Health and Wellness
- Birth Choice -- Caring for Mothers Cares for Babies
- Stress
- You Are Getting Sleepy
- TAre You the Sandwich Generation?
Birth Choice -- Caring for Mothers Cares for Babies
By Marcella Bingham
She is pregnant, confused and scared. She wants to keep her baby, but doesn’t know where to turn. Birth Choice of Temecula understands her fear and will extend a loving and supportive helping hand to any woman facing the challenging life choices of an unexpected pregnancy and the feelings of being alone.
Birth Choice is a non-denominational Christian Ministry whose mission is to preserve human life whenever possible through counseling to people in need. Although a Christian Ministry, Jennifer Cartell, Executive Director, said that Birth Choice does not discriminate against any client and welcomes anyone who needs their services. “We strive to meet the client where they are,” Cartell said. “We do not force religion on them,” she added, “but we do pray for them and with them if they are receptive to that.”
The services offered include a free pregnancy test, lay counseling, material goods, and referrals to other organizations in the community if needed. Clients can be provided with maternity clothing, a newborn layette, items they need for the baby and nursery from the Mommy and Baby Boutique, and baby supplies until the baby is twenty-four months old. The staff works with them to find medical care and insurance, and encourages them to stay in touch with their families as much as possible. In addition, Birth Choice also offers abstinence education to help prevent unplanned pregnancies, and post-abortion healing.
Cartell has been with Birth Choice for 4 ½ years, coming from another center where she worked for three years following her retirement from the U.S. Navy as a Medical Service Corps Officers. “I asked God to reveal His purpose in my life,” she said. This led her to working in pregnancy resource centers with medical advancements that allowed for life-saving ultrasound.
Birth Choice relies on funding from grants, foundations, private community donors, businesses, local churches, and fundraising events. One fund raising event will be the Birth Choice Annual Respect for Life Banquet on Friday, October 22nd at 6:30 PM. It will be held at Rancho Community Church, 31300 Rancho Community Way, in Temecula.
“Birth Choice provides many of the choices,” Martell said, “that clients have not thought of, such as having the baby with assistance from us, and other organizations in the community or giving the baby up for adoption to a loving family that cannot have children. We provide the love and support that helps them make the choice that is best for them, their baby, and their family without pressure and without cost.”
For further information about Birth Choice of Temecula or the annual banquet, please telephone 951-699-9808. The center is located at 27488 Enterprise Circle West, Temecula, 92590. Visit their website at www.birthchoicetemecula.com
Stress
( Author Unknown)
A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience,
raised a glass of water and asked, “How heavy is this glass of water?”
Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, “The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.”
He continued, “And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.
“As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down! Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can.
“So, my friends, put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while.”
Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:
- Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.
- Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.
- Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.
- If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.
- If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.
- It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.
- Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time because then you won't have a leg to stand on.
- Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
- Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late.
- The second mouse gets the cheese.
- When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
- Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.
- You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
- Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
- We could learn a lot from crayons ˗- some are sharp, some are pretty, and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.
You Are Getting Sleepy . . . Ver-r-r-y sleepy . . .
By Sandra L. Nagy, Clinical Hypnotherapist
Many people, upon hearing the word “hypnosis” immediately think of a swinging pocket watch, or more often, of being made to cluck like a chicken. But in reality, hypnosis has come a long way since the days of the swinging watch, though admittedly a stage hypnotists might still make you cluck like a chicken -- but only if you’ve always wanted to cluck like a chicken in front of a lot of people.
Hypnotherapy has been used for years by professional therapists, MD’s and dentists for everything from losing weight and stopping panic attacks to surgical anesthesia. But, until recently, no one seemed to know how or why it worked -- only that it did.
After a long and sometimes wary history in medicine and entertainment, hypnosis is now receiving some new respect from neuroscientists. Recent brain studies of people who are susceptible to suggestion indicate that when they act on hypnotic suggestions, their brains show profound changes in how they process information. According to Scientific American magazine, experiments, using brain imaging, showed that people who were hypnotized "saw" colors where there were none. Others lost the ability to make simple decisions. Some people looked at common English words and thought that they were gibberish. The suggestions, researchers report, literally change what people see, hear, feel, and believe to be true.
