Pat Sullivan Blog

Invisible Illness

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

DID YOU KNOW…
+ Nearly 1 in 2 Americans live with a chronic condition?
+ 96% of illness is invisible?
+ 75% of marriages end in divorce when illness is present?
+ 79% of suicides have uncontrollable physical pain as a factor?
Join me in supporting National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, Sept 10-16. 2007. Care enough to be informed. Little things DO make a difference.

The Spoon Theory

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Did you ever wonder what it's like to really feel chronically ill?  I have.

I am very lucky with my health.  I haven't taken a sick day from work in the last 3 years!  (Save for a few hangovers and an Exorcist-like case of food poisoning.)  My Mom would probably tell you that I've always been a helpful, sympathetic and caring person.  But frankly, I'm a wuss when it comes to being sick.  (Ask my wife.)  The fact is, I've never had to go day after day after day after day after day after day after day feeling crappy like my dad and so many millions like him.

I helped my dad start Jigsaw Health for a couple of reasons.  1) I knew I'd learn a lot from him (selfish reason).  2) I remember watching him go through the sick-well cycles my whole life, and if he found pieces to his chronic health puzzle, I wanted to help him share that 20-year shortcut with others (unselfish reason). 

Christine Miserandino of ButYouDontLookSick.com explains how Lupus affects her own life with a simple  concrete metaphor she calls The Spoon Theory.  It's very touching 2-page essay/story that succinctly helped me see my dad's (and our customers') struggles in a whole new light.  It's a metaphor I hope to carry with me for a long time.  Thanks Christine!

PS - Christine and I are both hosting online chat session during Invisible Illness Week (Sept 10 - 16), hosted by Lisa Copen of Rest Ministries.

The (Magnesium) Toilet Paper Guys

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

Last week myself and two other Jigsaw Health employees attended the American Association of Naturopathic Practioners (AANP) annual convention as trade show exhibitors.  We quickly became known as "The Toilet Paper Guys."  Why?  We printed up 800 rolls of custom toilet paper with this message:

ADA shows signs they know a ban on mercury amalgams is imminent

(Posted by Patrick Sullivan Jr.)

In my inbox from Charlie Brown of Consumers for Dental Choice:

Dr. Randall Lutter, Deputy Commissioner
Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, Maryland 20847 (via e-mail and regular mail)

Re:  ADA conceding limits or ban coming … please issue ANPR expeditiously.

Dear Deputy Commissioner Lutter,

A consensus is growing among the former heavyweight advocate for mercury fillings, the American Dental Association, that FDA will put limits on amalgam use for pregnant women, children, and hypersensitive adults – or perhaps even ban them entirely.  Earlier, I wrote you that the A.D.A. so warned its members on July 1.  Since then, two more signs have emerged. 

1) In the July edition of Dental Practice Report, the long-time general counsel of the A.D.A., Peter Sfikas (who stepped down eight months ago) advised dentists that FDA would likely contraindicate amalgam to classes of patients, and dentists must begin immediately protect their legal position by (1) asking patients if have mercury hypersensitivity, and (2) giving precise warnings about mercury exposure to pregnant women and parents of young children.   

2) Last week, the A.D.A. released a report by its handpicked consultant regarding the economic impact of a ban – the step virtually any industry takes when faced with a ban on a favored product or product component.  When an industry pays for a study saying a product ban will hurt the public, we all know what they really mean: it will adversely affect the pocketbook of the industry.  Mercury fillings are still in vogue because they are so quick and easy to place by assembly-line and old-fashioned dentists, not because of any patient demand.

Golf Made Easy

I was watching Tiger this weekend and picked up these tips:

Antioxidants only good if you take them

You likely read or heard stories in the past week on a study that showed antioxidants did nothing.  My friend (who I don't always agree with btw) Mike Adams debunks the study.

