I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” declares Howard Beale, the news anchor from the 1976 film Network.

With tested patience, I make that same declaration often. Time and again, at various eating establishments, I’ve asked for, recommended and encouraged the installation of  a single  addition to improve the dining experience of the older patron, the patron with mobility disorder, the patron who uses crutches, the patron who uses a cane, the patron who uses a walker, and yes, even the patron who uses a manual wheelchair. And what, you’re asking yourselves, was I seeking?

I asked for one thing  — a grab bar (towel bar) a handle secured to the inside of a bathroom stall door. Such a small thing. Seriously, restaurant managers/owners! That one small thing would go a long way  to ensuring the safety of  your patrons. And being kept safe guarantees they are able to visit you again. Think about that! 

Management of numerous dining establishments in the Fredericton area have been asked — from the ‘greasy spoon’ to the high-end eatery. I’ve asked and asked and asked. Only one, in many years of asking, responded to my request. Yup, that’s right! Just ONE!  So — a huge THANK YOU to The Coffee Mill manager who, several years ago, not only heard me, but listened to me. No doubt along with me, countless others have been reaping the benefits of that single ‘small’ thing one manager did because she saw it as an important and necessary thing!

Recently, my usual dining companion and I visited another favourite Fredericton restaurant for a meal. I decided to visit the ladies room beforehand, and as I rolled along towards the bathroom, I was wondering if the management had, after years of being asked, finally put a bar on the door. Did I mention it’s such a small thing? Why, yes I did! And it doesn’t cost a lot! It only takes one time to fall and sustain a serious injury to totally alter how one will continue to live. Just one time! Just as I suspected — no ‘for patron safety’ bar on the inside of the stall door! Sadly, I wasn’t surprised!

I visited the restaurant while in my wheelchair though the bathroom isn’t particularly wheelchair accessible; it’s not even remotely close to being safe for someone who walks but has balance  issues. I speak with authority when I say that the bathroom in question poses a safety risk to the uprightly mobile disabled patron — paying customers.  Actually, a ‘safety’ bar should be mounted on the inside of ALL the bathroom stall doors in every public building in the city and beyond. It should be the standard, particularly given we have a significant aging population and with that comes decline in physical stamina and mobility and not all use wheelchairs.

An image of a wheelchair emblazoned on a parking space denotes that it’s for wheelchairs users. Taken further, it also affords those with other health issues that preclude walking long distances the freedom to park there. With that image of the wheelchair is the expectation that the interior of the building will be accessible. Surprisingly, there are many establishments where that is not the case, particularly in the bathrooms.

Not all users of wheelchairs are confined to them; some of us can and do walk, and can and do stand up in bathrooms designated for wheelchair users. Our inclination, upon standing, is to balance ourselves. What do we do? We reach our hands out. How wonderful it would be to be able to hang on to something while we were standing ourselves up and then sitting ourselves down again. Hmm! I wonder what would help with that task in a public washroom stall? Ohhh, by George, I think I’ve got it - a grab bar! With a bar secured to the inside of the stall door, folks like me wouldn’t have to worry about taking a header, having lost our balance. With a grab bar, we wouldn’t have to worry about the door flinging open and landing face first on a hard floor, possibly sustaining a concussion.  The black and blue tones wouldn’t look good on me, nor would it be a good look for management, especially if they could have prevented it.

Next time I visit one of my favourite eateries, perhaps I should bring a ‘safety’ bar, along with a power screw driver and invite the manager to join me for a bathroom accessibility check-up.

Or you could! Hey, that works! Ask the manager if s/he’d like to be party to such an inspired object lesson. It’s as easy as putting butter on toast!

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, New Brunswick with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca via email.

Aging in place is the place to be

Just over 20 days into this new year and I’ve decided to carry on just as I did last year — moving forward one floppy, flat foot at a time, mindful that slow `n steady is the only way to go, taking no chances on my safety as I age in place — in the place that’s been my home since 1991. Some have said it’s bigger/more than I need but there’s method to my madness; having different spaces within my home in which to spend time contributes to emotional and mental wellness.  The den downstairs is rarely used, in the way it was when my husband was alive — there was safety in numbers. I may move my laptop down there now that I have an iPad to play with when I’m not at the desktop. My man friend, not to be confused with boyfriend, has been very generous over our time together and he enjoys gifting me with things he knows I’ll use a lot and enjoy. Can’t go wrong with technology! Or kitchen gadgets! I’m still waiting for the ‘next best thing’ to come along there. 

