For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for July 02, 2015

@Tarred and feathered

From yesterday:

High amounts of salt are associated with both high blood pressure and an increased rate of stomach cancer. An additive does not have to be made from petrochemicals to cause health problems.

Get a grip! She could have far worse problems! Count your blessings!

Can foresee a bit of counseling in Anne’s future.

Nobody is really born ‘normal’, it’s a construct the doesn’t exist in reality. If you can stay alive you’re normal.

Amen

My younger daughter was born with a tag by one of her ears. The doctor asked if we wanted it removed; we said that we’d wait until she was older (which was an option). She’s 10 now, and refers to her tag as an “extra ear, so that I can listen better”. You see, she’s the one her friends go to when they have problems…because she listens.

yes it is

She needs to accept her daughter as is!

“If they function properly, leave ’em !”~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.I couldn’t disagree with you more! Think of the child, think of the teasing she’ll get from classmates. the bullying. the staring of strangers. Would you really want that to be her life?

6 fingers on each hand could be considered evolution.

Lynn’s Notes:

As a medical artist, I once had the privilege of working on a long and demanding project which tracked the development of the foetus. I worked with tiny, unborn bodies. I drew detailed illustrations showing how internal organs grew, expanded, displaced other organs, and eventually packed themselves neatly into the body and began to function. I learned minute details about the bowel, the heart, and the brain. I learned that each organ depended on the others to turn, close, twist, secrete or open at an exact time in an exact order, and if anything failed to do what it was supposed to do at the right time, then there might be a serious problem. Years later, when I gave birth to my first child, I couldn’t believe how perfect he was. When you think about the infinite complexity of creation, it’s a miracle that any of us comes through the process as “normal!”

Consider when this strip was written. Attitudes have changed a lot since then. I’m glad to see so many who feel that the extra fingers do not matter.

It’s kind of scary to think what Anne would have said about her baby if she had a debilitating disease or a permanent deformation. :(

Just don’t kill anyone’s father or they will seek vengence by finding your 6 finger hands! And be prepared to die!

Just be thankful you weren’t prescribed thalodimide during your pregnancy!!(Unfortunately, Canada was slow banning this one)

This poor kid should have been born to a scientist of some sort. Preferably geneticist, evolutionary biologist, developmental biologist, or something like that. That’s the kind of person who would appreciate a polydactyl child for the rare treasure she is..And for heaven’s sake, if the fingers work and don’t cause physical pain, leave them alone. They’re as much a part of her as the other ten.

You know, in many comic strips, five fingers would be considered “abnormal.”

A few years ago, Antonio Alfonseca pitched in the major leagues. He had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot. The great Braves’ broadcaster Skip Caray used to joke that Alfonseca gave 120% each time he went to the mound.

Here’s some information about Alfonseca:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Alfonseca

She’s going to have the extra finger removed because it’s not “normal?” If it’s functioning, why mess with it? There was a major league pitcher, Antonio Alfonseca, who had six digits.

-On a similar tack; ALL women should have mandatory mastectomies to prevent cancer. Then we wouldn’t need the pink ribbons and the special postage stamp

If only it were that easy. My aunt, who died of recurrent breast cancer, had had double radical mastectomy when it first was found (because that was what they did then.) When it came back, it was in the glands in her arms, but the biopsy showed it was the same type of cancer that had been in the breast.

And men also get breast cancer. Not just guys who are overweight and have protruding ‘breasts’, either.

What is amazing is how many of us survive given how little is still known about our many ailments…

-Kids need to be taught to be kind and civil

If you can figure out how to do that, please teach the rest of us. Seriously. This is information that most of us lack.

The best and greatest gift that a parent can give a child is that of unconditional acceptance for who they are — six fingers and all!

No one is normal. Annie wanted a little girl and she should be happy she finally has one.

One of my uncles was born with no arms. He did almost everything with his feet and he did most very well.

Thanks! That’s four people I know of in the US who have a similar situation and three are/were musicians. My uncle was on radio back in the ’30s and ’40s.

No lady’s ever complained about my large…