Beat the Heat!!

Summer is here, and we are experiencing some unusually high temperatures all across the city, First Care of New York wants to remind you, as we did our patients, to make sure you have plenty of fluids at home and try to keep yourself as cool as possible. If you feel you need to go out make sure you have a very cold bottle of ice water handy and take frequent breaks under some shade to allow your body to recover.

One can do many great and fun things as the warm weather approaches. People usually plan outings, visit different places and most people typically take a vacation or some other form of leisure and enjoyable activity. People feel better as the warm weather feels great on our skin and we seem to act like plants by trying to suck up as much sunlight as possible.

However, with the great warmth that approaches one should also plan for some of the burdens that come with the warm weather. We have provided a simple list to keep you safe during this season.

• Drink cool, nonalcoholic, non-caffeinated beverages. (If your doctor generally limits the

amount of fluid you drink or has you on water pills, ask him how much you should drink

when the weather is hot. Also, avoid extremely cold liquids because they can cause

cramps.)

• Rest.

• Take a cool shower, bath, or sponge bath.

• If possible, seek an air-conditioned environment.

• If you don't have air conditioning, consider visiting an air-conditioned shopping mall or

public library to cool off.

• Keep warm areas ventilation if not cooled. Proper ventilation will promote adequate sweat

evaporation to cool the skin.

• Wear lightweight clothing.

• If possible, remain indoors in the heat of the day.\

• Do not engage in strenuous activities.

• Sunblocks and sunscreens with a protection factor of 15 (SPF 15) can be very helpful when

one is exposed to extreme direct sunlight.

The summer is a time for long sunny days to be enjoyed responsibly. If you know someone that might not be able to care for themselves due to a physical or mental disability, but you still want them to be able to enjoy the summer, consider getting them a certified home health aide. At First Care of New York, we have plenty of certified home health aides and personal care aides who can assist them with many activities of daily living. They can help with bathing, dressing, grooming, cooking and cleaning as well as assist them going places and make sure that that are safe and secure during the summer weather. If you would like more information on our services, please feel free to contact us at (718) 364-7251.

Understanding Cataracts and how they affect us

Often, as we increase in age many changes begin to occur to our bodies. Of the many things that plague us in our older years, cataracts are a very prevalent issue. Cataracts are a change in the clarity of the lens inside the eye. What happens is that the lens becomes partially clouded eventually blocking and distorting light passing through the lens. This of course, causes visual impediments. The lens is made mostly of water and protein. There are specific proteins within the lens that are responsible for maintaining clarity. Over the course of time these proteins are altered, eventually leading to the clouding of the lens. Since cataracts develop very slowly most people do not know they have them at first. However, the clouding progresses and vision will gradually get worse.It is important to note that even though this is an event that most commonly occurs during old age. There have been a few cases in which cataracts have been detected at birth or in early childhood. Some, factors that can lead to cataracts at an early age are excessive ultraviolet light exposure, diabetes, smoking, and or the use of certain medications like oral, topical or inhaled steroids.

There is no proven way to prevent cataracts, but there are certainly ways of slowing cataract development. You simply have to make small changes in your life style, for example…don’t smoke, wear hats or sunglasses when you are in the sun, avoid sun lamps and tanning booths, eat healthy foods, avoid the use of steroid medicines when possible and keep your diabetes under control. The standard treatment for cataracts is surgery. The most common type of cataracts surgery today is called Phacoemulsification. With the use of a microscope, the surgeon will make a tiny incision in the surface of your eye or near the cornea. They insert a small ultrasound apparatus which emits small ultrasonic vibrations, in this pocket that dissolve the clouded lens. “Once the cataract is removed, an artificial lens is placed into the same thin capsular bag that the cataract occupied”. There are also two other types of surgery: extra capsular and intracapsular. The type of surgery you require depends on how severe your cataracts are. This can be determined by receiving regular eyes exams. Although, an eye test may help confirm a cataract diagnosis, it may not always reflect the patient's quality of life. Some patients who do badly in a test seem to have no problem with daily function; while others who may do well insist that their eyesight is poor and does interfere with ordinary activities. You can find more information on this subject by visiting the following link:

