Karen’s Free Health and Fitness Tips

In October of 2005 I had A Hysterectomy surgery, pretty common these days (”So I thought” “Boy was I wrong”.) Since 2005 I have did extensive research on the killer called mrsa. At the time of my so called normal operation, I did not know anything about mrsa, as a matter of fact I had never even herd of it. But what happened to me next would changed my life forever. Yes I had contracted Staphylococcus aureus mrsa infection during my surgery. I did not know this at the time however, two weeks had passed when I went to my Post-Op appointment to see my doctor, I was in pain and the left side of my stomach had turned rock hard, after checking me my doctor referred me to a wound clinic. Yes I had a closed wound with a mrsa infection and it was killing my tissue inside of me. “Little did I know” the nightmare had just began. After being checked at the wound clinic I was told that the the dead tissue had to be removed and they needed to reopen the incision to see how bad the dead and infectious damage was, “and so they preceded to do so” the outcome was not good.

For the next three weeks I went into the clinic everyday and they slowly removed my stomach piece by piece with a process they call debreeding and cutting away dead tissue, a very painful process but necessary I was told. The debreeding of my wound was not working so I was scheduled for surgery to have the dead tissue removed all at once. That first surgery did not work, they continued to cut and debreed the wound for five more weeks. I was then scheduled for my second surgery that also did not work, I had been sick now for three months. At that point I was put on two oral antibiotics and told once again that I needed to be scheduled for my third surgery. This time the surgery was promising but I still was carrying mrsa and after the surgery I was now taking four oral antibiotics and I was taking a liquid antibiotic intravenously threw a pic line in my arm. My doctor told me that she did not know if they could beat the infection, “that only time would tell.” That was the first time’ I think I really realized, how sick I really was and the first time I realized that I might die, I was scared,”no not scared that was not the right word” “I was horrified” and I was on my forth month of being sick by now.

A friend recently forwarded me an email she received from her HR Department. The email was distributed to all staff members and was entitled “How to Recognize the Signs of Stroke. The email informed readers that a stroke could be recognized by asking three simple questions:

S - Ask the person to SMILE
T - Ask the person to TALK or say a sentence coherently
R - Ask the person to RAISE their arms above their head

Regrettably this information is neither complete nor accurate. It excludes the issue of timing of the symptoms. If a person has STR symptoms for months or years, they remain a non-indicator of a stroke. The symptoms of stroke are sudden, occurring within minutes or over a couple of days. Passing the STR test implies that the person is not suffering from a stroke. However, a trained person would note if when smiling, one side of the face did not move symmetrically with the other. The above also omit common symptoms like sudden headache or dizziness.

Nonetheless, it is important to be able to recognize the symptoms of a stroke, because, when treated within 3-4 hours, the victim’s life can be saved or the extent of damage minimized.

Burns are classified by the depth of tissue affected. The depth of dermis lost is due to the degree of temperature of the burn and duration of exposure to the offending source. These burns are classified as:

1. First-degree burns are limited to the epidermal skin layer. These burns are erythematous, blanch with light pressure, and are often minimally to quite painful. Vesicles/blisters do not develop. Tissue damage and edema are minimal and most of the skin’s function is still intact. Given enough time, most heal spontaneously. Systemic effects from this type of burn are rare. Scarring is rare, but they do often peel (Merck, 2005; Oxbridge, 2008; Wikipedia, 2008).

2. Partial thickness or second-degree burns involve part of the dermis and are characterized as superficial and deep.

Superficial partial-thickness burn injuries involve the first half of the dermis. These burns usually heal in 2 to 3 weeks and rarely scar unless infection sets in. Healing for these burns occurs from the epidermal cells which line sweat gland ducts and hair. They grow to the surface and migrate across (divide) until they “meet” cells from neighboring sites. These burns blanch with pressure and are also painful. Vesicles/blisters develop within 24 hours. The vesicle bases are pink and develop a fibrinous exudate (Merck, 2005).

Sometimes medical support just doomed to failure in helping wounded people, just because the difficulties they had in retrieving the wounded people. The difficulties mentioned caused by many factors, one of which is unreachable location.

Ambulance is used for emergency medical endeavor, but it has tires that only match up for roads. Ambulance can’t reach mountains or sea, isolated places, or the highest level of a building tower. We must have other alternative to manage such situation which is able to safe people in a swift manner. Thus we need an aircraft to deal with those problems, but with medical support in it. This particular method is called air ambulance.

Air ambulance handles urgency of limited time, demanding area, and across the country. We don’t have to give up because of those conditions, we are human, we create innovations, and we have primal instinct to survive and to live. It might be expensive, but life is worth it and we spare no expense in order to save lives.

There are two types of air ambulance service: Aeromedical Evacuation (Medevac) and Casualty Evacuation (Casevac). The difference is Medevac uses standardized and dedicated vehicle providing en route care, while Casevac is the opposite of Medevac. Casevac doesn’t use dedicated vehicle and doesn’t necessarily have en route care. Medevac is more like transportation from a certain medical facility to the one that provides higher level of care, while Casevac (usually in case of combat situation) is transportation from a dangerous zone to a safer one.