I readily call myself an ‘old broad’, specifically, a lopsided old broad aging with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy — independently living though I’m not home alone. I have dogs! Aging in place ensures a level of security I wouldn’t otherwise enjoy should I find myself ‘having’ to move. Home ownership, in spite of the routine maintenance and inherent costs that goes along with it, is the only way to go for someone in my position. Home ownership is an investment in me and my future.

Quite content to occupy myself with writing, my books, music, and two major addictions  —watching British crime shows and playing online scrabble, my needs today are few. Not a fan of theatres, movie streaming at home is great, providing a steady supply of entertainment with just a few keystrokes. Computer technology and I have a fabulous relationship but I do know ‘real live people’. Honest!  Interspersed with my ‘stay at home life’ are outings to the big city,  trying new eateries and prowling around the malls and other interesting shops. 

Thankful that I’m still able to walk, I take advantage of it through housework. As well, wheeling around the malls, courtesy of an antique Quickie wheelchair keeps me fit, while a fire-engine red mobility scooter allows for safely taking fresh air outside since I can no longer walk any significant distances on crutches and propeling a wheelchair for too long is exhausting. Aging in place for one such as I, with multiple disabilities which benefit from an array of assistive devices, affords a certain security not easily abandoned to life in a nursing home environment.

My current home also caters to the requirements for baking and cooking, both a necessary part of stayin’ alive! Though small, my kitchen is well organised, featuring a lot of counter top appliances which allow for considerable variety in daily meals.  Those who know me will attest to the fact that ‘she sure can put it away!”

Aging in place is the ideal because of how I’ve lived for the past 4 decades; an apartment would never suit my style and very few allow pets. What becomes of Fido with a down size?

Not surprisingly, many seniors who had no difficulty in the rambling old house where they raised a family, are finding that they’re experiencing that scary thing called the ‘fall’. One might think that falls wouldn’t be an issue in a smaller space but they are! The elderly/older person is often still functioning as though he was still bustling around the old house in familiar surroundings. What needs to happen in the new environment is for him to slow down and assess each space, especially if he uses aids like canes, crutches, or a walker.

I’m still able to undertake many daily tasks without need of a great deal of assistance. My biggest regret is that I didn’t learn how to drive; I suspect now it’s too late, particularly given my lack of finely tuned visual acuity.  I’ll just have to continue to bribe my fine friends with tasty treats as I prevail upon their generosity to transport me to places I need to go and people I need to see.

Often, seniors come face to face with the need to move on as a current housing situation no longer fits — perhaps ones declining balance, declining vision and hearing, or lapses in memory may suggest it’s time for interventions and a change of place. Seniors requiring extra supports must be party to discussions of proposed changes.

Remember, new and different can be a good thing!

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca 

2017 has many moments yet to be discovered

“Lost time is never found again.” Benjamin Franklin’s words are just as relevant today as when he first said them.

The ‘coulda’, ‘woulda’ and  ‘shoulda’ of 2016 are gone but we’ve got another chance, with a brand spankin’ new year, to get it right. How many years got away from us, with opportunities missed? Opportunities to do it better. Do our part. Pull our weight. Help and be helped.

Some may feel their contribution would pale in comparison to that of others but how would they know if they don’t get out there and do it! Those who hang back and don’t get involved may well shine in the realm of community service and find they enjoy it as it brings to them something that was missing.

If you express your own feelings about caring and sharing, isolation and abandonment, others might decide to get involved and participate in being part of a change in your shared community, beginning within their own lives, with those near and dear and with those who are near  — the neighbour they really don’t know, the aftershool program that could use extra volunteers to help children with reading, the local hospital that is always seeking extra pairs of hands to do this or that, the community sponsored suppers that always need potato peelers and salad makers. The list of what you CAN do is endless. The list of what you SHOULD do rests with you and your conscience.

We are a province of aging citizens coupled with a declining growth rate. That being so, the need for people to serve, to assist those who are less able to meet their own daily needs, is at a critical mass. If you’re sitting home alone and are able to get out and about, DO it. Find out what’s going on  in your community and see where you might fit. Ultimately, what stops you is YOU!

