Nutrition to the Rescue!

Yesterday was our second and final day with ServSafe. We took the test (wasn't too bad) and just waiting to hear back about the results from Chicago!
Lately I have been working on my project for our Lunch&Learn at St. E's that will take place the week before our Thanksgiving Break. I have decided  to do mine on wound VACS (vacuum assisted closure therapy).
It is a relatively new procedure that is used in many cases; the one that we see the most at St. E's is pressure ulcers. Many people used to die from these wounds they would get (which are essentially extremely bad and open wound bed sores) while they were staying in the hospital. This procedure actually uses vacuum technology to pull and consistently clean an open wound. The vacuum mechanism also pulls the wound edges back together allow it to not only heal when it normally wouldn't heal on its own; but it also heals the wound faster.  Nutrition is a very important aspect of wound healing as many people have come to realize. (CNN named dietitians #3 in jobs saving the world!!!) For example, today I saw an interesting case which is a prime example how protein contributes to wound healing.
I was doing research on a patient with the dietitian I was following and we noticed that the patient who had cirrhosis had a laparotomy (a large incision in the abdomen area) and the incision from this surgery would not heal. When we looked at the patients medications, she was taking Lactulose which is used primarily to neutralize ammonia levels in the body. The high ammonia levels are associated with the liver malfunctioning and can lead to disturbances in brain functioning (encephalopathy). Therefore, the patient had been on a protein restricting diet because protein contributes to ammonia levels in the brain.  Since her protein levels had been restricted, the wound would not heal because of the importance of protein in wound healing.
It always comes back to nutrition!

Is Diet Soda Bad for You?

I am doing this post in response to a conversation we had today with a patient who asked, "Is diet soda bad for me?"  In addition, I love diet sodas so it is a win win situation. This question has been debated for a long time, answers such as "It causes cancer" and "It can decrease fertility". Well as for the first one.. what doesn't cause cancer these days? and for the second one the reasons the "experts" say this is because SOME diet sodas contain caffeine which can, in extremely high, consistent doses, constrict blood vessels and and decrease blood flow to the uterus.  This does not mean that you will not be fertile. There also is this thing called diet, decaffeinated sodas if you are really concerned about that.

There is not credible study that shows that diet soda alone causes cancer. Now if you are washing down a Big Mac and large order of fries with a diet soda... it may lead to health consequences such as high cholesterol, diabetes, etc... however, I don't think that it is the diet soda causing any of these problems.  Another point that is misconstrued  is that "experts" claim that it increases your cravings for other sweet foods therefore causing people to gain weight.  Well if you do not eat these other "sweet foods" then you do not gain the weight! I can tell you that I drink diet soda everyday and I do not go around shoveling down everything sweet I can find. Its about self control; if you are choosing to drink diet soda, I would hope that you are trying to be conscious about other things you eat.  The diet soda ALONE is not going to cause a person to pack on the pounds. Its the actions that go along with the diet soda.  Saying that diet soda and regular soda are no different is an ignorant and misleading statement.  How we know this? LOOK at a soda can.

Here is what I see Diet Coke: No calories, 10 gms less of sodium, 0% carbs, NO sugars, NO high fructose corn syrup or sucrose.
If anyone can honestly read these labels and tell me there is no difference in Coke and Diet Coke, I would love to meet them.
In addition many diet soda companies also make diet soda fortified with vitamins and minerals... I think that has more nutrients than water.

 Now don't take that the wrong way.. of course our bodies need what but if you drink a coke plus instead of water every once in awhile you don't need to feel guilty about it.

Drinking diet soda doesn't make you fat... eating unhealthy foods such as ones high in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, and sodium and have an inactive lifestyle does. Nutrition 101. 

So if you have the choice and want to make a healthier one.. choose diet over regular sodas, if you want to make an even healthier choice drink skim milk or a glass of water.

And that was me on my soap box. Thank you for reading... Have a great day =)

Week two coming to a close

Hello!

