Health Highlight

A Certain Age

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”

                                                                                                -Ambrose Redmoon

There is an expectation that nearly 50,000 men and women will die this year from Colon Cancer.  The incredible thing?  Those numbers are gradually coming down through efforts of screening and taking a more proactive approach towards preventative care.  The numbers are still staggering as there are expected to be over a 100,000 new cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed this year.  Colorectal cancer is the 2nd leading killer for both men and women when it comes to cancer and I still just find these numbers mind boggling.  It is recommended that people get screened for this when they turn 50 years old by having a colonoscopy.  It is also recommended that if you are diabetic or have other gastrointestinal issues, you might want to have a screening sooner than later.  The question many might have is what exactly is a colonoscopy?

As outlined by the Cleveland Clinic, “During a colonoscopy, an experienced doctor uses a colonoscope (a long, flexible instrument about 1/2 inch in diameter) to view the lining of the colon. The colonoscope is inserted into the rectum and advanced through the large intestine. If necessary during a colonoscopy, small amounts of tissue can be removed for analysis (a biopsy) and polyps can be identified and entirely removed. In many cases, a colonoscopy allows accurate diagnosis and treatment of colorectal problems without the need for a major operation.”  There is prep work before the colonoscopy and there is recovery time after the procedure as well but the procedure on the whole usually takes less than an hour.  What physicians are looking for are polyps because these bits of tissue can turn cancerous over time under certain conditions.  As more and more people get screened, issues are caught sooner thus giving people a better fighting chance to overcome colon cancer if it is discovered. 

I chose the quote at the head of this post for the reason that self-examination or preventative care can be a frightening affair.  More times than not, there is nothing there but the fear that is associated by going for a cancer screening is still prevalent, “…what if they find something, what will I do then?”  Knowledge is power, knowledge can give hope, knowledge can help overcome…I’m sure you’ve all heard the phrase that, “Knowing is half the battle.”  With any battle there is fear…but courage is looking at that fear and then doing what needs to be done anyway.  Cancer is a bastard of an illness and it doesn’t care who you are, what color you are, what your orientation is, where you go to the bathroom, who loves you, or your economic status…it kills without judgment…it kills without prejudice…it just kills. 

Being a man of a certain age, I will be going in for my first colonoscopy next week.  Am I a little nervous?  You bet.  Would I rather take care of things now so I can spend more time on this planet of ours playing with my kids and watching them grow up?  Absolutely!  I’m going for a screening because it’s the right thing to do…I’m not saying that I’m the courageous one…but I know too many people who fight with cancer every day, those beautiful people are truly the courageous ones!  Some will win and others will fight until the very end but we must all do our part to prevent and someday cure this illness.

As always, thanks for reading…sorry to hit you with such a serious topic on a Monday but cancer doesn’t care what day of the week it is…so fight back!  If you have and comments or questions please email me at wmreid@bhcshealth.comI hope everyone has a good week and remember to take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Just a Thought

Thank You Walter Mitty

“To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.”

                                                                                    -Walter Mitty  

            Happy Friday and what a beautiful Friday it is.  I would like to take a minute and talk about stretching our minds and reaching outside the proverbial box in order to get outside our comfort zone.  What comfort zone you ask?  It is the place where you are sitting right now.  We all have a comfort zone, a place where we all feel a sense of comfort and safety like a familiar routine traveling a familiar path or road, and things that allow us to feel ok with where we are in life.  I have a comfortable house, a good job, a smart and beautiful wife and three lovely kids…what more could a person ask for, right?  Being in a comfort zone shields us from certain stresses and risks and as we all know those are two words that have come to represent bad things in our modern day society but the reality is that there is also such a thing as good stress. 

