msb-0285 Fortune Favors the Brave
intro
Disclaimer! Disclaimer! Disclaimer!MSBPodcast is "
not" any kind of a medical podcast.
It is by and for MSers.
Its purpose is to keep us entertained, to explain our symptoms, to remark on our discoveries, and to raise the general consciousness about our disease.
The path to illness is shadowy, murky and rough strewn.
The path to wellness is lit by the lamp of knowledge.
----
Feedback comes first, so...
Somebody called me a "
Rich Bashing Communist Ass-hole" with all my talk of socializing medicine.
Then he waved his cigar at me and called me a hypocrite. (Never get under the skin of an insurance company CFO because you'll get ash scattered all over the place.)
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.
I love the rich and wish we could spread the wealth and make everyone rich.
Compared to 50 to 70% of the world, as far as the people in that 50 to 70% goes, I "
am" rich.
I'm living in the 'States. (Never mind that only 2% of the citizens of the United States are truly rich while the rest of us have to work for a living, [when we can!])
There was no way I was going to win an argument using statistics with the guy so I merely said that under the Canadian system, my father had lived another twenty productive years despite having "
polycystic kidneys disease" [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_kidney_disease ] when he would have been dead in a few weeks, after first having to burn through all the family savings to pay for "
dialysis" treatments.
Instead, Canada got socialized medecine the month before he was forced to, in effect, commit real suicide from foregoing treatment, after first committing fiscal suicide to pay for whatever treatments he could get.
Socialized medecine had saved my father's life and enabled society to reap the benefits of his work for another twenty tax-paying years and of the experience he'd already gotten.
And if he didn't like it, then let him go quail hunting with "
Dick Cheney". [ http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/02/12/cheney/ ]
---- "Scotland The Brave" by: "
Caledonix" http://www.caledonix.de/
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Say "your" piece on this segment.
Share with other MSers whatever "you" want to share.
Drop me an email: "
charles at MSBPodcast.com"
---- "Brave Soldier" by: "
Brendon Neill" http://brendon-neill.ukbands.net/
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Send me an email at: "
charles (at) MSBPodcast.com"
---- "Bravely" by: "
Mieka Pauley" http://www.mieka.com/
"
Thesis:"
"
Fortune Favours the Brave" sounds like a tiresome warriors creed from Rome, Sparta or some or other ancient and long dead barbaric land; a thing whispered into a regal ear by some minion trying to ingratiate himself (or an arms merchant trying to make a sale on "
this" side of a conflict he's creating.)
Personally, I live by another aphorism, one attributed to "
Louis Pasteur": "
Chance Favors the Prepared Mind."
Its good for gamblers, wits, wags, famous physicians ... and "
boy scouts" [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baden_Powell ]
---- "fortune favours only the brave" by: "
peter, bjorn and john" http://www.wichita-recordings.com/
"
Synthesis:"
Fortune Favours the Brave
In his intro to my submission for "
Grand Rounds" [ http://other-things-amanzi.blogspot.com/2008/01/grand-rounds.html ], "
Bongi" [ http://www.blogger.com/profile/12918640034313468627 ] says of bugs, bikes, and brains, "
That this is a very brave blog". What wonderful words to read! I don't consider myself brave, but it is another one of those coincidences my life seems to be full of. The motto of Clan MacKinnon is "fortune favours the brave".
From Wikipedia:
Fortune favours the bold, Fortune favours the brave, Fortune helps the brave , and Fortune favours the strong are common translations of the famous and often-quoted ancient Latin proverb "Fortis fortuna adiuvat".
The phrase means that Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, is more likely to help those that take risks, take action, and develop their skills proactively.
Wow.
Almost in the same breath as being told I had MS, I was asked to be part of a drug study to which I consented. Even though my folks and other family members were against it, I was going to do it. I took the risk of placebo versus the drug.
As soon as I was able to, I began to research this disease and affiliate myself with the MS Society to see what I could do to help myself and others. I took action.
I use my PR skills to educate the public about MS and to encourage other MSers that life is not over with a diagnosis.
OK. It's a brave blog, by definition.
I suspect I come by a "brave" attribute quite honestly. My parents, grandparents, and other family members have displayed their "bravery" over the years in different ways. My paternal grandfather, Frank, left school before completing grade 9 in order to go to Boston for work. When he returned to Nova Scotia he married and started a family and worked hard to support them, including sending to university, those who were so inclined (including my father). My grandfather was well read and very well spoken for someone with so little formal education. His perseverance to educate his children, and himself, was brave.
My maternal grandfather, Archie, also a MacKinnon, was a well known rum runner in his day, though the law caught up with him eventually. Never convicted of any crimes, he was financially ruined just the same. He started over and still managed to support his family and others in the community. Starting over was brave.
Archie's and his wife's housekeeper was a woman named Nellie. Two years after Archie's wife died, Archie married Nellie (the woman I considered my grandmother). I once asked her about her marriage and why she did it. "The children needed a mother!" she exclaimed, like I was an idiot. That was brave (not the exclamation, but marrying Archie).
Just a few days ago, my aunt Florence, a nun, recreational skater (on racers no less) and retired math teacher, passed away after having lived with Parkinson's for the past decade. She was 85. She only gave up skating upon her diagnosis. Apparently, years ago, she let it be known she wanted to be cremated on her death. A few months ago, she revealed she had changed her mind and has donated her body to the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation instead. Way to go Aunt Florence! Now that's brave.
If you have MS, the bravest thing you can do is face it. You don't have to confront it or beat it. You don't have to speak in public about it or start a blog (though that's fun). Whatever you believe, be it god or evolution, you have been given a gift. You may not have wanted it, like that ugly vase some great aunt gave you, but you have it. When that great aunt comes to visit, you put that vase on the coffee table. Consider your MS that vase. Sometimes it has to go on display and be faced.
S.
---- "I Was Brave Today" by: "
My Device" http://my-device.co.uk/
"
Conclusion:"
Facing things requires a strange mix of courage and cowardice but most of all it takes a realistic attitude. Yup, I've got MS. Now what?
I love the quote from "
Without Feathers" by "
Allen Stewart Königsberg," a.k.a. "
Woody Allen" [ http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Woody_Allen ] "
It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens."
That pretty well sums it up.
---- "Braveheart - Came Ye Oer Frae France" by: "
Caledonix" http://www.caledonix.de/
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