CALGARY WEATHER
TODAY: 26, Partly Cloudy….**with Late Day/Evening Showers or T.Showers
TONIGHT: 12, Chance Showers/T.Showers
WEDNESDAY: 16, Rain
>Here we go….get ready for the cooldown….Cold Front moves in today, expect a chance for late-day showers (or T.Showers)….wet Thursday…BUT…Clearing just in time for the long weekend.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz ((TWITTER: @SchultzWeather))
Great news for those affected by cancer in Alberta. Alberta Innovates and the Alberta Cancer Foundation in partnership with Alberta Health have dolled out 7 million dollars in research grants to physicians and scientists in Alberta. That means 27 research projects are underway looking for better treatment options for cancer, it even means more work toward a cure.
I spoke with one researcher, a chemist with the University of Calgary, Jurgen Gailer, who’s looking into platinum drugs. These are anticancer drugs commonly used in adults in children. They do kill cancer cells, but they have devastating side effects such as irreversible hearing loss, kidney damage and adverse effects on the brain. Jurgen wants to understand what causes these side effects, so he and his team are looking at what happens as soon as these drugs are added to the bloodstream. He’ll actually be looking at blood taken from children with cancer.
Another project that received funding will make two clinical trials possible in the area of pancreatic cancer. The trials will compare two current treatments for pancreatic cancer. This particular cancer needs better outcomes. Currently, it has only a 5 percent survival rate.
These are just a couple of examples of the groundbreaking cancer research underway in our province. It’s research that will make a difference for Albertans struggling with this devastating disease.
For more information visit:
CALGARY WEEKEND WEATHER
TODAY: 14, Showers
TONIGHT: 7, Chance Showers
SATURDAY: 16, Scattered Showers
SUNDAY: 16, Scattered Showers
>A Wet Weekend on the way……got some indoor activities you’ve been waiting to tackle???? Look for clearing to start on Monday.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz (( TWITTER: @SchultzWeather ))
CALGARY WEATHER
TODAY: 13, Rain (5-10mm)
TONIGHT: 7, Chance Showers
THURSDAY: 10, Rain
>A ‘parade’ of Low Pressure systems will be the major influence over the next several days….wet, wet, wet…oh – and cool. Sorry – “just the facts”.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz (( TWITTER: @SchultzWeather ))
If you’re a parent, you know about poop. From diapers, to potty training, your child’s stool is front and centre. And most parents will have also dealt with this issue of constipation because most children will suffer from it, at least once. WHY? I spoke with Gastroenterologist Dr. Decker Butzner at the Alberta Children’s Hospital about this very common problem.
First off, kids are a busy bunch. Who wants to stop playing to go to the toilet? They also don’t eat enough fibre. ”I don’t want to eat my vegetables mommy!” And they’re not drinking enough fluid. Notice how your 3 year old runs around constantly? She needs a lot of hydration to compensate.
So what’s going on in the body? Dr. Butzner explains when a child is constipated, their colon will stretch and stretch and stretch. It’s like a muscle that becomes very out of shape, and in order to correct the problem, you need to start a new regimen. It’s a big lifestyle change that includes changes in diet and fluid intake.
Here is a basic guideline:
o provide at least 2 servings of fruit each day
o provide at least 3 servings of vegetables each day (2 servings for 2-4 year olds)
increase whole-grain foods, such as bran flakes, bran muffins, graham crackers, oatmeal, brown rice, and whole wheat bread. Offer your child whole wheat bread instead of white bread.
choose breads and cereals that have at least 3 grams of fibre per serving. This information can be found on the Nutrition Facts panel on packaged foods
High Source of Fibre = at least 4 grams of fibre per serving.
Very High Source of Fibre = at least 6 grams of fibre per serving.
Age + 5 = #grams of fibre each day can be used as a guideline to start increasing your child’s fibre intake. A 5 year old, for example, should have at least 10 grams of fibre each day.
Make sure your child is drinking enough fluids. When the weather gets hot or when your child is getting more exercise, make sure he or she is drinking more fluid.
Water is a great drink for kids, limit juice to ½ cup a day.
Fluid requirements are based on weight
Weight Fluid/day
10 kg (22 pounds) – 1000ml (4 cups)
15 kg (33 pounds) – 1250 mL (5 cups)
20 kg (44 pounds) – 1500 mL (6 cups)
25 – 35 kg (55 – 77 pounds) – 1750 mL (7 cups)
> 35 kg (>77 pounds) – >2000 mL (= > 8 cups)
Making these changes to diet and fluid intake are a big commitment. You’ll need to stick to the regimen everyday for 4-6 months. That’s the time it will take for that colon to return to a proper size. The best thing you can do as a parent is set a good example. Eat lots of fibre and drink lots of fluids too.
