ADVERTORIAL

Stay Positive During the New Year

By Elizabeth Impastato

Most of us are more than happy to put the unpredictable events of 2020 behind us. The New Year brings with it a fresh start with new goals and hopes to improve health. Common resolutions include balancing work with personal time.

Most worked from home and still are working from home in the effort to prevent complications of COVID-19. If you gained extra pounds last year, diet and exercise might be on the top of your resolution list.

This year, staying positive during the new year is probably on the list somewhere under wellbeing or improve health. Here’s few ways to think about improving your overall health this year.

Remember to enlarge your circle. Reach out to elders by phone or computer to share stories and fun memories to lift spirits. Look for ways to challenge yourself by trying something completely new. Setting aside structure and rules for time to be creative. Getting creative with zoom parties this past year was popular, creative fun.

One way to stay positive while trying something creative and new is through art. IMPASTATO GALLERY & ART THERAPY offers private drawing lessons. “Drawing Journey” is designed to work with advanced to beginners. If you have always wanted to relax while being creative, the gallery is like an art-spa offering private painting lessons that work around your schedule.

To learn about all the packages offered, visit www.impastatogallery.com. New services are also in the works. If you have questions, feel free to call or stop by for a visit. Impastato Gallery & Art Therapy is located in the Chenier Market Place 1901 US 190 Mandeville, La.70448

Support Local Small Business

Phone: 985-778-5338 • www.impastatogallery.com in the Chenier Marketplace in Mandeville, 1901 Hwy. 190, Suite 28.

editor’s letter It's Real! It's still here.

I’ve resisted publishing anything about COVID, except how to keep yourself and your family safe and healthy. I didn’t want to make it real.

I can remember sitting with my dear Bunco friends one night while we were talking about our experiences and our view of COVID. That was around October, 2020. My, how things have changed since then. What you don’t know, really can hurt you. At the time, I was more concerned about the amount of heart disease plaguing our country than I was about COVID. It just seemed that so many people that I knew who got it, recovered fine with no problem.

In December, things changed very quickly.

First, a dear friend died suddenly of COVID. A client that I had just gone to see had tested positive. COVID was everywhere. After attending my friend’s memorial, my husband and I became symptomatic. Then an employee who had a newborn baby at home. The world quickly came to a grinding halt with worry for our employee and his family and especially my husband.

I play tennis. I’ll be fine. This will just be a little cold. Were the rumors of being vitamin D deficient and having A Positive blood a bad thing with fighting COVID, just that? Rumors?

I was never able to figure that out.

Three days after my husband tested positive he ended up in the hospital while I stayed home and quarantined and tried my best to take care of myself and work. Taking him to the hospital was an emotional event. You hear of people going in and not coming out. There are thousands of thoughts going through your mind and you can’t do anything to help them. You pray.

My health kept declining. I kept thinking, “tomorrow I’ll be better.” It never happened.

I went back to the doctor on Friday to confirm my illness and I was positive. By this time, I was in bad shape. I felt like I had every virus I ever had all at once. The flu, stomach virus, migraines, nausea, coughing and shortness of breath. I was slowly going downhill.

I picked my husband up from the hospital on Wednesday. He had a week of treatment and seemed to be doing much better. Better than I was at that point. I was the only one who could pick him up because we were both COVID positive.

By Friday, I couldn’t breathe, my head was about to explode, I couldn’t eat, I was nauseous, dizzy, delirious. All signs that I was in trouble.

Back to the hospital we went. Taking a COVID patient off to the hospital is scary enough. When it’s you, it’s a whole new experience. My ER experience was not pleasant, but by the next morning a ray of sunshine walked into my room. My lifesaver as I call her. My guardian angel. A nurse by the name of Cindy Picou. After that, I had several wonderful nurses and doctors that took care of me. I had developed pneumonia, so I was being treated for COVID and pneumonia and a horrible COVID migraine. Five days of what I call the new miracle drug, Remdesivir along with antibiotics, breathing treatments, nourishment and excellent care, I’m back home.

I watched nurses break down from sadness, I watched them walk in with a smile on their face even though I knew they were sad and broken inside. Nothing can explain the love and gratitude I have for all of the healthcare workers who treated me and their other patients. They are truly heroes.

COVID is real. It’s still here. And until we can get vaccinated, we must all do our share to protect each other. You have no clue how you are going to handle it. There are no written rules. It’s a disease that does not play fair.

Mask up. Social Distance. Eat Healthy. Exercise. Keep yourself and your family from tragedy.

The end will come and we will all be able to breathe again.

Take care of your health,

Suzanne Fox

MA GAZINE

executive publishers Hal G. Fox & Suzanne Polk Fox managing editor Suzanne Polk Fox copy editor Christian Dischler contributing writers Anthony Baker Bea Conrad Christian Dischler Dr. Aaron Dutruch Angie Edward Annie Franklin Elizabeth Impastato Liz McGehee Sarah Kirkland Christina Leidenheimer Laine Morris Amy Smith Anja Springthorpe creative team production and design Suzanne Fox Claire Thomas

cover & cover story photos by Richard Vallon & Orleans Photography

The information contained in Inspire Health is intended for educational purposes only. A reader should never substitute information contained in Inspire Health for the advice of a health care professional. Jumpstart Publishing, LLC and publishers of Inspire Health, do not endorse or promote any of the products or services described in the pages of Inspire Health and the publishers do not verify the accuracy of any claims made in the editorial or advertisements contained in Inspire Health. Readers should not use the information in Inspire Health for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. Readers should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or have or suspect they have a health problem. V5

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