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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Men with Postpartum Depression...Gimme a Break!

As a mother of three children, as a woman, and as a health care provider, I am totally disgusted by all the media fuss about father's getting postpartum depression. In The New York Times article recently published, all kinds of researchers reviewed all kinds of past studies and determined that one in 10 dads had prenatal or postpartum depression. The article said, "We should do more to screen for depression in fathers." Are you kidding me? Pregnant women and postpartum women in this century are still not getting adequate depression screenings during and after pregnancy! And now the focus needs to be on the poor father...going through what hormonal change??? It is pathetic...the attempts made in the media and America to keep a male dominated society! To now try and "take over" the one thing they can never do...birthing! Women still make less money than men. Women still do the majority of raising children alone. Research is still focused on helping men achieve better health. But...maybe the tides are changing as a New York Times article reveals the "Department of Education statistics show that men, whatever their race or socioeconomic group, are less likely than women to get bachelor's degrees — and among those who do, fewer complete their degrees in four or five years. Men also get worse grades than women." Maybe men are getting scared that women are surpassing them in education...so they have to try and take over the hormonal birthing process! And here's where I have to put an awesome quote from an awesome woman... Robin Morgan said, "In the long run, Women's Liberation will of course free men-but in the short run it's going to COST men a lot of privilege, which no one gives up willingly or easily." Bottom line...men are depressed when women have babies because they are no longer the center of attention, and men are depressed when women are pregnant because it may alter their sex life, and men are depressed when women are pregnant and have babies because they will never be able to do that which only a woman can.
Laura NP

Side Effects From Gastric Bypass

Question: I'M 26 YEAR OLD FEMALE RECENTLY HAD GASTRIC BYPASS WELL I GOT THE SIDE EFFECT OF LOSING MY HAIR IN GLOBS PER SECOND SO I DON'T WANT SURGERY TO FIX IT I THOUGHT GETTING A BOB CUT HAIRSTYLE MAY HELP IT A BIT OR IS THERE SHAMPOO I CAN USE I WILLING TO TRY ANYTHING EXCEPT SURGERY STUFF. I ALSO TAKE 2MULTI VITAMINS 3 CALCIUM 1B-12 1 B-6 1 IRON EVERYDAY AND A PROTEIN SHAKE 2 TIMES DAILY. PLEASE COULD YOU GIVE ME ADVICE/SUGGESTIONS. THANK YOU.

Click on comments to read Laura's advice.
Laura NP

Friday, May 28, 2010

Where to turn when you feel you can't trust anyone

Question: Why is this allowed to happen and what makes people do this to someone?
After spending 8 years with a man he suddenly comes home one day and begins to be extremely verbally abusive, progressing to physical abuse. Yelling calling names to the point of making you cry then he laughs and leaves. This continues for months and you find out he is going to your families homes without you after saying he wants nothing to do with them. All your friends are suddenly cold to you when you visit and they stop calling you. Finally after months of this happening and you become completely lost to the point of a breakdown your family are the only ones you can trust and they encourage you to leave. So you leave. Within a week of leaving you begin getting pulled over by the police all the time, to the point of harassment. This continues until you stop driving all together. During this time you have broken headlights, taillights, fog-lights and flat tires, all the sensors in your vehicle going bad one after another two or three times a week. You finally move from where you're living and move in with family. They then begin doing things to you like hiding your stuff, Yelling at you for everything you do. They Call rehabs and talk about you when you don't even drink. Not really knowing what they are saying about you, you are told to mind your own business. They begin Calling the police and making reports that you said you want to kill yourself when that is not true. They Hang strands of duck tape from the ceiling and when you come in the door they laugh giggle, you over hear things like "no not yet" Then one day you walk in the door and get tackled by one person and the other tries tying you up with the duct tape. You struggle and get away, run to your sisters house and then call the police. You are basically laughed at. So once again you move. Unknowingly you still trust these same people wondering why all this happening. You begin to wonder your own sanity. You think it has to be me. You move again and begin hanging out with the same people that your ex and family know. These new so called friends then begin calling the police making false reports and you are put in jail, get out and that same day you get arrested again. Still not having a clue what is happening, not understanding why this is happening. Feeling insane, You turn to alcohol and try to forget about it all. Every attempt you make to get away from those people are effortless. You are stalked, forced to do things you don't want to do, hit, kicked, pushed, get accused that because you are brushing your teeth your getting ready to go out and have sex, your door is kicked in, your apartment is robbed and your animal is tortured. again yelled at for everything you do. All police contact results in your being ticketed or arrested. When you try to file charges against the abusers you are told that the police didn't see them do it and nothing is ever done. You are however arrested for supposedly saying something to someone, making one phone call or for getting upset that the police wont do anything for you. People say little riddles to you out of the blue and will not explain themselves. Not of it makes any sense. Everyone denies everything they have done to you and said to you and you are blamed for it all. After years of this happening to you you become an emotional mental basket case. You feel helpless, sad, betrayed, angry, constant mood changes, anxiety, physically changed, lost. You are then forced into treatment and told your not allowed to drink. You only get told its over with learn to deal with it, drinking is not the answer. You get told that you can never get the person you were back and that you allowed those people to do all that to you. You are in constant turmoil daily, you ruminate about it all and try to figure out why this happened, what was the point. Scared when you even look at someone or hear a noise, constantly feel intimidated and controlled. My questions are why do people do this to someone, why are they allowed to do it. How is the person it happened to supposed to deal with it so that they can move on? What can they do to regain control, strength, self esteem.

