Posts from the ‘Health’ Category

May 9

Posi+tive Youth

Uhh… HIV. I hate it. “The whole stigma if HIV, is the stigma of sexuality…” A true statement. I’m so bored by the topic of sex because most people are completely obsessed with discussing it. The highest rate of new infections are people between the ages of 13 and 24. Can you believe that? 13!!! Who the hell is having sex at that age? I was just trying to avoid getting thrown into a locker.

Perhaps the reason for this is the rabid hyper-sexualization young people are exposed to in today’s society. It used to be that you had to be talented to be famous, but now all you need to do is release a sex tape. Mine will be released later next week. The pressure to look and behave in a certain way have led young people to find acceptance through sex.

I’m sure there are other factors but the only reason I am writing this post is to share this video about young people living with HIV. Watch it. Or don’t. Whatever.

May 9

Bridgepoint Health

Bridgepoint Health is located on the Don River, and is visible in the distance

For two years I worked in the corporate communications and community relations department at Bridgepoint Health, a complex chronic disease rehabilitation hospital that has been serving the Riverdale community of Toronto for 150 years. It was my first job out of school and it taught me a lot about how unfair life can be.

I believe strongly in the mission and vision of the hospital, but had less faith in the executives who ran it. There was a never-ending rotating door of employees, and I knew that loyalty wasn’t enough to sustain long-term employment. I saw a lot of good people walk out with severances, and a lot of bad people stay and spread their toxicity, eventually evaporating any remaining morale.

But I digress. For those of you unfamiliar, chronic disease is something that is not curable, but that a person can live with for a long time. Examples include, HIV, diabetes, arthritis, etc. The word complex is added because many people are now living with two or more of these type of diseases, complicating treatment. Bridgepoint focuses a lot on prevention, as does the Canadian health care system. The life expectancy of Canadians is 83 years.

During my employment, Bridgepoint was heavily promoting redevelopment; ten years ago it was granted multi-million dollar public funding to build a new hospital, as the existing one was no longer meeting the needs of the changing patient population. Bridgepoint used to be known as Riverdale Hospital because that is the name of the community where it’s located, and for years, it only served that area. Unfortunately, because of its palliative care unit, Riverdale Hospital was known in Toronto as a place where people went to die, which gave it a bad reputation, obviously. Back in the 90s former conservative premier Mike Harris proposed closing the hospital but his efforts failed, and eventually Riverdale Hospital rebranded itself as Bridgepoint Health and extended its service beyond its community.

The redevelopment of the hospital was proposed back in the 80s, but politics and a campaign to stop the destruction of the current building, delayed the project for over 20 years.

These photographs that I took this morning show that the exterior is now complete, and by this time next year it will be fully operational. It’s been a long time coming, and finally the people of Toronto will have a state-of-the-art hospital to meet their changing health care needs.

For more information please visit Bridgepoint Health‘s website.

People dislike the rebranded name, and still refer to it as Riverdale Hosptial

It’s an impressive sight and I’m pleased with how it’s turned out

Standing proud, as it watches over Riverdale Park

The sun rises over the new hospital

May 4

Keith Haring gets a Google Doodle

Keith Haring would have been 54-years-old today. He died of an AIDS-related illness at the height of the HIV epidemic on Feb. 16, 1990. He was known for his pop-art drawings and illustrations, influenced by Andy Warhol.

Born in Reading, Penn. and raised in nearby Kutztown, Haring began drawing at an early age and learned basic cartooning skills from his father. After graduating high school he studied art in Pittsburg and New York, taking an interest in performance art, video installation and collage.

Haring had his first solo exhibition in New York in 1981. He gained international recognition and participated in numerous exhibitions between 1980 and 1989.

He championed public art producing over 50 murals in the 1980s. He began the Keith Haring foundation the year before his death and a year after he was diagnosed with HIV. The foundation, still in operation, focuses on AIDS-related and children’s charities.

