I am not for Peppie

I think my quest for a dog is going to be put on hold for a while. I have been refused from a few shelters because I am out of the house too long during the day. The hardest disappointment came today. I completed my application and forwarded it on yesterday to START II in hopes of adopting Peppie. I received an email requesting me to call Marge to schedule an appointment to go to the shelter to meet Peppie. I was so happy to hear the news. I called Marge today and was told that my application was accepted and she asked when can I go to the shelter. I told her the earliest I can get there is tomorrow, Sunday. She preceded to ask me questions which I already answered on the application; no worries, I answered them again. Then she abruptly says to me, "How would you like to be left home for 9 hours!" Goodbye...


I was a bit dumbfounded. I didn't have any information about Peppie except what was posted on FB and PetFinder. I didn't know he was only 7 months old. I found that out after my daughter-in-law called Marge to find out why I was denied the offer to give Peppie a loving home. And a loving home he would have had with us. Anyone who knows our family knows Sierra was treated as a princess until the day we had to say goodbye to her.

Guess what shelter Sierra, Jackson, and Louie are all from. Yes, START II. The shelter that I have been sending donations too because I was so grateful to them for permitting us to adopt Sierra; our lives were enhanced by sharing our home with Sierra for 14 years. Since Laura passed, I have been asking people to send donations to START II in memory of my daughter's love for dogs. We celebrate Laura's birthday with friends and family yearly and I always add the shelter's name and address for anyone who wishes to donate.

I recruit friends to support the Tricky Trays they sponsor. Whenever my daughter-in-law is buying food for the shelter I always tell her to buy some from me.

I have a lot in common with shelter dogs. I too was abandoned at a very early age.

Will I continue to support this rescue squad? Absolutely, Marge is only looking out for the animals' best interest and that is exactly the way a shelter should be managed. Thank you Marge for caring about the animals and all you do for them. I know you will find Peppie a wonderful, forever home.

Elmwood Park, NJ - Miniature Pinscher Mix. Meet Peppie a Dog for Adoption.

Elmwood Park, NJ - Miniature Pinscher Mix. Meet Peppie a Dog for Adoption.

The Worst Time to Have Surgery : By the month, day, and hour

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/07/the-worst-time-to-have-surgery/309393/

The Worst Time to Have Surgery

By the month, day, and hour

Atlantic

James Hamblin

“Touch not with iron that part of the body ruled by the sign the moon is transiting,” commanded an ancient medical-astrology tract. Meaning, since Taurus rules the neck and throat, you should not get a cyst removed from your neck when the moon is in Taurus. Likewise, no hysterectomies when the moon is in Scorpio (the ruler of sex organs).

We don’t talk much about lunar cycles in the average doctor’s office today, but this doesn’t mean timing is irrelevant in modern medicine.

According to one bit of popular lore, you should avoid being hospitalized in July, when that year’s graduating medical students begin working as residents. Every physician has to have a first day, but in the U.S. system, July 1 is everyone’s first day. Could this confluence of rookie doctors mean more medical errors? Researchers at Johns Hopkins reviewed almost 3,000 surgeries for spinal metastases and found a higher rate of complications during July surgeries, as well as a higher mortality rate [1]. Still, other studies have found that surgical outcomes are no worse in July than in any other month, perhaps due to increased vigilance by senior doctors [2].

Which is not to say that the calendar doesn’t make a difference: people admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis on public holidays are, compared with patients admitted on non-holidays, 48 percent more likely to be dead one week later [3]. The clock matters, too: with each hour that passes on a given day of performing colonoscopies, the average gastroenterologist is 4.6 percent less likely to detect a colon polyp [4]. Similarly, in a study of surgeries at Duke University Medical Center, the likelihood of problems related to anesthesia increased from a low of 1 percent during surgeries starting at 9 a.m. to a high of 4.2 percent for those starting at 4 p.m., possibly because practitioners grew tired over the course of the day [5].

Timing might even influence whether you have surgery: the economist H. Shelton Brown III once described a “rush hour effect,” whereby women in labor were more likely to have an unplanned C‑section on Friday between 3 and 9 p.m.—perhaps, he suggested, doctors were interested in getting things wrapped up before the weekend (those “things” being infants) [6]. Night is not the ideal time to be in labor, either. One California study found a 25 percent greater risk of neonatal death following nighttime deliveries. Some of that increased risk could have been because nighttime hospitalizations disproportionately involve emergencies and other complications. But even controlling for such factors, infant death was 16 percent more likely following a late-night birth [7].

