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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

When Celebrities Irritate Me

Yes they do sometimes. They do when they start throwing out medical advice that isn't only ridiculous but also harmful. As a celebrity you have a certain responsibility being in the spotlight. People will believe everything you say for some reason without questioning it. This is really not a responsibility I would want. I hear things from people like Susan Sommers talking about ways to beat cancer without medicine. This is SO dangerous convincing someone that they can eat leaves or sprouts and kill the cancers that are in their body. I support a good healthy diet, combined with treatment. I think we should all consider a  healthy diet, but if there was an amazing cure found in some plant why isn't the person who invented the diet a billionaire? Why isn't it plastered across all the medical books and why isn't chemo out the window? Why? Because it's not real. It doesn't work and there is no big conspiracy. There isn't. I am going into oncology. It's been in my heart a long time. I am all for a cure. I am a cancer survivor who has the fear of it coming back or developing another cancer hanging over my head all the time. I'm also in the medical field. I would be the first in line to eat the magical plants that would cure me if they existed.

I came across an article in my email from Medscape Nurses that I found very informative. Please take the time to read it. One thing that may be shocking to some is that Detox is NOT necessary. By detox I mean what so many celebrities do to "cleanse" their bodies. Our bodies does this on it's own. One person in this article actually believes that when they do not ejaculate they reabsorb the sperm into the body and it has health benefits. *sigh* That one really had me chuckling. People believe this!!!

Read Below for More:


"Science Sense" List Trashes Celebrity Health Tips


















By Kate Kelland
LONDON (Reuters Life!) Dec 29 - Science campaigners laid bare some of the most dubious celebrity-endorsed health tips on Wednesday, trashing ideas such as reabsorbing sperm and wearing silicone bracelets to boost energy.
In an annual list of what it sees as the year's worst abuses against science, the Sense About Science (SAS) campaign group debunked diet and exercise suggestions made by actors, pop stars and others in the public eye in an effort "to help the celebrities realize where they are going wrong and to help the public make sense of celebrity claims".
In the health and fitness section, SAS noted that soccer player David Beckham and Prince William's fiancee Kate Middleton have both been spotted wearing hologram-embedded silicone bracelets which makers claim can improve energy and fitness.
It also listed a diet reportedly used by supermodel Naomi Campbell and actors Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore in which followers survive on maple syrup, lemon and pepper alone for up to two weeks. Campbell told U.S. TV host Oprah Winfrey in an interview in May: "It's good to clean out your body once in a while."
But SAS said in a statement: "Many of these claims promote theories, therapies and campaigns that make no scientific sense."
Pop star Sarah Harding told Now magazine in April that she crumbles charcoal over her food, saying: "It's doesn't taste of anything and apparently absorbs all the bad damaging stuff in the body."
Dr. John Elmsley, a chemical scientist and writer asked by SAS to comment on this idea, said charcoal is known to absorb toxic molecules when used in gas masks and sewage treatment, but is "unnecessary when it comes to diet because the body is already quite capable of removing any 'bad damaging stuff.'"
One of the highlights for SAS was a tip from cage fighter Alex Reid, who told The Sun tabloid newspaper in April that he "reabsorbs" his sperm to prepare for a big fight.
"It's actually very good for a man to have unprotected sex as long as he doesn't ejaculate. Because I believe that all that semen has a lot of nutrition. A tablespoon of semen has your equivalent of steak, eggs, lemons and oranges. I am reabsorbing it into my body and it makes me go raaaaahh," he said.
John Aplin, a reproductive research scientist at the University of Manchester, said sperm cannot be reabsorbed once they have formed in the testes. "In fact sperm die after a few days, and the nutritional content of the ejaculate is really rather small," he said in a comment on the SAS list.
To try to counter the effects of some of the wildest health and fitness tips, SAS published its own "easy-to-remember pointers for celebrity commentators":-
- Nothing is chemical-free: everything is made of chemicals, it's just a question of which ones
- Detox is a marketing myth: our body does it without pricey potions and detox diets
- There's no need to boost: bodily functions occur without boosting
- Energy and fitness come from...food and exercise: there are no shortcuts.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Depression is Real

No I am not depressed, but I have been. There was a time in my life when I was about 22 years old that I went through an overwhelming depression. I don't usually talk about it. It was religious based. I believe some of it came from questioning my faith but for the most part I don't think God had a thing to do with it. God wouldn't put a person through what I went through. When a thought begins to implant and starts to fester....it grows. It persists and eats at you. It consumes you. Then it is very hard, if not nearly impossible to dig yourself out.

