Category Archives: Health

A Million Thoughts Going Through My Head, One Week From Surgery

Health, New posts, Personal,
The kids and I at Callaway Gardens
The kids and I at Callaway Gardens

 

 

Beware.. this post is pretty choppy.  

Like the title says, I have a million thoughts going through my head and this is a written snapshot of a few of them.

It’s late and I’m still working.  I’m working at my kitchen table typing snippets of blog posts, checking emails, checking Facebook, and making sure my websites are all up to date.

I’ve been very busy the past week, with family in from out of town.  We stayed at a cottage for a few nights at Callaway Gardens in west Georgia, and have been visiting local attractions like Georgia Aquarium.

While walking through the aquarium today, it hit me that tomorrow (Friday July 27th) marks one week before my surgery.  I’m scared about the surgery.  I’m having my tonsils removed after struggling with all sorts of illnesses since I was a child.  Tonsillitis, Mononucleosis, and possibly some other illnesses that end in itis or osis as well as chronic throat pain.

I know that having my tonsils removed is a good thing and will improve my quality of life but the actual act of having them removed and the two or three weeks that follow is what scares the daylights out of me.  I don’t like that I am going to be on general anesthesia and that I’m going to be in pain for some time after the surgery.  I don’t like that someone will have to take care of me and my kids for at least a week.  My ENT made sure to tell me how painful having tonsils taken out is for adults.  Our tonsils are much larger than a child’s which is why recovery time is longer for adults than for children.

So in a nutshell, I have been scared, nervous, anxious, and stressed for the past couple of weeks which is wearing my mind and body out.

I think I’ve been working and doing more lately just to keep my mind off of the surgery.  All subconsciously of course.  I would never work more just for the fun of it.

On a more positive note, I was lucky enough to go to Santa Fe, New Mexico a couple of weeks ago, with a couple of friends Desiree and Stacie, which helped keep my mind off of the upcoming surgery and I am very happy that some of my family is visiting from out of town now.  I don’t know what I’d do if I hadn’t been so busy the past few weeks preparing for their visit and for being out of commission for a couple of weeks after surgery.

I’ll be missing the popular blogger conference, BlogHer ’12, this year which I’m pretty bummed about but I’ll enjoy keeping up with BlogHer via posts on my friend’s Facebook pages and blogs during the conference.  That’s if I’m not sleeping or too drugged up on pain meds to read after the surgery.

How will I not freak out the day before surgery? I keep asking myself, is it worth it to have my tonsils taken out or should I just deal with the health issues? I worry that if something happens to me, I’m leaving my kids and that I’m making a conscious decision to have the surgery so it would be my fault.  I’m just worried.

An MRI and an Alien Invasion – A Personal Story

Health, Personal, , , ,

 

 

 

MRI Machine
MRI Machine - that's a narrow tube, right?

I was diagnosed with Degenerative Arthritis of the Spine about two years ago.  I have dealt with the pain by doing Yoga, stretching, and laying on a heating pad every night.  I’d like to think that I can tolerate pain pretty well these days.
In April though, I started experiencing more severe pain than usual in my neck and upper back and decided that I needed to see my doctor again.  The doctor checked me out, gave me a shot of something that made it so that I couldn’t drive, and said I needed to get an X-ray and MRI right away.  Party time, right?

The X-ray was no trouble at all.  Quick and easy.

The MRI on the other hand.. quick and easy was not the case.

I am a bit claustrophobic. I don’t like sitting with my back to the crowd because I prefer to always see how I can get out of a room if I need to. I don’t like hanging out in closets, and I prefer not to go through underground tunnels when driving if I can avoid it.

During my MRI this morning I thought I was going to have to push what the nurse called ‘the rescue button‘ for at least the first 5 minutes of being inside the narrow MRI tube.  My heart was pounding what seemed like a thousand beats per minute and I thought I was going to stop breathing because I thought surely I wouldn’t be able to escape from the narrow tube if I needed to or the tube was going to collapse on top of me.   In hindsight I know that if I really needed to get out of the tube I could have scooted out of the tube and that the chances of the tube collapsing on me were very slim.  Those facts were not at all reality while I was inside the MRI machine.