For myself, giving comes in a form that is somewhat unique, due in large measure to the implications of my own life circumstances. I write. I write about what I know and I write about what I live and I may very well be a voice for many out there who are in a similar situation with regard to lack of access. Perhaps my written voice gives them the courage to finally speak up, to finally stand up and ask for help when needed.

Within the parameters of my online presence, I make myself available to assist young  parents with writing letters requesting devices and services necessary to improve the quality of life for their youngster with disability. I help parents through the maze of often confusing jargon aka gobbledy-gook when they get another denial letter from an agency they thought would help them. The ‘blue book’ needs to be rewritten to accommodate the real needs of real people. Yet again, to repeat an oft-used phrase - ‘one size does NOT fit all!’.

The gift of availability can be transmitted from one person to another, bringing a community to life, whether that community is online or in our daily, touch it, feel it, hear it lives.

One couple I’ve ‘known’ online for several years demonstrates clearly the importance and the  need for more neighbourliness. As my online friend Valerie says, “ we have always been isolated by our very ‘composition' by virtue of accommodation.  We have always been blessed with at least a couple of friends or neighbors who accepted us, but we always had to make the most effort.”

Valerie has Asperger’s Syndrome and Doug, her husband of over 20 years, is a vent dependent quadriplegic. Doug, was injured in a high school football game when he was in his teens and his been a quad for over 40 years! Imagine it! Forty plus years of not being able to do almost all the things that we so easily take for granted.

Quite frankly the fact that they have to ask for help is beyond sad and unfortunate. It’s just wrong! All around us are folks who used to ask for help but felt they were imposing and stopped asking, plodding along — sometimes to their detriment. Plodded along until the day when the old man who lives across the street from you fell off a ladder while changing the battery in his smoke alarm. One of those ‘shoulda’ moments you missed. “I shoulda gone over to ask Mr. Jones if he needed help,” you said to yourself. Now he’s in the hospital with a broken hip and has developed an infection. How long does it take to change a smoke alarm battery?

Living with disability is often not pretty; growing old is not fun. Asking for help is a tough pill but we have to swallow our pride and just DO it if we are to be safe. Will you DO your part in your community, on your street, to ensure that a neighbour in need stays safe? Perhaps that will be your next moment of 2017.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca

Give children the keys to learning -- good food and good conversation

As I explore the various issues affecting children and family, I am mindful of the fact that just because I am part of that group that moves in a different way, my forward movement, physically, mentally and emotionally, was no less in need of acknowledgement and support than that of one who is able to move about freely and randomly. The same is true of the child who is disabled by a life of daily chaos with the school hours being his only respite. His forward movement is grossly compromised by circumstances over which he has no control so it is critical that teachers look beyond the ‘bad behaviour’, often a coping mechanism, to examine what is going on behind the scenes. Prejudging is often a fatal flaw.

We are shaped by our childhood experiences and no more is that evident than on the faces of young children as they sit before their first authority figure outside the home — the classroom teacher. A teacher who makes him/herself available to children for conversation after class is over can help set the stage for healing wounds that won’t be revealed unless and until a child feels safe - safe to disclose, safe to talk; safe to tell. Words and actions of teachers will hold a lot of sway.

The reality is that for lots of children, the relationship with that first teacher in a formal setting can make or break the forward movement. Certainly, teachers can’t cater to the quirky needs of a few kids to the exclusion of others; there has to be a balance, which is achieved when a teacher embraces the notion that all children have something to bring to the table and their opinions and feelings must be acknowledged and respected. A teacher who has a finger on the pulse of the classrom can sense changes in the ebbs and flows and see which child might be in crisis. Not acting is not an option. By letting children know they’re welcome to talk allows you to learn the why of behaviour that concerns you as an instructor. 

Sometimes, the family dynamic is fractured or damaged and children look to the classroom as that safe place and the teacher as the one who will help them feel valued, feel loved. A kind word goes a long way to healing the hidden hurts of the child who will leave at the dismissal bell to go home to spend the balance of the day in chaos, with lots of screaming and yelling, of name calling, perhaps alcohol-fueled abusive rages. Will there be dinner on the table? Will there be someone to help with the math problems? Will Mom sign the permission slip to go to the museum? Will Dad take time from his work to take his child to hockey practice? 

