Rushing's Ramblings

Dear Marcy, You shared information with me this weekend about Bethany's recent miscarriage. You thought she was a little "over the top," comparing her miscarriage to being like birthing a full-term baby. After all, Bethany was only six weeks pregnant. You told me that Bethany had her eggs frozen in her thirties. Now that she's pushing 50, she has spent thousands of dollars for a long time to get pregnant. It's apparent that Bethany no longer cares if there's a husband attached to the equation. She wants a baby...husband or not. You must think Bethany would make a good mother because she has been identified as the person who will raise your children should their father and maternal grandmother be unable to care for them. When I was 27, the happiest day was when I married your father, followed by the day I discovered I was pregnant with you. I couldn't wait to see you, touch your face along with every inch of your body, marveling that you were the pers...

My father and I had a tumultuous time during my growing-up years. I was strong-willed and didn't care if my smart mouth and telling the truth about my misdeeds would result in severe punishment. Dad was a firm believer in "spare the rod; spoil the child," and I wasn't spoiled by any stretch of the imagination. We were both wrong in our approaches, but that's all water under the proverbial bridge now. My father gave me a glimpse into his view of love two times after I was grown. We were having lunch with my brother and my 14-year-old daughter when he began talking about the meaning of love. He explained that he didn't know what love was, as he had never felt loved by his parents. While sitting on a mesquite-infested, hot, and humid island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean during WWII, he would write heartfelt poems to his parents. At age 18, he was very homesick and in dangerous, unfamiliar surroundings. Many of my father's poems were borrowed by o...

One of the benefits of growing older is realizing things that really matter. You discover that you would give everything to see the smile a loved one gives you when your eyes meet. That adoring smile may be a memory of a loved one gone before you were ready or of a parent no longer on this earth. Perhaps it's the grin of a child or a grandchild when they first see you after some time apart. It could be the beautiful sound of laughter as your family is gathered around the kitchen table. Then, there are the sunsets or sunrises as you sit on top of a mountain or watch a whale breach at the exact time you emerge from under the ocean while scuba diving. If you're incredibly fortunate, you've experienced joy in all its many forms. Many people and experiences bring us pleasure. We learn as we age that our health becomes essential – much more important than our bank account. For many of us, having "enough" means we can pay our bills and have enough for what we ne...

I will scream if I hear "it's because you're getting older" one more time. I shouldn't complain, as nothing has been life-threatening. I can whine, though, can't I? My gastroenterologist diagnosed me with diverticulosis about a year ago. He explained that "as we age," the lining of our intestines becomes weaker and forms pockets. Most people with diverticulosis experience no symptoms or complications. Complications of diverticulosis occur when food gets trapped in the pockets and becomes infected. The result is a condition called diverticulitis. Lucky me, I've had several painful and debilitating episodes of diverticulitis in the past 8 months. After a trip to the ER to get correctly diagnosed using a CT scan, 10 days of antibiotics, and a liquid diet, I recover for what seems like a millisecond before it all starts again. Losing weight this way is not recommended. During my most recent visit to the ER for diverticulitis, I was informed ...

Most people know if you experience severe chest pain, chances are you are having a heart attack. Chest pain is often accompanied by pain in the arm and shortness of breath. Those who have had heart attacks report feeling like an elephant is sitting on their chests. Others feel an overwhelming sensation of being smothered.  Women will often have pain in their jaw, neck, upper back, arms, shoulder, or abdomen. They may feel nauseated, sweaty, dizzy, unusually fatigued, or have shortness of breath. Women often have symptoms other than chest pain, making it easy to ignore that they might be experiencing a heart attack. According to the Centers for Disease Control, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women and men. Over 610,000 people die of heart disease per year in the United States.  The CDC predicts that one in every four deaths in America will be attributable to heart disease this year .  The American Heart Association reports the average age ...