The Top10 Things You Should Do If You Test Positive For Alpha1

  • Have A List Of Questions When You See a Doctor About Your Alpha1(If you try to remember the questions you want to ask you may forget half of them)
  • Learn To Breathe Effectively
  • Limit Or Eliminate Your Alcohol Consumption
  • Don't Be Afraid To Be Proactive About Your Alpha1
  • Get Plenty Of Rest(You will likely have a higher oxygenation level)
  • Avoid Sick People(You have a lower immune system than most people)
  • Drink Plenty Of Water
  • Eat Healthy/Avoid Processed Food(Carbonated beverages)
  • Start A Careful Exercise Program/Pulmonary Rehabilitation Program(Your muscles will become more efficient so they won't use as much oxygen and if you have surgery you will likely recover quicker as well)
  • Stop Smoking

Saturday, November 29, 2008

The Best Laid Plans Of Mice and Men...

Can be changed. I haven't gotten things moved as quickly as anticipated but, I have remained resonably healthy. I am looking forward to starting back lifting weights and doing some cardio at the gym this coming week....Not to mention not getting up super early anymore!

I also am looking forward to taking a week vacation to Pensacola Florida hopefully toward the end of February 2009. A dear friend of mine from my college days(in Oklahoma) lives down there. It will be nice to be somewhere warm but, I'm certain she will challenge me to better myself in some way(she always has but, she has better luck face to face). She is definitely what John Maxwell refers to as a "lifter upper". This will be the first week long vacation I have taken in 24 years. I wonder what it will feel like?

During/after my return from Florida I may switch to a myspace blog vs. blogger. I'd like to add music and you tube type stuff to my blog.

Have a Great Week!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Give It Away...Pay It Forward

That's what I did with my T-day turkey. I gave my free Butterball premium turkey from work away to the local food pantry. Actually, I just feel like I passed it on and am quite glad!! I look forward to doing the same thing again next year because I believe I am making some families T-day better.

I have such a neat but, funny story to share. I had the very good fortune to grow up and spend a lot of time with a gentleman who was affectionately refered to by me as an Uncle. Both my grandfathers passed away before I was born so, I have no idea what one is like. When I was in my first year of college at RSC in Claremore, OK one of my Horseman's club buddies said one night "Well, Katie...he sounds like he was kinda a grandfather too you. That's how my grandfather is." He wasn't a blood Uncle but, in all the ways that matter he was an Uncle.

He used to tell me stories of WW II, the depression and the logging boom days(some Saturdays he would come down to the cabin and after lunch go for a walk w/ all of us showing where the different camps were years before). All of the times in our nations history were challenging times.

When I was in college at Eastern Oklahoma State College we had a campus food drive. I had heard they were going to give the food away to needy adult students attending Eastern. I remember looking at my cupboards and my frig thinking "my pantry is very well stocked and my frig has some meat & milk in it(back in those days meat was rare and powdered milk was the norm)." So, I gave 2 cans of soup to the food drive. I went to work at the stocker operation I worked on part-time and never thought I would be considered one of the needy students. I came back to my student apt to find a sign by Shari Potter(who was a hoot!) taped on my door that read:

"Katie... Come to Student Services...I Have A Surprise For You!!"


It was 4:30 and Shari had already left for the day and Marci said "Shari has gone for the day. It's sitting in her office with a sign on it. She is going to be so disappointed she wasn't here when you picked it up!" I will never forget the shock I felt when I saw those 2 boxes of food for me from the food drive!! I rarely cried in those days and I had tears well up in my eyes that day because I was so moved by the gesture.

That night I went a few doors down to a couple of older ladies who were sharing a college apt and discovered they too had received a couple of food drive boxes. I asked them what they got and could we trade. Well, we actually didn't trade...we pooled each others resources. I had the pie filling and they had the evaporated milk. We also pooled our money together to buy two pie crusts for pumpkin pie. They got one & I got one.

You also might like to know that my choice for for a b-day celebration is not cake BUT, pumpkin pie w/ REAL whip cream(made from scratch).

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Tomorrow's Election Day...

Please, get out and vote!! I believe if you don't vote you have no right to gripe.