I just wanted to share that the authorities believe that the Ebola epidemic may be over. You can read about it here.
The article also includes information about what they have learned from all this.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health, Uncategorized
I just wanted to share that the authorities believe that the Ebola epidemic may be over. You can read about it here.
The article also includes information about what they have learned from all this.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Nutrition & Diet
Breakfast can help you maintain a good nutritional diet. Here’s a nutritious recipe for my Egg & Tomato Florentine Stack. It can help you maintain a good diet for the rest of your day, which means it can help you maintain your New Year’s resolution for eating better.
Breakfast is my most important meal of the day. No matter how badly I did with my nutritional or exercise needs the day before, I can always start fresh and anew with breakfast.
So what was bad for me the day before? Well, eating more than the portion I had allotted myself for a dessert. Not getting around to the weights I needed to lift? Not getting out and walking for my load bearing and aerobic exercise. Eating more than my allotted portion of just about anything. Having that second alcoholic drink in a day. The list is always numerous.
It is always, always a struggle.
But I’ve learned over the years that I am best in the early morning. My willpower is at its peak then. And if I eat right during breakfast, I’m more likely to do better for the rest of the day.
Rule #1 is to always ALWAYS eat breakfast, no matter what the circumstances. I cannot remember the last time I skipped breakfast, and I was a very busy business woman. During the legislative sessions in Florida, I was in the Capitol many days by 6 to 7 a.m.; and frequently we worked until late into the evening for several days in a row at a time. I always ate a good breakfast, no matter what. It was a good start to every day.
Rule #2 is to always eat a good balanced breakfast. I try to eat at least one egg for breakfast. Usually I just fry it up in coconut oil and eat an egg, but during the past few years I’ve been adding extras. Lately, those extras added are what I call “a breakfast stack”. My favorite breakfast stack is spinach, tomato, goat cheese and egg. My recipe follows this post.
I add to my stack a glass of whole milk and a piece of fruit, which is mostly mixed together in a smoothie. I wrote a post about this earlier, and you can find it here.
Finally, I have a piece of sprouted whole grain toast with some real butter. I sincerely believe that all the diets that cut out real fats had it all wrong. I believe that if you cut out the fats, you’ll be hungry for the rest of the day.
I now drink whole milk and use real butter. I no longer buy cheese made with skim milk. I changed this in my diet over a year ago, and I’ve been checked by my doctor at least twice now. My cholesterol has not increased, and my weight has maintained itself within a coule of pounds of what I consider my optimal weight.
Rule #3 is to always relax while I eat. I give myself about 20 minutes. Back when I worked, sometimes I didn’t get the full 20 minutes; but I always tried, even if I had to get up earlier. It was worth it. Those de-stressing moments set me up for a more relaxed day ahead.
Below is my breakfast stack. It is easy and takes less than 10 minutes to make (probably closer to five but I’ve never timed it.)
Eggs and Tomato Florentine Stack
Ingredients needed: one egg, some goat cheese crumbles, a handful of fresh spinach, coconut oil spray, and two slices of tomato.
2. Next, spray again and fry up the two slices of tomato on medium high heat. Turn once and when the tomatoes get a little soggy, remove them and stack the two slices side by side on top of your spinach.
I use a variety of tomato that is near and dear to me, plus in my opinion it is the best tasting tomato in the nation. I used to work for and represent the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (aka IFAS) at the University of Florida. For years our nation’s food scientists bred tomatoes so that they would withstand the rigors of shipping, until they eventually bred out the gene that made tomatoes taste good.
Years ago, though, while I was working for IFAS the scientists there began working on breeding a tomato that tasted good. The result is the “Tasti-Lee” tomato. Finally, a commercial tomato that tastes juicy and sweet like a tomato should. Commercial is important because it means that you can find this tomato in your grocery store on a regular basis.
I buy mine from Publix a grocery store here in the south, but I’m sure it can be found in lots of others. This tomato is good!
3. Before you go to the next step and while the tomatoes are hot, sprinkle a few goat cheese sprinkles over the slices of tomatoes. Also, between each step remove your frying pan from the heat so it doesn’t get too hot. You may have to experiment with this. Every cook stove is different.
