It's been yet again two weeks since my last post. This week is intended to be a shorter entry as it's near bedtime right now (not sure how successful that will be lol!). A lot has gone on, keeping busy. In fact I'd like to say that by spending time with family, especially the young little ones in my life, it makes me feel young again. :) I encourage everyone to spend some time going down memory lane at the good times, there is always a good time, some happy place in our childhood that we can recall or should try to even during hard or very difficult and sad times. I admit I have a lot of bad memories however I have a lot of good ones too because, I made them. I remember even small things like colouring or sitting down in a quiet corner of the library and reading or flipping through books, or even in my teens just laying there enjoying the tunes in my headphones or on the radio or dancing around in my room when no one was watching. By staying active and doing the things we love and just allowing ourselves to do those little things it helps us stay young at heart and live life and live it a little longer where and when we can. Those small things as children we don't think of like, building and creating with blocks and just taking the time to see things as a little person would helps us understand children and just go forward and be less stressed when we let those adult problems go away for a little bit.
The reason why I talk about this this week is because 1. I spent an awesome time with my soon to be 3 year old nephew Wyatt, running and playing with Cosmo (my one year old cat, I have 2 cats) and smiling and laughing, building block towers and eating french fries and listening to him go on about the cheeseburger and burger images on the wall of McDonald's and being silly. Now yes, I know I've said that fast food isn't the best thing but once in a while doesn't hurt and I know that regularly he otherwise doesn't get all the bad stuff and he's quite active. He's definitely not a child that sits around trying to watch TV, mind you he has eye issues with cataracts at a young age so his other senses are heightened so that may be a prime reason why.
Now the second reason I write about being young and living in the moment and cherishing those moments you do have with family and friends is that my niece Leah, my nephew's big sister, passed away in Feb. 2010 of leukemia and she was only 4 years old. Such a young age, and though she was sick she made everyone smile and lived in the moment. It was always right then and there. There was no thinking about tomorrow it was always, let's share this moment now because we won't get another like it. The loss of a child is really life changing and you really see things differently after that. Her birthday is this Friday actually and so I thought in memory of her, yes there should be a post because she was one of the best little people in the world, and she taught me a thing or two about just being a child and letting go because she also acted very mature for her age, she knew what was coming.
I'd also just briefly like to touch on grieving, because everyone grieves in their own way and there is no real "way" to do so. You will go through the process in any order that it comes, perhaps anger, sadness, resentment, acceptance. Most of these feelings rush through you and they can come and go even as time passes. It's been two years and sometimes I still feel angry or horribly depressed especially on days when I look at my future and look at the now and say, this is not where I want to be. I'm not healthy enough or I'm not happy. And on those days I try to even think back to Leah and say you know what, she wouldn't have let her auntie feel this way and she would want me to go forward and do the very best I can with what I have and do simple things and be as healthy as I can because things just have a way of not being controllable such as cancer.
On to other topics, this week I've decided that going forward I'm going to try some new recipies and just play around with trying new foods and making new foods. I have been watching some shows I recommend such as 'Anna and Kristina's Grocery bag' and Healthy Gourmet shown on the W-network as well as the OWN network. I also suggest looking at the website Allrecipes.com and getting the dinner spinner app. Both quite useful and though I have yet to sign up for my free membership I find the recipes quite interesting and helpful along with tips etc. I also have signed up for Dr. Oz's Sharecare newsletter which also has quite a few tips and information that I find very interesting.
Well that's all I've got really for this week folks other than that expect in the coming weeks to have some new experimental recipes posted :) It's not just about eating healthy and what's good for you but doing a balance of working out and eating healthy. This week's dish was: Roasted lemon, rosemary chicken with spinach and sweet onion stuffing ( broken up bread and spiced with sage and basil) and roasted baby carrots and potatoes. Now mind you it needed a tad bit of salt but turned out otherwise wonderfully. :) Unfortunately I have no pictures this week of this dish other than later on I may post the before picture. My father and I just devoured it!
Have a great week, or two weeks :) Stay healthy, safe and happy and spend some time with some loved ones where possible and act like kids again! :)
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Cancer and Emotions, The Common Cold and Goals
Hello there folks!!
I do sincerely apologize to those who actually keep up with this blog that I haven't written in the past two weeks. I've been trying to keep it so I write on Wednesdays but things like, life, get in the way sometimes. Admittedly the past 3 weeks have been very bad for me and mine. This past week alone I've been horribly sick with a cold in which case today's topics might cover some basics on cold and flu prevention and signs. The week of the August 23rd just after my previous entry, I went to the hospital with a scare for my own health, and also the week of Sept 1st, something that people probably don't want to talk about, and perhaps my family might give me heck for writing here, is that we found out that a family member, my younger brother and youngest of my family, has been diagnosed with cancer, b-cell leukemia to be exact. And this is the second time this has hit us in our family as his own daughter was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 3 and passed away in 2010, Feb 19th at the age of 4. So it's been a very difficult two weeks.
