The Power of Aging Health Festival
June 24, 2010
Sweltering heat, summer is here
The health fair is on
We walk around fanning ourselves
Checking our blood pressure, blood sugar
Many things to read
Some of the things we’ve heard or seen before
And others are new
Once the fair is gone, we will still be here
Diabetes and I
Hey! It’s not easy..there’s no cure
It will never go away
What do we eat, sometimes can we cheat?
Eat a piece of cake at a birthday party
Maybe our favorite candy bar?
We walk around, retrace our steps, talk to the nurses
We walk together everywhere we go
I have an idea of what’s going on
I feel better today because someone cares
Someone understands that life is complicated
And so is Diabetes…I will take care of myself
I said the same thing at last years fair
This year will be different
I will make my enemy a friend I can manage and live with
It could be worse
I could have a roommate
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Diabetes Hispanic Community Center
I'm going blind and can hardly see.
I have numbness and tingling, especially my feet.
My provider gave me a meal plan,
but I can't help it I love to eat!
A nurse came to visit my community center, it's like my second home.
I go there to socialize. When I'm there I never feel alone.
The nurse showed some examples of an eye,
both normal and the effects of diabetes after a long time.
I asked a lot of questions about food, my body, and medications.
He gave me examples of how to adjust to different situations.
I have to change to my diet, exercise, and work with my provider.
I don't know it all, but learned valuable lessons and I'm a fighter!
My first experience in working with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) felt like I was in the right place at the right time. I had been volunteering with nycares.org since college and was lucky enough to find this association through the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) group that I belong to. I noticed a disconnect between the Hispanic population and self-management of diabetes, both in the community interacting with people and in the hospital where I work as a cardiac nurse. When this opportunity came along, I reached out to the ADA that was in need of a Spanish speaking medical professional.
While working at a Hispanic community center in the Bronx, with the help of the ADA team, we performed a preassessment to gauge the audience's level of understanding of diabetes and to appropriately meet the clients at their education level. We also did a post-test to identify their level of understanding and any areas we would need to work on in future presentations.
I really enjoyed working with the older adult population. Being Hispanic myself, I felt like I was speaking to a living room full of family members. I made myself available and open to learning from the audience as well. I learned about their strengths and their fears with diabetes. I answered many questions and concerns and really look forward to continue working with Hispanics and diabetes, aside from other volunteer work with different groups of people independent of the ADA.
I have numbness and tingling, especially my feet.
My provider gave me a meal plan,
but I can't help it I love to eat!
A nurse came to visit my community center, it's like my second home.
I go there to socialize. When I'm there I never feel alone.
The nurse showed some examples of an eye,
both normal and the effects of diabetes after a long time.
I asked a lot of questions about food, my body, and medications.
He gave me examples of how to adjust to different situations.
I have to change to my diet, exercise, and work with my provider.
I don't know it all, but learned valuable lessons and I'm a fighter!
My first experience in working with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) felt like I was in the right place at the right time. I had been volunteering with nycares.org since college and was lucky enough to find this association through the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) group that I belong to. I noticed a disconnect between the Hispanic population and self-management of diabetes, both in the community interacting with people and in the hospital where I work as a cardiac nurse. When this opportunity came along, I reached out to the ADA that was in need of a Spanish speaking medical professional.
While working at a Hispanic community center in the Bronx, with the help of the ADA team, we performed a preassessment to gauge the audience's level of understanding of diabetes and to appropriately meet the clients at their education level. We also did a post-test to identify their level of understanding and any areas we would need to work on in future presentations.
I really enjoyed working with the older adult population. Being Hispanic myself, I felt like I was speaking to a living room full of family members. I made myself available and open to learning from the audience as well. I learned about their strengths and their fears with diabetes. I answered many questions and concerns and really look forward to continue working with Hispanics and diabetes, aside from other volunteer work with different groups of people independent of the ADA.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Art and WMD
A childs mind, like a sponge, absorbs it's immediate environment
good or bad, the home, media, and eventually the outside world
8 year old with head buried in a book and goldfish crackers
How will I be a positive influence today? How will I make it not about me or saving the world,but about bringing out the strengths and stimulating the child's mind to seek out answers and information to form new ones without instilling my own ideals or values? The project was a bead design and he decided to create a fish, the fish he was just eating. The second project he created was a gun that he would aim and play with. He spoke of how in the past people could argue verbally or physically, then spears, guns and now atomic bombs. I wonder when a child loses innocence, is it when they have learned these things or is it when permanence sets in, the cartoon inflicted with a gun shot wound that returns completely intact in the next scene will not have the same effect in real life. The final message we spoke about was how words can hurt just as much, if not more than a gun and how use of guns for protection most often results in inflicting the person that owns it rather than the actual initial thought out purpose. There was silence, a momentary flicker in his eye and our dialogue is a small part of an eventual formation of his own philosophy. Hopefully one that will adjust to the changing societal and environmental structures. I admit working with children is not my strong point, but it is a great challenge as I can also learn from the flexibility and openness of a child's creative mind.
