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Thursday, 16 June 2016

Princess Health and June 16th, 2016 Yes Man. Princessiccia

Princess Health and June 16th, 2016 Yes Man. Princessiccia

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June 16th, 2016 Yes Man

I really did it all wrong last night. It was an epic learning experience. 

I'll spare you the specific details of my schedule because those aren't the point or problem. Last night, I put myself in a very poor time management situation. My path to this was my occasional tendency to say "yes" when the best thing for me to do, was say "no." 

I've improved dramatically in this area. I spent a lot of years being a "yes man." I was always a yes man because I was afraid to say no, in fear someone might not like me. The interesting thing is this-- I didn't like me, so my constant search for external signs of love and acceptance was a primary focus, hoping-if enough people liked me, maybe I could be convinced I was worthy, somehow. And saying yes every time, even if it was the opposite of what was truly best for me in a particular situation, was-in my mind, the path to fixing this internal dislike. Trying to be everything to any and everybody, left me lost and hollow, most of the time.

I no longer operate that way. I love me, fully and unconditionally. And I don't give two flips if someone doesn't like me for whatever reason. They don't even need one, it's cool. It's none of my business why someone wouldn't.

I'm fine because I'm okay with me.

And that peace and calm is something I never knew or understood before this transformation. My brain is no longer constantly trying to answer the question, "will I be loved/liked?" My decisions are no longer dictated by this constantly running program. The program has been removed from my system directory. Because I'm okay with me. 

So what happened last night? Well, occasionally I still say yes when I need to say no. But it's not because I want to be liked or loved by someone. Now, it's difficult if it's someone for which I have enormous respect and admiration, and if that person is a loved one, a friend, a colleague or client--it's extra challenging. I love to listen to people's stories. So if I'm genuinely engaged in a fascinating conversation and the other person asks, "Do you have time for this?" I will sometimes say yes when I should have exited the conversation forty-five minutes ago. Or an hour and forty-five minutes ago.

The other part of the deal that became last night's epic learning experience was the accountability factor.

Maintaining integrity with accountability measures is something on a sacred level. It must be or the accountability measure loses its effectiveness.

I exchange goals with a few people each day. I typically include my list of non-negotiable elements. It basically looks like: "My goals today: Maintain the integrity of my calorie budget, remain abstinent from refined sugar and meet or exceed my daily water goal. I will do these things." And on a day when I feel I can't go another without a really good workout, I'll make an accountability declaration like I did yesterday: "I will go to the gym for a great workout, come what may."

Come What May. 

The idea of "come what may" is usually thought of as outside forces/circumstances, not circumstances created by less than the better choices.

To wrap this up-- and tie it all together, I was working out at 12:30am while listening to Arianna Huffington speak about the critical importance of getting enough sleep on Dan Harris's 10% Happier podcast. My life is often rich in irony.

I kept my accountability declaration. And I felt great about that--because I had violated one the day before--and there wasn't any way I was about to break another. Maintaining integrity with accountability measures is critically important.

The key is making sure what I'm declaring to do is something I can do--and something I plan into my schedule--and understanding, what I do leading up to it makes a big difference...in other words, how I manage my time. If I'm not managing my time well, I shouldn't engage in "come what may" accountability declarations.

I take it serious for a reason. Without this importance level, I'd still be over five hundred pounds or six feet under at this point.

I highly recommend listening to Arianna Huffington on Dan Harris's podcast. She said many things that run parallel to what I've explored and discussed within these pages. One thing after another popped out at me. I'm absolutely buying her new book, The Sleep Revolution.

It's been a very long day. I'm about to have dinner with mom and head home. I'll be dropping in bed at a great time tonight. I do not want to endure this self-imposed feeling of exhaustion, tomorrow.

I'm learning. I'm absolutely learning. Good things, good things.

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Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
Princess Health and Painkillers appear to increase risk of deaths other than overdoses, according to new study of Medicaid patients in Tennessee. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Painkillers appear to increase risk of deaths other than overdoses, according to new study of Medicaid patients in Tennessee. Princessiccia

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"Accidental overdoses aren't the only deadly risk from using powerful prescription painkillers," The Associated Press reports. "The drugs may also contribute to heart-related deaths and other fatalities, new research suggests."

