memo was in today’s interoffice email: “If you don’t use your sick days, you will forfeit them at the end of the year.” I naively thought sick days should only be used if you really are sick. Heh.

McKenzie: I tried to talk to her in the coffee room she’s totally not having it.
Tom: Maybe she was just in a hurry.
McKenzie: And maybe she’s an uppity, better-than-everyone super skank.
Quotation from the movie (500) Days of Summer

Dwight Shrute: Dammit, he put my stapler in Jell-O again!
Quotation from television’s The Office

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America’s Best Hope for Healthcare

by Seraphine Khorana on August 9th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
America’s Best Hope for Healthcare

Sadly, the global supply of swine flu vaccine won’t be able to meet demand. The health care industry will sell into market demand, so the vaccine will disproportionately reach those wealthy enough to afford it. Ultimately, it may prove poor public policy if the swine flu is allowed to flourish in overcrowded developing countries, where the disease could ultimately mutate into something even more deadly.

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Hind Sight: Am I Lucky, or What?

by Seraphine Khorana on June 29th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Hind Sight: Am I Lucky, or What?

Fewer than 4% of people between the ages of 30 and 40 get gallstone polyps. Women are 3x less likely to get them than men. About 5% of the time, the surgeon needs to switch from a small laparoscopic navel incision to open surgery through a huge incision on the right side just under the ribs. Am I lucky, or what?

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Friend or Enema?

by Seraphine Khorana on June 24th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
Friend or Enema?

I’m in the hospital tomorrow, so my comics might be irregular for a few days. Not that they are like “regular comics” anyway.

Surgeons usually fantasize about wild and improbable surgeries. Someone collapses in a restaurant, you splice them open with a butter knife, replace a valve with a hollowed out stick of carrot– but every now and then some other kind of fantasy slips in. Most of our fantasies resolve when we wake, vanished to the back of our mind, but sometimes we’re sure if we try hard enough– we can live the dream.
Quotation from Grey’s Anatomy, Sometimes a Fantasy

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It’s Not Me. It’s You.

by Seraphine Khorana on June 17th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
It’s Not Me. It’s You.

It’s not me. It’s my alien hand. In fact, sometimes my whole body feels alien.

Gwen: I’m sorry George.
George: I don’t understand. Things were going so great. What happened? Something must have happened.
Gwen: It’s not you, it’s me.
George: You’re giving me the “it’s not you, it’s me” routine? I invented “it’s not you, it’s me”. Nobody tells me it’s them, not me. If it’s anybody, it’s me.
Gwen: All right, George, it’s you.
George: You’re damn right it’s me.
Quotation from Seinfeld Episode 70, The Lip Reader

Alien Hand Syndrome (DamnInteresting.com) The alien hand may undo buttons or tear clothes while the sufferer is completely unaware of what the hand is doing.

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It’s Not My Crustacean Tubes

by Seraphine Khorana on May 13th, 2009
Posted In: Comics
It’s Not My Crustacean Tubes

Good news/Bad news: Scientists in Australia have discovered a Spider-Killer Wasp. They capture and paralyze spiders, which are then eaten alive by the wasps’ larvae. The bad news is… they are wasps.

Crustacean invasion: Beware the green crab (Juneau Empire)

Oh, sick I am to see you, will you never let me be?
You may be good for something but you are not good for me.
Poem by A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad

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My Plethora Burns When I Pee

by Seraphine Khorana on August 17th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
My Plethora Burns When I Pee

This poem is inspired by John Savo, the Authoring Auctioneer,
who suggests most of our crap is… well, crap.
Plus I have pneumonia, so I’m feverish and taking antibiotics.

Funds for the Strip Club? (The Authoring Auctioneer)

It might be that some day I shall be drowned by the sea, or die of pneumonia from sleeping out at night, or be robbed and strangled by strangers. These things happen. Even so, I shall be ahead because of trusting the beach, the night and strangers.
Quotation from Janet Wood Reno (Janet Reno’s mother)

Maria: You should get out of these clothes immediately. You’ll catch your death of pneumonia, you will.
Inspector Clouseau: Yes, yes, I probably will. But it’s all part of life’s rich pageantry.
Quotation from Blake Edwards, A Shot in the Dark

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The Motion of the Ocean

by Seraphine Khorana on May 7th, 2008
Posted In: Comics
The Motion of the Ocean

I had to ride in the front seat. Even then,
my parents had to stop the car so I could
get out. Closing my eyes made it even worse.

Chum: To lure with bait. Origin unknown.
Chum: Intimate friend or companion. Informal.

The Science of Motion Sickness (Science Daily)

“The daughter who is her father’s indulged little princess
may spend the rest of her life stamping her foot when
she doesn’t get her way, or pulling away when a love
affair hits rough waters, or becoming a fair-weather
friend who detaches when a chum asks too much of her.”
Quotation from Victoria Secunda, Women and Their Fathers

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