Posted on Monday, April 4, 2016

Save a Life, Donate Organs

Did you know that more than 123,000 men, women, and children in the United States are currently waiting for organ transplants? Donating organs is an opportunity to help others and possibly save a life.

Organ donation means giving an organ or part of an organ to be transplanted into another person. In certain cases, you may donate organs while you are still alive. More often, organ donations occur at the time of death.

Any person of any age can be an organ donor. Your medical condition at the time of your death will determine which organs or tissues can be donated.

This may all sound a little technical or maybe even morbid, but saving a life through organ donation is a wonderful way to help other people.

If you would like to become an organ donor, enroll in your state’s donor registry, or check the organ donor box on your driver’s license application or renewal form.

Also, share your wishes with your family, so they understand what you want to do and why it’s important to you.

Save a life. Consider organ donation.

Posted on Thursday, March 17, 2016

Self Care Readies You to Care for Loved Ones

There is a lot of advice these days about making time for self care. You can’t take care of others, if you don’t take care of yourself. This is especially true if your family is dealing with a difficult diagnosis.

If a loved one has a medical issue, we tend to drop everything, including self care, to focus on them. An ailing family member may require more attention, so it’s okay to shift priorities. It’s still important, however, to make time for self care, because we need to be at our best energy level to be helpful to others.

When I was in the hospital all day every day with my daughter, the doctor reminded me that grandmas can step in. With a gentle nudge I let my parents take over for a bit so I could go home and shower.

Self care doesn’t require large blocks of time. Although you may find taking a day to yourself blissful, it can be as simple as a 15-minute phone call with a good friend, a walk around the neighborhood, reading a chapter in a book, or having time to shower and brush your hair. The point is to find something that makes you feel human again, that restores your energy so you are once again ready to care for your loved one.

Don’t stop caring for yourself just because you are caring for your family.

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What can you do in the name of self care today?

You can learn more about self care during a difficult diagnosis in my newest offering When Life Happens: What to do about unexpected health concerns. This workbook filled with information, tips, and tricks for getting through accidents, difficult diagnoses, rehabilitation, and what to do with the kids through it all. But it also has activities to guide you through your situation. You can find it here.

Posted on Monday, March 14, 2016

How to Change Your Diet After a Diagnosis

You’ve been given a diagnosis and the advice to change your diet. Now what?

First, continue the conversation with your doctor. If he or she is the person who recommended dietary changes, they should have given you some guidelines. If you didn’t receive any instructions, call the doctor’s office to ask for more information.

You’ll want to know what your diagnosis is, and how diet affects you because of it. Ask which foods are recommended and which foods are restricted. Ask if they have any recommendations of where you can go for more information or recipe ideas.

As you review the list of approved foods, consider which of your usual meals will still work. Also think about which meals will work if you substitute a restricted ingredient with an approved ingredient. Working with your familiar meals where possible will lessen the feeling that something is being taken away from you.

Once you have your “yes” and “no” foods, and know which of your recipes you can work with, do some research to add to your meals and snacks plan. The Internet can be a great resource. Search using your diagnosis as one of your keywords. For example, “recipes for cardiac patients.”

You might also try the cookbook section of your local bookstore. There are cookbooks out there for all sorts of diets, including for certain medical conditions, like diabetes, for example.

Diagnoses can come with a lot of anxiety, and receiving food restrictions can feel like even more is being lost. With good planning and a little creativity, your new diet can satisfy you nutritionally and bring comfort.