What A Slacker!

I Don’t Like This Feeling

Add comment May 28th, 2010

I don’t like this feeling.

I don’t like feeling.

I feel strange. I can feel everything happening in my body.

I feel weak. Nauseous.

I can fell my heart beating in my chest.

I can feel every breath I take. Especially the ones I don’t take. My chest feels heavy. It is hard to breath. I feel out of breath when all I am doing is lying here.

I can feel my throat. I can feel the breath as it moves down my throat. How can air get caught in your throat? My tongue feels like it is pushing on the back of my throat. Pushing it closed.

I feel my head, the weight of my head. Yet I am light headed?

I feel my arms and legs. Feel them feel as if they are useless or not even there. Tingly but not tingly. Weak.

Remember to breath.

My stomach is empty yet I feel it working. Digesting. Gurgling. Pushing nothingness into my bowels, bowels that bubble and twist.

Headache.

I can feel my eyes moving about in their sockets. I feel every blink.

I feel like a stranger in my own body.

I want to go back to not feeling any of this as it happens, to blissfully feel nothing as my body works.

I don’t like this feeling.

I don’t like feeling.

Blood Test Back I Have a High SED Rate

Add comment May 27th, 2010

Of course when they called and told me my blood work was back and everything was okay except I had a high SED rate, I had no idea what that could mean and they did not explain it to me either. Thank goodness for WebMD.com (maybe), where I got an explanation even if it wasn’t exactly promising.

From WebMD.com…

Sedimentation Rate

The sedimentation rate (sed rate) blood test measures how quickly red blood cells (erythrocytes) settle in a test tube in one hour. The more red cells that fall to the bottom of the test tube in one hour, the higher the sed rate.

When inflammation is present in the body, certain proteins cause red blood cells to stick together and fall more quickly than normal to the bottom of the tube. These proteins are produced by the liver and the immune system under many abnormal conditions, such as an infection, an autoimmune disease, or cancer.

There are many possible causes of a high sedimentation rate. For this reason, a sed rate is done with other tests to confirm a diagnosis. After a diagnosis has been made, a sed rate can be done to help check on the disease or see how well treatment is working.
Why It Is Done

A sedimentation rate (sed rate) test is done to:

* Find out if inflammation is present.
* Check on the progress of a disease.
* See how well a treatment is working.

And their definition of autoimmune wasn’t very promising either….

Autoimmune disease

The immune system is the body’s defense against foreign substances, such as bacteria or viruses, that may be harmful. An autoimmune disease is an abnormal condition that occurs when a person’s immune system attacks its own tissues as though they were foreign substances.

* Normally, when a foreign substance enters the body, the immune system creates special cells to attack and destroy the foreign substance. These cells include antibodies and white blood cells (lymphocytes).
* In a person with an autoimmune disease, the immune system recognizes some of the person’s own tissues as foreign substances. The body makes antibodies and other cells that attack and destroy these tissues. This process often leads to inflammation and eventually, if it continues, scarring and destruction of the organs that are made up of those tissues.

Why the body attacks its own cells is not known. Autoimmune diseases include lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, and Sjögren’s syndrome. Certain types of diabetes and thyroid disease are related to autoimmune reactions. People who have autoimmune diseases are at an increased risk for infections.

My Food Allergies Growing

Add comment May 27th, 2010

Foods I can never have ever again.

(Raw): cherry, nectarine, celery, carrots, banana, apple, tomato, potato, orange, grapefruit, pineapple

(Cooked): soybean (any Soy), apple, clam, oyster, lobster, shrimp, mixed fish, crab, peanuts, almonds (All nuts), mustard, carrot, potato.

Items in bold are new. Might even be more, these are just the touch them again and u could die list.

More Animal Food & Treat Recalls

Add comment April 22nd, 2010

I think every pet owner out there remembers the huge pet food recall a few years back that had to affect on every pet owners lives. That particular recall did not just hit one manufacturer or brand, but a huge list.

In trying to keep my fur kids safe from such things I keep an eye out for pet industry recalls when I hear about them and spread the news through every channel available to me.

A few months ago there was the Merrick Dog Treat Recall and this month we have a lesser known brand being recalled.

Advanced Cetyl M Joint Action Formula for Dogs made by Response Products is being recalled for a possible Salmonella health risk. They so no dogs have been reported as sick because of the product and that they are just pulling the product because of lab tests. Not so sure I believe that one completely, but all we have is the FDA press release about the recall.

So if your dog is taking Advanced Cetyl M Joint Action Formula for Dogs please read the recall report and check your supply carefully.

Should your dogs treats be in the recall please handle them carefully and wash your hand throuroughly so you don’t get sick from the Salmonella either.  Stay healthy and enjoy your pets!

Guilty Pleasures

Add comment April 13th, 2010

One of my guilty little pleasures in life are Pringles. I know, I know they aren’t good for you. That’s is why it is called junk food after all! But I just really enjoy them every once in awhile.

