One For Jasmina - Remembering Jasmina

In April of 2009, I blogged about a little girl, Jasmina Anema, who was battling cancer. Many celebrities rallied around Jasmina in an effort to find a bone marrow match for her. In June of 2009, Jasmina received her bone marrow transplant and I could not have been happier. Unfortunately, in September Jasmina's family received the terrible news that her cancer had returned with a vengeance. Well, sadly Jasmina lost her battle with cancer yesterday. May this sweet little princess now rest in peace. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family.

Blog post from June
http://behindthewallsofvanderwilt.blogspot.com/2009/06/one-for-jasmina-update.html

One For Jasmina's Video

National HIV Testing Day - Saturday, 7/27/09

Did you know every 9 1/2 minutes a person is infected with HIV? Saturday, 6/27 is National HIV Testing Day. Go to www.hivtest.org to find your nearest testing center.

One For Jasmina - UPDATE

In April I featured a video that touched my heart regarding a little girl named Jamsmina, who had been stricken with a deadly form of leukemia. http://behindthewallsofvanderwilt.blogspot.com/2009/04/one-for-jasmina.html Well on Thursday, Jasmina received her bone marrow transplant thanks to the out pore of those who lined up to see if they were possible donors. Jasmina also had the support of Rihanna, who flew to New York to visit her April 2nd.

Congratulations Jasmina! You'll continue to be in my thoughts and prayers!

Starting Today

I am on a mission to loose weight! For the past year and 1/2 I have put on the weight and starting today, I'm going to shed it. I started walking/running a few weeks ago and it doesn't seem to be taking the pounds off. So, I'm going to try some other things in an effort to help me. My Mom says to keep a food journal so that I can keep track of what I eat and I'm going to start that. I also need to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my diet, so I'm going this afternoon to stock up!

Do you have any ideas or suggestions on things you have done to loose weight and keep it off?

Hard Times

Dr. Margaret Chan's Press Conference - Swine Flu Update

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, held a press conference earlier this morning regarding the increase of the current pandemic from a level 4 to a level 5.

Epidemic & Pandemic Alert & Response System

The World Health Organization (WHO) has compiled an alert and response system to deal with possible epidemics/pandemics. Attached is the website to explain the 6 phases of their system.
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html

Right now, the level for the Swine flu is currently at a LEVEL 5 as explained by the WHO below:
Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.

What would you do?

So, you live in Houston, the first child has died from Swine flu, other cases have been confirmed in the near vicinity of where you live and work... what would you do? Do you pull your kid out of school? Do you not go to work? What do you do? I'm pretty fearful of this rapidly growing flu strain and conflicted on what the best course of action is. I know that schools will close once a case has been confirmed, but isn't that a little too late? It's very concerning now that the World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the level of concern from a 4 to a 5.

Prescriptions?

Have you ever gotten the wrong prescription?

This past week I had to pick up samples from my Doctor because my mail order prescription had not come in. Well by Sunday I realized that I had spent most of my weekend (from Thursday to Sunday) in bed, exhausted and not very functional. My mom, being the genius she is, asked how my blood pressure had been lately. So, I checked it and it was EXTREMELY LOW!!! That made me go straight to the medicine cabinet to check my sample and my Dr. had given me double my normal milligrams. Now isn't that scary? Do you have a similar situation?

Swine Flu Outbreak

Are you concerned about the possible outbreak of the swine flu?

Embedded video from CNN Video

One For Jasmina

This video touched my heart. There is also a website associated with the video - check it out. http://www.oneforjasmina.com/

Head Injuries and when to go to the hospital!

Embedded video from CNN Video