What will the teacher do if that child appears the next morning, wearing the same clothing as the day before, face not washed, hair not combed, homework not done? It’s obvious that the youngster is tired and possibly hungry. Perhaps he didn’t have a meal the night before; something so many of us take for granted. Is it possible he didn’t have breakfast either? Not even an orange, or a bowl of cereal? Food insecurity, nutritional deficiencies and childhood stress impact learning in very significant ways. We need need to be more consistent with what we can do to improve the situation of children in crisis. Teachers can’t be left holding the bag. It’s easy to be an armchair critic or a bench warmer.

All manner of seasonal fund raising efforts are currently underway to ensure that those in need will have a celebratory meal with all the trimmings, that families and their children will have presents under their tree. If they don’t have a tree, I’m sure there are lots of elves lurking about who can make things happen at the stroke of a pen or a phone call or two. Truly, anything is possible if people get together and make it happen.

Children in crisis who are able to develop a bank of good times, of happy experiences, of feeling included and valued will develop the skills to become forward movers. Just as I learned how to walk after a fashion, putting one foot in front of the other, thanks to those who exercised my legs on a daily basis, stressed children can, with sustained supports, thrive and show us who they can be if we believe in them.

Key to successful outcomes is to ensure that the parents or caregiver don’t feel threatened and that their own efforts at childrearing are not criticised. If they could benefit from gentle guidance, whether in the short or long term, a quiet word with a classroom teacher or other trusted adult may be just the thing to propel that struggling parent forward as well. Ultimately, it’s the duty of both parent and teacher to have the child’s needs at the top of the list. The road is long, but it doesn’t have to be lonely.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca 

Eating our way to better health

“Are you having a senior moment or could it be a vitamin B12 deficiency?” captioned a Brunswick News article authored by Catherine McCain, a consulting dietician who practices out of the Smythe Street SuperStore medical clinic.

I’ve had a few ‘senior moments’! Most recently, it was a case of ‘where oh where can the almonds be?’ I purchased ingredients for my Christmas fruitcakes - brandy flavoured mincemeat, sweetened condensed milk, walnuts, mixed fruit, flour,  and eggs. I already had the glazed cherries. I purchased the almonds, too! They’re high in B12, if you didn’t already know! As I organised the ingredients on the kitchen counter, with the intention of baking 2 cakes, cooling them overnight, to be followed by the requisite wrap in booze soaked cheesecloth and  other related steps involved in Christmas cake baking and gifting, I noticed something  — no almonds!

That meant no fruitcakes and no B12! My schedule was totally messed up, so I had only one recourse - spend the afternoon set aside for baking to relax with movies instead. Life is good. Besides, watching a well written and acted whodunit is good brain exercise.

As I age with multiple disabilities, I am thankful that I am still very mobile, in spite of the awkward, shuffling gait of cerebral palsy. I attribute my ‘top shelf’ health and wellness to the proactive stance I adopted several decades ago. I knew in my 20s that I didn’t want to get locked into a cycle of prescription drugs to manage the implications of aging with since birth disability and those that would layer on top of it. Here I am at 62 years of age having no daily regimen of ‘doctor drugs’ to be taken. Instead, I focus on nutrition; what I eat, and what I don’t eat. I also take supplements to support my immune system, particularly during flu season,  saying ‘no thanks’ to the flu shot.

B12 is a water soluble vitamin that helps maintain health of  nerves, brain, and creation of red blood cells. Long term deficiency may result in nerve damage and may even lead to paralysis.

For me, it reasons that having a topped up vitamin B12 load is a good idea given that my brain was insulted in infancy, resulting in life-long spastic diplegic cerebral palsy. Anything I can do to reduce the impact of age-related deficits, I will do. In my late teens, I was diagnosed with  osteoarthritis of the thoracic spine. Also tied to the cerebral palsy is fibromyalgia, with which I was diagnosed in my 30s. Again, my choice was no drugs for the long term. I take prescription pain management medication on an ‘as required’ basis. Key to healthy living is to keep moving; exercise via routine housework along with range of motion exercises have served me well.

I also benefitted from taking B12 to reverse the effects of carpal tunnel syndrome, and was afforded considerable extended relief as symptoms went away. If symptoms recurred, I simply repeat the course, taking the tablets til gone.

Vitamin B12 has the benefit of boosting energy, reducing depression, decreasing sugar cravings, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. It also reduces neurological and brain degeneration. It’s clear then, that Vitamin B12 is a very necessary supplement for me based on my medical/health profile. Key among symptoms of deficiency are fatigue, constipation, depression, weakness and anemia. Asthma is another consequence of insufficient B12.

