Update on the new lifestyle!

Hello everyone!

This week is the beginning of my new lifestyle at home. Now that the jet lag is over, I am settling into my new daily routine. I wanted to share how things are going.

My day still begins early. I am up at 0600, which by most people’s standard is early, but for me is sleeping 1.5 hours longer than I have for almost 30 years! I wake up and do nothing for an hour. Just watch the world come to life outside my window.

Then I cook and eat breakfast with my wonderful husband! I clean up the breakfast dishes, and send him off to work with his lunch packed and ready to go into the microwave at lunchtime.

I make the bed, straighten up the house and then begin the fun part of my day! I still have trouble believing I have a WHOLE day! I begin by working out. I‘ve decided that I am going to get back in shape so that I feel better and hopefully look better. So far, I can’t see any physical changes but I’ve lost 5 lbs since I quit work at the hospital! It is truly amazing how stress and elevated cortisol levels can be detrimental to your weight and your overall health!

My house has been neglected due to my previous work schedule. So, I have been deep cleaning and organizing the house one room at a time. I begin by going through all of the drawers and closets in each room and then organizing and deep cleaning the room. I have been able to completely organize and clean 2 rooms!

When I become tired of organizing and cleaning, I go to my craft room and spend time making things. I am enjoying my jewelry design and working on other projects to sell. This is probably my favorite part of the day.

As evening approaches, I start preparations for dinner. I am working on a system to organize and simplify the shopping and cooking part of my life. I am also hoping that it will be more cost effective. I plan to try this for a month and if I am successful, I will share my plan with you next month.

Shank comes in around 8pm and we spend the rest of the evening with dinner and relaxing watching TV.

I will probably grow tired of this schedule at some point, but for the moment, I am beside myself with the relaxation, calmness and peace of my new life. I do have a lot of ideas that I want to try though, things to improve and simplify my life. Also things that I think will be exciting. I can’t wait to share these with you as I try them!

I was looking through my photos and found these pictures of Tennessee in the winter. I hope you enjoy!

Until next time!

"Back to the Future in Healthcare"

Hello everyone! I’m home!  I had a wonderful time in India and I am missing my family and friends there, but it is good to be back to the family and friends that I’ve been missing here!

I had the opportunity to visit a hospital in Mumbai while I was there. My father-in-law was having some health issues (he is better now, thank goodness) but he needed to be seen by a physician.  We called his physician who said that he would be glad to see him the next morning, but since it was a national holiday (Independence Day) his office would be closed. He suggested meeting at the hospital in the outpatient department. I was dreading this....you know how it is in the U.S. sitting in the waiting room for hours.

Shank and I went with Aba (that is the name that his grandchildren gave him many years ago) to the hospital to see the physician.  Vivek, the driver pulled the car into the entrance to the hospital and I felt like I had been transported back in time.  Now, for those of you who don’t know me very well, I have been a nurse since 1984. When I say transported back in time, I do not mean back to the dark ages of the early 80’s. Oh no, I mean transported back into time. I felt like I was back in my childhood, only in an alien environment. The staff was out on the lawn waiting excitedly for the flag raising ceremony for Independence Day. Most of the nurses looked like the nurses of my childhood, starched white uniforms with hose and shoes and the hats. Those horrible hats that I HATED wearing for the first 10 years of my career. Those horrible hats that I miss seeing. The hats that inspired trust and gave off a sense of character. The hat that radiated the Nurse Hatchet vibe that instilled fear and trust into the heart of everyone under her care. The remaining nurses looked like Mother Teresa. They wore white and blue sari and gave off an air of compassion.

As the car came to a stop, an orderly immediately opened the door, deposited Aba into a wheelchair, and escorted us through the hospital into the outpatient department. Entering the hospital, again I had flashbacks to childhood. The lobby had a receptionist desk and a waiting area with chairs. There was no air conditioning but the hum of the oscillating fans was very comforting. The mission statement over the lobby entrance said “We Check Everything in the Hope That We Find Nothing.”

As we walked down the hall, I saw a board directing patients and visitors to different areas of the hospital. The lettering reminded me of the attendance board at Sunday School during my childhood. We passed the time clock with the paper time cards and the employees divided by job description.

