Prime

I hardly ever pass up a chance to watch Meryl Streep. To see her play Uma Thurman's shrink was something too good to resist. What further intrigued me was the May-December Ashton Kutcher-Demi Moore situation Uma Thurman finds herself in, complicated by the fact that the guy just happens to be her shrink's son!

I entered the theater thinking Prime was just another chick movie. Yes, it deals with chick issues, but as the movie progressed I realized there was more to this intimate jewel of a movie than I originally thought. Blame the trailer for marketing the more accessible (comic + romantic) aspects of the movie. Parts of it ARE brilliantly comic, thanks in no small part to Meryl's impeccable timing. She slips into the role of Dr. Metzker (supportive shrink-but-neurotic-Jewish-mom) so easily, but avoids making a caricature of her character. Opposite her Uma plays it straight, and seeing her character Rafi evolve is a joy to watch.

At the beginning of the movie we see Rafi trying to recover from her emotionally crushing divorce. She looks wilted and humiliated and in dire need of self-validation. Dr. Metzker encourages Rafi to rebuild her self esteem, to open up, toward giving and receiving love. Later, as Rafi blooms from the attentions of her young lover David (tenderly played by Bryan Greenberg), you see her growing more and more radiant. (Reminds me of another cinematic divorcee who slowly gets her groove back - Diane Lane as Frances Mayes in 2003's Under The Tuscan Sun.)

"We have had sex on almost every surface of my apartment, and I have NEVER been so satisfied!" Hearing a rapturous Uma deliver that line alone had our entire cinema audience cheering.

Conflict begins when Dr. Metzker realizes that the lover is her son David: how does one behave ethically as a therapist when the subject of her client's affections is a family member? How does a therapist prioritize client care over her personal issues? How does a Jewish mother encourage her son to cherish his culture and religion? Given that our movie is set in New York, it's not inconceivable for a therapist to have her own therapist.

Later, when strain threatens Rafi's relationship, Uma Thurman gets to show exactly how a woman of 37 feels, faced with the 14-year gulf in intellectual and emotional maturity between Rafi and David. I truly felt her exultation and her pain, and so did every girl in the audience (which does characterize this as a chick flick). At this point the audience suddenly realized that the comedy on the surface had its darker depths.

The movie is marketed as a comedy, but it had a balanced mixture of comedy and bittersweet romance. All in all it felt more like a slightly gritty European film rather than a glossy Hollywood one. The film's writer made sure the subject was never at any point dumbed down. There was no fairy-tale ending (yes, we know Ashton and Demi got married in real life, that's Hollywood for you), but there was a realistic one that made you think.

Does it bear repeated viewing? I enjoyed watching it. My vote is Yes.

Gems From National Geographic

From National Geographic magazine, November 2005 issue:

Health - Women feel more pain - and feel pain more - than men, notes a new study. The sexes' coping strategies may hint at why. Men in the study focused on physical aspects of discomfort, which apparently helped increase pain thresholds. Women focused on pain's emotional as well as physical aspects. Their pain proved harder to treat and seemed of greater intensity.

Astronomy - A new planet with three suns in its sky has been found 149 light years from Earth. Its type is named Tatooine after the dual-sunned planet in the film "Star Wars".

From the December 2005 issue:

Health - Olive oil contains a natural painkiller, scientists say. An ingredient in olives known as oleocanthal works in much the same way as the drug ibuprofen to suppress pain-causing prostaglandins in the body. The anti-inflammatory properties of oleocanthal may help explain the reduced incidence of certain cancers, stroke, and heart disease in Mediterranean populations that traditionally use large amounts of olive oil in their diets.

Animal Kingdom - Cats can't taste sugary foods. A defective sweet-receptor gene is why, according to a new study. This antipathy toward sweets may have helped shape feline evolution in the wild, leading to a preference for muscle-building protein over carbohydrates. Or, say scientists, the gene may have become defective from lack of use in cats' high protein diet.

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I truly love this magazine. I remember growing up as a kid reading my uncle's old back issues, and it felt like I was travelling a different country each time. My not-so-secret fantasy was to become a National Geographic photojournalist...

Weak At The Knees

The other day I received text messages informing me that a close girl friend of mine had suffered a stroke, was mildly paralyzed and was rushed to the hospital. I wasn't able to go to the hospital that night to see her, but a common friend of ours who did texted me: "She has Guillain-Barre Syndrome."

Of course I looked it up online. This site explains it well, but since it's a distant healing rather than a medical/scientific site, I looked at Wikipedia. Then I dug up a really useful site, the Guillain-Barre Syndrome Support Group, based in the UK. The best thing about this last site is that it contains testimonies of those who have experienced and recovered from GBS. Reading those accounts heartened me. I couldn't bear imagining this friend of mine permanently immobile and depressed.

I visited my friend - let's call her Rachel - yesterday afternoon after lunch. but most of the time I was there her mom and the nurse were busy bathing her so I had to wait outside.