4. Spray your pan again and add your egg. I usually pierce the yellow, because you don’t want it runny. I just pierce it with the edge of my cracked egg. I’m a firm believer in saving on washing dishes.
Fry the egg well, turning once. Then stack the fried egg on top of the goat cheese. The egg will continue to melt the cheese.
Voila! You’re done.
Usually, I compile the smoothie before I make my stack. I just don ‘t blend it until I’m ready to eat.
Also, the plate you see above is one of my salad plates. Years ago I realized that my mother’s dinner plates were the size of my current salad plates. I’ve been eating on a salad plate ever since. It helps me with portion control.
Also, when I put the egg on to fry, I start the toaster. Everything gets done about the same time; and I get to sit down, relax, and read something while I eat breakfast.
I have always tried to never read work-related materials during breakfast. I usually do some type of devotional. Right now I’m reading the books of the Bible that didn’t make the Protestant cut for the King James Version. Interesting reading, actually. I always wondered about the historical breaks in the Bible. Some of these books cover those breaks. I only read one chapter and if I finish, I go on to reading a book for pleasure which is always on my Kindle.
Right now I’m reading a book about an incident in Old Florida. The book is entitled “Shadow Country” by Peter Matthiessen. The setting is the ten thousand islands on the southwest coast of Florida during the 1800s after the Civil War. This was a common place to go for people running from the law. The main character is Ed Watson, a Florida native who was said to have killed Belle Starr in Arkansas.
I vary the ingredients in my smoothies and stacks. For my stacks sometimes I have regular good old grits (can’t help it, I’m from the south), with my egg and tomatoes stacked on top. I’ve also added other cheeses, according to my stack. Cheddar cheese is better with my grits and egg stack. Oh and I only allow myself one portion of grits when I do this. That means what will fit in the palm of my hand.
And I never allow myself to eat a pastry of any kind for breakfast. That is probably my worst breakfast ever. It absolutely sets me up to fail over and over again all day long. And I absolutely love the stuff. I have a sweet tooth that will always win if I keep that stuff in my home.
What I get from my breakfast stack and reading is a really good start to my day! I am more likely to take good care of myself and more likely to maintain a good diet throughout the remainder of the day.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health
I have this special doctor in Tallahassee named Leslie Emhoff. He is special because he does a great job of staying up to date on the latest developments in medicine and wellness. He provides me with good health choices.
Below is a quote from him that I found on his website.
“I don’t just believe in wellness, I try to live it personally and professionally and stay informed of the latest developments in medicine and wellness. I’m not just a physician, I’m a health coach. Become an informed participant in your own health care. This involves more than improving your diet or beginning a long overdue exercise program. It involves partnering with your physician to understand what you – and your own unique body – need to sustain a full and rewarding life.” – Leslie Emhoff, MD
Dr. Emhoff ran several tests on me and then made suggestions for my diet, exercise and much more. He didn’t make many suggestions for changes in my diet, but he did recommend a major change in my exercise routine.
I take yoga twice a week, but he noticed while testing me that my fat to muscle ratio was too high. He recommended lifting some light weights — no more than 10-15 pds–both arms and legs. He also recommended a little more cardio.
So I added two days of about 15 minutes each of weight work and two days of some type of cardio. For example, this past weekend we watched our grandson Thomas while his parents were out of town. We played ball with him and played tag. That was my cardio for the week. Done.
More specifically for the weights it was suggested that I choose three different muscle groups and using dumbbells or Kettlebells do three sets of 10-12 reps for each muscle group, resting between each set. As stated before, it can be done in 15 minutes for the entire workout, 2 to 3 sessions per week. I do two sessions each week..
Here’s where my diet came into play. He suggested I avoid sugar and grains to maximize the fat burn and optimize insulin sensitivity to get to my goal quicker. Now this is getting serious. Did I tell you that I love breads and desserts. Well, I do. Sigh!
