Friday, July 12, 2013

The Value of Mom

Just what is Self Care Health Care? It sounds just like a tongue twister to me.Self care speaks of taking responsibility for your health and well being. Self directed Healthcare might be a better way of putting it. Because of my history, Mom of 5 children with limited monetary funds, I felt I constantly had to think about how to keep my family safe and healthy. Accidents do happen. Minor ones can be taken care of at home (If you know how),slightly more acute injuries might need an expert hand and should be taken to your DR/Healthcare Provider and of course acute injuries should be taken to the Emergency Room.

I think I was very fortunate to have a Mom who taught me how to assess the everyday ouies and boo boos that come along. She taught me not only to assess these but how to treat them at home to decrease the possibility of infection and then how to treat infection if it did develop. As an ER Nurse I have often said that "We all need a Mommy hotline". It is amazing how many things can be prevented but then also treated very effectively at home.

Outside of injuries, which you have only a modicum of control, general health is the piece of health that you can have enormous affect on, not only for yourself but also for others in your household like spouse/partner, children and/or other family members. Yep, Mom helped me out there too. She was very aware of how important a healthy diet was. At one point she sold vitamins "Nutrilite". This was one of the first vitamin companies around. So as a kid I learned that what I ate was very important to keeping me healthy. I have continued to build on that knowledge by reading almost everything I can get my hands on and have the time to read that talks about health,healing and dealing with chronic diseases.

Bottom line, taking responsibility for you and your family's health, takes a commitment, motivation, a few skills and knowledge. Why bother? You might say "All this sounds really great but it is so out of reach. I mean, taking care of the house,laundry as well as the outside job is a tremendous drain on my time. Add a family in there if you have one and it all seems very overwhelming! I don't have time for all that learning!" You might also say "You'd have to be a nurse to know all that. I don't want to be a nurse. I just want to be healthy and help those around me be healthy."

Gosh, I just realized I am talking to those people who don't "get it". If you are reading this blog, you "get it". You already take responsibility for you health and it's care. You "get" that knowledge is power and you "get" that you can do so many base level things to get and stay healthy. You also already know how to take care of the minor stuff yourself at home. When you get the fact that you are responsible for your health whether or not you recognize it, the next step is to decide to not be passive about it, you then search for answers.

Mom's for centuries have been the nurse. They had no formal training. They learned from their Mom. Much of that knowledge has been lost since Mom's went to work outside the home. They became stressed and more limited with their time. Now we have one or two generations who have not had the advantage of learning simple self care.


Mostly this post is about getting back to that basic. Moms and Dads teach. I encourage all the readers of this silly little blog to know your value! Your desire to keep healthy and your search for the knowledge with which to do this is the stone in the pond that can cause a ripple effect. It's all about one step at a time, one small change at a time. That's why I love my moto "Small changes BIG results".

Next post is going to be about water. You can't get more simple than that.

Until then Hope you keep coming back. Drop a comment if you would like to know something specific. I really am a real person and am eager to share my knowledge. I don't know it all, but love to do research.

Later,

Healthbug