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What Is C. diff? What You Need to Know About This Deadly Infection
Read More: What Is C. diff? What You Need to Know About This Deadly InfectionAbdominal pain and diarrhea had taken over Mary’s* life. Every few hours, she had to rush to the restroom, a pattern that eventually led to her losing her job. Worst of all, she couldn’t spend time with her grandchildren because she feared they’d also get sick. When she went to her appointment to see Teena…
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Wondering How to Safely Dispose of Old Prescription Medicines?
Read More: Wondering How to Safely Dispose of Old Prescription Medicines?April 22 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Not sure what to do with all the medicine cluttering up your medicine cabinet? Old painkillers. Expired antibiotics. Piles of prescriptions or over-the-counter medicines you never finished for one reason or another. You know you have to keep them out of the hands of other people,…
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Don’t Journey Alone: How to Find Caregiving Help for a Loved One with Dementia
Read More: Don’t Journey Alone: How to Find Caregiving Help for a Loved One with DementiaWhen Mitzie Watson’s mother came to live with her, it didn’t take long to notice something was off. “She couldn’t identify her medications, and she needed a lot of direction with anticipating steps throughout the day,” said Watson, whose experience caring for her mother later motivated her to become a senior care advisor. After Watson’s…
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What’s the Difference Between Hospice and Palliative Care?
Read More: What’s the Difference Between Hospice and Palliative Care?Medically reviewed by Kathryn Kirkland, M.D. + Infographic text Palliative care Is a form of specialized care to help people with serious illnesses and their families live as well as they can Focuses on managing or reducing pain and other symptoms and offers other interventions aimed to improve quality of life Can be used alongside…
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¿Conoces a alguien que tiene cáncer? Aquí encontrarás cómo puedes ayudar.
Read More: ¿Conoces a alguien que tiene cáncer? Aquí encontrarás cómo puedes ayudar.El cáncer es una enfermedad grave: Su diagnóstico afecta a todo y a todos. Se estima que en 2022, 1.9 millones de personas recibieron diagnóstico de cáncer en Estados Unidos y es probable que conozcas a alguien que tiene o tuvo esta enfermedad. Eso me pasó hace cinco años. Me diagnosticaron cáncer de mama de…
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End-of-life Planning 101
Read More: End-of-life Planning 101When Taya Dunn Johnson’s husband died suddenly at age 37, her world was completely shattered. Worse, she and her husband had never imagined they needed to plan so early for this type of life event. He didn’t have a will, sufficient life insurance or other end-of-life documents. Some of their financial accounts, including their mortgage,…
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Put Yourself on the A-List This Summer
Read More: Put Yourself on the A-List This SummerMegan Thee Stallion sang about having a “hot girl summer,” but my friends who are mothers are having more of a “hot car summer.” My friend Lara added three extra hours to her daily schlep when her daughter’s sleepaway camp temporarily switched to day-camp hours because of a Covid-19 exposure. Lara’s daughter begged to continue…
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Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet for National Prescription Drug Takeback Day
Read More: Clean Out Your Medicine Cabinet for National Prescription Drug Takeback DayApril 30 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. Not sure what to do with all the medicine cluttering up your medicine cabinet? Old painkillers. Expired antibiotics. Piles of prescriptions or over-the-counter medicines you never finished for one reason or another. You know you have to keep them out of the hands of other people,…
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How Becoming My Husband’s Caregiver in My 30s Changed My Life
Read More: How Becoming My Husband’s Caregiver in My 30s Changed My LifeFebruary 18 is National Caregivers Day. I get the text when I’m at work, trying to focus on a project I’ve barely made any progress on all day. “I’m in the ER,” my husband, Lee, wrote. “But don’t worry, I’m OK.” My hands shake on the drive over to the hospital, but I’m less anxious…
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My Son Didn’t Commit a Crime When He Took His Own Life
Read More: My Son Didn’t Commit a Crime When He Took His Own LifeAs told to Nicole Audrey Spector On the day he died in 2016, my 20-year-old son, Austin, sounded like he was on top of the world. Talking with me over FaceTime, he gushed about his upcoming weekend plans, which included watching the Notre Dame game with his college buddies. “I love you, Mom,” he said,…
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End-of-Life Conversations Can Be Hard, but Your Loved Ones Will Thank You