When I first arrived I was able to say hi and ask how she was. "Hi, I have GBS."

This was what I noticed:

1. She was lucid, sitting up straight. She talked slowly and carefully, her voice a bit slurred. She said she couldn't smile because she had to support her chin with one hand while talking, because of the mild paralysis in the muscles of her lower jaw. She was connected to a dextrose drip.

2. Her fingers were nimble enough to receive and make short text replies to me on her cell phone.

I was relieved because I had expected worse circumstances.

On her way back from the restroom her mom asked me to get a male nurse to assist them back to the hospital room because she had to hold the drip. Rachel was able to walk slowly, but I realized her legs couldn't voluntarily support the weight of her body. Her mom and I propped her up on the bed, because the bed base was high. Then she asked to wear socks because her feet felt cold (she couldn't bend down to put them on). She told me she could feel the cold, but if her foot were dipped in water, she couldn't feel the sensation of wetness. She asked me to hold her hand, and it was cold and dry. Apparently she could not generate/regulate her body temperature (something to do with the nerves, I don't know how to explain it), but she could feel the warmth of my hands.

I asked if she was able to eat solids. She said she eats by supporting her lower jaw with one hand. "So there's nothing wrong with your tongue?" I asked. None, she said. She had solid food for lunch, despite the drip. The drip was there because earlier she had no appetite. Her blood pressure was up and down, and when she sat up from a prone position she felt dizzy. After she threw up she said she felt the pressure in her esophagus released, so then she actually felt hungry. She drinks water from a glass (doesn't need a straw), but can't stretch out her arm to get it from the table. She says she doesn't like to lie down for long periods without changing position, because the muscles in her back ache. When she lies down she puts a folded blanket between her knees for warmth and circulation. With some effort she can move each leg forward and backward, as long as she's lying down. She likes to be bundled up in a coverlet because her extremities constantly feel cold.

Apparently, this is what happened:

1. Last Wednesday, she woke up feeling numbness in her toes. She still went ahead with her duties. Through the weekend, she felt a tingling sensation climbing up her legs. By Monday, she was still able to drive to work. However, when she got there, her blood pressure shot to 160/100, and she passed out. One of her colleagues took her to the Infirmary, where she was given medicine to lower her blood pressure. But when the doctors noted her mild paralysis, they concluded she must have had a stroke. So her parents rushed her to the hospital for tests.

2. After the battery of tests and the CT scan Rachel was scheduled for an MRI. Early this morning the results of the CT scan came in and they discovered that her brain was undamaged - ergo she NEVER had a stroke at all. And best of all, there was NO brain damage. So when the neurologist interviewed her and she told him of the sequence of events leading to the hospitalization, he diagnosed her as having Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS).

Rachel was aware of GBS, because she had had one male student who suffered from it last year. One day while standing at the bus stop, he just collapsed, his legs buckling beneath him. He missed two months of classes, and when he came back, he was just barely able to walk. He reported to the class his experiences with GBS, so when the neurologist made his diagnosis, Rachel was able to grasp what was happening to her.

But Rachel's mom still doesn't understand what GBS is, or whether people are able to recover. I told her about the GBS Support Group, and the accounts I'd read. Rachel said, "If I'd really had a stroke, my brain would be permanently damaged. At least the doctor said, with GBS, there's a beginning and an end." According to the GBS site, the condition clears up of its own accord, only you can't predict when. My guess is, with the immunoglobulin treatment and the physiotherapy, Rachel actually has a chance of recovering most of her motor functions any time within six months. Rachel probably wouldn't be able to go on mountain hikes but at least she'd be able to walk short distances unaided, or even be able to drive again with a companion. The possibility that the quality of her life can still improve is what counts.

The duration of the hospital stay, the cost of physiotherapy, and most of all, the cost of the immunoglobulin medicine worries her mom. Rachel asked me if I could ask all our friends to help raise funds for the medicine. I was shocked when her mom mentioned the cost of treatment. It's estimated that a GBS patient needs 5 vials of immunoglobulin a day for 7 days. However, the premier brand of immunoglobulin costs something like PhP 13,000 PER VIAL. If you calculate it, that's the amount you spend on a CAR. So Rachel's mom told me that she asked around for a cheaper alternative that was just as effective. She found one being supplied by a company somewhere in Manila, that was priced at PhP 5,100 per vial. The 35 vials Rachel needs for the treatment will then cost just under PhP 200,000 (less than half the other total, but still a hefty expense). So I said if they could get me the name of the cheaper alternative I could try to source it in the US and ask some relatives to bring them early next year when they come for our family reunion. Or we could ask our high school batchmates in the US to sponsor vials for the treatment. Or we could write to charity organizations abroad for help. Anyhow, I said I'd ask our other friend Francine to help me write some letters. We'll try to set up a bank account for donations as soon as possible.

If, after reading this, you'd like to help in any way, please send us an email or leave a comment below. We'd really appreciate it.