You Can't Control How You Die....But You Can Control How You Live!

Just an update to let you know that so far my heart is looking good. A tiny bulge in the atrial septum (which could be something I was born with), which is the reason for the "bubble test". I can tell you that as a nurse, you are taught to NEVER push air through a patients veins intentionally....so to watch a nurse (even a seasoned cardiac nurse) push saline/air 3 times in your body while watching for bubbles in the heart is a strange experience!! I still haven't figured out what keeps you from having an embolism! I Will find out the results of that test hopefully Monday (which tells me that if there is a hole, if so, it must not be huge since they let me go home last night)!





But other than that, I seem to be heart healthy!! The EKG was not totally normal, but seems to be an age related change. All in all, it was a scary 24 hours, but I feel certain that I have been checked out well!! Vanderbilt Heart did not let me down (other than when the intake nurse told me to remove my "training bra" and shared that the kind of stress test I was having was the "big one before the heart cath!)!! They took good care of me, and put up with me asking a million questions and wanting to see every picture they were taking! Apparently I nailed the treadmill test! They told me that if I was flying within the next 3 days the radioactive material would show up on the detectors at the airport, so I would need a note! Very comforting that all that work I have done to DETOX my body has now been messed up with radioactive isotopes! Looks like I am back on the DETOX Monday!





Lessons learned:





1. DON'T wait until you think your are having a heart attack (or stroke etc) to find out your family history! It may just be too late to do anything about it at that point. You can't fight genetics!!


2. You ARE what you eat!!! So don't be on your way to the hospital thinking about all of the years you ate processed, fast, not REAL food and wondering if the damage done is too much to reverse!!


3. If you are reading this (doesn't matter how old you are).....MAKE lifestyle changes NOW and take your life back! I am a poster child for believing I am bullet proof and famous for too many years of burning the candle at both ends and thriving on more, more, more!! It will kill, kill, kill you!! I promise!


4. Get out an move!!! Even if you are only walking 10 minutes at a time, do that 2-3 times at least 3-5 days a week and start pumping some blood through your veins!!!


5. Realize that no matter what, ultimately we are not in control of when or where we might take our last breathe! But it IS in our control to live the best, cleanest, most pure life we can while we are given the GIFT of life (and yes, it is a GIFT)!! Kiss/hug/ your kids and anyone your love daily...because you don't know that when you leave the house that morning that you will be returning that evening! (and yes Jackson, I am preaching on death again!)


6. You can't control how you die....but you can control how you LIVE!!!


7. Breathe!!!





I have been telling my patients daily to pick up Dr. Josh Axes new cookbook called : The Real Food Diet ! It is loaded with EDUCATION and amazing REAL FOOD recipes! If you are not familiar with Dr. Axe, I would highly recommend that you find his Facebook page and also sign up for his newsletter! He is a chiropractor in town that is a genius in my opinion on nutrition and living a CLEAN lifestyle. He sends us patients weekly as I do him! Check him out! You won't be sorry! I am making his famous Kale chips today!





Thanks guys for the prayers, calls, texts, emails.....I am doing well! But, you can bet that this encounter with my mortality has opened my eyes and my heart to what it really means to LIVE LIFE....and I intend to do a better job it it......starting NOW!





~Peace,


Dani

Note to Self: Know your family history BEFORE you have a cardiac event!!

Note to Self: Know your family history BEFORE you have a cardiac event!!