Medical researchers don’t do these sorts of studies to inform medical consumers so much as to identify the causes of medical errors, with an eye toward prevention. Still, now you know: early to bed, early to get the best colonoscopies and surgeries; and stay safely in your home, motionless, on public holidays.


The Studies:
[1] Dasenbrock et al., “The Impact of July Hospital Admission on Outcome After Surgery for Spinal Metastases at Academic Medical Centers in the United States, 2005 to 2008” (Cancer, 2012)

[2] McDonald et al., “The Effect of July Admission on Inpatient Outcomes Following Spinal Surgery” (Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine, 2013)

[3] Smith et al., “Emergency Medical Admissions, Deaths at Weekends and the Public Holiday Effect. Cohort Study” (Emergency Medicine Journal, 2012)

[4] Lee et al., “Queue Position in the Endoscopic Schedule Impacts Effectiveness of Colonoscopy” (The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 2011)

[5] Wright et al., “Time of Day Effects on the Incidence of Anesthetic Adverse Events” (Quality and Safety in Health Care, 2006)

[6] Brown, “Physician Demand for Leisure: Implications for Cesarean Section Rates” (Journal of Health Economics, 1996)

[7] Gould et al., “Time of Birth and the Risk of Neonatal Death” (Obstetrics and Gynecology, 2005)

Ginger's Best Buy Drugs Digital Health Finds for Friday

The link between digital health and self diagnosing [mHealthWatch]

Nearly two-thirds of Americans now turn to online and mobile resources to research their medical questions and whatever ails them. Approximately half of these individuals then go on to diagnose themselves. Understandably, this reality has raised no shortage of concerns among healthcare professionals. A recently published infographic highlights the emerging trend of self-diagnosis and points to some alarming problems that must be addressed.

45 percent of smartphone users want online physician appointment booking [mobihealthnews]
A large percentage of Americans want access to health services from their smartphone, but more want it through their laptop or desktop, according to a recently published survey conducted by Harris Interactive and HealthDay. Some 43 percent of respondents were interested in asking doctors questions, another 45 percent were interested in booking appointments, while 42 percent were interested in checking the effects and side effects of a medicine. While the percentage differences between the age groups didn’t vary much, people over the age of 65 were less interested than other age groups. Of the healthcare services listed, the patients were least interested in getting reminders to participate in programs for exercise, diet, weight loss and other wellness programs.

How accurate are fitness trackers? [NY Times]
Nate Meckes recognized that he needed to study the accuracy of activity monitors after wearing one. A shipment of the devices, known technically as accelerometers and designed to measure a person’s movement and energy expenditure, had arrived at Arizona State University, where Dr. Meckes was a researcher. To ensure they were operational, he slipped one over his hip and wore it throughout the day, including to an interminable meeting where he stood up and paced. “I’m not good at sitting still,” he says. Checking his monitor afterward, though, he was flabbergasted. “It had recorded that I was not moving at all,” says Dr. Meckes, now an assistant professor at Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, Calif. The experience inspired him to set up an experiment examining how reliable such devices are.

5 ways social media makes patients stronger [Parker White]
Facebook now boasts 900 million users, and is posed to reach 1 billion users soon. Twitter is estimated to have more than 500 million users. With this many users, communities within communities have developed in each social network. These communities have served to fill a void in the lives of people who face health problems, satisfying the universal human desire to know “you are not alone.” The Internet is incredibly powerful in its way to connect people and to also educate and empower people. Here are 5 ways social media is giving rise to the empowered patient:

Family caregivers are wired for health [Pew Internet]
Four in ten adults in the U.S. are caring for an adult or child with significant health issues, up from 30 percent in 2010. Caregivers are highly engaged in the pursuit of health information, support, care, and advice, both online and offline, and do many health-related activities at higher levels than non-caregivers. Eighty-seven percent of caregivers in the U.S. own a cell phone and, of those, 37 percent say they have used their phone to look for health or medical information online. This is a significantly higher than the rate of mobile health search among non-caregivers at the time of the survey: 84 percent of non-caregivers own a cell phone and 27 percent have used their phone to look online for health information.

Musty odor eliminator nature's way

I just read this; I don't know if it works but it is worth a try.

