Venting on Health Care and Negative People

Coming from a family that made it against all odds, I have no patience with anyone who says "I can't, it won't work, this cannot be done," or one who just gives up without trying. My husband was a glass-half-full kind of man. I learned from him and my brothers that being positive and believing I could almost always meant I did conquer the challenges before me.

On more than one occasion lately, as we scoured stores, online businesses, and interviewed every caregiver we encountered, for the best way to help my ailing older sister, I have become frustrated with the negativism we faced.

Perhaps because my sister is an octogenarian, nurses or caregivers, who have dealt with other people her age, want to write her off. That is the only way I can explain their actions. The most recent example came about when my younger sister, Gay, found a brochure at Mobility Express for this piece of equipment that she and I thought was the answer to transferring my sister with the broken hip. When we approached a couple of certified nurse assistants to help us try it out, all I heard was, "That won't work. She can't do that. It ain't gonna work, I tell you."

                    

  A New Place, A New Attitude

I am happy to say that, in a new facility where the staff learned to use the stand-sit transporter, they love it and it makes moving my sister a totally different experience. It is much easier than having her try to slide on a board to transfer from one place to another and safer than having one staff person try to lift her and another move a seat under her. 

                             

The staff at Sunrise Assisted Living did not take the negative attitude of the former CNAs, but learned immediately how to make the new equipment work for the patient.

As I said, I came from a family that didn't except no for an answer until they had exhausted all possibilities. That is how they grew a small company into a top international one. That is why we didn't accept the medical opinion that our mother would be "like a vegetable" for the rest of her life. That is why we took her home, cared for her and she recovered from a ruptured brain aneurysm; she lived happily for ten more years.

Perhaps managers and directors of senior housing could take a more positive view in their training of staff. That might turn around their hopeless outlook for patients and families who only want the best care possible in exchange for the extremely high costs paid to assisted living and nursing homes.

Without a positive attitude June could become discouraged with her health issues but she continues to smile, keeps her sense of humor and concern for her loved ones.

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity - Help may be on the way

Clean air - precious clean air -photo by Barry Beall


I have written about the dangers to me and many others who suffer from severe allergic reactions to the chemicals pervasive in our world today. In the past, while EPA knew of the dangers to the public from products made with certain chemicals, they were unable to do anything about it. Therefore I am delighted to read the following:




“In a speech to the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco on September 29th, 2009, EPA head Lisa Jackson announced an extraordinary series of new principles to guide the development of new, stronger chemical laws.


These principles call for the EPA to be given the authority to make regulatory decisions based on scientific assessments that reflect the need to protect human and environmental health. Manufacturers should supply the agency with the information necessary to prove that both new and existing chemicals do not endanger the public or the environment. This information should address specific potential risks to sensitive groups like children. When manufacturers do not submit this information, the EPA should be legally permitted to demand it, and it should be allowed to revisit chemicals already approved as needed.


The principles also say the EPA should have authority to take action when chemicals do not meet safety standards and should take into account considerations like children's health, social benefits, and equity concerns. It should be permitted to prioritize chemicals for review and set clear deadlines for compliance. Stricter requirements should be established for manufacturers who wish to hide "trade secrets" from the agency and the public, and health and safety data should always be disclosed."


Recently I read where a manufacturer plans to produce books for children - books with "fragrance" or chemical odors. The immune system of a child, like that of an older person, is not as strong as an average adult. These chemical smells that children will be breathing can compromise their immune systems and bring on the lung problems so many children are experiencing these days.


Those of us, who are extremely sensitive to the overwhelming presence of chemicals in our environment every day, are like the canary in the coal mine. Those who do not yet suffer as we do, should pay attention. What are you breathing into your lungs? Do you have headaches, coughs, and nasal problems you can't explain? Maybe it is the cleaning products used in your home or office. Maybe it is your own hairspray or cologne. Could it be your inside air is polluted by chemicals like "air fresheners"  "carpet deodorizers" or the chemicals in your fabric softener or laundry detergent?


When reading Oprah magazine gave me a blinding headache, it did not take long for me to realize it was the perfume ads with fragrances that exploded when I opened the pages.


If one is not concerned about the dangers to his or her own family from the chemical fragrances and cleaning supplies on the market today, it would be kind and considerate to think about others who might be.
Especially I wish waitresses, nurses, and staff in medical facilities, would leave off the perfume while at work with the public. The patient is trapped in a position where she cannot breath, where she knows that contact with the chemical fragrance will cause days of illness and sometimes major medical bills.
Although I listed my allergies to fragrance on my pre-op form before eye surgery, the nurse who came and took me to the operating room, who read out loud to me my allergies, said, "Oh, I don't have on fragrance, do I?"
"Yes," I said. She then laughed, "I bathe in -------- and I've been told it stays with me. I'll just get behind you and it won't bother you."


I was trapped on a gurney, an IV in my arm, on my way to surgery. I pulled the sheet over my face in an effort to filter the chemicals I was inhaling. Sadly, I've learned that hospitals and medical facilities are the worst places for folks with chemical sensitivity. MCS is a known problem, but no one seems to understand the seriousness until they become sick with it themselves.


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