            Why get out of our comfort zone?  There are articles aplenty that give reason galore as to why we all need to get out of our comfort zone once in a while and I’m just going to talk about the one that seems to be the most important one to me…personal growth.  Let me give an example if I may.  Many people (myself included) has the obligatory house plant to add a little color and breathe of fresh air to our living space.  As part of the care of any house plant, besides water and sunlight to help it grow, a caretaker of plants must also pull the plant out of its existing pot and replant it in a larger pot adding new soil thus giving the root more room to grow and help keep the plant healthy.  We too as humans must occasionally be pulled from our pots and repotted, we must be pulled out of our comfort zone in order to experience new growth and enrichment.  If we are left in our comfort zone too long, stagnation sets in, we all become root bound and then we wither away.

            How can you get out of your comfort zone?  Try and take on a new or more challenging roll at work…maybe become involved in a volunteer organization that helps your local community.  Take up a new hobby that allows you to explore different skills or challenge yourself through the simple act of doing things differently.  Not every change has to be packing up your bags and moving across the country or even your town but if you are feeling up to the task, go for it.  Change forces us all to use neural flexibility, it makes us all a little uncomfortable, but at the end of the day, these little (or major) changes help us all to develop and grow and that is the good that comes of change.  As adults, we all leave home to find our own niche in the world…we are always welcome back home but it is never the same again.  I quote Walter because he finally steps outside his comfort zone and what happens to him is pretty amazing.  I hope you all can take a chance to explore life outside your comfort zone and be brave enough to take those steps.

            As always, thanks for reading…feel free to drop me a line at wmreid@bhcshealth.com as I would love to hear from you.  I encourage you all to share this and the other articles I post and spread the news.  Have a great weekend, take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Health Highlight

The Privilege of Humility

“Being humble means recognizing that we are not on earth to see how important we can become, but to see how much difference we can make in the lives of others.”

                                                                                    -Gordon B Hinckley

            Humility, according to the dictionary, is the act of being humble, the act of not thinking yourself better than others, not proud.  I start this post off with this simple concept and definition for a reason, I recently had an opportunity to participate in an activity that gave me an incredible dose of humility.  This past weekend was the bi-annual women’s retreat by the organization Hearts of Beauty, an organization that is with the sole purpose of building women up in every possible way.  This weekend of women helping women empower themselves is full of different activities that are designed to give confidence, strengthen bonds of friendship, and heal the pains and the hurts brought about loved ones through the act of forgiveness.  It was this last aspect of the retreat I (and other men) had the privilege of participating in.

            Emotional pain is a real thing that we all, as humanity, have felt at one point or another and will more than likely feel again in the future.  Emotional pain can be a fleeting moment or it can leave a deep scar on our soul and feel like a heavy weight that is too much to throw off.  There are some types of emotional pain that we should confront but are too afraid to dig up that pain and confront it alone and there is emotional pain that fills us with so much shame we choose to just keep it hidden and hope it will just go away.  Many of you have heard the expression (from our British cousins) to just keep a stiff upper lip…to keep calm and carry on.  And for the most part, I think they have the right idea, just keep moving forward with face front.  A friend once told me when I was having a rough go at things to keep looking forward because you couldn’t see where you were going if you kept looking back at things from the past.  How true she was!  Having said all this, the reality is that emotional pain is like slow toxins that build up inside the system and starts to affect how one views the world.  If left unattended, emotional pain can suck the very joy and positive life force from our being replacing it with bitterness and anger.  The Hearts of Beauty program has an instrument that is designed to help women release their pain and face their emotional demons in a safe environment where real healing from their pain can begin.  It was within this part of the program in which I had the humbling privilege to stand before these women and ask their forgiveness on behalf of those who have wronged them and caused them pain.

            It was a humbling experience, it was a moving experience, it was a liberating experience and if asked to do it again, I would without thinking twice.  In reading a letter of apology that was prewritten as part of the program, I didn’t have to think about what I needed to say, the letter said it all and to see the participants who received release from their pain was so powerful, speech fails to capture the essence of it.  We are all called upon to encourage each other and lift each other up in all circumstances, not only is this a biblical principle but it should just be a principle of a good life lived.  I encourage you to visit their website heartsofbeauty.org or visit them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hobcincinnati/timeline and see what they are all about.  If you or a loved one feels like this might be an activity you would like to be involved with, you can contact Hearts of Beauty on their Facebook page and feel free to share this post with all your friends, you never know who you might touch.

