Hot Dog or Hamburger

Everyday this last week at school was rainy and wet. On days like these my PE department has to be clever as to what we will have our students do for the day. My school does have a gymnasium but it is not big enough for 5 classes (during 5th period that is 250 students) in there at a time. This week we decided to show Field of Dreams and have the students do a Character Counts assignment with the movie. We asked them to fold a sheet of binder paper vertically, the long way. Not quite understanding which way to fold the paper, one of my "bright" 8th grade boys said, "Hot dog or hamburger?" I said, "Hot dog". He then knew how to fold his paper.

Body Worlds Exhibition

Yesterday I went to the Body Worlds Exhibition in San Jose and was amazed. Since my anatomy and physiology days in college I have been fascinated with the human body. This exhibit was a millon times better than my discecting anatomy days. Body Worlds is the first anatomical exhibition of perserved human bodies. Focus is the education of the human body, it's functions, diseases and physical changes. The preservation of the deceased body donations uses a process called plastination. Here it is explained by the Body Worlds web site:

The Method of Plastination
Plastination is a relatively simple process
designed to preserve the body for educational and instructional purposes.
Plastination, like many revolutionary inventions, is simple in
concept:

1. Embalming and Anatomical Dissection
The first step of the process involves halting decay by pumping formalin into
the body through the arteries. Formalin kills all bacteria and chemically stops the
decay of tissue. Using dissection tools, the skin, fatty and connective tissues are removed in order to prepare the individual anatomical structures.

2.
Removal of Body Fat and Water
In the first step, the body water and soluble fats are dissolved from the body by placing it into a solvent bath (e.g., an acetone bath).

3. Forced Impregnation
This second exchange process is the central step in Plastination. During forced impregnation a reactive polymer, e.g., silicone rubber, replaces the acetone. To achieve this, the specimen is immersed in a polymer solution and placed in vacuum
chamber. The vacuum removes the acetone from the specimen and helps the
polymer to penetrate every last cell.

4. Positioning
After vacuum impregnation, the body is positioned as desired. Every single anatomical structure is properly aligned and fixed with the help of wires, needles,
clamps, and foam blocks.

5. Curing (Hardening)
In the final step, the specimen is hardened. Depending on the polymer used, this is done with gas, light, or heat. Dissection and Plastination of an entire body requires
about 1,500 working hours and normally takes about one year to complete.


Some of my favorite parts of the exhibit were of the Skate Boarder, the
artificial joints and implants, the arm with only the blood vessels to the
smallest of the capillaries, the exhibit called the Ponderer, the display of
smoker's and non-smokers lungs, the fetal exhibit, the brain that had been
affected by Alzheimer's Disease and the letter from President Reagan to the
American people, and the display of the human body into layers. The more I
study the human body and am exposed to incredible things like Body Worlds,
my heart and mind is pointed to God and His awesome incredible creative
ability. Everything is so precise and purposeful.

I greatly would recommend this exhibition for you to go and see. The exhibition in San Jose closes this weekend, but I do know that there is one opening in Los Angeles in March running through September. I might even go and see the one in LA. Here are a few pictures of some of the things I saw.

A Little Funny at Work

For years I have been saying that I should be writing a book about some of the things my students say and do. There is endless laughter with middle school aged students (and endless other emotions too).

Today, before school, some girls were putting their PE clothes back into their lockers after getting them laundered over the weekend. A little background information, we allow the girls to come in the locker room before school to put anything away only on the first day of the week. This policy is in place because we end up having to supervise them instead of getting ourselves prepared for our teaching day. So today two girls came into our office for something (not sure what) and another girl was right outside our office door waiting for her friends. Mrs. D said, "What do you need girls?" The girl standing outside our office door said without waiting for the response of her friends, "Jesus". The way the girl said "Jesus" made me think that she has heard thousand of times, "all you need is Jesus". This gave me a big belly laugh. As I think about it, what the girl said was true, these girls do need Jesus.

Hip Replacement Surgery

Today at lunch while eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I performed a hip replacement surgery. If I would have had more time I would have replaced a knee too. The surgery went well, especially since it was my first orthopedic surgery. A full recovery and return of range of motion is expected for the patient. Live the orthopedic surgeon dream in you, check out this site for performing a virtual hip replacement.

Running in the Fog

The best term for it when we were growing up was "pea soup", winter valley fog. This morning we were right smack in the middle of the pot. Those that are not familiar with the type of fog I am talking about, this is not the fog that billows and rolls over the Golden Gate Bridge on a summer evening, this is a dense, can't see the house across the street type of fog. This is the type of fog that causes 90 car pile ups on the major freeway linking Northern to Southern California. Today the fog got thicker as the morning progressed. With this fog, you are chilled to the core of your body because it is a damp, soggy cold. I would rather be out teaching in temperatures that are freezing with the sun shining than a winter foggy day.

The plan for the PE department today was to run the mile and we stuck to the plan despite the fog and the whining from the students. My co-workers and I laughed at the scene. The fog was so think, you could not see the other side of the track, little alone any of the grass area beyond the track (the students run a cross country type of mile, some on the track and some on the grass). For the first class I was at the finish line and I could not see the students at the starting line, just across the track. We were worried about students cheating and cutting part of the course and not being able to catch them because we could not see them. I think the students thought about cheating but I think they were too scared to run to an area that they could not see. They would not know if a teacher would be there waiting for them. It did cross my mind that if a student got injured on the course we may not be able to find him. 3rd period I was the timer and I could not see anything past 30 yards from my nose. I knew there were students running out on the course so I took the megaphone and said the time so they would know how much time they had left. During 4th period I was stationed at one of the cones far out on the grass field where the students needed to run around before going to the next cone. I heard a group of students yell to each other when they were running towards me, "I know where we are to run to, but I can't see where we are running too. Does anyone see the cone?" I picked up the cone and used it as a bull horn and yelled, "keep running, the cone is this way". After about 10 seconds the lead group of boys came into view and ran around the cone I was at. I pointed them exactly in the direction they needed to go next.

