Blog Entries With Tag: up

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

I experienced my first bit of what a person goes through when there is a state of emergency - and guess what - I was actually prepared in some ways.

Mike and I had taken a few days off from work - to go visit some friends in upper NY state on the w/e that Irene was forecast to hit the eastern seaboard.  We knew that where we live in Montreal - that there was a forecast of 100-200 cms of rain fall and hoped that while we were gone that our trees that we have trimmed on a regular basis would hold up in the winds that might hit us and that our sump pump would handle all the rainfall.

So, come Sunday morning at our friends house in Rochester, NY, we watched what was happening along the eastern coast of the USA on Fox news as to what was occurring in areas that weren’t along the coast – all that was shown was areas by the coast - we had no clue about Vermont / Adirondack area of New York state.  Lake Ontario that laps the shores of Rochester was like being by the ocean as you can see by this video  (glad we weren’t sailing that day – if we had been – we’d have had the sails reefed in or achored in a safe harbour).  So, come Monday, we headed off to Lake Placid which is a 4 hour drive south-east Rochester.  We did not know at the time what we were driving into at that point.



Coming into Lake Placid, where we were staying at near the Olympic village (we could see the Olympic torch from our balcony) for the winter games in that were held in 1980 we noticed a line up on the road in front of the entrance way to the B&B.  We then found out that this area of the Adirondacks as well as parts of Vermont had been hit hard by tropical storm Irene (see this video prepared by Vermont Red Cross).  Many roads were closed due to flooding, bridges impassable.  Scary stuff if you weren’t prepared for it.

We only stayed the night at the B&B as we both had to get back to work, and for myself, even more important a GP appointment I had made 3 months ago - that I could not miss.  The next day, we ventured out, thinking that in less than 30 minutes we would be hitting Plattsburgh which is the last "big" city before we head back to the back to the border of Canada.  It took us over 2 hours to figure a way out of there.  Road signs lead us to dead ends – either looping us back to where we had come from or just not saying anything except “Road Closed” – no direction of where to go. It was then that I started to feel abit of anxiety hit me and even my DH who normally is calm in situations, was beginning to not be that cool guy I know.

We lucked in (I say this with a *smile*) on flagging down a few NY State Troopers to ask them what roads were open.  Sadly, they were from the Rochester, and didn't know the area well that they were stationed in.  They told us to go find a place to stay for the next 1-2 days until roads were hopefully passable - as this area we were in was in “state of emergency”.  Mike was okay with that - as he was sure his boss would understand the situation - but for me - to miss out on this GP's appointment was something I was not too happy about.  

The good thing was that I had enough diabetic supplies to see me thru' at least 3 weeks it was the one good thing.  Along with 4 cases of Wegman's diet ginger ale and some various nibbles - we were set if the worst case scenario had happened – which some people may not have been.

To make a long story short - in the end - we found a way to connect ourselves to the I-87, but the destruction along the way with how high the water had come up over roads, along with broken trees, etc. made you realise how destructive wind and rain can be.  The level and flow of water in the streams we went by - impressive to say the least – but scary.  The route that we took with winding back roads, amazing in our '97 Boxster that we'd treated ourselves to as our mutual 50th / wedding anniversary pressie.  Luckily, we skirted the debris on the roads, but if it had been worse, a 4X4 would have been needed.

Why the state troopers told us that we couldn't get out is another story.  Either it was due to the fact that they didn't know the region, who knows?  All we knew was, with help of GPS (though a map would have been helpful - technology is good - but old fashioned paper maps sometimes can be helpful as well).  So, in a small way, I felt the apprehension of what it feels like in a small way and it's not pleasant.  I  am hoping that the parts of  Vermont that got hit hardest gets back to “normal” before winter hits us in 12 weeks!

Blog: body1- Treatment for Type II Diabetes

From: ppatel24

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

Well, it’s been awhile since I posted to D-Feast Friday that was started by Lorraine at This is Caleb in the summer of 2010.  The list is now up to almost 200 recipes.  It’s a place I go to when I’m stuck for what to cook up for dinner, and I know that it’s a tried and tested recipe that I know will turn out great! I posted on Facebook the other day that I was making this up for dinner – they drooled over their keyboard with comments to me -  so here it is for you to all try.   Note – this is not my family secret recipe, but from Chatelaine - and it can be made under 30 minutes!  I’ve tweaked the recipe abit to suit my taste / health preferences, so you’ll find my changes within (brackets).  Enjoy!

