Raising Awareness, One Blog Post at a Time

As bloggers, we have the potential to reach a lot of people. We share our lives, rant and rave, and have giveaways.

But there's something else we can do. We can share information and literally change lives.

A couple of years ago, I was doing that in a series of posts, but after a while I stopped. I've decided to start again; I want to use my internet home to bring important information to you from time to time. Information that will make you think, and maybe change the way you do look at things.

This is a post from March of 2009. I got so many comments from people who knew nothing about this issue, and because of my post, will refuse to take the medication I discussed. And who knows how many people read and didn't comment? To think that, in some small way, I'm making a difference with this blog, means everything to me.

So please read this post, do your own research, and let me know what you think.

Educate Yourself - Premarin

I know that most of my readers are many years away from menopause.

But there's a very important issue regarding medication prescribed to many women for menopause symptoms. This drug is called Premarin. It's a shortened version of Pregnant Mares' Urine, because that's what it's made from. It's also sold under the names PremPro, PremPac and PremPhase. The production of this drug has cost the lives of over a million horses.

The issue here is the treatment of horses for the making of this drug. There is no government regulation for the treatment of these horses. They are kept in stalls & strapped to urine bags 6 months out of the year. They are kept in production, foaling every year, for eight to nine years, then sold for slaughter. A horse's normal life span is 20-25 years. The foals are sold at auction, usually for slaughter as well.

I recently spoke to a volunteer from the Horse Sanctuary near my home. She said of all the horses they have who have come from all sorts of neglect & abuse situations, the Premarin mares are the saddest cases. Some of them have lived at the Sanctuary for years, but still will not allow any human to get anywhere near them. They can only feed and water them, they can't give them any type of care that requires contact.

What we need to do is refuse to take Premarin or any other drug containing Pregnant Mares' Urine. There are many alternatives to aid in the natural life changes of menopause. Menopause is not a disease. It can be dealt with without hormone treatment (my mother is proof of that). Premarin also has risks; it's been linked to breast cancer, heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes.

I'll leave you with a few links about Premarin and Premarin Mares, so you can Educate Yourself! (or your mom, your grandma, your aunts, your friends!)

nopmu.org

aspca.org

equineadvocates.com
nationalhorseprotectionleague.com

(pics below are disturbing)

One Day a Week, Cut Out Meat!

I want to say right off the bat, in the spirit of Blogging with Integrity, that I have NOT been asked to post this, and am not receiving compensation of any sort for this. It's just one of my soapboxes. =)

For about a year now, my family and I have had "Meatless Monday" nearly every week. It was actually suggested to me by a vegan friend, as a way of improving our health and the planet's health. If every family in America cut out meat just one day a week, it would make a big difference in the demand for meat in this country, on the enviroment, and world hunger.

The Meatless Monday site is a website with great resources for recipes and information about cutting out meat for one day per week. There are also reviews, articles, & other information to help get started having a meat-free day.

When we started, we didn't know anything about the Meatless Monday website. But it still wasn't hard to come up with a meatless meal just one day per week.

As some of you know, I recently made the decision to go vegetarian. However, my family's diet will stay the same, unless they decide on their own to go vegetarian. But let me tell you, my kids LOVE having Meatless Monday. If I forget, they are quick to remind me. If something happens that we can't observe MM, they make sure we have another Meatless day that week.

There's also another movement called Meat Free Monday. This website has a great explanation of the environmental reasons to eliminate meat at least once per week. It explains how reducing our meat intake can help eliminate world hunger and reduce pollution. It's about animals, but it's also about so much more than that.

I really hope that you will join me in having Meatless/Meat-Free Monday! It's a fun way to add variety to your menu and your mealtime, a great lesson for your children, good for your health, and a big help to the environment.

On Purpose

Since I sometimes read blogs at work, I get a lot of people looking over my shoulder. They'll see pictures and say, "Oh, who is that?" and I explain that it's a blog.
And of course, they often say, "A what?"
And I either explain, or blow it off, because some people just don't get it, and won't get it.
(and how rude is it to look over my shoulder and ask about what I'm looking at? Ugh!)
Last night, one of the repeat offenders did it again. She saw a picture of a baby and asked who it was, and I told her it's a blog. Her response was, "It's so CUTE that you do that! Read all about other people's lives."
Cute? I tried to explain to her that the blogger is blogging for that purpose...for other people to read it. But...she just doesn't get it.
I think people either get it or they don't. Those who have to ask "What is the purpose of blogging?", will never get it.
I have been a bookworm since I learned to read. And I became a writer around the same time. I was always making up stories in my head, or mentally recording what was going on around me. I wrote many stories and poems when I was younger (and wish I'd never stopped). So when I discovered blogging, it was a natural thing for me.
My blog is my place on the web. My internet home. I decorate it in a way that makes me happy. I talk about things that make me happy or interest me. I put things in my sidebar that mean something to me.
It's an outlet to talk about things that confuse me, anger me, amuse me, or just interest me.
My blog is also my soapbox. I talk about things that I want others to know about. There are so many issues that people are not aware of, such as Premarin mares, and puppy mills. I feel like if just a few people learn about these things from my blog, make changes in their lives, and maybe tell a few others....I've made a difference. And that means the world to me.
I blog about pet rescue and pet fostering, and even had one of our foster kittens adopted by a blog reader!
My blog is one of the places that I record our memories. I do Weekend Wrap-Ups, write about the funny things the kids say and do, post pictures of the fun times, and the ordinary times.
And through my blog, I've made friends. Friends who have laughed with me, supported me, lifted me up, prayed for me, and commiserated with me. People who have my back.
I blog to vent, to laugh, to learn, to relate, to inform. I like to think that I have something to give, and I most definitely receive so much from blogging (both writing and reading).
The purpose of blogging is so many things for me. I put a lot of myself into it, and get so much out of it.
It's so much more than "cute".