A study of of more than 45,000 Medicaid patients in Tennessee from 1999 to 2012 found that "those using opioid painkillers had a 64 percent higher risk of dying within six months of starting treatment compared to patients taking other prescription pain medicine," AP reports. "Unintentional overdoses accounted for about 18 percent of the deaths among opioid users, versus 8 percent of the other patients."

"As bad as people think the problem of opioid use is, it's probably worse," said Vanderbilt University professor Wayne Ray, the lead author of the study report. "They should be a last resort and particular care should be exercised for patients who are at cardiovascular risk."

The report in the Journal of the American Medical Association noted that opioids can slow breathing and worsen the disrupted breathing associated with sleep apnea, which could lead to irregular heartbeats, heart attacks or sudden death.

The patients in the study "were prescribed drugs for chronic pain not caused by cancer but from other ailments including persistent backaches and arthritis," AP reports. "Half received long-acting opioids including controlled-release oxycodone, methadone and fentanyl skin patches. . . . There were 185 deaths among opioid users, versus 87 among other patients. The researchers calculated that for every 145 patients on an opioid drug, there was one excess death versus deaths among those on other painkillers. The two groups were similar in age, medical conditions, risks for heart problems and other characteristics that could have contributed to the outcomes."

Wednesday, 15 June 2016

Princess Health and June 15th, 2016 Revisiting-What's This All About?. Princessiccia

Princess Health and June 15th, 2016 Revisiting-What's This All About?. Princessiccia

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June 15th, 2016 Revisiting-What's This All About?

This is essentially a "Tweets Only" in consideration of my schedule this evening. But I did want to republish something I wrote a very long time ago. It's called, "What's This All About?"

What's this all about?

It's about progress, not perfection. It's about how you feel, not a number. It's about you and for you, not about or for anyone else. It's about living, not dying. It's about dreaming, not dreading. It's about freedom, not imprisonment. It's about opening your mind to the possibilities, not closing it to the changes. It's about acceptance, not rejection. It's about nourishing, not depriving. It's about a broadly consistent importance level, not short bursts of narrow focus. It's about wanting, not forcing. It's about doing your best, not trying to do another's best. It's about today, not tomorrow, or next week or the first of the month or January 1st. It's about committing to consistency with all your heart and holding on tight, not a halfhearted commitment easily released with the slightest breeze. It's about you deserving better, because you do. It's about you being important, because you are important.

Today: I maintained the integrity of my maintenance calorie budget, I remained abstinent from refined sugar, I actively engaged in support, I exceeded my water goal and I'm about to workout before bed. That workout will show in the tweets of tomorrow's edition.

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Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
Princess Health and Court of Appeals orders Lexington abortion clinic closed for now. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Court of Appeals orders Lexington abortion clinic closed for now. Princessiccia

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By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

Reversing a lower court's ruling Wednesday, the Kentucky Court of Appeals said Lexington's only location for legal abortions must stop performing them pending a lawsuit by the state that seeks to require it to be licensed as an abortion facility.

Fayette Circuit Judge Ernesto Scorsone declined in March to issue an injunction to close EMW Women�s Clinic on Burt Road, saying that the state failed to show that it was likely to win its lawsuit and that allowing it to stay open in the meantime would cause any irreparable injury. He found that the clinic was operating legally, and closing it would be �against the public interest� because it is the only clinic that routinely provides abortion services in the eastern half of the state and the right to an abortion is constitutionally protected.

But the facility is licensed as a physician's office, not as an abortion clinic, and a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals, all of them women, unanimously agreed with the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin that it needs the latter license to operate legally. The judges said Scorsone had misinterpreted the licensing requirements and didn't give proper weight to the evidence, which was that all the clinic does is perform abortions and related procedures.