I learned first hand yesterday that BEFORE you think you are having an heart attack or you have an EKG that says you have had some sort of cardiac event happen to you it would behoove one to have knowledge of one’s family history. I can speak from experience that the time to find out about major (as in sudden cardiac death) life altering events with one’s ancestors is ideally not when one is driving themselves to the cardiology department at Vanderbilt for a sudden visit with the cardiologist!! I can assure you that if I was going to have 4 hours off yesterday afternoon and all day today off, I would prefer to be doing something other than heart studies!!
I have had a few episodes the past three months of some pretty intense chest pain/pressure and diaphoresis that lasted for several minutes. The first one was on the acupuncture table with Dr. Wu out of the room and I had 60 needles in my face! I thought at one point I was going to have to get up and get help, but eventually the pain subsided. I was visualizing me stumbling into the hall at the office with little children there and me holding my chest with all those needles in my face like Pinhead from Hellraiser! Those parents would be paying therapy bills for years after their kids witnessed that! I had 2 more incidents like that and the last one was yesterday morning.
As usual our day was busy, busy, busy at the office. But eventually I got my nurse to do an EKG on me. Words can’t describe Dr. Kalb’s face when I asked him to read the EKG for me, and when he was told it was mine. He immediately had Maggie redo it thinking that the leads must have been switched. Same results, different nurse. I had a new patient waiting to be seen, and as we all know….hormones trump cardiac events in a time like this! When the patient ask me how I was doing I thought it best that I not tell her “I think I’ve had a heart attack recently and all hell is breaking lose outside this door”, instead I smiled and said “great, and you?” Dr. Kalb proceeds to tell me in his diplomatic way after I saw the patient that “it seems you have had one major or a few minor heart attacks at some point.”. What the heck? Apparently as I was meeting the new patient he was on the phone with cardiology and when I came out of the room he had an appointment for me to get to Vandy stat! I am driving down the road with my EKG that says something about at a left anterior block etc…..and wondering who the heck will get my kids after school!
Decided to quickly call my parents to get a family history, since I had never really thought much about it in my 45 years of life. First shocker and cause for 2 more cardiac events in my heart was that my maternal grandfather was the 13th person in the US to have open heart surgery here in Nashville, and both of his brothers (my uncles) died suddenly of cardiac arrest before the age of 49! My sweet mother says, didn’t you know that he died “in the middle of Kentucky Fried Chicken delivering milk”…well hell no I didn’t know anyone died of cardiac arrest, much less 2 uncles! My mother does have pretty severe mitral valve prolapse as well (which I was aware of). My father proceeds tell me that his father died at the age of 49 in the backseat of the car as grandmother was driving on vacation of a sudden cardiac arrest! None of these relatives had any idea they had heart problems!!! For crying out loud….here I am driving on I65 to get to Vandy and suddenly find out that I have 5 relatives (and not distant ones at that) and 3 of them had no warning at all, with heart problems!
I was in the exam room within 5 minutes of walking into the cardiology department….divine intervention indeed! Dr. Irani was impressed with my family history (his words, not mine). He is impressed and I am horrified! He said that with a history like that I automatically have 3 risks factors for heart disease no matter what my EKG says. My repeat EKG shows some sort of event, but not as bad as the one at the office showed! Praise God, but he did send me for an ECHO and told me we would either be going directly to have a heart cath or have a nuclear stress test today. Thank God, I am off to have a stress test and not the cath! Besides, I argued with him that I would prefer to have the cath in the daytime when the doctor and staff are fresh and not in the evening when everyone is tired! He wasn’t amused and let me know that I was not in charge of when or if I get the cath!
Moral of this story is that it’s a good idea to have a good family history for all disease!! Not just heart disease….the time to find out your family is riddled with sudden cardiac events is not when you are on your way to the cardiologist!!
The kicker to this is that I am healthier now than I have ever been! I have been detoxifying my life and body for the past year. Working on my adrenal glands and hormones as well as well training for the ½ marathon. My life has been focused on my children, my God and my health since getting out of school and burning the candle at both ends for way too many years! My hope is that it’s not too late to reverse whatever is going on! But in case it is, I am getting a mani/pedi today and my house is clean…just in case! All joking aside, when it’s time to go, doesn’t matter if your toenails are painted or your toilet is clean….when it’s time it’s time! Better be ready!!

PS: I got a new patient yesterday while waiting to see the cardiologist! Dr. Irani’s nurse asked for my card and is making an appointment! Whoohoo!!