I now finished with week two. On Friday we went to Good Sam for our first "Intern Friday". We heard from multiple speakers.  The ODA's (Ohio Dietetic Association) president Cynthia Stegeman spoke with us about the ODA and the upcoming 91st Annual Conference, Empower U, which is actually being held in Cincinnati this year! She drew ten names to get into the conference for free and help out the ODA in setting up, giving out awards, taking pictures etc. and I was chosen! So I save money and I get some awesome networking contacts, sounds like a win win situation to me! The conference is May 17 and 18th at the Hyatt Regency downtown. Our other speaker was Thomas Imhoff a pharmacist at Good Sam. He was an excellent speaker who gave a seminar on Drug Nutrient interactions. He not only was able to tell us about drug nutrient interactions, but he also explained exactly how everything happened in the body. He should be a professor; I learned more in his 2 hour seminar than I learned in most of my classes.
I also got a lot done this week relating to my acute care rotation. I chose my subject for my lunch and learn that I will present in front of all of the dietitians at St. E's which is wound vacuum assisted closure therapy (VAC). I also chose my patient that I will use for my case study, which is a man that I saw who was only 27 and had diabetes type 1, testicular cancer, and a wound VAC. Very excited to have those two projects started.
This week I am back at St.E's Monday Wednesday, and Thursday on the wound and cardiac floors.  On Tuesday I will be attending ServSafe at the Greater Cincinnati Heath Council which is a two day class that focuses on Food Safety.
Should be an eventful week! I will keep you posted!

Taking over the Capitol

Helloo,
Just got home from an exhausting day trip to Columbus that started at 5:30am. To say the least I am tired! We spent the day at the Ohio Dietetic Association conference about public policy.  While we had an extremely difficult time finding out where to park and actually go, it was interesting to hear the speakers and meeting with different members of the House and Senate. We heard a speech from Representative John Carney about the importance of dietitians being advocates for public health to their members of the House and Senate in order to get issues addressed that may be overlooked by members of congress who may not be educated and aware of health issues. We also learned how a bill actually gets passes (very complicated and longgg process).  In addition, we heard from Representative Anne Gonzales who discussed a breakfast school program that she was advocating for to get passed. Children hunger, especially at school, is a very important issue that does need to be addressed. Her pilot program involves each child receiving cereal, milk, and fruit every morning at school.  While it does sound like a good idea on paper, it does seem like waste of the food and allergies to certain food products such as gluten could be areas of concern with this program.  We heard from a couple other speakers and then were able to walk over to the Capitol building and have a tour inside.

The Capitol Building had an amazing ceiling!!

Lindsay and I in front of the Capitol Building

All in all it was an interesting experience but definitely a long drive! I am ready to get back to St. E's tomorrow. On Monday and the next two weeks, I am on the wound care and cardiac floors. Monday was definitely very interesting; I was shown extremely large pressure ulcers and with my weak stomach I almost puked.  These wounds were at least 5 inches in width and 4-5 inches deep on patients' butts! This is why I didn't go into nursing; I thought I wouldn't have to see that kind of stuff! However, I do like the floors I am on and I feel as if I am getting more patient interaction which is what I wanted.  I still have not actually consulted on my own but hopefully I will be ready to do that by the end of this week. Will blog soon!

Have a great day... I am going to bed =)

One week down =)

Hello all,
      Week one was a success.  I am now done with oncology (thank god) and moving on to the behavioral unit! Oncology was a very big eye opener on how valuable your health is (so take care of it!).  I say people who were not ever 40 and had a medical record a mile long.  I feel very lucky that I have a healthy family.
      Super excited/ interested for these next two weeks. The agenda for this week is Monday/Wednesday/Thursday- St.E's. Tuesday I will be attending a conference in Columbus at 8 am (aka leaving at 6 am... wayy too early). Should be interesting though, not exactly sure what all we will do but I am sure it will be a productive day.  Friday is our first "intern Friday" with the Christ and Good Sam interns we will be hearing from a couple of speakers.
      It will be a busy week so I should have plenty to share with you! I better get off to a early sleep so I can be somewhat prepared for this week! 'sweetdreams'