Just a reminder that we are fragile and need to be careful.

NURSE’S HEART ATTACK EXPERIENCE

This has been passed on from an ER nurse and is the best description of this event that she had ever heard. Please read, pay attention, and send it on!

FEMALE HEART ATTACKS

I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I’ve ever read.

Women and heart attacks (Myocardial Infarction). Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack … you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman’s experience with a heart attack.

I had a heart attack at about 10 :30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might’ve brought it on.

I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, ‘A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.

A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation—the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.

After it seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR).

This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws. ‘AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening — we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven’t we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, ‘Dear God, I think I’m having a heart attack!’

I lowered the footrest dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, If this is a heart attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else … but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment.

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics .. I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

I unlocked the door and then lay down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like ‘Have you taken any medications?” but I couldn’t make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.

I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.

Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you to know what I learned first hand.

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men’s symptoms but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were having one and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better in the morning when they wake up … which doesn’t happen.
My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt before.
It is better to have a ‘false alarm’ visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said ”Call the Paramedics.” And if you can, take an aspirin. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!

Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER you are a hazard to others on the road.
Do NOT have your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road.

Do NOT call your doctor — he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3. Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high and/or accompanied by high blood pressure). MI’s are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there.

Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep.

Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive.

There is a mystery about gift giving that makes me laugh. Some people readily enjoy beign generious and light hearted about giving of themselves every day all day. But for others any gift giving is a reach so far outside themselves, they recoil from gift giving as a hateful experience. Over the years non-givers pass the trait on to their families, and that’s a shame because gift giving has a history right back to God.

If you look at the expressions we use in reference to gifts, you see natural gifts of beauty, charm, intelligence, athletic gift, and we often say, “He’s just gifted,” which means he stands above the rest.

In religion, there are the “Gifts of the Holy Spirit” and they pertain to internal gifts like wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. These are the truly human traits we all desire for ourselves and hope that we are endowed with by our Maker. My favorite Holy Spirit gift is understanding.

In scripture we see the gifts of the tablets to Moses, the gifts of the Magi or gold, frankincense and myrrh which were both symbolic to the life of Christ and helpful in his ordinary earthly life.

At the very essence of our being, there is the gift of life. There is the gift of our bodies in marriage, and the gift of children to one another. Gift is at the core of our very lives and if one is faithful, to our God. But for some reason, that brilliant sense of giving, that example from on high simply gets lost in the wash down here on earth and ordinary gift giving becomes a nightmare.

It’s probably the human condition – self before you except after me. It’s simply a matter of selfishness. If God had been selfish with gifts, think of what we wouldn’t have. Suppose He was selfish with color. What would the world look like? Suppose he was selfish with water or food varieties?

“I don’t know what to buy, to make, to get, to do…” is a common plea for help. Notice the first word in the sentence is “I.” When the first word is “I” the focus is on self and not on he who the gift is for. Notice how much easier it is when we say, “My friend loves pottery, so I will,” and it’s not hard to finish that sentence.

Giving a gift means putting someone else first and that’s the key here. Thinking of someone else before we think of ourselves is very difficult for most people these days. Spending time, effort, money and thought on another is just too far to go because all my time, effort, and money must be spent on something attached to me because it’s mine.

Gratitude for a gift is also a self deferring ordeal that infuriates many people. There are those who will simply deny a gift, ignore it and treat it as if it doesn’t exist, or even be angry with a gift. I remember my mother was such a person. She was very calculating about the gifts she had to give, and when she received one, she would quickly close the box and put it under something. I remember doing a cross stitch of their beautiful stone house as a birthday gift, and she never mentioned even receiving the gift, and later I found it hanging over the toilet. My mother was famous for not acknowledging a gift.

Giving to a child is a whole other matter. Children haven’t been jaded by their parents hideous habits. Children love gifts and they should. Gifts are a beautiful part of nature and the good nature of good people. Gifts are fun, exciting and add to life like no other thing. When children’s faces light up because they get something new or something they wanted for a long time, the faces of angels are mirrored in them. Joy is something to sing about, and a gift is often the thing that brings on joy. When I visit my grandboys, one of them will say, “What did you bring me?” and I love that because I can give them a stick of gum, and they are delighted. If I have nothing that day, they are satisfied with just grandma, and the conversation often goes to something they can do.

Life is too short for the stingies – calculating every expected date, worrying about what will be expected from others or thought about others only puts self first. Anger at spending, giving, doing is so far from what God does every day, we need to re-evaluate the whole art of giving. Watch a child if you need the best earthly example of giving – they give freely of all they have and the only thing they want is for someone to say with genuine affection, “I love that! You’re my favorite today.”