Adrenal Fatigue

Are you hitting the snooze alarm continually, feel sluggish until mid-morning, wiped out when you get home in the evening or possibly get a burst of energy when it is time to go to sleep? You could be adrenally fatigued. A condition that is treatable with the proper lifestyle modifications, supplements, nutrients and herbal adaptogens.
I have patients on a daily basis that are experiencing high levels of emotional, mental, family and work stressors on a continual basis. Some have “burned the candle at both ends” for way too many years, and some have simply been under chronic stress for a multitude of reasons. They come to our office oftentimes after having sought help from various practitioners, simply to be told that their “lab tests are normal” and they just need to exercise more, lose weight and/or “start saying no” to commitments!
It has been my experience that most people have never heard of adrenal fatigue, much less know where their adrenal glands are located or exactly what their function is in our lives! Adrenal glands secrete cortisol in times of stress, exercise, low blood sugar (we will address low blood sugar and cortisol later)! Cortisol is your “fight or flight” hormone. Adrenal glands become compromised and sluggish when stress is not well managed and the adrenals are constantly pumping out cortisol. Eventually, they simply “poop out” and cortisol is unable to rise to meet our daily needs. Therefore, causing fatigue, sluggishness, anxiety, craving for sweets, allergies, reduced tolerance for stress the “tired but wired” feeling, sleep disturbances that many of us are experiencing.
At CSFM we can help you overcome adrenal fatigue by evaluating your cortisol levels with saliva testing that test 4x during the day (cortisol should be the highest it will be in a 24 hour period when we wake up). Cortisol slowly declines as the day progresses, it is low cortisol that allows us to go to sleep at night. I see all levels of adrenal fatigue weekly.
Adrenal fatigue is best treated with lifestyle modifications such as:
1. At least 8 hours of sleep a night (sleep beginning before midnight is a must). The bed is for sleep and sex only….if you aren’t sleeping or having sex, get out of the bed!
2. Meals at least every 4 hours with adequate protein and complex carbohydrates.
3. Exercise at least 4-5 days a week of 20-30 minutes. No strenuous exercise: preferably yoga, stretching, breath work.
Nutrients: Supplements
1. High doses of vitamin C 2-3 times daily
2. Vitamins B5 and B6
3. Vitamin E
Adrenal adaptogens:
1. Ashwaghanda
2. Holy Basil
3. Licorice (used cautiously for elevated cortisol)
4. Rhodiola
5. Ginseng (used cautiously for elevated cortisol)

Adrenal Cortex or Cortisol is reserved for the most severe of cases.

For a complete saliva testing evaluation make an appointment at Cool Springs Family Medicine to see Dr. Kalb or Dani.


PS: The good news is that adrenal glands are easily treated, but can take months to a year or more to recover completely….be patient and consistent in your journey to better health!

Change is good....coconut oil is almost even better!

Wow, since I last blogged in March I have recovered physically (never will emotionally) from my 21 days in Haiti, packed up yet again (4 times in 5 months is too much), moved back to my awesome tiny home in Nashville, started my new job at the most amazing office (Cool Springs Family Medicine), and moved my first born back into the nest with us again!! Not to mention the many other happenings in our otherwise gypsy life! As I sit here during the most amazingly beautiful day I believe this year, I started reflecting on the enormous responsibility of my new life as a nurse practitioner.

My new job and one that incredibly enough I found on Craigslist of all places is ideal for me. I have landed a sweet deal in the most balanced mixture of traditional and integrative medicine of any place I have ever known! Cool Springs Family Medicine is a family medicine practice that Dr. Dan Kalb owns and runs as a wellness center. Daily I go to him and voice how stupid I feel when these patients arrive and want to treat some illness with herbs, supplements or one of many natural remedies that have been used for centuries! I am learning daily that our bodies are chronically depleted of the vital nutrients and vitamins we need to live the life that God created us to live!!

Following is a fraction of what I have learned in the 3 short months of practicing a balance of traditional/integrative medicine:

1. Garlic oil, oil of oregano and colloidal silver is an amazing cure for an otherwise not severe ear infection!! Who knew? Not me and apparently not my high priced school that educated me for 3 years!

