This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #BalanceRewards #CollectiveBias
If there’s one thing I've learned so far in life, it’s to
treat your body with love by doing things to keep it happy and by making healthy choices. Most of
the time I do okay, but there’s always room for improvement. My days vary day to
day so sometimes I don’t pay enough attention to how much sleep I get of how
active I've been – especially when life get a little stressful.
Last Thursday after a busy week of work we headed out to the
beach for the night, and the weather was perfect. I logged my walk into my healthy choices program, which is part of the Walgreens app and Balance Rewards
Program (with the Rewards Program your earn points when you buy featured items or engage in healthy behavior
). It’s a cool feature that lets you set goals, enter your activities and
track your progress. We played and relaxed in the sand and enjoyed our evening
together. We all fell asleep happy that night.
The next morning though we were awaken with some scary news.
Wayne’s mom had fallen and suffered a massive brain hemorrhage, so we
immediately drove the hour and a half back to be with her. She wasn't doing
well. She has been fighting cancer for several years now and the physician
suspected the bleeding was coming from a tumor site. We sat there as he
explained to the rest of the family that the brain swelling wouldn't peak until
2-3 days, and that given her age and health condition we were just going to
have a ‘wait-and-see’ approach, but that there was a good chance she would not
make it out of the hospital, and if she did if would be on Hospice.
The kids and I went into visit Wayne’s mom again last night
and she was awake – once again defying all odds. Both her arms and legs moved,
she was alert and verbalizing with us. She was cleared to eat some pureed food
and she not only ate 100%, but she began to feed herself too – and this was all coming
from a woman with cancer throughout her body and a large hemorrhage on the
right side of her brain.
After we left the hospital I ran to Walgreens to pick up a
few items that we needed and I used the Balance Reward Points I had
accumulated. I checked my blood pressure while I was there and made sure I
added it to my tracker.
Today Wayne’s mom has improved so much that she will likely be discharged tomorrow, pending we find the right facility to care for her. This last 72 hours has reminded me how important it is to take care of you and maintain your health goals even during times of stress. Sometimes as a nurse the hardest thing to do is practice what you preach, but I believe these are some of the most important things you can do for yourself when faced with a stressful situation:
1. Prioritize: Obviously if it’s an emergency
situation this will be easy to do, but sometimes we get thrown into too many
directions that end up causing stress and we have a hard time figuring out
where to start and what to do. Take a deep breath, and then make a list. Cut
out the unimportant stuff.
2. Sleep enough: I am guilty of not doing this. Do
the best you can. Sometimes I’ll close my eyes in the afternoon for ten
minutes, just to let my brain relax. What’s the magic number for enough sleep?
I don’t know – but I’m pretty sure your body does, and it may also need extra
rest when dealing with stress.
3. Eat real food: I know the easiest thing to do
when you’re busy and stressed is to grab
a cheeseburger with some greasy fries and a soda, or to not eat for half of the
day only to be starving late at night (once again, guilty here). Instead try
and eat a whole grain wrap or a sandwich with some fruit, veggies, and iced
tea. I know when I do it really does give me a little extra boost of energy
that I need – and I will indulged still. In fact last night we celebrated our
small victory with ice cream blizzards.
4. Drink that water: It’s so simple, but something
that seems to be forgotten when our minds are elsewhere. Friday was a huge
reminder for me after I ended up with a bad headache and realized that it was
because I hadn’t drank anything all day.
How do you stay sane in times of stress?
Thanks #BalanceRewards and #CollectiveBias for helping me make healthy choices!
~Melissa
