Benefits of Being an Involved Father
Being an involved father has obvious benefits to children. We’ve read newspapers or seen TV programs that talk about the many benefits involved fathers are in raising a child. Involved fathers provide love, support, and comfort. Fathers usually serve as role models in their children’s lives as well affecting how well they relate to peers and adults outside the home.
I came across a good article on the subject of being an involved dad on education.com and recommend you have a look. Visit: Involved dads
Health Resources for Dads
May 18, 2008 by Dad · Leave a Comment
Yesterday, May17th - my birthday, I discovered a lump on my back just below my shoulder blade. It is almost as if a small breast implant was placed inside my skin. Soft, flexible, round, and not painful. It’s about 3 inches around and about 1/2 and inch thick in the center, tapering down to the edges.
As most of us would do I went online to try and find some answers so I thought it would make sense to share my favorite resources with you.
My hunt for answers started with a trip to WebMD. They have a great symptom checker that helps narrow down the possibilities with most symptoms you or your family members might have. Unfortunately, I didn’t come up with anything that matched my lump on WebMD.
My second stop was found by doing a search on Google for “back lump”. I spotted a site named ‘Doctors Lounge‘ and a page where someone else had asked about a smaller growth on their back and they received a quality response from an actual Doctor! Pretty nice service considering it’s free. Doctors really do want to save lives!
This doctor, Dr. Anthony Solomon thought it was either a cyst or a Lipoma. The Lipoma possibility is the one I tracked down by performing another search for Lipoma. By the end of the day I pinned my hopes on the lump being a non-malignant fatty Lipoma.
If it doesn’t go away on it’s own or if there is any pain or other symptoms that cause concern I’ll visit the doctor’s office and report back on what this growth is.
Other health resources you should bookmark include:
Mayo Clinic’s Mens Health - Unmatched expertise and a wealth of useful information.
Kids Health - The most visited Website for children’s health issues.
CureZone - I discovered this site a couple of years ago and strongly recommend it as a place to learn from the experiences of others who are dealing with the same heath issues or having the same symptoms. It’s primarily an alternative health crowd giving you a nice balance to the traditional medical professional’s solutions. Many of the posters are converts so it makes for some passionate exchanges. While you’re there be sure to learn about liver flushes and other flushes that will help cleanse your body so it can return to health or remain healthy.
Good health to you!
(If you want to recommend a health site for dads please send me a comment using the comment form.)
Statue of an american soldier in Iraq
May 16, 2008 by Dad · Leave a Comment
This statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace, now home to the 4th Infantry division. It will eventually be shipped home and put in the memorial museum in Fort Hood , TX.
The statue was created by an Iraqi artist named Kalat, who for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad.
Kalat was so grateful for the Americans liberation of his country; he melted 3 of the heads of the fallen Saddam and made the statue as a memorial to the American soldiers and their fallen warriors Kalat worked on this memorial night and day for several months. To the left of the kneeling soldier is a small Iraqi girl giving the soldier comfort as he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms.
Oops.
Actually when I went to snopes I learned that the statue is very real and has extraordinary origins in Iraq, but the story above isn’t exactly accurate. For the truly interesting story and truth visit the Snopes version here: Kalat.
Cancer Sucks - Beating Cancer Rocks
May 16, 2008 by Dad · Leave a Comment
The letter below was forwarded to me from my sister. The author works with her husband, my Brother-in-Law. I don’t know Mark, but he’s the kind of guy I’d like to know. Rather then sit around complaining and worrying after being diagnosed with cancer, he’s taking care of business and trying to do some good. Best of luck Mark!
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As many of you know, I love cycling. When I first arrived in Boston in June 2007 I made a commitment to enter the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) 
and ride almost 200 miles to help raise money for the world leading Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI). Little did I know at the time that I would become a patient at DFCI and that I would tackle a much more personal challenge in the fight against cancer.
It all started in the fall of 2007 with a little late night bravado talk with Greg Pellegrino and Michael Marino about who could do the PMC ride and still walk the next day. The competitive instincts kicked in and we pushed each other on until there was no way to back down and the three of us were registered for the race – Michael didn’t even have a bike!
I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (MM), a type of blood cancer, on April 2nd, 2008. This was a big shock to the system for me as I always thought of myself as fit and healthy with a deep passion for cycling, mountain biking, triathlon, skiing, hiking and just about any other sport that will take me outside. As it turns out, I am not as healthy as I thought I was. There is no cure for MM at this time, but there is now innovative treatment available that will hopefully put me into remission and allow me to live a totally normal life for many years to come. With a wonderful wife, twin four year old children and an army of supporters by my side, I have a lot to fight for. I am ready to do battle and I know I will win.
