Drug words week 20

Mevacor
ME (v) A LOVES Mevacor. Mevacor=lovastatin (LOVE)

Lotensin
There is low tension (lotensin) when you're on benzos. Lotensin=benazepril (Benzos-benaze)

Tricor
The corporation (COR) tried to have no fees (FEE NO) Fenofibrate=Tricor

Lopid
You have to dig really low in the earth to find gems Lopid=gemfibrozil

Capoten=captopril

Pravachol=pravastatin

Zocor
The Z is like a backwards S -- simvastatin

Niaspan
Sounds just like Niacin

Zestril/Prinivil
Lisinipril, taking parts from each of the brand words

Lescol
You are LESS healthy when you have the flu. Lescol=fluvastatin

Vasotec
Your vascular system (VASO) goes through all of your body (ALL A your body). EN-ALL-A pril
enalapril=Vasotec

Accupril
ACCUte cases of malaria need QUINine. Accupril=quinapril

Week 19 Drug Word Tricks

Westcort
Cort for hydrocortisone.
West (leads to) West Valley (leads to) valerate
Hydrocortisone valerate

Diflucan
FLUconazole

Xylocaine
Lidocaine (no trick)

MYcostatin
NYstatin

Monistat
M…I conazole

Sporanox
To knock out the spores, It (takes) raconazole
Itraconazole

Spectrazole
The spectrum is EEEenormous.
Econazole

Nizoral
It’s nice to have the key to the house
KE-TO conazole

Mycolog II
My same as Mystatin above which is nystatin. The II part refers to the idea that there are two drugs that make up mycolog II. The second drug is trin’ to leave sin alone. Triamcinalone
Mycolog II = nystatin/triamcinolone

Lotrimin/Mycelex
Clot together the two different brand names and you get clotrimazole.

Lotrisone
Long one, no trick yet.
Lotrisone = clotrimazole and betamethasone

Lamisil
Terbinafine
If you put lamisil in the turbine, it’s fine.
Lamisil=turbinafine

Drug Word ideas part 1

Okay, so this is what I have so far this week....

Flumadine

When you have the flu, you wish you could just stand at the rim of a volcano and jump in. Hence Flumadine=rimantadine

Famvir

It's the family cycle of things. Hence Famvir=famcyclovir

Symmetrel

Amanta (like Amanda...) is beautiful because she's symmetrical. Hence Symmetrel = amantadine

Retrovir

Retroactive means something starts from before. Apply this concept loosely to the alphabet and think of saying the alphabet backwards, starting with Z. This leads me to zidovudine. I remember the "vu" in the middle because I'm saying the alphabet backwards. Hence Retrovir = zidovudine.

Valtrex

Honestly, I just know this from the commercials... Valtrex = valacyclovir. I suppose they both start with "v" and it helps with the herpes cycle....

Tamiflu

When the flu hits, the pharmacies sell a lot of stuff. "Oh, it's selling time!" O - sel - tam- i vir. Hence Tamiflu = oseltamivir.

Qualaquin

This is quinine. They're very similar so I don't have a trick.

YF - Vax is simple, YF stands for Yellow Fever, VAX is vaccine

Zovirax

For this I think of something being from A-Z to give me the tip that it starts with an "A". Then I recall it's similar to another word, valacyclovir. Hence Zovirax = acyclovir.

I'm still working on Combivir, Lariam and Plaquenil. I'll let you know if I come up with anything for them....

Most Influencial Item on Children Today

I would have to say the family environment would be the most influencial item for children today. I know this is a bit of a cop-out, but I feel this way because an effective family environment can filter out most other environmental influences. I also think this is the case because as a parent I know I can only control the things within my home and my family, I can't control so many other things, and can only filter them for my children.

I would almost say that the mass media would be the most influencial item just due to it's amazing prevalence in the world today, but it came a close second.

So many of our exercises and explorations come back to the family and the basis we all received there, so I think that would make it the most important thing for children today.

Mass(ive) Media

What are your views on children and media: specifically television, Internet and video games? When should it be allowed? How much should be allowed? How can it be monitored?

