Today’s Globe has this moving story about Canadian scientist Jeffrey Carroll. Carroll, who is only 30 years old, has Huntington’s Disease and is working on cure for it. You can learn more about HD from this site. Here are a few excerpts from the story:

No one knows this better than Mr. Carroll, a slender, fit man who looks like the poster child for good health. He knows what awaits him: Huntington’s disease killed his grandmother and, more recently, his mother, Cindy Carroll, who died in December at the age of 54. Near the end, she had to be placed on floor mats in the nursing home in a Washington state town, so severe was her violent, involuntary thrashing.

This is the inherent viciousness of the disease: A child who watches it slowly kill a parent has a 50-per-cent chance of developing it, creating this perpetual cycle of grief and suffering.

….Jeffrey Carroll decided to undergo the test in 2003, wanting the certainty of knowing what the future held. He had already been through the physical – he had no neurological symptoms of the disease – and he had undergone psychological counselling. He was 25, married and an undergraduate biology student working in a laboratory. He was as ready as he ever would be.

On July 21, 2003, on a clear Vancouver day, Mr. Carroll showed up for his appointment with his wife, Megan Carroll, then 28.

The physician unfolded the piece of paper and read the test result out loud. In one brief moment, he learned he tested positive for the gene. Megan let out a noise she described as something between a gasp and a sob.

“And Jeff,” she recalls, “asked for a job.”

Mr. Carroll told the doctor that he was keen to be involved in finding a treatment. He wanted to help.

…….Life has been particularly sweet for Mr. Carroll over the past 15 months. When he learned he carried the Huntington’s gene, he thought that fatherhood was out of the question. But when he heard about pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, which combines genetic screening with in-vitro fertilization, that all changed.

He and his wife decided to tackle this high-tech fertility treatment as a way to ensure they do not have a child who would ultimately carry the disease. It all worked – two unaffected embryos that did not carry the genetic mutation were implanted and twins, a boy and a girl, were born on June 27, 2006.

Cheers,
Colin

Sometimes the difficulty of blogging is that what seems blog-worthy is so subtle, it’s very difficult to express. That’s what’s been going on with me, recently. Nothing big, dramatic, or exciting. Subtle things.
For instance, I had an experience recently with getting off on a bad start one morning having to listen to a political discussion […]

copyright © 2007 Maryscott O’Connor

Ready or not, here it comes: (And a pre-emptive apology: Forgive me, please… For purposes of this being an Announcement and all, I may slip into referring to myself in third person… at least it ain’t the Royal We, ‘kay?)

Next Monday, October 22, at 1pm Pacific, 4pm Eastern, Maryscott O’Connor / MSOC (EmSock to friends and enemies alike) intends to make her maiden foray into that area between “alternative media” and “traditional media” — that being the Internet-based “Blog Talk Radio.”

The designated sobriquet for said radio talk show is, of course, the only possible identification one could choose: My Left Wing Talk Radio.

Colleen - The Happy Sea

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert

Please sit; settle in.  Ponder the configuration.  Contemplate, and come to a world more serene than the one you imagine you live in.  Center your self and trust the woes within need not be.  Often as we dash about, dilemmas abound.  Few of us take the time to understand what we create.  Chaos is contrived.  We hide hurts, and hinder any healing.  We “communicate,” chatter, speak, shriek, and rarely listen.  We do not inquire, “How do you feel?”  Well, we do; however, our query is as insincere, hasty, or as inhibited as the average answer.

Perhaps on this tranquil day of rest you, he, she, or I might pose the question “How are you?” to our selves.  Breathe deeply and reflect.  Then, after ample thought tell your self what you have not dared utter.  Speak of the fear that kept you quiet.  Share the story with those you are close to emotionally.  Perhaps, you will discover as I have on many occasions; I never needed to veil the horrors that harmed me.

What I did that was ghastly was more so to me than it was to those that love me.  I learned long ago, in truth, I, we are less fond of me than others might be.  Those close to my heart are far more knowledgeable than I when the subject is me, myself, and I.

Take some time on this quiet day of rest and let yourself be.  Touch your heart, mind, and soul tenderly.  Cogitate calmly.  Deliberate deeply.  Ruminate restfully.  Meditate and say, “Me, meet me.” 

Please share what you sense, your story, your spirit, or as you choose.

We carry a lot inside us as we make it through the world; perhaps so much more than we ever realize. We never really know what is going on in the heart and soul of a person when we look him/her in the eyes; we may think we know; we may have suspicions, but the reality is we don’t know for certain what another person is dealing with in his/her life.

We don’t know their history; we don’t know what has shaped and formed another’s way of seeing their reality.

It’s easy to judge; give advice; and to tell people what they need, but much more difficult to be present to another; to listen without prejudice; to meet them where they are in their journey.

