arianne's New Writeups

When a health professional is not supportive of breastfeeding (idea)

2004-03-03T02:28:54Z

Breastfeeding is a very personal decision so it is always painful to be reminded how influential the opinions of health care providers can be on a new mother.

A physician is not the only health care professional a woman may come in contact with when beginning breastfeeding. After delivery, the obstetric floor nurse will spend more time with the new mother than the doctor who delivered her baby. She should be supportive and helpful when questions and problems arise. If available a lactation consultant can also be very helpful the first few days especially in difficult situations.

Fortunately most physicians and nurses are more informed on the benefits of breastfeeding today and are usually supportive. However only 20 years ago that was not necessarily true.

After my daughter, Sarah, was born at 32 weeks gestational age (GA) she was taken to the Neonatal intensive care nursery (NICU) where she remained for 3 weeks. My Norman Rockwell image of a happily sated…

Assistive device (thing)

2004-02-25T02:55:15Z

An assistive device (AD) is a piece of equipment designed to aid a person who is unable to walk without assistance in ambulating safely. The indications for use of an assistive device include:

The inability to be full weight bearing on a lower extremity due to injury, loss or structural deformity. A common example is someone with a broken leg or ankle.
Muscle weakness or paralysis of the lower extremity or trunk. A person with a spinal cord injury or a post polio patient would fit this category.
Decreased or poor balance. Often an elderly person or someone with a neurological disorder will demonstrate balance deficits.

Assistive devices are chosen for each individual based on the amount of stability and support required as well as the patient's strength, cognition, balance and coordination. If recovering from an injury or disease, patients are often instructed in the use of an assistive…

weight bearing (idea)

2004-02-22T02:03:55Z

Weight bearing is defined as the amount of weight that may be borne on a lower extremity during standing or ambulation. In sitting the lower extremities are non-weight bearing since they do not support the body weight. In static standing each lower extremity will bear 50% of the body's weight. As you begin walking, each leg will bear 100% or full weight bearing when the opposite leg leaves the ground.

Weight bearing may be restricted depending on the medical status of the involved limb due to injury, disease or surgery. Assistive devices are used to limit the amount of weight or force that is exerted through the legs during ambulation. The following terms describe the degrees of weight bearing commonly seen in orthopedic injuries:

Non-weight bearing (NWB) – The involved lower extremity is not allowed to contact the ground and bears none of the weight of the body during ambulation. Assistive device required – crutches or walker
Toe touch (TTWB

…

Falls in the elderly (thing)

2004-02-22T02:00:52Z

Fall down six times
Get up seven
- Buddha

"I've fallen down and can't get up." How many times have you heard this phrase in a commercial or a funny skit on the comedy channel? It is not a laughing matter for an elderly person living alone today.

For people over the age of 65, falls are the leading cause of accidental deaths and injury-related visits to the ER. One in three persons over 65 will fall at least once per year increasing to one in two by age 80. Falls are the 7th leading cause of death in individuals 75 or older and associated with 9500 deaths annually.

Serious injuries including head trauma, soft tissue injuries, fractures and dislocation occur in 5 to 15 % of elderly fall victims. Hip fractures account for 90% of fall fractures in the elderly and are the leading cause of extended hospitalization and loss of mobility. A shoulder or wrist fracture is painful but a hip fracture can…

February 14, 2004 (thing)

2004-02-14T04:46:12Z

Definitions of love abound, ranging from a passionate all encompassing feeling to friendship or merely fondness for an inanimate object. A random search on Google will turn up 120 million hits for the word love. The Greeks used 3 words to describe the different types of love; philos, agape and eros. Romantic love or eros can not really be adequately described, only experienced. To my husband and all lovers today I dedicate this Valentine

It will soon be 20 years since we pledged our troth on that beautiful spring morning. I think I was more enthralled with the idea of marriage itself than what it really meant. Little girl fantasies of dream houses inhabited by Barbie and Ken assured me that I would find my perfect mate. Never mind that my own family was far from ideal. I was innocent and carefree. I was young.

True love

What did that mean really? As I searched for fireworks, I found friendship and sex, companionship and passion, but not…

Premature infant (thing)

2004-02-04T03:38:34Z

I was going to have a baby. Must have been kismet since I had gotten knocked up on Mother's Day.

At 30 years of age and in good health, I was ecstatic but a little scared. My husband and I had only been married about a year, but we were confident and blissfully unaware of what lay ahead.

As pregnancies go, mine was pretty routine, at first. Saltine crackers became my best friend in the battle of nausea. It's amazing how well sandwiches can sustain you when aromatic cooking odors stimulate the gag reflex.

I followed the "rules " to the letter. I quit all caffeine and began drinking water (goodbye Diet Coke) of all things. Took my vitamins and didn't smoke. I even modified my die hard aerobic exercise program and began walking and swimming instead. In fact, I was the poster child for a healthy pregnancy.

The first sign of trouble came at about 28 weeks GA gestational age. It was a…