In our effort to be politically correct and tolerant of others with their varied faiths and philosophies, America has lost sight of the fact that first and foremost we are a Christian country.
Our forefathers were Christian. They trusted in God as they created our government and its constitution, and said so on our money.
The majority of our citizens are Christians. Those who don't believe as most Americans do are allowed to practice otherwise because our Constitution has given them the right to do so, and because Americans believe that people should be allowed to worship as they choose without repercussions. This is not true in lots of other countries.
We have made a lot of mistakes, however, in the name of tolerance:
We should not have taken God out of public buildings. We need reminders of God's wisdom and power as often as possible and at every turn. Perhaps our present day politicians would be better leaders if they were driven by God's laws instead of their individual desire.
We should not have taken God out of the schools. Our children would benefit greatly from learning and following the Ten Commandments. Perhaps we could eradicate bad behavior and bullying and violence, if children believed they were accountable for that behavior to a greater authority.
We should not have taken God out of the holidays. Materialism and superficiality are honored rather than Christ who is the reason for our celebrating Easter and Christmas.
I've traveled the world including to non-Christian countries. I have been expected to behave according to their rules and to show respect for their differences. And I do, but I believe we should expect the same in this country.
We should “tolerate” (the definition of which is accept, bear or endure) those who are different, but tolerate does not mean agree or acquiesce to those differences. I wonder how God must feel when we choose political correctness over honoring HIM.
There has been controversy over whether we should say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas so as not to insult non-believers. How extraordinary that we should be made to feel ashamed to exclaim our love for this blessed holiday.
Well, I refuse, and so should you. I will say Merry Christmas, and I will express my belief in Christ as my savior. I will continue to think of America as a Christian country which tolerates other belief systems, and I pray you will too, but we must honor our own faith. We must never be coerced otherwise but instead proclaim what we believe without shame.
Merry Christmas to you all, and may God bless you abundantly in this new year.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Female Heart Attacks
When women have a heart attack, they rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men do. Because a woman's symptoms are so different and can be explained away as other possibilities, her first heart attack is often her last, and that is because she waited too long to get help.
Women often decide the symptoms are indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up... which doesn't happen.
The symptoms and what to do bear repeating, and this story of what happened to a nurse addresses both.
"I had a heart attack at about 10:30 p.m. with NO prior exertion and NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly and warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, 'A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.
A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation--the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.
After it seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasms), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR).
This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws. NOW, I stopped puzzling about what was happening. We all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws (which can awaken you from sleep) being one of the signals of an Myocardial Infarction (MI) happening.
I lowered the foot rest dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else, but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in a moment.
I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics. I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.
I unlocked the door and laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the radiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like 'Have you taken any medications?') but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed two side by side stints to hold open my right coronary artery.
I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was in his scrubs and already to go to the OR and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stints."
What to do:
1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body. Your symptoms might not be exactly like those above, so call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a 'false alarm' visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be.
2. Be sure to call the Paramedics, and, if you can, take an aspirin. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE:
Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER - you are a hazard to others on the road.
Do NOT have your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road.
Do NOT call your doctor -- he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night, you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved. The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your doctor will be notified later.
3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high and/or accompanied by high blood pressure).
MIs are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.
The story is a warning to us all. Be alert, be careful and be quick about calling for help.
Women often decide the symptoms are indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation and go to bed, hoping they'll feel better in the morning when they wake up... which doesn't happen.
The symptoms and what to do bear repeating, and this story of what happened to a nurse addresses both.
"I had a heart attack at about 10:30 p.m. with NO prior exertion and NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly and warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, 'A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.
A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you've been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you've swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn't have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation--the only trouble was that I hadn't taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.
After it seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasms), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR).
This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws. NOW, I stopped puzzling about what was happening. We all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws (which can awaken you from sleep) being one of the signals of an Myocardial Infarction (MI) happening.
I lowered the foot rest dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, If this is a heart attack, I shouldn't be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else, but, on the other hand, if I don't, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in a moment.
I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics. I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn't feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.
I unlocked the door and laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don't remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the radiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like 'Have you taken any medications?') but I couldn't make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed two side by side stints to hold open my right coronary artery.
I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was in his scrubs and already to go to the OR and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stints."
What to do:
1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body. Your symptoms might not be exactly like those above, so call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you've not felt before. It is better to have a 'false alarm' visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be.
2. Be sure to call the Paramedics, and, if you can, take an aspirin. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE:
Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER - you are a hazard to others on the road.
Do NOT have your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what's happening with you instead of the road.
Do NOT call your doctor -- he doesn't know where you live and if it's at night, you won't reach him anyway, and if it's daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn't carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved. The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your doctor will be notified later.
3. Don't assume it couldn't be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it's unbelievably high and/or accompanied by high blood pressure).
MIs are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.
