Resolutions for Those Facing Chronic Illness

The normal holiday hustle and bustle is stressful enough, but when you add a serious chronic illness to the mix, life can be extra challenging. The cut-and-paste New Year’s resolutions we all fall back on like losing weight might apply to your situation, but there are a few other resolutions for those facing chronic illness to consider.

1. Give Yourself a Break

When you’re juggling a chronic illness and regular life, it can be difficult to find a moment to relax and unwind – but you should. Set aside a specific time when you can do something that gives you joy; talking to an old friend, getting your nails done or reading a book are great ways to unwind.

Another way to get a break is to ask for assistance. For many, asking for assistance is one of the toughest things they’ll ever have to do. But you might be surprised at how many of your friends and family will be happy to have a specific task they can do to make things easier for you.

Finding a space where like-minded individuals are going through the same thing you are, like a support groups, is another good way to relax and talk about your struggles with people who will understand. Ask your doctor for local support group options or check online with an awareness group specific to your illness like the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Alzheimer’s Association or American Lung Association.

2. Advocate for Yourself

One of the best resolutions people facing a chronic illness can do for themselves is to become their own health advocate. Start by learning everything you can about your options, beginning with your health insurance. Make a point of understanding at least the basics of your coverage. If a procedure or prescription is denied, ask why and see if the decision can be changed. Sometimes it’s just a simple coding error that can be easily corrected.

Don’t just question health insurance providers; ask your doctor to explain all your options and the goal of each treatment as well. Make sure you’re on the same page about how the treatment will impact your quality of life. If you’re nervous about asking questions or afraid you’ll forget something, write your questions down in advance.

Finally, get your healthcare paperwork in order. Whether it’s an advance directive, a medical power of attorney or a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order, the best way to ensure your medical wishes will be respected is to put them in writing. Even healthy people can have an accident that renders them unable to communicate their wishes. Don’t wait until a crisis to have your paperwork in order.

3. Focus on What Really Matters

When you’re already stressed, it’s easy to let little things get to you. Try to remember that the most important things in life are the relationships with the people you love. Make a resolution to take time out to tell them all the things you want them to know in a life journal. Share photos, family history, and personal stories. Your family will cherish these memories for the rest of their lives.

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SIGNS OF A STROKE

Did you know that having a stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States? Maybe you’ve had a family member or you have seen someone on television suffer from a stroke but do you know what it is or the warning signs?

What is a stroke?

A stroke is a "brain attack". Although it is more common for women over the age of 55 it can happen to anyone at any time. It occurs when blood flow to an area of brain is cut off. When this happens, brain cells are deprived of oxygen and begin to die. When brain cells die during a stroke, abilities controlled by that area of the brain such as memory and muscle control are lost. How a person is affected by their stroke depends on where the stroke occurs in the brain and how much the brain is damaged. For example, someone who had a small stroke may only have minor problems such as temporary weakness of an arm or leg. People who have larger strokes may be permanently paralyzed on one side of their body or lose their ability to speak. Some people recover completely from strokes, but more than 2/3 of survivors will have some type of disability. Having a stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in the United States.

Signs of a Stroke

The American Stroke Association uses the acronym “F.A.S.T.” to spot the warning signs of someone having a stroke.

F- Face Drooping: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. Is it uneven?
A- Arm Weakness: Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
S- Speech Difficulty: Is the speech slurred? Is the person unable to speak or hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence and see if it is repeated correctly.
T- Time to call 911: If someone is showing signs of these symptoms call 911 or get to the hospital immediately. Check the time so you know when the symptoms appeared.

Some other symptoms may include: Numbness of face, arm or leg. Confusion. Trouble seeing in one or both eyes. Trouble walking, loss of balance or coordination. Sudden severe headaches.

Prevention

Luckily, up to 80% of strokes can be prevented.

The first step to preventing a stroke is to identify conditions that can increase your risk of stroke such as heredity, high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, diabetes, hormones and circulation problems. All of these factors can be discussed with your health care professional.

Now that you’ve read our blog you know how to spot a stroke and how to prevent a stroke. You could save someone’s life as well as your own!

Visit our site for more helpful tips. 

Sources:

http://www.stroke.org/understand-stroke/what-stroke
http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/WarningSigns/Stroke-Warning-Signs-and-Symptoms_UCM_308528_SubHomePage.jsp

http://www.stroke.org/sites/default/files/resources/prevention-brochure-2015.pdf

Truskett Law - Do you need a lawyer for an Insurance Claim

You've underwent a major loss from fire, theft, or some other tragedy and you've filed an insurance claim. You're not sure what your rights are, and you're worried about trusting your insurance company. You should be. Your financial interests and your insurance company's financial interests are in a natural conflict – You want a maximum payout, your insurer a minimum. An insurance claim is a business negotiation, pure and simple. So although you paid good money for coverage and good claim service, you may have to fight for it. And you may need expert help in that fight. In an ideal world no one would need to hire an attorney to get an insurance claim paid on time and in full, but in this world, many do.

To ensure a fair settlement of a large claim (in excess of $10,000), inform yourself by reading the resources that United Policyholders offers. And you must be a "squeaky wheel" and know when and how to get the right professional help if you need it. If you're reading this publication, you're on the right track.

Do you need knowledgeable help? Do you need an attorney? Do you need a public adjuster? What is a public adjuster? Can you handle it on your own? The first thing you need before making these decisions is a complete copy of your policy, including the "Declarations Page" and all "Endorsements" and "Riders".

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AUTO ACCIDENTS

Experience Counts

Being injured in an auto accident - no matter how big or small - is very serious. If not treated correctly or quickly, an accident's effects can last for years and negatively impact your quality of life. 

