Teen Suicide

***this may be upsetting for some. It is for me. Which is why I need to write it and get it out.***

This morning, while leaving for work, I noticed a bunch of police cars and civilian cars down our street. I live in a very small town so this was more than a little abnormal for us.

I called Chuck, who is at home with the kids today, to see if they were there when he took Zachary to school. Chuck wandered outside to check things out (yes, we’re gawkers) and the neighbor across the street came over to give an explanation for things.

The 15 year old boy who lives about 6 houses down from ours committed suicide last night. He hung himself. He had apparently told his girlfriend/friends last night that he was going to do it, but they all just thought he was joking.

I cried this morning when I found out; I’m crying now as I write this. I don’t know this teen. I don’t know his parents. But my heart still is wracked with sorrow for his parents. To walk in and find their son in such a way….how incredibly horrible for those parents. It’s something that likely will forever be burned into their memory as their last moments with their son.

My worst nightmare happened this morning just 6 houses from us. Dealing with bipolar, suicide is a very real concern for me. It’s a concern that started almost 3 years ago, already, when Zachary started telling us that life was too hard to keep living (his words), he wanted to kill himself (again, his words), or how he wishes he was never born (do you see a pattern here?) I’m scared to death of what Zachary’s teen years are going to be like. Chuck has publically stated that in his teen years he was suicidal and after a round of anti-depressants (bad news for bipolars) we dealt with the suicidal tendencies just a few years ago as well. It is probably one of the most frightening things I’ve had to deal with as a wife and mother; I don't ever want to deal with the more frightening possibility of an attempt succeeding.

I think it’s so important, especially considering that suicide rates are on the rise to understand and watch for warning signs in children and teens. Suicide among children is very rare; however, those rates jump dramatically when the teen years arise. Suicide is the 3rd leader of death for teens. Girls are two to four times as likely (depending on the sources) to attempt suicide; boys are 4 times more likely to succeed though. Sixty percent of suicides are committed with a gun that is found in the house, or the house of a friend. I’m not against guns….but PLEASE store them properly (meaning locking the gun up, keeping ammunition in a locked area away from the guns). And watch for the warning signs of possible suicide:

talk about suicide or death in general
talk about "going away"
talk about feeling hopeless or feeling guilty
pull away from friends or family
lose the desire to take part in favorite things or activities
have trouble concentrating or thinking clearly
giving away personal items
experience changes in eating or sleeping habits
self-destructive behavior (drinking alcohol, taking drugs, or driving too fast, for example)

I’m not a suicide expert in any way, shape or form. I have just as many concerns, fears, and worries about it as the next mom. So, if you have any questions, check out the United States Suicide Hotline or Suicide.org. There are tips, numbers to call for parents as well as teens or adults thinking of committing suicide.

My thoughts and prayers go out to that family on my street today. And to all of the other nameless families that are or have gone through this. I know it may be harsh to say, but I pray that I’m not in those shoes during Zachary’s teen years.

Two big thumbs down for NED school assembly....

I just had to post this to share with everyone. I have had some problems with the school as it was, but I finally decided I needed to write something to let them know my discontent.

I’m writing in response to the NED (never give up, encourage others, do your best) assembly program that was brought into the elementary school on 5/19/2009. I have to say that I’m rather upset that a program was brought into the school and allowed to mercilessly advertise their merchandise and try to make an extra buck off our children and ultimately, us as parents.

This morning, my son and I had quite the talk regarding the “necessity” of having these NED show yo-yos. This talk was after the tantrum when I explained that we didn’t have the money to buy all the different types of yo-yos that the program had. When I saw that NED show was on the list of events on the monthly calendar, I actually looked up the program on the internet to see what they were about. I really like the concept but feel that instead of portraying that concept, what the kids actually gleaned from the program was the NEED to purchase yo-yos and do the tricks. But not only that, but that the tricks HAD to be done with those yo-yo’s and only those yo-yos. I asked Zachary directly exactly what the program was about and his answer: “Doing tricks with yo-yos and buying the yo-yos”. I understand that I have some special circumstances with my son; however, I fail to believe that he is the ONLY child that came away with absolutely nothing but tricks and yo-yos in his eyes from that program.

When sending our children to school, we expect them to be there to learn and be educated, NOT to be set in front of a commercial. As parents, Chuck and I limit the amount of time our children watch t.v. and which t.v. stations they watch, partially because of the amount of advertisements on many channels. We live in a society where people believe they need to have everything that everyone else has and we’re trying to teach our children that material things are not the way to happiness. Having a good education, being good to others, being a hero to the point they can as a student IS what is important.

