PRAY FOR FAMILIES OF VICTIMS

Definition: Memorial Day: "May 30, observed in the United States in commemoration of those members of the armed forces killed in war. It is officially observed on the last Monday in May. Also called Decoration Day"
How about PRAYER for all the families in the world who have had loved ones Killed In WAR??? Not just for families of soldiers.
"A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak up. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for W A R and a time for P E A C E ." ---Ecclesiastes 3:7-8
1997 PHOTO of my son Luke age 2 years 10 months at Canoga Park Memorial Day Parade. My son Nick, then 6 years old, is in the parade...

MARRIAGE

HAPPY 24th ANNIVERSARY BRAD!

Thanks for a loving weekend.

Double "24" season finale starts in 35 minutes!

Health Check-Ups NEED HELP

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=MEDICAL-05-17-06
......A new government-sponsored study out this week looked at all the preventive services offered by doctors and rated them according to both their potential health impact as well as their cost-effectiveness.
According to the study, five of the top-rated services are being provided to fewer than half the patients who should be getting them.
"Many Americans are not receiving the most valuable preventive services,'' said Ashley Coffield, a senior analyst with the Partnership for Prevention, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to health promotion, who helped write the report......
Of the 25 top-valued services, the researchers found that seven are utilized by less than 50 percent of the patients who should get the care.
They include:
_ Discussing daily aspirin use with men 40 and older, women 50 and older and anyone else at increased risk for heart disease. If everyone took the blood thinner that should (and some have medical reasons not to), as many as 80,000 lives a year might be saved, the report said.
_ Screening adults for tobacco use, offering them brief counseling and offering medicines and other aids to help them quit. Although this is one of the most valuable services, 65 percent of patients haven't received this service as recommended. If everyone got it and just two or three percent of smokers managed to quit, it would save the country more than $3 billion a year in medical costs
_ Regular screening for colorectal cancer. Although it's the second-deadliest cancer, it had a high cure rate when caught early. But 65 percent don't get properly screened. If all adults over age 50 were regularly checked, it would prevent 19,000 deaths a year.
_ Pneumococcal vaccine for adults over 65. One dose of this shot prevents pneumonia from numerous types of bacterial infection and protects for 10 years. Yet only 45 percent of seniors have gotten the shot. If they all did, it would cut health costs by $50 million a year and save thousands of live.
_ Asking adults about alcohol use. It's estimated that if all adults were periodically counseled about drinking, 6,000 deaths and 400,000 injuries a year could be avoided.
_ Chlamydia screening among all sexually active women under age 25. There are 3 million new cases of this disease each year. If all women were appropriately tested, the experts say 60,000 cases of pelvic inflammatory disease and 7,500 cases of infertility could be prevented.
_ Vision screening for older adults. About one of every four seniors wear inappropriate corrective lenses for their eyes. Getting them the right glasses could not only improve their quality of life and self-sufficiency, but also reduce hip fractures from falls.
A separate report from the National Eye Institute released last week, based on a national sample of vision tests, found that six percent of Americans over age 12 are visually impaired, and most of them, about 11 million, do not have corrective lenses. It also found that the age group most likely to have vision problems that can be corrected, but are not, are those aged 60 and older

Female Victims Need More Help

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/270374_abuse16.html
"Domestic violence is so common among women that doctors should be doing more to detect cases and get their patients the help they need, according to the authors of two new studies.......
For example, women in the study who'd been abused within the past five years were four times more likely than other women to have symptoms of severe depression in addition to at least one other physical symptom, including nausea, back pain, chest pain and headaches.They were also three times as likely to describe their health as fair or poor. Although physical abuse was associated with the worst health for women, psychological abuse, such as put-downs, controlling behavior and threats, also affected the women's health.........
Because battered women are often socially isolated (sometimes at the insistence of their partner), a doctor's office might be the only place they're alone with someone else, said Kelly Starr, who reviews fatalities related to domestic violence for the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence".......

THANK YOU MOTHER

God Bless All Mothers and All Women who care for children
Song written from the point of view of a child:
M—O—M written by Brad Elias April 2002
Who carried me until my birth? M—O—M
Who told me just how much I’m worth? M—O—M
Who kissed my knees when they were skinned?
Who forgave me each time I sinned?
M—O—M
Mother Of Mine, Maker of Miracles
M—O—M
God showed his love by giving us them
M—O—M
My own Mama, My Only Model
M—O—M
So I spell love
M—O—M
Who tidied up when she was tired? M—O—M
Who told me I’m her heart’s desire? M—O—M
Who prayed for me both night and day
To keep me in the narrow way?
M—O—M
Mother Of Mine, Maker of Miracles
M—O—M
God showed his love by giving us them
M—O—M
My own Mama, My Only Model
M—O—M
So I spell love
M—O—M

MAY 22nd will = 24 years married !

