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July 8, 2012

Is Community Spirit Pain Reliever Without Heart Risk?

How was your fourth of July holiday for 2012?

Mine has caused a lot of reflection.

I’ve shared a couple emotional posts on past Independence Day celebrations here on Heart Failure Solutions.

I’m actually grateful to have those articles as a record of some very happy memories.

In years past our fourth of July celebration has definitely been pain reliever without heart risk.

Pain meds increase your risk of heart failure, but community spirit has the power to keep you well and reduce your pain without drugs!

Pain relievers cause constipation and further ALL disease processes! It isn’t just your heart risk you need to be concerned about!

Have you ever heard the expression: “Death begins in the bowel” … ?

Staying connected with your community, getting active outdoors, living with passion and purpose are very specific ways you can attend to your pain level so that you can resort to drugging your pain far less often. If you don’t believe that, give it a good honest effort. Just don’t get discouraged too quickly. Some events are more uplifting than others, but community is as much about YOU as it is about your neighbors. Just keep showing up.

The fourth of July parade in your community is one opportunity to show up.

This year my troops were gearing up for the celebration bright and early. Our preparation at home in the morning felt like it does every year.

Our pace was hectic and we left our breakfast mess, so it felt like a traditional fourth of July morning! haha!

Nick and I dropped off the girls to Continue reading article →

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July 5, 2012

| by Carrie Tucker

Is There a Secret Cure For An Epidemic of Heart Failure?

Do you read Malcolm Gladwell?

The man is an amazing author!

He inspires me so much I am planning a “Malcolm Gladwell Book Club” for Life Breath Club Members!

In my humble opinion his books are, each and everyone, a potential Heart Failure Solution.

His first book, The Tipping Point, gives us a powerful lesson about the difference ONE person can make on this planet.

His second, Blink, inspires us to honor our brilliance by thinking without thinking.

To me, Malcolm Gladwell’s most important work to date is Outliers because of the powerful and very important message within his stories!

My translation of that message is “LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF!”

I want to share one of the stories I learned from Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers.

But first, I want to clear up an apparent misconception this brilliant author has, in an attempt to shine a light on this issue for you!

In the introduction to Outliers Mr. Gladwell speaks of the epidemic of heart disease as if it were past tense and the advances in modern medicine as though they have been successful.

He says:

“This was the 1950’s, years before the advent of cholesterol-lowering drugs and aggressive measures to prevent heart disease. Heart attacks were an epidemic in the United States. They were the leading cause of death in men under the age of sixty-five. It was impossible to be a doctor, common sense said, and not see heart disease.”

In the introduction to Outliers Malcolm Gladwell seems to be under the impression that something has changed.

It hasn’t!

It is still impossible Continue reading article →

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June 17, 2012

| by Carrie Tucker

Is Food Really Congestive Heart Failure Treatment?

If you have recently received a CHF diagnosis, I don’t want to minimize your concern about what heart failure treatment you might need.

Certainly you must immediately address the life threatening fluid retention that is associated with acute heart failure if you have reached a point that it threatens your life!

Your doctor actually doesn’t want to medicate your fluid retention until he/she absolutely has too. “Water Pills” make you pee off important vitamins and minerals so it really isn’t good for you.

The only reason your doctor would prescribe drugs for fluid retention is because the alternative is worse than the damage the drugs will cause. Heart failure is a serious diagnosis, so you must allow your health care team to stabilize your fragile state before you question the choices you face.

Remember oxygen IS a drug and it is also a vital nutrient!

Once you have achieved a stable balance it is time to realize that your situation didn’t happen over night and it won’t heal over night.

It’s time to take a look at what needs to change and change it! Continue reading article →

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June 16, 2012

| by Carrie Tucker

Do You Have Bucket List Ideas For Now?

My conversation with Briana about Bucket List ideas the other day got me singing the song from the movie.

I absolutely love the song sung by John Mayer that addresses a huge issue some folks never work through in their entire life time.

Do you “Say What You Need To Say”?

My daughter’s Bucket List includes travel and chocolate.

Personally, I like the idea of a Bucket List that gives me Peace when I lie down to die.

Saying what I have to say, when I have to say it, would give me more Peace than all the travel and chocolate I could consume in a lifetime!

It’s not like I really have a choice.

I HAVE to “Say What I Need To Say”!

The alternative is to swallow it and let it rot my guts.

I’ve always wondered how people swallow their truth. It makes me think, “Is the truth more costly than rotten guts?”

There is no way to know without walking a mile in another’s shoes, but still I’ve got to wonder.

Recently I was hired to assess an in home care giving situation.

The elderly woman receiving the care had been experiencing dementia symptoms for over a decade.

At times she was very lucid and you could see how intelligent and thoughtful she was.

At other times she couldn’t remember her children’s names.

One particularly enlightening conversation I had with this sweet woman helped me to see Continue reading article →

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June 8, 2012

| by Carrie Tucker

Are Keynote Motivational Speakers Made or Born?

I am the proud parent of a 2012 graduate!

As I sat in the audience listening to my daughter give her acceptance speech, I wondered if she had been born a keynote motivational speaker or if it was her many years of theater and attending a school that required lots of presentation.

Can you teach someone to be inspiring or is that a skill they are born with?

I asked Briana that question, she said, “Both.”

The kid has grown up in a theater, so a stage is definitely someplace she feels comfortable.

But sitting there watching her hold the attention of every person in that audience, getting a good laugh from the crowd, I wondered how she came to possess that skill.

Keynote Motivational Speakers may not seem like deal changers.

But a powerful speaker who can Continue reading article →