Sunday, November 22, 2009

Fight H1N1 - Become a warrior Mom



I laid on the couch (two of them pushed together to create our bed during this renovation period )exhausted and hurting. I felt as if someone had taken offense and beat the crap out of my left arm, but no, I had demanded that a health professional stick a needle into my arm to protect me against the H1N1 virus.
I deliberated whether this "reaction" was a physical or psychological manifestation, was I short of breath and sporting a low grade temperature because of the shot or merely because I took my girls to the H1N1 clinic after a grueling ten hour day at work before we had an opportunity to have dinner ?
Would this inoculation protect me,my girls and my immune suppressed beloved against the newest version of the Grim Reaper ?
Did I make the right decision or was there any truth to the counter-spin that the serum contained mercury or was an untested serum which may cause deadly side effects now or in the future? The debate raged in the office and amongst my Facebook friends.
I don't ever remember my parents debating the pro/cons of immunization, it was part of the agenda. Immunization was a fact of life and it kept the bad diseases such as tuberculosis from destroying another generation. My Fathers' Mother died at the age of 31, in a tent, on the farm in 1922 from TB. She left 5 children all under the age of 7 because THERE WAS NO CURE OR PREVENTATIVE MEASURE. Death from communicable diseases was real and devastating,it affected my parents generation in every way possible.
We have destroyed pandemics and saved millions because of the advances of modern science. Why are we intent on going backwards ?
In my house, we take every and extra precaution to keep healthy,my beloved lives with Multiple Sclerosis and has a compromised immune system. When he gets sick, he can die or take twice the time to recover compared to one of us.
Keeping my family healthy is my first priority and I don't suffer fools lightly... I despise people who decline the flu shot,are sloppy with personal health hygiene,and knowingly go into work or send their kids to school when they're sick are high on my hit list.
We need to become vigilant about our families health, against H1N1 and other viral boogeymen.

Get the H1N1 immunization and get your regular flu shot.
Frequently wash your hands and teach every family member the same hygiene.
When sick, stay home.
Become a warrior against H1N1,devise a sick house plan with your family and stick to it.
What's a sick house plan ?
It's a plan devised to confine the sick person away from other family members and the public and designed to stop the virus from spreading to other people.
The first step to creating a healthy house is insisting that every family member wash their hands with soap and hot water when returning home.
If sick, the sick person will wear a medical mask when not confined to their room.
The sick person will be excused from daily chores and confined to their room in order to keep the virus away from the rest of the family.Meals and liquids are delivered to the sick person's room and the sickee should be confined to one washroom.
The sick person's bedding is washed on a daily basis and toys are disinfected.The person handling the sickee's personal items will wear latex gloves and a mask when dealing with the sick person.
It sounds extreme but it works.Keep in mind, it's not unlike previous sick hygiene protocol from the fifties or sixties. When your sick, you stay in your room and don't get to sit on the couch in the living room,watch T.V. and get other people sick.
Most of all , don't go to work when you're sick or send your little typhoid Mary to school to get other people sick.
We implemented this protocol last year and it works.
Become a warrior Mom and become vigilant against the outside forces which threaten your family.

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http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/ccom/flu/h1n1/public/tools/assessment/default.
http://twitter.com/MLHealthUnit

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Little Ceasars Hot N Ready



The best consumer find of 2009 for our family was discovering a cheap,fast,delicious and easy fast food for our eating pleasure.
Our family has had to extensively cut back our budget and that included eating out.
It's so easy to resort to fast food takeout or as the Brits call it "takeaway" but mighty expensive and nutritionally unsound.
Take out is now a once a month treat or birthday meal and we all agree that Little Ceasars Hot N Ready does it for us.
Where else can you feed a family of four for under 20 smackeroos, get free garlic and parm and the best pizza ever ?
Our favourite pizza is the "Canadian" followed by the traditional Hot N Ready.
No waiting 30 minutes or less, it's ready to go when you are.
The founders of " Hot N Ready" provides discount franchisee incentives to Veterans and community incentives for local fundraising.
Founders Mike and Marian Ilitch have stuck to a successful formula that he elaborated on in a Detroit Free Press article where he stated,
"It always hit me how much it cost to buy clothes for the kids. And how expensive it was to raise a family," said Mike, 79. "I had a passion to see if I could provide a quality product and buy the best ingredients available, at a price that would really fit in with people's budgets."
Some companies pitch a consumer product into the marketplace then jack up the price according to consumer demand. Mike and Marian Ilitch have made millions through offering a quality product and keeping the retail price of their daily driver (PIZZA)
affordable and below their competitors pricing.Their formula has won consumer loyalty and the high quality of the products keeps families coming back.
I don't frivolously pitch products, but Hot N Ready has provided a monthly family treat in a very tough financial time for us. It may be inexpensive but damn it,it tastes great and has provided us with a few great meals and memorable events.
If you haven't had a Hot N Ready ... you haven't truly lived.