Old So What

  be smart and get it taped up, otherwise it will heal looking like a roller coaster (like mine did).

  You will survive Menopause, honest, even though it may not seem like it right now. You should take something to help you with the symptoms, which can be:        Hot flashes,        Excessive perspiring (including Night-Sweats),        Excessive bleeding. I took an over-the-counter product for hot flashes, but I don’t know if this item even exists today. However, do a little research and try one of the products available now. I did not take any hormone replacement. I can tell you what I did and you can ask your doctor for advice, but remember these are YOUR decisions to make. I am not a medical person; I make no specific suggestions, except to say that getting something (or someone) to help is probably a good idea. In my menopause memories, I can recall many evenings coming home after work, and the tail end of the trip was on a trolley. I was fatigued, which worsens symptoms...

  Wasn’t I lucky? Actually NO.   The polio shot itself and what I may have caught as a germ of polio caused me to contract the disease. That’s what the doctors thought.  I will never really know. Did the shot contain live polio?  Again, I will never know. Other children around this time, who had gotten the Salk Vaccine shots, contracted the disease, too. If it was because of the same reason. Well, guess along with me. Where I lucked out is that my doctor (a specialist) put me in the hospital, and in traction immediately.   I couldn’t even go home first to get anything such as books or clothes, or playthings. Because the Children’s wing was full up in the local hospital, they put me in the lounge, on an adult floor, with a public telephone booth, so I was usually not alone. Mostly it was boring and despite the booth, lonely.   I especially missed being around other children. (I was eleven.) Before I continue, perhaps I should explain that “tr...

Let's face it, at some point we will all be faced with a doctor's appointment that will change our lives. This can be scary and completely overwhelming, but this tip can and will make things easier. Choose a close friend or family member to go to the doctor's office with you and be in the room when you hear the news. This "second set of ears" matters! While you are focused on the questions, "will I be okay," and "what do I do now," the other person can focus on what the doctor or nurse is saying. They can even take notes! While explaining the next steps in the course of action, most medical professionals will use examples of how others patients adapted to their new way of life, and those examples are important too and will not appear in the visit summary. "What did they say could help?" "What foods should I avoid specifically?" The other person can help you fill in the blanks of any parts you missed. Together you will have a...