Starting off with the common cold, just some simple stuff, keep your hands washed, sanitize and if you can stay home. Lots of fluids are a must and if you find that you have a fever or aches and pains etc. then you may just have the flu not a cold. Flus apparently come on looking like a cold but the common cold does not usually have a fever with it. A cold can also last about 2 weeks of which the first week you are going to be contagious. Keeping young children home is a wise thing. I find though that in the industry that I work, a call center, that it's expected that you come to work ill and are in a closed environment, not sanitized, people don't wash their hands, don't cover their mouth while coughing and because we share equipment and it's airborne is a high cause of most people there being ill on a frequent basis with a variety of things including the common cold becoming something such as pneumonia. I think it should be mandatory not only the 10 fed days we get for "family emergency" but that we should also be required that if we are in fact this ill and are visibly so should come into work and be sent home. Will this happen? No. Why? Because we need to work and people take advantage of it and decide that this is a waste of money but yet we see more and more people lose their jobs over health issues created by things like this. I myself am one near losing my job based on a points system that if I have one more half a point I will be fired and any job is not legally required to hold your position if you use up all your fed days. I don't believe that's right. So in order to avoid it, I went into work and have had this cold longer than I should have, using sanitizer of my own since I'm allergic to the brand they use and doing what I can to keep better by having water, gingerale and soup. Lots of rest is also required and steam baths or showers also help drainage of the sinuses as well as any weariness from walking and talking and just a headache looking at the screens all day. :) So people, I beg you...just do the basics please.
To discuss cancer, the worlds 20th century plague as I'd like to put it, is something that is difficult for some. We open up about breast cancer etc. and we talk about finding a cure but we never talk about other types, it's effects on the people and families it hits and the devastating results and just how it emotionally affects us.We want to hear the good results, the people who have gone to remission and or survived because we want hope and to hear nothing but the positive. But what about those stories about those who don't? Are they still in our memories? Of course and one little girl, my niece, was one that affected everyone she met. She influenced and gave me not only hope but the urge to try to help others and be positive and do something with myself. She also was a very wise little girl and though in pain kept fighting and put a smile on despite it. I live life as if it were my last every day and spend as much time with my family and loved ones as possible where and when I can. Like her I don't bother to hold grudges and though it is hard to get out of old habits of disliking people I've tried to put the past behind me as if you know what, that doesn't matter, today does. Because for all I know it could come creeping up on me. That being said, I also noted above I had a scare myself. It turned out to be nothing serious but it could have turned out to be had I not taken care of the symptoms and signs that there was something wrong. So in light of that, definitely if you notice anything out of the ordinary, anything that could be serious please take it to the doctor or emergency.
My family history has a history of breast cancer, bowel cancer, kidney cancer, and leukemia, among many other health issues. So cancer is something that I'm familiar with. It's not a pretty thing and even when there is a ray of hope of remission it can come back and hit harder than ever. My brother has chosen to forgo treatment as well. Which is something else I'd like to touch on, treatment such as Radiation can be damaging definitely to the immune system. My father has a friend, who is in remission, went through the chemo etc. and it didn't work however found a tea that the Mennonites use to cure cancer, and you can find it at the health food stores. You can apparently find it in tea, tablet and liquid form though the tea is cheapest and makes more. He used this instead and is now in remission. I emphasize though that again,getting rid of bad habits such as drinking, smoking etc. is probably a good thing and something you don't want to continue if that had anything to do with the cause, not that I condone smoking, I don't. I think smoking is a nasty habit and everyone should quit. They should be banned. I hope that my brother can try this tea and it works but using herbal remedies and natural methods may be better for the future of this "20th century plague." I'm sure that cancer is not a new thing and that somewhere over time there was a cure or is one in some area or another. It reminds me of the movie "Medicine Man" actually. I love that movie. But it speaks the truth.
The idea of cancer or even of losing someone, the news itself is hard hitting and when I found out about it for both my brother and my niece, the news is devastating. It makes you angry, sad, lost. You don't know what to think and some part of you feels perhaps numb. I know I felt numb and part of that perhaps was that I had to make myself feel so because I was at work both times when I got the news. This time I was on my lunch and it just hit me. And then I had to go back to the phones and deal with people and try not crying. And it's heart breaking when you hear other people tell you they're sick but it's even more upsetting when they are calling in over a couple dollars of a charge that they validly incurred and you're sitting there thinking what the f*** are you calling in about this for when so and so is suffering and grrr! And especially when it's a young person that is suffering because they have so much to do in this life or that they're missing out on. Now mind you I'm not going to say that my brother hasn't had his fair share of doing some...not so great things, but that doesn't mean he deserves this. No one does it's something I would not wish on anyone. Something like this can bring a family together, or draw them apart. Getting counselling might be a good idea especially if your family is not open to speaking about it or close at all. Speaking to someone or letting things out, allowing yourself to cry, and experience these feelings is a must. I'm not a professional but I do know that everyone grieves in their own way or copes in their own way and some do so better than others but that keeping it all in is not healthy at all and can actually cause you and your family more suffering.