Click on comments to see Laura's advice.
Laura NP

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Family Member with a Bad Marriage

Question: I need advice. A person I know is in a horrible marriage. She has cheated on him several times and will not end the relationships, she has him very mixed up and plays him horridly with the worst mental abuse I have ever seen. He loves her and is unwilling to end the marriage even the severity of the goings on have nearly driven him to suicide several times. I am trying to be supportive and help as this is my family and keep tying to get him to try to understand why he needs to end this marriage but to no avail. I am extremely worried that I am going to lose my family member over her selfishness and don't know what to do. I know he must ultimately make the choice on his own. I need to know how to handle this to help him make it through this and need to know if I am correct in my assessment.
Laura NP

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Is Medicine The Answer?

Question: I have been speaking to a therapist and she suggested medicine. I have panic attacks, I do not go outside in public, I do not even want to get out of bed some days. I can't sleep at night, and there are all kinds of thoughts that go through my head what do i do?

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Laura NP

Monday, May 24, 2010

Obama's Inaudible Oily Opinions

Ok, I'm so done waiting for Obama to make some sort of statement about the Oil Tragedy in the Gulf. There's some website called deepwater horizon response where you can get updates, but I want to hear from our President! What...is he too busy begging Reverend Wright for forgiveness after "throwing him under the bus?" Obama was the first to blab his opinion of the police who arrested his buddy Henry Gates Jr...remember...Obama said the police acted "stupidly!" So why doesn't he speak about this horrific disaster in our waters and wetlands? How many more oily birds and plants do you need to see brother? Obama, open your mouth and speak, take charge, get your fly fishing hoity-toity waders on...get your elbow-length gloves on...and get your typically-opinionated-now-for-some-unknown-reason-mute butt to the gulf and clean it up! Maybe all your czars can help too!
Laura NP

Sunday, May 23, 2010

How do we know if Someone Loves Us

Question: I need to know if he loves me.

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Laura NP

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Tar Balls, Space Balls, and other Mysteries

CNN is reporting that the tar balls found on the beaches in the Florida Keys are not from the BP under-water-oil-gusher! Funny...the article does not speculate about the origin of these tar balls. Should we worry? Were they planted there by another country trying to make us look bad? How the heck did they get there and why doesn't anyone seem to care! How is it possible they are not from that BP gusher? Well we spent gobs of money to have these tar balls flown in a fighter jet to New London Connecticut to be analyzed. And "the tar ball experts" said these tar balls are not a DNA match for the BP gulf gusher tar DNA. Ok...so tar doesn't have DNA but it sounded kind of cool right!?! So the origin of these Florida Keys tar balls remains a mystery. Maybe Glenn Beck will talk about these mysterious tar balls tonight on his show. I like Glenn Beck...maybe he will draw on his chalkboard and explain it all! I thought I should cruise the web in search of other mysterious balls that may help us to understand the tar balls...but all I found was stuff about a mysterious space ball. Maybe those tar ball experts in Connecticut work for BP? Should we call the Connecticut Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal to check these tar analyzers out? Wait...Richard Blumenthal is too busy sorting out his own biographical mystery...he can't help us now! See how everything in the news is connected into one super-sized story with multiple mini mysteries and a profusion of plots?!?
Laura NP