You can't take them with you....

...your organs, that is. So why do some people insist on holding on to them after they are gone?





When I was very young, I thought the idea of organ donation was gross. Then, when I was still quite young in fact, I had a child. And that changed everything. When I would read stories about children with illnesses, whose lives were saved by organ donations, through my tears I would think, How dare I even think about taking an organ for my child, if I am not willing to give mine? And I soon became an organ donor. I made sure that my family knew of my wishes. Although John hates to discuss it, he knows how I feel, and knows that I fully intend to come back and haunt him if he does not honor my wishes.

While sorting through a patient's admission paperwork, I noticed that she had specifically opted NOT to donate her organs. And I just do not understand that. Why? How can you deprive someone of a chance at life by keeping organs that you no longer need? They will rot away. And thus, someone who could've lived for many more years, may die because of that decision.

What if it were your loved one who needed the organ or tissue? Like Hallie's Dad. Hallie over at Wonderful World of Weiners, of course. Her dad would not be with them today, if not for the kindness of a stranger. She is currently doing a raffle to raise money for organ donation, and it is HUGE. It's just her way of giving back, as her Dad was given back to her family.

My friend Lori at The Queen's New Throne has a friend who is waiting for a liver. Their lives are on hold while they wait for that call saying they have the liver she needs.

Read some of the stories here. Think about how you would feel if your life, or the life of someone you love, was hanging in the balance, waiting for an organ, while so many people are being buried with their perfectly good organs inside of them. Thirteen people die every day in the US waiting on an organ transplant. Don't wait until it's too late. Become an organ donor now!

Are you an Organ Donor? If not, please tell me why not? I'm honestly interested.

Madness

Most people take Tylenol when they have a headache. Tums when they have heartburn. Sudafed when they have a cold.
Why then, is it so controversial for people to take medications for mental illnesses?
Just because you can't see the symptoms of mental illness (disorders, syndromes, etc.), doesn't make them any less real.
Why do so many people scoff at mental illness and call it an excuse? Sure, it is sometimes. But it's not always. People who are truly in the grips of a mental illness do not always have control over what they are doing.
Mental illness is so tragically misunderstood in this country. Many people just have zero sympathy for an illness that does not have physical symptoms.
I'll be the first to admit that it's hard to figure out if someone is truly mentally ill or just a flawed personality. This is a huge issue with Andrew's "mother", C. She has claimed several different mental illnesses in her lifetime, whatever seems to fit the occasion. Sometimes she says she's on meds, sometimes she says she's not. I have no idea what the truth is. I used to have so much sympathy for her, and blamed most of her problems on her illness....but you have to wonder at some point, is that just a crutch? Is she just a screwed up person claiming illness to shirk responsbility for her own actions? I don't know.
I do know that mental illness needs to be better understood. And people shouldn't judge until they've walked in someone else's shoes.

"Madness is tonic and invigorating. It makes the sane more sane. The only ones who are unable to profit by it are the insane." Henry Miller

"I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity." Edgar Allen Poe

"I am not, strictly speaking, mad, for my mind is absolutely normal in the intervals, and even more so than before. But during the attacks it is terrible - and then I lose consciousness of everything. But that spurs me on to work and to seriousness, as a miner who is always in danger makese haste in what he does." Vincent Van Gogh

Educate Yourself - Premarin

I know that most of my readers are many years away from menopause.

But there's a very important issue regarding medication prescribed to many women for menopause symptoms. This drug is called Premarin. It's a shortened version of Pregnant Mares' Urine, because that's what it's made from. It's also sold under the names PremPro, PremPac and PremPhase. The production of this drug has cost the lives of over a million horses.

The issue here is the treatment of horses for the making of this drug. There is no government regulation for the treatment of these horses. They are kept in stalls & strapped to urine bags 6 months out of the year. They are kept in production, foaling every year, for eight to nine years, then sold for slaughter. A horse's normal life span is 20-25 years. The foals are sold at auction, usually for slaughter as well.

I recently spoke to a volunteer from the Horse Sanctuary near my home. She said of all the horses they have who have come from all sorts of neglect & abuse situations, the Premarin mares are the saddest cases. Some of them have lived at the Sanctuary for years, but still will not allow any human to get anywhere near them. They can only feed and water them, they can't give them any type of care that requires contact.