Moving on, I'd also like to write about some personal goals as well and the purpose of this journal once more. I know I've touched on some personal things and that's exactly part of this journal. I'm not a professional by any means but by sharing my stories and my findings and experiences, I'm hoping to inspire, encourage and help others with their goals etc. This blog is about the "no no topics", the eating healthy, being healthy in mind, body and spirit. We can all live healthier and be creative about it as well. There are always new and interesting things out there to try and that are good for you.
My goals personally right now is that I'd like to lose at least 10-15 lbs before or by my birthday in December. I'm trying to avoid sweets and lots of pop. I'm eating more fruits and veggies and trying to balance things out. Working out goals, well I'm working on that and it's hard. Aiming for at least once a week if I can to start and that's using the Wii as well since I don't have a gym, I'll make my living room my personal gym. I'd like to be able to share this and be able to do it with someone eventually. I'd also like to do some new and exciting recipes or even just share some basic recipes with people that I've tried and found. So every few weeks I may post a new dish. Three weeks ago I posted a salad. This week, though I have no pic yet for this blog, is my quiche. Quiche is healthy and basic and simple. So using spinach, mushrooms and sweet onion, I created one. It was quite yummy. Remember you can take anything that seems bland and spice it up by using fresh veggies or spices to create something new. :)
And this is my blog for this week. As I said before I aim to write every week but, life is life and sometimes other things take precedence. Today's review: Take care of the basics with prevention of the common cold or flus etc., take care of yourself. Spend time with family and friends, live life like it's the only one you've got and the only opportunity is now! Make goals and be creative about doing so, have fun being healthy.
I do sincerely apologize to those who actually keep up with this blog that I haven't written in the past two weeks. I've been trying to keep it so I write on Wednesdays but things like, life, get in the way sometimes. Admittedly the past 3 weeks have been very bad for me and mine. This past week alone I've been horribly sick with a cold in which case today's topics might cover some basics on cold and flu prevention and signs. The week of the August 23rd just after my previous entry, I went to the hospital with a scare for my own health, and also the week of Sept 1st, something that people probably don't want to talk about, and perhaps my family might give me heck for writing here, is that we found out that a family member, my younger brother and youngest of my family, has been diagnosed with cancer, b-cell leukemia to be exact. And this is the second time this has hit us in our family as his own daughter was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 3 and passed away in 2010, Feb 19th at the age of 4. So it's been a very difficult two weeks.
Starting off with the common cold, just some simple stuff, keep your hands washed, sanitize and if you can stay home. Lots of fluids are a must and if you find that you have a fever or aches and pains etc. then you may just have the flu not a cold. Flus apparently come on looking like a cold but the common cold does not usually have a fever with it. A cold can also last about 2 weeks of which the first week you are going to be contagious. Keeping young children home is a wise thing. I find though that in the industry that I work, a call center, that it's expected that you come to work ill and are in a closed environment, not sanitized, people don't wash their hands, don't cover their mouth while coughing and because we share equipment and it's airborne is a high cause of most people there being ill on a frequent basis with a variety of things including the common cold becoming something such as pneumonia. I think it should be mandatory not only the 10 fed days we get for "family emergency" but that we should also be required that if we are in fact this ill and are visibly so should come into work and be sent home. Will this happen? No. Why? Because we need to work and people take advantage of it and decide that this is a waste of money but yet we see more and more people lose their jobs over health issues created by things like this. I myself am one near losing my job based on a points system that if I have one more half a point I will be fired and any job is not legally required to hold your position if you use up all your fed days. I don't believe that's right. So in order to avoid it, I went into work and have had this cold longer than I should have, using sanitizer of my own since I'm allergic to the brand they use and doing what I can to keep better by having water, gingerale and soup. Lots of rest is also required and steam baths or showers also help drainage of the sinuses as well as any weariness from walking and talking and just a headache looking at the screens all day. :) So people, I beg you...just do the basics please.