Read More: End-of-Life Conversations Can Be Hard, but Your Loved Ones Will Thank YouBy Deborah Carr, Boston University Death – along with taxes – is one of life’s few certainties. Despite this inevitability, most people dread thinking and talking about when, how or under what conditions they might die. They don’t want to broach the topic with family, either, for fear of upsetting them. Ironically, though, talking about…
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What You Need to Know About Back-to-School Vaccines
Read More: What You Need to Know About Back-to-School VaccinesMedically reviewed by Janis Hogan, RN, NCSN
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5 Tips From a Play Therapist to Help Kids Express Themselves and Unwind
Read More: 5 Tips From a Play Therapist to Help Kids Express Themselves and UnwindBy Jessie D. Guest, University of South Carolina As many children go back to school after 18 months of global pandemic, social isolation and on-and-off remote learning, they too are feeling the additional stress and uncertainty of these times. Children need play to decompress and communicate in ways that are meaningful to them. Play is…
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Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Atopic Dermatitis
Read More: Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Atopic DermatitisMedically reviewed by Dr. Elizabeth Liotta The most common type of eczema, atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory disease that causes red, itchy patches all over the body. More than 16.5 million adults and 9.6 million children in the United States are affected by AD. While AD affects both women and men, hormonal changes…
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Trans Moms Discuss Their Unique Parenting Challenges During the Pandemic – and What They Worry About When Things Go Back to ‘Normal’
Read More: Trans Moms Discuss Their Unique Parenting Challenges During the Pandemic – and What They Worry About When Things Go Back to ‘Normal’By Derek P. Siegel, University of Massachusetts Amherst Between 25% and 50% of transgender adults in the U.S. have children. Some have kids before coming out as trans, others adopt or foster, and some use egg or sperm cells they’ve frozen – usually before starting hormone replacement therapy. As a sociologist who studies inequality and…
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Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Head and Neck Cancer
Read More: Clinically Speaking: Questions to Ask Your Healthcare Provider About Head and Neck CancerMedically reviewed by Dr. Jennifer Grandis If you’ve recently received a diagnosis of head and neck cancer, you may be feeling overwhelmed and unsure about what to do next. HealthyWomen asked Dr. Eleni Rettig, a head and neck surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School, to suggest questions…
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Responsible Medicine Cabinet Cleanup
Read More: Responsible Medicine Cabinet CleanupNot sure what to do with all the medicine cluttering up your medicine cabinet? Old painkillers. Expired Antibiotics. Piles of prescriptions or over the counter medicines you never finished for one reason or another. You know you have to keep them out of the hands of other people, especially if you have children or teenagers…
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Caring for Someone With Cancer Is Emotional — and Expensive
Read More: Caring for Someone With Cancer Is Emotional — and ExpensiveJanet Meadows Harris couldn’t have imagined getting two cancer diagnoses in one day until it happened in her family. Days before Christmas 2019, her husband, Alonzo, 74, was diagnosed with prostate and liver cancer. When Alonzo underwent aggressive radiation treatment on his liver, Harris, 59, became his primary caregiver. Like millions of caregivers nationwide, Harris…
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Here’s How to Help Your Kids Break out of Their Pandemic Bubble and Transition Back to Being With Others
Read More: Here’s How to Help Your Kids Break out of Their Pandemic Bubble and Transition Back to Being With OthersBy Dominique A. Phillips, University of Miami and Jill Ehrenreich-May, University of Miami Pilar’s parents took all the recommended precautions to shield her from the dangers of COVID-19. They stayed at home, away from family, friends and group activities. Pilar had remained in virtual schooling throughout the pandemic as a first and then second grader.…
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As Death Approaches, Our Dreams Offer Comfort, Reconciliation
Read More: As Death Approaches, Our Dreams Offer Comfort, ReconciliationBy Carine Mardorossian, University at Buffalo One of the most devastating elements of the coronavirus pandemic has been the inability to personally care for loved ones who have fallen ill. Again and again, grieving relatives have testified to how much more devastating their loved one’s death was because they were unable to hold their family…
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Alzheimer’s Disease Is Devastating. It May Help To Remember That You’re Not Alone.