The story is a warning to us all. Be alert, be careful and be quick about calling for help.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Food for Thought
The holidays are here and my family members look forward to the special dishes that I make during the season. In fact, my son is appalled if I even consider dropping one recipe from the menu, so despite the calories, I cook dishes luscious with butter and cream and bake sweets steeped in sugar.
The problem is what to do with all that fabulous food that is left over when the meal is finished. I send some home, of course, but because I always make way too much, I still have those extra calories staring at me whenever I open the refrigerator door, and resisting them is so tough. Long ago, though, I decided not to be too hard on myself. After all, the holidays come only once a year.
I read an interesting article just yesterday that may save the day. It says if one thinks repeatedly about a particular food, the desire to eat it is diminished. In other words, think long and hard about what it is like to ingest that piece of cake or candy, and you will eat less of it.
The Carnegie Mellon University study dispels the long believed notion that the more we think about something, the more we want it. We do have to do the "imagining" repeatedly and in great detail.
For instance, if we want to eat a piece of cheese (my downfall), we must imagine unwrapping it, slicing through it, putting it into our mouth, chewing it, and savoring each bite until it is swallowed. In fact, the greater the detail of visualization, the better it is. The researchers promise that if we do that 30 times or more, we will eat smaller portions or none at all.
"Engaging in the mental act of eating can reduce interest in that type of food," said lead researcher Dr. Carey Morewedge. The brain actually believes that we have eaten so much of that particular food that any more of it is a turn-off.
Wouldn't it be fabulous to think ourselves thin? Let me know if it works for you!
The problem is what to do with all that fabulous food that is left over when the meal is finished. I send some home, of course, but because I always make way too much, I still have those extra calories staring at me whenever I open the refrigerator door, and resisting them is so tough. Long ago, though, I decided not to be too hard on myself. After all, the holidays come only once a year.
I read an interesting article just yesterday that may save the day. It says if one thinks repeatedly about a particular food, the desire to eat it is diminished. In other words, think long and hard about what it is like to ingest that piece of cake or candy, and you will eat less of it.
The Carnegie Mellon University study dispels the long believed notion that the more we think about something, the more we want it. We do have to do the "imagining" repeatedly and in great detail.
For instance, if we want to eat a piece of cheese (my downfall), we must imagine unwrapping it, slicing through it, putting it into our mouth, chewing it, and savoring each bite until it is swallowed. In fact, the greater the detail of visualization, the better it is. The researchers promise that if we do that 30 times or more, we will eat smaller portions or none at all.
"Engaging in the mental act of eating can reduce interest in that type of food," said lead researcher Dr. Carey Morewedge. The brain actually believes that we have eaten so much of that particular food that any more of it is a turn-off.
Wouldn't it be fabulous to think ourselves thin? Let me know if it works for you!
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Decking the Halls
Christmas is my favorite holiday. The music brings me to tears. The decorations are amazing, and the lights are magical. I just adore driving through our neighborhoods to see how others have expressed their love of this blessed season.
As I've gotten older, I do less in the way of lights on the outside of the house, but I still decorate like crazy inside. Angels and Mr. and Mrs. Santa light up and move; snow covered houses in a mini village twinkle, stockings are stuffed; the tree sparkles like a beautiful jewel and is covered with special ornaments.
Each year, I bought a new ornament for each family member. They would depict whatever made that year special for them--ballet and cheerleading for my daughter and a soccer ball and Santa on the computer for my son are examples.
The best ornaments on the tree, however, were the ones my children made for me through the years. I especially cherish the angel my daughter embroidered when she was 10 and the fingerprint flower my son made whe he was six.
I could easily theme the tree or buy sophisticated baubles, but I'd rather have the tree represent the memories of Christmas I so cherish. I still buy new ornaments for my children each year--something to symbolize my daughter's wedding, my son's love of football, and my granddaughter's birth were the most recent ones. It's still fun to find just the right one.
Someday, all the ornaments will go to the intended, and I hope will make keepsakes that will prompt the stories of our very special celebrations.
As I've gotten older, I do less in the way of lights on the outside of the house, but I still decorate like crazy inside. Angels and Mr. and Mrs. Santa light up and move; snow covered houses in a mini village twinkle, stockings are stuffed; the tree sparkles like a beautiful jewel and is covered with special ornaments.
Each year, I bought a new ornament for each family member. They would depict whatever made that year special for them--ballet and cheerleading for my daughter and a soccer ball and Santa on the computer for my son are examples.
The best ornaments on the tree, however, were the ones my children made for me through the years. I especially cherish the angel my daughter embroidered when she was 10 and the fingerprint flower my son made whe he was six.
I could easily theme the tree or buy sophisticated baubles, but I'd rather have the tree represent the memories of Christmas I so cherish. I still buy new ornaments for my children each year--something to symbolize my daughter's wedding, my son's love of football, and my granddaughter's birth were the most recent ones. It's still fun to find just the right one.
Someday, all the ornaments will go to the intended, and I hope will make keepsakes that will prompt the stories of our very special celebrations.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