Do I believe prayer can help? Sure. However it's just not that easy. Why is it so hard for people to believe that our brains can be just as sick as the rest of our bodies? If someones kidney fails, you don't question them and tell them just pray it away do you? No. They may pray but they also take medicine for it, dialysis or maybe even a transplant. Sometimes our brains don't always work just the way we want them to. Sometimes things go wrong, or fire the wrong way, or perhaps there is an imbalance (yes that is real) and there is no amount of anything that's going to just instantly fix that. If you cannot understand it, that does not mean it isn't real. A person can even be a Christian (or any other faith) and still be depressed. YES. This is possible. Why? Because our brains are just organs that can in fact not always function just the way you tell it to. I grew up and realized that it's not always just as easy as just telling yourself to change and doing it. Sometimes it may take more than that.

I worked this semester in nursing school with a lot of depressed patients. You may think of a depressed patient as a 23 year old girl who maybe hates her looks, or broke up with her boyfriend. What about a 74 year old woman who has all that she could want? What about an 8 year old boy? It doesn't always fit who you think it will fit. Sometimes depression hits those around you that you least suspect. They can't just stop and get better. It may take time. It may take medicine. It may take therapy. It CAN however get better. It's not an instant fix. It doesn't mean you aren't trusting in God either. It just happens sometimes. I wish at the time more people had understood me...because more than anything that is what I needed.

My Birthday

I had a really good birthday. I have still been feeling sick but much better than I was before. The worst part at this point is the painful congestion in my chest. The coughing hurts so much. So I decided to take some cold pills before I left. I figured this way I wouldn't cough through the whole dinner and movie. Great plan right? Not so much. I took the pills on an empty stomach. By the time we got to the restaurant I was feeling a little nauseous and ate very little of my meal. It was a Hibachi grill which was tons of fun. The girls loved it. I enjoyed my entire glass of plum wine. It's a favorite of mine. I just couldn't eat much of the food itself. I felt like I was going to be sick. I can't believe I ruined my meal like that.

 My Plum Wine
 The Mushroom/Broth Soup
We left and went to the theater where we watched Gulliver's Travels with the kids. I know it got plenty of bad reviews but we liked it. I told everyone going in, it's not the real story of Gulliver's Travels. Don't expect it. I knew there would be some bad jokes and plenty of Jack Black's stomach shots. They found it funny and (spoiler alert) other than him peeing on the building and a few people it wasn't too gross. It satisfied the hubby, myself and all the kids. We had a great time. About 40 minutes into the movie the nausea had subsided enough that I was able to eat a little bit of popcorn and take a few sips off of my soda. So I had a good time regardless of the nausea. :)


The last thing I wanted to show you was our holy potato. haha OK. On Christmas Day I was cutting up potatoes to make my homemade mashed potatoes. Lexi was helping me when we came across this potato that had what looked like a cross in the center. We found it fairly amusing considering that it was Christmas Day. We decided it was a sign and wondered how much we'd get for it on ebay. The truth is, if people pay a lot for grilled cheese that have the Virgin Mary's features grilled into it than I bet I could get a decent amount for my now eaten potato. :) lol

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

The Birthday

Yep tomorrow is my birthday. I am planning on going to see a movie and heading to a Kobes Japanese Steak House. I absolutely LOVE that place. I am looking forward to getting out tomorrow. I have been sick though and only hope I feel better by tomorrow. I have been a running a pretty high fever. Last night I believe it got up around 103 because I was shivering, cold and just shaking so bad in my sleep. I was sleeping so awful, dreaming weird vivid things and the hubby woke up and got me some medicine. I was way too cold to get out of bed to take my temp and honestly feeling too sick to open my mouth to ask him to get the thermometer. So I waited. It was probably an hour or two later I finally got up feeling awful but less cold. My temp was 102. So I figure it had to have been at least a degree higher when I was feeling my worst. I took ibuprofen then later in the day took some tylenol too. I have no temp now but I'm coughing a lot. It hurts to cough. I am hoping that my fever doesn't come back so I can enjoy the day tomorrow. We'll see! The girls all had flu shots so hopefully they will stay healthy.