But how’s a person to know when their junk food could potential be even more of a health risk?

I am talking about food recalls. Granted when it is a REALLY big and deadly food recall it will be all over the news, but what about when it is just a “this could make you sick maybe” recall?

You have to assume the stores are on top of these things and pull them from the shelves ASAP. But do they really? It could be a full time job just keeping up with all the recalls. I would never have known about the Pringles recall had I not stumbled on it by accident today. (Thank goodness it isn’t one of the flavors that I normally break down and buy, but it would be nice to know these things before you buy them and not after they have all been consumed.)

So where do all the recalled foods go? My hope is that they are pulled from the shelves and destroyed, but are they? I won’t even go into my theory on discount grocery stores.

Texas Health Care Reform

Add comment March 21st, 2010

Get more information on Austin Health Insurance.

Unless of course you are waiting for some kind of federal healthcare reform with the National health care bill.

Hair Follicle Drug Testing

Add comment February 25th, 2010

Need to test your kids for drugs or maybe even potential employees?

Don’t rely on those pee-in-a-cup tests which only give you a few days worth of information. Use a more accurate hair follicle drug test with a longer testing range. You can now see results from as far as 90 days ago.

Parents with this easy test, you could actually test your kid without them ever knowing about it. Why risk that teenage anger being directed at you if you are wrong? Address the problem then confront them with the results. All you need is a hair sample to send off to the lab and in a short while you are armed with the truth. Couldn’t get any easier than that.

Note: if you do check out the info on the above site, the links at the bottom of the pages do not work use the ones in the header.

Power of Copper

Add comment February 12th, 2010

Way back when I was a kid in the 70s copper bracelets were all the rage. Fashion, like history, always seems to repeat itself. That is not always a bad thing. The good old copper bracelet is a good example of that. It seems like everyone is sporting a bangle or a cuff made of copper these days.

Besides being fashionable there are supposed health benefits to wearing a copper bracelet too. Not that it has miraculous healing powers or anything but it is thought to reduce pain and inflammation from arthritis by absorbing the copper through the skin.

Copper Bracelet Arthritis pain relief is not just another urban legend. Studies show that people can actual get more copper in there system via a bracelet than dietary supplements. Kind of cool isn’t it?

If you are looking for some very fashionable copper bracelets check out BillyTheTree.com, they have some really nice bracelets at great prices and with free shipping.

Why Go Without Health Insurance

Add comment February 12th, 2010

I was just reading about how about half of the country’s uninsured people actually choose to be uninsured not because they can’t afford it but rather they just don’t feel they need health insurance. Can you believe that? Even if you are young and healthy you still need insurance for the simple fact that you never know what lies ahead for you.

California Tonik Health Insurance was designed to address that very demographic.

Having health insurance was always something that was drilled into me by my parents. I could never have imagined being without it even when I was in my 20s.

Sponsored by TonikCalifornia.org

Target Pharmacy Closed in Middle of Day

Add comment April 30th, 2009

Target pharmacy has pissed me off. These days that is real easy to do (not that it isn’t pretty easy any old time, just more so now). Target no longer calls their customers — well, customers. They call them guests instead. I think it is to foster a better image, but it doesn’t work. All it does is allow them to ignore the age-old adage that the customer is always right (whoever heard of the guest is always right?) Heck, it even allows them to ignore the customer.

Well in my home the guest is treated with respect and gets pretty much what they want not so at Target especially the pharmacy. I went on Sunday; my only available day, to pick up my prescriptions and the pharmacy was closed for lunch! They can’t even man the pharmacy for the posted hours for their store. For god’s sake take people from other departments but don’t shut down in the middle of the day when people need to get their medications. I could not wait for it to re-open as I had to get to the hospital and it would be closed by the time I got home. I had to wait until my next day off to make a special trip in to Target just to pick up my pills. If I weren’t already boycotting CVS I would take my business there. Maybe I will see how the new Rite-aid does with my next Rx.

I’m just saying if you can’t be open during published hours then maybe you don’t deserve any business?

RAID Doesn’t Kill Just Bugs; Keep Away From Cats

Add comment April 29th, 2009

Wired magazine had an article a little while back that caught my eye, it was titled “Kills Bugs Dead, And Cats Too.” The article tells us what’s inside RAID. If you are a cat owner like me, you will be removing this dangerous substance from your home. I absolutely hate spiders and relied on RAID to rid my house of these eight-legged monster, I’ll just have to find a new way to kill those spiders.

Raid contains Pyrethrin and Pyrethroids, which are poisons that cause nerve cells to remain open too long, according to Wired this makes “the neurons fire repeatedly resulting in paralysis and death.” They also go on to say that these two poisons are supposed to be the least deadly pesticides to mammals. However, you still have to keep it away from your cat as cats’ livers cannot process Pyrethrin fast enough and will die.

I don’t know about you but I would rather keep my cat healthy and deal with a few bugs than hurt my bestest best friend.