            I thank you for taking the time to read today and as always, if you have and questions or thoughts, please feel free to email me at wmreid@bhcshealth.com   As you go forward this week, please remember to take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Big Blue Marble

Earth Day

            “We love the things we love for what they are”

                                                -Robert Frost

Happy Earth Day everyone!  Today, April 22 is a day that is set aside for humanity to take a critical look at the condition of the earth and try and understand the impact humanity has on the earth.  Some of you may be ardent supporters of Earth Day and have it marked on your calendar as you would a good friend’s birthday and some of you may have never even heard of Earth Day and might be wondering what it’s all about.

The idea for Earth Day was proposed by Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in the aftermath of the massive 1969 oil spill off of California’s Santa Barbara coast in which an oil drilling platform had a blowout spilling three million gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean that had a huge impact on the local beaches and wildlife.  Not only was the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) born in 1970, so was the very first Earth Day organized as a vehicle to help raise awareness of ecological concerns and provide basic education for the general public.  As We Celebrate this 46th edition of Earth Day, the party has become an international event with over 180 countries participating and countless number of groups and organizations (5000 plus and counting).  Through education and raising awareness, more and more people are taking a more proactive approach to acting in a more ecologically caring manner.  As a very good friend of mine is fond of saying, “…progress, not perfection…” and for the environment, the trend over the last 46 years for the good folks who oversee Earth Day have seen just that, progress.

There are definitely different camps of thoughts and beliefs as to the state of the earth and the idea of “Global Warming”, does it exist, is it real, what’s going on…etc. and so forth.  I’m not advocating one way or another, what I am advocating for is that by keeping a clean and healthy environment means better health for us and for our children.  There is a reason that there are supposed to be stringent guidelines for the water we drink, the air we breathe and the food we consume.  The safer and cleaner these items are, the healthier it is for the consumer…for us.  I want to be able to go outside with my kids and go play at the park without having to worry about trash blowing around the on the ground.  I want to be able to go to our local lake and go fishing with my kids without having to worry about toxic chemicals being in the water.  There are volumes of medical evidence that show time and again that a clean environment is a benefit to our bodies…and that being exposed to certain chemicals have direct links to cancer. 

By creating a clean local environment for ourselves, this leads to a clean local environment for our counties, our states and our country.  This is truly one of those moments in which if everyone takes an active role, they really can make a difference.  Start small, look to see what you might be able to do at home (even animals don’t dirty their own homes)…if you’re not sure what you can do or if you want to do more, there are literally thousands of organizations looking for volunteers to help with a mountain of projects.  As Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

As always, thanks for reading and if you have any comments or questions please feel free to email me at wmreid@bhcshealth.com or visit our website, bhcshealth.com and see what we’re all about.  I hope everyone enjoys the weekend, spring is definitely here!  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Just a Thought

The Ties that Bind

            “Family is not an important thing, it is the only thing.”

                                                            Michael J Fox

Yesterday, I was listening to a friend of mine having a discussion about the importance of family and what their function as a unit means to the individual.   This conversation set my mind a wondering as I was processing our conversation after we parted ways.  Family in the traditional sense is the assumption of our biological family and in the traditional sense I don’t think too many people would argue.  Today, I would like to write about the importance of family as a construct, an idea, not what we morally think or believe a family is.  Remember, the purpose of these blog is to spread positive and edifying ideas, not get bogged down into political ideologies.

