2013-07-01 Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day!!! :)

Lyrics O Canada (English version):

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,

The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Lyrics O Canada (French version)

« O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,

Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,

Il sait porter la croix!

Ton histoire est une épopée

Des plus brillants exploits.

Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,

Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Protégera nos foyers et nos droits. »

Lyrics O Canada (Bilingual version - non official)

O Canada! Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command,

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,

Il sait porter la croix!

Ton histoire est une épopée

Des plus brillants exploits,

God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Open "Video letter" to Canadian Members of Parliament re. Bill C-442

Please watch and share this video:

Open "Video letter" to Canadian Members of Parliament re. Lyme Disease Bill C-442

http://youtu.be/m08yIz-nKuM

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The Real Dangers of Lightning - Medical Myths

• Don't take a bath or shower during a storm. Yes, you can get shocked if you are near pipes or faucets during an electrical storm, so experts recommend that you avoid taking baths or showers when lightning is striking nearby. You also should avoid being near bodies of water if you are outside during a thunderstorm.

  

• Avoid using the phone during a storm. Using a phone with a cord during a thunderstorm is not a good idea because an electrical shock may be transmitted along the phone cord to you. In fact, the use of any electrical appliance should be avoided.

  Talking on a cordless phone indoors is not considered a high-risk activity, even during an electrical storm. However, using a cell phone outside should be avoided because the metal in the phone may act as a lightning rod.

• Know how to calculate a storm's distance. If, after you see lightning, you count the seconds until you hear thunder, that amount of time is not equivalent to the number of miles away the storm is. Rather, you should divide the number of seconds by five. For example, if you see a lightning bolt and count 10 seconds before you hear thunder, the source of that bolt is about two miles away.

• Don't take refuge under a tree. In fact, it is best to avoid being near tall objects (which are more likely to attract lightning) during a storm.

• Don't huddle with others. If you are caught out in a storm, it is best to stay at least 15 feet apart from others to reduce the chances that any one person will be struck by a bolt of lightning. If you stay close together, multiple people are more easily injured by a single bolt.

• Don't sit on the ground. If you are caught out in the open during an electrical storm, avoid sitting or lying down on the ground. Most lightning that injures people strikes the earth and travels through the ground; for this reason, the less contact you have with the ground the better.

  Ideally, you should avoid trees and other tall structures and avoid open spaces altogether. Seek shelter in a fully enclosed structure (such as a home, school or car). As a last resort, if you are unable to find shelter, crouch down low on the balls of your feet (to minimize contact with the ground).

• Don't try to "read" the sky. If the sky is clear above you or the storm is far away, you can still be struck by lightning. Actually, "bolts from the blue" account for a significant proportion of lightning-related injuries. Because lightning may travel more than 20 miles before touching down, a storm can be in the next town and still cause injury or death. For this reason, experts recommend that you go inside when the source of lightning is six miles away or closer (that is, if the interval between lightning and thunder is 30 seconds or less) and wait until 30 minutes have passed since the last lightning or thunder struck before you resume outside activities (this is known as the "30/30 rule").

• It is safe to help a lightning victim.One of the most prominent lightning-related myths is that you should not touch a lightning victim or you'll also be shocked. In fact, it is safe to help a lightning victim. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other forms of medical help may save them.

Be Careful

When the circumstances of a lightning-related injury are analyzed, it is often the case that some action on the part of the victim might have averted the injury.

For example, if you find yourself in a temperate climate with frequent thunderstorms, the last thing you should do is walk around open, hilly terrain with a metal rod. Yet golfers in Florida (where the largest number of lightning-related injuries and deaths occur) do this every day. Perhaps it is because they are not paying attention, they underestimate their risk or they are just unlucky.

To reduce your chances of attracting a lightning strike, recognize that you can do a few simple things to reduce your risk -- such as hanging up your phone if it has a cord.

For More Information

Colorado Lightning Resource Center, National Weather Service

National Lightning Safety Institute

Robert H. Shmerling, M.D. is associate physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. He has been a practicing rheumatologist for over 20 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is an active teacher in the Internal Medicine Residency Program, serving as the Robinson Firm Chief. He is also a teacher in the Rheumatology Fellowship Program.

From: intelihealth(dot)com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/35320/35323/327889.html?d=dmtHMSContent with thanks

Park-time, tick-time.

More and more pressure is put on gov. and park officials for parks to be commercially viable and more accessible:

With more people venturing into more easily accessible wildlife habitat, the number of people contractong tickborne diseases will continue to rise.

Mountain of change in store as Canada’s national parks aim to attract mass-tourism : Amppe.org

"We’ve been here before but we seem to be seeing a resurgence of commercial pressures on the parks.”

http://amppe.org/2013/06/07/mountain-of-change-in-store-as-canadas-national-parks-aim-to-attract-mass-tourism/

Teen puts hope in U.S. disease treatment | Welland Tribune

I just cried when I read this. Please tell people her story.

"She was screaming, she was in so much pain,"....