What we need to do is refuse to take Premarin or any other drug containing Pregnant Mares' Urine. There are many alternatives to aid in the natural life changes of menopause. Menopause is not a disease. It can be dealt with without hormone treatment (my mother is proof of that). Premarin also has risks; it's been linked to breast cancer, heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes.

I'll leave you with a few links about Premarin and Premarin Mares, so you can Educate Yourself! (or your mom, your grandma, your aunts, your friends!)

nopmu.org

aspca.org

equineadvocates.com
nationalhorseprotectionleague.com

Suicide.

Image: Suicide by Scandinavian artist Joakim Back.

"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem." -Phil Donahue

That sounds correct in theory, but the fact is, it's not always true.

That wasn't the case when suicide touched my life.

Mrs. C was my first grade teacher. She was also my mother's best friend. She was a very good person. She had Multiple Sclerosis. And for years, she bravely battled. She kept on teaching when she could barely walk.
But she was tired. Her marriage was failing. Her only child was rebelling. Her parents were elderly and ill. Her problems were not temporary. They were getting progressively worse.

She didn't want to battle it any more.

So one day, her teenaged daughter left the house and left Mrs. C alone. Mrs. C called my mother and very calmly told her that she was going to kill herself. She asked my mom not to try to talk her out of it. Her only request was that she call someone to come get her body; she didn't want her daughter to find her.

Naturally, my mother begged her to reconsider. She called my brother, who lived near Mrs. C, and he raced over. She called 911, then headed to Mrs. C's house herself.
They were all too late. She'd shot herself. She was rushed to surgery, but died on the table.

This was eight years ago, but I still think of her often. She is buried in the same cemetery as Baby JW, and when we visit his grave, we also visit hers. She touched many lives. She was a very special person. She will forever have my respect and admiration, and I pray that she is out of pain now.

She's been on my mind lately, around the anniversary of her death. And then last week, I learned of another friend's suicide. I was talking to my son and his cousin (on his father's side), and they told me that a good friend of my ex-husband's recently committed suicide. This is someone who used to be at my house on an almost daily basis. He ate dinner with us countless times. He helped me out when my ex was out of town with work, and also when we seperated, he helped me move. Now he's gone, at 42 years old. Why...I have no idea. Maybe nobody knows and will ever really know. There aren't always answers.
There is help, though.

"More than one soul dies in a suicide."

http://www.save.org/

Has suicide touched your life?

This Girl Rocks!

I've written about Meaghan before. She is truly an inspiration to me, and now she is celebrating a huge accomplishment. I wanted to share her latest news with you all. You can read her story here...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/topic/sfl-flbcancerbloggersbdec20,0,1852511.story

Here's a snippet:

Two years ago, law school student Meaghan Edelstein was on a hospital bed in Boston ready to embrace death. Diagnosed with cervical cancer, her kidney had ripped open and fluid was seeping into her body. A doctor gave her a 20 percent chance to survive. On Sunday, Edelstein, 30, will pick up her diploma from Nova Southeastern University.

Click the link to read the rest...it's worth it!
Congrats again, Meaghan. I can't wait to share your story with my daughters!

"The More We Know, the Stronger We Become."

I'm starting a new series of posts called Educate Yourself. I am a strong believer in researching and educating ourselves. We have the whole World Wide Web at our fingertips. There is so much information out there about almost any topic you can come across. When it comes to our health, diet, and issues that effect us, it's very important that we educate ourselves.

Today's topic is Cervical Cancer.

"The More We Know, the Stronger We Become."
That's a quote from a bloggy friend, whom I deeply admire.

Her name is Meaghan, and she kicked cancer's ass.

I invite you to read her story here. In fact, as parents, I think we are all obligated to read this story. Cervical cancer touches so many people, and we now have a way of helping to prevent it. We owe it to our children to educate ourselves about this. The vaccination is controversial, and I'm not here to tell you to go out and vaccinate your children. I am, however, here to tell you to educate yourself as much as you possibly can about HPV, cervical cancer, and the vaccination. Soak up the info like a sponge, then decide what's best for your children.

I have been told that cervical cancer is not a big deal, very easily treatable, very rarely serious or fatal, extremely rare, etc. None of this is true. On Meaghan's blog, she proves those theories wrong.

HPV linked to 25,000 cancers in 5 years
26 years old and facing a death sentence due to cervical cancer
Cervical Cancer Survivors Site
An Article on HPV & Cervical Cancer

These are just some of the many links on Meaghan's site. But besides those, read her story and the story of other cervical cancer survivors, and those who didn't survive.
I also witnessed my own close friend's battle with cervical cancer. Hers was caught early, so her battle wasn't nearly as bad as others, but still horrible. It was terrifiying and extremely painful. Then, there's the news I got last night. My good friend & co-worker just found out that her mother has cervical cancer. She rushed home to be with her. From what I understand, she is in the end stages. My co-worker is young; her mother is very young. This should not be happening.

If there's a way to prevent any of that from happening to my daughters...I'm going to take that route.
Make an informed decision regarding your child's health.
Now that Meaghan has kicked cancer, she is committed to raising awareness about Cervical Cancer, and I'm committed to helping her.