In essence, a family is what you make it.  Yes, there is the biological family but for some people, this family can be broken and hurtful…so where does that leave someone looking to develop the idea of family?  In pondering the conversation I had with my friend, we all belong to several families and all with their own unique qualities.  We have our “work” family, our “community” family, “church” family, “club” family, “academic” family, “athletic” family and so on.  The various social groups that we interact with have a potential to develop into a family type association.  But what does being a part of family mean?  Even though every family is different, there are some common characteristics that guide our thoughts to what a healthy family is.  Strong family characteristics (whatever type your family is) involve good communications…going both ways, making a commitment to the family unit, spend quality time together (Not with tech in hand all sitting in the same room!  Refer to the first quality above!), and finally (this is the big one which helps bind everything else) respect each other.  These are all qualities that I look for in all my family groups.  By demonstrating these four basic qualities, groups can develop the emotional bonds that are strong enough to develop a sense of family. 

How does this all come back and relate to health and wellness?  People who feel as though they belong to a family unit have a greater feeling of security.   With the emotional bonds that tie each of us together we have an understanding that if something where to go wrong we know that our family will be there to help lift us up and help us to carry on.  At one point or another, we have all been on the receiving end or the giving end of trying to help someone at work or in our community...acting as though we were trying to help a family member.  In Home healthcare, family support is critical for the welfare of the patient, we all just need to expand on our idea of what it really means to be family.  Ask yourself, if you suddenly needed help, who would you like to reach out and extend that helping hand? 

I know that the concept of family is one that is under scrutiny, but if look at it from the point of values I shared above, family is what you make it and the trust and affection that you develop between family members, those of the ties that truly bind.

Thank you as always for reading, I hope you all get a chance and go out and enjoy the beautiful, summer like weather today.  Don’t forget, if you have any questions or comments, please shoot me an email at wmreid@bhcshealth.com and I will get back to you pronto.  Have a great day and take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

  Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

The Taxing Effects of Stress

The 16th Amendment

“…render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's…”

                                                -Mathew 22:21

Passed by Congress July 2, 1909 and finally ratified on February 3, 1913 the 16th Amendment changed a portion of Article I, Section 9 of the constitution and thus was born the Bureau of Internal Revenue (now the Internal Revenue Service) with the ability to collect personal individual income tax.  The amendment reads, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration,” (http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/).  The first 1040 form was four pages long including the instructions!  The tax rate for 1913 was 1% if your personal income was over $3,000.00 or 6% if your personal income was over $500,000.00 a year.  At the time, most Americans would have been exempt from paying taxes however as the average income for the average household was less than a $1,000.00 per year.  Today, April 15, 2016, the IRS and taxes take on a whole new life as the current tax code is hundreds of pages long.  Today, as the deadline to file taxes comes and goes, millions of our fellow citizens’ stress and struggle with the goal of filing their taxes.  This post is NOT about whether you agree or disagree with the current system of which we have.  The point of this article is about the stress and anxiety many law abiding people suffer with every year when it comes to tax time. 

            Relieving stress is as important a skill when it comes to proper health and wellbeing as it is to get plenty of exercise, eating right or getting plenty of sleep.  Stress and anxiety slowly erodes various systems and functions of the body that can lead to serious illness.  Issues like high blood pressure can trigger cardiac events, stress can trigger asthma episodes, elevate glucose levels for diabetics and can trigger episodes of depression or high anxiety.  Stress has been called a silent killer (if left unattended to) and sends our emotional balance right out the window.  The old saying that nothing is for certain except for death and taxes tends to ring loudly with a resonance of truth. 

            What is the best way to abate this stress?  We all have to face April 15th each and every year but what can one do to help relieve the stress and anxiety some people feel when getting ready to file their taxes?  WebMD has a nice article on tips of avoiding tax time stress but I’m just going to touch on some highlights (http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/cope-tax-time-stress). 

1)      Don’t wait until the last minute, even if your return is complex and you can’t use the 1040EZ form, try doing your return in little bits over time.

2)      If you struggle with or have math anxiety, there are plenty of agencies out there who can offer great help and ease the fear of errors.

3)      That tax code is so complex, if you need help and can’t (or won’t) seek help from an agency, believe it or not, you can call the IRS and they will try and answer your questions.