Dr. Butzner and his team have set up a teaching program that outlines how to adopt these lifestyle changes. Parents attend a two-hour seminar to learn about these new fibre and fluid intake levels. And then there’s a hotline for parents to call if they have questions after the lecture. The class is offered 4 times a year. You must have a referral from a family doctor to attend.
If the diet and lifestyle changes don’t work, your child may need treatment. There are several laxatives that are safe in children, most you don’t need a prescription for. But Dr. Butzner recommends you do talk to a medical professional at this point. Mineral oil is good for little children, honey mixed with a drink can work too. Another good product is called PEG 3350. It’s odourless and tasteless and can be mixed into any drink. These laxatives work by pulling fluid from the body into the colon to soften stool. Stimulating laxatives are not recommended for children.
If the constipation is severe, your child may also need an enema. A parent can do this at home, but they’ll need instruction from a health care professional.
For more information, Dr. Butzner recommends these websites:
There is a casting call taking place this weekend in Calgary – the casting director is looking for very specific requirements so scroll down if you’re interested!
SATURDAY, JUNE 11, 2011
SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2011
10:00am – 4:30pm each day
LOCATION: THE RADISSON HOTEL – SELKIRK A ROOM
2120 16TH AVENUE N.E., CALGARY, AB
SPANISH & FRENCH SPEAKERS & AMPUTEES SOUGHT TO HELP IN
PEACEKEEPING TRAINING EXERCISES
Casting director Rhonda Fisekci is searching for 19 to 60 year-old Spanish & French Speakers of any ethnicity and Amputees interested in participating as civilian role players to enact a variety of different village scenarios during various military training sessions in Alberta this fall from August – October, 2011.
The roles for both men and women will include leadership type roles in addition to various other community members to populate the “virtual village”. Training will be provided for all participants. The daily rate of pay will be between $195.00 and $290.00 per day, including training days and days off will be paid at a reduced rate as everyone is required to remain on the base during days off. Travel from Edmonton & Calgary, meals and accommodation will be provided. A fixed return travel allowance will be given to participants from outside of Alberta. These are peacekeeping exercises between civilians and military personnel. No weapons or live fire will be used.
For the Amputee Role Players: Can be of any ethnicity and speak any language. The production does hold what we call “Heavy Casualty Days”. By using special effects make-up etc we are able to re-create a very real aftermath of a bombing which the soldiers come in to deal with. We ask that the applicants not be faint of heart as these scenarios can be very intense and dramatic. Our Amputee participants will be a very important element on these particular training days.
In its commitment to provide military support to other nations, the Canadian government has engaged the film industry to re-create specific villages and scenarios in Wainwright. By having the motion picture industry re-create dramatic village settings with real civilian and real dramatic situations, military recruits will come to understand cultural, religious and political issues that will help them assist the local people on their own terms.
CALGARY WEEKEND WEATHER
TODAY: 22, Sunny (( Cloud thickens late afternoon – Evening Showers ))
TONIGHT: 10, Showers/Possible Thundershowers
SATURDAY: 16, Partly Cloudy (Chance AM Showers)
SUNDAY: 18, Partly Cloudy
>Instability rolls in late this afternoon….Clearing by Saturday, although cooler than average (High teens, when we should be at 20) straight through the weekend.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz (( TWITTER: @SchultzWeather ))
CALGARY WEATHER
TODAY: 15, AM: Scattered Showers / PM: Partly Cloudy
TONIGHT: 6, Partly Cloudy
THURSDAY: 20, Sunny
>Yep….we’re finally going to see temperatures returning back to average (tomorrow) with a generous dose of sunshine….a little cooler, with a chance for showers on Saturday.
-Meteorologist Andrew Schultz (( TWITTER: @SchultzWeather ))
The Dippers:
I take a measure of comfort, a teaspoon’s worth perhaps, in being among dozens of false prophets around the country. My bold prediction that Jack Layton, after decisvely winning the English language TV debate during the election campaign, would then toddle onward to the typical NDP caucus of 30-odd MPs was matched by equally offside forecasts from every editorial writer and columnist in the land.
I’ve been wrong before, but seldom so dramatically. However, we cannot attribute the NDP arrival as official opposition in the Commons to simple electoral mathematics in Quebec. The party increased its vote total in all parts of Canada, to nearly double its tally of 2008. Almost without exception, it held on to its seats in Ontario and western Canada, and its final total of 102 wins unquestionably makes the NDP the second most powerful political entity in Canada.
