Two birthdays and a world to save

My birthday went by this past week. It was a sort of celebratory event the entire week, culminating in a birthday breakfast this morning, which included a few presents -- even though I didn't really want anything -- and wasn't expecting much. This past week also marked the first time I registered for a stay at a hospital.

The hospital visit was planned -- been in the plans for a few months at the very least, following a visit to my GP. The whole process of, "there's something weird there, touch it," through to, "nice to meet you, drop your pants," and "don't worry, you won't feel a thing," probably took six months. It was not an emergency, but a proactive move on my part to take care of my health. Six months move pretty fast. It was my first encounter with the process of surgery, and having no expectations, I guess I am satisfied. There are those who rail against the Canadian health care system, but taking the context of my encounter out of the picture, it was not a bad experience -- even a pleasant one. There was the issue of the hospital losing my pre-op paperwork -- which meant I had to refill a form and sign the consent just before being wheeled into the OR -- but that was it. I was out of it. The doctors did their thing. I apparently woke up to the OR staff singing "happy birthday" -- which I don't remember. I was loaded up on drugs and shipped off to home. The next day, I got a courtesy call from one of the nurses at the hospital wondering how I was handling the pain. The pain was being handled. Like I said, I am satisfied. Something that in a different time would have killed me, is now routine day surgery. In and out. Just like that, and I even dropped into work a couple of days after for a few hours. I didn't need more reason or evidence to be thankful to be a Canadian -- having the luck to have circumstances put me on Canadian soil -- a citizen -- but this week, I had another reason handed to me. What I took for granted this week is a luxury that most of the world can't even dream of. I took for granted the fact that my life wasn't on the edge -- I wasn't at risk -- that I would be well. In a couple of days, Canada will celebrate another birthday. I will spend it quietly, reflecting on where I am, and the opportunities that are before me. Yes, another luxury.

I am a Canadian (eh!), but as I like to think, I am also a citizen of the world. The luxury of being Canadian allows me to think of myself as a global citizen first, and a Canadian second. In keeping with my international citizenship, my wife gave me something I didn't already have, for my birthday -- a donation to the David Suzuki Foundation, directed to be used for their Oceans Preservation Project. The oceans cover most of the planet and are key to sustaining life as we know it. Life on land and the oceans are connected in ways we probably still don't fully understand, from the food chain to the air we breathe; yet we treat the oceans as a garbage dump. Effluent from industry to household waste not properly disposed of, ends up far away in the ocean -- out of sight and out of mind. We've managed to affect chemical changes to the oceans. The oceans are becoming more acidic, and as a result, tiny lifeforms at the bottom of the food chain are being killed off. It's not called a chain for nothing. The higher lifeforms are connected to the lower ones -- as the lower lifeforms die out, the danger will spread outwards on the chain. At the end of that chain, are humans. The danger isn't for the coral reefs, the dolphins and the whales. We're the ones in danger. Us, and our oversized appetites that trawl the planet leaving destruction in our wake. [Sigh ...] Saving the world means saving ourselves.

Check out the latest Discover Magazine for a pop-sci education on the topic.