So we send them to school, and they are inundated with more and more things to buy (scholastic book fairs, scholastic flyers, fundraisers, and now yo-yos). Then, considering the students see them and are told about buying that AT school, they feel it’s something they HAVE to have in order to be successful at school. Now, I understand the necessity of fundraisers in the time of schools losing government money and having to make tough choices, but maybe a little bit of tact would be something to consider. While the schools are having difficulty, so are many, many families in our community and the constant begging for our school-age children to have something else they saw at school is rather upsetting.

I originally thought that maybe the school paid money for this program, in which I would be very disappointed that monies ultimately deriving from us as tax-payers would be paying for such a program. However, I have a suspicion that NED programmers were asked to come into our school system specifically with the understanding that they would be hawking their wares to our children. From the NED website: “1. FREE The NED show is free when your school chooses our “no-fee option”. By giving a little of your time and by making NED items available for your students to purchase for five days following the show, you are bringing our $1,200 program to your school absolutely FREE. We also pay the state sales tax and return freight.”

In that case, shame on all of you for not seeing this as the merchandising scam that it is.

In contrast, there was a program just the day before this one for the 1st graders concerning BATS. I have no idea how much that program cost to bring to our schools, or if the bat lady did it simply so more and more people could learn and understand bats, but our son learned something from that assembly. He came home that night so excited to tell us all about bats and where they live and what they eat, etc. That is the type of programming that I would expect my child to see when being sent to school.

Again, I do like the concept of the NED program and can see the necessity and good that such a type of assembly can do for the students but feel it was gone about in a completely wrong manner. I know of a school assembly that accomplishes the same goal of this assembly (giving the students self-esteem and helping them to understand the necessity of being a hero to those around them) without the commercialism. If you are interested, I’d be more than happy to help with it.

Sincerely, Lisa

Low Vitamin D Increases Risk for Metabolic Syndrome

by Stephen Daniells

According to findings published in Diabetes Care, a study with 3,262 Chinese people aged between 50 and 70 showed that deficient levels of vitamin D may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome by 52% ....

Read complete article here.

Metabolic Syndrome Risk Assessment

by Lynn Marquardt, NP

ASSESSMENT - Answer each question with "YES" or "NO"

1. Do you have a family history of early heart disease?
(Parent, brother or sister, men before age 55, women before age 65?)

2. Do you use any tobacco products?

3. Do you have elevated blood sugar?

4. Are you overweight?
(Is your BMI greater than 25.0? Calculate your BMI)

5. Is your waist size greater than 35 inches?
(Measure 2 fingers above belly button)

6. Is your blood pressure over 135/85 or are you on
high blood pressure medication?

7. Is your HDL level lower than 50 mg/dl?

8. Is your triglyceride level >149 mg/dl?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may be at greater than normal risk for metabolic syndrome. The more “yes” responses you chose, the greater your risk.

Completion of this assessment is not a substitute for contacting a healthcare provider. Discuss your risks with your healthcare provider.

What is Metabolic Syndrome?

by Lynn Marquardt, NP

People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls and type 2 diabetes. Metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that over 50 million Americans have it.

The American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommend that the metabolic syndrome be identified as the presence of three or more of these components:

• Elevated waist circumference:
  
  Men — Equal to or greater than 40 inches (102 cm)
  
  Women — Equal to or greater than 35 inches (88 cm)
• Elevated triglycerides:
  
  Equal to or greater than 150 mg/dL
• Reduced HDL (“good”) cholesterol:
  
  Men — Less than 40 mg/dL
  
  Women — Less than 50 mg/dL
• Elevated blood pressure:
  
  Equal to or greater than 130/85 mm Hg
• Elevated fasting glucose:
  
  Equal to or greater than 100 mg/dL

AHA Recommendation for Managing the Metabolic Syndrome:

The primary goal of clinical management of the metabolic syndrome is to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the first-line therapy is to reduce the major risk factors for cardiovascular disease: stop smoking, and reduce LDL cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose levels to the recommended levels.

