Communicate with Your Health Care Professionals
Care giving and care taking can be very draining — physically and emotionally. If you are in a care giving relationship, you will need to take especially good care of your-self! This is not being selfish. One cannot take care of another if one is not taking care of one's self.

To take care of your health, you need to feel comfortable talking with the people who are focused on your health. Here are some tips to help make you feel more comfortable.

Ask questions. If you don't understand what your health care professionals say, ask them to explain. Always ask about any medicines or tests they say you need. If you don't ask, they may think you have all the information you want.

Let your health care professionals know if you need more time to ask questions about your health. If the doctor doesn't have time that day, you may be able to talk to another doctor or nurse, schedule another appointment or find out when you can call later to speak to someone.

Some medical practices and health plans have call-in lines. If you call, you can speak to an advice nurse. This guide contains examples of the kinds of questions you may want to ask.

Provide your health history. Tell your health care professionals about your health history. For example, tell them about any major diseases or operations you have had. Be sure to mention family history of diseases and conditions. For example, if high blood pressure runs in your family, be certain that information is included on your history.

Your current health status. Only you know how you feel and whether you feel differently than you did at an earlier time. Tell your health care professionals. Also tell them what medicines you take. Do not hesitate to report personal information. Feel free to talk about your beliefs and concerns. You don't need to wait to be asked.

Be sure to tell your health care professionals if you have any allergies or reactions to medicines.

Follow through and follow up. If you think of additional questions, call the physician's office. If you have problems with your medicine, call your doctor or your pharmacist. If you need to see a specialist or get a test, make the appointment or ask your doctor's office to make the appointment. If you do not hear from your doctor or nurse about results of any test you had, call and ask. If you don't understand the results, ask for more information.

Stay Healthy

Take charge of your health. Every day you have a chance to make good choices about your health.

Choose a healthy lifestyle. You may ask yourself, "How do I begin to improve my health habits?" A good way to start is to set small goals instead of large ones that you might have difficulty meeting. Nothing succeeds like success!

For example, instead of setting a goal of losing 15 pounds in the next year, set some smaller goals for eating better and being more active. You may decide to trade your morning donut for a bowl of cereal or start taking the stairs instead of the elevator at work.

Reduce your risk for heart disease. Overall, you can reduce your risk if you:

• Maintain a healthy weight
• Eat right
• Stay physically active
• Quit smoking
• Control your blood pressure and cholesterol levels
• If you have diabetes, control your disease

Should You Take Aspirin for a Healthy Heart?
For people who are at high risk for heart disease, taking aspirin every day or every other day can help reduce that risk. For most people, taking aspirin is safe. But for some, aspirin increases the chance of bleeding in the stomach or intestines. And there is a small chance that aspirin will increase your risk for some kinds of stroke. Talk to your health care professional to find out if taking aspirin is right for you.

Watch your weight. Being overweight increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. Your doctor can tell you what you should weigh for your height. If your care-giving responsibilities keep you inside the house more than your typical pattern, develop an exercise routine that you can follow inside.

To stay at a healthy weight, you need to balance the number of calories you eat with the number you burn off by your activities. You can get to your healthy weight and stay there by doing two things: eating right and being physically active. The following provides some helpful hints in keeping track of your weight.

Eat right. Eating the right foods and the right amounts can help you live a longer, healthier life. Many illnesses and conditions — such as heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes — can be prevented or controlled by eating right. A healthy diet also provides the vitamins and minerals you need to be and feel well.

• Eat a variety of foods, including
  
  
  • Vegetables, especially dark-green leafy and deep-yellow vegetables, such as spinach or carrots
  • Fruits, such as melons, berries, and citrus fruits or juices, such as orange or grapefruit
  • Meat, poultry, eggs, fish, and dried beans (for example, navy, kidney, or black), especially products low in fat, such as lean meat and poultry prepared without skin
  • Dairy products, such as milk, yogurt and cheese, especially low-fat or fat-free dairy products
  • Grains, especially whole grains, and legumes, such as lima beans or green peas
• Limit calories and saturated fat. Foods high in saturated fats are high in calories so they can cause weight gain. They also increase your cholesterol levels. Try to limit:
  
  
  • High-fat dairy products such as ice cream, butter, cheese, cream, and whole milk
  • Meats high in fat
  • Palm and coconut oils and lard
  Remember that unsaturated fats do not raise cholesterol levels. Foods with unsaturated fat include vegetable oils, fish, avocados, and many nuts.
• Watch portion sizes. Don't choose "super" or other oversized portions. Be aware of how much you eat.

Keep Active. Physical activity can help prevent:

• Heart disease
• Obesity
• High blood pressure
• Type 2 diabetes
• Osteoporosis (thinning bones)
• Mental health problems such as depression

Physical activity helps you feel better overall.

All kinds of physical activity will help you stay healthy, whether it is moderate or vigorous. It's a good idea to aim for at least moderate activity — such as brisk walking, raking leaves, house cleaning or playing with children — for 20 to 30 minutes most days of the week. Generally, the more active you are, the healthier you will become.