Happy birthday Keith. We miss you.

Keith Haring in his apartment in 1983

Apr 22

Potato soup for lunch

I love my slow cooker, also known as a crock pot, it is easily my favourite purchase in the condo. This morning I noticed a few sad looking potatoes in the fridge and decided to make soup out of them. It took about four hours, but was well worth it.

Ingredients:
5 pounds potatoes, peeled, cut into large chunks
1 large yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 cups vegetable stock

Put everything into the crock pot, cover and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4. The potatoes should be fork-tender. After, transfer to blender and puree the soup. You can also add cheese.

To accompany the soup I also made a toasted avocado and spinach sandwich with chic peas and cherry tomatoes glazed in virgin olive oil. It was delicious.

Apr 22

Smoothies make me feel healthy

After a night of drinking too much wine the best remedy for depleted energy is a strawberry and blueberry smoothie. Nothing makes me feel healthier.

All you have to do is peel the banana, chop the strawberries, then add generous portions of yoghurt and blueberries to the blender and it practically makes itself. Don’t forget to include a few cubes of ice to keep it cool and then serve to your friends. You’ll feel invigorated in minutes.

Mar 22

A matter of someone else’s business

At the cottage in 2010 with my cylon pumpkin. It brings up nice memories, because, on this day, I was surrounded by good people. Sometimes when I'm confronted with bad news, I like to look at it, and remember how lucky I have been.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s when HIV was considered a death sentence, rather than a chronic condition, as it is today. One night my mother made us watch an informative television program about safe sex, an uncharacteristically progressive thing for her to do. My parents, unlike countless others, treated the topic of sex as something dirty, impure and distasteful. Naturally I wanted to know more about it. When will parents learn that censorship only flames a child’s curiosity? Possibly never.

When I reached adolescence I assumed that because I was gay I would contract HIV. As a result I was fearful and abstained from sex. Regardless it’s always been my belief that modesty is sexier, though I’m in the minority on that one.

Since moving to Argentina I’ve experienced many firsts. I was robbed. I was almost mugged. My pay-cheque is always late. Many many firsts. This week I added one more to that list: My friend revealed to me that he was HIV+. His boyfriend is also positive. They have an open relationship and continue to have sex with other men, together and separately. I sat and listened to him for a long time. After four beers it was time for bed and I wished him all the best and walked home.

A few things were going through my mind but I couldn’t properly articulate them. I woke up the next morning still feeling the heaviness of his revelation and I took the subte to work in a bit of a stupor. All day I tried to grapple with the information, to make sense of it. I spoke to one of my colleagues and I confessed that I felt guilty, mostly because despite the compassion I feel for him, I also judge him.

Let me preface that I have worked in health care my entire life, and I have met people with HIV before. However, none have been my friends. But I’ve never had a lot of gay friends. When I moved to Argentina I befriended a few gay people, and I have learned how common HIV is in the community here. Most of my gay friends have dated people who are HIV+. And many of them passionately defend their right to engage in high risk sexual behaviour.

Last night I was thinking about all of this. I have never been a promiscuous person. That does not make me better than someone who has made the opposite choice, but I am perplexed by a man’s need to have so much sex. I’ve always assumed that I am not immune to bad news. When I get on a plane I’m convinced it’s going to crash. When I start the engine of a car, I’m mindful that while on the road my life could change in an instant. If I were to engage in a one night stand, I would be willing to consider that I have contracted an STI. Sadly this is how my mind works. I have noticed though, that many of my peers believe that bad news is something that happens to other people.

What I have always known is that men are visual. Straight men have to put in more work to achieve their goal, while gay men easily fall into bed with one another. That is if I am to believe the stories they tell me.

During our conversation, I interjected for a moment to ask my friend why sex was so important to him. I wasn’t trying to be cheeky, I genuinely wanted to understand why he was willing to engage in risky sexual behaviour for a mere, uninspiring orgasm. He looked at me, thought for a long time, and said, “I don’t know.”