http://www.nei.nih.gov/health/cataract/cataract_facts.asp

First Care of New York is a licensed home care service agency that can help individuals that are having difficulties with activities of daily living. With our certified home health aides (HHA) and personal care aides (PCA), we can provide the services needed. Our HHA’s and PCA’s can help with bathing, cooking, cleaning and even medication reminders, as well as other assistance, depending on one’s needs. You can find out more about First Care of New York Inc. by visiting us on the web at www.1st-care.org or you can call us at (718) 741-5956.

Vision for May

Many people take their eyesight for granted, as most of us have the luxury of being able to see out of both our eyes. But there are millions of people who are affected by vision problems as well as other health issues. Experts estimate that approximately 1.3 million blind people live in the United States, with over 20 million additional Americans reporting significant vision loss. (source: National Center for Health Statistics 2006).Healthy vision month is observed in May by the National Eye Institute (NEI) to promote your eye’s health and protection through eye exams. In which it is very important to each and every one of us.

People have said that “your eyes are the windows to your soul” and for good reason too, as many diseases can be seen by looking into your eyes without surgery. The eye’s are a special part of our body because one can see veins, arteries and even a nerve (the optic nerve). Ophthalmologist can detect diabetes, cholesterol, liver disease and other conditions just by looking at your eyes and the general area around it to include your eye lids and eye brows.

Eye conditions and what they mean:

• The outer part of the brows closet to the ears start to disappear

o This is the sign of a thyroid problem

• Bumpy yellowish bumps on the eyelids - might look like styes

o This is the sign that you may have high cholesterol

• The white part of the eye turns yellow known as jaundice

o Is a sign problems of the liver, gallbladder or bile ducts, including hepatitis and cirrhosis

• Sudden dim vision, double vision or loss of vision

o The possible warnings signs of a stroke

If you or someone you know might have any of the conditions you should seek professional advice and if it’s sudden dim vision, double vision or loss of vision accompanied with sudden numbness or weakness of the arm or leg or face, typically on just one side of the body; trouble walking because of dizziness or loss of balance or coordination; slurred speech; or bad headache STOP and CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY!

At First Care of New York we want to keep you safe and healthy and would recommend you have your eyes checked regular by your doctor or specialist. There are many people out there who can no longer do for themselves due to vision problems and other health issues. If you know someone like this or you are affected by this contact us today at 718-364-7251. We have highly trained home health aides and personal care aides that can help in many activities of daily living and can help you navigate your way around life. Our aides help the visually impaired by reading their mail, setting up appointments, dressing, grooming as well as many other activities of daily living. Remember a healthy lifestyle is related to healthy vision and eye health so have your eyes checked regularly.

Celebrating life through research

For the past few years, First Care of New York has proudly participated in the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center fundraising program; which helps to raise not only funds for the program, but also awareness in our community. Now a days more and more people are being affected by cancer directly or by a loved one who is ill from this type of disease. Cancer is caused when the body stops functioning properly and abnormal growth happens. And though it is something that affects people mainly between the ages of 50 to 70, it is something that can attack at any age and anywhere in the body.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2010, there were 19.4 million¹ diagnosed cases of cancer. In 2012 alone over 577, 000² people are estimated to die from cancer according to cancer.gov. These are startling figures and something that we are trying to bring to an end through research for a brighter tomorrow.

First Care of New York aims to donate time, effort, money and sweat to the cause, as we will be participating in the 10th Achilles Annual Hope & Possibility 5 mile run/walk event this coming June 24, 2012 at Central Park. The event features several thousand runners who come from all walks of life but share one common goal. To come together to shed light, increase awareness and raise hope for those that are suffering from cancer and their family members who are affected by it.

Together we can build a team big enough to raise enough awareness and research funds to make a difference. It has always been said that all things starts with one and end with many. We hope you would come and share with us in the opportunity to make a difference and touch people’s lives with goodness. If you would like to donate, First Care of New York is selling raffle tickets to raise funds at $1 US dollar per ticket. The top three raffle tickets winners will win a Laptop (1), Ipad2 (2) or a Kindle (3) and 100% of the proceeds will go towards donations for cancer research. If you wish to participate in the raffle or are interested in acquiring raffle tickets, you may ask for Rina at 718-741-5956. This is a cause that is near and dear to the First Care family and we are committed to raising funds and awareness in order to help those around us.

¹http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/cancer.htm
²http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html

First Care of New York “We pick up where others leave off”

How to stay committed to your commitments

O.k. so the New Year is upon us. We have made our list of New Year’s resolutions and like every year, we think this year is the time for change. Sadly, two weeks later, we stop going to the gym, one month later we are still fat and now paying a monthly gym membership, yoga class and Pilates, which we thought was going to make us healthy, skinnier and open our minds. By the end of February, our hopes and dreams have once again been shattered until next year.

The big question here is: WHY?

Why do so many of us make New Year’s resolutions (i.e. eating healthy), commit to do things (i.e. love more) and even commit to make changes (i.e. quit smoking), but time and time again we keep failing. This does not make us a bad person or a failure by any means. Most of us have plenty of distractions in our lives, which force us to make different levels of commitments. The shameful truth is that we make excuses because we LOVE comfort, safety and simplicity. We all know the effort it takes to count calories, go the gym and work out, but most times we slip into our old habits with “yeah but” which always trumps our commitments.

In order to stay committed one must learn how to be and stay committed without letting “yeah but” back into our vocabulary. Regardless of the commitments that we make to ourselves or others, here are a few key words of advice to help you stay committed.

Sacrifice
A key to knowing we are committed is by being able to sacrifice for the good of our commitment. Think of the athlete that is willing to train for countless hours at the gym to be able to perform at their personal best. If you are willing to sacrifice for something knowing it will disrupt the comforts of your life then you are committed.

Create a ritual
Make working out part of your schedule. The same way taking your kids to soccer practice every Tuesday and Thursday is part of your routine, you should make the gym or whatever other commitment part of that same schedule. Over time this will make you go to the gym almost subconsciously, since it will be part of your weekly routine.

Determination
There will be inevitable setbacks while you are trying to complete your goals. Like the athlete that could not workout on Monday but decides that they will go to the gym on Tuesday instead to make up for Monday. We must face our challenges with confidence and resilience to make sure that our commitments are met. This involves us learning to solve problems in order to take the necessary steps to work past them.

Get support
There are plenty of people out there and in our lives that would love to help us if we need the help. If you are trying to go to the gym as a regular routine, but sometimes feel discouraged or “out of it”; find someone to go with you so you can motivate them and they can motivate you.

Lastly, it is also important that we keep our goals in context. We should remember that the point of achieving our goal either today or years from now is to improve our lives. However, we are still living in the present and must acknowledge that. If we live only for our goals, we will possibly resent the present, and start resenting our goals as well.

At First Care of New York we are always committed to providing the best home care services possible. We understand the delicacies that come with our clients and the condition they are in versus the life they used to lead. We understand that they want to continue to live freely, independently and with the same energy and fervor that makes them happy. The ability to continue to perform their daily activities, whether it be in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan or Queens areas. You can count on First Care of New York to be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for any and all Live in Care, Personal Care, Home Health and Companionship. For your convenience, we may even schedule a nurse to visit you or your loved one’s home and evaluate the level of care that is needed. This will help clarify some questions you or your loved one may have. First Care is a licensed home care service agency that provides top quality aides to all our clients. We are regulated by the NYS Department of Health and are accredited by The Joint Commission. If you would like to have more information, please feel free to contact us by phone at 718-741-5950 or on our website at http://www.1st-care.org/.