Debbie's Weekly Tip - musty smelling quilts? If you lay your musty smelling quilts outside on the grass for the day on a clean sheet and cover them with a sheet, something mysterious happens and the musty smell is gone when you take them inside. I'm sure there is some chemical reaction between the sun, the grass and the fresh air but who knows exactly what, I just know it works for me! I do it to my outdoor furniture cushions too, and skip the sheets, I just throw them in the grass for the day and it works - try it!

Friday, June 21 is Sierra's birthday

Sierra would be celebrating her 16th birthday if she was still here.

Laura, please make sure Sierra gets her Frosty Paws for her birthday treat!

Sierra, you are still the best dog ever. We love and miss you.

We will see you again one day.

Blessed to have girlfriends

There is one friend I can envision on the lounge chair along side me.
Can you guess who she is?

Hint: Currently she has a sore foot!

Colburn Family Benefit

JOAN LEAVEY’S NEICE

The family is offering a (50/50) that people can purchase.

$5 a ticket or 6 for $25.

Colburn Family Benefit

Recently Joe Colburn, husband of Cindy Colburn (Skvorec) and father of three young children was diagnosed with advanced cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). Joe and his family are facing many challenges ahead.

Please join us for a fundraiser to support the Colburns & Joe in his fight.


Where: Noonan’s Pearl River, NY

When: July 5 at 8:00PM-11:00PM

Cost: $50 includes food, unlimited

beer wine, soda.

Live Music: by Roddy Harrington &Special Guest

Raffles & Prizes

Stained Glass Cross

My friend, B, made this beautiful stained glass cross for a gift.

Her creations are amazing.

Bird in the middle of nowhere...

Monday, morning of day 2 on our cruise. We were far from land

yet we  had a pretty visitor hanging out on our deck enjoying her rest. 

It is amazing how Laura is always making us aware of her!

We love receiving her special hello.

Bermuda hibiscus

RWJ: $120k challenge to help understand hospital pricing data

FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES $120,000 CHALLENGE TO HELP CONSUMERS UNDERSTAND AND ACT UPON HOSPITAL PRICING


Applicants will create data visualizations and applications to help people compare what different hospitals charge

Princeton, N.J. – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has launched a competition among technology developers to improve consumer understanding and use of data that compare hospital prices. Winners of the RWJF Hospital Price Transparency Challenge will share $120,000 in prize money. The competition was announced yesterday at Health Datapalooza IV in Washington, DC.

Last month the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) took the unprecedented step of publishing prices charged by more than 3,000 hospitals for the 100 most common inpatient procedures. The information showed extreme variation in pricing among U.S. hospitals—even those operating in the same communities. Experts say it underscores the urgent need for transparency in the health care system.

The RWJF Hospital Price Transparency Challenge is designed to further disseminate the use of the CMS hospital data. The competition consists of two components—one for creating visualizations of the data and another for developing consumer applications and tools. The visualization challenge requires entrants to create visual representations to help consumers and others better understand, explore and interpret the information. Applicants are encouraged to incorporate other data which can be used in combination with the hospital pricing data. The apps and tools developed should help improve understanding of the hospital pricing information and promote further transparency about prices.

“The challenge asks technology developers to transform these data into intuitive, actionable tools,” said Katherine Hempstead, Ph.D., senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “We hope this will spark discussion and innovation that will help further progress toward increased price transparency in health care.”

Winners of the visualization component of the challenge will be announced at the Health 2.0 Fall Conference in October 2013. The deadline for submissions is August 25. The app and tools component will take place in two phases. The first phase will select five semi-finalists, who will be announced at the Health 2.0 Fall Conference. The deadline for this first phase is August 4. The second phase will select winning entries from among the semi-finalists. Winners will be announced on December 9 at the mHealth Summit. Staff from Health 2.0 and Visualizing.org will manage both challenges.

This is the third competition RWJF has sponsored with Health 2.0 to seek innovative uses of health care data. RWJF launched the ‘Aligning Forces Challenge’ in 2011, seeking applications to make health care quality data more accessible, and announced the winners at the 2012 Health Datapalooza. In 2012, RWJF launched the ‘Games to Generate Data Challenge,’ currently ongoing, which asks developers to use games and gaming concepts to create health care quality data.

Information on the challenge is available at: http://www.health2con.com/devchallenge/rwjf-hospital-price-transparency-challenge/.

Back to reality...

Vacation was a lot of fun.