So with the diagnosis, I had to pull out of the PMC. At least that was what I thought until Wil Carroll, a Senior Manager in Boston with a long standing relationship as a volunteer organizer with the PMC figured out how to convert my registration to a ‘virtual rider’ rather than an actual rider. Greg and Michael simply wouldn’t let me off the hook and said, “we started this together and we’re going to finish this together”. They each donated $1,000 to my fundraising efforts and I was off to the races - I am still going to participate in the PMC this year. They also went one step further, Michael and Greg agreed to commit all of their fundraising efforts to my name.
With a goal of $34M in 2008, the Pan-Mass Challenge is a very important fundraiser for DFCI. “The PMC has made what we do at Dana-Farber possible,” said Dana-Farber President Edward J. Benz, Jr., M.D. “When they write the history of how cancer was conquered, the PMC will be in chapter one.” DFCI has been at the forefront of research that has led to huge leaps forward in MM treatment in the last five years and with more highly innovative treatments in the pipeline, the outlook is very promising. In fact, my doctor told me last week that the book on MM is being completely re-written right now and that I have been given the pen. With that, I am going to work harder than ever to help raise funds for DFCI to help them continue their world leading research and find the cure – I would appreciate your help in making that happen.
My goal is to raise enough money in this year’s PMC to qualify as a “Heavy Hitter” fundraiser and ride it in person next year, after successfully completing my treatment. Please join me in this fight and make a donation – large or small, it all counts and every penny makes a difference.
Here is a link to the website with more information. To make a donation click on the “make an e gift” link on the right:
Alternately, you can make a contribution by visiting www.PMC.org and selecting “make a donation”. My fundraising site can be found by searching on “Mark Price, Medfield MA US” or by entering my eGift ID of “MP0175”.
Thank you and stay well,
Mark Price
Black Bear Blues
May 14, 2008 by Dad · Leave a Comment
Tonight we confirmed our fear that we had a black bear ransacking our trash cans, bird feeder, and gorging on the dried cat food we feed to our pond fish.
About 15 minutes before total darkness my wife spotted the bear sitting down in the corner of our field watching over our house apparently waiting for more darkness and to be sure we were finished outdoors. We watched it walk slowly up the side yard, turn towards the house, walk out behind our pool and then down to the pond. I’m sure he was disappointed when he realized he hadn’t saved any food the night before for tonight.
About that time my wife talked me into calling the police. Why? I’m not quite sure but, I was glad the first officer to arrive was able to get a good look at this bear as he calmly trotted back into the woods. I was having a nice chat with the officer about the road we’ve lived on for 23 years and how it had become the 2nd most dangerous road in the state. This, thanks to over 10,000 cars a day and a 55 mile an hour speed limit. Strange having so much crazy commuting traffic in front and a wild black bear just a couple hundred feet away trying to survive in the suburbs.
While we were talking two more policemen pulled in because they wanted to get a glimpse of this bear as well. Black bears just aren’t seen in our area any more and these guys were probably also itching for a chance to fire their weapons. Those two didn’t get a glimpse, but we did take time to try out one of their radar guns at the end of the driveway checking out the speed of the cars cruising down our stretch. Surprisingly no one was speeding out of the 15 or so drivers that went by. I would have bet anything that in 15 cars we’d have at least 1. Oh well. Poor guys, no bear, no gunshots, no high speed chases.
A short while ago, a full hour later my wife saw the bear again walking right out back by the pool.
What to do. Having a black bear out back to watch is very cool and the teens think it’s great. But, we have a 5 year, a dog (who is glad we finally figured out why he’s been acting like a cat!), and koi in the pond. Do we co-exist? Do we shoot it? Do we try to get it tranquilized and transported a couple of hours away? Would they even do that?
I have no idea what we’re going to do about it, but I was looking forward to a soak in the hot tub tonight and this visitor has caused me to scrub that plan so it won’t be long before we do something!
Advice welcome.
Bear info: bear.org
<Update 07-14-08: We haven’t seen Mr. Bear since I posted about him. Seems his fondness of us and our home was tied to the easy meals he was fetching from our trash cans. He’s moved onto greener pastures, or so we hope.>