By the time 4th period was finished, the laughter of seeing the students run in the fog escaped us because we were all cold to the core of our being. Thankfully it was lunch, we all warmed up. Somehow during lunch, the sun had the victory over the fog and we went out to our next class and it was crystal clear and not a trace of fog.

The Sun Shines

Oh what a glorious sight, the sun is shining. It seems like days since the sun has been bright and warm in the morning. The past week, it has either been raining or "tulley foggy". I do remember going back to work on Monday and photographing the beautiful sunrise. Several days before the beautiful sunrise was only rain, rain, rain. It's funny, I love the rain but on days like today, I love the sunshine. My whole being is uplifted, stimulated, and energized. I put on one of my favorite short sleeve t-shirts to celebrate the return of the rays. The weather report shows beautiful weather for this whole week, most likely I will be longing for the rain clouds again.

What a Find! Prince Caspian

On Christmas eve some friends and I went and saw National Treasure (great movie, but this post is not on this movie) and the previews included the newest of the Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian, by C.S. Lewis. Excitement filled my mind as I thoroughly enjoyed the first movie, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.

When I first became a Christian at the tail end of my college days, I read The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe (and also read Pilgrim's Progress and Hind's Feet on High Places). Never had I heard of any of these books before that time. Growing up I never really enjoyed reading for pleasure and I think the lack of interest prevented me from reading some of the fictional classics of the Christian faith. My faith in God was encouraged by these books and the imaginary clearly displayed what Christ did on behalf of His children, how He continues to fight the battles for His children after the cross and the journey of faith a believer goes through in this life until he is ushered into the glory of His presence in eternity, heaven.

On seeing the preview for Prince Caspian, I was determined that I needed to read the book first. For me it is always better to read the original intent of the book to help fully understand the movie and to also see if Hollywood changed any themes or components of the story. On Sunday at church on the used book table was a 1971 copy of Prince Caspian for $1.75. The above is a picture of the front cover. Under the used book price was the original price $.95. I know, a huge mark up but still considerable cheaper than buying it new. This morning I finished reading "my passport to a most extraordinary excursion into magical lands and enchanted happenings" (from the back cover of the book). I am ready to see the film when it opens in May.

My Cousin Julie

It has been a few weeks since I last posted. The desire to post has been there but I have lacked the strength to do so. Two days after my last post, my dear cousin Julie passed away. What a whirlwind of happenings since that day. There was finishing up with my last week of school, all the happenings for Christmas and my mom's birthday and the services for my cousin.

Julie is one of my hero's. What a testimony of strength, dignity, long suffering, hope and even joy despite her brutal battle with ovarian cancer. Julie was an amazing woman. Every time I had the opportunity for a visit, attend a family party or chance meeting (we ran into each other at Costco, DVC, a grocery store and at a sporting goods store), I always walked away with a smile on my face from my time with her.

Julie was young, 38 years young. She leaves behind a wonderful husband and a 6 year old son. Some of the pain that I felt in my heart was thinking about her son. My heart continually goes back to my source of truth and strength, the God of the universe. God is sovereign and He knows the pain and struggle of this family. A friend recently gave me a few lines from a hymn, "O Father You are Sovereign". It goes, "O Father you are sovereign, the Lord of human pain, transmuting earthly sorrows to gold of heavenly gain; all evil overruling, as none but Conqueror could, Your love pursues its purpose, our soul's eternal good." Through the tears and the pain, God has a good plan for those whose lives are anchored in Him. My cousin did have faith in God, she took this trial in stride, rejoiced with each and every day that she had. I do believe that my cousin is surrounded by His glory, face to face with her Savior, and is rejoicing around the Throne.

If you received my Christmas letter, I have already mentioned a few things that my cousin would encourage you to do and I too want to encourage you. These include: be faithful to your regular check-ups (all of them, the easy routine ones and the one's that are uncomfortable and embarrassing), be your best advocate, if something does not appear to be normal- keep up with the doctors, have your will in order and if you have children designate who will be the care takers in case something happens to you and your spouse. There are other things you can do to help others who may have a need, give blood or be an organ donor.

I want to stress the point about getting your regular check-ups and taking every possible outcome seriously, using my cousin as an example. About 4 years ago, my cousin went in for a routine check-up that included the routine woman's exam. The doctor discovered a smaller "cyst or tumor" in one of her ovaries. The doctor deemed it as nothing serious and would re-examine the tumor in 6 months. Well, my cousin did not make it to the 6 month check up. 2 weeks before her next exam, she was in exteme pain, could not hold food down and felt a larger lump in her abdominal area. She went to the doctor and he said she needs to go into surgery within a few days. The doctors and the family still did not think this was anything serious. In surgery, the doctors discovered that Julie had a softball/grapefruit sized tumor in her ovary and that cancer was all over her abdominal area and several organs had cancer on them. This was the start of her courageous battle with cancer for the next 3 1/2 years.

I know that this was the plan that God had for Julie and there would have no been changing it for her but maybe God might use her story to have another at the first sign of a tumor to be treated immediately and to have victory over cancer.