Unprotected sex can change one’s life in ways they should imagine.

I have to admit, I was depressed for a couple of days. This planet can offer wondrous experiences, but in one moment, something can happen that alters our course and leaves us numb. I couldn’t imagine not feeling or expressing love, but sex isn’t always love. That’s okay too, if we’re responsible.

There is a community of gay men who proudly participate in bareback sex, meaning they refuse to wear condoms and have multiple sexual partners. It’s turned into a movement of sorts, and their numbers are growing. I’ve read that the reason is twofold. One, gay men who, like me, grew up with the message that sex was bad, spent their formative years in fear of having it. To these men, having sex without a condom is a freedom statement. Second, some gay men are too young to remember when AIDS was a crisis. Just last week I met a colleague who was born in 1990. Insane. To the Y Generation, it’s a manageable disease, and if treated correctly, they can live healthy, normal lives.

But that isn’t true. The medications that people take to treat HIV are toxic to the body, and the possible side-effects are more harmful than the disease. In many countries, insurance companies don’t cover the expense, and in places like the U.S. medication can cost up to $30,000 a year. What individuals will convince themselves of, the misinformation that they are willing to spread, just for a few minutes of passion, is disappointing.

I wish sex didn’t come at such a cost. I do. I wish that my friends could engage in copious amounts of sex, without the fear that it will end their lives. But it’s not the reality of the world we live in. When my friend told me that he was still sleeping with other people I asked if he reveals his diagnosis to each sex partner. He said that he does. I had to believe him. Yet I still questioned why sex with his boyfriend isn’t enough. I am also concerned about the many people he is exposing to a life-altering virus. But I guess what happens between two consensual adults should be none of my concern.

I’ve had this discussion with countless gay men, and believe me, I know it’s not a problem that is exclusive to the gay community, but I expect more of them. It upsets me that to obtain sex, we can be so cavalier about the emotional and physical well-being of not only ourselves, but our casual sex partners. For the sake of sex, we treat people as disposable items, available for our hedonistic pleasures and nothing more.

My struggle to find an explanation for all of this often leads to simplified justifications for a complex issue. “He must be lonely,” I’ll say to myself, or conversely, “Maybe he’s just an asshole.” I do believe that each one of us wants to make a connection with another human being no matter how desperate it might be. We all want to feel loved, wanted and desired by someone.

What I don’t know about this planet could fill a thousand of them. I wish my mind wasn’t clouded with so many conflicting thoughts and I could live worry free.

Through all of these firsts I keep thinking that the universe has placed me in this position for a reason, there is something that she wants me to know, some lesson she wants me to take away from these experiences. There must be. I suppose the lesson I have learned is that I made some pretty smart decisions early in my life, and I’ve had the right attitude, most of the time. I’ve surrounded myself with love, and it has soothed me my whole life through. The mere thought of all this light, all this yellow, makes me cry tears of humility. But I’m mindful that it may all be taken from me tomorrow. I know that to be true enough.

What I feel today, right now, is joyous gratitude for the life I have been blessed with.

Mar 15

8 Comments

The abortion debate never goes away

I enjoy The Titleless Blog, written by an American expat who now lives in Chile. She was recently inspired by a recent dinner conversation to write a post about abortion entitled “In Defence of Women’s Choices” that I found interesting.

I’m not going to bore you with a summary because frankly you should read it yourself. Whenever I’m informed about something that is happening in the United States, especially in an election year, I can’t help but shake my head. It’s absurd to me that a country that proudly claims that all its citizens are equal, actively works to restrict civil rights to women and gays. Each Republican debate is like listening to the greatest minds of the 19th Century. The greatest hypocrisy of the Republican party is that they advocate less government for everything but your personal life. Now before anyone starts accusing me of being anti-American let me say that Canada doesn’t have a rosey human rights record either (the internment of Japanese-Canadians during WWII comes to mind), but I believe it’s the fairest in the Americas.

