MrsRaptor's Open Salon Blog

What makes a marriage?

Sat, 19 May 2012 21:05:15 -0400

This is something I have thought a lot about recently -

Is it the permission slip obtained from the government?

Is it found in the permissions to have sex granted through religious rites which are conducted?

Is it the people involved?

Is it all of those things?

When I got married we did not wander into the nearest government office and obtain a permission slip to do so - which I suppose means we are not "legally married." Not being "legally married" does not prevent us from being married... it merely prevents us from taking advantage of the governmental benefits one acquires when one is "legally married."

We did not go searching for the nearest Jewish-Catholic-Buddhist-Protestant-Muslim-Shaman-High Priestess either... We were united "Between Mother Earth and Father Sky" in the way our people have gotten married since before the arrival of the first European on the continent.

Before "Christians" arrived to "civilize" us we were united between Mother Earth and Father Sky in the eyes of Wakan Tanka. That is the way my husband and I chose to get married and we are just as married as someone who possesses a permission slip from the government. You see, we know that marriage is much more than a piece of paper. Marriage is much more than sex, much more than children, much more than feelings.

Marriage is what happens when we remember there is more to "US" than there is to "ME"...

Factor V Leiden...

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:05:52 -0400

Most people do not know what Factor V (factor five) is so I will start there.

Factor V is a protien in the blood which helps your blood to clot when you cut yourself. It is the "stuff" that helps to make your platelets "sticky" so that they clump together and stop bleeding.

According to the National Institutes of Health: "The F5 gene provides instructions for making a protein called coagulation factor V. This protein plays a critical role in the coagulation system, which is a series of chemical reactions that forms blood clots in response to injury.

The coagulation system is controlled by several proteins, including a protein called activated protein C (APC). APC normally inactivates coagulation factor V, which slows down the clotting process and prevents clots from growing too large."

People with Factor V Leiden have a genetic mutation of the F5 protien which causes the protien to respond more slowly to the Activated Protien C. This slow response causes people with Factor V Leiden to be at higher risk of blood clots.

People with Factor V Leiden can have either one copy of the mutated gene or two copies of the mutated gene. Between 3 and 8 percent of people with some European ancestry carry one copy of the factor V Leiden mutation in each cell, and about 1 in 5,000 people have two copies of the mutation.

How does this impact me? I have Factor V Leiden.

I can't say it was a surprise when the doctor told me yesterday. I've suspected for years there was more to my repeated hospitalizations for blood clots than either "hormones" or "bad luck."

What does it mean in terms of my daily life? More writing on my Medic Alert bracelets (yes, I said "bracelets" - there's not much room to write on one of them things so I have to have a couple of them). Less eating of broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, etc... which are high in Vitamin K (which also helps blood to clot). Daily doses of Coumadin for the rest of my life. Special precautions when I have to have any type of surgery. It means I have a slightly elevated risk of heart attack or stroke caused by a blood clot. All kinds of "fun" things.

What does it mean to my children? Considering I passed this condition on to each and every one of them I gave birth to... It means my daughters stand a higher than normal chance of either having a miscarriage or getting blood clots when they are pregnant. It means my daughters can never take hormone based birth control because the hormones in question increase their risk of blood clots. It means my sons are at higher risk for blood clots.

*SIGH*

At least we know now. That has to help. Somehow.

Opinions...

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:05:29 -0400

Opinions are like rectums... everyone has one. Most of us have more than one.

In most cases, I will defend unto death your right to express your opinion. Why? Because it's your opinion and you are entitled to both hold it and express it.

Do not EVER confuse my defense of your right to an opinion with approval of said opinion though. Odds are about equal that I will tell you straight up I disagree with your opinion. I may even express an opinion regarding your sanity, or lack thereof, when you express your opinion.

For instance:

I personally find it to be the height of insanity (and hypocrisy) for Republicans to hold Bristol Palin up as a "model" for young women to follow. Bristol is a young woman who appears to have failed every "abstinance education" program she was ever enrolled in and she's held up by many Republicans as a "good role model" for young women and especially for young mothers.

I personally happen to think that the young mother who continued her education despite the difficulties of being a parent, who went to college whilst raising their child and who has plans and dreams beyond what party to attend Saturday night is a MUCH better role model for young women than someone whom an Australian friend describes as "dumb white trash eye candy".

But... opinions are like rectums...

I must admit I had to read something about 6 times this morning before my caffine deprived brain engaged enough so that I stopped myself from asking what drugs someone was taking.

What did I read that had me re-reading it several times? The opinion which was expressed was "Christians alone have the right to an opinion" followed by "everyone else needs to crawl back under the rock they crawled out from under."

