GARDASIL dilemma

I've booked an appointment with the University of Sydney Health Services to get the GARDASIL injection tomorrow at 1500 hours.

I decided to do some research on GARDASIL, it being a newly marketed vaccine. While on one hand I want to get vaccinated free-of-charge, I prefer to be an informed white mice rather than a blind mice. :P

Being the IT-literate person that I am, I did a Google search of Australian websites on GARDASIL, and searched through articles on MEDLINE.

One of the search hits on Google was an article titled "Beware Gardasil". It didn't sound as if the author was an advocate of the vaccine.

Sure enough, the author aimed to inform readers of the myths surrounding GARDASIL, and the myth of a direct causal relationship between human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer (GARDASIL vaccinates against HPV).

One of the interesting facts was that the author claimed that the U.S. National Cancer Institute stated "that direct causation" (HPV and cervical cancer) "has not been proven", with no reference cited for that statement. I found it strange that the Australian Health Department states otherwise, and has been prepared to spend millions of dollars to fund the vaccination programme.

I searched the U.S. National Cancer Institute for such a statement; I found this instead:

"What is the association between HPV infection and cancer?
HPVs are now recognized as the major cause of cervical cancer. In 2006, an estimated 10,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with this type of cancer and nearly 4,000 will die from it. Cervical cancer strikes nearly half a million women each year worldwide, claiming a quarter of a million lives. Studies also suggest that HPVs may play a role in cancers of the anus, vulva, vagina, and some cancers of the oropharynx (the middle part of the throat that includes the soft palate, the base of the tongue, and the tonsils) (1). Data from several studies also suggest that infection with HPV is a risk factor for penile cancer (cancer of the penis)."

Interesting indeed. Not only is HPV recognised by the National Cancer Institute of the United States of America as the major cause of cervical cancer, it is also suggested to play a role in other cancers as well.

I wonder how much research the author has done before writing up that article.

Inform yourself indeed. It only emphasises the fact that you can't trust everything that you hear, read, see, a fact that the author harped on.

As for me? I'm taking Jen's stand on GARDASIL: she went ahead and had the vaccination.

Tune in for more adverse effects on the vaccine after I've had the injection. ;)

GARDASIL dilemma

Aus liebe zum Automobil, Fräulein?

Oh ja...

I am so in love withVolkswagen at the moment...

After watching Goong (hot hot hot Korean series) and seeing Knocked Up at the cinema, I am convinced that Volkswagen and I are destined to be together. So much so that I did some research on the Volkswagen Australian website, and got them to post me some catalogues.

I want to own one of these...

Volkswagen Jetta

Never mind the insignificant detail of not having at least $40,000 at the moment. One could dream, could one not?

Oh ja...

One day (hopefully in the not-too-distant future)...

Aus liebe zum Automobil, Fräulein?

Miseria

With Ah Bow's absence, the sorrow I feel compounds.

Whenever I am sad, I look at him, and see that he's happy in his own little world. Why could I not be content to live in mine?

Now he's gone.

Perhaps he was not as happy as I have made him out to be.

Perhaps that's why he left. The things that I have not done and done.

I think back to slightly more than 2 months ago, 71 days today to be exact, and the things someone has told me, the things that I have done, the things that I have not done, that made him unhappy, and, in consequence, has made me unhappy. That's why the happiness ended. My fairy tale ended.

Could I have done things differently? Perhaps. Then perhaps things won't be as they are now.

I won't have to type while tears stream down my face.

Miseria

Memento

On 19/07/2007, Ah Bow joined the rest of the fish, Bluey, Radio, Little Strong One, to play.

This photo was taken on 17/07/2007.

I was shocked that he went away. He didn't give me any indication.

Perhaps there was something that I neglected, overlooked.

He went away doing the same thing he always does. As you see in the photo.

Perched on top of the plant. Treating the plant like his hammock.

Smart fish.

Then again, Ah Bow was the smartest fish I have ever known. Known, as opposed to kept. For he has kept me as much as I have kept him.

I will miss him very much.

Memento

Oh My New 懒动 Pillow!!!

Oh yeah...

Sleepless nights go away...

Dentons pillow is here to stay...

What a name for a pillow... but oh what a feeling...

Tried out the new pillow yesterday... woke up feeling good...

Oh My New 懒动 Pillow!!!

Could You Be Tired and Yet Not Want to Sleep?

I suppose it's possible... after all, I'm living proof of it...

I have a splitting headache as well... bleh.

Could You Be Tired and Yet Not Want to Sleep?

Hung on Corruption

Death penalty for corruption?

Anything can happen in China.

I wonder if the official would have been sentenced to death if China's international trade and reputation weren't at stake.

I guess someone has to sacrifice to uphold the honour of the country if the USFDA is breathing down one's neck.

Imagine if the entire population of the USA no longer buys toothpastes manufactured in China.

No wonder I have had customers who insist on knowing where certain medications were manufactured in, and refuse to buy products made in China.

Even after I tell them that pharmaceutical companies impose strict quality control measures on the manufacture of medications, regardless of the country they were manufactured in.

After reading this article, I now doubt the validity of my words.

Hung on Corruption

I Had Dreams

I've had two disturbing dreams in the course of three days.

Perhaps that's why I've been having headaches.

Perhaps I'm not sleeping well... perhaps I'm stressed.

I don't know.

Why do things have to be so complicated? Why does my life have to be so complicated?

Or am I the one who complicate things?

I'm frustrated.

I don't know.

I Had Dreams

Long Day

It's going to be a long day today...

I told my boss that I can work until 8pm on Thursdays... he was very happy with that because it would mean that he needn't make the trip from this house to the pharmacy just to take over for 2 hours after my shift and before the next pharmacist's shift.

My head hurts, and my stomach hurts... well, actually, my whole body aches, perhaps it's because I didn't get a good night's sleep.

I'm hoping for a quiet day today. Oh, don't let Murphy's Law strike me down. :P

The only consolation so far is that Thursday is pay-day...

It's going to be a long day today...

Long Day

You Would Have Made Me the Happiest Person

You would have made me the happiest person on earth.

Yet,

In doing so,

I would have made you the saddest person on earth.

Now,

I am at my saddest.

I wonder,

Are you at your happiest?

You Would Have Made Me the Happiest Person