I know I’ve written about this before but I feel compelled to write about it again. The abortion argument always revolves around morality: right and wrong, life vs. death, the right’s of the fetus, and rarely pays attention to women, who — in case you didn’t know — give birth.

This is not a post about women’s rights per se but about access. The real issue when it comes to abortions is that they will never be eradicated, not as long as we live in a global society, where a vast majority of people are struggling to feed their families. A rich person telling a poor person what’s right or wrong, is simplifying the argument. No government, no matter how strict their laws, how brutal their penalties, will stop abortions from happening. So the question before you is, “Why not make them safe?”

I believe the answer to that question is that we hate women and want to control what they can and cannot do to their own bodies. Gloria Steinam once said, “If men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.” But even that is a simplification of a much more complex issue that is ultimately a personal choice based on individual life experiences. Religion, no matter how much they try to convince us otherwise, is irrelevant in the conversation. Maybe we’ll take members of the Vatican more seriously when they’re willing to set the ultimate example, and live as Jesus preached and sell all their assets to feed the hungry. While they’re at it, perhaps they could also fix their most grievous human error and proclaim that condoms in Africa aren’t so bad.

Anti-abortionists can wave their fingers and judge all they want: It will never stop abortions. As long as we live in a capitalist, unequal society where 1 per cent of the population controls all the wealth, we’re going to be keep arguing about this topic. What we really need, as corny as it sounds, is empathy for other people.

Like how I tied all these issues together? The reality is that they’re all connected on a variety of issues. See how smart I am?

Anyway, that’s my point. And I do have one!

Feb 13

2 Comments

Why does it matter if Adele is fat?

The morning after The Grammys, Buzzfeed published a piece entitled “25 Extremely Upsetting Reactions to Chris Brown At The Grammys”. It’s a disturbing read, but not entirely surprising. Women cavalierly condoning violence against other women is anything but new.

Being a member of our society can be embarrassing. We’re not terribly respectful of each other are we? It’s reflective of our own self-loathing. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for women to be constantly objectified the world over. A woman’s value is determined solely on how she appears. But how much do women play a part in all of this? When you look at it objectively, they’re more guilty than men.

Lately I’ve been obsessed with following the interactions between people on Twitter. It’s frightening how quickly they make false assumptions, and resort to childish name-calling against anyone with differing opinions. Ever the optimist I attempted to intervene on a couple of occasions and had to abort my mission when confronted with irrational tweeters. In some cases I was surprised to learn that the majority of offenders were over the age of 35. I attempted to explain to the most vicious tweeters that their attitude was a poor representation of their character and not the person whom they were attacking. I was branded a “preacher” and as being “arrogant.” Fair enough, but my intention was to raise the level of dialogue from that of grade school antics, to mature thoughtful adult conversation. So much for that.

One of the most annoying and persistent comments was in regards to Adele’s weight. “She has such a pretty face, but she’s too fat,” was a common concern amongst many female tweeters. “I’m really worried about her health,” was another. The latter argument especially bothers me, because it presents superficial people feigning concern to mask their prejudice about size. I myself have been guilty of this in the past and it was only after I had a conversation with Alisha that I learned the folly of my ways.

There are a plethora of unhealthy skinny people with bad eating habits but we never say, “Oh I’m really worried about her health.” Being slim is revered, no matter how it’s achieved. But the impact of eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia are far more damaging than being 30 pounds over weight. Living in Buenos Aires I’m disappointed with how vain and appearance obsessed Argentines are. Self-worth is achieved with a small waist and big breasts, which explains the high rate of plastic surgery in the country.