2. Candida is the root of all evil in our gut! Get rid of the candida, get rid of the symptoms!!

3. 99.9% if not 100% of our diseases (illnesses) we have stem from the gut....leaky gut is fixable and the difference I have seen in patients lives with a GOOD Pro-biotic (at least 20 billion flora) and digestive enzymes is mind blowing!

4. Food sensitivity testing is a sure fire way to get people to realize that what they are eating is sure enough causing their symptoms of bloating, headaches, eczema, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, heartburn and the list goes on and on and on!!

5. Adrenal Fatigue is a term that even though never once mentioned in NP school (and apparently MD school as well), is a very real thing and most likely the cause of many peoples thyroid problems....fix the adrenal glands (the glands that make cortisol) and the symptoms of hypothyroidism lessen if not resolve completely.

6. It takes longer than 20 minutes to start to find the "root" of the symptoms, just treating the symptoms has never and will never "cure" the problem! Most issues dont'need a pill to fix, they need a LIFESTYLE CHANGE and determination from the patient (and practitioner) to regain their health and vitality!!

7. One can instantly be humbled (and the reality of our job realized in an instant) when a brand new patient I referred to ENT, because "something just didn't look right" for a swollen left tonsil x one month: and the ENT calls and faxes the report over after having just removed an "invasive squamous cell carcinoma" of the tonsil! A 6 cm cancer!! The need to find an oncologist was not on my list of differentials nor the patient's when they came to see me for answers! I didn't know what was wrong, I simply thank God knew that I didn't need to be messing around with antibiotics (or alternative treatments) for months at a time....God covered me! I am still rattled over this case daily!!

8. Coconut oil is good for just about any skin rash....as an anti-fungal it helps with candida as well!

9. Vitamin D deficiency is a chronic problem.....

10. Dr. Ward was right when he would tell me "you can't afford NOT to Dani" when I would complain in years past that I "can't afford to take .....supplements, vitamins".....oh the beauty of hindsight!!

11. Lymes Disease is real and a booger to diagnose and treat!!

12. Hormones, hormones, hormones are constantly changing and constantly needing to be tweaked!! But Bio-Identical Hormones are the cure for most women and men!

13. When the doctors in the ER fired me on the spot and told me I was taking too long to learn the ER.....that was in reality a blessing God handed me!! Who knew at the time? Not me that's for sure! But I sure do now, and thank God everyday for getting me out of that ER when he did and into a place that is 100x harder to learn, but actually making a difference in people lives everyday!!

I am blessed beyond belief to find my niche in life! Not once, but twice in my life!! God is good, even when I haven't been that's for darn sure!

Onward~ Dani

I have taken a week to recoup, job search and simply zone out since I have been home from my 21 days in Haiti!! I have had an adjustment period that I didn't expect. I didn't expect to miss Haiti! I find myself missing the non-stop uncertainty of providing healthcare in such an unstable environment! I am already making plans to find a way back to continue what I started in Haiti....with that said, I am gathering supplies from anyone interested in helping me to send to the Maternity Clinic that Medical Missionaries operates in Thomassique. Before I left I met with the midwife assistant who was trained by the incredible organization Midwives for Haiti and we discussed the needs and wants of the clinic. As we compared our thoughts, it was comforting to know that her wants and desires for the clinic were exactly the same as mine! They are in need of basic supplies. The mothers are instructed to bring their own sheets, their own diapers, blankets, towels etc. Anything that is needed for labor and post partum. Many mothers arrive at the clinic with nothing but maybe a bucket (to use as a place to urinate etc.) and some food to eat.

It was clearly evident the moment I had my first delivery that there was a need to have basic supplies donated and kept stocked. The clinic has between 40-50 deliveries a month, therefore the need is continual and vast!! We discussed ways to keep a list and inventory updated so that hopefully, there is always an inventory of BASIC supplies! I am not talking about anything fancy here.

So, with that said: I am appealing to anyone that can to help me gather donations for this much needed cause! There is no mail service in Thomassique, therefore anything collected will have to be sent to Manassas VA to the Medical Missionary office and shipped from there. The two American Fellows will be returning in April to the states and have agreed to take some supplies back with them to Haiti until a sea container can arrive in a few months with the rest of the shipment!

