Why Am I Bothering?

...Seriously. I'll never update this. I'll probably never delete it, because I don't like deleting things. And no one actually reads it, either. I'm the worst internet citizen EVER. Find me on Facebook, it's the only thing I check.

*wipe wipe wipe*

*BLOW*

Oh, look! Once the dust wears off, there's still a blog here! Wee!

toothpastefordinner.com

I wish there had been a Circular Reasoning class at NAU. I would have ACED that shit.

open request to Sprint/Nextel

Come on, people. I'm made of awesome, and can totally do that job in my sleep. Hire me already.

in a nut shell

• No, I still haven't died of botulism.
• I didn't get the AZ Legislature job, largely I think because I'm not an AZ resident.
• I graduated with a 3.5! Yes, I am now a Uni graduate.
• I went to Guatemala with my family, and had an amazing trip.
• Celebrated New Years at a bar, like you do.
• Am now job hunting.
• Am entirely too bored for my own good. How about some pictures?

i liiiiiiiiive

No, I haven't died of botulism. It's my last semester of undergrad, and I'm a slacker, and don't update. On the bright side, though, I have a second interview for an internship with the Arizona State Legislature. I've been wishy-washy about whether or not I even want this job, but now that I've gotten a second interview, I'm going to be a little disappointed if I don't get it. Wish me luck!

Botulism

Food-borne and wound botulism

[edit] Incubation

• Classic symptoms of food-borne botulism usually occur between 12–36 hours after consuming the botulinum toxin. However, they can occur as early as 6 hours or as late as 10 days after.
• Wound botulism has a longer incubation period, usually between 4–14 days.

Common symptoms of either form usually include dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, slurred speech, drooping eyelids, muscle weakness, double and/or blurred vision, vomiting, and sometimes diarrhea. These symptoms may progress to cause paralytic ileus with severe constipation, and eventually body paralysis. The respiratory muscles are affected as well, which may cause death due to respiratory failure. These are all symptoms of the muscle paralysis caused by the bacterial toxin.

In all cases illness is caused by the toxin made by C. botulinum, not by the bacterium itself. The pattern of damage occurs because the toxin affects nerves that are firing more often.^[3]

Treatment

The respiratory failure and paralysis that occur with severe botulism may require a patient to be on a breathing machine for weeks, plus intensive medical and nursing care. After several weeks, the paralysis slowly improves. If diagnosed early, foodborne and wound botulism can be treated by inducing passive immunity with a horse-derived antitoxin, which blocks the action of toxin circulating in the blood.^[4] This can prevent patients from worsening, but recovery still takes many weeks. Physicians may try to remove contaminated food still in the gut by inducing vomiting or by using enemas. Wounds should be treated, usually surgically, to remove the source of the toxin-producing bacteria. Good supportive care in a hospital is the mainstay of therapy for all forms of botulism.

Besides supportive care, infant botulism can be treated with human botulism immune globulin (BabyBIG), when available. Supply is extremely limited, but is available through the California Department of Health Services. This dramatically decreases the length of illness for most infants. Paradoxically, antibiotics (especially aminoglycosides or clindamycin) may cause dramatic acceleration of paralysis as the affected bacteria release toxin. Visual stimulation should be performed during the time the infant is paralyzed as well, in order to promote the normal development of visual pathways in the brain during this critical developmental period.

Furthermore each case of food-borne botulism is a potential public health emergency in that it is necessary to identify the source of the outbreak and ensure that all persons who have been exposed to the toxin have been identified, and that no contaminated food remains.

Complications

Botulism can result in death due to respiratory failure. However, in the past 50 years, the proportion of patients with botulism who die has fallen from about 50% to 8% due to improved supportive care. A patient with severe botulism may require a breathing machine as well as intensive medical and nursing care for several months. Patients who survive an episode of botulism poisoning may have fatigue and shortness of breath for years and long-term therapy may be needed to aid their recovery.

***


Why do I care about this enough to blog it, you may be asking? Cause the chili that I've been enjoying recently apparently has been recalled because some cans contain it. Woo! I might die!

In all honesty, I haven't died yet. But just in case, I love you all.

woo!

Woo! Number One:

I'm becoming a superstar at driving stickshift.

Woo! Number Two:

I found Milka chocolate at Target today. Yes, the second best chocolate in the world. After Whitakers, of course...it made me happy.