Verne Gagne once entertained the sports world with his time in the square ring. Now due to a disease which he did not bring upon himself, he has killed his nursing home roommate.

Where does the fault lie? As a nurse who had to assign rooms to patients, it takes more than just putting A with B. Due to the need for more and more money, hospitals think less about the needs of where patients should be placed, and more to how many they can fit in a room.

The hospital should have known that Gagne had the ability to hurt someone and that his disease made him capable of following through with aggressive behavior. He is not only a threat to other patients, but to staff as well. Nurses on Psychiatric units are at risk everyday they go to work.

I put this right at the feet of the nurses and administrator. If you take in a patient, do right by them! Make sure they are safe and that they can’t hurt themselves or someone else.

I have had to struggle for years to work through the pain and only five years ago stopped working. They told me if I had another problem with my arm, which had cancer, they might have to cut off my arm. Would I still be working with my Fibromyalgia? YES! I have a very high pain threshold. And pain and I are old friends. But what hurts most is having people you hope will help you, look at you as if you are not sick. Just because there are no tests the doctors can look at and say “oh yes this is what you have” doesn’t mean it’s not real. The days when it hurts so bad to take a breath, I wish I could trade places with these learned men and women!

I know there are a few new medications that might help with the pain. But after reading the side effects, I choose not to take them. Does this limit what I can do? Yes ! I can’t make plans too far in advance because I never know if my pain will allow me to do things. Would I like a better quality of life? Well I prefer not to go around in a fog but that’s just me.

I would like to see doctors get together and realize that when you have very large groups of unrelated people with he same symptoms, there must be something going on. What you call it doesn’t matter. Its real! Give the sufferer the care they need without the doubt we now see in your eyes.

Right now we are in the throes of having one of societies best loved foods, Peanut Butter, recalled due to 508 cases of illness and eight deaths. And one family pet was also a victim.
The company that is responsible is Blakely Georgia Company. I watched the television interview of a young man fired for whistle blowing about the filth found in the plant. He stated that there were often rat droppings around and that the roach problem was huge. He also stated that he saw a rat roasted with the peanuts. For reporting this, he lost his job. The company had been cited for past infractions of cleanliness problems but failed to clean up their act.

Why was nothing done? Was it a case of having to spend too much money to solve the problem or was it just a case of indifference? Whatever the reason, the penalties should be stiff and swift. No small monetary fine is appropriate. Maybe a charge of attempted murder would make it more real to do the right thing!

Peanut butter is the stable of young children everywhere as well as older fok who don’t want to cook. This same group of people are the ones whose systems can’t take the onslaught of an attack of Salmonella.

There has got to be a better way to make sure companies are not killing those we love. Hire more inspectors and shut down plants that don’t make the grade.

Why are you not protecting yourself and your born or unborn children? How can you bring children into the world if you, yes YOU, can’t support them? I know it’s supposed to be a two way deal. But history has proven you will likely be forced to take on this burden all by yourself!

Practice safe sex! Get and use birth control. Or better yet, keep your legs crossed! No way should you be having babies with men who can’t or won’t share in taking care of them. Loving someone is great but mature love comes with responsibilities.

1. Get to know the person, WELL, before you have sex with them.
2. Use birth control, including CONDOMS! The pill can’t protect you from sexually transmitted diseases!!!
3. Do not have children until it is a joint decision and desire by both parties.

Get a gripe ladies!! Your life and the life of you children may depend on it!

MRSA or Methicillian Resistant Staphylococcus Aurous, was once thought of as being something only found in hospitals. But that is no longer true. Today this disease is divided into hospital acquired or community acquired MERSA.

Hot spots to get MERSA are gyms and workout rooms. The papers are full of professional athletes such as Kellen Winslow Jr., Tom Brady, Jason Taylor, and Peyton Manning who are fighting this illness. And where did it come from? Most likely the workout room.

How is this disease being spread and what can be done to protect yourself? First at home clean, your showers and floors regularly and be aware of any cuts on your body and keep them covered. At the gym ask what is being done to prevent the spread of this potentially deadly disease. You can help protect yourself by carrying disinfecting sprays to spray down equipment before you use them. Another thing is to wear workout gloves. Always wear shower shoes to and from the shower. While getting dressed sit on a towel and not on the bench. If the gym provides towels make sure they are clean before using them. A hassle for sure. You might feel a little strange at first but remember this is your life we are talking about. If you don’t take care of it who will? These small steps can help you avoid MRSA.

You might want to know what this monster disease is all about and where did it came from. Well it’s an organism waiting on the skin to find entrance in any break in the powerful barrier named our skin. What has made this germ so virulent? That’s easy. We have used antibiotics so indiscriminantly that the germs have fought back and have become resistant to a large number of available medications.