4)      Exercise…the ideal stress antidote…go for a walk, skip or run around the block.  Get away from the numbers and take time for you to get some fresh air, it will do wonders.

5)      Don’t stress eat.  Comfort food, while ok in moderation, can lead to us all feeling a bit sluggish.  Make an effort to eat more fresh veggies and less starches and your body will thank you for the effort…you’ll feel more energized and ready to face the 1040 form.

Whatever form of healthy stress relief you choose (there are many others) just don’t forget to take time for you to take a deep breath of fresh air.  Render unto Uncle Sam what is Uncle Sam’s but don’t lose your health in the process considering that taxes are one of the two inevitable things in life.  Thanks for reading as always, enjoy the beautiful weather we are expecting this weekend.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Health Highlight

Staying Strong

“Strength does not come from winning.  Your Struggles develop your strength.  When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

                                                                         -Mahatma Gandhi

What is the commonality between a former United States Attorney General, an internationally known actor, and one of the most influential athletes in the history of boxing?  Former US Attorney General Janet Reno, actor Michael J. Fox and boxer Muhammad Ali all suffer from the devastating effects of Parkinson’s disease just like a million other Americans who are not quite as famous as the people I mentioned above.  April is Parkinson’s disease awareness month and I thought I would share about it this week in my post to help raise your awareness of this degenerative illness.

What is Parkinson’s disease?   Parkinson's disease is a movement disorder that is chronic and progressive, meaning that symptoms continue and worsen over time.  I’m sure at one point or another you might have seen an individual who has an uncontrollable tremor or body movement at school, work or the store.  These individuals, by no fault of their own, are suffering from a disease that there is very little known about.  According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation’s website (www.pdf.org) “…major symptoms vary from person to person, but can include tremor, slowness of movements, limb stiffness, and difficulties with gait and balance. The cause of the disease is unknown, and although there is presently no cure, there are treatment options such as medication and surgery to manage the symptoms.” 

In my previous work life I’ve seen what this illness can do to the human body over a period of time.  My friend when I first met him walked with a cane and had a body twitch that would cause him to swing his arms slightly and would interrupt his speech like a needle skipping on a record.  By the time I left my previous employer (after 8 years), my friend was no longer ambulatory without help from his devoted wife.  His bodily gyrations were so great, he had difficulty standing.  In my eyes there are two hero’s to this tragedy of illness, one of them is my friend fighting his illness as hard as he can and the second hero is his wife who is his greatest advocate and fights for him (and sometimes with him) in order to help him and keep him safe.  Parkinson’s usually strikes older populations past the age of fifty and there is no solid evidence as to the cause of the illness.  Experts believe that there is a combination of factors like genetics and environmental issues that could be determining cause of the illness but there is no empirical evidence to stand on at this time. 

As Mahatma Gandhi said that strength doesn’t come from winning…true strength comes from deciding not to surrender under the strain of hardships and challenges.  It takes great strength, courage and character to face any degenerative illness and not surrender.  I think of my friend and his wife and others who struggle with degenerative illness that I know and they are indeed some of the strongest people I know. 

I hope as you go about your day, think about the humanity around you.  Think and wonder what struggles the people around you might be navigating at the moment and maybe you might be able to draw upon their strength and develop empathy and understanding.  This journey we call life is full of surprises and opportunity if we just take the time to look and listen.  As always, thanks for reading, if you have any questions or comments I can always be reached via email at wmreid@bhcshealth.com.   Have a great week everyone, I’ll be back on Friday with more news.  Please take time to visit the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation’s website, it’s full of information that I think you might find interesting.  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Provider Spotlight

Helping Hand

“Although birth is only a day in the life of a woman, it has an imprint on her for the rest of her life.”