good or bad, the home, media, and eventually the outside world
8 year old with head buried in a book and goldfish crackers
How will I be a positive influence today? How will I make it not about me or saving the world,but about bringing out the strengths and stimulating the child's mind to seek out answers and information to form new ones without instilling my own ideals or values? The project was a bead design and he decided to create a fish, the fish he was just eating. The second project he created was a gun that he would aim and play with. He spoke of how in the past people could argue verbally or physically, then spears, guns and now atomic bombs. I wonder when a child loses innocence, is it when they have learned these things or is it when permanence sets in, the cartoon inflicted with a gun shot wound that returns completely intact in the next scene will not have the same effect in real life. The final message we spoke about was how words can hurt just as much, if not more than a gun and how use of guns for protection most often results in inflicting the person that owns it rather than the actual initial thought out purpose. There was silence, a momentary flicker in his eye and our dialogue is a small part of an eventual formation of his own philosophy. Hopefully one that will adjust to the changing societal and environmental structures. I admit working with children is not my strong point, but it is a great challenge as I can also learn from the flexibility and openness of a child's creative mind.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Soup Kitchen Volunteer
St. Francis Xavier
January 31, 2010
Do you ever wonder where the bread goes once it has been removed from the grocery store? When the expiration date has arrived or is no longer “fresh” because it wasn’t made that day. My assigned task today was to slice bread and bagels and butter them in an assembly-like form in a soup kitchen. It’s about 17 degrees outside and I can’t help to think who will eat this bread once it’s buttered. Bread came in all forms, including one with the bottom that resembled the skin of an adult elephant perhaps its’ knee, and even tougher yet to slice through. I wonder, how much butter would I like on my bread if I were on the receiving end? Why is there no option for a plain roll or how much more expensive can it be to offer cream cheese instead. My assembly line partner that stands in front of me becomes more of a mechanical participant as we are overtaken by the repetitive actions of cutting, buttering and the drone flapping sound of two slices coming together. Occasionally, I look up to see less fortunate people sifting through the organized piles of free clothing and I wonder why I feel disgruntled when the bins at the stores I buy clothes are in disarray. We sometimes forget that we have choices and even when it seems there is no choice you can still make a decision. To eat the buttered bread or not, to volunteer or not, there is a choice. It is not a matter of feeling more fortunate because someone else may be less fortunate, it is not a matter of pity or sorrow. It is a call to action to set aside time from a daily routine, to disrupt it every once in a while for the sake of being a pebble to disturb the pond and have a ripple effect . It is an effect that begins with a slice of buttered bread and ends with the temporary satisfaction of someone else’s hunger so they can carry out their own daily routine and hopefully produce an effect of their own.
January 31, 2010
Do you ever wonder where the bread goes once it has been removed from the grocery store? When the expiration date has arrived or is no longer “fresh” because it wasn’t made that day. My assigned task today was to slice bread and bagels and butter them in an assembly-like form in a soup kitchen. It’s about 17 degrees outside and I can’t help to think who will eat this bread once it’s buttered. Bread came in all forms, including one with the bottom that resembled the skin of an adult elephant perhaps its’ knee, and even tougher yet to slice through. I wonder, how much butter would I like on my bread if I were on the receiving end? Why is there no option for a plain roll or how much more expensive can it be to offer cream cheese instead. My assembly line partner that stands in front of me becomes more of a mechanical participant as we are overtaken by the repetitive actions of cutting, buttering and the drone flapping sound of two slices coming together. Occasionally, I look up to see less fortunate people sifting through the organized piles of free clothing and I wonder why I feel disgruntled when the bins at the stores I buy clothes are in disarray. We sometimes forget that we have choices and even when it seems there is no choice you can still make a decision. To eat the buttered bread or not, to volunteer or not, there is a choice. It is not a matter of feeling more fortunate because someone else may be less fortunate, it is not a matter of pity or sorrow. It is a call to action to set aside time from a daily routine, to disrupt it every once in a while for the sake of being a pebble to disturb the pond and have a ripple effect . It is an effect that begins with a slice of buttered bread and ends with the temporary satisfaction of someone else’s hunger so they can carry out their own daily routine and hopefully produce an effect of their own.
Stroke Hospital Volunteer
Snow, Rain, Sunshine, Snow
Just as nature continues
Our body, part of nature continues
Functioning and Dysfunctioning
It is often taken for granted, the living and dying
When everyday you observe more sick and dying than living
On a stroke unit playing a board game
I wonder, what difference am I making?
At the end of the game, after he has won
He smiles and says how much fun he’s had
The card draws, the counting, the stories
The mind is reminded how to function and connect
When a human connection is made
And as you recount a story from your past
When your present memory fails
You feel the failures or the joys of that moment
Mentally, in an instant, you are rejuvenated
Just as nature continues
Our body, part of nature continues
Functioning and Dysfunctioning
It is often taken for granted, the living and dying
When everyday you observe more sick and dying than living
On a stroke unit playing a board game
I wonder, what difference am I making?
At the end of the game, after he has won
He smiles and says how much fun he’s had
The card draws, the counting, the stories
The mind is reminded how to function and connect
When a human connection is made
And as you recount a story from your past
When your present memory fails
You feel the failures or the joys of that moment
Mentally, in an instant, you are rejuvenated
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