There are antibiotics that will cure this disease. Vancomycin and Linezolid are just a few. These drugs have to be used with caution and as prescribed. We are in this mess because we have for a long time used antibiotics in ways not needed and not for the necessary length of time. Now we have a deadly antibiotic resistant organism.

We now have to protect ourselves by keeping even the smallest break in the skin covered. And when using the gym, pool area, and other communal places where people have large areas of exposed skin, make sure you are making every effort to clean your environment. Being proactive is not a suggestion. It’s a MUST!

I worked thirty-five years on the 1100 to 0730 shift, full time, while trying for all the over time I could get. So a shift would often be 1100 pm to 330 pm the following day. I would sometime leave work at 330 pm to return at 1100 that night. So to say I was sleep deprived is like saying Denzel Washington is handsome. That goes without saying.

During the early seventies my husband was in Vietnam. It was not unusual for me to return to work on three or three and one half hours of sleep. Because I still had to be mom to my two kids. I can remember one night finishing the routine work and was talking with my nursing assistant. She said the phone rang, I answered correctly, talked with the person, hang up, and stared at her. The next thing I remembered was her asking if we were getting a patient. What are you talking about I asked? I had to call the ER to get a clarification about what was going on. I was sound asleep but functioning correctly.

How does this tie in with the TV show? They had two students that had been up 30 hours without sleep or caffeine. They tested their reflexes, motor skills, and memory. They failed the entire test! Can you imagine what I was really like? I didn’t then or now, drink caffeine except in diet sodas. So that left me without any boost to my mental facilties.The doctors did say you may get a boost from caffeine, but it doesn’t help the problem of being sleep deprived.

Would you believe I only had one car accident in all that time and that was because someone rear ended me? That does not say that I wasn’t lucky and really blessed. There was an angel sitting on my shoulder all those many years. How I worked that shift for so many years I don’t know. I do know that after four years of being retired, I still have problems sleeping. No one should be allowed to work that many years on the night shift.

Tuberculosis is an airborne disease. It can only be spread from person to person through coughing, sneezing, and speaking. It takes only two weeks for a person to become sick. Not all people infected with the germ get TB. Only about 10% will come down with it. The germ can lay dominant for years, only to become active at an inopportune time.

Tuberculosis can come in many forms attacking the lungs and many other parts of the body. The increase in cases of Tuberculosis is due to the large number of people with immune weakened bodies and shrinking resources for healthcare follow ups. The influx of people from Third World countries is helping to re-introduce Tuberculosis. The disease is now becoming resistant to the multiple antibiotic treatments available. The poverty worldwide has us seeing three million cases a year.

The symptoms of Tuberculosis are: night sweats, unexplained weight loss, and bringing up bloody sputum. X-rays and sputum cultures are used to positively identify the disease.

Treatment like the disease is slow. It takes many months and often multiple drugs are needed to cure this illness. Treatment once started must be continued to prevent the germs from becoming resistant and spreading to others. We must be vigilant in watching out for these symptoms and fighting this disease. It is an insidious disease and can be a killer.

The question is what can we do to stay in a calmer state of mind? Stress can kill! A strssful state of mind can raise your blood pressure and lead to a number of catastrophic illnesses. If you suffer from pain ailments like back problem and other ailments, look for ways to change how you think. Think positive!

Most of us have been down the roads of life and think well this is just one more thing I have to handle. No! I think in my six decades of life this is the worst time I have been through but I know I am going to survive this and here is how.

I am taking a good look at my diet. WHAT? Yes! Out goes the junk and in comes the fresh fruits and yuck veggies. Lean meat and fish will be added to my meals.

The easiest thing is that I will be beginning to take deep breaths of air. This is important as deep breathing will help to relax you and that’s what we want.

Fellow couch potatoes unite! Lets get out there and move our bodies. A short walk. Sswimming, the treadmill. Whatever gets you up and moving. I don’t expect you to run any marathons, yet, but check with your doctor and see what would be good for you.

Last but most important, give it all to God. He will bring you through this like all the other things we have suffered in the past.

What can we do? Well first we must get do our monthly breast checks. This includes checking for lumps and changes in the shape of the breast. Next we should be standing in line to get our mammograms each year. Support events that fund research. Many of these are fun and gives you a chance to buy products of which a part of the money will be given to cancer research.

One fun sell in on QVC where you can buy high name designer shoes and the net cost will go to the Susan G. Komen Center. HSN, another shopping network, is giving a portion of the money from selected products to the cause.

Think pink! Wear a pink ribbon during October. This will start conversations about the subject when someone asks you what the ribbon is for. Get moving! Each of us will be touched by this disease either personally or though someone we know and love.