By ANN CUEVA
For The Voice
Health
During the holidays, my husband was struck suddenly with gastroenteritis which left him quarantined in the back bedroom for 36 hours. He got up on Sunday morning to enjoy Christmas and felt fine.
He shared the love with me, however, and I had a bellyache, nausea, diarrhea, and fatigue for a full seven days. I rummaged around in the medicine cabinet and resurrected some old Zofran, took all I could, wondered if anyone had ever died from a Zofran overdose and decided I didn’t care anyway. I considered incurring a visit to my doctor to see if a person could go on Hospice for the stomach flu, but logically I knew that would be a waste of money. I knew he wouldn’t go for it. Most of all I realized how important good health is.
Let’s face it, if you don’t feel well, everything else including work, money worries or non-worries, social activities, church, family, and house upkeep goes stage left for the time being.
This made me think about the present health care crisis. So I gave this some thought and decided I would try to do my part for at least the folks who read this. In advance I know the flack will hit the internet from both consumers and providers after this—so if you are infuriated, remember you can consider the advice worth what you paid for it. THE VOICE comes to your mail or computer free.
If you or someone you care for seems sick, but you are not sure if they should be taken to an emergency room, call a nurse, your doctor, (one is always on call), your mother, or your sister and see what they think.
If your child, for example, has a fever of 102, a clear runny nose, but is eating, drinking, playing with Legos, smacking his or her sibling for knocking down the block structure, you can probably give them some acetaminophen or ibuprofen and make an appointment with you family doctor. When you call an expert know the weight, symptoms, temperature, rate of breathing, the heart rate, and the general appearance of your patient. If you tell whoever you call that your eight-year-old won’t eat, holds the right side of his belly, says that the bumps hurt when the car stops or hits a pothole, and his normal stomach sounds are strangely silent, your provider will tell you to high tail it to the emergency room thinking the appendix is screaming for a way out, and the best exit is through a surgeon’s incision.
As a provider whether you are a neighbor, friend, or relative to a person who calls you for a little advice, put your boots on and saddle up instead of shivering in fear of litigation. First, there is the Good Samaritan act that protects you. Second, if you keep four kids from going to the emergency room for a viral cold that will usually wear itself out without complication, you have saved taxpayers, insurance payers, and private payers a $1,000 easy. Third, if the patients and providers don’t do it, the government will have to. Fourth, you will be a hero if you walk across the street and have a look. A free house call is worth a lot more for your reputation than an ad in the paper—oops, sorry, VOICE.
As a member of the population that has been both a consumer and a provider, I am going to advise you to use good sense about your medical expenses. Make the decisions you want about your care when you have your entire mental functions intact. For example, if I am 98-years old in a long-term care unit sitting in a wheelchair next to someone I don’t know from my own kids, being spoon-fed food I don’t want, and diapered, I don’t want a pacemaker put in if my heart slows down. I might not have the physical or mental ability to beat sense with my cane into my children or the cardiology surgical resident who wants to perfect his or her implantations skills at the same cost I could cover my grandson’s college education and my nephew’s law school tuition.
The next advice is from me, but also for me. You are personally accountable for some degree of your health. If you are like me and think that clicking your Kindle button is aerobic exercise, get off your couch and hit the block, mall, or grocery aisles for a walk. If you are like me, remember that a night cap is NOT a half bag of potato chips. Have a glass of water and give yourself a few minutes. I am talking to my own personal one-man choir here. I find it difficult to do. I admire Dr. Wells and Dr. Graham for practicing what they preach, but the thought of being at the exercise club at 5 a.m. every morning makes me feel really, really sick. My solution is to do something that doesn’t seem like a waste of time like I think the dreadmill (not a typo) is. I can think of a million things I need to be doing while I am on that thing. Here are some options. Offer to walk someone’s dog for them, volunteer for the walk programs at the grade schools, teach a sport skill, or play with your kids or grandkids. Personally, my out is rocking the Cupid Shuffle on YouTube with my grandson in my arms, strolling him around the neighborhood, and teaching swimming at the YMCA. And finally, before running off to the disability office because you feel depressed, read the mental health advice from the professionals published in THE VOICE every week. They are a great reminder to me to see the glass half full, keep my insulting readers to a minimum, and they are free! And you had better do what I say and not what I do, because I promise you that your insurance is not going to pay for a heart pump like Dick Cheney has. You only get that if you successfully bully a Bush into a war based on false intelligence that no one else wanted.
But what to do if someone is sick and you don’t feel like you should advise them? We always follow Debbie Gibson’s mission statement. I never know if I think she makes the best chicken soup because I’m too sick to open a can of broth for myself, if it is the courageous act of entering a contaminated house, or if it comes with the gift of concern. It is simple, easy to digest, and I swear the best medicine for the ailing gut.
Deb’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Poach six to eight chicken breasts in broth in crockpot on low overnight. Remove chicken and cut into bite size pieces.
Add sliced carrots and celery.
Salt and pepper to season.
Bring to boil on stove and simmer until vegetables are tender or slow cook four hours.
Boil one package of curly egg noodles separately with salt, drain, and stir in before serving. Add more broth for the consistency of your choice if necessary.
Nothing fancy, but somehow perfect!