In November, 2005, Dr. Michael I. Posner, an emeritus professor of neuroscience at the University of Oregon and an expert on attention, told reporter Don Hogan Charles of The New York Times, "The idea that perceptions can be manipulated by expectations is fundamental to the study of cognition, but now we're really getting at the mechanisms."
Even with little understanding of how it works, hypnosis has been used in medicine since the 1950's to treat pain and, more recently, as a treatment for anxiety, fears and phobias, trauma, and a variety of social and psychological issues. In the public eye, however, there is still disagreement about what exactly the hypnotic state is.
Hypnosis had a false start in the 18th century when a German physician, Dr. Franz Mesmer, devised a miraculous cure for people suffering from all manner of unexplained medical problems. Using dim lights and otherworldly music, he infused them with a secret, invisible "magnetic fluid" which mysteriously cured them of any and all ills. The word “mesmerize” is still with us today, although with a slightly different usage.
Dr. Mesmer was eventually discredited; however, he was the first person to show that the mind could be manipulated by suggestion to affect the body. In 1842, Dr. James Braid, an English ophthalmologist, revived the phenomenon, calling it hypnosis after the Greek word for sleep.
Although Dr. Braid put people into trances by staring at them intently, he did not have a clue as to how it worked. Under this veil of mystery, hypnosis was adopted by spiritualists and stage magicians who used dangling gold watches to induce hypnotic states in volunteers from the audience, to the amusement and delight of the rest of the crowd.
However, within the 19th century medical community, hypnosis was a serious matter. In India, physicians were successfully using it as anesthesia, even for limb amputations. The practice fell from favor only when ether was discovered.
Now, according to Dr. Posner and others, new research on hypnosis and suggestion is providing an important view into the actual workings of normal brain functionAre You the Sandwich Generation? Do You Need Help Caring For Mom And Dad?
By Dr. Julie Zimmerer
The “sandwich generation” describes those of us who have a family member like Mom, Dad or Grandmother who suffered a life-changing event and have now become their primary caretaker. The “sandwich generation” may be raising children or grandchildren, or may still be working while taking care of a loved one. This was true for me. I was involved in the caretaking of my mother who had become in need of assistance due to congestive heart failure and an array of other health problems. I am still working as a treating physician as well as running a home health care business. I have three children, two grandchildren and Oh, I am a wife too! Consequently, I became the embodiment of the “sandwich generation,” multitasking as wife, mom, grandma, and daughter!
Caretaking can be an overwhelming process that is different for every family. At a moment’s notice your life can dramatically change. A family member or friend may suffer from a stroke, heart attack or the onset of dementia, necessitating that you become their primary caretaker. Where do you go to get the information to make the right decision for your loved one? How do you know you are making the right decision? It is a difficult arena that many are thrust into totally unprepared. My best advice for you is to be prepared ahead of time. Begin talking with your loved ones now. Find out what their wishes are and start your research as soon as possible. Begin early with care in the home if mom and dad will accept the care. This is usually the most difficult obstacle to overcome. Mom and dad can be very resistant to allowing care in their home. Just let them know that by accepting care they can remain in their home longer. I found that out by informing Mom and Dad that getting care in the home was for me and my piece of mind because I could not be there all the time.
You can get a licensed, bonded and insured In-Home Companion Care Company to provide the personalized care for mom and dad, such as assistance with bathing, transportation, light housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders, grocery shopping, assistance with pets, and much more. When considering a companion, Care Company interview three companies. Make sure you ask the following questions:
- Are the caregivers screened with a drug test, background check, and CPR Certified?
- Are your caregivers insured with General Liability Insurance, Malpractice Insurance, Workman’s Compensation, and Auto Insurance?
- Do your caregiver’s work on Holidays? What is your overtime/ Holiday rate?
- What are your hourly rates and your daily minimum amount of hours?
- Do you have emergency coverage and how soon could you get a caregiver to assist my family if we needed it?
- What is your billing procedure and do you require a deposit?
- Do you provide a Free In-Home Assessment?
In summary, Americans are living longer, healthier lives than ever before and adult children are becoming part of the “sandwich generation.” Be a good Girl/Boy Scout before your family hits the crises so that you are prepared by doing your homework now. That is the best advice I can give a family caring for mom and dad. Just call us and we can help you analyze your important decision concerns.
Dr. Julie Zimmerer
My Choice In-Home Senior Care
951-244-8770