We do the same with ourselves. Sometimes we don’t know what is really going on inside us for we haven’t listened to our soul. We think we know; we have suspicions, but often times we don’t really know for we haven’t listened.

Ever had someone tell you what you “think”? Have you ever had someone tell you what you “feel”? Doesn’t feel all that good does it? I’ve done it; I do it; I’ve had “it done” to me. Granted, I am more conscious and aware when I feel the tendency to do it, but I know more often than not that when I am telling someone what they need, it’s more about me than it is them. And what I do, is simply create a space where a person shuts down and no longer feels safe to share.

It seems that for many, we’re just uncomfortable with the messiness and ugliness of life or if another shares something that doesn’t quite match-up with our experience, beliefs, or understanding we want to control, withdrawl, fix, judge, gossip, but rarely are we simply present and listen.

For me, when I pour out my heart, soul, life, and pain to another and he/she is simply present and listens, I heal. I thank God for the people who have been vulnerable before me; it draws me closer to them, God, and myself. When I get unsolicited advice or am “told” what I need, I usually shut down. I suspect when I give unsolicited advice or “tell” people what they need, I play God, and they shut down.

We need one another other, and when we are simply present to one another, without all the advice, should, oughts, and “you need to”) the ground is level for us to come face to face with each other and see one another for who we are.

I saw a man at church. My eyes were drawn to him during the sermon. There was something going on inside him, and I wasn’t sure what it was? It was “obvious” he was bored and not paying attention; it was “obvious” that he had no interest in the sermon; I wonder why he showed-up? Did he think he was supposed to? Why was he there? It wasn’t until after the service that I learned that he had just lost his son. There I was, thinking I knew, without having a clue. I wasn’t harsh or judging, I just imagined that the man was bored as the sermon was delivered; little did I know; little do I know.

I can’t imagine the pain; the loss; and the utter disillusionment this man must be experiencing.
I know my personal experience of loss, and I know each of us grieves differently, and I suspect the best I can offer him is to be a loving incanational presence. To assume I know would be playing God.

For me, I need a safe place to tell my story and hear the stories of others. I don’t have it all figured out; all I truly have is my experience, strength, and hope. I can tell you my theology, but I am not so sure what that really means in the whole scheme of things. I don’t know, maybe deep down my experience, strength and hope is my theology. I can tell you what I believe, but I am not so sure how that will impact your reality, especially if you are convinced what I should believe or am supposed to believe and vice versa.

Nick Tarleton commented on my last post, saying:

Conjecture: some people, through some psychological quirk, interpret “opposition to X” as “not wanting any instance of X to exist” - so if you’re opposed to aging, you must want to eliminate all instances of aging in the world, i.e. kill old people.

Conjecture 2: some people conflate judgments about the desirability of traits or states with judgments about the inherent worth of people with those traits/in those states. Evaluating aging as bad is tantamount to evaluating aged people as worth less than the young.

I’ve been thinking about these conjectures since yesterday, and I really do think Nick has hit the proverbial nail on the head here. While the people who oppose longevity medicine obviously vary in terms of their reasons for doing so, I am wondering now if perhaps some of that opposition is rooted in a sense that it is wrong to “medicalize” aging. And as someone who generally prefers the social model of disability to the medical model, I can understand, if not sympathize completely, with this viewpoint. Continue reading

Whenever I write articles on the state of the economy, I receive a slew of emails asking the same question: “Should I sell my house?” Most people who write asking whether the time is right to sell their property, haven’t really thought all the issues through. Most are merely considering selling their house because money has become tight. Here’s a typical example:

My wife and I bought a £246,000 house on interest only mortgage with a high street lender for 3years. This period ended last month.

Over the last 4 months I have been unemployed and we have been struggling to pay this mortgage.We now have one and half month payment arrears.

We have also have debt about £46,000 on credit cards and loans to pay. This has also put a dent on our credit rating as we struggle to pay as well.

Our house is now valued at £350,000. Should we sell it to sort ourselves out of these debt or is there any way out of this hell? I don’t want the house repossessed but it is a matter of time. At the moment our monthly income is around £2,400 after tax.

The issue is not whether to sell the house, but how to manage their finances. Sadly, I receive way too many of these types of inquiry. However, I received the first sensibly written query yesterday:

My wife and I are concerned that this may be the top of the residential real estate market in our area. We have talked this over, and we think the equity in our home may be at a peak. We are both willing to rent. In fact, we have talked about moving to a region that has a much lower cost of housing. What do you think?

Such a note reflects a joint decision – which buying and selling a house ought to be. It reflects an awareness of economic options. It reflects an understanding that things are not as they seem. Here are a few reasons to consider selling your house now. Continue reading