TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK THE DOCTOR IF YOU OR A LOVED ONE HAS TO BE HOSPITALIZED:

1. What do my symptoms mean?
2. Do the medications have any side effects?
3. What is this test for?
4. What risks are involved in my treatment?
5. Do I have any options other than the treatment you’ve prescribed?
6. How do the benefits of my treatment compare with the risks?
7. What kind of emotional reactions can I expect from my illness?
8. How long do I have to stay in the hospital?
9. Do I have any limitations on my activity at home?
10. What should I call you about once I’m at home?

QUESTIONS TO ASK IF YOU ARE TO TAKE MEDICAL TESTS:

1. Why is this particular test necessary?
2. What information do you expect to derive?
3. What risks do the tests entail?
4. How do I prepare for the test? (Do I fast for 3 hours… or overnight?)
5. Where will the test be performed? (Most experts agree that tests used to diagnose a serious illness should be performed only in a hospital lab or major research lab.)
6. Is the testing facility accredited? (Groups such as the College of American Pathologies have specific guidelines for quality control that laboratories must meet to be certified.)
7. If a test has produced a false positive, always ask why.
8. Ask your doctor for a copy of the lab report and ask that findings be explained “in plain English”.

CHOOSING A NURSING HOME:
When selecting a nursing home, schedule a meeting with the nursing home administrator, director of nursing doctor, dietitian and family council, which consists of residents’ relatives. Make an unscheduled visit to look around for yourself. Read the state inspection report. Ask yourself these questions:

1. Does the nursing home look and smell clean?
2. How are the residents dressed?
3. Are the rooms decorated with personal items?
4. What sort of activities are the residents doing?
5. Does the home cater to individual food likes and dislikes?
6. What is the home’s policy toward the use of physical restraints?

ADVICE ON VISITING SICK/DYING PERSONS:

1. Don’t visit the patient unannounced. Please call ahead.
2. Don’t send “get well” cards to a person who is not going to get well. And don’t write and say how sad you are. Send a funny or happy note. Better yet, share a funny memory.
3. Don’t call on the phone and cry. Call when you are able to be upbeat and offer a sick person some cheerful diversion.
4. Don’t send the patient candy or rich food they are unable to eat. Ask what the patient can have and offer to prepare something light and nourishing. Homemade soups are always a treat.
5. Don’t say, “If there is anything I can do, please let me know.” Cook or bake something. Drop off a humorous book or a funny video.
6. Come over and visit the caretaker if the patient is gravely ill. Caretakers get lonely and depressed and can use a lift. If you don’t know what to say or do, be honest and say just that.

WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT?
Here’s how to tell exactly how many calories you need. It’s simple math. If you want to maintain your weight, multiply your current weigh (in pounds) by 13. And there you have it – the number of calories you should eat in a day. If you wish to lose weight, multiply your current weight (in pounds) by 10. And don’t forget the exercise!

SIDS PREVENTION
The American Academy of Pediatrics released recommendations for preventing SIDS in October of 2005. Here are the recommendations related to sleep habits:

• Place your baby on his or her back to sleep, both at nighttime and nap time. Until a few years ago, doctors told mothers to place their babies on their stomachs to sleep. But research now shows that fewer babies die of SIDS when they sleep on their backs. Because babies automatically swallow or cough up any fluids, doctors have found no increase in choking or other problems in babies sleeping on their backs.
• Place your baby on a firm mattress, such as in a crib designated as safe. Don’t put babies on soft mattresses, sofas, sofa cushions, waterbeds, sheepskins or other soft surfaces.
• Avoid commercial devices marketed to reduce the risk of SIDS. Although various devices have been developed to maintain the sleep position or to reduce the risk of rebreathing, none has been tested sufficiently to show efficacy or safety.
• Consider offering a pacifier at nap time and bedtime. The pacifier should be used when placing the infant down for sleep and should not be reinserted once the infant falls asleep. If the infant refuses the pacifier, he or she should not be forced to take it.
• Avoid overheating. The infant should be lightly clothed for sleep and the room temperature comfortable for a lightly clothed adult.
• A separate but proximate sleeping environment is recommended. The risk of SIDS has been shown to be reduced when the infant sleeps in the same room as the mother.
• Make sure baby’s face and head stay uncovered during sleep. The baby’s feet should be at the bottom of the crib, with the blanket no higher than the baby’s chest, and the blanket tucked in around the crib mattress.
• Remove all fluffy bedding from the sleep area. Make sure to take all pillows, quilts, stuffed toys and other soft items out of the crib.
• Avoid having the infant spend excessive time in car seats or “bouncers” in which pressure is applied to the back of the head.
• Place the infant to sleep with the head to one side for a week and then changing to the other and periodically changing the orientation of the infant to outside activity.
• Do not use home monitors as a strategy to reduce the risk of SIDS. There is no evidence that the use of such devices decreases the risk of SIDS.