                                                Justine Caines, OAM

Happy Friday everyone.  I had a great treat this past week by visiting one of the area physicians that has been giving a kind and gentle helping hand in our communities for the past twenty-five years.  Dr. John Harlan, MD is Board Certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, a Member of the Butler County Medical Society, and the Ohio State Medical Association.  Dr. Harlan is on the staff of McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, Ohio and serves on the Board of Trustees and is a Board of Directors member at McCullough-Hyde as well.  His office, Oxford Gynecology and Obstetrics (http://www.oxfordobgyninc.com/home), serves patients out of their Oxford, Brookville, and Ross offices Monday through Friday but there is more to the man than just a very impressive resume.

Dr. Harlan is a tall, soft spoken man with an easy smile.  His gentle nature is ideal for helping his patients with the delivery of either their first child of their fifth.  He sees patients from all over our geographical area, Butler and Preble counties in Ohio as well as Union and Franklin counties in Indiana.  Even though McCullough-Hyde is his home hospital, about 40% of his patients come from Indiana.  As I was sitting with him in his Brookville office talking with him, the topic of what he like the most about his job came up.  When I asked him this question there was no hesitation at all as he said simply, “Talking to people.”  The phrase ‘still waters runs deep’ came to mind for such a simple answer taken at face value is just that…but Dr. Harlan expounded that by talking to people you get to know them.  He get to know their hopes and their fears, their joys and their sorrows…he gets to know his patients in a very in depth way.  Dealing with patients one on one as he does, he has a great opportunity to help patients with not only their physical health but can lend an ear and discuss options about other areas of life.  Help takes on many different forms and sometimes just having an ear to hear is more than what some patients get elsewhere.  Compassion towards humanity can have a far reaching and healing effect on people.  Dr. Harlan has an opportunity to see patients of all ages and all walks of life.  No matter how old you might be or where you come from, the privilege of carrying another human life within can be an exhilarating and daunting all at the same time.  As a father, I know the range of emotions that I have experienced through all phases of my wife’s pregnancies…I can only imagine what it might be like for the mother.  For the sake of all women out there, I am glad for the likes of Dr. Harlan whose serene and calming presence can be a positive presence for the patients he so diligently serves.  I would like to thank Dr. Harlan for taking time out of his busy schedule to sit down with me and chat, I look forward to doing it again sometime soon.

I would like to thank you all for reading and as always if you have any further questions for me or you would like you make a comment on this or any of my other post, please feel free to email me at wmreid@bhcshealth.com or visit our website at bhcshealth.com to see what we’re all about.  I hope everyone stays warm this weekend, spring will be here to stay soon!  Take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Health Highlight

Weary, Red Eyed Traveler

As March rolls over into April on the calendar and as schools all across the country are coming home from or getting ready to go on spring break.  The annual break for all schools is a welcomed change from the daily grind and routine of classes and homework.  For some, this respite from schoolwork involves some sort of travel and usually to the southern half of the United States.  Many folks, including myself, have just come back from a lovely stay in the sunshine state of Florida.  My kids and I always enjoy the different variety of flowering plants and trees whenever we travel and this trip was no different.   The one thing that really stood out to me was the amount of pollen that was floating around in the air and that was really creating havoc with my kid’s allergies. 

            Those folks who suffer from severe allergies are more acutely aware (I’m sure of it) that whenever they travel, every stop becomes a possible site for an allergic reaction.  Our bodies are sensitive to certain pollens and other particulates in the air which is what causes some people to have reactions…some mild like irritated & red eyes or more severe like difficulty breathing.  Allergens are out there everywhere lurking in new environments and in new and different foods that we may try.  Pollen.com recommends that before you travel, check with the local weather service or their website to track pollen levels before you go so that you can be as prepared as possible.  The Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America has a great website that is full of information on the different types of allergies and stats that give an idea of how widespread a problem allergies can be (http://www.aafa.org/page/welcome.aspx). According to the AAFA, one in five Americans have allergies and that Allergies are the fifth most chronic condition in the United States.  If you don’t think it’s a big deal, let’s get out our wallets and take another look.  According to the various allergy foundation websites, between 250,000 to 300,000 people a year visit the emergency department of hospitals every year and the number is expected to grow.  Between medication, doctor visits and lost time at work, allergies cost Americans approximately 25 billion dollars are year…that’s no small chunk of change!  Even though allergic reactions very in their intensity some folks suffer from anaphylaxis-shock which is where a person is hypersensitive to agent and could lead to death.