The clinic's owner, Dr. Ernest Marshall of Louisville, testified that the Lexington business "originated as a doctor's office" but has narrowed its line of work in recent years, especially after his partner died in December 2013. He said it was a simple facility compared to his EMW Women's Surgical Center in Louisville, which is licensed as an abortion facility and performed 2,773 abortions last year compared to 411 at the Lexington facility, which does abortions only in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Scorsone said Marshall "has a strong argument" that he didn't need an abortion license because the Cabinet for Health and Family Services reached that conclusion after its last previous inspection in 2006 and the clinic doesn't have $1.5 million worth of equipment, at which point an abortion-clinic license is required. But the appeals court pointed out that state law says an abortion facility is "any place in which an abortion is performed" and "We see no reason why an exemption determination should be determinative a decade later," after the nature of the facility had changed.

The appeals court said Scorsone also erred in saying denial of an injunction wouldn't cause irreparable injury, because the cabinet and the citizens would be harmed "if the cabinet is not allowed to correct the alleged violations of its licensing requirements." It said that is a legal presumption that Marshall could have rebutted but did not. It also cited the cabinet's latest inspection, which found "expired medications, defective equipment, [a] torn examination table and dust accumulation."

In granting the injunction prohibiting abortions at the facility, the court said "There is a substantial legal issue as to whether EMW Lexington qualifies as a private physician's office, where it performed only abortions in the last year."

As for the availability of abortions in the eastern half of the state, the three judges said Marshall presented no evidence regarding "the location of the women EMW Lexington serves" and noted that it refers women past the 12th week of pregnancy to its Louisville facility. "As the cabinet points out, this case is not about a woman's right to an abortion," Judge Allison Jones wrote.  "The cabinet is not seeking to prevent women from obtaining abortions [but] to enforce its right to regulate the manner in which abortions are performed in this commonwealth." Judges Sara Combs and Debra Lambert joined in the opinion.

Princess Health and Forrest W. Calico, national leader in rural health care, dies at 75. Princessiccia

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Forrest W. Calico
Dr. Forrest W. Calico, a nationally recognized expert on rural health-care quality, died Monday at his home near Crab Orchard "after striving against multiple myeloma for several years," said his obituary in the Lexington Herald-Leader. He was 75.

A native of Garrard County, Calico received his medical degree from the University of Kentucky in 1966. He also held a master's degree in public health from Harvard University. In the U.S. Air Force, he was a flight surgeon at Area 51 in Nevada, a family physician, residency director and hospital administrator, earning the Bronze Star. He was president and CEO of Appalachian Regional Healthcare from 1993 to 1999, a health-systems adviser to the federal Office of Rural Health Policy and a senior quality adviser to the National Rural Health Association. In 2007 he was named a Rural Hero by the National Rural Assembly and in 2010 entered the UK College of Public Health Hall of Fame.

In retirement, Calico remained active at the state and local levels, serving on the boards of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, the Friedell Committee for Health System Transformation and the Lincoln County Board of Health. In 2012 he published a memoir, Out of the Blue, with the subtitle "How open doors and unexpected paths set the course of my life."

Calico is survived by his wife Patricia Calico, their son Jefferson and wife Cari, daughter Tricia and husband Wes Cohron, his sister Helen Eden, a nephew and six grandchildren. A celebration of his life will be held Saturday, June 18, from 2 to 5 p.m., with a memorial service at 3 p.m., at The Church at Cedar Creek at 5787 US 150, east of Stanford. Memorial donations may go to The Friedell Committee, PO Box 910953, Lexington KY 40591, or the Dr. Patricia A. Calico Endowed Nursing Scholarship at UK, 315 College of Nursing Building, Lexington KY 40536.

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

Princess Health and June 14th, 2016 Most Of All. Princessiccia

Princess Health and June 14th, 2016 Most Of All. Princessiccia

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June 14th, 2016 Most Of All

I'm having a very difficult time getting back into my exercise groove after the previous insane schedule of the last two weeks. The #morningdeal routine isn't meant to be a workout replacement, it's simply a "get the body working" type starter thing. I'll be focusing on increasing my regular workout accountability over the next couple of weeks.

Part of this, a big part, actually--will be continuing the improvement of my time management. I do not buy the nonsense that I just don't have time--that isn't true. It isn't the time. We all get the same amount. It's how I'm using my time. Can I be more efficient? Yes. It's like I'm working a combination lock, trying to find all the right grooves.

