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OPINION
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AROUND THE BLUHMIN’ TOWN
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There’s no place better than home
BY JUDY BLUHM
Foothills Focus Columnist
Been to a hospital lately? My husband, Doug, has been there for the past week with pneumonia.
As a former registered nurse, I notice that some things never change. Hospital gowns remain pretty much the same over the years, perhaps improved by clever snaps on the shoulders for easy access of IV tubes.
They still tie in the back, exposing way too much and are that cloudy gray/blue color of a depressing sky. But patients proudly walk around their rooms and hallways, unfazed by what they are wearing and more focused on staying upright.
Ice chips are like little cups of diamonds. Oh yeah, bring me a cup of cool bling. Patients who have gone through a surgery or a procedure will be given these glorious little crystals that come in white Styrofoam cups with plastic spoons. They taste like heaven to a parched mouth, represent healing and mean that greater things (like apple juice) are soon to come.
In hospitals, cold apple juice is the champagne of all drinks. Something you might not crave or even consider at home, suddenly this sweet drink seems like liquid gold. Served in little plastic containers with swivel straws, each sip is more refreshing than the last and you wonder how you ever lived without this fruity wonder.
Hospitals have made great improvements in their food. You can order a meal anytime and have a choice that resembles room service in a fine hotel. However, parking for guests is so dreadful that you might as well get a pair of hiking boots if you are visiting a loved one, because the long walk can be daunting.
Nurses are the real heroes in hospitals. Lots of attention goes to the “first responders” in an emergency. But nurses are the first, second, in-between and last responders. They are there at the beginning until the very end. They help you pick up all the tiny little pieces of yourself that an illness or surgery has shattered. Nurses will get you moving again, breathing right, taking first steps, sitting up and gently nudge you back to health.
Nurses command you to do things you do not want to do! Stand up, walk, cough, walk some more. I heard a patient yell, “you are killing me,” more than once as she walked around the nurses’ station, followed by a very encouraging nurse (sort of like a drill sergeant). One patient yelled, “Leave me alone. I am too sick to walk,” as he dutifully got up and went through the paces.
Hospitals have night sounds that pulse through the halls like a beating heart. The steady beeping of monitors is offset by an alarm from an IV. If hospitals are busy places in the daytime, they become quiet, reflective sanctuaries at night. Patients miss home and only the sick remain, each hoping for a better tomorrow, a chance to leave, less pain, more progress. Night is the lonely time when corridors are darkened, and visitors leave.
Do you know a doctor or a nurse? Thank them. They are worn out. Dear readers, stay well. Hospitals are great but home is better.
To a Brighter 2022
As we welcome a New Year, please don’t hesitate to let us know if there is anything we can do to help, we are here for you!
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Judy Bluhm is a writer and a local Realtor. Have a story or a comment? Email Judy at judy@judybluhm.com.
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THE FOOTHILLS FOCUS | THEFOOTHILLSFOCUS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2022
I’m resolving to give up using cuss words
BY DAVID LEIBOWITZ
Foothills Focus Columnist
My 2022 New Year’s resolution made it a startling four days before I lapsed. The occasion was a hooked golf drive that hit a cart path and ricocheted out of bounds. My response was something like, “Are you #@%^&*ing $**^%& kidding me. $#%^$ )*()* #^&*(.”
So much for eliminating profanity in 2022.
The truth is, I’ve always had something of a situational potty mouth. As a former talk radio host, I learned early on that speaking in public requires some degree of subtlety. You can get away with the occasional “damn” — provided the Lord’s name is not in front of that mild cussword — but you can only use the major offenders one time.
After which, the big bosses will summon you and you’ll be unemployed.
For the most part, I only curse around my closest guy friends, while playing golf, or when signing my federal tax returns. Still, as a gentleman of a certain age who appreciates words, I’ve been determined for a long while to clean up my act. Especially after happening across a Wall Street Journal piece headlined, “We’re Cursing More. Blame the #%$ Pandemic.”
As the story put it: “Pandemic stress, the melding of personal and professional spheres, and an exhausted slide toward casualness are making many of us swear more. ‘It is a perfect swearing storm,’” said Michael Adams, a linguist at Indiana University Bloomington.”
According to the Journal, CleanSpeak’s profanity-filtering software, used by companies to moderate online communities and discussion forums, has experienced a 300% increase in filtered profanity over the last year and a half.