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2013/06/12/st-catharines-teen-puts-hope-in-us-lyme-disease-treatment

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They are indeed here

Take care this summer.

"The disease works in such a way that it can go dormant in your body for long periods of time, only to 'awake' and cause a number of symptoms, including palsy, heart problems, vertigo, arthritis, and many more. In Canada, we use the western blot test that does not detect the spyrocete while dormant. In the U.S., they use a much more accurate test that can detect traces of the disease — dormant or awake."

http://www.niagarathisweek.com/opinion-story/3838658-deer-ticks-are-indeed-here/

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Please consider the environment before printing this message. 

Thank you. © 2012. All rights reserved worldwide.

Self-administering IM Injections: A How-To Guide

HOW TO SELF-ADMINISTER IM INJECTIONS:

Below is a link to a Lyme forum with an excellent list of tips on how to self-administer e.g. Bicillin injections as part of a Lyme treatment regime.

"These tips are NOT from a doctor-----but from a collection of people who have been either giving themselves the bicillin LA injections, or have a friend or family member do it."

Always check everything with your doctor first! You use information from this blogpost at your own risk.

Hints on doing less painful IM Bicillin injections:

http://www.lymeneteurope.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=126

OTHER HELPFUL RESOURCES:

How to Z-track:

http://www.nursingcenter.com/upload/static/592775/Take5_Ztrack.pdf

Watch this video - excellent for a step-by-step guide on how to self-inject an IM injection into your thigh.

Proper IM injection technique:
http://youtu.be/kl1uMWOIgck

Bicillin - the facts:

BICILLIN L-A (PENICILLIN G BENZATHINE) INJECTION, SUSPENSION [PHYSICIANS TOTAL CARE, INC.]
http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/lookup.cfm?setid=3a4a1c30-dd47-4eb2-9a6e-22063962c0c3

MY EXPERIENCE AND ADVICE (Use this at your own risk.):

My first injection was lumpy and very very painful. I though I must be doing something wrong, and after doing a lot of reserach found that I was: I injected a too-cold paste, too quickly into a tense muscle.

Here's how I got rid of injection-lumps since then; this worked for me, and resulted in painless injections, but might not work for everyone:

1) Take Bicillin IM out of fridge at least an hour before injecting to let it warm up to room temperature. (I do mine just before bedtime, as my body will be most relaxed thereafter, for at least 8 hours during the night.)

2) 5 minutes before injecting, hold injection (suspension part) closed in fist grip in palm of hand to let the thick liquid warm to body temperature (with cap and not needle still on), while keeping the injection in a vertical position, and shaking it up and down a few times and hitting my closed fist with my other hand to cause impact shock in order to shake the pasty substance into a less viscous state. Do this for at least 5 minutes.

3) Inject in upper thigh in stead of hip, rotating legs. (Don't forget to first swab injection area in circle movement from inner to outer ring with alcohol swab.) Use a different spot to inject into each time.

4) Let legg hang loose, foot only slightly touching ground, while relaxing all muscles as much as possible.

5) Just prior to injecting, use fingers to shake thigh muscle from side to side a bit to further relax the muscle.

6) Push the  2" needle (not shorter - especially for bigger folks) in all the way, to get deep down into the muscle and avoid injecting into fatty or dermis layers, using the z-track method (google this, it helps with leakage, by sealing off the "hole.") (Remember to first pull back on the injection plunger for 10-20 seconds - aspirating - after inserting it, prior to pushing out the liquid, to check that you are not injecting into a vein or artery or blood vessel. If you had, blood will show in tube. Release needle, remove, and start over.)

7) Inject very very slowly with an even motion (20 sec at least). Take your time.

8) After all liquid has been injected, hold the needle in, still, for 10-20 seconds, then pull out slowly, while keeping other hand ready with sterile alcohol swab.

9) Immediately upon removing the needle, press firmly down on the puncture mark with alcohol swab, and hold it there for at least a minute.

10) Then replace the swab with a plaster / band-aid, but continue to lightly press down on the injection site for another minute or so.

11) Walk around in a normal fashion for a while (as long as you want to or can stand to, then go lie down to sleep.

Using these tecniques, I , consequently, have painfree and lumpfree injections.

I hope this helps somebody. I will re-post this with an earlier post about Bicillin on Facebook, as well as here on my blog so everyone can access the info.

Additional info:

http://medicalchests.com/content/intimidated-injections

http://www.drugs.com/cg/how-to-give-an-intramuscular-injection.html

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RAISING AWARENESS:

Summertime is ticktime. Protect yourself and your family.

MANAGING LYME DISEASE

DIAGNOSTIC HINTS AND TREATMENT GUIDELINES FOR LYME AND OTHER TICK BORNE ILLNESSES

Sixteenth Edition Copyright October, 2008

JOSEPH J. BURRASCANO JR., M.D.

FULL PDF AVAILABLE AT: http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf

More information:

CanLyme.com

ilads.org

© 2013. Lizette De Klerk.

All rights reserved worldwide.