Gentle Reader, In the end, and in the beginning, there is only one thing we –you and I– can do to bring lasting health to our aching bodies. Life style change. As I travel the Alaska Marine Highway, eat in the cafeteria on board, snack along the wharf in the various Inside Passage towns, I …
Author Archives: Betsy Bell
Another Diet Pill Bites the Dust
Everyone is looking for an easy way to lose weight. Let’s face it. Losing weight is difficult. You have to give up your favorite foods. You’re often hungry and cranky. You have to change your lifestyle. And did I mention that you might need to put on your running shoes and go for a run …
Alaska, here we come
Gentle Reader, My sister-in-law, Joan Bell, arrived last Wed. just as I was cleaning the paint residue from the back garden and deck. We were Alaska-bound and she had the excited energy that quivered, “Alaska, here we come.” Of course, I had a few more things to do to be ready for our Friday morning …
Confessions of an arthritic painting contractor
Gentle Reader, Confessions of an arthritic painting contractor: Taking down paintings, emptying book shelves, moving furniture, rolling up rugs, pulling up old wall-to-wall carpet, removing electric face-plates and then spackling, sanding, taping, and painting every wall that faces the outside is a sure-fire recipe for arthritic flare-ups of major proportion. No matter how many …
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Joint pain reaction to bee sting
Gentle Reader, The energy retrofit continues this week. The work took me and one roofer through a yellow jacket nest on the side of my hill. The result was painful stings. Mine were on the belly and chest. The roofer had to be taken to the emergency room for treatment. He became short of breath …
Calming Complex, Toothpaste and Roll-on deodorant for bee stings
What’s behind these products that makes them effective after the redness and itchy results from insect bites? Bee stings? Mosquitoes? Wasps? When the reaction is severe, see a doctor immediately. The after effects can be soothed using these Shaklee products. Enfuselle Calming Complex designed by Shaklee’s scientists for sooth the skin as part of a …
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I’m reducing my carbon foot print
Gentle Reader, I am reducing my carbon foot print. My house is organized chaos. All the furnishings are stacked in the middle of each room, covered with sheets. Two young men are drilling holes in the outside walls of every room, caulking the heat registers, the joint where wall meets floor, and every nook where …
Freedom is what I want for you
Gentle Reader, Freedom from living pay check to pay check, from debt, from a schedule you did not create yourself, from worry about the back-to-school expenses and freedom from not being able to give to the people you love: all these Freedoms and more are on my mind this morning. I just back from Denver …
New approach to hip surgery
Gentle Reader, A dear friend and hiking companion was talking with me yesterday as we climbed to the saddle above Pratt Lake in the Snoqualmie Pass section of the Cascade Mountains. Her husband, an athletic 71 year old has worn out his hip and finally, after months of thinking it was only a sore knee, …
Managing pain after eye surgery
Gentle Reader, While this blog is primarily about arthritis management, I wanted to use this platform to let you know about managing pain after my recent eye surgery. I have suffered from impaired vision for several years due to a droopy eye lid condition which is corrected by Blepharoplasty. Here’s a little video so you can …