The physician came in and examined my father-in-law. He was very thorough and compassionate. He then explained to me what he thought was going on and gave me the plan of care. During this whole conversation, he is writing on a pad of paper.  I assumed that this would go into the patient file. However, at the end of the conversation, he tore the sheet out of the pad and gave the entire thing to me. He was sending the entire History and Physical along with the Plan of Care and Treatment home with us so that we could review it whenever we needed. I assume that he either rewrote or dictated the visit after we left.

When the conversation was over, he asked if I had any questions and then began to talk to me about the hospital. I found this conversation to be amazing. I discovered that individual families owned the hospital. Anyone could become part of the hospital by paying a yearly membership fee. The members of the hospital paid for every piece of equipment and all of the employees’ salaries. The staff and physicians mission was to provide excellent care while keeping the price of healthcare as low as possible. As long as salaries are paid, equipment maintained and cost of business expenses are covered, the healthcare is free to members. Everyone (members and staff) works to stay within budget in order to prevent an increase in membership fees. The physician then told me about the new MRI scanner that had just been purchased to provide up to date care.

We said goodbye to the physician and left the hospital. We asked where to get the prescriptions filled and were directed to the pharmacy located on the side of the building.  There is nothing in my memory that can describe the pharmacy. However, knowing how the hospital runs of a cash basis, all I can say is it serves the purpose!

Waiting area

Time Clock

Information board

Nurses at the flag raising ceremony

Pharmacy

The only thing that I can say after the visit is I am impressed! Maybe new and state of the art is not always better. Maybe the healthcare system in the U.S. should take a trip “Back to the Future” and try to sort out where we went wrong!

Reminiscing about childhood and thinking about life in India!

            One of the things that I’ve always liked and been in awe of here in India is the way food is prepared.  Except for cookies and sweets, nothing is commercially prepared or instant. My sister-in-law uses no frozen or canned vegetables. Everything is fresh! Also, there are no leftovers. She cooks enough for the meal that we are eating, and it is gone.

            Growing up in a very southern rural country area, this is alien to me.  As a child, I remember having fresh vegetables in the summer! I loved the summer when school was out and the days were long and filled with playing outside, Bible school and fresh vegetables in the garden.

            The day would begin with waking up, and having breakfast. Breakfast was not a big meal at our house unless there was company visiting. We would have toast or cereal and then the day would begin. As a small child, I would play all morning until lunch time (we called this dinner), then I would take a nap, wake up and play some more until Daddy came home and then eat supper and go to bed at 8pm. This was my life. Looking back it was a wonderful life with nothing bigger to worry about than hoping that if it rained, there would not be lightening and we could stay outside and play.

            As an older child and teenager, things changed somewhat. The day began, as always but instead of being able to play all day, there were vegetables to deal with. My Grandfather had a huge family garden that we all participated in and there were massive amounts of food to be processed.  We did not visit much in the summer but if we did go to someone else’s home, the process was the same all over the countryside. The only difference was whether the mother of the house canned or froze her vegetables. My mother put everything in the freezer. The day would begin with the vegetable that was ripe and ready to pick that day. Usually, one vegetable would ripen and we would work that vegetable for several days or a week. Sometimes, however, we would be dealing with multiple vegetables at the same time. We would shell peas or beans for days on end. When we would have a large dishpan shelled, my mother and as I got older, myself, would begin the process of putting them in the freezer.

            My mother or I would fill up the sink with water and dump the peas or beans into the water. Then we would begin the job of picking out the trash and the bad peas. The majority of the trash would float to the top and could be scooped off with your hand. After this was done, each pea was looked at by scooping up a handful of peas at a time, holding them under running water and discarding any bad peas. The peas were then placed in huge pans with water and brought to a boil on the stove, the heat turned off and the peas bagged in freezer bags, sealed and put into the freezer.

This process was then repeated until the plants stopped producing peas and then it was on to the next vegetable. The process was the same with only small variations for tomatoes and corn. My mother also put up “soup mix” which consisted of combining all of the vegetables that she used in home made soup into one bag. This saved freezer bags and space in the freezer.

