By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Keeping my promise from last week, I am offering you this simple recipe from my friend’s book – “The Everything guide to the Insulin Resistance Diet.” Written by Jodi Dalyai, MS, RD, CDCES and her colleague Marie Feldman, RD, CDCES. Mexican – Style Cucumber Boats Scooped – out cucumber halves make a fun and low carb vessel for … Continue reading Summer healthy recipe

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS (An abstract from BYU) Schools are back in session and parents are running out of ideas to prepare meals. Here is what I can do to help; I will offer you a few simple recipes in September from my friend’s book – “The Everything guide to the Insulin Resistance Diet.”  Jodi Dalyai, MS, RD, CDCES and her colleague … Continue reading Back to school meal prep recipe!

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS (An abstract from BYU) As promised, I launched a search on the benefits of exercise and brain health this week. Thanks for Brigham Young University, College of Life Sciences, the valuable information on exercise and brain health is available. Below is their write up. Enjoy! Exercise boosts physical capabilities and can even change physical appearance, but it also … Continue reading Exercise and Brain Health

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS In most of my adult life, remembering names is a difficult task for me. When I was a young nurse, I was able to remember the names of the patients when I saw them in person. I would say once I turned fifty, my memory of names became acutely worse. I would bump into patients and their families … Continue reading Memory Loss and Practical Tips to Improve Memory

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS For those of you who watch the news, inflation has been a word that makes the headline more often that we could count. Inspired by a cooking program from Hong Kong that promotes healthy menus but at the least cost, Louis and I discovered that we could provide a very decent dinner for 3 people for less than … Continue reading Inflation Buster – Healthy Meals under $5

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Below is the latest posting from the Los Angeles County Department of Health website. July 15, 2022 LA County Enters High COVID-19 Community Level and Urges Residents to Take Precautions to Limit Spread of the Highly Transmissible BA.5 Variant – 8,954 New Positive Cases and 16 New Deaths Due to COVID-19 in Los Angeles County Yesterday, Los Angeles … Continue reading Updates on COVID–19

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Last week we discussed the fifth Divine Secret: Locate New, Old Friends. Friends help to reintegrate our seniors who are going through loss and re-connect with them familiar faces, friendship and fond memories. Our last Divine Secret this week is: Some Things Never Change. For our last “divine secret” let us restate an obvious truth: despite the reality … Continue reading Divine Secrets (Part VI)

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Last week we discussed the fourth Divine Secret: Allow for Future Productivity. This is an abstract from The Divine Secrets of the Dwindling Sisterhood, a chapter of The Overwhelmed Woman’s Guide to … Caring for Aging Parents by Julie-Allyson Ieron. It might have taken someone a year to process the grief before he/she could move on. When they … Continue reading Divine Secrets (Part V)

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Divine Secret 3: Not Everyone Responds the Same Way. We got a lot of feedback on this Divine Secret last week. This message resonates with many people. The bottom line is; we are all different people. We may not behave the same way, especially during our grieving period. This week, let us examine the fourth Divine Secret: Allow … Continue reading Divine Secrets (Part IV)

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS The Divine Secret 2: allow for a season of the blues. Embracing grief without losing hope leads to the second “divine secret,” letting our seniors’ grief be expressed and run its course. The wisdom of Julie-Allyson Ieron’s book on “The Overwhelmed Woman’s Guide… Caring for Aging Parents” gives us another wonderful suggestion in her Divine Secret. Divine Secret … Continue reading Divine Secrets (Part III)

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Can you recall the Divine Secret in coping with grief from Julie-Allyson Ieron’s book on “The Overwhelmed Woman’s Guide… Caring for Aging Parents”? The Divine Secret 1 is to embrace grief and that Christians can experience the range of emotions – with the exception of hopelessness. This week, let us look at the second secret: The Divine Secret … Continue reading Divine Secrets (Part II)

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Julie-Allyson Ieron’s book on “The Overwhelmed Woman’s Guide… Caring for Aging Parents” gave me many good tips on how to care for seniors and how to take care of caregivers. Many of the chapters are what I considered my survival guide. The following is her chapter on how to show seniors adjust to change. She called it the … Continue reading Divine Secrets (Part 1)

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS My father migrated from Macau and joined me in Los Angeles when he was 70 years old. He was very active in his volunteer work in Chinatown at the Senior center. He promoted exchange of cultural events by sponsoring Cantonese Opera to perform here. He also taught the younger folks in the community how to organize the cultural … Continue reading Helping Seniors Cope with Losing Friends and Family

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS With Mother’s Day approaching this Sunday, I thought it would be appropriate to gather some random thoughts on this international event. As everyone knows, this is the day to honor your mom and her contribution in your family and perhaps in the society. After being a mom for 51 years, I have come to the conclusion that I … Continue reading Reflecting on Mother’s Day

By: Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS Abstracted by Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS From The Overwhelmed Woman’s Guide to … Caring for Aging Parents By Julie-Allyson Ieron Helping the seniors feel trustworthy and valuable are not the only tools we can deplore to work with grumpy old men and women. What if no positive talk or loving action can help? That’s when another … Continue reading Caring for seniors Part III

By: Sheila Kun RN, BSN, MS, CPN, FCCP Abstracted by Sheila Kun RN, BA, BSN, MS From The Overwhelmed Woman’s Guide to … Caring for Aging Parents By Julie-Allyson Ieron Last week we began to explore ways to help seniors cope with their loss of independence due to aging by in depth discussion on these two strategies: Easing the tension and helping them Feel loved. … Continue reading Caring for seniors Part II

By: Sheila Kun RN, BSN, MS, CPN, FCCP Understanding that grief over lost independence is one of the contributory factors for seniors to be grumpy would be the first step to cope with such tantrums. In 2002 the National Institutes of Health held a “Successful Aging” seminar. In synthesizing the information presented at the seminar Dr. Judy Salerno, who directs the NIH’s National Institute on … Continue reading Emotions and elders

I was given a book by a dear friend to help me understand how to care for aging parents. The title is “The Overwhelmed Woman’s Guide to …. Caring for Aging Parents” by Ms. Julie-Allyson Ieron. I am going to share some of the chapters that captured my attention. The chapter on the “Grumpy Old Men and Women” presented a vivid discussion of the reasons … Continue reading Caring for aging parents