Good morning! It’s a plain Jane week this week. The book fair goes back today. If you haven’t paid for your books, it’s time!

Back to normal classes now to the end of the year. It’s nearly here. This week we will get an itinerary for summer out to all of you. If you have changes in your summer schedule, please let us know.

This is really a lame duck time of the year. The kids just want to play outside, but there is still teaching to be done. With all the illness at school, and the impending worry from the government about Swine Flu, normalcy is a tough thing to maintain. We will do our best.

Thank you all for your wonderful support of the Spring Sing and the Book Fair. Miss Amy did a spectacular job with the singing, and the kids were beautiful. We couldn’t be prouder of them. I was especially tickled by Emma, our president who welcomed everyone.

It’s time for shorts and short sleeves. The weather is vacillating between cool and hot. With all the running, shorts are the thing to wear. Please do not send children in any kind of sandals. Sandals and our pea gravel don’t mix. They are a no.

Have a great day!

Teenage brain power boosted by chewing gum: Wrigley study

By Sarah Hills, 24-Apr-2009

Chewing gum could have a positive affect on the academic performance of teenagers, according to new research funded by the Wrigley Science Institute (WSI).

From Education Week:

International Exams Yield Less-Than-Clear Lessons

Differing Demographics, Politics, Cultural Norms, Complicate Understanding

Almost every time the results of an international test of student achievement are released to the world, the reaction among the American public and policymakers is like that of a parent whose child just brought home a disappointing report card.

Elected officials and academic experts question where U.S. students fell short: Was it our curriculum, our teaching, or a confluence of out-of-school factors? What did other nations do well? And what changes to American classrooms would help U.S. students make strides on the next round of tests?

For more of the article go HERE.

Here’s a little something for Wonderful Wednesday. When you get to the black click, click, click…

See the Flowers

Every year at this time teachers stop to think about what they have given the children over the past year, and in our case, because we all work so closely with all of our children, we think about the whole student body and what we have given each child over the past years.

This year has been a good year. The graduating class seems to have been with us forever, and the memories and the accomplishments seem like a mountain of successes. They will each go off to a new school, a big school with a lot in their repertoires.

When we remember back to how many of these children came to school not knowing much and filled with anxiety about how hard it would be, it’s a stretch to look at them now and realize just how much they have learned and what neat people they are.

Learning is a many splintered thing! Learning begins with listening and remembering. If a child does not have the discipline to be quiet and listen, he will not, consequently, he will not learn. If you don’t listen, you won’t learn. Not all children learn to listen and not all choose to remember even when they do listen. This is a maturity issue. This is always accomplished in the partnership with the home. In homes where listening and remembering are not important, the task of teaching is a very difficult one.

Learning is also a very individual thing. Some children learn by categorization. They learn by taking things a part, sorting them out and putting them back together. They learn by separating the whole and examining the parts. They learn by putting things into groups. Some children learn through art. They hear or see something, and they need to draw it to capture it and make it theirs. Some children put everything to music and sing about what they have learned. There is nothing funnier than a child who is sitting on the toilet singing up a storm about his last geography class!

Some children learn through numbers. They like to weigh, count, collect, touch, and keep many things. Some children are visual learners from the git go and like to watch, see, and find the many angles that make what they are learning make sense.

Some children learn by touching and doing. The hyperactive child is such a child. He will touch everything and copy by doing anything he sees that might teach him something he wants to learn.

Most children are auditory learners and learn by listening. They can learn nearly anything quickly, and this goes away once they learn to read.

The window of opportunity opens for every child at a different time. The window opens when a child is allowed the maturity of his attending adults to explore without fear. Letting go and letting children explore their surroundings is the great window opener.

Parents who let go of children from the beginning and allow a child to discover the world around him will experience a child for whom windows open quickly and easily. Children love to learn, and offering them a world of things to count, sort, touch, listen to, do, and talk about is the way to achieve the most from a child.

Every few months, parents and teachers should re-evaluate their child’s surroundings and make changes. Children don’t remain fixed in their development and neither should their surroundings. Adding new toys and things, increasing the tools of education should be a constant effort on the part of teachers and parents.

With the seasons changing, it’s time to get one more big push to the finish line, and then change atmospheres to summer. Summer is also a time of learning and exploring. Children never stop learning, and teachers and good parents know that. It’s never about pushing; it’s always about showing.

Good Morning! It’s a beautiful dark and stormy morning here in Southwestern Indiana. I’m excited to start another week as we begin the last stretch of school. It’s going to be sixty today, so we will continue to build our outdoor bodies with sun and play. Lots of running, lots of jumping, so that we will be fit for all the excursions we will go on this summer!