Read More: Alzheimer’s Disease Is Devastating. It May Help To Remember That You’re Not Alone.Just the other day, I received a late-night call from a girlfriend who’s caring for her mother who has Alzheimer’s disease. She shared the heart-wrenching news that her mom no longer recognizes her. It’s no secret that an Alzheimer’s diagnosis is life-altering: Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia, is a progressive neurologic disorder that causes…
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Covid-19 Means a Lot More Work for Families of Children With Disabilities, but Schools Can Help
Read More: Covid-19 Means a Lot More Work for Families of Children With Disabilities, but Schools Can HelpBy Sandra M. Chafouleas, University of Connecticut and Emily A. Iovino, University of Connecticut Children don’t come with how-to manuals. Even if they did, they would all require a manual of their own, tailored to their unique make and model. That’s why caregiving can be rewarding, as well as puzzling and demanding – particularly for…
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Caregivers Need Self Care, Too
Read More: Caregivers Need Self Care, TooThroughout her life, Kelly Klein has always felt a sense of responsibility for her sister Wendy, who is deaf and has intellectual delays. Klein always helped care for her sister, who would often visit her family on weekends. But after the death of their father seven years ago, Klein took over full-time and became Wendy’s…
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Tichina’s Most Important Role
Read More: Tichina’s Most Important RoleWhile Tichina Arnold is known for numerous hit shows like “Martin,” “Happily Divorced,” “Everybody Hates Chris,” and starring on her latest series, CBS’ “The Neighborhood,” her most important role has been taking care of her younger sister, Zenay. The younger Arnold was diagnosed with lupus and six other autoimmune diseases at the age of 32.…
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Long-Term Care Workers, Grieving and Under Siege, Brace for COVID’s Next Round
Read More: Long-Term Care Workers, Grieving and Under Siege, Brace for COVID’s Next RoundBy Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News In the middle of the night, Stefania Silvestri lies in bed remembering her elderly patients’ cries. “Help me.” “Please don’t leave me.” “I need my family.” Months of caring for older adults in a Rhode Island nursing home ravaged by COVID-19 have taken a steep toll on Silvestri, 37,…
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How to Use Covid-19 Testing and Quarantining to Safely Travel For the Holidays
Read More: How to Use Covid-19 Testing and Quarantining to Safely Travel For the HolidaysBy Claudia Finkelstein, Michigan State University With the holidays approaching, many people are considering whether to visit relatives or friends in the coming weeks. At the same time, cases of COVID-19 are surging toward the highest levels since the beginning of the pandemic. As a physician, daughter of vulnerable seniors and mother of young adults,…
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Colleges and the Thanksgiving COVID-19 Risk: Fauci’s right – Holiday Plans May Have to Change
Read More: Colleges and the Thanksgiving COVID-19 Risk: Fauci’s right – Holiday Plans May Have to ChangeBy Walter Thomas Casey II, Texas A&M University-Texarkana; Marcia G. Ory, Texas A&M University, and Rebecca S.B. Fischer, Texas A&M University Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warned this week that families may need to change their Thanksgiving plans to keep everyone safe from the coronavirus. The head of the Centers for…
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Women Risk Losing Decades of Workplace Progress Due to Covid-19 – Here’s How Companies Can Prevent That
Read More: Women Risk Losing Decades of Workplace Progress Due to Covid-19 – Here’s How Companies Can Prevent ThatBy Stephanie M.H. Moore, Indiana University American women have made strides in the workplace over the past half-century in terms of earnings, employment and careers – in no small part thanks to the efforts of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The COVID-19 pandemic risks undoing many of these gains in a matter of months.…