Factors Affecting Health

I've been eating leftover spinach pasta salad with balsamic vinegar.

I have been hobbling along as best as I can.  The biggest factor afflicting me is my skin condition.  I won't go into too much detail about that condition, except to say that it is painful when I suffer a flareup.  That's why I really didn't exercise as I would have liked this past week.  I know what my body can and cannot do; I will not force my body to do what it can't.

Stress causes me inflammation.  

My skin gets inflamed.

One of my biggest concerns is taking on too many jobs, chores, and responsibilities.  It takes its toll on my body.  I think I had taken on too much the previous week.  Last week I was left with too much pain to move much.  I had to take Naproxen Sodium.  It worked to some extent, but I dislike depending on a painkiller.

I do know that I went down in weight last week.  Then it went up the next day.  It's frustrating when my weight fluctuates.  The only thing I can do is try to eat healthy.  That's why I have turned to eating healthy meals like the pasta salad that I made on Saturday.  

Also, because Lent ended, I started drinking soda again.  That has been a very bad decision for my health.  I feel like I'm a kid in a candy shop.  I look around and see that there is soda in the house.  What do I reach for?  

Yes. 

I go for the...soda!

It's frustrating that soda is in the house.  It is so readily available.  I am reaching for the water, though.  That's the good thing about me--I do drink water.  I think that's why I don't gain too much weight.

I am focusing on the fact that I am moving my body.

I do have one thing working for me.  I am continuing to organize and declutter my house.  That is helping me to remain active.  I am reaching, bending, and standing a lot.  I need that for my body.

Here's a teaser--what I hope to blog about on Friday.

I'm not gonna be hard on myself.  I am trying to be good to myself with what I can do.  I am being a good mother.  I am being the best wife that I can be.  I am trying to be a good friend to those around me.

If my body fails me, then that is the limit of what it can do.  I have to accept that fact.  I am not one to get disappointed.  I can't be like that.  I must remain positive or I will get depressed.

Well, I hope that you will pray for me as I limp along towards a healthier me.  I hope that I haven't come across as defeated.  I know that God is on my side and wants me to be the best me.  I love God, and I know that if He wants to heal me, He will.  I must trust in Him and accept His decision.

How about you, my readers?  Are you cleaning?  Are you decluttering?  Are you moving around?  I hope so.  Not every moment you make has to include exercise machines and scheduled exercise.  Just move your body in some way or another, even if it includes cleaning.

May God bless you all with His wisdom and peace.  

This is an entry for Medical Mondays.  For past entries, click here.

 

Safety with Medications and Cleaning Agents

These leaning agents and medications have been labeled as poisonous.

Recently, my daughter had a worksheet that had multiple copies of a skull and crossbones.  She colored and cut them.  Then, she brought them to me.  We taped the pictures on some items.  I taught her that she is not allowed to touch them.

That got me to thinking about my brush with poison and forbidden items.

One thing that I determined as a mother-to-be is to keep my family safe.  That has always been priority number one.  I have very important reasons for that.  When I was seven years-old, my father had suffered a heart attack and died on the way to the hospital.  As if that weren't bad enough, my youngest brother, and I hope he doesn't mind my mentioning it, was poisoned. 

That day, and the events that followed, really were a big impact in my life.  I value life.  I try to live my life like everyday could be my last day alive.  The people I am entrusted with are precious to me.  I am overly protective of family members and friends. 

That's why I think it's important to keep medications and cleaning agents out of reach of children.  I still remember seeing my not-even-two-year-old brother bent over, while my cousin made him vomit the poison.  I also remember how mad my dad had been previously when we kids had spilled the sugar on the floor.  I believe that in our defense, the sugar was within our reach.  I think it was too harsh for my dad to have spanked us so hard.

I now keep all cleaning agents, medications, and yes, even the sugar, out of reach of my own children.  I have always made sure to keep those things way up high.  I cringe when I see parents leave their cleaning agents under their sink or on the floor in the bathroom.  I also cringe when I've seen ideal kitchens with the cleaning agents like Ajax and Palmolive under the sink.  My mother had the sugar under the sink, which was within our reach.  We kids played with the sugar and suffered a bad consequence.

I guess you could say that I have internalized two traumatic events.  

 

My siblings and I received spankings after getting into the sugar.  The sugar was under the sink.  My brother poisoned himself.  The reality is that my father had used the poison and left it outside on the porch where my tiny brother access to it.  I associate spilled sugar and accidental poisoning with anything that could be under the sink or within a child's reach as a bad combination.

 

 

I  keep poisonous materials out of reach of children.

 

I decided the best place for the vitamins, minerals, all-purpose cleaners, and cough medicines in my home turned out to be ideal.  I have a pantry in the hallway, which is centrally located.  The top shelf houses the cleaning agents, which include, for example the toilet cleaner.  Medications are on the next shelf.  The third shelf is for vitamins and minerals, and the last shelf is currently for paper and plastic products.

The lock is too high for my youngest, who is five years-old.

 

The door to the pantry started sticking a few years ago.  The door was shaved.  The door stayed ajar.  Now, we have a lock on it to keep it closed.  Bonus: the lock is too high for young children to reach.

Well, I hope I have compelled you all to keep your medications and cleaning agents out of reach of all children.  I know that there are locks available for the lower cabinets. I just think it's not worth the chance that your children could get poisoned if they open those locks.  I don't think anyone would want to see a child choking on poisonous liquids and/or pills.  Would anyone like to see a child having to vomit out poison?

How about it, my readers?  Do you have poisonous items out of reach of children?  Even out of reach of visiting children?  I encourage you to do so.  Please don't even trust the organic cleaners.  It's not worth taking that chance.

I pray that God's wisdom and peace fill you all, my beloveds.

This entry is for the Family (Fun) Fridays series.