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Food Allergy Fiasco

Food allergies are scary things! All the schools now have those "peanut-free tables" in their cafeterias. As a Nurse Practitioner, if I see a client, and they tell me they are allergic to medicine, or food, or anything...I believe them, I ask them what happens when then eat or are exposed to the food or medicine, and I document it in their charts! And of course, I remind them to avoid those things that cause them an adverse reaction. Sometimes I refer them to allergists. Simple right? Well...The New York Times just ran an article entitled Doubt Is Cast on Many Reports of Food Allergies. So once again we have a federally funded "study" that dismisses what a patient says to their health care provider. The research reveals that most people don't have allergies. And the purpose of this information is to give The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases the authority to curb allergy testing. Bottom line, the government is being sneaky by making it sound like clinical research is driving this health care change...but really...the government is trying to blame the patient for over-testing of allergies. Why??? So they don't have to pay for the tests the patient is requesting! In other words...the government funded research states that you are wrong, that you don't really have a true allergy, and that you don't need allergy testing. Here it is America...Obama will use "government research" to justify why you can't have the kind of health care you deserve. Let's face it...he has to cap health care expenses or we'll be belly up just like Greece. So be wary of federally funded health care research. It's not in your best interest. And if you think you have an allergy to something....I believe you!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Caring for a Mentally Ill Parent

Question: my mom is mentally ill at the time and my grandmother is her caretaker but she's not looking out for my moms best interests. And her doctor that prescribes her medication went back and put her on an old medication that she took her off of because it didn't work. I'm just really concerned about my mom and who should I talk to about getting a new case worker/doctor and caretaker for her?

Click on comments to read Laura's advice.
Laura NP

Physical Abuse

Question: i am a 47 yr old male, married 2nd time for 10yrs. When my wife and I argue she gets violent to the point of hitting,clawing, and throwing things. I have never raised my hand to her, after 10yrs I am done, she has threatened to kill me this time and I don't want to hear the "I'm sorry it won't happen again" crap. Does she need help and should I go back. I know what I would tell my children. This happens about every 4 to 6 months for 10yrs. Please advise me....

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Laura NP

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Research Rocks!

Sometimes the pressures of academia lead researchers to publish stuff that's just plain old common sense. They twist and spin it into some amazing discovery...but it's stuff we've been doing since we mated with those crazy neanderthals! So CNN and Health.com reported on a study done by Seth D. Pollak, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. So Dr. Pollak asked 61 girls ages 7 to 12 to do something stressful. He then put them into 3 groups, one group hugged their mom after the stress, one group spoke with their mom on the phone after the stress, and one group watched a "neutral" movie. Then he checked their cortisol and oxytocin levels before and after all this stuff. And the conclusion...our ability to cope with stress may be shaped by our interactions with our mothers. Why didn't he test boys too? Dr. Pollak is a boy, you would think he would want to know about boy stuff. Is he implying something about girls, women, and stress? What does a PhD in psychiatry know about cortisol and oxytocin? Of course a nurturing relationship with your mama is good for you! I think researchers come up with research studies the same way rock stars come up with song lyrics. No really...sitting in a bar, drinking their fourth drink...martinis if you are an ivory tower academic and jagermeister shots if you are a rocker...writing their thoughts on a cocktail napkin and taking the little napkin...to the research lab if you are an ivory tower academic and to the recording studio if you are a rocker...and in the end, they both make up a song and dance to entertain us. Laura NP

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Fighting Over Hummus...so weird, right?