Our book fair is this week. Please visit Miss Kelly’s room anytime. If you need a lay-a-way bag please let Miss Amy know. She will be taking care of this in the morning.

Today Miss Judy has the privilege of going to Glenwood School to talk about writing. Writing is an important part of our early experience. It begins with imagining and talking about the fantastic things we can think. As Seuss said, “All the thinks I can think!” Thinking and dreaming and then writing it down is what we learn to do in school. Writing is a very personal experience much like any craft because it so individual. What is in my mind is probably not in yours! Every child should begin with the oral tradition of story telling. When they are old enough, they write their stories down. We encourage a lot of drawing because drawing defines thought.

Today I will go to Glenwood School and talk about the discipline and the craft. My goal is to remind these young people that anything is possible if you work hard enough and stay on track.

We are still working on manners at the GS. We expect please and thank you and quiet inside voices to be used indoors.

On Wednesday we will have costume day. Your child can come to school as a favorite story character.

On Friday we will have a Spring Sing at 3:00. Children need an accompanying adult and a plate of cookies or a treat. The sing will last about 15 minutes, and be followed by the book fair.

Have a great day!

Here’s a great way to keep kids eating lunch. They are Lunch Box Cards and the picture at the top that says “Bunny Quiz” is one of the cards. For more information go HERE.

This is Lunchbox Card’s April lunch. It’s not only delicious but it’s cute. I love the lunch box. They are purchasable through Laptop Lunchbox. What a great way to send your child off to school. I even thought about buying 50 for summer, but there is no refrigeration. The little rabbits are made of rice, and the form is available at Target in the dollar isle.

The muffins are Omega Muffins that you buy. It’s so easy to make them – here’s a recipe. You can actually keep this batter about a week and make new ones every day.

General batter:
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
4 oz canola oil
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 large egg – I use blue 😉
4 cups milk

put in a pitcher with a lid

Monday add cinnamon and make six muffins
Tuesday add ground orange ” ” “
Wednesday add raisins…
Thursday add coconut
Friday add pumpkin blueberries

It was a crazy week. Teachers were out with illness, family matters, and just keeping staff in the building was a touch and go experience. Only once in a very long time does this happen. Everyone pitched in and helped with covering, and it worked out fine. We got a lot accomplished this week!

This past week we worked on manners, “thank you and please,” to be exact. As Mr. Terry said, “Manners are an essential for every child to take with them from the Garden School.” I think he has a point. So we are asking every child to be polite every day in every way. It’s made a lovely difference.

At the same time, we have put a new golden light on the medal. The medal is worn by honorable children. Some consistently poor behavior is simply never honorable, so the medals have been taken away until behavior changes. We think this will serve our entire group.

We have begun a new game called “Spit Spot.” At play times, we ring the bell and every child stops in his play, stands and looks at the bell ringer. The ringer then chooses a child who is closest to his spot and asks the child an academic question. If the child answers, the reward is a biggie. If there is no medal, there is no prize. We hope this encourages a sense of “wanting to keep the medals.”

Book Fair has been set up for next week in Miss Kelly’s class. Please feel free to browse for books in her room. We have a lay a way program for people who are paid on Fridays. Please feel free to ask a teacher for a lay away bag.

Next week is Earth Week. We will be doing several things with this theme. Miss Elise has already worked on our butterfly project. She is raising butterflies from the larva to the fly. The kids are thrilled with what they have learned so far.

Miss Molly wants to recycle. That’s a green light for me, but the company who takes our trash does not recycle businesses. We are going to try to buy some containers and separate some of our trash and see how this works. We will need some hoddies to the recycle places. Not sure how this is going to work.

I am going to try to start putting our garden in today. Please visit our garden with your children to watch how things are going. It’s a hillbilly garden because a traditional garden is too hard for me to keep up. I got this design from a country boy from Arkansas years ago who attended St. Meinrad Seminary. He told a delightful story about gardening and I am copying what he said.

On Wednesday, we are having “Favorite Book Character Day.” Please let your child dress up as his favorite book character and wear his costume that day. I am going as Catherine Earnshaw. Not sure who the other teachers are going to be, but it should be fun. Please keep masks to a minimum, and keep weapons at home.

Spring sing is this coming Friday. It begins, as all our events, at 3:00 p.m. and will last throught the party. Children will sing, and then parents are free to visit the goodie table and the Book Fair. We hope to see all of you there! Please remember that every child needs an attending adult.

Have a great weekend!