I am including a list of what is needed. I have one friend (thanks Diana) who has a group of women in the Murray area making some blankets etc.!!

Supplies needed on a daily basis:
1. Receiving Blankets (all sizes needed)
2. NB diapers both cloth with pins or velcro and disposable
3. Sanitary pads for mom after delivery
4. Poise disposable panties (I had one in a package and that was it) or some kind of PP panty
5. Chuck's disposable pads used in L/D etc. for the delivery table and PP bed
6. Formula for the babies that can't/won't nurse or for other reasons
7. Towels, washcloths etc. for cleaning the NB after delivery
8. Twin sheets
9. NB outfits/hats/socks
10. I would love to make up NB packets with a blanket, diapers, outfit

These are the basic mother/baby needs of the clinic. There are other medical supply needs that I am working on.

If anyone wants to help me gather donations, pick up donations or make a donation (no donation is too small) just email me and we can get the ball rolling!!

My goal is to ship out the supplies by April 8 to VA! So my time on the first shipment is limited, but their will be many more shipments needed on a continual basis!!

Thanks for helping me with the much needed mission! We are so blessed in the US to have the luxury of all we have! And once again....I will never make a dent...but I am determined to make a difference!!

Dani
615-332-5032

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Helping Haiti 2010 February 11, 2010 Dear Family and Friends, So, here I sit fighting with those darn space saver bags (I don’t think they are working for me) to attempt to take as much as possible in one backpack for 21 days…I have had an emotional week to say the least. I can’t tell you how much your emails, Facebook messages, phone calls, text messages, visits have meant to me as I prepare for this journey. I am not the first person, nor will I be the last person to listen to God about a huge decision in one’s life. But, your support has meant the world to me and made this decision (and trust me, it is one I have doubted on many occasions the past 3 weeks) manageable. The devil has stepped in to derail this trip on every occasion he can. From dog sitting, to child sitting, and beyond he has attempted to block this trip. But, as my friend Evie told me this morning, “when you are in the middle of God’s will, nothing will stop you you”! I am counting on that….because for the first time in my life (other than when I accepted Christ), I followed the conviction on my heart and doors opened…even the ones the devil attempted to kick shut. So, unless something traumatic happens I will be on the 5:59 am flight from Barkley Regional to Chicago and beyond Saturday February 13, 2010!! My oldest and dearest friends Trish, Margo and Kim are taking me to the airport Saturday. Then my sweet cousin Vickie in VA is letting me spend 2 nights with her and taking me to the airport at 3 am on February 15! Events of the Week: 1. I taught a donation only Haiti Relief Yoga class at True North Yoga on Monday night! We had 21 students show up in the snow and donated $405.00 towards my trip!! I was humbled, and overwhelmed! I had not taught a class in several years and simply winged it! It was one jumbled mess, but we laughed our way through it! 2. I had an unexpected interview with WPSD News Channel 6 as I was loading up the medications/supplies that Western Baptist Hospital so generously donated to this trip. I have yet to see it, but heard it was short and sweet and got the point across!! 3. Ella and I shipped almost 300lbs (11 boxes) of what WBH donated plus Dr. Pete Ward’s donations from the Fed-Ex office on Monday. Shipping was $234.00, my Sunday school class had taken up an offering on Sunday….$226.00 was given! How good is God? 4. As of today we have had a total of $4,233.00 in the US Bank Haiti Relief fund!! Can you believe how people have stepped up, one donation at a time from $5.00 to $1,000.00!! God has blessed with being able to get this trip financed and buy supplies, pay for shipping costs and whatever is needed to get the job done! I can’t thank each and everyone of you enough for making this possible! My goal was $5,000.00 in donations! Who knows, when I come home, I may have reached my goal! Donations are still being accepted. 5. Please pray that a job will open up for me when I am away. I have sent out many resume’s and praying that this trip will not hinder my job search in any way! My prayer is that when I return, I have emails that want me to come interview! I may not be able to send news letters from Haiti, but if you sign up to follow the blog (it takes all of 5 minutes) then you can see the pictures and read the stories I have to tell the next 3 weeks. I am hoping to be able to blog from my phone! Follow my blog: http://ernursepractitioner.blogspot.com/ You can click the "FOLLOW" button in the upper left corner to follow the journey!!

