Amid a hectic schedule, it is difficult to find time to focus on yourself. How are you doing mentally and physically? 

The last Wednesday in September marks National Women’s Health and Fitness Day. Women are encouraged to reflect on their well-being and place importance on regular physical activity and a healthy diet. 

With work, family, emotions and more, stress seems to keep accumulating. Moreover, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to feelings of isolation and anxiety, which further intensify stress. 

So, on National Women’s Health and Fitness Day, step away from the current chaos of your life. Consider what you need to ensure a healthy lifestyle.

Here are some ideas:

Maybe, you need to incorporate some more exercise into your daily routine. Go on a walk alone or with a friend. Try out a yoga or Zumba class. Daily exercise increases your endorphins, which is linked with positive emotions. You can also try to incorporate more physical activity through adding simple things like parking your car farther away from where you work. Here is a list: Integrate exercise into everyday life.

Maybe, you need to build your mental confidence. Start engaging in mindfulness. Remember what you are grateful for and focus on the positives in life. One way to do this is by journaling. Sometimes it is easier to explore and process what is on your mind by writing it down and processing. Here are some tips: Journaling for stress relief.

Perhaps, you are not prioritizing your diet. Evaluate your food intake and attend a nutrition seminar. Understand that spending time on nutrition is not a waste. A healthy diet keeps you energized throughout the day, making you more productive. Meal prepping is a good option for women who don’t have time to cook every day. Here is a link for recipes: Meal prep for nutritious meals.

If you haven’t, get vaccinated to relieve some stress from COVID. Make sure you are taking measures to protect yourself from the virus, including wearing a mask, washing your hands and carrying hand sanitizer. Monitoring your health is crucial to staying healthy. It is also critical to make sure you are up to date on all doctor’s appointments. 

Monongalia County Health Department Clinical Services has resources available for women to receive free or low-cost birth control, breast and cervical cancer screening, pap smears, mammogram referrals, STD and hepatitis tests, vaccines and more. 

MCHD Dentistry is a full-service practice that accepts insurance, CHIPS, adult Medicaid and has a new patient special and sliding scale fees for those who qualify. Seeing a dentist twice a year for a checkup and cleaning is vital to maintain good oral and overall health.

MCHD WIC, operated in six counties, is a short-term intervention program to help families improve health behaviors. 

WIC offers nutrition counseling and education to participants who qualify who are pregnant or post-partum women and children up to their 5th birthday. Clients can work with a nutritionist and registered dietitian to assess the nutrition needs of themselves and their family members.  

Additionally, through WIC, pregnant women, or women with infants can receive breastfeeding counseling and support. Post-partum support is available as well. 

Browse through the WIC website and find more than 100 resources to assist you in topics ranging from how to be active while socially distancing to oral healthcare while pregnant. 

Look at National Women’s Health and Fitness Day as an opportunity to assess your health needs. Read a book, do some art, watch a movie, work out, or have a spa day. Do whatever keeps you mentally and physically healthy. Stay well and stay safe. 

Sam Shawish used substances and got clean a few times, once for more than two years. But a little over a year ago, on Sept. 4, 2020, six months into the COVID-19 pandemic, “I had some things happen to me and I made the decision to use again.”

After Shawish missed a work meeting and also an appointment to give a client a ride, Russell Wyatt, a peer recovery coach (PRC) with West Virginia Sober Living, went to Shawish’s apartment and found him unresponsive, with shallow breathing. It’s estimated that he had been out for quite a while and was in cardiac arrest.

Wyatt, who is also a member of the Monongalia County Quick Response Team (QRT), put
his training into action, giving Shawish two 4-mg naloxone doses three minutes apart.
Naloxone reverses the effects of an opioid overdose by kicking opioid molecules off brain
receptors.

Following procedure, Wyatt had already called 911, and soon, Jason D. Morgan, a
Monongalia County sheriff’s deputy and a fellow QRT member, showed up and gave
Shawish additional doses, as did paramedics.

Shawish’s breathing improved although he did not wake up, and he was taken to the hospital.

When he finally came to, Shawish, now 28, had additional challenges to embrace other than a renewed path to recovery.

“My brain was impacted and I had to rebuild my function,” he said. “I had issues making a
sandwich.” He also had to re-learn how to use his legs.

For someone who had struggled with substance use disorder, this added extra layers to
Shawish’s fight for life.

“I actually couldn’t see myself restarting it,” he said of working toward recovery again. “I
had done it so many times. And all of those things hitting me at one time, it was
overwhelming.

“Eventually, I told myself that I did have a choice.” Because of his lengthy hospital stay, he
was no longer physically dependent on the drugs. “The decision to make the choice to dust
myself off or just tap out was totally mine.”

He chose the former, working a 12-step program, completing inpatient rehabilitation at
Jacob’s Ladder treatment facility in Aurora in Preston County, undergoing intensive
outpatient therapy and allowing himself to ask for help and not remain isolated, which would have been easier because of the pandemic.