 PEPPERY MAPLE CHICKEN

1 tbsp / 15 mL butter (I use olive oil)
4 skinless,  boneless chicken breasts or 8 skinless,  boneless thighs (my preference is thighs due to price)
1 cup / 250 mL chicken broth
1 tsp / 5 mL crumbed rosemary leaves (I use fresh plus abit more – but am sure dried will work)
½ tsp / 2 mL coarsely ground black pepper or 1 tsp / 5 mL black peppercorns, crushed (I tend to use more  then asked for as I like pepper)
2 tbsp / 30 mL pure maple syrup

- Melt butter in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and sauté until golden, 3-4 minutes per side. Pour in chicken broth, then scrape up and stir in any brown bits from pan bottom. Sprinkle with rosemary, pepper and generous pinches of salt (if you are on a low sodium diet – you can eliminate this step). Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

- Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer, covered, turning halfway through, until chicken feels springy when pressed, about 10 minutes. Remove to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Add maple syrup to pan juices.  Increase heat to high. Boil, uncovered, from 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until reduced to about 1/3 cup / 75 mL (WARNING: watch carefully after 3-4 minutes – first time I made this just about reduced sauce to nothing – I just added abit of boiling water after taking pan off burner and all was saved). Pour sauce over chicken (lick spoon afterwards – yum).  Fantastic with mashed potatoes and green beans.

The original recipe which serves 4 – states the following nutrient information per serving: 31 g PROTEIN, 5 g FAT, 7 g CARBS, 327 mg SODIM, 0.2 g FIBRE, 22 mg CALCIUM, 206 CALORIES

NB:  Due to some technical difficulties - the link to take you to all the recipes doesn't work from this webpage on Diabetes1.org (I've tested and tested - doesn't work).  Therefore - my best advise is to copy/paste the following link into a new browser window - otherwise - you won't be able to view properly for some reason - http://www2.blenza.com/linkies/links.php?owner=lsisto1&postid=09Jul2010&meme=ff

Blog: Anna's Blog

From: FatCatAnna

Today the theme is supposed to be about " Your Biggest Supporter " but I'm stumped on this one as I've pretty well been a lone ranger in taking care of my diabetes.  So, I've chosen to use up my " Wild Card " that Karen so nicely offered to those bloggers like myself who are stumped.
 

Instead, I'm going to blog about an interesting experience I had a few weeks ago for the yacht club I belong to in Long Sault, Ontario - called Stormont Yacht Club.  A little slice of heaven along the St-Lawrence Seaway west of Montreal.  This is where we keep the Fat Cat (our Catalina 25 which needs a new home/owner) and now our latest floating cottage Jenna's Journey (30' Catalina).  We love to sail as you can " sea "!!

 I volunteered to make a soup for 75 people for Docks In Day.  Yuppers, more then my usual soup recipe for 10 people.  I took it upon myself to prepare this soup (Minestrone) at home, since the club kitchen is an hours drive away.  I had to make the soup the day before, so it would taste better then being made the same day (tho' after making the same soup today for my nephew Chris and his friend Karyn who came to visit from Ottawa - I probably could have made it the same day - since it tasted just as good). 

So, the day before the event (docks into the water) - I was chopping up vegetables galore, about 20 cups of them!  I started at 09h30 in the morning - and by the time I was finished - it was close to 15h30.  I have now decided to not go into the dream of owning a cafe - it's alot of work with all the prepping, etc. or else I should hire some prep staff .

Again, with not being on the insulin pump, I had to try to remember to make sure I tested my blood sugar (BG) on time (my pump used to remind me to do this) - and also to make sure I did eat something and inject accordingly.  Amazingly enough, my BG stayed so perfect, it made me think, multiple doseage injecting (MDI) is just as good as an insulin pump.

The next day I was at the club house for 08h30 and back in the kitchen again - and I was go - go - go until 16h00.  Luckily,  Connie who had asked me to assist her for this lunch, came in abit later, and with volunteers she managed to put aspread  that was better then what we would get from a caterer!  Again with no breaks like the day before (I didn't have time) this was a good test of how MDI would work, as now I was out of my home comfort zone.  Amazingly, with nibbling on desserts that I was cutting up for the gang (prepared by Marjorie - if you're reading this - thank you VERY much) - my BG's stayed within 4 - 6 mmol/l (72 - 108 mg/dl) range.  Yes, there is a Diabetic God!!!!

To see all the pictures of the soup making process - check out my photo's here - (http://www.flickr.com/photos/fatcatanna/sets/72157624048868080/).

Blog: Michelle's Blog

From: Body1Michelle

According to a report from the New England Journal of Medicine, nearly 1 in 10 people in China are suffering from diabetes (9.7%) and another 3 in 20 people are on the verge of developing it (15.5%). David Whiting, an epidemiologist with the International Diabetes Federation, was quoted by Rueters as saying that this means that “for every person in the world with HIV there are three people in China with diabetes."

Diabetes is certainly becoming a major public health crisis in China as well as in other developing countries.  As these countries improve their  economic standings—and as a result eat more and exercise less—illnesses such as diabetes are developing  at an accelerated rate.

My questions are…

What can we do to help prevent health crises from forming in developing countries?

and

Is it even our role to do anything?

I’m really interested in your opinion. I think this topic is strongly connected to the current health care reform debate. How much of a responsibility do we have to manage the health of others?

You can read the extract for the New England Journal of Medicine article here.

And I created a forum post here to further discuss the topic.