Very often adjusting the diet resolves many health issues that compromise quality of life, though some individuals may require a more aggressive dosing schedule and need to supplement. However, since so many of us must make a dollar stretch, buying supplements would be the last thing on our ‘to do’ list — instead, there’s a better, and tastier method. Eat you way to stepped up levels of not just B12 but of other vitamins and minerals necessary for the top-performing body of you.

Don’t use that tired excuse that you don’t have time to cook. You do! If you have time to go to MacDonald’s, order the burgers and fries, wait for the order to be processed, sit inside to dine, or out in your car to eat, you have time to stay home and cook! Night time slow cooker prep with an overnight of the crock pot in the fridge. In the morning, set it and forget it. What a money savings! Don’t have a slow cooker? Check out Value Village!

Most foods have not only the B12 requirement but lots of other nutrients. Take squash for example; it’s high in A and C as well as the B12.  So is cottage cheese. Sometime this week, I”ll be making not only squash pancakes, but also cottage cheese pancakes. and a salmon-spinach quiche. Very high in nutrients. Want the recipes? Get in touch!

I’m pleased to report I replenished the supply of almonds and the fruitcakes have been baked and  remembered to give them the first slosh of ‘liquid refreshment’ before they’re gifted for Christmas.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca 

Driving to distraction

Monique McTiernan-Black’s recent Letter to the Editor in the Times & Transcript is yet another reminder of how dangerous and potentially fatal texting while driving can be. Had Ms. McTiernan-Black,  out on a run, not been paying attention for both herself AND the young woman texting while driving,  there could have been the distinct possibility of the death of one, and a lengthy prison sentence for the other. Definitely something for the driver of that lethal weapon to think about. 

  A car, a motorcycle, all-terrain vehicles or a snowmobile can be and often are weapons of death. If the person operating such a ‘destroyer of lives in a split second’ is caught not exercising appropriate care and control as required by the law, then he should have his license revoked for a term no less than one year. Full stop! 

The time has come for the courts to stop devoting so much time issuing slap on the wrist sentences and fines that clearly are not sufficient deterrents. The system of law, in place to protect all of us, needs to step up the game in a way that is truly attention grabbing and behaviour changing — heftier fines and longer ‘time out’ periods from driving. Accountability is the responsibility of each and every one of us.

I’ve been the victim of individuals who’ve been distracted  — texting while walking. In such cases, being a student of human nature, I take those opportunities to educate and enlighten. My favourite MO occurs most often in malls, as I travel in my wheelchair down the center corridors, checking out shop windows. I’ll see a person approaching, ear glued to phone, oblivious to an impending collision. But I’m ready! I know full well what happens next. I slow down and wait. True to form, the ‘gotta make the call right this minute’ guy keeps coming, looking straight ahead, but clearly not seeing me at all. Then it happens! Wham! There’s a body in my lap! I caught a live one! I’m never hurt at all during these little tests of reaction times. But the phone chatter is clearly embarassed as everyone around us saw what HE did to poor little me! 

The call ends as he peels himself off my lap. We have a brief conversation as I ask him to picture himself in a car doing what he was doing at that moment he ran into me. Finally! That lightbulb moment when the message of the lesson gets his attention. Had he been in a car, texting while driving or chatting while driving, he could have killed a Mom pushing a baby in a stroller, while her two older children waited at home; he could have killed a 3 children on their way to school on bright, sunny day; he could have killed a guy who was returning home with gift bags in hand after becoming a first time grandfather earlier that day. There’s no do-over for any of those catastrophic events. Ever!

Another tactic I use to educate is to be casually rolling along in my little red racer, sensing then confirming there’s a person close behind me; invariably, they’re glued to a cellphone. I slow to a crawl, but still moving forward. Bam! I get rear-ended by an uprightly mobile 20 something, wearing short shorts with legs up to there, long, blond hair, shiny with health. She’s smiling and chatting, fully engaged in conversation with the person on the other side of her phone connection. A boyfriend? A girlfriend, as they make plans for the weekend? 

She falls directly into my chair as she bumps into my back. Thankfully, my long flowing hair is wound up in a bun or it would have been soundly pulled as she reached out her hands to save herself. So, I was rear-ended by one of the ‘pretty people’ in full view of passersby. She was more than a little embarassed.  Yes, my friends, both these events occurred and are not products of my writer’s imagination.