“I would pick up the phone and call people and tell them when I’m struggling,” he said. The
availability of telehealth also contributed to his success.

More than a year later, Shawish works at Valley HealthCare System as a recovery coach.
And this Saturday, he will be one of the volunteers working with QRT members to teach
naloxone administration to anyone who wants it. Save a Life Day will take place from 10
a.m. to 5 p.m. at 13 different locations in Monongalia County.

“It’s been great to see Sam make a comeback and for him to have naloxone available to him to give him an opportunity at another chance to recover,” said Wyatt, who has been
coordinating volunteers and sponsors for the event.

“As far as Save a Life Day, this is a perfect example of why we need to carry naloxone and
use it and have it in the hands of the general public along with individuals with substance use disorder. If the medication is available to save somebody’s life, I feel we have a
responsibility to use it.”

There are other examples of when having naloxone and knowing how to administer it is
important, Wyatt noted.

“We’ve seen situations in which children get into a medicine cabinet or their parents’ stash,
or when people with memory issues have trouble with their prescription dosages,” he added.

These are people’s family members, as Wyatt well knows from a personal experience that
occurred just recently.

“As an example, my 18-year-old son was experimenting with what he thought was cocaine
for the first time. It ended up being fentanyl.”

Fentanyl is a synthetic drug that is more powerful than other substances and often takes
individuals by surprise when it’s surreptitiously added to or substituted for something else.
Wyatt’s son overdosed and was rushed to the emergency department. “If it weren’t for
naloxone, my son wouldn’t be here anymore.”

Save a Life Day locations include five McDonald’s restaurants in Morgantown: Sabraton,
Westover, Star City, Pierpont, Suncrest Towne Centre; the WVU Mountainlair Green and the
WVU Student Rec Center; Morgantown Farmers Market Pavilion; Pierpont Landing
Pharmacy; Star City Fire & EMS; the 7-Eleven on Mason-Dixon Highway in Blacksville;
Woodland United Methodist Church on the Mileground and Mount Pleasant United
Methodist Church on Kingwood Pike.

Participants can just walk up to a table at any of these locations to receive the training.
Naloxone is applied in the nasal passages as a nose spray and is easy for anyone to
administer. Naloxone training has been a key component of the Monongalia County QRT,
which formed in the spring of 2019.

Funded through grants obtained by Monongalia County Health Department, the Monongalia
County QRT is a collaboration among public health, PRCs, first responders and other
partners dedicated to providing immediate and longer-term help to those struggling with
substance use disorder.

The goal is for PRCs is to reach someone who has overdosed within 24 to 72 hours, whether at the hospital, at their home or by telephone. They work with individuals to get them services and, even if not right away, treatment, which sometimes requires time and the cultivation of a relationship before someone is ready.

During Save a Life Day, participants will not only receive the five-to-seven minute naloxone
training, but will also be sent home with two 2-mg doses so they will be able to respond to
real-life situations.

The idea of not helping someone out, no matter how many times the individual has
overdosed, does not make sense to Wyatt or Shawish.

“We don’t get to decide how many attempts it takes,” Wyatt said.

Added Shawish: “It’s like saying, ‘Why give someone medication to someone with
schizophrenia or who struggles with mental health. It’s available and why not?”

And a year later, Shawish is living proof that someone who does recover can then assist
others and pass along the gift of the ability to save someone’s life.

“Today, I sponsor people again,” he said. “I’ve gone from being somebody who couldn’t stop using for six hours at a time to over a year of sobriety. I couldn’t have done it without the support.”

​If you’re anything like me, last year’s quarantine might have provided you with the perfect opportunity to sharpen your cooking skills. Maybe you finally opened that cookbook you got last Christmas or invested in a properly seasoned cast-iron skillet.

To me, frozen dinners and takeout were no more. After binge watching the food network for a few days, I decided to show off my new culinary knowledge by cooking a fancy glazed chicken for myself and my partner one night. One very messy kitchen later, we admired the beautifully plated dish, poured the wine and took our first few bites before seeing it: The inside of the chicken was bright pink. 

It didn’t just damage our digestive systems. My ego was bruised, my confidence shattered. Bobby Flay had failed me. Okay, I’m being dramatic. Maybe that mistake had to be made! It taught me a very important lesson about food safety.

September is Food Safety Education Month, and according to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), there are about 48 million cases of foodborne illnesses annually in the U.S. — that’s about 1 in every 6 Americans each year. Food poisoning isn’t always just an upset tummy, either. Each year, these illnesses result in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. 

Most symptoms of foodborne illness are vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. Symptoms usually occur within one to three days of eating the contaminated food, but can also occur in as little as 20 minutes or as long as six weeks.

The disease-causing organisms that cause foodborne illnesses can be found on all sorts of food sources, from undercooked meats to contaminated fruits and vegetables. Young children, elderly people and those with compromised immune systems are at the greatest risk for contracting a foodborne illness, but certain organisms pose a grave threat to everyone, regardless of age.

