25/2/2016
Each cancer diagnosis sets a family off on a new joourny. We become something akin to homesteaders in the United States' wild west. We know
there are neighboring families out here with us but it's hard to travel the distance to
visit. If you can reach out, it helps.
Here's what happened the first time I did:
When
your kid has no immune system to speak of, germs and such are a huge reality.
In the hospital, that's managed for you, but at home.... Hands up in honesty, I
am not the best housekeeper. There are a lot of other things I'd rather be
doing, like spending time with the kids as we binge on YouTube. When I tell
you that having a neutropenic kid--or a child lacking a significant number of
neutrophil white blood cells--in the house terrifies me, I'm not exaggerating.
While I was still staying in the hospital with my son a socal worker introduced me to another parent and I started tell her about this terror. Ten years ago her child survived
leukemia. I asked her what was her top-tip for home-health management, and she
had two words for me: Paper Towels. She told me to put away all of the
wonderful dish towels, hand towels, and so on, and to invest in paper. There
are fewer chances to pass along germs with paper. I personally have given up on
my carbon footprint until after my son is free and clear of cancer. I think
I'll need to plant about a forest-and-a-half to make up for it.
If you
have other ideas like this I'd love to hear about them and will be glad to pass
them along.
- PG
Somerset
PS - I
personally have given up on my carbon footprint until after my son is free and
clear of cancer. I think I'll need to plant about a forest and a half to make
up for it.
The Tale of Two Paper Towels: Part I
ReplyDeleteBefore throwing in the paper towel on environmental concerns let's take a brief look at two competing brands and the respective roles of their two manufacturers. Procter and Gamble, manufacturer Bounty brand has a 68-page pdf document on their website outlining their commitment, as a manufacturer, to sustainability and environmental responsibility. I would give them an A on my corporate "good guys" scale. Georgia Pacific, an independently operated and managed part of Koch Industries, successfully lobbied the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve an amendment that gutted the EPA efforts to investigate them and two other major paper manufacturing companies, arguing that the EPA was being "unfair" by applying new standards. My grade for G-P? F. Paper making is inherently an environmentally unfriendly industry; but one may maintain at least a tissue of environmentalism by choosing their paper towels from a company that is trying to be a good corporate citizen. Disclaimer: I do not own any stock in either P&G or G-P or recommend doing so.