As someone who does multiple Zoom meetings a week, I can vouch for that.
And it’s somewhat predictable: In an environment where people resemble the cast of the old “Hollywood Squares” sitting in little digital boxes and most of us are wearing sweatpants, Lululemon garb or a dress shirt and manties, it’s only natural for the occasional “f bomb” to make its way into what was once polite conversation.
Or, as one of my friends described it, “Why wouldn’t you say bull***t in the middle of yet another bull***t meeting.”
Growing up on the playgrounds of Queens, New York, swearing was a way of fitting in. Later, on the basketball court and in the gym, it was an expression of machismo — surely frowned upon in today’s woke culture. Fast forward another decade, to professional life, and the occasional curse word was an act of rebellion, a verbal statement that one understood the rules of the workplace, but remained unafraid of bending them.
The thing is, I’m not much for going along with the crowd. So if everyone’s cursing, I’d like to stop. But that’s tougher than it sounds.
In 2009, Richard Stephens, a researcher at Keele University in the UK, tested 67 students by having them stick their arms in freezing water meanwhile swearing like a sailor. The result?
“People withstood a moderately to strongly painful stimulus for significantly longer if they repeated a swear word rather than a non-swear word,” Stephens wrote.
“Swearing also lowered pain perception and was accompanied by increased heart rate. We interpret these data as indicating that swearing … actually produces a hypoalgesic (pain lessening) effect.”
Who knew? And swearing is way cheaper than Tylenol.
Despite the biological and social reasons for cursing, I’m going to stick with this year’s resolution, even if my perfect record isn’t intact. Part of it is wanting to seem more sophisticated as I get older.
The other reason is, for once I’d like to actually succeed at keeping a resolution. Toning down my penchant for profanity feels somewhat doable. Especially compared to my other option for a resolution.
No way am I going on another $%^&# low-carb diet this year.
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Speak Out! for those with Parkinson’s disease
BY ETHAN WASH, M.S., CCC-SLP
Midwestern University
Almost everyone with Parkinson’s disease (75% to 90%) will experience changes to their speech and voice. As muscle coordination changes, speech gets quieter and faster, occurs in short, fast bursts, or may sound slurred or monotonous.
The person with Parkinson’s disease may not notice a change at all because the disorder also affects how they hear themselves. A family member is often the �irst one to become aware of the speech changes.
Speech therapy can help recalibrate the way that people with Parkinson disease talk and hear themselves and help them speak with louder, clearer voices. One of the most popular therapy options is Speak Out!, which helps people with Parkinson’s disease regain control of their speech. The program helps clients to speak with intent and helps them practice that clearer speech in daily life and is usually completed in 12 individual therapy sessions over four weeks.
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The speech-language pathology clinic at the Midwestern University Therapy Institute in Glendale offers Speak Out! and The Loud Crowd sessions to help persons with Parkinson’s disease improve their ability to speak. (Photo courtesy
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Once clients complete their Speak Out! program, they are encouraged to join The Loud Crowd, which is a therapy group for people with Parkinson’s disease that meets once a week to provide members support and practice through discussions and activities.
The Speak Out! and The Loud Crowd therapy programs were developed at the Parkinson Voice Project in Richardson, Texas. For more information regarding this popular therapeutic program for Parkinson disease, visit parkinsonvoiceproject.org.
To schedule an appointment, call the Speech-Language Pathology clinic at the Midwestern University Therapy Institute in Glendale at 623-537-6000 or visit mwuclinics.com/arizona.
The information contained in this article is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment. Always
consult a quali�ied health care provider with questions regarding any possible health condition. Ethan Wash, M.S., CCC-SLP is a clinical instructor for the speech-language pathology program at the Midwestern University College of Health Sciences. He is a licensed, certified speech-language pathologist who supervises graduate students in their clinical rotations at the speech-language pathology clinic at the To schedule an appointment, Midwestern University call the Speech-Language Therapy Institute in Pathology clinic at the Mid- Glendale. western University Therapy The clinical team uti-
Institute in Glendale at lizes the latest technol623-537-6000 or visit ogy to evaluate and mwuclinics.com/arizona. treat a wide range of speech, language, and swallowing disorders for both children and adults, at affordable prices. Therapy sessions are available in the clinic (evening hours are available) and through online telemedicine services. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 623-537-6000 or visit mwuclinics.com/arizona.
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