I will keep my eyes open for an alternative to RAID. I have been looking at a few natural pesticides and hope they will work and be safe for my cats.

Hospital Horrors

Add comment January 5th, 2009

I had to go to the hospital for tests (more ultrasounds on my legs because of the accident) the Friday after mom’s funeral. It was hard enough going back into a hospital only days after my mother just died in one, but given the reception (or lack there of) at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Reading it is a wonder I did not snap. My appointment was at 1pm, bad time because most likely everyone takes there lunch from 12 to 1. When I first arrived there was no one in the reception area that I was directed to for patient registration. So I popped out to ask the person at the window I had just passed, but she was now gone. As I was going back into the waiting area a couple was coming in as well. I held the door for them and said something about nobody being here. Just then a lady popped out of an office a started to take the couples info. When I spoke up about being there first she got downright nasty to me saying she saw them come in first (DUH, I held the door for them as I came back in the room). After a little argument with her she finally took me in first.

Yes, I could have waited a few minutes, but as I said it was bothering me even being in the hospital in the first place and her treatment of me become a real issue for me. Why would any hospital have someone with such a horrible disposition working the desk where patients need some kindness and compassion? She had no idea why I was there or what my back-story was yet she treated me like dirt. I could have been there for a very serious test and been extremely worried about my health and the outcome of said test. If that were the case I certainly should have been handled with kid gloves not in the harsh manner that I was. In fact ever person walking into that room should be treated in a kinder, gentler manner than how she addressed me since you never know why they are there in the first place.

Once I was finally registered (by another person thankfully) I was directed to another unmanned waiting area. After my last experience I decided to stay put this time and wait to see if anyone ever bothered to show up. Someone eventually did and took me back for my test.

The lady that gave me my ultrasound that day was so kind and personable that it almost made up for the treatment I received when I first walked in that hospital. While I was back there they called a code blue (you all know what that is) and I got really upset as the memories flooded back to me. I told her that my mother had just passed away to explain my tears. She reached out and touched my leg telling me how sorry she was. I could tell that she was showing genuine compassion for me. She also told me if she were me she would not be having this test done. (But I knew Mom wanted me to find out why my legs are still so bad even a year after the accident, so I went.)

After my test was over I thanked her repeatedly for her kindness and for explaining what she was seeing during the ultrasound (techs won’t usually do that they leave it to the doctors who don’t really tell you anything). I just wanted to make sure she knew how much I had appreciated her that day.

Now St. Joe’s needs to find a few more of her to deal with the patients as they walk through the door and get rid of that grouchy one they have now.

Mom Passed Away Today

Add comment December 28th, 2008

Like the night before I fell asleep on the sofa, but I had a little help from the vicodin I took to ward off the headache I had for the past two days of crying. Although, just like the night before I got very little sleep.

I awakened with a sore throat and joked at the hospital that my Yugoslavia (uvula) was swollen (it was).

The doctor was repeating the test today to see if there was any improvement. Giving false hope to our family that any improvement would be a good thing. She could not have come back from this stroke. If she did she would have been on a ventilator and she did not want that. We had come to terms with what we were going to have to do at some point that day. Now we just had to let the rest of the family know so they could say their goodbyes.

The doctors came out to confirm what we had already known. She was not getting any blood to her brain. They then asked that my Dad, my sister and myself meet with them to discuss what would happen next.

When we went with them we were presented with a representative from the Gift of Life program asking if we would consider donating Mom’s liver to help save the lives of others. Mom being a recipient of a kidney (from her nephew – a living donor) she was always an advocate for organ donation. We did not have to think too long before all agreeing that mom would have wanted to help someone else and the only reason her DNR contradicted her driver’s license was because she most likely thought none of her parts would be good enough for anyone to use. We agreed to allow the liver donation. We did not know that this gift would prolong her agony and ours. We were promised it would be over by midnight they just had to confirm death and find a recipient. It drug on and on (and would have been longer and worse if we would have allowed them to take all the tissue they wanted – the gift of life is an amazing thing but allowing this to happen to your own loved one is another thing).

Mom was officially pronounced brain dead at 11:04pm, but they had to keep her on the ventilator until they found a recipient. By 3am we finally had to make them stop we just could not prolong the inevitable any longer. Nor could my sister and I stand to see our dad go through anymore of this emotional torture. We asked that they stop looking and remove the ventilator. Mom was finally at peace at 3:40am surrounded by those who loved her; my sister, my dad, our pastor and me.

We were at peace as well. Knowing her suffering was over then we could have closure. Not knowing when or where they would take her liver was too much to bear.

Dr. Chon stopped by tell us that organ donation was a very good thing to do and also try to explain to us why Mom died. He thinks it started as a very bad sinus infection, which would have caused the headache and vomiting. Being immunosurpressed it spread quickly. The stress of the infection then caused her blood pressure to rise therefore causing the stroke. Although we will never know a definitive answer this wraps up the last 72+ hours somewhat.