How to get started and keep going:

1. If you have not been active, start slowly.
2. Choose something that fits into your daily life.
3. Choose an activity you like, or try a new one. Activities such as dancing, swimming or biking can be fun.
4. Ask a friend to exercise with you, or join a group.
5. Make time in your day for physical activity.
6. If your must remain close to the house or if the weather is bad, try an exercise show on TV, watch an exercise tape, walk in the mall or work around the house.

Preventing injury. As a care giver, you are at no greater risk for injury than before you assumed this role. However, the consequences of an injury are now more far-reaching. Following basic safety rules can prevent many serious injuries. Here are two checklists to follow to help keep you and your family safe.

To help protect yourself at home:

• Use smoke detectors. Remember to check the batteries every month. Change the batteries every year. You may want to use a reminder. For example, change the batteries around your birthday or some holiday.
• Keep hallways and stairwells well lit.
• Remove or repair things that someone could trip on, such as loose rugs, electrical cords and toys.

To help protect yourself away from home:

• Wear seat belts.
• Never drive after drinking alcohol.
• Always wear a safety helmet while riding a motorcycle or bicycle.

Flu Shots: Most people 50 or older need a flu shot every year. You may need flu shots before age 50 if:

• You have lung, heart or kidney disease, diabetes or cancer.
• You are a health care worker.
• You are infected with HIV or have AIDS.

Pneumonia Shot: Everyone needs a pneumonia shot once around age 65. If you have lung, heart or kidney disease; HIV; diabetes; or cancer, you may need this shot sooner.

Take medicines correctly. Always be sure you know everything about a medicine before you take it — and take only medicines that were prescribed for you. This information will help you get the full benefits from your medicine. It will also help you avoid taking too much or too little of a medicine. Taking medicine in the wrong way can make you worse instead of better.

Fight Depression

• It is not uncommon for care givers to begin to feel depressed. Major life and life style changes often produce depression.
• Loss of customary social contacts and the stimulation of a social setting or work environment can manifest themselves in a a sense of loss or depression.
• The illness and perhaps impending death of a loved one can be a precursor of depression.
• Guilt and a sense of hopelessness in the irreversible decline of a cherished individual can lead to depression.

If these feelings are very strong or last for most of the day nearly every day for two weeks or longer, they may be due to a medical illness called clinical depression. The good news is that depression can be treated. You do not have to face this problem without help.

Here are some warning signs of depression.

• Changes in the way you feel
  
  
  • You feel sad, hopeless or guilty most of the time.
  • You feel tired or lack energy.
  • You have thoughts of suicide or death.
• Changes in sleeping and eating habits
  
  
  • You sleep either too much or too little.
  • Your appetite has changed. You have gained or lost weight.
• Changes in daily living
  • You have lost interest and pleasure in daily activities.
  • You have problems making decisions or thinking clearly.

If you have had most of these symptoms for at least two weeks, you may be suffering from depression.

Talk to your health care professional about whether you are depressed and what you should do about it. The sooner you get treatment for depression, the sooner you will begin to feel better. The longer you wait, the harder depression is to treat.

Depression usually is treated with counseling, medicine or both. Medicines for depression are not addicting or habit forming. They work for people with severe depression and may be useful for people with mild to moderate depression.

Treatment works gradually over several weeks. If you do not start to feel better after this time, tell your doctor. It may take some time to find what works best for you.

Get Help for Smoking and Alcohol or Drug Abuse

Coping with the stress of care giving for some people can mean smoking or alcohol and drug abuse. These seldom provide more than a temporary and false sense of improvement and are deleterious to your health.

Smoking. More than 430,000 people in the United States die each year from smoking. Smoking causes illnesses such as cancer, heart and lung disease, stroke and problems with pregnancy.

When you quit, you lower your chances of getting sick from smoking. Quitting is hard. Most people try several times before they quit for good. When you are getting ready to quit:

• Make a plan and set a quit date.
• Tell your doctor that you want to quit smoking and get medicine to help you quit.
• Tell your family, friends and people you work with that you are going to quit. Ask for their support.

Alcohol or Drug Abuse. Abusing alcohol or drugs can cause serious medical and personal problems. Alcohol and drug abuse can lead to accidents, depression and problems with friends, family and work.

Are you drinking too much? Ask yourself the questions below. A "yes" answer to any of them may be a sign that you have a drinking problem. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism are treatable with counseling, medicines or both. Talk to your doctor or nurse.

• Have you ever felt that you should cut down on your drinking?
• Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking?
• Have you ever felt bad or guilty about drinking?
• Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?

Keep Basic Medical Records

You will want to keep records of basic information for yourself and the person to whom you are giving care. Though the information is typically easy to find, having it in one place makes care giving easier in the case of an emergency.

Include in the following information:

• Name
• Address
• Telephone
• Emergency contact
• Allergies
• Past illnesses or operations
• Doctor's phone number(s)
• Medical insurance company and contact information