Thanks to my sister Becky for posting the below picture for me; I’ve been trying to post a picture for weeks but just can’t get the hang of it. The picture is of the kids during the fitting contest yesterday. Tomorrow evening they’ll be in the finals.

Thanks, Becky!  

Our family is at the AK-SAR-BEN Livestock Show in Omaha this weekend. Morgan will be showing her sheep and heifer and several feeder calves, and Cody will be showing a feeder calf. One of Tim’s long-time friends from college, and the best man at our wedding, is here with his kids, too, and many “Nebraska” cattle friends are here, so it will be a really fun weekend!

I went to the show for several years before asking Tim about the unusual name for the show, and that was when I found out it was “Nebraska spelled backwards.” 

For many years the show took place in central Omaha (it was probably on the outskirts of Omaha when it started), but about three years moved to the present location, the Quest Center. It’s a beautiful facility which also hosts concerts and sporting events. If you want to check it out, go to www.aksarben.org

We’re staying at the hotel right across the street so it’s been nice to be able to work in the hotel room while the kids are preparing for the show this afternoon.

I have three speaking engagements coming up in the next few weeks. I’ll be doing a book signing and short talk at the Abbey, a Christian bookstore in Norfolk, NE, next week.

The following week I’ll be speaking to a local group of Compassionate Friends, a group which contains parents whose children have died, either during pregnancy, at birth, or any point after birth. Check out the organization at www.compassionatefriends.org

At the end of the week I’ll be speaking to a MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) group. I love speaking to MOPS groups–MOPS is where I got the inspiration to write Home is Where the Mom Is; A Christian Mom’s Guide to Caring for Herself, Her Family, and Her Home. Check out the MOPS organization at www.mops.org.

I really enjoy speaking to these various groups, and pray I can offer encouragement or whatever information the listeners may need at that particular time.  

I’m going to continue posting information from my talk about Stretching Your Healthcare Dollars. Please send me any questions you have, or any topic you would like to see information on!

Over the Counter Medications

There are several simple ways you can save a significant amount of money on over-the-counter medications (I’ll talk about prescription medication in a future post).

First of all, make it a practice to read medication labels. Many medications are so-called “combination” medications–that is, they contain several ingredients to treat various symptoms.

Recently I compared several medications; one was to treat “Sinus and Headache,” one was for “Severe Allergy and Sinus Pain” and one was  for “Night-time Allergy and Headache.” Surprisingly, each of these medications contained the SAME ingredients! It’s a waste of money to buy different medications that contain the same ingredients.

Now, a caution: Many combination medications contain acetaminophen, known to most of us by the brand name, Tylenol. If you take a combination medication that contains acetaminophen, but don’t realize it so take more Tylenol (acetaminophen) for pain, you could be inadvertently taking an overdose of Tylenol/acetaminophen. Over time this could severely damage your liver.

Also, choose medications to treat only the symptoms you have. The more medications you take (alone, or in a combination medication) the more likely you are to suffer side effects.

A second way to save money on over-the-counter medications is to buy the store brand of the medication (Walgreens, WalMart, HyVee, etc), rather than the national brand (NyQuil, Tylenol, etc.) A store brand with the same ingredients will treat your symptoms as effectively as the name brand, at a MUCH cheaper price–often less than half of the cost of the name brand! 

Finally, consider  non-drug treatment for your symptoms. For sinus pain, try a warm washcloth over the painful area. Sit in a hot bath to clear your nose.

Remember that some symptoms are the body’s natural response to illness; fever, for example, is theorized to be the body’s attempt to kill the virus or bacteria that is causing an illness. Coughing up “gunk” is the body’s attempt to get rid of the yukky stuff; if you suppress the cough, your body cannot get rid of it.

Of course, a fever that causes severe discomfort, or a cough that disrupts sleep or causes pain probably should be treated so you can get the sleep you need; contact your doctor if you have questions.

WOW! It’s been a long time since I posted here. I was at Husker Harvest Days last week, and since then Morgan has been sick and I’ve been having back problems, so we’ve spent a lot of hours in the doctor’s office and at Physical Therapy.

At the Farm Progress Show in Illinois, and Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, I spoke on “Stretching Your Healthcare Dollars.” I got many positive comments about the talk, so I’m going to post excerpts from it here on the blog. If you have any questions or comments, please post them!

The Single Most Effective Way to Prevent the Spread of Illness

Cold and flu season, unfortunately, is almost here! I think people everywhere cringe at the thought of catching whatever bug is going around . . . and millions of hours of work and days of school will be missed during the upcoming months because of illness.

But there is something you can do to protect yourself against illness, and you will be surprised at the positive effect this simple measure can have on your life! It is . . . washing your hands, correctly and often.

You see, germs enter your body through your mucous membranes–your eyes, nose, and mouth–when you touch them with germ-laden fingers. We touch our face many times throughout the day, often as a habit or unconsciously. Every time you touch your face, you’re moving germs from whatever you’ve touched in the last few minutes–someone else’s hand, the handle of the shopping cart, or the bottle of water the clerk handed back to you after she scanned it at check-out–to your face.

By washing your hands often–before eating, after going to the restroom, after leaving stores, etc.–you’ll get rid of many of those germs before they have the chance to enter your body.

BUT–many people inadvertently re-contaminate their hands just after they wash them! Think of the process of washing your hands; turn on the faucets, wash and rinse your hands, turn off the faucets–OOPS! there it is–when you turn off the faucets that you just seconds ago turned on with your germy hands, you get your germs, as well as anyone who touched the faucets with THEIR germy hands before you, on your (previously) clean hands.

The solution? Easy, once you know what it is. BEFORE you turn on the water, check out where the paper towels are (in your own home, make sure they’re near the sink). Dispense the paper towels if they’re in a trigger-type dispenser (and you can’t get to them by touching just the paper towel; remember, the trigger on the dispenser will be full of germs, too).

Then, turn on the water, lather up (experts say you should wash for about 20-30 seconds–the time it takes to sing “Yankee Doodle” or “Happy Birthday”. I suggest just humming the song to yourself if you’re in public! ) Rinse. BUT–BEFORE you turn off the water, dry your hands with the previously-dispensed paper towels.

Turn off the faucets WITH THE PAPER TOWEL! Now, if the door to the restroom opens inward, use the paper towel to touch the handle–the handle that houses the germs deposited there by everyone before you who either didn’t wash their hands, or did so incorrectly.

It will take a little practice to get the habit ingrained, but will be well worth the effort.

A WORD ABOUT GEL SANITIZERS–you see them all the time–the gel, waterless, alcohol-based sanitizers. But do they work? In  word, YES! They work so well that many hospitals and doctors offices have dispensers in every patient room, so health care workers and visitors and patients can easily use them. Experts say you should use enough that it takes about 30 seconds for them to evaporate on your hands.

I keep bottles of hand sanitizer in my purse and car, and use them often.

There you have it–the single most effective way to prevent the spread of illness this winter!

———————-

Do you have trouble responding to someone who makes critical comments about everyone, including yourself? Find the solution–what to say and do, and what not to say and do, in What Should I Say? The Right (and Wrong!) Words and Deeds for Life’s Sticky, Tricky, Uncomfortable Situations. To read an excerpt, go to www.shellyburke.net.