I started by taking an inventory of what I do each day and what I want to add--things I want to accomplish. The wildcard in this entire process is the workload at the studio. It plays a big role some days. I'm confident I'll find the solutions.

I'm not embracing a perspective on what hasn't been or can't be done, I'm asking how it can be done. It's embracing solutions instead of allowing excuses to release me from my personal responsibility of taking exceptional care.

And that perspective works well. I wouldn't be here today without this perspective.

I write and speak about maintaining the integrity of my food plan come what may. And I do, every single day, one day at a time. But conveniently, I've never applied the same reverence to my exercise commitments. 

My trek isn't perfect, obviously. And I've never claimed it to be perfect. I'm evolving, growing and learning more and more all the time. 

I'm not brutalizing myself over this issue. I'm dropping in bed at a reasonable hour tonight instead of running to the gym, which was an option. I'm being kind, but firm, with me. And I think that's critically important.

Today was a busy day at work. My late afternoon/evening included fantastic support interactions, both one on one and in the Tuesday night teleconference support group I co-facilitate with Life Coach Gerri and Life Coach Kathleen. I got a haircut! Yay! I was getting shaggy! And...

I maintained the integrity of my calorie budget. I remained abstinent from refined sugar. And I exceeded my daily water goal.

And I'm getting more rest tonight.

As I continue to grow, learn, evolve--I must acknowledge the plentiful goodness happening along the way. And I do--and I'm blessed. Most of all, I'm grateful. My heart, mind and soul overflows with gratitude. 

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Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean

Princess Health and Potent fentanyl, mixed with heroin, drives 14.7 percent increase in fatal drug overdoses in Kentucky from 2014 to 2015. Princessiccia

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The number of drug-overdose fatalities in Kentucky rose almost 15 percent in 2015, driven by a 247 percent jump in deaths involving fentanyl, a highly potent opioid that some traffickers are mixing with heroin, the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy said Tuesday.

The office counted 1,248 fatal overdoses in Kentucky last year, up 14.7 percent from the 1,088 reported in 2014. Fentanyl was a factor in more than a third: 420, up from 121.

"Heroin was detected in 28 percent of cases, consistent with the previous year," the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet said in a press release. "However, as a total, heroin-related deaths increased in 2015, largely because the drug is being laced with fentanyl."

�The introduction of illicit fentanyl into the heroin trade is producing devastating results,� Van Ingram, director of the office, said in the release. �Whether it�s manufactured to resemble heroin or a prescription pill, the cartels have made an already dangerous situation worse.�

Gov. Matt Bevin said, �I am heartbroken for the Commonwealth. More than three families a day are shattered by this epidemic of untimely death. This is unacceptable and will be vigorously addressed with every resource at our disposal.�

The report by Ingram's office listed the eight counties with the most fatal overdoses per person from 2012 to 2015. All were in Eastern Kentucky or Northern Kentucky. Here are the counties, with the number of deaths per 10,000 people: Leslie, 6.86; Bell, 6.12; Gallatin, 5.26; Knott, 4.87; Wolfe, 4.83; Floyd, 4.76; Campbell, 4.72 per 100,000 and Kenton, 4.63 per 10,000.

Counties with big percentage increases in fatal overdoses from 2014 to 2015 included Bell, from 11 to 20; Boyd, from 13 to 24; Butler, from none to eight; Harlan, from six to 10; Kenton, from 71 to 112; and Rowan, from five to 12.

Counties with large decreases included Bullitt, from 22 to 11; Grant, 13 to 6; Russell, from 13 to 7; Laurel, 18 to 10; Leslie, from nine to five; McCracken, 20 to 10; and Marshall, from 12 to fewer than five. The report does not list specific numbers for a county in years when the county had fewer than five fatal overdoses.

The figures above are based on where the death occurred. Based on the residence of the overdose victim, some counties ranked higher; for example, Powell County had 5.84 overdose deaths per 10,000 people, and Russell County had 4.95. This map shows rates based on the county where the overdose victims resided; note that it shows the death rate per 100,000 people, not 10,000 (a figure closer to the population of most counties). Click on the image for a larger version.

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