The fact remains, though, that the bulk of its support came from Quebec – the so-called playschool rush – which places the NDP in the odd and potentially tricky position of advocacy for that province, while maintaining its historical posture as a federalist party. Already, two of Layton’s crew have suggested the New Democrats will respect Quebec sovereignty if it comes to that, and in fact one of the youngsters allowed that Quebec will indeed become a separate nation: it’s merely a question of time.
Jack Layton doesn’t need that kind of nonsense going into the next session of Parliament, and he certainly doesn’t need his senior deputy, Thomas Mulcair, veering stupidly close to conspiracy theorism about the lack of firm evidence, in his view, to certify the death of Osama Bin Laden. Layton will have trouble enough rounding his juvenile caucus into an effective, coherent opposition force without such idle shots from the lip - and all the more so since the Dippers will be confronted by a Prime Minister who has incontestably become one of the shrewdest, craftiest political leaders Canada has seen for a very long time.
For now, though, credit where credit is due. Jack Layton has ascended a very high political mountain and in so doing redefined Canadian politics. The fact that in the process, he destroyed Gilles Duceppe and the Blocheads can only be seen as a bonus: we are well rid of that mob, and primarily because of the New Democrats, the country is the better for it.
The Grits:
Conventional wisdom has it that the Liberal Party of Canada has been declining at flank speed for the last half dozen years and more – and there’s a great deal of evidence in support of that analysis. Deterioration has been plain to see, starting with the endless leadership derby following Jean Chretien and let it be said, his three majority victories. The Grits have since been bouncing leaders around like rubber balls: Paul Martin, Stephane Dion, Michael Ignatieff. Martin managed to squeeze out a minority government in 2004, but thereafter the Liberals were sliding toward oblivion – and have now reached it.
But in the context of the election just concluded, let’s not ignore Ignatieff’s signal contribution to decline and fall, beginning with his ill-considered decision (against the advice of several veteran Liberal insiders) to force the non-confidence vote which defeated Stephen Harper’s minority government. Ignatieff was determined to have at it against the Conservatives, but he woefully misjudged both the mood of the population – and more ominiously, the remarkable maturing of Harper as strategist, tactician, and above all, hard-nosed and even ruthless politician.
The anti-Tories can fulminate all they want about Harper the control freak, Harper the humourless drone, Harper the secretive political dictator – but the fact is he got his majority and in the process – with assistance from the NDP – reduced the Liberals to dry toast. The Prime Minister played a decisive role in demolishing the Grits, to be sure, but the principal reason for the Liberal death throes was Ignatieff’s curious inability to connect with voters, to persuade them he was not in fact a Johnny-Come-Lately to Canadian politics, and most importantly, to convince all of us he was anything more than an oddly vacant egghead. In spite of his best efforts to be “one of the guys”, Ignatieff was anything but: detached in a strange sort of way from reality, and therefore detached from the people whose votes he sought.
And it says something, I think, about the man who within 72 hours of leading the Liberal Party to disaster would cheerfully disclose he’d accepted a sinecure at the University of Toronto. He would go back to teaching law, and political science, even as the 40 plus Liberals who lost their Commons seats under his leadership were wondering, and no doubt worrying about their future prospects. Not so for Michael Ignatieff, though: he’ll do just fine, and presumably will give little thought to his former colleagues who are now – in a manner of speaking – on the streets.
So Ignatieff will spend his summer busily preparing courses for incoming students at the U of T. I assume the post-graduate lectures will concentrate exclusively on the art of losing elections, because Michael Ignatieff clearly has no understanding of how they’re won.
The University of Calgary’s Faculty of Nursing has just received a nice chunk of cash from the Province. It’s a $300, 000 grant that will go to their Clinical Simulation Learning Centre.
It’s a state of the art 2 million dollar facility. It’s where nursing students get hands-on experience by working with patient simulators. They’re “high fidelity” mannequins that can talk and recreate any physiological symptoms a patient would exhibit. ie… blood pressure, pulse, heart rate, dilating pupils etc. The Centre has 5 of these types of mannequins… a senior in for pre and post operative care, a woman delivering a baby, the baby, a school-aged child and another adult that is currently dressed up as a sex worker.
This new money will go towards two more simulators… another adult and another school-aged child. They are worth about $80,000 dollars each.
The most controversial one right now is Imogene, the sex trade worker. She is the only one of her kind being used to teach community health in the country. Imogene is pretty hard to look at. She has cuts and bruises everywhere, a black eye and track marks on her arm. But you can imagine the reaction she provokes in students. She’s a key tool in teaching the students that each patient has a history, that nurses must put aside their judgements in order to deliver the best care.
The Centre also recreates both acute care settings, like hospital ward rooms and emergency rooms, as well as home-care settings.
To learn more about the Centre visit their website: