This morning was a special day for the mommies in my playgroup and I. Today we donated over 150 stuffed monkeys to the children being cared for at North Florida Regional Medical Center (NFRMC) in honor of our Angel Odessa. Odessa Virginia Webster was born at NFRMC on February 24, 2003, and landed back at the same hospital on March 25, 2004 for care after a fatal head injury. At thirteen months old, Odessa was stolen from her parents Matt and Anita, her loving family, and our already tight playgroup family. It was devastating for all of us, and out of our grief came an intense drive to honor our "Angel O".

To back up a bit, our playgroup began when our infants met at a "new mommy" luncheon hosted at NFRMC when they were two weeks old. Well, the infants didn't exactly meet each other, but us moms did ... and we decided then and there that we wanted to stick together. That made ten families dealing with the insanity of newborns and leaning on each other for friendship, advice, stress relief, and fun. We literally have been getting together for "playgroup" every Tuesday since, and our children are all addicted to each other; the best of friends. At the start, we would have never imagined what would come for us, for her, the following year. I just remember checking my email one day and opening one from Anita with "Odessa Virginia Webster" as the title. I expected to see a new photo from a portrait studio. A portrait was included, but it went along with a letter written by Anita informing us that her daughter was gone. "Please don't call now. I'm not ready to talk" she wrote. I simply can't describe the agony that followed for all of us.

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My sister has high blood pressure. While lifestyle choices and medication keep her blood pressure in healthy ranges she can't seem to shake the edema. Despite her best efforts, her feet and ankles remain swollen and puffy. While my blood pressure is within healthy range, as soon as the weather gets hot and humid, I'm dealing with swollen feet, too.

Our bodies are designed to move water through our systems. Edema is a condition where excess fluid is retained between cells. There are many reasons you may have edema including immobility, pregnancy, heat/humidity, medications, high blood pressure, trauma, and kidney disease. If you have swollen feet, take heart. There are plenty of things you can do:

• Elevate your legs above heart level. You can use a leg wedge to raise your legs up while sleeping.
• Wear support socks.
  
• Increase your activity -- walking is a perfect exercise for helping edema.
• Avoid standing or sitting in one place for a long time. (If you are sitting for a while, try raising your feet up a bit.)
• Ask your doctor if a short-term course of diuretics would be advisable.
• If you're on high blood pressure medication, talk to your doctor about possibly modifying your medications. (Do not make any changes without speaking to your doctor.)
• Drink plenty of water.

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On its own, joint pain isn't usually something that warrants a visit to the doctor's office. It's more of a nuisance--something to make note of and mention the next time you go in for a physical. But sometimes, joint pain can be a sign of something more serious, as Everyday Health points out. When does joint pain warrant medical attention? When ...

• ... its accompanied by a fever, rash, fatigue, headache, or weight loss
• ... its a result of joint trauma or injury
• ... the pain is severe
• ... there are neurological symptoms too, like numbness in the hands or pain in the neck or back.
  

Not to freak you out or anything, but joint pain can be a symptom of autoimmune diseases, infections and even cancer, so make sure to pay attention to those aches and pains.

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One of the most devastating aspects of fighting cancer can be the long and exhausting courses of treatment. From what I've read and heard, dealing with the physical and emotional after-affects of chemotherapy and radiation can be as difficult as dealing with the disease itself.

A test developed by a scientist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia promises to ease some of the suffering associated with cancer treatments. Basically, a dye is injected into patients receiving chemotherapy and radiation, and molecules in the die attach to any dead or dying cancer cells, allowing doctors to see whether or not the treatment is actually working.

Until now, patients had to endure entire courses of treatment that could last up to six months before being able to assess whether or not their tumors where shrinking, had stayed the same or were growing larger. If the treatment hadn't worked, patients would have to undergo a new, exhausting course of treatment. The new dye test will hopefully allow doctors to tell right away whether or not the treatment on a particular patient is working based on whether or not there is evidence of dead or dying cancer cells.

Hopefully the test will cut down on the trauma associated with chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

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It used to be thought that nearly everyone of a certain age would be eligible to donate blood. Now, a new study shows that the percentage of eligible blood donors is lower than previously thought because certain risk factors hadn't been taken into consideration. Now it's estimated that only about 37% of adults are eligible to donate blood -- less than half of the population. And of that 37% I imagine there are few who actually donate.

For this reason, I think it's more important than ever to donate blood if you're eligible. You can save many lives at only a slight inconvenience to yourself.

Do you donate blood?

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Do you know how muscles are made? Yes, they're made by lifting weights, but do you know the process that your body goes through to make them? Do you care? If you do, here's an explanation from the experts at eDiets:

When you strength train with enough of a load to challenge yourself, your muscles experience micro-trauma and have to rebuild themselves, with help from the human growth hormone, which in turn uses fat to aid in producing muscle. It's not easy to build a pound of muscle, but once you do, you can expect to burn an extra 30 to 50 calories a day.

So while doing cardio at the gym will burn fat, don't forget to work those weights too!

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Did you know that the treadmill is one of the most dangerous things you could have in your home? Most folks don't. We all know to keep kids away from electrical outlets, stoves and irons, and accordingly many of us "babyproof" based on these concerns. I'm always amazed at how many people think it's fun to let their kids try out the old treadmill. It's not fun. In fact it's incredibly dangerous.

Watching Mommy and Daddy scooting along on the treadmill looks like the'ye riding on a big toy to a kid, and that moving belt can seem wildly intriguing. That's why many hospitals end up performing skin grafts on children. Because the curious child reached out to touch that cool belt, even slow moving ones ... and had the skin burned right off their little hands. Long ago I saw an episode of Oprah where a featured child had even lost fingers touching a treadmill. Scary right?

Now think about the five year old who's convinced his father to let him just 'try it'. Far too young to be able to handle such a powerful machine, the speed goes too high or the child simply loses his balance and gets launched off the treadmill landing on his head. Head trauma is the second most common injury seen in the E.R. from treadmills next to hand injuries.

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According to a new report from U.S. researchers, about two-thirds of American kids will go through some kind of traumatic event in their childhoods, although few of them will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

With divorces, moving and school all combined into a precious few years sometimes, it's not hard to see why kids are increasingly seeing more childhood trauma rates.

In a way, many kids will have an increased emotional resilience, although the researchers were quick to point out that children will process traumatic events differently than adults.

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