Health

Informational or personal experience posts on health and illness topics such as COPD, self-care, and others areas of interest to the author, Lynette M. Burrows or her readers.

15 Inspirational Quotes for Tough Times

Lynette M Burrows

Pandemic life is tough. Add on inequality, unemployment, and the steady erosion of a lifetime of saving it’s difficult. Now add on the ordinary difficulties of life: chronic illnesses, family stresses, and home and vehicle maintenance—it’s a lot. Anxiety is high. High enough that sometimes innocent words blow up into something else. But mankind has been through a lot. You’ll get through this, too. Here are some inspirational quotes for tough times to remind you that you can do this. On Being Tough Tough times never last, but tough people do. – Robert Schuller The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.  —Seneca In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive. – Lee Iacocca On Ways to Think Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.  – Marcus Aurelius You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.  – Dan Millman If you don’t like something change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. –Mary Engelbreit […]

Hope of a Cure for Sickle Cell

Lynette M Burrows

In the midst of the pandemic and protests and political mayhem, the grim news can be overwhelming. But there’s wonderful news, too. Remember the gene-editing technique, CRISPR? A year after gene-editing, a woman with severe sickle cell disease feels great. This success signals hope of a cure for Sickle Cell disease. Sickle Cell Disease According to the Centers for Disease Control, Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders. A healthy red blood cell is round. It travels through our blood vessels, even the tiny capillaries, and delivers oxygen to all parts of the body. When a person has SCD, their red blood cells become hard and sticky and shaped like a farm tool called the sickle. These abnormal cells get stuck in small blood vessels. This clogs blood flow. It can cause mild-to-severe pain and many serious problems like strokes. These cells also die early, causing anemia. There are three common types of Sickle Cell and three rare types. Some people carry the trait (they have half the genetic material that causes the disease). If two people with the trait have a child, they have a 50% chance of passing on the trait and […]

Hope for that Helpless Feeling

Lynette M Burrows

Are you in a hard place right now? Feel like you’re stuck? Helpless and Hopeless? There is hope for that helpless feeling. Don’t Diminish Your Feelings You know you’re not alone. And in your heart of hearts, you believe your hard place isn’t anywhere near as hard as those of people of color or police officers or medical workers or even some grocery store clerks. And that’s part of the problem. Other people having hard times in their lives doesn’t negate your troubles. Your troubles still disrupt your life. Cause you pain. Troubles in trying to write or not being able to go to the movie theater or being unable to visit your loved ones are painful. But they aren’t really the problem. You focus on a smaller problem. Because you feel helpless. You cannot cure COVID or right the wrongs of racial inequality. And you cannot heal the rage and the hate and the hurt of the world. You wish you could. And when you realize you’re not in a position to help, You feel impotent. Helpless. Paralyzed. Trauma Trauma affects you mentally and physically. You say, wait—I’ve not experienced the trauma—I’ve just watched it on television, YouTube, Twitter, […]