Do you remember a magazine called “Rosie” that was published a few years ago? It was some kind of tie in with Rosie O’Donnell, and it was one of my favorites, while it was still being published. I was on vacation with my kids in a beach house on the Jersey shore, and there were a few issues of Rosie in the house, so I started reading it. The very first issue I picked up was all about Rosie O’ Donnell’s hospital stay, and a nasty staph infection she caught in the hospital. I hadn’t ever heard of such a thing, and I read with great interest how this staph infection caused Rosie to almost lose her HAND!

Staph infections are big deal, because they are resistant and hard to cure. It used to be that you found them in hospitals, but they moved out of hospitals and recently, some pro football players have been found to be infected by staph. Ick! There’s a new over the counter wound care treatment called StaphAseptic, which can be used to prevent community acquired staph infections. You can find it at most major drug stores and online as well.

I’ve blogged a bit about USAEyes on 3DayMom in the past. If you want to read my past blog entries about their lasik information, you can find those entries here and here. They’re a unique site because they’re so big on putting patients first, rather than promoting a doctor or a type of surgery. Apparently I’m not the only one with a high opinion of USAEyes, because recently, Glenn Hagele, the founder of USAEyes was featured in a cover story in US News & World Report. Glenn is also the Executive Director of the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance.

The article quoted Glenn Hagele on the importance of choosing the right surgery for Lasik, as well as any eye surgery. Glenn is very frank and open when he discusses lasik - he’s not afraid to put bad surgeons in their place, and actually said that “No amount of technology can make up for an inferior surgeon.” His site features “50 Tough Questions For Your Lasik Doctor”, and anyone considering Lasik should test their own doctor to see how he or she rates. Because USAEyes bases their ratings of Lasik surgeons on patient outcome, they’re an excellent resource for anyone considering the surgery.

I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve gone to see a counselor or therapist. Sometimes, when you’re struggling with issues, and life, seeing a professional can really put a whole new spin on things for you, or at least give you some tips on coping with things. I found that it really helped me to talk it out with someone, especially when that someone was a professional who wouldn’t judge me or attempt to promote their own agenda. I found my therapist by asking my mom - she’s a registered nurse, and has worked in the area we live in since before I was born, so 30+ years. That makes her pretty qualified to recommend someone to me. However, I realize not everyone has a mom in nursing, or a relative in the medical field to ask for advice. Or, even if you do, you may not want mom to know you’re seeking a therapists help. If that’s the case, you can use this searchable directory of mental health professionals. They’re sorted by treatment area, or area of specialty, language spoken (ideal for areas with a high immigrant population), gender (sometimes, you want someone of the same sex. Or not), location (self explanatory!), mode of treatment (talk therapy? Or something else), and the type of care, e.g. managed or insurance coverage. This site actually invented and perfected the therapist finder concept, and it’s been rebuilt and relaunched with a more powerful search function. It’s definitely easier to use than asking around for referrals, because let’s face it - most people probably don’t want to admit they see a therapist. And it’s certainly better than staring at ads in the yellow pages.

In addition to finding a therapist, you can also view all of the resources on the site, from psychology news and research briefs. I just finished reading an article there on the Autism genome project - two possible sites have been linked to the development of autism though the project. I have a good friend who has a son with autism, so I always find it interesting (and exciting) to read about new finds relating to autism.

I was curled up in bed last night with my latest edition of Reader’s Digest - yes, I am a 95 year old women inside the body of a 30 year old. I read an article about a woman not much older than me, having a stroke. A stroke! I always thought that was something that happened to older people, not healthy women in their 30’s. She recovered due to new clot busting therapy that was delivered to her within 8 hours, but she still had to relearn how to speak and write. Can you imagine? Scary stuff there.

I know a little something about being pregnant. After all, I’ve been through it three times. Mention pregnancy and it’s things like Morning sickness, stretch marks, bed rest, labor, delivery that come to mind. For me, health insurance comes to mind as well. You see, when I got pregnant with my oldest, I wasn’t married to my husband, so I had no coverage on his insurance. I was covered on my mom’s insurance (I was 18, but living at home and a student) but it didn’t cover pregnancy. Suddenly, this middle class college student was an uninsured pregnant woman. I had never dreamed I’d need to know about choosing pregnancy insurance at the age of 18, but happy accidents do happen! According to this article on choosing pregnancy insurance, I was one of the 13% of women without insurance. The article has some great tips on what to do if you find yourself in the same situation, such as, applying for Medicaid. I did, and while I did have to jump through a few hoops (including taking a leave of absense from my job so I wouldn’t have an income), I got coverage and found a fantastic doctor. The financial coverage at HealthAdel.com has lots of other tips on insurance as well - worthwhile reading for anyone, pregnant or not.

I always knew that naps were good for me. I fought them off when I was 4 or 5 and too young to know better, but now I crave naps. I’ve snuggled up with my children and dozed off on a Sunday afternoon, and I’ve caught a mid morning cat nap at home on a weekday.

Researchers in Greece have found that those who regularly take midday naps lower their risk of dying from heart disease - by more than a third!

I think we should make a siesta a way of life here in the good ole’ US of A and enjoy the benefits!

Have you ever needed to call 911 to request an ambulance? I have, and it was one of the scariest moments of my life. I was bitten by a caterpillar (one of those big fuzzy ones) and had an extremely strong allergic reaction to it. My arm felt like it was on fire. I thought I would die before the ambulance got there, but I didn’t, and they took care of me. Another time, our daughter got into her vitamins, and ate too many - we had to ride in an ambulance to the childrens hospital. Never a dull moment! And whenever I see the helicopter that transports the worst cases down to Tampa, I saw a little prayer - not just for the victims of the accident who need help, but for the people working in the air evac, that they are able to save a life. I’m sure paramedics and people working in air evac have amazing tales to tell. I found this story online about a man from Japan who injured himself in the US, and was transported back to Japan by a medical team. The flight took 19 HOURS and they had to stop in Seattle, Alaska, and Russia for fuel before arriving back in Japan. In the end, the patient arrived safely though, and that’s what matters. The same air evac company also transported hospital patients in danger of being of being hit by Hurricane Rita to a safer location. Never a dull moment!

I found the amazing story of Matt McKenna online tonight. 1 1/2 years ago, Matt weighed in at 500 pounds, and he was only 34 years old. He couldn’t walk from his house to his car without becoming short of breath, he struggled to breathe, and his joints couldn’t support his weight. Matt decided to change his life on October 3, 2005, and through diet and exercise, lost over 250 pounds!

I try to stay on top of current events in health and such, especially when I need to use it for content on this blog. Sadly, health news is usually buried in my hometown newspaper, on page 17 of section Z, or it ends up being a 20 second segment on the news. Who the heck has time to WATCH the news? I found a site with current health and weight loss information articles that I’ll be bookmarking - perhaps I’ll be inspired by something I read there and will end up blogging about it here!

When you think abot the people that needed to be saved during Hurricane Katrina, people who haven’t been born yet probably don’t come to mind. This is a great story about a baby boy named Noah who was born 16 months after the flood. Thanks to Roman Pyrzak, the lab director for The Fertility Institute of New Orleans, Rebekah Markham and her husband were able to be reunited with their frozen embryos, one of which resulted in Baby Noah.