But I can tell exactly when I’m off the wagon for this one. Within a day after I add back the sugar and grains, my muffin top magically appears almost overnight. I think that it is the result of a decrease in my body’s ability to handle insulin. Another sign of old age. Double Sigh!
He talked to me about how our brains tend to lose some of their ability to burn glucose as we age.
He said that the current food pyramid is way off base–that I should be getting 50-55% from good fats, 25% from protein and 20% from “complex” carbs. I’m still trying to figure out where the desserts fit into this pyramid.?. Maybe, it is in the 5% that floats between “complex” carbs and good fats.
In his testing he did find some evidence of hardening of the arteries in my EKG and recommended Vitamin K2 (90-100 mcg twice a day). He said that this keeps calcium out of the blood vessels and directs it to the bones.
He also said that my CRP (C-Reactive Protein test) was minimally elevated, and that this was a general measure of inflammation in my system. Again, he recommended avoiding refined sugar, white carbs and most grains as these are inflammatory to my system. There goes another strike against my bread and desserts. Three Sighs Here. He added Turmeric 700-900 mg twice daily for its anti-inflammatory properties.
In conclusion he said that my body composition analysis indicated a need to reduce fat content and increase muscle mass. He wanted me to lose about 15 pounds of fat and gain 2-4 pounds of muscle in primarily my core and lower extremities. He also wanted me to work harder at reducing inflammation in my body. So there you have it–my marching orders in a nutshell.
My doctor is an MD-VIP doctor, which is a personalized healthcare program. You can read more about it here. Traditional practices need to see 2,000 patients or more a day, but this organization ensures that each MDVIP-affiliated doctor cares for 600 patients or fewer. I pay an annual fee for this.
Because he sees less patients, this means I receive extra time and attention from Dr. Emhoff. I also believe this is what gives him more time to stay up to date on the latest information in medicine.
He wanted me to take these suggestions and try them for a couple of months. Afterwards, he wanted to see me again to assess my progress.
I’ll let you know how it goes–as soon as I find that cookie that I hid from myself yesterday. Just kidding.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health, Nutrition & Diet
When I read the book “Younger Next Year”, it suggested that I take a dietary supplement called Seriphos for adrenal support. Since both my parents died from adrenal conditions–mom with diabetes and dad from pancreatic cancer, I worried that my family’s adrenal glands might be the weak link in our bodies. So I bought a bottle and started taking Seriphos.
I noticed two changes after several weeks, though I didn’t connect either with Seriphos. First, I slept well before Seriphos; but now I’m sleeping hard all through the night. Second, I get so sleepy after lunch that I cannot hold my eyes open. Otherwise, no change. I finally ran out of the supplement. Before purchasing another bottle, I decided to google it and learn more about it. I’m glad I did.
By the way, Chuck has no trouble sleeping at all. One morning I woke up and here is how he was sleeping. I thought he was so sleepy the night before that he went to bed with his ball cap on. I was thinking, “How did it stay on all night? Did he not move?” Turns out he got up early and then decided to go back to bed. But I digress.
I found a very interesting article which really helped me fully understand what this supplement does. I also read up on its ingredients. For example, it contains magnesium. Entitled “What to do if You Can’t Sleep” by Dr. Brian Foley, you can find it here.
Most importantly, though, it showed me that I had been taking Seriphos at the wrong time of the day. I had been taking it early in the morning before eating breakfast. The bottle said to take it daily with water 15 minutes before a meal. I took it as soon as I woke up in the morning. This article, though, says that I need to take it just before bedtime, and this timing is done for a reason that they explain very well.
I found that the adrenal glands are part of the sleep cycle, something I really didn’t understand. The glands produce a hormone called cortisol which helps support our body’s circadian rhythm. In the morning our cortisol should be at it’s highest. This is what wakes you up and gets you going.
At noon the cortisol level should drop somewhat. If the cortisol drops too much you will get that afternoon slump and feel like you want to take a nap; and this is why I was getting so sleepy in the afternoons. I was taking Seriphos in the morning, which drove down my cortisol far too early in the day.