We had vegetables all year until the next summer. We did not buy vegetables from the grocery. We also did the same with meats. My grandfather raised hogs and my father, brothers and uncles hunted deer and fished.  My grandfather had a meat processing plant and a smoke house. We had fresh and smoked meat and sausage all year! We bought chicken and the occasional Sunday beef roast at the store.

            The ladies in the community worked very hard, especially in the summer. For that reason, they usually only cooked once a day. We would have a HUGE meal in the middle of the day that we called dinner. Afterwards, the leftover food would be put up and pulled out for supper. I remember as a small child, before microwaves, we would often eat the food cold depending on how tired my mother or grandmother was and how hot it was outside. Anything that wasn’t finished at that meal went into the fridge and usually ended up in a soup of stew for Saturday.

            I’ve been wondering why the two cultures in my life are so very different from each other. India is fortunate to have a yearlong growing season. I’ve come to the conclusion that life in India while being optimal is not possible for most people unless they live in a large city where they are in walking distance of an organic farmers market.  Also, I’ve spent quite a bit of time this trip reminiscing on the lost days of my childhood and wondering what I can do to incorporate some of my knowledge into healthier eating. I think that I am going to concentrate on eating less processed foods and strive this summer, to put up my own vegetables instead of having to rely on the poor quality vegetables in the stores during the winter.

I’m going to leave you with a picture of the local vegetables available along almost every street in Mumbai! Have a great week!

           

Food and Family in India!

Hello to everyone!

I am enjoying my new life and as always love being in India! The weather is great and the food is better!

Speaking of food, I had an epiphany four days after reaching Mumbai! We left Mumbai and traveled to the city of Pune for my niece's wedding. On my third day in Pune, I woke up extremely early.  I did not sleep well and I couldn’t put my finger on the problem, but I really did not feel well.

We were in our hotel in Pune, celebrating the second day of the wedding. I went down to breakfast, which is included in the room stay. The breakfast was wonderful as always! Upma and Dosa with Sambhar.

For those of you unfamiliar with Indian food, Upma is a wonderful vegetarian dish that I can only describe as the vegetarian breakfast version of Thanksgiving dressing. It is not sweet, but is rather spicy and just plain good! Dosa is a South Indian food. It is basically a paper-thin crispy crepe that is made of either chickpea flour or rice flour depending on who is making it. Dosa is plate sized and has the texture of a very thinly sliced potato chip! Sambhar is a tomato-based soup that is served with the dosa along with coconut chutney! Both dishes are to die for! I was extremely happy to see them because although I love spicy food, my poor stomach has to have a least a one spicy meal break per day! For that reason, I usually skip the Sambhar at breakfast.

I finish breakfast and we are asked to go out for another breakfast with my brother-in-law Pradeep’s family. They may have to roll me off of the airplane and through the airport on the way home :). The ceremony for today does not begin until 6pm.  I am really not feeling well, so I opt out and go back to the room. Then I do the unheard of….. I get back in bed! For those of you who know me, you know that this is something that I NEVER do! I am up at 0500 and go, go, go, until bedtime!

I wake at 3:30pm. I am aching all over as if I have worked out and taken a long distance run the day before. My stomach feels strange and I have terrible heartburn. It hurts to move my fingers. My feet and ankles are so swollen that my toes don’t touch the floor. What is wrong with me? I go to Shank’s sister Sujata’s hotel room and find Shank there, talking to her and Pradeep’s sister Sema. Sema is an Aruyedic physician. She immediately gets up and returns a few minutes later with medicine. My heartburn stops but not the body aches.

We get dressed for the next ceremony. After the ceremony is over, we have a formal sit down dinner. The food is wonderful, however, after dinner, I begin to feel worse! I immediately panic. Do I have an acquired tropical disease? What is wrong with me?  The bridal couple cut the wedding cake and I am offered a piece. I immediately respond” No thanks”, due to my……then it dawns on me! GLUTEN!!!! I have been eating vegetarian all week but I forgot about the hidden wheat that I have been eating. WHEAT!!!!