            People who suffer from allergies know all too well the different seasons that are problematic for them and they should take precautions to protect themselves.  When people who suffer from allergies are traveling it is even more critical to know what season it is where you’re traveling for your own protection.  No one wants to spend their vacation in discomfort of any kind so be smart traveler and be aware of what needs are before you go. 

            Enjoy your travels wherever the wind blows you and create fabulous memories to carry you through the years.  As always I hope this post finds everyone doing well and if you have any questions or thoughts, pass them along to me via my email (wmreid@bhcshealth.com).  If you have any topics would like me to write about I’m always open to positive healthcare related ideas.  Have a great week everyone and if you’re a baseball fan, I hope your team fairs well this opening week of the 2016 season.  Take care of yourself out there and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com

Just a Thought

Dots and Dashes

            ”The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

                                                                            George Bernard Shaw

            Morse code was at one time the fastest way to communicate across vast distances long before cell phones and the internet.  Through a series of dots and dashes, operators could send news faster than any known means of travel and snail mail and thus started us all on the path of creating a smaller world.  As one human swimming in a sea of humanity, we are all bound to one another through some form of communication.  Earlier this week I wrote about taking time to get away from all the bells and whistles of life to find a happy quiet spot to recharge your health.  Today, I’m talking about the ability to communicate effectively between two people or between a person and a group of people.  From a health care perspective, communication is one of the greatest asset a patient can possess in articulating the needs and concerns they have to their provider.  As a provider, communication skills are the greatest tool available in the medical kit because it allows them to hear and to understand what the needs and concerns are for the patient.  Effective communication is a skill and it needs to be practiced in order to gain a better understanding of what communication really is.

            If you look online or in the business section of your local library, you will be overloaded with the amount of information on how to be a better communicator…I’m just going to touch on the basics.

1)      Be still and listen: communication is a two way street and if the other party can’t share their thoughts the action is not called communication in the whole sense.

2)      Be aware of body language and inflection of tone:  you might be saying one thing and the message your body is giving off could be a completely different one.  This can send a confusing message to the one you’re speaking to.

3)      Be specific:  if you’re trying to get a point across to someone, stay on topic and try not to beat around the bush.  Being long-winded will cause the listener to lose focus and they might miss the point.

4)      Communicate with empathy, not ego:  most people want to know that you are listening to their needs and not hearing about how important you are…remember, people don’t care how much you know until the know how much you care.

5)      Have an open mind:  you never know when and where a great idea or new perspective might come from.  Remember, a mind is like a parachute, it only works when it’s open.

6)      Speak calmly and clearly:  I don’t know about you but I have found that conversations held in a state of great excitement or anger tend to be void of very important points. 

7)      Think before you speak:  remember that once something is said, it cannot be unsaid.  Let me repeat that, once you say something that is without thought or hurtful, it can never be unheard or unsaid.  You can say you’re sorry, but that may not fix the damage that might have been done.

I could go on and on but I feel like I have hit the highlights and that is the point of today’s post.  Whether you’re trying to communicate with your co-workers or your neighbor, these tips on communication will help you become better at listening as well as sharing your needs and wants.  When we as a part of humanity can eliminate confusion and misunderstanding, then the opportunity for real understanding has a chance to develop between people. 

            I hope you have found this post enlightening and I encourage you to share with those around you.  Have a great weekend everyone, be safe and take care of yourself and each other, remember, we’re all in this together.

Wm Reid

Best Home Care Services

325 N Eastern Ave

Connersville, IN 47331

765-827-9833

wmreid@bhcshealth.com