Health Is One of the Greatest Gifts

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High Blood Pressure, Kidney Disease, Heart Disease, Diabetes…

I sat down to eat lunch with a relative last week.  She counted out what looked to be like ten pills, one was for this, two for that, and so on.  It made me sad.  It made me think about the preciousness and precariousness of life.  So many friends of my step-mom came around to visit her while she was sick.  Every single one seemed to have a health condition, kidney problems, strokes, high blood pressure, gout, heart conditions, prostate cancer, or diabetes or a combination thereof.

Dignity Is The Greatest Service You Can Offer

I have spent a lot of time in the hospital over the past nine months with several close family members, old and young.  And one thing that has taught me is that good health is a priceless gift and being treated with dignity is the greatest service you can offer a person.

Unfortunately everyone isn’t treated with dignity.  My sister and I have spent most weekends in late February and March in the hospital with my stepmom.  When we were there we would feed her and get her up.  But we weren’t there all the time.  It was humiliating for her to have to call the nurse several times to go to the bathroom and have her come after she’d had an accident, to have to be wiped too roughly in her private areas by a young male nurse, or to have her hands shaking so bad that she couldn’t feed herself.  Several times we’d arrive to a full uneaten tray of cold food.  She’d tell us she couldn’t reach her teeth or her hands were shaking too bad.  We had to insist that they send someone to feed her even though it was obvious to everyone she needed help.  If you have a loved one in the hospital visit them often.  Give them hope and cheer them up.  And do what you must to take care of yourself and those you love to keep them out of the hospital!  Please!

Not enough spring in your step?  Continue reading about ‘6 Things You Can Do About Your Health.’ http://wp.me/ppImQ-jX

Six Thoughts About Health

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Not Enough Spring into Your Step?

Does fatigue, pain, or lack of energy have you moving more slowly?  The body is a phenomenal work of art.  Its systems are designed to keep the human machine working smoothly for well over 100 years.  But, like every other machine, ignoring the warning signs, improper care, and misuse have caused the body to fail before it is supposed to.  In celebration of spring, and to put a little more spring into your step, I’d like to share a few health observations.

Six Things You Can Do About Health

  1. The time to take care of your health is before you get sick.
  2. Visit the sick and shut-in.  Visitors give the sick the will to pull through and being of service energizes you and makes you value life more.
  3. Listen to your body, by the time you get major symptoms it could be too late.
  4. Get a competent physician and get your regular checkups.
  5. Get enough sleep, exercise, and fresh air and spring water.
  6. And, if you do get sick, make sure you have a knowledgeable advocate with you at the hospital.  If you don’t, you may not get the best care and will also not pull through as quickly.  You need to feel confident that you are getting the best care so that you can concentrate on getting well.

My March Health Chronicles: 6th Floor Please!

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Stranger: “6th Floor Please!”

Me: “No problem, that’s our floor too.”

Stranger: “That’s a tough floor to have someone on.”

Me: “Who do you have here?”

Stranger: “My husband.”

Me: “What’s he here for?”

Stranger: “He’s having both his legs amputated tomorrow.”

Me: “I’m sorry.  I hope he recovers soon.”

Stranger: “He won’t recover.”

Me: “What do you mean?”

Stranger: “The doctors have already said that he will not recover.”

Me: “Then, why are you putting him through the surgery?”

Stranger: “That’s what I said to the doctors.”

“Yall Take Care of Me”

We got off the elevator and went our separate ways without exchanging names, only heartfelt sympathy and empathy.  Later that weekend as my sister and I stood vigil in my stepmom’s hospital room, I could hear a man moaning and groaning loudly.  It was an eerily depressing sound like none I’d ever heard before.  I couldn’t help but wonder if this were the husband of the woman I’d met on the elevator.   I turned my thoughts back to my stepmom who looked so small, weak, and fragile.  At times we were not sure if she would make it.  She would come in and out of consciousness, but would seem to perk up a little when she saw my sister and I.

She could barely talk, except to whisper, “Yall take care of me,” in her soft southern voice.   I assured her that we would make sure she was taken care of and to just rest.  She’d been admitted initially for dehydration.  Little did we know that her waning energy and spirit was due to her kidney’s failing.  Before she was admitted to the hospital, she was slowly slipping away.  All she wanted to do was sleep.  Thankfully we got help in time.  In the last four months, she has pulled through high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, diverticulitis, kidney failure, and now dialysis.  She’ll be 84 in a couple of months and has to have dialysis three times a week.  Still, she gets up every day now full of hope and faith and tells all of her family and friends that she loves them.

To continue to Part 2:  Health Is One of the Greatest Gifts, click here http://wp.me/ppImQ-jQ

Barbara Talley is a workshop leader, keynote speaker, author, and publisher who speaks and writes on value-based living themes. www.thepoetspeaks.com

The Importance of March 21

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The Number 21 Is Significant.

Twenty-one marks the time that a youth reaches maturity, can vote, drink, and sign a legal contract.  It takes 21 days to form a habit.    And, on the 21st day of March, spring began and that’s really big news!

March 21st Also Has Spiritual and Cultural Significances.

March 21 is the Bahá’í New Year’s Day.  It falls on the spring (vernal)  equinox and marks the end of their 19 day fast.  It is one of the nine days of the year when Bahá’ís suspend work.  Bahá’ís believe in one God, one race, and one progressively unfolding religion throughout time.  March 21st is an important cultural day of celebration for Persians as it also marks the Persian New Year.

March 21st is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.  Also according to Answer.com, March 21 kicks off a week of “Consider Christianity, which is a week to “encourage Christians to examine the evidence and reasons for their faith and for non-Christians to take another look at the faith that has played such an important role in shaping the history and culture in which we live.  It is celebrated annually, beginning two Sundays before Easter.”

However you look at it, this is the season to celebrate.  So celebrate spring and in this new season seek to learn about the cultural and religious celebrations of others.

Barbara Talley is a workshop leader, keynote speaker, author, and publisher who speaks and writes on value-based living themes. www.thepoetspeaks.com

Black Healthcare Crisis

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The CDC states: “For blacks in the United States, health disparities can mean earlier deaths, decreased quality of life, loss of economic opportunities, and perceptions of injustice. For society, these disparities translate into less than optimal productivity, higher health-care costs, and social inequity.” The following excerpt on the black health care crisis was taken from BlackNews.com:

“African Americans die at a much more alarming rates from HIV, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and even lupus – compared to their white counterparts.”

Is There Such Thing As A Black Health Crisis?

“Absolutely. There is a black health crisis that many African Americans face everyday. This is partly because of miseducation or the non-existence of health education in urban communities. Many African Americans are born into bad habits, and neighborhoods that do not offer healthy lifestyles.”  For more information about African American health disparities, visit: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5401a1.htm

There are over 55 organization dedicated to the black health care crisis. Please visit the BlackNews.com site at http://www.blacknews.com/directory/black_african_american_health.shtml