But back to the article. It said that in the evening your cortisol level should drop slightly again and at bed time it should be at it’s lowest. This is so you feel tired and sleepy. I guess by this time all my cortisol was practically gone, so I slept really well.
To finish the cycle, the article said that during sleep the cortisol should gradually increase until it reaches its peak in the morning when it is time to get up. It is this burst of cortisol that wakes us.
It seems that our circadian rhythm can get all “messed up” due to stress, work hours and staying up too late, like being on the computer or watching TV. It even said that worrying about things or drinking too much caffeine close to bed time can cause our cortisol levels to stay elevated.
Once the circadian rhythm is out of sink you will not be able to get into that deep healing/fat burning sleep.
So I’m buying another bottle, but I’ll take it in the evenings now.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health
For those of us born in the 1940s and 1950s, remember when penicillin was always prescribed? They never prescribe it now. So what happened to it?
I thought I knew the answer, but I Googled it anyway. It is quite an interesting story.
Penicillin was the first antibiotic. It was chemical warfare or bacteria and fungi that waged war against bad bacteria. It was derived from mold. We all learned this in school. I can remember seeing mold growing on food and wondering if it was pencillin mold and could you just eat it? Thank goodness, I had better sense.
Penicillin was discovered in the late 1920s, but they didn’t ‘t figure how to mass produce it until the early 1940s–just in time for the second world war.
It was first used on allied soldiers during WWII. From January to May in 1942, 400 million units of pure penicillin were manufactured. By the end of the war, American pharmaceutical companies were producing 650 billion units a month.
So what effect did it have during WWII? For a comparison, let’s look at World War I.
In WWI 18% of all deaths was due to bacterial pneumonia. In WWII that percentage dropped to less than 1%.
Before penicillin the only thing doctors had for infection were quinine, arsenic and sulfa. I do genealogy research, and I remember reading a list of doctor visits for one of my early Florida ancestors who finally died in 1837. Over a period of almost a month the doctor came numerous times and quinine and sulfa were both used. I know this because the information was part of my ancestor’s probate records when the doctor turned in his final bill for services.
I asked my husband why we didn’t use penicillin today, and Chuck said that we probably have better drugs. Frankly, that is what I thought, too. What I found when I looked it up, though, was a little different.
Within four years of 1943 when penicillin was first mass produced, microbes began appearing that could resist it.
So I guess you can tell what happened to penicillin. It became obsolete very quickly as a victim of overuse and of bacterial resistance, something that seems to be never ending in the antibiotic world.
I do remember taking penicillin when I was young. I remember mostly the early shots. I was born in 1954, and I remember my folks talking about penicillin like it was a miracle drug.
It was one of the first antibiotics, so in that way it was a miracle drug. The two Englishmen who developed it were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics and Medicine.
So there you have it. Penicillin was our first antibiotic and also the first victim of bacterial resistance.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health, This & That
I have a happy place–a place in which to escape when things get crazy.
It is my home place in Monticello, my house that dad built with his own hands. That house and the two people that gave me my life are the anchors to my happiness. When things get tough, I close my eyes and mentally walk through the house and visualize mama in the kitchen and daddy out back working on his truck.
Mom and dad are long gone, but the house still stands. I actually own it, though it is leased to a woman who seems to be taking good care of it. I get a bill every once in a while for a repair, but it doesn’t amount to much. Daddy built a good house.
I like to go home frequently, and by home I mean Monticello. There is a genealogy room in the local county library; and it is manned with volunteers, people I’ve known almost all of my life.
My husband thinks that I really go just to get my fix of Monticello. He is probably right.
This, too, has become a happy place for me–a treasured Wednesday event.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Aches & Pains, Health
Have you ever noticed a baby sitting in one of those umbrella strollers just crying uncontrollably. Let’s face it, children cry and especially in the afternoon just before dinnertime. I called it the “bewitching” hour, because my kids seemed to melt down about that time of day, no matter where we were.
I often wondered, though, if the child was really crying because his legs ached. They were sitting in a way that may have cut off their circulation. I know that when we travel with our grandchildren who have to sit in car seats for extended periods of time, I notice the same behavior. They just get surly. I think they just might need to get out and run around a little.