For managing both long- and short-term risk, lifestyle therapies are the first-line interventions to reduce the metabolic risk factors. These lifestyle interventions include:

• Weight loss to achieve a desirable weight (BMI less than 25 kg/m²)
• Increased physical activity, with a goal of at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity on most days of the week
• Healthy eating habits that include reduced intake of saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol

a. Commit to a healthy diet. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Choose lean cuts of white meat or fish over red meat. Avoid processed or deep-fried foods. Eliminate table salt and experiment with other herbs and spices.

b. Get moving. Get 30 to 60 minutes of moderately strenuous activity most days of the week.

c. Lose weight. Losing as little as 5 percent to 10 percent of your body weight can reduce insulin levels and blood pressure, and decrease your risk of diabetes.

d. Stop smoking. Smoking cigarettes increases insulin resistance and worsens the health consequences of metabolic syndrome

e. Eat fiber-rich foods. Make sure you include whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables in your grocery cart. These items are packed with dietary fiber, which can lower your insulin levels.

Summary

The term "metabolic syndrome" is a way of identifying individuals at high risk for the development of heart disease and diabetes. Patients at risk should receive education and counseling on lifestyle modification, and all risk factors for heart disease should be treated aggressively.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=534

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/ms/ms_whatis.html

Random Thoughts #5,203

I honestly have no idea how many Random Thoughts posts I’ve done. I’m pretty sure it’s not 5,000 because I think I’m still under 300 posts total, but hey, a girl can dream right?

I’m doing a random thoughts post today because quite frankly my brain has gone in soooo many different directions lately that I can’t fathom putting together a singular, cohesive post that makes any amount of sense. I’m really starting to wonder if I’m not ADHD too…or maybe just ADD…or maybe I just need to start taking my anti-anxiety pills again.

We’re starting into the “busy season” for us in the family too. Weddings, camping trips, reunions, soccer games, soccer pictures, practices, lots of PR parties, mowing the lawn, traveling to Bay City to help with the in-laws’ lawn, baby showers, trip to Washington DC in July, week-long vacation in August, in addition to just normal every day work and dr. appts. Whew. I’m honestly a little overwhelmed (and tired) just thinking about it!

I’m super excited for our trip to Washington DC in July. We’re staying with a good friend of the family, Dave, who is a SUPER nice guy (if anyone lives in the area and is single…I know someone for you!!) We just found out that the state is giving us 6 unpaid furlough days since the government can’t balance their budget so to not have layoffs (at this moment, anyway) we’re getting unpaid days off. One of those days off is when we’d already taken annual for our DC trip, sooo we extended our DC trip by an extra day! Woohoo! I know the kids are going to have so much fun checking out the Smithsonian Natural History and Air and Space museum and seeing the National Zoo. I love seeing their faces when they see new things or get super excited about whatever they are learning about. Makes being a mom so much fun…and rewarding.

And speaking of learning and doing new things: I wonder sometimes exactly where Zachary comes from. But then again, I think I remember doing homework “just for fun”. Actually, I just emailed my mom and said “Um, mom, did I used to do homework just for fun?” Her reply? “YEP!” I relayed that Zachary has been working on writing his name in cursive (he’s in 1st grade) and that his teacher is pissedrather upset with him because she doesn’t want him learning that yet. I remember sitting at a little table where my dad (Thanks Dad!) taught me how to write cursive in 1st or 2nd grade. Mom said “Why discourage them from learning? Teach him at home and explain he can only print at school.” Good advice. Anyway, Zachary has been asking to do math worksheets for fun! Sunday morning his brother wanted him to play basketball with him and Zachary told him “Nah…I want to do some math.” Luke’s face about said it all….Luke is good at math and knows his stuff, but would much rather be playing ball to doing homework on a sunny Sunday morning. So I sat with him and showed him how to add larger numbers and carry numbers over to the tens column, etc. He’s such a fast learner! Last night, he sat in the back of the car and wrote poems the whole way home from the restaurant.

The Princess
The princess was trying to pick out a dress
And her little brother was making a big mess….

That was his first 2 lines…hehe…so cute.

And CUTE brings me to my next subject….Lucas is soo Cute!! This morning I was in the shower when Lucas pops in. I heard someone come in and start rummaging around in the drawers. I stick my head out to see who it is and there is Lucas in his pj’s, looking through daddy’s bathroom drawer. I asked exactly what he was looking for (thinking he wanted “daddy doderant”) when he pulled out the hand mirror. He looks in it and smiles just a bit. I giggled and asked what he was doing. He informed me that he was getting a lot of freckles on his nose. I let him know that I’d been noticing that and that I absolutely love his freckles and they are part of what makes him so adorably cute. He grinned at me and hightailed it back to the kitchen. I have no idea where that all came from…but I have a sneaking suspicion that his brother probably told him he looked like he had poop on his nose or something. Ah……brotherly love. I remember it well.