I really have no problem with Christians per-se. My problem is with people who lay claim to Christianity whilst demonstrating hate. I will even admit there are a couple of honest-to-goodness Christians roaming around OS. I about fell off my chair at finding them BUT they frequently remind me that not all "Christians" are insane control freaks with a penchant for abuse - and I desperately need that reminder in a world where many people who profess christianity are increasingly demonstrating behavior which leaves me wondering when they escaped from Bedlam.

But...

Opinions are like rectums.

The thing which I find odd about a whole lot of people and opinions is that whilst I will defend their right to express their opinion a whole lot of those folks would prefer it if I did not express mine. And that's just plain annoying!!

14 years on the Cancer roller coaster from Hell

Wed, 9 May 2012 20:05:51 -0400

20 years ago come August I learned I had cervical cancer. I was three months pregnant. For twins. It was a roller coaster ride from Hell I would not wish on my worst enemy.

My doctor, a man who normally had a wonderful bedside manner, gave me the weekend to make a decision. Abort the twins and treat the cancer OR take my life into my own hands by waiting to treat the cancer until after the twins were born. For ME (and this is NOT a decision anyone else CAN make) the decision was to wait until after the twins were born to do anything about the cancer.

Doctor Moon, a positively wonderful man from South Korea, told me he would rather I had chosen an abortion. I explained to him that I firmly believe abortion should be a "last resort" and since he had already assured me it had been "caught early" I was pretty sure I could handle 6 or 7 months of worry more easily than I could a lifetime of "what if" and self-recriminations.

6 weeks after the twins were born I had about half the thickness of my cervix removed. A few days later I started chemotherapy. My babies were 6 weeks old and until the day I started chemo I was breastfeeding them. That stopped when the poison of chemo entered my body.

The underlying cause of my cancer was HPV. A few years and several more pap smears, several more biopsies ("just to be sure") and I started thinking "We seem to have this licked" - more fool me.

14 years later, a different doctor looked at me following a cervical biopsy, one of more than a dozen I had in the time since the first diagnosis, and informed me I had cervical cancer. You know, it is no easier to hear those words the second time than it was to hear them the first.

On the other hand, *I* had changed. I had grown tired of pap smears every 6 months. I had grown tired of having to have a biopsy EVERY time there was any abnormality in my pap smear results. I had also gotten old enough so that I had no more desire for children and was tired of the old "monthly visits" from hormones.

I looked at the doctor that afternoon and said "Take the damn thing out!"

On October 8, 2008 I had a hysterectomy.

I have never taken artificial hormones. Equally, I have never suffered a "hot flash" - on the other hand OMG have I ever suffered through COLD flashes. Imagine it being 90+ outside and wearing longjohns, sweatshirts, heavy socks, etc... whilst huddling under blankets because you are absolutely FREEZING. I don't have to imagine it. I've been that woman dressed like a visitor to Antarctica in the winter whilst shivering under several layers of blankets.

All kidding aside, I'd rather deal with the side effects of screwed up hormones due to a hysterectomy than I would hear the words "I'm sorry, you have cervical cancer" again.

That roller coaster ride from Hell is a bitch and I am very glad to be OFF that ride. That I would do whatever was necessary to lower the chances my daughters might get on that roller coaster from Hell goes without saying.

YES! My girls HAVE had the vaccine.

Lightning Medicine Cloud - age 1, murdered

Sun, 6 May 2012 03:05:47 -0400

He was skinned as well.

Lightning Medicine Cloud was not a person - he was an extremely rare non-albino white buffalo born on 12 May, 2011. He was murdered on 04 May 2012. The texas Rangers, Department of Homeland Security, Texas Parks and Wildlife, Hunt County Sheriff's Department and National Indian Council are jointly investigating.

His father died last month. Ironically, he was struck by lightning.

His mother was murdered on 05 May, 2012. Her death is also being investigated.

There is much more to this story than there appears to be. You see, the white buffalo is Wakan. To be Wakan is to be holy - to be sacred.

To understand the soul deep grief many Native Americans are feeling at the moment over the loss of what most would dismiss as merely "an animal" will likely take some explaining on my part. I am not Wakan - however, I know the legends. I know the stories. I know the Seven Sacred Ceremonies. I know, on a cellular level, what was lost.

A very good explanation of "White Buffalo Calf Woman" and the Seven Sacred Ceremonies can be found here: http://www.kstrom.net/isk/arvol/buffpipe.html (Although he discusses Miracle - a white buffalo calf born several years ago in either Minnesota or Wisconsin. Miracle died in 2004 - she was 10.)

You see, what was lost because someone chose to murder Lightning Medicine Cloud was not simply the animal in question. What was taken from us was HOPE.

I sincerely HOPE whoever killed and skinned Lightning Medicine Cloud and killed his mother are buried under a jail somewhere near the depths of the Christian Hell. At the very least that is the punishment deserved for the crime in question.