I'm having a difficult time with this one personally. My oldest is 7, and will zone into the television or video games for hours upon hours if we let him. He will choose to stay home from the store, or the activity we're doing that day because he's so invested in the television. The days I'm home with him, I've started by giving him a limit: 30 mins, then he has to go do something else for at least an hour. This has helped because he and his little sister have gotten to the point where they love going out into the yard and playing ball, or chasing the puppy, or whatever. I'm hoping this is a turning point, but am not sure. We don't allow television or video games before homework is done -- for my son or his little sister (got to be fair at this age!)

I do, however, really like the educational links provided on my son's school website. The games are nice there because they have an educational focus, and they get my kids more practice with the mouse and/or keyboard, which they don't have a lot of already. If my kids ask for computer time, I try to give it to them while I'm near by, mainly because they still need help with certain parts of the manipulation.

My daughter is the opposite -- television and video games don't hold her attention, she's always interested in EVERYTHING and has a very positive attitude. I'm thankful that I don't see the trends in her that I saw in my son at this age. I want to reverse the trends now, before it gets even harder when they're older.

The other thing we do utilize are the ratings on the cartoons. These have proven pretty important, especially with the four year old watching some of her older brother's cartoons at times. I have to stress with my son that the rating has to be appropriate. Once we caught him watching a show rated for 7 and above with his sister -- the television was turned off for the rest of the night.

Recently I've also made a concerted effort to do more activities as a family. We instituted a "game night" every Saturday and have marathon session of Uno Spin. We all laugh and have a great time. It's one of the best decisions I've made as a mom!

The Best and the Worse: Teachers Edition

The worst teacher (and ooooh am I tempted to give a name...) was a doozie. He threw chalk at students, pencils, blackboard erasers, and finally a clipboard. The day he threw the clipboard at a classmate I was actually out of class. See, my parents decided to fight the system and try and get this teacher ousted. We had meetings of all the classes' parents at my house, and then the day before I got pulled out, I was pulled into the principals office. I was so scared and had never been in the principals office! The principal told me she was very sorry to see me go, but my parents were demanding that I be moved, and the other fifth grade teachers all had full classes. I moved to a different school, and on my first and only day there we had a field trip to a science museum! I came home to a message from the school that the teacher I had left had hit another child with the clipboard he was throwing this time. Apparantly his aim was getting better....

I'm really amazingly lucky to be able to say that I've had many good teachers. They are distinguished in my memories with the following characteristics: kindness, openness, selflessness, more challenging environments, more consistent educational feedback and other positive things. I have found that some of the best were teachers who tried to teach things in a way that was unconventional, and things that were possibly beyond the "scripted" way suggested.

Pre-School Experiences

I like to think I've been lucky with my pre-school experiences I've had with my children.

First, was my son. He's now in second grade and attended a preschool in the older section of Roseville called "Joyland" for about two years. The school facility was old, and not "pretty" but the care provided was stellar, and the curriculum was perfectly appropriate for his age level and cognitive level. I would have easily taken my daughter back to that location for preschool, however I ended up choosing a school closer to our new home in Lincoln.

Now, my daughter who is 4, attends a preschool here in Lincoln. It is also in the older end of town, and also has great care providers and teachers. My daughter will come home and tell me all about how her day went, and how Miss Mindy is on vacation, and Miss Mindy's mom and dad live far away where it's night time when it's day time here. She loves it there, and truly gets MUCH out of her time there. She attended "full day" when I was employed, and now that I'm unemployed I have her attending the "minimum" level of that school which is three days per week for "pre-school" hours only (9-noon). I find the socialization is hugely helpful for her, and it's helping her to understand that we all have our roles to play, whether it be at home or at school. She's learning tons, and developing a healthy appreciation for art, music, sharing, and even more of an appreciation for her role within our own family.

I feel lucky to have had these positive experiences locally, because I know how hard it can be to find the right mix between instruction, teachers, care levels, etc.

Stress, stress and more stress

Gosh, listing the top ten stressors is interesting. Let me see how I can tackle this...
1. Economics
2. Children's behavior
3. Insufficient Couple time
4. Lack of shared responsibility in the family
5. Communicating with children
6. Insufficient "me" time
7. Guilt for not accomplishing more
8. Spousal relationship
9. Insufficient family play time
10. Overscheduled family calendar

As for their effect on children, they can be so deep and layered that it's difficult to comprehend and describe, but I can give it a shot.



Economic Issues - These are many layered. There are the more surface issues having to do with what the children have and don't have to use/learn from/eat/play with, then there are the more subtle issues like nutritional levels for children of lower economic status.