Luckily, there are a few simple steps you can follow to reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses. To keep your family safe (and to prevent future heartbreak in the kitchen), follow these four simple steps: Clean, Separate, Cook, Chill.

• Clean: Wash hands and surfaces often. Hopefully COVID-19 has conditioned us to always practice proper hand washing, but it’s also important to clean surfaces such as cutting boards, countertops and utensils. Remember to rinse fresh fruits and vegetables under running water.
• Separate: Keep raw meats away from other foods. Raw meat and eggs should be stored away from other foods, from your grocery cart to your refrigerator. Use one cutting board for raw meat and one for produce.
• Cook: Cook your food to the right temperature. I bought a meat thermometer the day after my chicken incident, which might be the most important tool in my kitchen now. You can check the proper internal temperature for foods using this chart (https://www.fda.gov/media/107000/download). You should also always bring sauces, soups and gravy to a boil before serving.
• Chill: Refrigerate your food promptly. You should refrigerate or freeze perishables within two hours of cooking, making sure your refrigerator has an internal temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Your freezer should be at zero degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Large amounts of leftovers should be separated into shallow containers for quicker cooling.

These four rules are always on my mind when I’m in the kitchen, and I’m pleased to say I haven’t had an unpleasant experience since then. 

These steps should also be taken at work for anyone in the food service industry. They provide a great baseline knowledge for a professional kitchen, but there is so much more to learn to    become a food safety expert. 

That’s why Monongalia County Health Department offers online food safety training. The training is provided through StateFoodSafety.com and costs $20 to take. It’s about two hours long and you must pass a test at the end.

You also have the option to attend in-person food safety training at the health department. You can see the full schedule on our website.

Food safety is in our hands. Remember to clean, separate, cook, and chill — and don’t make the same mistake I did!

In recent Septembers, wildfires continue to rage on the West Coast while hurricanes and category storms make their way up the East Coast.

We begin to think about influenza inoculations and, of course, this year, the COVID-19 vaccine, with the Pfizer brand just receiving full approval for ages 16 and up from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

In Monongalia County, this summer has been hotter than ones in recent memory, coupled with periods of torrential downpours that cause flooding. 
And, of course, the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2011 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon loom.

It’s no wonder that September is National Preparedness Month, which was created in 2004.
I’ve been writing about National Preparedness Month since 2017. Back then, Hurricane Harvey was hitting Houston. The twin threats of Hurricanes Laura and Marco on the Gulf Coast had observers hearkening back to Rita and Katrina, other landmark storms that had calamitous effects on American cities and communities.

I’ve also mentioned the need to create emergency kits to keep in the home for when a situation strikes — even just a power outage — wondering if the advice would be met with eye rolls and ho-hums.

Not anymore.

After the past 18 months, people are very aware that being prepared is a good idea, especially if those emergency kits contain extra toilet paper.

Of course, West Virginia doesn’t get direct hits from hurricanes, but storm aftermaths have caused devastating floods that have sometimes trapped people in their homes and wreaked other havoc. That’s why it’s a good idea to watch the progress of big storms and know whether evacuating your home is necessary. And remember, if you see standing water in the road as you drive, “Turn around. Don’t drown.”

And it’s also why it’s a good idea to discuss preparedness with your family and perhaps even your neighbors.

Ready.gov, the preparedness website created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), provides a great deal of information on how to deal with specific situations, such as wildfires or storms or a pandemic.

And you also might realize that the preparation steps you plan the emergency kits you create can also come in handy for relatively minor incidents.

Ready.gov suggests these steps for making a plan with your family:

• How will you receive emergency alerts and warnings? 
• What is your shelter plan?
• What is your evacuation route?
• What is your family communication plan?
• Do you need to update your emergency preparedness kit?
• How do I check with the Centers for Disease Control to update plans with COVID-19 in mind?

Ready.gov/kit specifically provides tips on how to build an emergency kit that can help you weather different situations. These are the basic items that are recommended for an emergency kit:

• Water (one gallon per person per day for several days, for drinking and sanitation)
• Food (at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food)
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert
• Flashlight
• First aid kit
• Extra batteries
• Whistle (to signal for help)
• Dust mask (to help filter contaminated air)
• Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter in place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties, for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual can opener (for food)
• Local maps
• Cell phone with chargers and a backup battery

And of course, you might want to add toilet paper and extra prescription medications to the list.

Monongalia County Health Department works to keep individuals informed via our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts as well as our website, monchd.org. That would continue during an emergency situation, during which the expectation would be that we would work with local emergency officials to provide continual updates on what is going on and what steps to take. 

Maybe you’ve already collected all the items you need or perhaps your pandemic stockpile is a good start. But if you haven’t created an emergency plan and put together a kit yet, now is the time to take preparedness seriously.