We live in such a mobile world; yet here in the US we move less and less. Kids seem to move from their car seats to their couches to watch TV or play with their notebooks. Even playing with the extremely popular Legos doesn’t require much movement. Problem is, according to research they will pay a price for this behavior. Certainly, many of us adults already are.
I sincerely believe that our ability to keep moving is the key to better health; however, I’m not talking about exercise, gyms and treadmills. I’m just talking about everyday moving, such as walking to a kitchen to fetch a glass of water or gardening in our yards or standing and washing dishes.
Most of us seniors grew up at a time when there were no gyms and someone running for the sake of running was seldom seen. The only people I can remember running in my community were athletes, trying to stay in condition. Jack Youngblood’s mother lived in our town, and we would see him out running, but he was a professional football player.
My grandparents didn’t run and neither did my parents. As children, we ran; in fact all of us did. We played hard. It was a part of growing up in our era.
People did get fat, but there weren’t very many. Mostly, it was a consequence of a more sedentary career, such as a desk job. Most people I knew growing up worked on farms and other hands-on, physical jobs. Most of these people were trim if not thin. My dad was an example of this. He worked as an electrician for Florida Power Corporation. He also trimmed trees in the late afternoons and weekends to send me to college. When he came home, I seldom saw him watching TV. He was out mowing the yard, washing cars, or fixing something. He was seldom still.
My Uncle James is a wonderful example of someone who worked at a desk all his life but kept moving and maintained a good weight. Uncle James contracted infantile paralysis when he was eighteen months old in 1922. Today, it is called polio. He was completely paralyzed except for his left hand and arm.
The family lived near Thomasville, Georgia, where there were several wealthy families living on plantations. Because of these families, Thomasville had a chiropractor, a doctor unheard of in most towns of the south back in the 1920s. Dr. Strobel took little James as a patient. My Grandmother Roe said that Dr. Strobel worked hard to help James learn how to walk again. His paralysis was permanent, but he showed James how to use other muscles to compensate. Finally, Uncle James could walk, though crippled and could not run. His friends called him, “Wobbly”.
My uncle had a wonderful life. He never let his affliction slow him down, and his demeanor was wonderful, if not delightful. He worked at a local gas station when he was a teenager, and he had a paper route. He delivered the Florida Times Union morning paper using his bicycle. It was an early edition paper route, but he never missed delivering their papers.
When he graduated from high school before World War II, the family sent him to Jones Business College in Jacksonville, so he could support himself at a desk job. He was hired first by our hometown’s local Rationing Board during the war, and after the war he went to work with the Atlantic Coastline Railroad in Jacksonville. He stayed with them almost forty years before retiring.
One time when I was visiting with Uncle James, he drove me to a local restaurant for lunch. The parking lot was full, and we had to park a good ways from the restaurant and walk. I mentioned to my uncle that I was sure the state would give him a handicap sticker for his car, but he said, “No, I don’t want one. Dr. Strobel said that if I didn’t keep moving, I would lose my ability to walk. That my muscles would weaken, and I might never walk again.” I guess Dr. Strobel believed in the “use it or lose it” premise.
Back when Uncle James was a baby with polio, the family worried that they would lose him. Now, Uncle James is 94 and is the only member of his family still living. His attitude and demeanor are still wonderful, and the other day one of his high school classmates gave me a message to give to my uncle. He said, “Tell old Wobbly that I said ‘hello’.
I’ve noticed over the last decade that my joints hurt if I do not move enough. I really cannot afford to sit and watch a TV for an entire hour at a time. If I do it frequently, I notice that my joints begin to ache again. I actually use commercials to get up and get things done, even if it is only to go to the bathroom, wash four or five dishes, or carry a load of laundry to the laundry room.
I keep moving. If I do this, my joints don’t hurt. I also noticed that it helps with weight control, and I have more energy. I’m 5’4” and weigh 136 pounds. I do not belong to a gym, and I get almost all my exercise by doing housework, yard work and walking, though my walking is usually just down the street and back. I also do Yoga for flexibility.