Medical Evacuation is also different from a normal flight because medical evacuation is more challenging due to the particular conditions and situations. For that, USA and the Commission on Air Medical Transportation System have created accreditation and requirement on each flight to ensure that all the pilots, personnel, and the aircrafts merit the service standards requirements.

An organization which provides this particular service is commonly called air ambulance company. There are two types of organization that provide this service; the first one is government company (the only government that provides air ambulance service is the United Kingdom. While others are collaborating with commercial service provider); and the second one is private company.

Thousands of people suffer from burn injuries each year. A burn is a type of injury that can be caused by electricity, friction, cold, heat, fire, light, chemicals, etc. There are a wide variety of potential complications that a burn injury survivor may experience such as infection, shock, and respiratory distress. There can also be severe psychological distress because burns cause scarring and deformity.

We are familiar with the categorization of burns as being first-degree, second-degree, or third-degree. There are several more degrees with each degree being worse than the last. Here are descriptions of these categories:

First Degree burns involve the epidermis, the upper layer of skin. They usually cause minor pain, redness, and sometimes a whitish char.

Second Degree burns usually go into the dermis layer. There is superficial blistering and can be more painful than first-degree burns, depending on the nerves involved.

Third Degree burns usually result in a lot of damage, such as scarring, charring, and loss of hair - they may require grafting. These occur when the burn penetrates the epidermis and damages the hypodermis.

As a pediatric critical care nurse, I have seen all too often a sibling dealing with grief.
I also see first hand the lack of age appropriate reading resources that kids can relate to when coping with such a loss.

I am happy to share with you a new picture book by author Jean Reagan titled Always My Brother.

Always My Brother

Author: Jean Reagan

Illustrated by Phyllis Pollema-Cahill

Suitable for ages 6-12 and reading level grade 3-6

ISBN 978-0-88448-313-7

This is a touching story of John and his sister who loved each other and shared many interests until his death. The book does not give graphic details of the death so there is nothing in the text that would be frightening to a child, yet it is truthful and easy for children to relate to.

The pictures and the text together form a tender story of loss and the journey through grief for his sister, Becky including feelings of guilt when Becky begins enjoying life again.

Parents can use this inspiring story to begin discussions with children dealing with such a tragic and sudden experience or as a start to the exploration of feelings before a child experiences the death of someone close.

Unbelievable! Was my reaction to The Oprah Winfrey Show on the horrific tale of a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer and then some.

According to the woman, she was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine mammogram, and a biopsy. She then saw a few specialists who examined her, but could not find her cancerous tumor. After numerous meetings and discussions with physicians, fearing that the cancer would spread, a team of physicians decided to perform a mastectomy.

A few days later, devastated, but finally trying to cope with her breast lost, she received a phone call from her doctor insisting that she comes in ASAP. In tears, her doctor announced that she never had cancer. Turns out, her mammography films and diagnostics were switched with someone else’s and no one - including the team of physicians - discovered it until it was too late. Unbelievable!

I would love to say how important it is to get a second opinion, but, since this woman had several and still wound-up with a ghastly reality, my advice here might be redundant!

The top nursing schools offer a superior education. As more and more hospitals and nursing homes are coming onto the scene, the importance of nurses has also risen. One can never deny the fact that nurses are highly in demand throughout the world. There are many schools that specialize in the training of nurses, but of course some schools are better than others. So it is always desirable to get into one of the few top nursing schools for a better education and a better future.

Top nursing schools will offer higher quality instruction, more one-on-one education, more advanced technology and equipment, an atmosphere of cooperation yet healthy competitiveness, and beautiful new facilities for the future professional top nurses of the world. Of course, this top-of-the-line quality in nursing education usually comes with a higher price tag, so be sure to check tuition rates as you shop around to the different schools. Decide what you can afford versus what your goals are.

The top universities giving education on nursing are as follows:

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee - College of Nursing

University of Wisconsin - Madison - School of Nursing

Marquette University - College of Nursing

To care for yourself is easier said than done when you are the caregiver of a seriously ill child. Add to that other children, a spouse, cooking,cleaning,laundry,appointments, pets, church, other family members or an outside job and taking care of you goes to the bottom of the list. Here are a few tips to put you at the top again without feeling guilty.

1. Delegate…. There is no rule that says you must do it all, whether you are the mom or the dad. Let others help, delegate smaller age appropriate jobs to the other siblings, and divide chores with your spouse. And that includes the care for the sick child. No one person can do it all.

2. During times of acute illness, have prepared or prepackaged meals on hand in the freezer. There is nothing wrong with a frozen pizza on occasion. Or make simple meals like scrambled eggs and bacon or pancakes. Have fresh fruit on hand too, for a quick pick me up and an easy snack for you.