Children's behavior - It's pertinent that behavior is addressed in a consistent way. If it isn't then the children receive different reactions to different behaviors and cannot be taught the right way to work within their world, be it the microsystem, the macrosystem, or even the chronosystem.

Insufficient couple time - This leads to instability within the family and can be a precursor to so many other issues and ultimately divorce. The child could also begin to think that it isn't important to spend time with those you are closest to, and feel as though withdrawl is an appropriate reaction.

Lack of shared responsibility in the family - This can be having a stay at home mom versus a home child care, or a child care center caring for your child. This can affect their relationships with their parents, and their socilization with their peers. If mom is always cooking and cleaning, a little girl may think it's one of her jobs to handle these domestic duties. If a dad is always working in the garage on cars, etc., boys may think it is part of their gender role to do so.

Communicating with children - The messages relayed to children within a household must be the same from all angles. If they aren't, then the children experience less of sense of stability and and begin to manipulate the situation themselves.

Insufficient 'me' time - I know personally that when I don't have time to take care of myself (I go to the gym for that - a good 5-7 days per week) I get more stressed, and feel as though the world is caving in. This effects my children because they are experiencing the way I'm behaving and having to deal with a more difficult mother.

Guilt for not accomplishing more - This can be an issue both for divorced parents and married ones, but I would assume it might be worse for single parents. If the parents display that they feel guilty, the children will pick up on that, and internalize it. They may then feel the guilt themselves, and feel things that aren't actually their problem are.

Spousal Relationship - This effects children on many levels, and depends on many things. Our exchange student is a child of what is essentially a divorce (her parents never officially married, but were together nearly 15 years) her age at the time (12) made it a much different experience for her than when my parents divorced when I was only 18 months old. It can effect their relationships with parents, siblings, and other authority figures, and lots of other things. Married or divorced, the relationship between a child's parents can affect them in many ways. They see marriage difficulties, and they can reflect into children's later lives and adult relationships.

Insufficient family play time - This can effect children in terms of having a skewed sense of what is most important in life. I try to emphasize game nights, etc. with my family so they understand the most important things aren't necessarily the ones that are on the calendar and timed, etc.

Overscheduled family calendar - If events and duties are considered more important than relationships we are creating a society where people are less important. Relationships need to have a central focus, and if they don't, children can again be desensitized to the level of depth that is or isn't appropriate within these relationships.

Overscheduled family calendar - As a parent I feel that society requires that I play an active role in my children's education and this means I'm a volunteer in my son's second grade classroom once a week. It also means I'm hands on when it comes to his homework, and have my daughter do work from a preschool workbook on the days she doesn't actually attend preschool. I think this affects them in terms of having a connection with me, but also with seeing how important an aspect of their lives this is because I'm placing a significant emphasis on it myself. This is just one more added stressor, but one I assume willingly.

Oh, the 80's

Having been born in 1977 I guess you could say I'm technically a child of the 70's but I don't remember much of it. According to my parents I taught myself to read before the 80's rolled around, but I don't remember that so I just call myself a child of the 80's.

The 80's and the early 2000's are different in more ways than they are similar, but I suppose that could just be my modified perspective. There seems to have been some financial issues in both decades, and there were still some social tensions with other far-flung countries, but otherwise it seemed a more contented time. Again, possibly just my ever-changing perspective.
Really, I think it's easier to see the ways it's different now: really it all boils down to how technology has reshaped our lives and how we live them. This is a good thing and a bad thing, I know ;)

One particular derivation of this new technology that bothers me is the tendency of children to not play outside, to sit inside and play video games and do homework, and them play more video games, and watch one of 14 different cartoon channels that the satellite TV offers at any given time. I have a child who prefers to stay indoors, and one who prefers to go outside. The one who prefers to stay indoors has to be conned into getting his Vitamin D the natural way, and that bothers me. I wonder what the "ripple effect" of this will be down the line and am trying every day it seems to find new and different ways to make OUTSIDE more appealing for him. One step that seems to have helped is getting a puppy, but still he'd rather stay inside, and eagerly awaits his younger sibling's nap time so he can play on the Wii.

Something tells me he won't be following in my footsteps and ruling the tetherball courts for years to come.... the negative impacts from this could be so far reaching none of us really could fathom it accurately.