The alien space invasion

alien invasion sounds
This is the alien I was visioning while stuck in the tube.

After I got over the claustrophobia issue, I felt like I was in the center of an alien space invasion.. for 30 minutes.  The noises that came out of that machine were insane!   There were loud booms, ticks, and zappy sounds for the 30 minutes I was inside the machine.

After 30 minutes the nurses voice came through a speaker and he said  “It’s over now.  That wasn’t so bad, was it?”.  It’s like he had no idea that I was just zipped into another dimension for 30 minutes.  Really, how could he not know?

Want to know more about MRI and Degenerative Arthritis of the Spine?

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Lysol No-Touch Kitchen System Review with Video – A Soap Dispenser Moms and Kids Will Love!

Cleaning & Cleaners, Health
Lysol No-Touch Kitchen System review
The simple design won't interfere with your kitchen decor!

If you are a regular reader or a friend of mine, you might know that am a little bit of a germaphobe. Ok, so maybe a lot. I taught my kids how to wash their hands as soon as they could rub them together. As our children get older and parents no longer go into the bathroom with their kids, they aren’t able to make sure that their child is washing her hands well or correctly.  That’s why I usually have my kids wash their hands downstairs in the kitchen after they use the restroom at home.  I want to watch them get the soap, wash.. and count to 20. I have used many techniques to keep them interested in and motivated to wash their hands but one of my favorites is the invention of no-touch soap dispensers which I will get into in just a moment.  Meanwhile..

Lysol No-Touch Kitchen SystemDid you know that..

Children are more susceptible to developing an infectious illness because their immune systems have not fully developed. Infections have a tendency to spread very quickly. Washing the hands is one of the simplest things that can be done to prevent the spread of infections. Children who are taught the importance of washing their hands will be less likely to contract an infectious illness.

Do your kids know how to wash their hands?

Children also need to be taught how to properly wash their hands. The hands should always be washed in warm water. Warm water kills more germs than cold water. It is also important to make sure that the hands are washed for at least 20 seconds. Singing the Happy Birthday song twice is a good way to ensure that one washes his hands for the recommended amount of time. Children should be supervised while they are washing their hands to make sure that they are washing properly.  Parents, teachers and caregivers should make sure that the child washes the back and palm of his hand as well as his wrists, fingers and fingernails.

Children should be encouraged to turn off the faucet with a towel.  Something interesting that I’ve been hearing quite a bit lately is that it’s actually better to dry your hands with a paper towel than to use an air dryer.  Air dryers can have bacteria inside the air tunnels which is then shot right out onto our hands as we dry them.  Yuck, huh?

The Lysol No-Touch Kitchen System makes it a lot easier for children to wash their hands. This hands-free dispenser gently cleanses the hands while killing bacteria.  On average, kitchens are cleaned more than 400 times a year and studies have shown that the bottles used to clean the kitchen area may be soiled and heavily contaminated with germs, potentially causing cross contamination.  The No-Touch Kitchen System will help prevent against that because of its no-touch feature and all-in-one solution.  Now if only we had no-touch water faucets!  Meanwhile we keep our faucets clean by using anti-bacterial wipes.

Besides cleaning hands the Lysol No-Touch Kitchen System is perfect for cleaning dirty dishes.  The

Watch this video of my five year old daughter demonstrating the Lysol No-Touch Kitchen System.  She LOVES the Tangerine scent!

 

Again, washing the hands is one of the simplest and most effective things that can be done to prevent the spread of infectious illnesses.  Keep your kids motivated to wash their hands by making hand washing time easy and fun!

 

Alicia Hagan, Editor

Disclosure: I received a Lysol No-Touch Kitchen System for review purposes.  Lysol did not require that I write this post.  I only write about products that I would by for my family.

Help your Family Make Wholesome Choices {#Wholesome}

Food and Drink, Health,

Don’t ever think it’s too late to start living a more wholesome lifestyle. A more wholesome lifestyle will improve the health of both you and your family. Making a few simple lifestyle changes is all you need to live a healthier life. To make this work, you must have your family members agree to make healthier choices. You can do it!

