"Please give me back my smile."

(photo source: nzherald.co.nz)

Skywatch and a still picture of the tsunami aftermath in American Samoa a few days ago.

(photo source: BBC News)

Skywatch over Indonesia after the killer quakes a few days ago.

(photo source: BBC News)

~~Watery Wednesday meme entry~~

Twenty feet of floodwaters swallowed these houses, and so much more in a month's worth of rain that poured non-stop for 12 hours in the Philippines over the weekend.



My dear friends, here are a few more links to our desperate brothers and sisters
in the Philippines, Indonesia, and the American Samoa. Let us help them get their smiles back:

1. The Catholic Relief Services. It is the international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. It provides assistance to people in more than 100 countries and territories based on need, regardless of race, nationality or creed.

This week alone, it has responded to 4 emergencies, including those in the Philippines and Indonesia.

To donate via phone: 1-877-HELP-CRS

To donate online: www.crs.org

To write a check: Catholic Relief Services
P.O. Box 17090
Baltimore, MD 21203-7090

(source: Thomson Reuters Foundation AlertNet - Alerting Humanitarians to Agencies)

2. To donate to Samoa (as I am not sure that it is included in the countries CRS serves, maybe so): please contact the American Red Cross
ARC - 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767)

Disaster Relief Fund:

American Red Cross
P.O. Box 37243
Washington, DC 20013 or your local ARC chapter

For a secure online donation: http://www.redcross.org/

(source: the American Red Cross. org.)

***

Thank you, everyone, for your patience. Would you link this up to your site (write a short article) so maybe we can gather more readership and touch more humanitarian hearts? We can't help these countries enough. Their needs are immediate. Many, many thanks from the bottom of my heart.

This Flu Season

It is so funny - I wrote about us Filipinos heralding Christmas by the first of September. The weather starts getting cooler in the Philippines then. Well, guess what. It did over here, too. NC weather is so dreamy now. And I have started imagining the leaves turning into a mass of colors. Autumn is my favorite season of all, it is so pretty. But alas, autumn, too, brings with it a host of respiratory diseases. Many cold viruses thrive in low humidity, not the least of them H1N1.

Well, today, I received a letter from the county of Durham Health Department, and it goes thus:

Dear Licensed Nurse in Durham County:

Your name was made available to our health department by the NC Board of Nursing. We requested the information to assist us in developing a list of currently licensed county residents that will be available to help with a mass H1N1 immunization effort. Names of nurses were also provided to other health departments across the state.

At this time, it is projected that the H1N1 vaccine will be available between October 15, 2009 and January 31, 2010. As a community, we plan to inoculate up to 60,000 residents (depending on the guidelines), and we expect each person to require two vaccinations. It is during this time period that we will need many volunteers to help us staff mass immunization clinics.

If you are willing to volunteer, please fill out the enclosed survey and return it in to us. The survey can be folded and stamped for mailing. There will be no payment for your service, just a 'thank you' from many grateful citizens.

Sincerely.

**************

My friends, I encourage everyone to please have yourselves be vaccinated against H1N1 and the seasonal flu. They are different from each other, but are equally hazardous. Always wash your hands, and avoid touching your mucous membranes. Stock up on juices. Air out your house as often as possible. Keep warm.

Long Life

All right. I was heating my food up one night, and one of the staff saw me. And stopped. Because I was using a microwavable bowl. I said I was trying to be more healthy. I said, it was bad enough that I was 'nuking' my food without using plastic. So....

She was fascinated.

Well, another co-worker who overheard us joined in and said, I have something that you might like, Cherie. And I did like it, so here I am sharing it with you.

This is taken from wikiHow, the how-to manual that anyone can write or edit:

How to Live a Long Life

1. Eat healthy.
2. Introduce regular exercise into your life.
3. Develop a sleep schedule.
4. Drink plenty of water.
5. Think first. (all about safety, protective gear, looking before you leap)
6. Reduce causes of stress and depression in your life.
7. Give up smoking.
8. Be safe. (all about avoiding potentially dangerous activities like skydiving, bullfighting, or marriage heheheh)
9. Stock up on antioxidants. (fruits and veggies)
10. Avoid overindulgence.
11. Have yearly physicals.
12. Wear sunblock.
13. Try not to be afraid. (don't be afraid, be aware.)
14. Drink lots of tea.
15. Eat dark chocolate.
16. Drink one glass of red wine a day. (or consider eating red grapes instead)

******

I have a patient who told me his wife is still living and they've been married 59 years. I said, wow, that's a long, solid time! He said with a chuckle, Well, I've learned how to take orders. LOL!

Well, maybe we should, too! Here's to a long, healthy life, my dear friends! Cheers!

Try this, Mommies...

I noticed that AJ had a little cough this morning, and thought I'd try a remedy I'd read about a while back: I applied VICKS all over his feet and put socks on 'em. Before noon, and throughtout the day, the cough was gone.

Gotta Love Our Heart

( photo source: my Friendster account)

A fellow nurse was reading the chart and droned on about a patient who was rushed to the hospital for chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, and indigestion. When she got to 'indigestion,' I said "Sounds like a heart attack to me." She said, "You're right! But how did you know, Cherie?"

It's simple, really. A heart attack's pain is usually on the chest, and in many people, it is found on the upper abdomen. Sometimes the pain is 'referred,' in that it is felt anywhere else but the 'heart' - like pain in the arm, neck or back gets referred to the upper abdomen, causing nausea and vomiting.

Whether we work in a hospital or a nursing home, HEART ATTACK is always one of the leading menaces the staff are on the constant look-out for. It, in fact, is the number one cause of death in the US. So here are the warning signs to help you think and act fast, when you are put in a situation where you or someone else might need help, where the heart is concerned.

Heart Attack:

Chest pain, or discomfort, which may be described as heaviness, pressure, tightness, fullness or acute pain ( One funny incident: I once asked a patient if it felt like an elephant sitting on her chest, and she answered no, that it felt more like a kitten sitting on her chest.)

Shortness of breath (either with or without chest pain)

Other symptoms (may or may not follow quickly): Nausea with or without vomiting (amazing thing is, some can still walk to and from the bathroom and clean themselves, and tell you about it!), cold sweats, lightheadedness, jaw or back pain, pain in one or both arms

In women, note also a persistent feeling of fatigue unrelieved by sleep, and anxious, nervous feelings.

What to do?

Don't joke around, it's not heartburn! Seek help immediately! If the person has a prescribed nitrogycerin tablet, capsule or spray, use as directed! Otherwise, call 911 if you're in the States. Or scream at the top of your lungs if you don't know what to do, to get somebody's attention.

Stroke, on the other hand, is the second leading cause of death in the US, so I'd like to write down the symptoms as well. Most Filipino men by the age of 60, suffer from this, too.


Stroke:

Sudden numbness or weakness
Sudden confusion with trouble speaking
Visual disturbances or changes in seeing
Sudden trouble walking, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden onset of severe headache without cause

Same thing, don't tell the person to rest, or drink a glass of water or anything else, but call for help! Call your doctor, if you don't have 911.

More importantly, PREVENT these things from happening by: living a healthy lifestyle - quit smoking, eat right, get more HDL (good cholesterol), exercise and maintain your weight, manage stress, and keep your diabetes in check. Some things we can't help if we inherited them.

For nurses and families who deal with these, be patient, no blaming, and include the patients in their care. Some nurses leave televisions droning on and on. Please. Ever heard of sensory overload? And I'm talking about healthy individuals. How much more people who can hardly breathe or have clots in their brains?



Gotta love our heart because there's so much to live for. Just a little reminder from your friendly neighborhood catwoman. Meow.