The debate regarding Adele’s weight, which coincidentally is no one’s business but Adele’s, is that fat is bad and skinny is good. Where and how did we ever reach this conclusion? Marilyn Monroe was a size 10, and she was considered the sexiest woman in the world when she was alive. Today’s standards are alarmingly unrealistic, asking women to fit into size zero dresses and labelling any woman who can’t as fat.

When did women become so critical of each other? Last year Keith and I were having a beer at our local pub when a group of unruly women nursing hangovers from the night before sat behind us. The conversation turned to Katy Perry and I was interested to hear their opinions about her music, considering that she became famous for a song about kissing a girl, and then made disparaging comments about gay people months later. I was surprised that the only thing these women wanted to talk about was her appearance. “She’s so ugly,” they agreed. Not one comment about her occupation was shared, just a systematic dismantling and critique of her face and body. I was mortified.

Being gay I am well aware of the pressures men place on appearance. Men happen to be more visual, and it’s an attitude we require of them so that we feel attractive. But that’s the problem. We’re rewarding men for being assholes. I’ve had this discussion with countless gay men in Argentina. All horned up and ready for sex they cruise each other with a passion best reserved for reading a good book. They have a very narrow definition of what beauty is, and the appalling thing for me, is that the ones with the highest standards don’t match up to their own lofty physical requirements.

Years ago an interviewer asked Tori Amos what she thought about Madonna kissing Britney Spears at an awards show. The ever thoughtful Amos paused, and then said, “Well it’s not about the music is it?” Here is a woman who learned to play piano by ear at the age of 3-years-old, was the youngest person to ever be accepted to the Peabody Institute of Classical Music at 5-years-old, and the sole composer of over 1,000 original pieces of composition. A prolific singer-songwriter, her soprano voice and live performances have captivated audiences for over twenty years but if you were to read the comments about her on YouTube the only topics people want to discuss is her face, weight and how old she is. As though age is something that will escape the commenters.

“The rules apply to everyone else but me” is the message I’m getting from these individuals. Those who are the most critical are the least likely to accept criticism. I understand the pressures that women face, but what I don’t understand is how competitive and mean-spirited they are with each other. The tweets presented on Buzzfeed were written by women willing to be victims of violence to attract a man. What does that say about our society and our treatment of women? That society has a problem, is what it says.

And this problem is going to persist as long as people refuse to acknowledge their own responsibility. We all need to take accountability for our prejudices and be more accepting of people who look different from the models in magazines and challenge those who make disparaging comments about women’s appearances. The best antidote for ignorance is education.

Adele shouldn’t be judged by how she looks, but rather her talent, which is obviously plentiful. Unlike other pop artists, she doesn’t need pyrotechnics, outrageous costumes and complicated dance moves to distract the audience from the fact that she has no talent. Her mainstream success is going to save the music industry because she’s reminding radio listeners that what matters most in music, is music. Her voice is all she needs to entertain and move her audience. Her size is completely irrelevant.

Let’s remember that, instead of tolerating bad habits we learned in junior high. Shall we?

Jan 29

4 Comments

Parques Tres de Febrero a.k.a. Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Woods)

Bosques de Palermo

As an avid runner what better place is there to hit the pavement than Parque Tres de Febrero — also known as Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Woods) — in the Buenos Aires barrio of Palermo? Okay the answer to this question is obviously rhetorical, because there is no better place.

Summer in Argentina is humid, unlike anything this Canadian has ever experienced, and I have to be more cautious running outside in the scorching temperatures. I rose early this morning before it got too hot and made my way over to the park for a run.

Known for its groves, lakes and famous Rose Garden, Parque Tres de Febrero is insanely busy on the weekends, and virtually dead during the weekdays. However, it was more bearable this morning than usual as Porteños escape the city during the summer weekends for greener pastures.

You can spend hours just sitting and people watching, and for a gay man, there’s plenty of eye candy.

Bosques de Palermo is a city park of 62 acres with boat rides available on three artificial lakes. For now though, I’ve only explored the park on foot.

Well, here are some of the photos I took.