We see thousands of car accident patients every year and treat the injuries associated with them. Our doctors specialize in treating a multitude of injuries just like yours, giving you the comfort of knowing you're being well cared for.

Our experienced team of MDs, Chiropractors and Therapists will give you the best possible care with same day appointments. After a thorough exam, we’ll make sure you have proper medications and a care plan tailored specifically to you.

No Out-of-Pocket Expenses

Whether you’re using your health, auto, or a 3rd party's insurance, or you have visited an attorney, we can help today with our “no out of pocket expense” policy. You won’t pay anything on your first visit or any follow up appointments.

Foundation Law Firm, McAlester, OK

Personal Injury Law

Personal Injury Law deals with individuals who have been hurt in an accident due to another party’s negligence. Under Oklahoma law, the injured individual may be entitled to compensation from the responsible party.

Even mild injuries suffered in accidents can result in expenses due to emergency room care, hospitalization, medication, physical therapy, etc. Even these seemingly small expenses could be the negligent party’s responsibility. Find out more 

HOW TO FIND THE BEST KEYWORDS FOR YOUR SITE

If you’ve been in business for any amount of time, you know your product or service better than most of your customers, right? It’s only logical that if you have more knowledge and understanding of your industry, you’d use different words to describe your services than an inexperienced person would.

Whether they are new to the solution you present or to your entire industry, these people may not know the fastest and most direct way to search for your business on the internet.

Many business owners assume their customers know how to search for their business. However, many analytics reports show that customers are searching for businesses in inefficient ways. It’s not that potential customers aren’t searching for you with the search terms you have in mind – it’s that there are so many other keywords they’re using – keywords you don’t want to miss out on because you’re only focused on a few main ones on your website and SEO efforts.

It’s important to constantly be coming up with new keyword ideas to attract visitors to your site in a more productive and straightforward way.

I’m going to break down five points to consider when brainstorming new keyword ideas. To bring these ideas into the real world, I’ll provide a couple of examples of mock companies to illustrate each of these categories – a dog grooming company and a bicycle shop.

1.  Products & Services

This is the most obvious category of keywords, and more than likely you are already targeting these keywords.

Some examples of these keywords for a dog grooming company would be:
–     Dog groomer
–     Dog grooming service
–     Puppy bath

For a bicycle shop, these keywords might be:
–     Schwinn bicycle
–     Buy a bike
–     New bicycle seat

Hint: If you’ve added new products or services since your website was last updated, it might be time to add some fresh content targeting keywords to describe your new good.

2.  Problems

If you’re in your ideal prospect’s shoes, what problem are they looking to solve? The truth is, people have a variety of problems that your products or services can solve. That creates a wealth of new search terms you can utilize to bring them to your door.

Going back to our two examples here, these are some possible problems a user might be trying to solve by looking for a dog groomer:
–     Stinky dog
–     Dog nails scratch
–     Puppy fur matted

And in the example of the bicycle shop, here are some problems users might be trying to solve:
–     Exercise for bad knees
–     Alternatives to running
–     Stubborn fat

If you were to break down each and every product or service you offer, starting with one that is the most important or lucrative for your business, you could make a list of problems your customers might have that would lead them in your direction. You could then target each and every one of those problems with fresh content.

3.  Benefits

To flip the above scenario, what benefits would a searcher be looking for?

A dog groomer might offer benefits like:
–     Clean dog
–     How to make puppy smell good
–     Cute labradoodle haircut

Whereas a bike store might offer benefits like:
–     Bicycle coupons
–     Soft bike seat cushions
–     Lose weight without dieting

Similar to the problems above, you can probably think of a number of benefits for each of your products or services. With content focused on these benefits, you’ll meet your customers where they first start looking for help.

Most often, people are looking for general help rather than specifically looking for your product to solve their problems. By putting your company in front of them as soon as they start their search, you maximize your business opportunity.

4.  Features

It’s common knowledge in marketing to not sell on features, only on benefits. But when people are searching online, searching by features can be a sign that they’re much closer to the sale. It might be a good idea to target feature-based keywords for your business.

Features for a dog groomer might be:
–     Dog grooming service near me
–     Labradoodle groomer
–     Show dog groomer

Whereas features for a bike store might be much more specific:
–     Tango Tandem Schwinn Cruiser
–     Blue cheap bicycle
–     26” bicycle wheels

It’s possible there are key features of your products that aren’t already represented on your website.

5.  Competition

More than just trying to edge out your competitors, there are ways you can use competition to your advantage.

Rather than trying to beat Wal-Mart’s prices on dog shampoo, write an article that shows how time-consuming and expensive washing your own dog is compared to bringing them to a doggie salon.

And if you sell Schwinn bikes, you might not be able to convince someone who’s only concerned about price that yours is the best bike for them. How about tackling competition like a treadmill instead? An article titled, “Why Biking is Better for You Than Running” is likely to pique interest from someone who may not even have realized they were in the market for a bike.

Finally, you might want to search on Google for descriptive keywords about your services. You can take a look through the top results to isolate your biggest competitors. Then you can see what they’re doing that’s working in terms of keywords, headlines, etc.
Don’t have any real competitors in your area? (Lucky you!) You can step up your research a notch by selecting a highly competitive market like Los Angeles or New York City to conduct your searches on Google. By doing a quick examination of these top competitors’ sites, you can start to see trends and successful actions that you can perhaps expand on, to show potential customers why your products and services are their best cho

Alliance Painting Tulsa, OK

Alliance Painting Tulsa

• When you work with Alliance Painting you will notice a difference.

• We communicate with you in clear and understandable terms throughout the entire project.

• We provide you with great education on product options for each project to help you make great decisions.

• We work with proven systems to ensure quality control on each job.

Alliance Painting is a commercial and residential painting company serving the Tulsa area. We offer interior/exterior painting, pressure washing etc.