I am partnering with McDonald’s on their Wholesome Choices Blogger Program.  Over the past few weeks, I have been sharing my own tips and ideas for making more wholesome choices in your every day life and have been making changes in my life as well.

Here are some tips for living a healthier lifestyle.

McDonald's Wholesome Choices Blogger

Get Enough Sleep at Night

Getting the proper amount of rest at night is more important than you think. Not getting enough sleep can cause moodiness, hormonal damage, weight gain and high blood pressure. Make sure you are perfectly relaxed before bedtime, so you sleep easier.

Drink More Water

Instead of drinking soda or coffee, drink water during your meals. This has been a tough one for me because I love my Diet Coke with Lime!  Since I started the McDonald’s Wholesome Choices challenge, I have been drinking at least 6 glasses of water a day.  I know I need to increase that to eight because by drinking eight glasses of water a day, you can prevent dehydration, dizziness and headaches. Drinking water can also make your skin and hair healthier.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Some of your favorite foods may not be that good for you. If your diet consists of foods with high fat and salt content, you need to change your eating habits. Start filling your diet with whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meats, fruits and vegetables.  If you are on-the-go and need to eat breakfast, lunch, or dinner while you are out and about, McDonald’s has some Wholesome Choices on their menu.   Through the McDonald’s “Made For You” cooking system, you can special order various menu items to help meet your nutritional needs. A range of serving sizes make it easy to create meal combinations that work for you and your family. Eating healthy foods will not only help you maintain a healthy weight, it will also give you more energy and prevent you from developing certain diseases.

Exercise Regularly

It’s essential to exercise if you want to live a healthy lifestyle. Exercising will boost your mood and give you energy. Go for a walk with your dog, dance around the living room with your kids or take an aerobics class.

If you put the extra effort into helping your kids and spouse live a more wholesome life, you all will be much happier and healthier.

Follow McDonald’s Atlanta on Twitter @McDonaldsATL and check out their website for real-time promos, meal ideas and how to make the most of your McDonald’s experience.

Disclosure: McDonald’s partnered with bloggers such as me to participate in its “Wholesome Choices” Blogger Program.  As part of that program, I received compensation.  They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products used.

What My Doctor Pulling a No-Show Motivated Me To Do

Health, New posts, Personal

I am absolutely exhausted. My entire body is sore, especially my calves, but I accomplished more this weekend than I have any weekend, in years.

It all started Friday afternoon when my doctor didn’t call for my 4:30 telephone appointment. I waited for his call for five hours. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I wasn’t expecting to get the results of my CAT Scans. I anticipated that phone call all day..for two weeks actually. Starting at 4:20 I held my phone. Then at 4:30 I was ready to answer the phone and hopefully be told good news. At 4:50 the receptionist at the doctor’s office called me to ask if I was coming in for my appointment. I said “NO! I’ve been waiting for the doctor to call for fifteen minutes”. She said that he was running behind and would call within an hour. An hour and fifteen minutes passed. I called the doctor’s office. The receptionist assured me that the doctor would call soon. 9:30 came around and I gave up. I really held the phone until 9:30.

Pulling weeds

Saturday I knew I needed to stay busy so I wouldn’t obsess about the missed call and lack of test results. So I..

  • Cleaned out my car
  • Pulled weeds
  • Swept the front deck
  • Cleaned the sandbox cover
  • Cleaned the front door
  • Cleaned the baseboards in the foyer
  • Cleaned the walls in the foyer
  • Swept and vacuumed the kitchen, living room, upstairs hallway, and my daughter’s room
  • Exercised

Today, I pulled all of the weeds out of my big garden and raked. I don’t remember the last time I sweated so much. Maybe I burned a few calories. While I was raking I stumbled across a snake. My son caught it and showed it off to my husband before letting it go. My son weeded and conditioned his vegetable garden to get it ready for planting.

Tonight, after I got home from a fun blogger get-together I cleaned out my closet. I filled two large bags with clothes to give away.

Chances are I’m not going to accomplish that much in one weekend again for a very long time.

I’m counting on talking to the the doctor Monday.

If I don’t, maybe I’ll clean out the garage or build a deck. 🙂

Alicia Hagan, Editor