To discuss cancer, the worlds 20th century plague as I'd like to put it, is something that is difficult for some. We open up about breast cancer etc. and we talk about finding a cure but we never talk about other types, it's effects on the people and families it hits and the devastating results and just how it emotionally affects us.We want to hear the good results, the people who have gone to remission and or survived because we want hope and to hear nothing but the positive. But what about those stories about those who don't? Are they still in our memories? Of course and one little girl, my niece, was one that affected everyone she met. She influenced and gave me not only hope but the urge to try to help others and be positive and do something with myself. She also was a very wise little girl and though in pain kept fighting and put a smile on despite it. I live life as if it were my last every day and spend as much time with my family and loved ones as possible where and when I can. Like her I don't bother to hold grudges and though it is hard to get out of old habits of disliking people I've tried to put the past behind me as if you know what, that doesn't matter, today does. Because for all I know it could come creeping up on me. That being said, I also noted above I had a scare myself. It turned out to be nothing serious but it could have turned out to be had I not taken care of the symptoms and signs that there was something wrong. So in light of that, definitely if you notice anything out of the ordinary, anything that could be serious please take it to the doctor or emergency.
My family history has a history of breast cancer, bowel cancer, kidney cancer, and leukemia, among many other health issues. So cancer is something that I'm familiar with. It's not a pretty thing and even when there is a ray of hope of remission it can come back and hit harder than ever. My brother has chosen to forgo treatment as well. Which is something else I'd like to touch on, treatment such as Radiation can be damaging definitely to the immune system. My father has a friend, who is in remission, went through the chemo etc. and it didn't work however found a tea that the Mennonites use to cure cancer, and you can find it at the health food stores. You can apparently find it in tea, tablet and liquid form though the tea is cheapest and makes more. He used this instead and is now in remission. I emphasize though that again,getting rid of bad habits such as drinking, smoking etc. is probably a good thing and something you don't want to continue if that had anything to do with the cause, not that I condone smoking, I don't. I think smoking is a nasty habit and everyone should quit. They should be banned. I hope that my brother can try this tea and it works but using herbal remedies and natural methods may be better for the future of this "20th century plague." I'm sure that cancer is not a new thing and that somewhere over time there was a cure or is one in some area or another. It reminds me of the movie "Medicine Man" actually. I love that movie. But it speaks the truth.
The idea of cancer or even of losing someone, the news itself is hard hitting and when I found out about it for both my brother and my niece, the news is devastating. It makes you angry, sad, lost. You don't know what to think and some part of you feels perhaps numb. I know I felt numb and part of that perhaps was that I had to make myself feel so because I was at work both times when I got the news. This time I was on my lunch and it just hit me. And then I had to go back to the phones and deal with people and try not crying. And it's heart breaking when you hear other people tell you they're sick but it's even more upsetting when they are calling in over a couple dollars of a charge that they validly incurred and you're sitting there thinking what the f*** are you calling in about this for when so and so is suffering and grrr! And especially when it's a young person that is suffering because they have so much to do in this life or that they're missing out on. Now mind you I'm not going to say that my brother hasn't had his fair share of doing some...not so great things, but that doesn't mean he deserves this. No one does it's something I would not wish on anyone. Something like this can bring a family together, or draw them apart. Getting counselling might be a good idea especially if your family is not open to speaking about it or close at all. Speaking to someone or letting things out, allowing yourself to cry, and experience these feelings is a must. I'm not a professional but I do know that everyone grieves in their own way or copes in their own way and some do so better than others but that keeping it all in is not healthy at all and can actually cause you and your family more suffering.
Moving on, I'd also like to write about some personal goals as well and the purpose of this journal once more. I know I've touched on some personal things and that's exactly part of this journal. I'm not a professional by any means but by sharing my stories and my findings and experiences, I'm hoping to inspire, encourage and help others with their goals etc. This blog is about the "no no topics", the eating healthy, being healthy in mind, body and spirit. We can all live healthier and be creative about it as well. There are always new and interesting things out there to try and that are good for you.
My goals personally right now is that I'd like to lose at least 10-15 lbs before or by my birthday in December. I'm trying to avoid sweets and lots of pop. I'm eating more fruits and veggies and trying to balance things out. Working out goals, well I'm working on that and it's hard. Aiming for at least once a week if I can to start and that's using the Wii as well since I don't have a gym, I'll make my living room my personal gym. I'd like to be able to share this and be able to do it with someone eventually. I'd also like to do some new and exciting recipes or even just share some basic recipes with people that I've tried and found. So every few weeks I may post a new dish. Three weeks ago I posted a salad. This week, though I have no pic yet for this blog, is my quiche. Quiche is healthy and basic and simple. So using spinach, mushrooms and sweet onion, I created one. It was quite yummy. Remember you can take anything that seems bland and spice it up by using fresh veggies or spices to create something new. :)
And this is my blog for this week. As I said before I aim to write every week but, life is life and sometimes other things take precedence. Today's review: Take care of the basics with prevention of the common cold or flus etc., take care of yourself. Spend time with family and friends, live life like it's the only one you've got and the only opportunity is now! Make goals and be creative about doing so, have fun being healthy.
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