weigh in #1

Ok, its been 2 weeks since I started this new healthy lifestyle eating plan. I am weiging in today at 295. Thats a 5 pound loss. Not too shabby if I do say so myself..... I have been doing pretty good on this plan, only had one or two occasions where my will power lost, but I didn't go crazy with it. Now if I can just motivate myself to get more exercise in this new lifestyle...I need an exercise buddy that will call me out and make me accountable, Id be happy with just a walking buddy 3 days a week....I simply need to get off my lazy butt.....

frustration

Sorry its been so long.

My roommate/best friend has been sick for the last 5-6 weeks, something to do with her GI system, they are thinking gastroparesis. Meanwhile since she has been sick she has been unable to work. We have been dealing but its getting to the point that Im not sure what we are going to do. She has not worked in a month. She knew that no working=no income. She is working on getting a temporary disability which will include rent assistance and such. I talked to her tonight and asked what our landlord said when she talked to them. Guess what...she hasnt yet! Rent is due in 4 days. I knew she had been waiting to hear from the assistance office, but our landlord is expecting rent, paid in full on the 1st. I am not mad that she is sick and can not work. I am mad that she hasnt taken the initiative to straighten things like this out. It leaves a lot of pressure on me. I have been working a lot of hours in hopes of putting some funds away in savings for emergencies and for vacation. She is my best friend, she is like a sister to me. I know she is frustrated, but this doesnt affect only her. I am trying to be as supportive as I can, trying to keep her from getting depressed, but I cant do it anymore. Im too tired. Physically tired, emotionally drained....I dont know what to do...

no regrets

"Eat that damn chocolate cake, get your hair wet, love someone, dance in those muddy puddles, tell someone off, draw a picture with crayons like you’re still 6 years old and then give it to someone who is very important to you. Take a nap, go on vacation, do a cartwheel, make your own recipe, dance like no one sees you, paint each nail a different color, take a bubble bath, laugh at a corny joke. Get on that table and dance, pick strawberries, take a jog, plant a garden, make an ugly shirt and wear it all day, learn a new language, write a song, date someone you wouldn’t usually go for, make a scrap book, go on a picnic, relax in the sun, make your own home video, kiss the un-kissed, hug the un-hugged, love the unloved, and live your life to the fullest. So when you’re standing in front of heaven’s gate that chosen day, you’ll have no regrets, no sorrows, no disappointments."


THIS (found this at "and it's love" tumblr)

oxygen, harmful or not?

Im pretty sure oxygen is a good thing, in the majority of cases anyways. In the last 24 hours I have had 2 encounters where I thought a bit more O2 would definitely be a good thing, but was contradicted by providers with more schooling than me.

event #1:  severe asthmatic comes in to the ER and we take them straight to a bed, I pull out a duoneb treatment (cause it takes respiratory a few min to get downstairs after someone calls them) and give the pt a neb via mask on oxygen when the RN tells me "no, use the medical air"...what?? When she sees my confused look she says they normally use medical air, and I inform her we (the medics) use oxygen, pt got the neb via oxygen in the end....

event #2: 20 something y/o male, intoxicated, took a swan dive head first 6-7 feet into a cement trench. Pt unconscious and unresponsive, lac to right temporal, no active bleeding, pupils round, equal, but non reactive to light, pt breathing 12 times a min but shallow with snoring resps, lung sounds clear and equal, O2 sats at 02%, pt resps assisted via BVM, when OPA was attempted pt clenched down. 2 large bore IVs established,  24 min from on scene time to completing extrication of pt from the trench via stokes basket. Upon arrival of flight crew I asked if they wanted to RSI and they replied "no, he's breathing on his own".

I dont know if they were concerned with increasing the ICP, but found it interesting they opted not to intubate. Follow up of the pt was pt had an open fx to right temporal area, several closed fx, an epidural bleed to right temporal lobe and a parenchymal hemorrhage.  Pt was intubated at trauma center upon arrival. Pt was extubated approx 8-10 hrs later and is now alert and oriented but still in ICU at trauma center.

What do you all think?

new life plan

So I know I haven't written in a while, things have gotten a bit stressful in my life with working my fulltime job and fulltime hours at my part time job and a very ill roommate I have been trying to take care of. The theme of my posts are going to be changing a bit, while I am going to keep up my blogs about work and EMS, I am going to start writing about the healthier lifestyle I am struggling to obtain in attempt to not struggle so much. Your thoughts and advice are welcome, but please refrain from any nagging or negative comments on weight loss, etc., I have enough of those running in my head already....

Last week I found and ordered what I hope to be the start of a new, healthier lifestyle for me. I did some research and found Rob Nevins' Skinny Switch Secret.  It has a lot of things I like, it has 24/7 community help via chat rooms, it gives you an easy to follow meal plan, personalized for even the pickiest eater (like me). It also gives you workout tips. It sounds like a simple but effective healthy lifestyle plan, having one "load up" day focusing on some extra carb intake followed by 2 "lean" days and the cyle repeats itself. On your "load up" days it even allows you to treat yourself for one meal or snack to include any takeout favorite or sweetening snack. I guess it works so that your body doesnt get used to one thing. I am going to refer to this not as a diet, but as my new lifestyle change.

I am really hoping that I can motivate myself to start this and stick to it (especially since I paid for it...lol). I am going to try and keep a weekly online recollection of this (Im going to pick a day and try to do a weigh in and update every week), but I will be keeping a more intimate, detailed handwritten journal as to not bore anyone on here. I am starting this weighing in at 300 lbs as of today (thats 18 pounds lighter than I was this past Christmas...). My first weight loss goal is to get to 275 by September 14th, my 26th birthday and long term I'd like to get under 200 pounds.  As I have stated before I have always had problems with motivation to start or continue any plan I have tried before. So if any of you are up for it, I would love to have someone challenge me or at least check in on me weekly to try and help me stay in line with this.

Originally my roommate had intended on trying this with me, but she has been pretty ill the last few weeks with no diagnosis at this time, so while she is simply trying to find foods she can keep in her stomach, I am going to start this full fledge on Friday May 14th. (That's pay day and there are a lot of grceries that need to be bought for this lifestyle change). I not only need to do this, but I want to do this, for me, for my health and to help me in all aspects of my life, physical and emotional. While I have seen the negative impact my lifestyle choices have had on my body for a while now, I have recently been experiencing more and more negative emotional impact, and I definitly do not like it. I frequently find that I don't feel like I have a very good support system (maybe I just choose not to tap into the people who could give me a lot of support due to fear of failure and disappointment), and so I am looking to the few people who graze through here from time to time...Thanks ahead of time and wish me the best of luck!