After recovering from the shock and relief that I am not dying, I have a talk with Shank and decide that instead of announcing the problem, and making everyone uncomfortable, he will check out the menus ahead of time so that I can choose only the gluten free selections.

I am very thankful and relieved to know that I am not dying, however, I am a little disappointed that I have to cut out some of my favorite foods. No more Upma! However, I think that with a little experimentation, I can make it at home with gluten free flour!

I have to admit, I really had no clue that gluten affected me so severely until I began eating it again! I will NEVER knowingly eat it again! For those of you who wonder about body aches and pains of unknown origin, I encourage you to try to cut out wheat and gluten for a week or so and see if you feel better. What I had always assumed was arthritis or old age :), I now realize is inflammation caused by gluten.

I am now learning to eat gluten free in India. I will keep you apprised of my progress!

Check out the photos of the wonderful food that I have been enjoying!

                                              Dosa with Sambhar and Coconut Chutney!

      

                                A typical Thali Vegetarian meal! This is all you can                                                                                            eat! YUM!!!

Until next time!

People Who Help Others!

Hello Everyone! 

If you are reading this it means that I do not have Wi-Fi in India! So instead, I am going to tell you about my last day at work and the wonderful team that I have been blessed to work with!

I worked at Vanderbilt for 5 years and for the last 3, have been the charge nurse for the Orthopaedic Trauma Team. What an amazing group of people! They spend every workday putting patients with broken bones due to traumatic injury back together again.

It is a very challenging, stressful job that requires much skill and dedication. It is very demanding and sometimes emotionally draining. But it is always rewarding. I will always be thankful that I had the opportunity to manage and work with this group of people and to call them my friends. I am also thankful that there are people in this world who are caring and compassionate enough to come in, day after day, week after week to take care of injured patients like the teams on the Orthopaedic- Elective and Orthopaedic-Trauma teams at Vanderbilt.  I love and admire ya’ll! (That is for you Mike).

I am going to leave you now with pictures that I took of my friends on my last day of work!

Until next time!

Starting a New Chapter

Well today is the day! I am finishing my packing and getting ready to head to the airport! What an eventful week! Wednesday was my last day at the hospital, an end to a chapter in my life.

I will miss my ortho family!  To all of you Operating Room and Ortho folks who read my blog, I love you and I will miss you. But I have to move on and start living this new chapter in my life.

I wonder what new things I will discover on my upcoming journey to India? If I can find Wi-Fi while I am there, I will send you pictures and updates. If not, please bear with me until I get back. I promise that there will be lots of new insights and changes in my journey towards finding sanity!

Talk to you soon!

Also, if you are interested in my travels, check out my travel blog at

http://caykothare.tumblr.com/ 

Out with the old and in with the new!!!

Hello!  I hope that your New Year is going just the way you had planned!

Things are going well here. I have been doing a lot of soul searching and this week I made a decision. I am leaving my full time job to begin a new life!  That’s right! I turned in my resignation and Wednesday is my last day! I am excited and nervous all at the same time.

I am planning to start over. What will I do? Well, to start off, I am going to travel. I am going to explore new places and experience new things.  I am going to start this part of my new life next week! We are going to India to see the family. I am very excited! I love India and my family there. I have been brushing up on my Hindi and I am ready to face the unexpected! It is also a special trip. My niece is getting married.  There is nothing more exciting than an Indian wedding! So many beautiful women in sari and jewels, amazing food, beautiful scenery and music, and lots of celebrating!

While I am in India, I plan to look for beautiful things to bring back to sell. There are so many lovely things there that most people never get to see, much less have the opportunity to own and enjoy.  Every time I go, I am amazed at the beautiful craftsmanship and variety of goods in the market place and on the streets.

I also plan to take a ton of photographs. India is a mysterious and fascinating culture. There is beauty everywhere. Even in the ugly and mundane there is something unique and interesting to be found.

            Maybe those of you who know me well are wondering, besides travel what is she going to do to keep from being bored? Well, I am going to make jewelry, do crafts, take care of my house and husband, visit my friends, children and grandchildren, and generally do things that I have never been able to do! I will keep everyone updated on my progress and what I learn, see, and do in this new life!

Until next week!