Vicks and some Bad News

First the good stuff. I've gotten a cold and had the sore throat and all that goes with it. The yucky nose, sneezing, etc. Sooo, I was on the phone with Misty, one of my bestest friends, and she was telling me a tip her Grannie had... VICKS vaporub. She said rub it on the bottoms of your feet and put socks on and to bed, jigity jog, well that last bit was me. It is supposed to help with everything and keep you from having a sore throat, plus, it will ease your coughing. What Vicks on your feet has to do with your throat I have no clue. However, she said she tried it on Jacob and Johnathon and it seemed to work really well so she tried it on herself and though it didn't seem to work as well on her, she woke up without her sore throat and it seemed to help. Her Grannie had Vicks EVERYWHERE.

Sooooo, I figured why not try it for myself, I was sporting a pretty dandy sore throat AND my nose and chest were yucky and anything that gets in my chest gives me pnuemonia and that is a horrible experience, my lung has so much damage that it doesn't take much at all and I'm down with pnuemonia, and I get it good!!! So any ideas on keeping colds and such from going to my chest I'll try, I hate blacking out and doctors and hospitals. So I'm getting ready for bed, I got my off brand vaporub and put it on the bottoms of my feet good, then I put on my socks. This is a big problem for me, I'm extremely hot natured and can not do socks and sleep but I was willing to sacrifice. Better to wear socks to bed than have Vicks on my bed. LOL. First of all, I woke up a 4am very hot because of the socks and couldn't go to sleep, hence the reason it's almost 6am and I'm typing this. However, I'm not coughing and my nose isn't very stuffy, but the best part is my throat isn't really sore. It is if I have to cough but I'm not coughing often. So I'll probably swear by Vicks from now on. LOL.

Now the bad news. Dad found out this week that his kidneys are worse. In January of 2008 tests showed that he only had about 50% usage of his kidneys, he has been on meds, etc since then. This week they ran tests on them again and that usage has been cut in have so basically his kidneys are working 25% of what they are supposed to be at. He is looking at probably having to start dialysis in the near future. Everyone in my family has our own medical issues to deal with, before we look at the possibility of diabetes in our futures. My brother and I have really been focusing on our health more. We weren't raised to do that, but as we get older and we are finding more about our health it is proving to us it's time to start being healthier. Dad is only 59, that isn't old and he is very close to being disabled. That is scary. His eyes are shot from his diabetes, even with doing surgery on the one eye didn't help so he has opted to not do surgery on the other. He has all the normal complications of people with advanced diabetes. He's learned to give himself shots before meals. One area he hates dealing with is the food part. But we are going to get serious about it. It isn't easy matter of fact it's downright hard, you can't just buy everything at the store and pop it in the microwave and eat it. NOPErs, it requires thought and preparation to really eat correctly. We have diabetes cookbooks and I have just taken over the kitchen!!! We can't repair the damage, just doesn't happen but we can slow down the process. So to those that think nothing bad will happen to you think again.