October 25, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I am waiting for Mr. Plastic Picker to finish a call. He’s staffing for his department this morning, and will be done in about 15 minutes. He said he’d go to the beach with me to talk while I pick up trash. The beach has been a healing place for me the last year, and I am always grateful when he agrees to go with me. I think he is healed next to the ocean as well.

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October 24, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I’m making beer bread right now. It’s amazing how simple it is. Mr. Plastic Picker is Korean-American. I took a Korean History class my Junior year of college at Crimson University because my then boyfriend (the same Mr. Plastic Picker) was Korean, and I had an elective that I took pass/fail. I think I got a B in the class but that was planned, as I put in the minimum effort and I passed the class. I remember calculating out that my GPA was in the mid 3.7ish range (which back then was good for Crimson University) and even if I got an A- in the class, it would actually hurt my GPA. So I decided to take this one class Pass/Fail strategically the spring of my Junior Year so I could study for my MCAT. The MCAT went fine, and I passed the Korean History class. I don’t actually remember much from the class, I think because I put so little effort into it. I do remember Professor Carter Eckert (I think that was his name?) said Koreans were thought of as the Irish of the East. That made everyone laugh at the analogy because of the stereotypes of the drinking culture in both cultures. It was more in reference to the Japanese colonial era of Korean history where the Empire of Japan exploited the Koreans as hard labourers. Much of how the Irish people have been exploited by the British. If you wonder why there is such a visceral reaction to all things Japanese in Korea, you must know the context of that colonial history.

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October 22, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Two unicorn-like things happened yesterday. I made Huckleberry/Blackberry Pie Bars from scratch, and I convinced fellow middle and upper managers to provide flu and HPV vaccines at our “flu tables.”

When I was in 8th grade in Junior High, we took US History and for some reason I was assigned the project of making a colonial-era dish with huckleberries. My partner for this project was also a fellow student from a immigrant-nonEuropean background. We had no idea what huckleberries were. This was well before the internet. We used blueberries. The dish did not turn out quite what we expected. I always had this nagging question, what were huckleberries? I stored it in the back of my subconscious for the next three decades. I honestly thought the recipe probably didn’t work out because huckleberries were likely more like a cranberries, or maybe they were more of “nutty” or a savory berry.

And then one of my close highschool friends now lives in Montana, and placed on facebook a picture of his huckleberry bush and I was amazed! There was the unicorn ingredient that I had always wondered about. There was the mythical food that separated me from being truly American, and understanding colonial history. My friend dropped off a tupperware with about 1 1/2 cups of huckleberries and sent a recipe via Facebook of a suggested recipe. His wife is a nutritionist, so I take his food recipe suggestions seriously.

A few days passed, and I kept on thinking about the huckleberries. Presentations. Work emails. COVID-19 Pandeimc. There are things that get in the way of the things we want to do it life. But yesterday morning I had a pressing presentation on HPV vaccination efforts in our HMO, and needed to convince power-brokers outside of pediatrics to lend me some resources. I had slept on the presentation a few nights and visualized all sorts of storylines for my presentation. Sleeping I thought about it. Plogging I thought about it. I talked about it with Mr. Plastic Picker a few times. RN Plastic Picker had already done her part of the presentation, and I had about 7 minutes to fill. I had the right audience that was virtually captive, and I needed to make it worth their while.

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October 21, 2020

by drplasticpicker

I was feeling pretty good last night as I was going to bed. I even started this Hopeful Wednesday post early. I wasn’t sure if I would need the Hope. But I got up this morning and checked CNN, and there are historic floods in the country of my ancestors. People have died. Crops have been submerged and ruined. There will be hunger. The village where my mother’s family has lived at least dating back to the 1400s if not longer, will be submerged with sea level rise. Our village is vulnerable to climate change. Further thousands of miles upstream, China threatens to damn a mighty river, and that will result in catastrophic environmental disaster as fish will die and the river will begin dying. This river is as mightly as the Mississippi. And multinational corporations are dredging already the river banks for the high quality sand that they use to make concrete.

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October 19, 2020

by drplasticpicker

Did I really get into a vaccine debate on Facebook with the COVID-19 Pediatric Group? Yes I did. I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut. I left my comments there because they are actually really important. Someone was complaining about pharmacies giving out flu shots to kids, and I disagreed. I think kids should get their flu shot wherever they are available, and I think they should get other vaccines as well. Sometimes when I shoot my mouth off, I’ll go back and delete comments. But I left these up despite the controversy. And those that feel the same way as I do and are looking at the “big picture” in terms of vaccine rates need to see the comment. But I MUTED a bunch of the repliers. Wow, gotta love Facebook that you can MUTE people. The crux of the issue is that some pediatricians want vaccines only given in their office. I get it. They are actually reimbursed quite a bit for vaccines and well child visits and vaccines are 60% of pediatric outpatient volume. I work in an integrated healthcare system and I don’t need to think about my reimbursements and patient volume. I’m always busy. I do procedures. If pharmacies and dental offices and others give out vaccines, what are pediatricians going to do? It threatens their livelihood and is an existential threat to some of their identity. They believe they are dispensing wonderful advice and care during well child visits. Kids should 100% come in for well child visits. But the truth is they are not coming in for vaccines right now, and they need their vaccines. My take on things is that it’s about the patient. We need to admit when we are supposedly painting things as “for the patient” when it’s really “for us.” I don’t believe it. Then see sick kids! You can start siphoning off work from the urgent cars and EDs. We can start seeing up to 21 years of age. Or stop referring to dermatology or all the specialist, and learn to work up patients more thoroughly for bread and butter stuff. Oh, open up a Headache Clinic! Start training to do bread and butter mental health issues, as we don’t have enough pediatric psychiatrist. Put in implantable birth control. Or go pick up some trash. Trust me, there is enough work for everyone. Their business and livelihood is not my problem. I’m looking at the big picture which is increasing plummeting vaccine rates in the country. It felt so good to MUTE the said person. Flu Vaccines absolutely should be given at pharmacies and I believe HPV should as well, and maybe even dental offices. Why not? If pediatrics can’t survive without vaccines, than what are we? I’m pretty sure we are smart enough and versatile enough to pivot.

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October 17, 2020

by drplasticpicker

An Original Poem

Large black plastic shards of a collision

Corner of Law and Mission Blvd, #1 intersection of violent crime

Cleaned and turned over, the plastic a dull grey

Scratches like the markings of a shark or wounds from an encounter

Green Hindfoot is the deep green of a large durable piece

The rat’s foot burned in the beach blaze, the sand welded into the plastic – forever

Red bottle cap eyes

Hello, Dr. Plastic Picker I am your #plastic-rat, plastic creature of your nightmares

I will follow you around the garden wall, under the leaves of your mother-in-laws squash

No one believes you Dr. Plastic Picker. No one follows you Dr. Plastic Picker. Who are you to save the earth?

You made me Dr. Plastic Picker. Plastic Rat of your Nightmares.

October 16, 2020

by drplasticpicker

It’s Friday and 550AM. It’s still pitch dark outside. My circadian rhythm is definitely in tune with the sun and moon, because I had noticed I had been up at 4am recently. I realized that the time change is coming, and the clocks will reset and it will be 5am again when I now wake up at “4am.” So I’ve really been getting up at the same “time.” Maybe the world should just set the clocks according to my sleep schedule? LOL. Whatever the real time is, it’s in the early morning and the best time of the day.

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