I don’t remember ever seeing my grandmothers worry about their heart rate. They never ran or did jumping jacks or anything else. One lived to be 93 and the other 99. The 93 year old was sharp as a tack and had good health just until about five months before she passed. The 99 year old began moving toward dementia when she was about 94, but her body was amazing. She died without ever having to take any daily medication.
I sincerely believe that this intermittent movement should be the basis for everyone. If nothing else, even if you cannot get to the gym or cannot run a mile, just keep moving.
Our government has been surveying us, and they found that almost 50% of us report sitting for more than six hours a day. Over 65% of us spend more than two hours a day watching TV. I believe that if you’ve been sitting for more than an hour, you’ve been sitting too long.
Several more studies confirmed that a regular fitness routine will not counteract the effects of prolonged sitting. This study followed 82,000 men for a decade and found that their risks were the same as those who sat the same amount of time and did no exercise.
Let’s face it, most of us will not go out and race across the yard let alone run a mile. So just make your plans to keep moving. Place a program on your computer that reminds you to get up every 20 minutes like Workrave. This is a software program that I use that reminds me to take a break. I use the breaks to get something done. Also, use the TV commercials like I do. Even if we DVR something, I still let the commercials run. I’m just not in the room to watch them. I guess that is why the TV commercials are so loud now. It is because of people like me.
And what about all our kids who are sedentary while they play video games, watch TV, and play with their notebooks and Legos? I hope I’m wrong, but we may see a new phenomenon in the future–a worldwide decline in our life expectancy. It may begin with their generation. Life Expectancy Statistics for World Population
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health, Opinion
All three of the West African nations, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia, report a decline in new Ebola cases.
Guinea and Liberia turned the corner earlier, but Sierra Leone lagged behind, reporting flare ups of new cases all through the Christmas season. This week Sierra Leone reported the lowest weekly total of new cases since last summer.
Safe burials of the corpses were the biggest common problem, and all three countries have worked hard to help people understand that this was the most common way to contract the disease. Their culture and religious traditions required washing of the body by relatives.
Schools and universities in all three countries have been closed since last summer, but Guinea announced that their schools and universities will reopen next Monday.
Research continues to show that fruit bats, a delicacy to some in these areas, are the virus’s host.
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Some of you know that I am no fan of President Obama. I don’t agree with most of his views, but I believe he has handled this crisis as well as can be expected from anyone. Though the CDC was slow in getting ready for any possible occurrences of the disease in the US, their response afterwards was quick.
Also, our President’s assignment of an Ebola Czar seemed to be a misstep, but in the end he may have been right. In retrospect what we needed most was to step back, calm down, and keep a cool head. I think they may have done this by suppressing information to the public. I’m no fan of suppressing information, but people out here were getting a little crazy over the prospect of them or their family contracting the disease, me included.
His other strategy, I believe, was to contain the disease by first sending personnel (health caregivers and the military) to the areas where the disease was spreading out of control. At first I thought this was missing the mark since the situation in the Middle East seemed far more threatening at the time. After reading up on what this disease can do to a population, though, I realized that this virus was the most threatening enemy out there.
It just shows that we in the US have a good, solid governmental structure. Our representative form of government works well because we elect people to be in the middle and make the best decisions they can with the information they have. All of us out here are the democracy, and often we do not have enough information to make the day to day decisions for us and our country.
I just want to say thank you to all the health care givers, health care officials, our military, the officials of the three most affected countries, all the health care associations who worked so hard, the CDC, the TSA, our own hospitals in the US who agreed to take on patients and are working on a cure, those who prayed, those who donated, and our President. I know this is not over, but it appears this very bad outbreak could be over soon for those suffering people in those three West African nations.
We are all very fortunate that they may have stopped Ebola over there before it had a chance to reach our shores in multiples.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health
I just read this online at CNN and wanted to share. The story is below.
(CNN) — A young Liberian woman who saved three of her relatives by nursing them back to health after they contracted the Ebola virus is coming to the United States to finish her nursing degree.
After a story about Kekula ran on CNN in September, many people wanted to help her. A nonprofit group called iamprojects.org also got involved to try and help finish her education.