Ohh, that reminds me…I got the funniest brotherly love video from a friend yesterday. I seriously almost peed myself (not that its that difficult after 3 kids….I think I need to start working with the ben wa balls) while I was watching this video because it is Zachary and Lucas down to a T. Oh…I can sooo see them like this in about 15 years. Zachary will be the one in the sweater vest, shirt and tie…Lucas the one standing. Seriously. Give it a watch.


And not to leave out Miss Elizabeth….

Sometimes she is so stinking cute it makes me want to puke. I wonder if my mom felt like that about me. She’s been letting me braid her hair lately and always wants it in “throo” braids (meaning two) and those two little braids are just so stinking cute. On Sunday, she was really really quiet and that’s not always good…so we sneaked in to see what she was doing and there she was in the middle of her floor trying to put on her roller skates herself. I helped her get them on and then put on her helmet and her and I went out and rollerskated (she skated…I walked…we don’t want the earthquake that would happen when I fell on my ass) on our basketball court for a little bit. I look at her sometimes and just want to hug her and kiss her and squeeze her and consume all her sweet, little girl goodness! Ah, I love this age. Except for the not going to sleep part…I hate that. That part can go away quickly and I swear that I won’t miss it.

And…one last story...Last Friday night, I had a bachelorette party for my cousin. On my way back home, about 6 miles from my house at 10:45 at night, I SHREDDED a tire on my jeep. I called Chuck and asked if he wanted me to call the tow company to change it or he bring our 3 kids out and do it. Considering the kids were sleeping (finally!), I called the tow company and talked to Connie...the dispatcher.

She said it'd be 20 minutes so I called my husband back and she called me but for whatever reason (fate?) my phone didn't beep in to tell me I had a call waiting. So when I did call her back we got all the info done for the tire change and then she says...

Did you voicemail say Pure Romance? Are you a hostess with them...I mean do you sell it...

I tell her that Yes...I'm a consultant and was honestly just on my way home from a party at that moment!!

So she gets all excited and asks if she can call me back off work time and book a party with me!!!So, yay for me!!! Having a booming Pure Romance business is going to help a lot when we have these 6 unpaid furlough days from work this summer!

And these are….the days of my life……….;)

Food Consumption during Labor - Why Not?

There is an ongoing international debate about food consumption during labor. The current rationale for women fasting during labor is to protect them from pulmonary aspiration should general anesthesia be needed for an emergency cesarean delivery. Other concerns include increased cesarean rate (Scheeper, 2002) or prolongation of labor (Tranmer, 2005) should women be allowed to eat while laboring.

On March 24, 2009 the British Medical Journal published a well-done randomized controlled trial (O'Sullivan, 2009) of over 2000 women suggests we should revisit current practices of not allowing women to eat while in labor. Women were randomized to water-only or a "light diet". (They were advised to consume a low fat, low residue diet at will during labor. Suggested foods included fruits and vegetables, breads, soup, low fat yogurt, fruit juices and sports drinks.)

Results:

• No difference in vaginal delivery vs. cesarean delivery rate between the two groups (30% cesarean delivery rate in both groups).
• No difference in length of labor.
• No difference in Apgar scores or admission to the neonatal ICU.
• No cases of aspiration pneumonia (However, because aspiration is so rare, a much larger study would have been needed to see one case.)
• One maternal death occurred in the water-only group due to a brain hemorrhage.

Side note:
The UK Confidential Enquiries into Maternal and Child Health reviewed 2,113, 831 deliveries between 2003-2005. Six anesthesia-related deaths occurred, none of which was associated with pulmonary aspiration. Similar findings were reported by the Australian Anesthesia Incident Monitoring Study. This supports the statement that aspiration pneumonia is exceedingly rare.

References:
1. O'Sullivan G, et al. Effect of food intake during labour on obstetric outcome: randomised controlled trial. BMJ 2009;338:b784
2. Lewis G, ed. Saving mothers’ lives: reviewing maternal deaths to make motherhood safer—2003-2005. The seventh report on confidential enquiries into maternal deaths in the United Kingdom. London: CEMACH, 2007.

See complete MaternaCare review and references here.