After a bit of light conversation, I asked about texting while driving — she was all apologetic and informed me that she’d never do that. I wondered! As she walked away, I noted that the cellphone was once again at her ear and she casually sauntered along the mall corridor with not a care in the world. 

How many people in New Brunswick have been killed because of driving while texting? How many were the drivers? How many were their victims? Innocent parties to their vanity and thoughtlessness? In how many  such accidents of texting/chatting while drivingwere both the driver and others killed? How many survived but will spend the rest of their lives as paraplegics? As respirator quadriplegics? As single limb amputees? As double limb amputees? Permanently living with a traumatic brain injury?

Will someone near and dear to you be the next victim of death or permanent injury by distracted driver? Will you?

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca 

ER wait times -- condition critical

“Eat your food as your medicines. Otherwise you have to eat medicines as your food.” [Amatellah]

‘ER wait times in New Brunswick hit breaking point,’ reads the headline of the July 5th edition of The Telegraph Journal. 

Patients who have experienced waits of 4-5 or more hours on previous visits are now offered the option of taking an appointment to be seen in another facility should they feel they need ER care. Non-urgent cases will still have to wait, perhaps several hours. Knowing that, patients may start doing something truly remarkable. They may begin assessing whether they REALLY need to go to the ER at all, let alone sit there for 5 hours only to be seen and told they have indigestion or a slight cold that requires nothing more than fluids and rest. How often has that happened? Really?

Every day someone, from the very young to the very old, compromises his body through often repeated behaviour that affects quality life with little regard to consequences until critical mass is reached — rather like the condition plaguing our health care system.

We have all the latest and greatest modern technology so why can’t we get seen in a timely fashion? After all, what are we paying for? Why aren’t the doctors paying attention to us? Why are the folks in the ER admitting station running around, not seeming to be doing much of anything, other than running around?

That, my friend, is the impression held by those who don’t think about how their own behaviour affects their health, and very often the health of the system in place to assist - the ER! Thousands of people are afflicted with the ‘dis’ease called ‘head in the sand syndrome’. In their sometimes, or dare I say, frequent misguided logic, they’re going to the ER because they believe they’re really sick, sort of sick, a little sick, or that cut on their left finger, or a rash on their right knee requires emergency treatment. Little thought is given to the distinct possibility that it is through their own behaviour that they find themselves in distress. There seems to be little or no personal accountability, and with that is another reality. Everybody, and I do mean EVERY body pays for what you, and you and you are doing to YOUR body.

What’s the solution, you ask? The answers are closer to home than you think and if you stayed home and really thought about what you may have done that contributed  to that sick feeling, the cut on your left finger, or the rash on your right knee, you realise that the cure for any one of those ailments is as close as your kitchen cupboard or your medicine cabinet. 

I’m not going to go on ad nauseum about the garbage in, garbage out philosophy. Most of    us are able to grasp that concept and once we realise we may be the cause of quite a few of our own troubles, we will make effort to self-correct, self-regulate. Some need a bit more prodding because they’ve become accustomed to having their errors and omissions dealt with by someone else - and so is born what I like to call the ‘professional patient’.

As a cardiac patient, I will never discount chest pain of any kind, especially if it’s accompanied by sweats, jaw pain, and/or lower to mid back pain. If you have a history of cardiac issues, then you’d already know what to do. Calling ahead, in advance of an ER visit, to consult with a nurse might allow you to decide whether to wait it out or to actually go in. Chewing on a couple of aspirins and having a bit of wine has long been acknowledged as being helpful if one is in the throes of a cardiac event. Consulting with your physician to establish an ‘if this happens’ protocol is always helpful. That action alone may reduce the need to prematurely rush off to the ER. Note, though, that alcohol consumption post-cardiac event is something that must be discussed with your physician as alcohol may interfere with certain drugs taken to treat the healing heart. Let common sense be your guide. There’s that personal accountability thing again.

As well, and to conclude today’s life lesson, paying attention to how you fuel your body so that it efficiently performs, goes a long way to reducing ER visits. The same is also true with your family members. Very early on, if parents educate their children to focus on eating to live, the frequency with which they catch colds or suffer headaches, or stomach pains, joint pains, and muscle pains diminishes. Good habits at home reduces the tax on the health care system, making it more accessible to more people with you and yours as part of the solution instead of contributing to the problem. Sounds like a good idea to me. What say you?

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her aging Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca