health
Keeping your mind and body in check - popular topics in health and medicine to maintain a long and healthy life.
6 Steps to Reduce Anxiety and Stress to Improve Physical Health
Anxiety and stress are a very common difficulty that many people experience at some point in their life. Controlling anxiety is merely a conscious exercised ability to control what you feel, without letting what transpires the opportunity to control you!
By Silena Le Beau7 years ago in Longevity
The Secret Fight No One Understands!
For years I've spent my days in and out of the hospitals, fighting this secret fight that no one quite understood. Daily I struggled to get out of bed because I had no strength to do that simple task. I spent years with people calling me a hypochondriac because there was nothing wrong with me on the outside. But on the outside looking in, you can see what is happening on the inside. No one could see the pain that was slowly crippling me, the fear that I felt when I ate, because even that had had me torn between two options; do I eat, because my body needs it, or do I eat and be in pain for the rest of the day? I know, some options, right?
By Allata Gonsalves7 years ago in Longevity
5 Options for Insomnia
In case some of you don't know, insomnia is when you can't sleep. It can be caused by tons of different reasons such as high levels of stress, grief, restless leg syndrome, and more. I have dealt with insomnia for as long as I can remember, and I know a lot of others who experience the same thing. Insomnia is not a death-threatening medical condition, and it's not going to cause you any harm. So no need for panic.
By Brittany Boon-Marchand7 years ago in Longevity
Living with HIV
In 2005 I started training as a nurse at the University of Leeds. It was the best time of my life, everything seemed to be going well. I had come out to my family as gay and I was seeing a guy from my hometown. The travelling back every weekend never really seemed to bother me. He was happy, I was a happy 18 year old and the relationship lasted 2 years. The relationship ended in 2007.
By Carl Alexander7 years ago in Longevity
Battle with Endometriosis
What drew your attention the most from the title? Athlete or Endometriosis? Or Both? Well yes I am an athlete who’s heavily involved in the bodybuilding world. I’ve been training for the past four years and competed once. Why once? Well believe it or not, even being 26 years young, I encountered many health issues that prohibited me from pursuing a course that I wanted to take. That course involved me becoming a Pro Bodybuilder. I still have that goal in front of me, but I first need to take care of my health. I endured a debilitating disease that has put my body into never ending pain… Endometriosis! What the heck is that? Trust me, I never heard of this until I was told by a Doctor. For male readers, be prepared for some gory description. Endometriosis only affects females, so no need to worry….
By Fransheska Roldan7 years ago in Longevity
The Illness that No One Can See
Most everyone in the world that has a disability shows some physical sign of it. They have crutches or a wheelchair, maybe some special device to help them breathe or do daily tasks. What happens when you are chronically ill, but the symptoms are not as obvious? Recently, there have been many stories of various patrons at grocery stores, malls, and outlets berating young people who have parked in disabled spots because they don't "look" disabled.
By Dani Beery7 years ago in Longevity
5 Things About Oral Hygiene Everyone Needs to Know
Life is hectic and we don't always have enough time to brush and floss twice a day every day. In this post I will explain why practicing good oral hygiene is not only great for a healthy smile, but how oral hygiene effects your health in general.
By Janelle Ouellet7 years ago in Longevity
It's Like a 'Grey's Anatomy' Episode! (Part 1)
Hello everyone! I have a certain disease that feels like makes me feel like I'm a movie or a tv show! To start this off we are going to have to go all the way back to early March of this year. I have been dealing with depression for a long while. My depression had started in middle school and it started because I was bullied. I had been scratching myself on my arms and legs and have been hiding it pretty well until my dad discovered them. We were roughhousing and I pulled my sleeves up on my sweater without thinking. We talked about it and had told my mother to take me to the doctor to get medicine to help me. So that's what we did; she asked me lots of questions and even took my blood to make sure nothing in my blood was causing my depression.
By stephanie wolfe7 years ago in Longevity
10 Things I Learnt From My Cancer Diagnosis
1. Not all things that happen for a reason are good things. Picture it. 15 years old and loving life, I was getting more and more socially confident and finally connecting with a bigger circle of friends; life was fantastic and I was excelling. I had exams coming up and revision was going well, except I kept getting these weird health problems which I was being seen at the doctors for. April 2010 comes along and I am diagnosed with a Low Grade Brain Tumour. My hair starts to fall out from stress, I fall into a pit of depression and become socially withdrawn. I then spent the majority of the rest of my mainstream education in and out of hospital. How could this be happening for a reason? Around comes results day and I scored top of my year group; despite barely being there. I had nothing else to do except study and having one to one tuition in the hospital improved my academic levels ten-fold! From here I’ve gone on to achieve high standards of A-Levels and commit to a degree, when my doctors at the point of diagnosis told my family I’d be lucky to have function of my brain, let alone survive past the age of 20 years old.
By Titanium Jen7 years ago in Longevity
My Battle...
Things I have learned over the worst year of my life… If you find a lump, and it doesn’t go away, go to the doctor to have it checked out. Your best friend and your husband will totally agree with this. When the doctor, or in some cases, nurse tells you “you’re too young for this to be anything, but I will send you for a mammogram anyways” don’t believe them. Cancer has no age restrictions. Mammograms aren’t so bad. The squeezing was rough but a little squeezing can be tolerated for the time it takes to get one done. If you haven’t had one, please get one, especially if you feel a lump. The bad part of the day I had my mammogram was when they had to do an immediate ultrasound. To see the big, black spot on the screen was a little ominous. It’s not fun at all for the radiologist to come in and tell you they now need to do a biopsy of the big, black spot. That was scary, but the nurses were nice and comforting. Biopsies suck. They hurt and they leave a giant bruise, but they are necessary to help detect the evil that may or may not be lurking within you. Then there is the waiting. Waiting and not knowing. Not knowing what was in store. Not wanting to tell people what was going on in your head. The absolute worst day of my life was March 17, 2014. I went to work, in green for the St. Patrick’s Holiday, and worked until I had to go to the doctors. I kept telling myself, “I am too young, this is nothing, I will be ok.” Never in a million years would I have thought the words “It's cancer” would come across the doctor’s lips and into my ears. I was completely lost. I sobbed, Matt cried, and he comforted me, like he would continue to do. Leaving the doctor's office, I couldn’t drive. I was so upset. I am grateful that I have family and friends so close to me. That they were able to comfort me, and go have a drink with me, and help me process the whole thing. It's important to surround yourself with positive, loving, caring people. I have that, still, and have gained even more because they care. Deciding whether or not to make your diagnoses public (i.e.- on social media) is a tough decision. It took me a few days to do it because I know once I let it out there, the world would know. In the grand scheme of things, I am glad I did because it helped those that aren't near me see how I was doing, and it also allowed my story to be seen by a lot of different people. Another decision that was hard was deciding to take control and chop my hair off. It was a very poignant moment in my life. I had been trying to grow my hair longer. I think I donated around 13-14 inches when it was all said and done. I had my hairdresser style my new do with pink and it was funky, just like me. I am grateful for her, and for Matt and my momma for going with me on this day, as it was hard on me. Ports are a blessing and a curse all at once. I am quite positive that I was put in some crazy positions in order to get this thing in, and that makes me worry a little about how they will get the sucker out. I hurt for a while after it was put in, but didn't have time to really heal because my next step was coming... CHEMO. Things they tell you about chemo but I am not sure they truly allow people to grasp is that it causes you to be sick, like really, really sick, and regardless of which type of chemo you have, you will be sick in one way or another. I have never in my life felt like I was dying more so than when I was going through my rough weeks of chemo. I am sure everyone has different experiences with it, and this is basically just my opinion, but it truly sucks the life out of you (or pukes, poops, snots, or any other bodily fluid you can think of). You can’t eat, you can’t sleep, you can’t go out in public (eww germs), you can’t swim, and you can’t do anything. They pump you full of poison and send you on your way for you to suffer. I guess it's a necessary evil, and don't get me wrong, I am grateful to have done it and had a positive result because I know that things could have turned out differently. But it sucked, except the sweet nurses in the infusion center, and the cookie lady on Fridays—they were nice. I hate that I still have to have some chemo, albeit not a "bad" one, but still have to go get hooked up every three weeks until July. Blood Transfusions and hospital stays. When you're sick and you feel like no one is listening to you, don't tell your husband that, just don't. He took me to the emergency room, it was bad, and I don't think I had eaten in a week or so. I couldn't eat—the chemo made me that sick. The bad part wasn't him taking me; it was being there in the hospital, with all those other sickly people. I ended up with more issues than I had when I got there. And I had a rude nurse, just one. The others were excellent, but just the one tainted my experience. I had to have two blood transfusions while I was there. Now, if you know me, you know I am a vampire-o-holic, but this, this getting someone else's blood, it was too much for me. It completely grossed me out, completely. I don't think it helped that I could see the blood creeping up the IV into my port. And then to find out the blood I got only really elevates my white blood cell levels like two points just didn't even seem like enough. I did name the bags Frank and Mary (ha-ha, Bloody Mary). They will forever be in my heart, literally. Vacations are tough when you are going through chemo. They are really almost non-existent. I did get to go camping, and by camping I mean we rented a cabin with A/C and a bathroom. I feel sorry for my boys, though, as this really ruined their summer, but I don't think they ever complained (at least not to me). If they did complain I can claim “Chemo Brain” made me forget, 'cause that is a real thing. Telling your doctor you are going to refuse treatment because you are done with being so sick is ok. I did it, I told him no. He told me he would change the dosage to see if that would help me cope better, and it did. We compromised, him and I, and low and behold it was for the best. He pushed me to finish at least one full cycle of one type of chemo, in this case the red devil. I am so glad I did. I wasn't happy at the time, but today I am glad I did. Surgeries, and losing your boobs… It's one thing to be told you have cancer, and another to go through treatment, but it’s a whole new world when you lose your breasts. I have always been well endowed in the boob department, but I had to decide how to chop them off, whether it be a lumpectomy, unilateral mastectomy, or bilateral mastectomy. I debated for a long time, but ultimately decided that bilateral was the path I would take, and in order to get even slightly close to what I had, the plastic surgeon suggested Lat Flap with implants. Sounds easy, but it's not. I now have a scar that almost goes completely around my body, like parenthesis. The recovery was hard, the limitations on my movements are still there, it hurts all the time, but I am so very glad that I did it because in doing the bilateral, I saved myself having to go through radiation treatments. Now, post surgery for me has been the most emotional part of my battle. It’s very hard to look in the mirror, to see the scars, to see my port, to know I survived, but at what cost? I am not me anymore; I am a new version of myself. Some days I don’t like the new me, some days I do. Some days are good, the foobies don’t hurt as bad, and the scars don’t feel like they’re stretching. I almost feel normal. But there are days when everything hurts, everything feels broken, and I just lose myself in the dark parts of my head. I don’t like those days, at all. I try to give myself pep talks on those days, but most times I just grin and bare it because that’s what I am supposed to do. Emotionally the battle is still raging within me, and I have to work on that every single day. Blood Clots, ahhhh. It seems like every time I get to feeling “normal,” something happens. I woke up to a swollen arm and hand, thinking, “Hmm this isn’t right.” Went to work, as normal Katy would do, had a doctor’s appointment for my Herceptin so I figured I would ask the doc what’s up with my hand. Now, I had been dealing with the crud that is going around, already completed a round of antibiotics for a cold, so I figured it was probably nothing major. Well, when the nurse drew fluid from my vein instead of blood, and then proceeded to tell me not to “Freak Out,” I did what any sane/crazy person would do. I freaked the freak out. They still accessed my port, still gave me my Herceptin, but sent me to the vascular radiologist to get it checked out. Oh, and just as a precaution, they went ahead and started me on a blood thinner. Now I am taking blood thinners for 21 days and have to go back at the end of the month to be reevaluated. I hate cancer. Really, I do. The forbidden topic of Death. No one talks to you about it, but it’s a lingering notion in your mind when going through this. It is definitely the cause of many of my sleepless nights. I worry, still, that I am not ready to die. I don’t have my sh*t together. I need to be here for my boys and my husband. But I know that I don’t get to choose when I go, that is not my decision to make. I believe that I am here for a reason. I am not quite sure what that reason is, but obviously God has something planned for me.
By Katy Jones7 years ago in Longevity