Packed and ready to head to Haiti!! Donation List: Donations can be made to ANY US Bank branch, or mailed to: US Bank C/O Susan Ybarzabal 333 Broadway Paducah, KY 42001 Donations can also be mailed to: Dani Williamson 134 Mohawk Drive Paducah, KY 42001 Donations to: Dani Williamson C/O Haiti Relief Dr. Ward and I at the Haiti Relief Yoga Class!

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Helping Haiti 2010 Welcome to the first newsletter of Helping Haiti 2010! In order to better keep in touch with my friends, family and all that are supporting me daily with prayers and donations I decided to create a simple newsletter to keep everyone updated on the events of my upcoming journey. Events of today: 1. Confirmation email from Dr. Irwin of http://www.medmissionaries.org/ of my acceptance to be on the third/fourth team to head down to Haiti to offer healthcare to the Haitians. I will be traveling with an ER MD, Pedes NP, CRNA, General surgeon, and a PhD who is on the board of directors and is our team leader. It is a small team. I hope it isn't an indication of decreasing support. Please pray that our hearts and hands are blessed to do the work needed! 2. Western Baptist Hospital donated over $ 3,000.00 worth of medications on Dr. Irwin’s “wish list” as well as gloves, speculums, light sources for speculums, lubrication etc!! (I am a nurse midwife you know, so I am pushing for gynecological supplies)! 3. My tickets were bought and I am flying out of Paducah. Given the amount of supplies and the fact that I will be exhausted, I thought is best to use Barkley Regional instead of Nashville. I am attaching the flight itinerary for those of you who have this trip on your prayer lists. There is a day in between each flight, due to the fact that I couldn't get the flights lined up with Paducah. Sat. Feb 13 Depart 05:59 am Paducah Arrive: 2:04 pm Dulles Mon. Feb 15 Depart 06:00 am Dulles Arrive 1:10 pm Santo Domingo Mon. March 8 Depart 4:50 pm Santo Domingo Arrive 11:15 pm Dulles Tues. March 9 Depart 09:27 am Dulles Arrive 02;37 pm Paducah 4. As of today we have over $2,100.00 in monetary donations to be used for supplies for this medical mission trip!! I will use some of that money to buy the batteries needed for the light sources, Deet, water purification systems, flashlights , food, and anything else I am told is needed! Thank you so much for your help! Any amount of donation can help make a HUGE difference in the mission of slowly beginning to rebuild the lives and communities of the Haitian men, women and children. Donations can also be mailed to the address at the end of this newsletter. Follow my blog: http://ernursepractitioner.blogspot.com/ You can click the "FOLLOW" button in the upper left corner to follow the journey!!	Donation List: Donations can be made to ANY US Bank branch, or mailed to: US Bank C/O Susan Ybarzabal 333 Broadway Paducah, KY 42001 Donations to: Dani Williamson C/O Haiti Relief Two locations to drop off supplies for the "wish list": HOOPER'S Outdoor Center 219 Broadway Paducah, KY 10a-8p M-Sat 1p-5p Sunday Gold Gallery 1769 Mayfield Hwy. Benton, KY 42025 Supplies needed: By 2/12/2010 PERSONAL HYGIENE PRODUCTS • Soap • Shampoo & conditioner • Plastic combs • Toothpaste • Toothbrushes • Deodorant • Hand and body lotion • Washcloths MEDICAL SUPPLIES • Bandages (including soft-stretch bandages, ace bandages, and band-aids) • Rubbing alcohol or alcohol wipes • Antibiotic ointment • Gauze pads • Hand sanitizer • Saline solution/eye wash GENERAL:DEET, Flashlights, Batteries, Leather gloves