Life After Cancer

Hey guys,
Sorry I haven't written in a while. I've been busy working on this video. I know there are a few problems with it. A)lighting was horrible so I had to filter it to make it visible and it ended up really hazy. B)there are some weird clips at the beginning and end that weren't supposed to be in there.
But even with those few problems I think the story really came through well.
Let me know what you think.

What the Hell are Shingles?

Last week my boyfriend was complaining about a rash on his stomach. He is the type that will complain about an ailment but do nothing to try to cure it. So, while I did my long distance comforting technique of suggesting possible treatments I knew he would just let it sit and hope for the best.
A couple of days went by and it had only gotten worse. He finally showed it to his parents and they scheduled an appointment for him at their naturopath (if you don't know what that is, it's basically a doctor for hippies).
I got a call the night after his appointment...
Him:"I have herpes! I'm gonna die!"
Me: "What!?"
Him: "My rash, it's herpes!"
Me: "Oh, that's not that bad."
Him: "Not that bad? Isn't it one step down from AIDS?"
Me: "What? No. Everyone gets herpes. Chicken Pox is a form of herpes. Cold sores are herpes. Everyone gets it."

According to the Medline Plus online medical encyclopedia herpes zoster or shingles is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox. After a bout of chicken pox lies dormant for many years shingles may appear as a recurrence of the virus. Shingles most commonly affects people over 60 years old and people who had chicken pox before they were one year old. Shingles can also appear in individuals with weakened immune systems, such as those with cancer, atopic dermitis, HIV infection, or AIDS.

Me: What!? AIDS!? Maybe he was right...?


To be continued...

Exercise your brain

While exercising your body is important, it is also important to work out your brain. Especially as people get older and retire they tend to neglect their critical and strategic thinking skills.
The most available way to exercise your brain is to work on crossword, sudoku, or other word and number puzzles that you can find in daily papers or online. An additional perk to doing these puzzles is that they are fun and also reduce stress- obviously.
Check out these websites for online puzzles:
Sudoku
Crossword Puzzles
Text Twist

Symptom Checker

If you have been sick or concerned with mysterious symptoms click HERE.
This is a cool online program offered by WebMD that lets you enter all of your medical information so that you can pin point possible diagnoses without having to see a doctor. After having had several unpleasant experiences with doctors in the past few months I was very excited to find this. This is also a useful tool for those of you who don't have medical insurance and/or don't visit doctors, as a rule.

Five exercises you should never do.

Just sharing a quick story I thought was informative. The information about sit-ups and bicycle crunches was especially useful.
Iron out the Kinks