It’s the morning after the big rain storms in Houston. Today so many families are facing the destruction of their homes or the loss of their property, possessions and cars. Far worse are the deaths of five individuals who never dreamed yesterday morning that before the day was done they would become victims of the raging waters that overtook the city’s bayous and streets. While all of the pandemonium was playing out all over my hometown there were people still dealing with the routines of life. Babies were born, people became sick, some took their final breaths. The world goes on all around us in spite of dramatic events and this was all too sadly true for my long time friend, Chris Nixon. This morning those of us who knew him learned from his daughter that he had died. Continue reading “Our Captain”
Category: Health
Mr. Sandman
Remember those Saturdays as a teenager when it was so wonderful to sleep in after a hard week at school? There were times when I didn’t lift my head until noon or even one in the afternoon. Back then I had no trouble sleeping. I didn’t need a good mattress or ambient sound to fall asleep. If there was a flat surface I was good to go. It wasn’t until I became a mom that my slumber habits began to change. Those feedings in the middle of the night roused me just enough that I was able to find my way to the crib and then to a rocking chair that my mother-in-law had given me. I’d sit there in the dark listening to music and nursing my baby girl sometimes wondering if I was dreaming, sleep walking or actually in the process of taking care of my child. I often believe that my children actually began sleeping through the night at some point because I was so sleep deprived that one night I simply did not hear their cries and so their habit of waiting until morning to demand food was born. Continue reading “Mr. Sandman”
Thoughts from a Waiting Room
I’m sitting in a waiting room at Methodist Hospital while Mike has some minor surgery. He tends to get cysts in his back that grow until they are pressing on nerves and they sometimes get infected opening the possibility of MRSA. He’s had a couple of the culprits removed over the years so it is a somewhat routine procedure but as we all know anything can happen whenever someone receives an anesthetic and goes under the knife. I suspect that we’ll be headed home in a few hours but I don’t take the process lightly given the seriousness of the pre-operative paperwork and preparation involved.
The family waiting room where I am is much more lighthearted than those where I have kept watch while loved ones were dying in ICU. Here nobody is particularly worried. There are no tears or anxious faces, no signs of people getting really bad news. I suspect that there are other areas in the hospital where those things are happening even as we speak. Coming to a hospital always reminds me to have gratitude for the good health that I mostly enjoy. It also helps me to have much more sympathy for families that are enduring very serious situations. Continue reading “Thoughts from a Waiting Room”
Zika
In the history of the world it has been the tiniest of insects that have wreaked the most havoc. Flies, fleas, ticks and mosquitoes have been carriers of death. Just as we conquer one of the many diseases that they impart to humans, another one comes along. Today the disease that is baffling scientists is Zika which was first discovered in Africa in 1947. It is carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito which also is responsible for spreading yellow fever, dengue fever, and other infectious diseases. It is believed that Zika jumped from Africa to Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia in the nineteen seventies. By 2007 it was found in Micronesia and from there made its way to French Polynesia. By 2015 it began to show up in Brazil where it is now an epidemic.
Most people don’t even notice that they have the Zika virus. In its most severe forms it causes a rash, inflammation of the eyes, flu-like symptoms, painful joints and a fever. Very rarely it causes Guillian-Barre Syndrome which causes paralysis and even death. The biggest problem with Zika occurs when pregnant women catch the disease. It has been closely linked to microencephaly in fetuses, resulting in smaller than normal brain size in the babies. This can lead to developmental problems in the growing child. Continue reading “Zika”
Love Yourself
We have lost some icons of the artistic world in the last few weeks, not the least of whom was one of Mike’s classmates at St. Thomas High School. Most of our departed were no more than two years older than I am. Their passing really puts life into perspective and makes me determined to take care of myself and Mike as best I can. The reality is that sometimes even with the a healthy lifestyle and incredible medical care death simply happens. What that tells me is just how necessary it is to squeeze as much life out of every single day as possible.
Mike and I have met ourselves coming and going to doctors’s offices since the beginning of the new year. As my cousin, Terri, notes, at least we have the doctors and the insurance to take care of all of our woes. Mike has to lose weight which is no big surprise to either of us. I’ve filled my refrigerator with tons of vegetables. I’m thrilled that we now have a Sprouts near our house and I also plan to make regular visits to the Airline Farmer’s Market and Central Market in search of fresh produce. It will be good for both of us. I’ve developed a bit of a rubber tire around my waist which I despise so neither of us have eaten a slice of bread, a morsel of potato, or any kind of rice, cracker, or wheat product in two weeks. I already feel better. It’s amazing how much more energy I have. Continue reading “Love Yourself”
All It Takes Is A Little Love 