Wedding Invitation Photo from 1982

Santa Cruz California

Nice shot Jane


Chris and Brad met at SJSU in 1978

Smart Dolphins

Dolphins name themselves with whistles

Bottlenose dolphins swim together near the village of Fagasa in American Samoa. New research using the recorded sounds of wild dolphins off the Florida coast shows that the marine mammals give themselves signature whistles that act as names.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/060508_dolphins.html

For Your Health

Experts Issue New Stroke-Prevention Guidelines
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/05/05/hscout532536.html

For Patients:
Have regular screenings for high blood pressure -- at least every two years in adults and more frequently in minorities and the elderly -- and keep blood pressure under control.
Don't smoke, and eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.
If you have diabetes, maintain tight control of blood pressure. If you have diabetes and other stroke risk factors, talk to your doctor about taking a cholesterol-lowering statin drug.
Reduce your intake of salt (no more than 2.3 grams of sodium a day), and increase your intake of potassium (at least 4.7 grams a day) in order to lower high blood pressure. Eat a diet high in fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy products and low in saturated and total fat.
Lower total cholesterol to acceptable levels.
Lose weight, which can lower blood pressure.
Get moderately intensive physical activity for a least 30 minutes a day.
For Doctors:
Treat cardiovascular diseases that increase stroke risk such as coronary heart disease, heart failure and peripheral artery disease.
Consider clot-preventing anticoagulants or antithrombotics for high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation.
Consider statins for patients with diabetes and other stroke risk factors.
For patients with severe blockage of the carotid artery in the neck without symptoms, consider recommending preventive carotid endarectomy surgery by a surgeon with a low complication rate.
Beginning at age 2, use transcranial Doppler ultrasound to screen children with sickle cell disease and consider transfusion therapy for those with an elevated risk of stroke.
Evaluate adult sickle cell patients for stroke risk factors and manage those risk factors according to the general guidelines in this new stroke prevention statement.
Do not prescribe hormone therapy (with estrogen, with or without progestin) for primary stroke prevention.

The guidelines also include suggestions on other measures that may reduce stroke risk.
For Patients:
Alcohol intake should be limited to no more than two drinks a day for men and one drink a day for nonpregnant women.
Don't use illicit drugs.
Women who smoke or have a history of blood clots should not take oral contraceptives.
If you notice signs of sleep-disordered breathing (loud snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, repeatedly gasping for air during sleep), go to a specialist to be evaluated.
For Doctors:
Treat the components of metabolic syndrome -- abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, insulin resistance.
Consider low-dose aspirin therapy for women at high risk of stroke.

SERVICE by 3 YEAR OLDS

Lucas Jacob Elias, 3 years old, and his friend, preparing

water bottles to hand out to people at the Memorial Day Parade 1998.

(Nick was sick.) Thanks Pastor Steve, for Kindness Evangelism.

Photo from 2001

My Sons at

10 and 7 years old

TINY ANIMALS NEW TO SCIENCE

Deep ocean trawl nets new 'bugs'
By Richard Black
Environment Correspondent, BBC News website
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4973240.stm
Catches from the deep include a possible new species of dragonfish
A three-week voyage of discovery in the Atlantic has returned with tiny animals which appear new to science. They include waif-like plankton with delicate translucent bodies related to jellyfish, hundreds of microscopic shrimps, and several kinds of fish...........

YOUNG CHRISTIAN ARTIST

I just listened to "Out of the Shade" by Melia Mann.
I am so impressed. What a music range. What depth, soul, heart, love goes into her singing. What an original, too.
I am honored to think that this young lady once babysat my boys.
"It sounds like you have monkeys in your bed" she commented on the squeaky frame.

Buy the disc and support this artist.
http://www.meliamann.com/

Why why why why why why why why and why?

BRITISH WOMAN TO GIVE BIRTH AT AGE 63

http://www.eitb24.com/portal/eitb24/noticia/en/life/fertility-treatment-one-of-britains-oldest-mothers-to-be-will-giv?itemId=D29124&cl=%2Feitb24%2Fsociedad&idioma=en

sex

Teen Virginity Pledges: Can They Work?
Half of Pledgers Deny Pledge; Other Teens Become Born-Again Virgins
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/121/114387.htm

Healthier Drinks at School, finally

School Soda Ban Called Good First Step
http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2006/05/03/hscout532509.html

[Back in 1991 I remember moms and dietitians demanding less high sugar and high fat items to be sold at schools.]

Belief and Behavior

Survey: Doctors Don't Mind Talking Religion With Patients
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,193821,00.html
......"Protestant doctors were the most likely to inquire about a patient's beliefs and the most likely to pray with patients"......
**********
As a Hospital Dietitian I have had the opportunity to talk about faith. I have also prayed for patients. I've thought about going to school to be a chaplain.