He reports:

The distortion in question concerns the assessment of women who participated in a nine year trial measuring the effects of vitamins E and C. According to the results published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, women who took these vitamins on a regular basis experienced a remarkable and statistically significant reduction in stroke risk (31 percent) and heart attack risk (22 percent). Not all the women in the study, of course, actually took the vitamins on a regular basis, and when you count the results of those women who never took the vitamins, the study shows no statistically significant benefits for vitamins E and C. In other words, the vitamins didn't work on those who didn't take them. (Is this surprising to anyone?)

I am not really sure why this happens?  Are they really trying to deceive people?  Seems odd if so.

Starting a Business is Hard

Recently I have been thinking about a few web businesses that exploded to success almost the first month they started.  Guy Kawasaki talks about a few of them here.  These stories make starting a business sound pretty easy.  All you need is a cool idea, build a simple website, get the viral marketing going and PRESTO, you are worth a $Billion.

I started, built and sold two businesses.  It was hard as hell.  Reading these stories makes me feel I must have done something wrong.

Here is the "flip side" of Guy's easy startup success.  Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin, a company that enables people to buy homes on-line, nails what starting a business is really like.  For every easy success, there are 10,000 hard work successes or failures out there.

I thought Jigsaw Health would be pretty easy but it is just as hard as the first two I have done.  The only good news is that my son is doing most of the hard labor.  I am happy to report Jigsaw is doing really well but man, has it been hard.  That is normal!!

Bush Breaks Campaign Promise

I have said here a few times that I have been disappointed in Bush. He has managed to pretty well piss everyone off at some point.   In my opinion, this one is a big screw up.

He said when running for his 2nd term that he was against using mercury in vaccines. 

"I support the removal of Thimerosal from vaccines on the childhood national vaccine schedule. During a second term as President, I will continue to support increased funding to support a wide variety of research initiatives aimed at seeking definitive causes and/or triggers of autism. It is important to note that while there are many possible theories about causes or triggers of autism, no one material has been definitely included or excluded."

Now he plans to veto a bill specifically because it would have eliminated the use of mercury in flu vaccines. I have written often that we should eliminate the use of mercury in any medical or dental procedure.  It just makes no sense to use such an incredibly toxic heavy metal, especially when we inject it into babies whose brains are still developing.  I imagine it would be a "hardship" on big pharma.  I am sure they have millions of vaccines on the shelf that contain this neurotoxin.  They have no qualms about using it on babies etc.

I hate it when politicians don't do what they say they will do.  This is shameful!

I Want an Apple Mac

An update from my brother:

Pat,

I hope all is well with you.

I haven't checked your website for quite a while and just saw the discussion about changing over to the Mac.  I did this a few years ago and love it. It is the easiest PC I have ever owned.

It is the family computer and seems to meet all of our needs.
We have the Microsoft Office package so we can use excel, word and powerpoint.
The new Macs, let you toggle back and forth between Windows or OSX.

I use it mostly for managing music and photos and for creating DVDs for all the sports teams.
They turn out awesome.

They are more expensive, but you'll soon forget about the price when the dang thing works
almost flawlessly all the time.

Timothy D. Sullivan
 

I am really frustrated with computing and software.  Especially Microsoft's Operating System and Internet Explorer.  I have talked with 3 people who recently dumped their Windows Computers in favor of a Macintosh.  All three had a 1 to 2 week frustrating transition but now absolutely love their Mac.

I have been using Windows since the 3.0 version back in about '91 as I recall.  It never has been very stable but it used to be adequate.  Since ACT! and SalesLogix ran on Windows, I never had the luxury of considering changing to a Mac.  But now, I don't use ACT! anymore, I can consider switching to a Mac and likely I will.

Marijuana and Brain Damage

Here is a US News article about the possible dangers to the brain from smoking pot.  I say possible because the article is not definitive.

However, according to Brain Scans done by the Amen Clinic, damage to the brain is readily apparent from the thousands of scans they have done.  Worth thinking about if you are a regular pot smoker.