Friday, September 16, 2011

PerryCare, not peri-care

In the wake of her disastrous attempt to score a political point on Rick Perry's Gardasil problem in this past week's Republican presidential candidates debate, Michele Bachmann is now referring to a government official's interference in the occasionally difficult medical decisions people must make as "PerryCare".

"Whether it's Obamacare or Perrycare, I oppose any governor or president who mandates a family's health care choices, and in turn, violates the rights of parents on these issues ..."

Forget for a moment the conflation of disparate issues. Ignore Bachmann's stark contradictions associated with this statement and her virulently anti-choice view. Overlook the redux of fear-mongering we last saw in the discussion regarding 'death panels' and that nonsense.

Bachmann might be onto something, however unwittingly, with PerryCare and its phonetical twin, peri-care.

I'm certain she has no idea that peri-care (short for perineal care) is ...

... the washing of the genital and rectal areas of the body. Perineal care should be done at least one time a day during the bed bath, shower, or tub bath. It is done more often when a client is incontinent. Perineal care prevents infection, odors and irritation.

Perineal care is done when a patient has a urinary catheter in place. It is also done when the client does not have a urinary catheter. Perineal care is done differently for men and women.

The link gets more specific about how the procedure is specifically performed for men and for women.

If any of you have cared for an elderly parent or an incapacitated person then you might already be familiar with peri-care, usually (thankfully) performed by home health aides when a person is confined to bed at home and by nurses and nurse's aides in hospitals, nursing homes, etc.

So my first response was: 'It makes perfect sense that both PerryCare and peri-care are close to an asshole'.

I think this could quite possibly develop into a meme. "PerryCare: when you care enough to do the very best for your loved ones."

"Under PerryCare, Texans are getting their clocks cleaned. And that's not all."

"Without PerryCare, we'd have been in a world of shit."

"PerryCare covers my entire family. And when I say 'covered' and 'entire', I mean it."

Do you have a similar campaign slogan for 'PerryCare'?

Update: In related news, Bachmann reinvigorates her continuing quest to out-"side of life" Rick Perry ...

“We must respect every life, even those yet to even be created. If we don’t give them the hope of becoming an embryo, we are letting down future generations of American citizens.”

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