Healthy Me

Part of feeling healthy is having a sense of self-worth, whether you tie that into how you parent, how well you do your job, your current health, amount of wealth you have, other factors, or all of the above, I think how you view yourself definitely impacts your health with too much stress being a negative factor.

With the economy the way it is, money has certainly been a major stressor for more families than ever that we can remember in our lifetime I think. I have found ways to supplement our income for our needs as well as our wants by working from home. It helps take care of the extras or when the hours just aren't there.

My stress reliever is my horse but I need a well-behaved horse for it to remain a great stress reliever for me. For her training, I designed and maintain the web site for the horse rescue that our trainer runs in exchange for her horse training. It works out great as we both get the benefits we want for our own particular needs. It feels good to know that I'm helping the rescue too and having a web presence certainly helps them.

If you are looking for a web presence for your business or personal needs, have you checked out Click Consulting for web site design orange county? They offer web development, tech training and tech support.

There has been no change lately medically speaking or in my weight. It's been a depressing few months.

Over the last week, I've been trying to get my wedding ring off. It was SO tight and I was afraid if I didn't get it off soon, especially with the hot summer months coming and the water weight that would result, I'd have to have it cut off. After unsuccessfully trying soap and lotions to try to work it off this last week, I was able to get it off yesterday by soaking in a hot bath (makes me pruny...removes moisture from my body) and then using mineral oil to work it off. I actually thought I was supposed to use cold instead of hot but a hot bath always made me feel dehydrated so I figured I'd give it a try. I was relieved to get it off but it was bittersweet - I love wearing my wedding ring set.

If I want to wear them again, I need to lose some of this weight. It's driving me crazy that my weight rises when I don't eat a lot. Summer clothes depress me. When I try on those cute, flirty tops now that are stylish, I look like I'm pregnant instead because of the extra weight around my middle.

Oh well, at least I saved my wedding ring set from having to be cut when I figured out how to finally remove my tight ring.

Test from phone

We are all familiar with sunburn you get on your skin - the red, painful, blistery feeling your skin gets after you've overdone it without protection in the sun. Did you know you can have sunburned eyes if you don't wear the appropriate protection for your eyes as well?

Symptoms of sunburned eyes, according to the Mayo Clinic, is burning, pain, and a gritty feeling. Sun can damage the retina and lens of your eye. This can lead to cataracts.

To prevent sun damage to your eyes, you should avoid the sun during the hottest hours of the day (10 a.m. and 4 p.m.) and wear sunglasses that block most of the UV light. They make a lot of really nice styles of women's, children's, and Mens Sunglasses. Pick a pair that fits close to your face. Wraparounds are a great choice because they block the sun at all angles.

Stress can wreak havoc on a body. My immune system has gone all wonky (as my thyroid disease and asthma shows) and I have TMJ (temporomandibular joint disorder) from clenching my jaw during times of stress. It's acting up something awful right now after the recent troubles of trying to figure out visitation with my stepkids and getting my stepson's grades in the mail from his school. I'm going to end up needing jaw surgery if this keeps up.

I definitely need to come up with some stress relievers to let all of this go. Bubble baths usually work. Lighting some candles, like a Wood Wick Candle, turning off the lights and soaking in a hot tub (ignoring the knocks at the door from my kids) usually works but it is 92 degrees here right now. Who wants to soak in a hot, or even warm, tub? Not me.

I definitely need to come up with something else because I was serious about the jaw surgery. Once the cartilage is worn to nothing, that's what I was told would be needed to fix it and I hear it's one of those surgeries that is especially bad.

I think one thing that everybody knows is that too much sun can cause damage to your skin. Too much sun can make your skin look harsh and make you look older than you are. That still doesn't keep people from overdoing it under the sun's rays without taking proper safety precautions, which I just don't get!

I burn pretty much as soon as the sun kisses my skin so I avoid the sun as much as possible. My skin fries and then it freckles. I really don't need the help with skin freckles from the sun so it's another reason to avoid it.

However, I don't enjoy looking pale or being called "ghost" (my childhood nickname from my older brother). I found one option to consider if I don't want to be lily white anymore. Spray Tanning!

I have to avoid the sun and I want to avoid skin damage and all it entails so it's nice to know there are other options.

I recently had a biopsy done on my thyroid, searching for cancer in the nodules on my thyroid. The biopsy was done on May 18 but my doctor's nurse wouldn't call me back with the results despite several phone calls and emails to her office the last week or so of May. So, I called the hospital and they told me that the results had been sent to my doctor electronically on May 20th (but they couldn't give them to me)! I did finally get my results from my doctor's office on June 1st. I can't believe they had them that long and didn't call me, knowing how much I wanted assurance that they were negative. I didn't want to assume no news was good news because I haven't been happy with this doctor for awhile and didn't trust the "no news is good news" mantra where they are concerned.

In this case, no news was good news but I am still going to find a new doctor. When I don't trust my doctor or the care she is giving, it is definitely time to find a new doctor. Just because they wear a lab coat doesn't mean they should treat a patient like that. I want to find a doctor who I feel like listens to me and doesn't see me as a lab result. I want a good doctor-patient relationship. I think it is in my best interest's to feel confident in my doctor's care. For tips on good doctor-patient communication, click here.

That's what I heard this morning from my four year old daughter when she came up behind me in a hurry to get somewhere else and I was in her way.

"Move your butt, big butt!"

Then a split second hesitation when she realized who she was talking to and then, "Sorry, Mom!"

The expression on her face when she realized what she'd said and who she'd said it to was "oh damn am I in trouble now". In another mood, I might have cried but her expression was too funny and I had to laugh. Kids are honest and my butt is bigger than it used to be.

Next week, my husband and I get on a regular fitness schedule. We have made arrangements for the kids at the YMCA (youngest in the play room with a sitter and oldest three going to swim with the lifeguard) while we work out.

I really hope this helps get some of this weight off. I can't stand it!!

The biopsy on my thyroid came back negative. That was a relief to get those results. My next step is finding a good doctor to manage my thyroid disease. I have had little luck with that since moving here three years ago.