The news comes as Time magazine announced Wednesday that its “Person of the Year” honors go to the Ebola fighters, the “unprecedented numbers” of doctors and nurses who responded when Ebola overtook an already-weak public health infrastructure this year in West Africa.
Fatu Kekula is not named in the article, but she definitely holds a place among those being honored.
The 22-year-old, who was in her final year of nursing school earlier this year, single-handedly took care of her father, mother, sister and cousin when they became ill with Ebola beginning in July.
And she did so with remarkable success. Three out of her four patients survived. That’s a 25% death rate — considerably better than the estimated Ebola death rate of 70%.
Kekula stayed healthy, which is noteworthy considering that hundreds of health care workers have become infected with Ebola, and she didn’t even have personal protection equipment — those white space suits and goggles used in Ebola treatment units.
Instead, Kekula invented her own equipment. International aid workers heard about her “trash bag method” and taught it to other West Africans who can’t get into hospitals and don’t have protective gear of their own.
Every day, several times a day for about two weeks, Kekula put trash bags over her socks and tied them in a knot over her calves. Then she put on a pair of rubber boots and then another set of trash bags over the boots.
She wrapped her hair in a pair of stockings and over that a trash bag. Next she donned a raincoat and four pairs of gloves on each hand, followed by a mask.
It was an arduous and time-consuming process, but she was religious about it, never cutting corners.
UNICEF Spokeswoman Sarah Crowe said Kekula is amazing.
“Essentially this is a tale of how communities are doing things for themselves,” Crowe said. “Our approach is to listen and work with communities and help them do the best they can with what they have.”
She emphasized, of course, that it would be better for patients to be in real hospitals with doctors and nurses in protective gear — it’s just that those things aren’t available to many West Africans.
No one knows that better than Kekula.
Her Ebola nightmare started July 27, when her father, Moses, had a spike in blood pressure. She took him to a hospital in their home city of Kakata.
A bed was free because a patient had just passed away. What no one realized at the time was that the patient had died of Ebola.
One woman walked in, and the Ebola nightmare began.
Moses, 52, developed a fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Then the hospital closed down because nurses started dying of Ebola.
Kekula took her father to Monrovia, the capital city, about a 90-minute drive via difficult roads. Three hospitals turned him away because they were full.
She took him back to another hospital in Kakata. They said he had typhoid fever and did little for him, so Kekula took him home, where he infected three other family members: Kekula’s mother, Victoria, 57; Kekula’s sister, Vivian, 28, and their 14-year-old cousin who was living with them, Alfred Winnie.
While operating her one-woman Ebola hospital for two weeks, Kekula consulted with their family doctor, who would talk to her on the phone, but wouldn’t come to the house. She gave them medicines she obtained from the local clinic and fluids through intravenous lines that she started.
At times, her patients’ blood pressure plummeted so low she feared they would die.
“I cried many times,” she said. “I said ‘God, you want to tell me I’m going to lose my entire family?’ ”
But her father, mother, and sister rallied and were well on their way to recovery when space became available at JFK Medical Center on August 17. Alfred never recovered, though, and passed away at the hospital the next day.
“I’m very, very proud,” Kekula’s father said. “She saved my life through the almighty God.”
Her father immediately began working to find a scholarship for Kekula, so she could finish her final year of nursing school. But the Ebola epidemic shut down many of Liberia’s schools, including hers.
With some help, Kekula applied to Emory University in Atlanta, the campus with the hospital that has successfully cared for American Ebola patients. Emory accepted the young woman so that she could complete her nursing degree starting this winter semester.
In order to attend, iamprojects will have to raise $40,000 to pay for her reduced tuition rate, living expenses, books and her travel and visa so that she can travel between Africa and the United States.
Kekula’s father has no doubt that his daughter will go on to save many more people during her lifetime.
“I’m sure she’ll be a great giant of Liberia,” he said.
CNN’s John Bonifield, Orlando Ruiz, and Orlind Cooper contributed to this report.
by oldageisnotforsissies54 Filed Under: Health