Ah, here comes the New Year, right on time.

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is a weird one for me, and always has been. I lose track of what day it is, I can’t get organized — it seems that life and my brain are in some kind of limbo, or on another plane of reality altogether. The frantic pace of pre-holiday cleaning, shopping and freaking out is over; sometimes I can’t figure out what I’m supposed to be doing in this interim while the old year fades out and the new one takes over. Read the rest of this entry »

From the Goddesses here at Over Forty and Loving It, we wish you happy holidays, and thank all our readers for their support. You guys are better than an 18-hour Playtex bra!

Enjoy yourselves and your loved ones — and remember to take care of yourself! The memories your family will have are not so much the “perfection” you are able to accomplish, but rather the loving smiles, warm hugs and fun that epitomizes the season.

We love you and appreciate you, our readers. Have a wonderful day, because YOU are wonderful and you deserve it!

Much love,

~Lala and netta

For more great photos, visit Wordless Wednesday.

As promised, here are the Patients’ Bill of Rights first adopted by the American Hospital Association in 1972 and revised in 1992. Since then, several hospitals offer their own Bill of Rights.

Bill of Rights

These rights can be exercised on the patient’s behalf by a designated surrogate or proxy decision maker if the patient lacks decision-making capacity, is legally incompetent, or is a minor. Read the rest of this entry »

Last year at this time, I moved to Florida. I moved here because right after my husband and I’s anniversary in September, he proclaimed he wanted a divorce. It wasn’t the first time he’d said it, but it would be the last.

After 15 years of marriage, it was difficult for me to take. Not only that but a few weeks afterward, my grandmother died. In between traveling back home for her funeral, Thanksgiving, and figuring out where I’d go and what I’d do because my husband no longer wanted me, it was an extremely difficult and emotional time for me. Read the rest of this entry »

Gil Grissom, AKA William Peterson, is leaving the show CSI.

I am not happy about this. The Las Vegas-based crime drama will not be the same without him. Many fans have expressed the opinion the show will die on the vine now that Peterson has left the ranks, along with the prior departures of Jorja Fox and Gary Dourdan. My heart broke at the death of Warrick Brown, but I’m really sad about Grissom leaving. Read the rest of this entry »

Heh, let’s face it, I was always a chunky kid. But in my teens I began taking Prednisone for my Crohn’s Disease. The drug made me ravenously hungry and usually for those fatty foods we should never over-indulge in. With each passing year and each large dose, the Prednisone had considerably added to my genetically thick waist.

When I complained to my GI doc that it was getting more and more difficult to take off packed-on weight because of the medication, he explained to me why. Prednisone is synthetic Cortisone. Cortisone is produced naturally in our adrenal glands. When we are stressed, Cortisone converts to Cortisol. In fact, Cortisol is known as the stress hormone. Because of the often-time large doses of Prednisone I was taking, my body was reading itself as being constantly stressed. Studies show that women with extra fat around the midsection have higher levels of Cortisol in their system. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been on both sides of the hospital bed, both as a nurse and as a patient with a chronic illness. I’ve given a lot of medications and I’ve taken a lot of medications.

For the most part, we have to trust our doctors and manufacturers. But as patients and consumers we should really do two things: ask a lot of questions, and do our own research.

I remember when I first began taking Prednisone for my Crohn’s Disease. The doctor never explained the side effects to me. Imagine my surprise when within a month, I gained 20 pounds from both fat and water, began noticing mysterious bruising all over my arms and legs, and my hair was falling out at an alarming rate. Not only that, but if I cut myself, even so much as a paper cut, it took me forever to stop the bleeding. Read the rest of this entry »

We take so many things for granted in our everyday life, and this time of year is no exception. For instance, we walk down to our mailbox everyday, or visit the post office to pick up our mail. Advertising, letters from loved ones, Christmas cards, packages – and the inevitable bills, of course. Do you ever stop to think how that stuff ended up in your mailbox?

The cliché is, “Through rain, snow, sleet, and dark of night…” but like so many clichés, it’s true. The United States Postal Service, the second oldest independent establishment of the United States Government, was established in 1775 and initially used to carry communication between Congress and the armies. The first Postmaster General was Benjamin Franklin, and today’s service descends from an unbroken line from the system he initially set up, serving as a basis for the service as we know it today. Read the rest of this entry »

Island Time

Years ago, back in the before time, I worked as a nurse. As a nurse one of my most important pieces of equipment was a watch. I used it to keep a close eye on medication times, I needed it to take pulses and to count respirations, as well as noting the hours and minutes of important details for medical records. In our working lives we’re often a prisoner of time but in the nursing world we are truly slaves to it.

Because of medical problems, I no longer work, so I’m afforded the opportunity of not being such a slave to every waking minute. Living on a barrier island, time holds even less meaning. Very few, from the drivers on the roads to the clerks in stores, are ever in a hurry to do anything. Stores don’t always open when they should and it’s easy to lose track of time lounging at the beach. Read the rest of this entry »