So Lebanon just claimed the Guinness Book of World Records for largest amount of Hummus ever made. Yup, 11.5 tons. Pretty impressive right? But it has another meaning to the people of the Middle East. CNN reports about this so-called Hummus War. According to CNN, it's sort of like the Greeks claiming "the rights" to feta cheese. Weird. So Lebanon and Israel have been fighting over "the rights" to hummus. It has something to do with the "designation of origin." So weird. It's a food. A very tasty food! Can't we just say it's a tasty Middle East Treat? Maybe that's offensive...because Israel says hummus is theirs...and Lebanon says hummus is theirs...so I might be offending both of them by generalizing hummus into one category...Middle East. So the lesson is...if you are taking the SATs...or trying out for Jeopardy...and there is a multiple choice question about the "designation of origin of hummus"...and the choices are:
A. Lebanon
B. Israel
C. Middle East
D. None of the above

Pick D. none of the above...at least for now, until Israel makes a 12 ton vat of hummus to claim the title. Laura NP

Sexual Dysfunction

Question: Why can't I feel anything when I have sex? I don't know what is wrong with my head, I love my husband, but since 6 months ago I can't feel anything when he is with me. That never happened before. When we have sex I just think that I can't make it. I'm so scared help me please, I want to know what's wrong with me?

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Laura NP

Money issues and Relationships

Question: I'm a 35 year old divorced mother of two. My first marriage was filled with abuse. My ex-husband and I have one child together. Now I'm in a relationship with a 40 year old man who has a son. We don't get along. He doesn't listen and shows no respect for me or my feelings. We fight a lot over money. I believe the bills should be payed first before anything else and he spends money on things we can't afford. I have tried to talk to him but he doesn't listen and continues what he wants to do. we have a 3 year old together. should I stay with him or move on?

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Laura NP

What to do about Suicidal Statements

Question: I have a great niece who is talking suicide. What can a person say to her?

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Laura NP

Friday, May 7, 2010

Needing Help But Can't Pay

Question: I don't have health insurance and I know that I am depressed. I've been having panic attacks a lot. I have no appetite to eat. I feel like I can never make anyone happy. I'm always tired and I never want to do fun things with family. I feel that I am better off in a room by myself. I have no way of paying for a doctor or someone to help me. I know I need help. I'm always nervous when there is nothing to be nervous about. I don't know what to do.

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Laura NP

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Lazy Overweight Cops Use Tasers

Did you see the video of that poor Phillies fan who got tasered? It was a harmless, foolish 17 year old kid. If you look at the video, the officer is clearly overweight and looks strained by all the exercise...which is a documented 30 second chase...and then he fires the taser! The Washington Post states that Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey felt the officer acted within department guidelines. Is his girth within department guidelines??? Now that may sound harsh, but the fact is, if you're fat and out of shape, you can't chase deviant 17 year olds around a field and expect to catch them! It's scientifically impossible! That officer only used the taser because he couldn't physically continue the pursuit. Well that's just not fair. Police officers should have annual agility and stamina tests...not just when they get the job. It is not ok to taser someone just because it's convenient...which is what this officer did. Bottom line...don't run onto a field after your Dad tells you it's not a good idea...and if you are an officer of the law...get your ass to the gym! Laura NP

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Dumb Patient's Cause Doctors to Give Bad Care?

I like The Huffington Post, but some of the posts on there are way out there! Like Dr. Elaine Schattner's little post entitled Doctors Need Time To Think. She says if people were more educated about health care, then there wouldn't be medical mistakes! Really? Come on Elaine, are you really going to blame the patient for medical errors? Why yes she is! And here is her direct quote, "When people are sufficiently educated that they can understand what their doctors tell them, know what they read and get basic math and science concepts, they're less vulnerable to misleading information." This is ridiculous! How about the doctor learns how to communicate with his patients on their level of understanding? Cause I'm pretty sure the 75 year old dementia patient will not be able to recite Einstein's theory of relativity! Or the two year old orphan...Elaine, try explaining some chemistry to that poor baby...and if that baby doesn't understand that chemistry, and there's a bad outcome with his medical care, well it's all that baby's fault...right Elaine? Come on down from the ivory tower Dr. Schattner. So if a doctor is explaining how chemo drugs will affect the body, and the patient says he doesn't understand, what are you going to do, send them for some college calculus classes!?! Bottom line...If the doctor can not adequately explain something to a patient...then the doctor needs to try a different approach...and again if necessary...until the patient can verbalize understanding. Shame on you Dr. Schattner.
Laura Giesman NP

Applying For Disability

Question: what kind of physical exam and mental exams do the physicians do for disability?

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