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 Jacksonville is among the largest cities in Florida with a large number of surrounding communities. It only makes sense that there would be long list of events to celebrate the holiday season. We have compiled a list of these events by area to help you make the most of this season!
Jacksonville: Source: https://www.visitjacksonville.com/events/holidays/christmas-holidays/
St. Augustine/Ponte Vedra Source: https://www.floridashistoriccoast.com/events/holidays/christmas/
Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island Source: https://www.ameliaisland.com/landing-pages/Amelia-Island-Christmas
As always, be safe and have fun! Happy Holidays from our families to yours!  Conservation is a passion of ours and we believe that every little thing adds up. Dr. Munjal believes in taking care of our environment and reducing our carbon footprint. Read more to learn how we work to reduce, reuse, and recycle.
How we work to conserve:
 In our last segment of the Kidney Korner, we began the introduction to blood pressure. In this segment, we will be discussing how to take blood pressure readings.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Taking Your Blood Pressure: For Upper Arm Blood Pressure Cuffs:
For Wrist Blood Pressure Cuffs:
My blood pressure is higher than normal for me. What should I do? If you are experiencing an episode of high blood pressure, we advise that you take a second reading. The first may be an outlier due to acute stress or moving your body before taking the reading. Before taking a second reading, follow these suggestions:
Tips for Taking Accurate Readings
Helpful Videos: https://youtu.be/gUHALsLeeoM https://youtu.be/GSNZVaW1Wg4 If you are unsure that you are taking your blood pressure properly, call our office for guidance from your care team.  ‘Tis the season of giving! There are a number of ways in which we can all give back to the ones we love and our communities this holiday season.
Resources: https://www.organdonor.gov/learn/process/living-donation#:~:text=As%20a%20living%20donor%2C%20you,or%20part%20of%20the%20intestines. https://unos.org/transplant/deceased-donation/ **This information is not sponsored**  The holidays are just around the corner which means celebrations filled with family, food, and fun. For those with kidney disease and hypertension, it is important to remain aware of what and how much is being consumed. Below are some recipes and recommendations to help you stay healthy through the holidays.
Holiday Tips:
Recipes: Drinks:
Foods to stay away from: Foods with a high potassium content: spinach, beans, squash, tomato, all potatoes Foods with a high phosphorus content: beans, dairy, nuts, processed foods Check out other posts on our blog for information on medication management tips while traveling and our Facebook page for additional Tasty Tuesday holiday recipes that are kind to your kidneys. Happy Holidays!  The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod is a book that details 6 habits to transform your mornings and your life. We have found it helpful in creating more productive mornings and better days overall. A positive start to the day is the best fuel for success.
The Six Habits: Hal discusses six habits that will transform your life before 8am. He uses the acronym S.A.V.E.R.S.
Hal follows up on his S.A.V.E.R.S method by explaining how to customize your Miracle Morning to make the most of your day. How it has helped our office We have been able to see an increase in productivity and success when we practice S.A.V.E.R.S and other habits in the Morning Miracle. By jump starting our day, we are ready bright and early to take care of our patients and our team with passion and positivity. How it can help our patients By starting the morning off in a peaceful, productive, and positive mindset, our patients are setting themselves up for success throughout the day. No matter what the day entails, a positive start promotes a positive outcome. You can visit the Miracle Morning website here to learn more about Hal’s books, the habits you can form, and all of the resources available to help you transform your mornings!  Our patient portal gives our patients easy, secure, and instant access to their medical information. It has a wide variety of features to make all aspects of the patient’s experience with our office smooth, efficient, and convenient while conserving resources.
What is available on the portal?
How to access the portal: Once you have provided an email to our office, we activate your patient portal. You should receive an email to finish registration and the set-up process.
If the email linked to the patient’s account does not belong to the patient, we require a Proxy Access form to be filled out and signed by the patient. The App: The Healow app gives limited mobile access to the patient portal for patients on the go. You can find our office by using the code ACHFAA when prompted. The Healow app can be downloaded from the Apple App Store (for iPhones) or the Google Play Store (for Androids). Our team is here to help should you have any questions, concerns, or need assistance accessing your portal. If you haven’t done so already, see our previous post, The Power of the Patient Portal, for additional information here.  In this segment of the Kidney Korner, we will begin to touch on blood pressure, its causes, and how Dr. Munjal can help. This introduction will branch off to include more specific topics regarding blood pressure, its causes, contributing factors, treatments, and more.
What is Blood Pressure? Blood Pressure is the measurement of the circulating blood against the walls of the blood vessels. This is a measurement of the amount of force the body is using to get blood through the arteries. What can contribute to blood pressure raising and lowering?
How Dr. Munjal helps:
Munjal’s Musings: “A small subset of patients may have high blood pressure for a specific cause. Testing can be undertaken to identify and pinpoint the cause to treat it more effectively. We like to do a better job with fewer medications.” Changes in blood pressure can come with a myriad of symptoms. If you are concerned with your blood pressure, please contact our office to schedule a consultation with Dr. Munjal or speak with your care team. Resources: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17649-blood-pressure https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20373417. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.15006 https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2004/1015/p1542.html https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/expert-answers/blood-pressure/faq-20058254  If you have any kidney diseases, it is important to be mindful of your food and fluid intake. While it may be small, candy can have a large impact on the renal diet. Halloween candy can contain phosphorus and potassium which play an integral role in your kidney function. Additionally, if you have diabetes, it is important to consult with your endocrinologist, dietician, and/or primary care physician to determine what is best for your personal health goals. Below are some general tips and guidelines as well as which candies are tricks and which candies are treats.
Guidelines to Halloween Candy:
Treats:
Tricks: Candy can contain higher levels of phosphorus and potassium due to being made with solid chocolate, nuts, dried fruit, coconut, peanut butter, and caramel.
Resources: https://www.kidney.org/content/halloween-fun-kids-kidney-disease Penny Miclat, RN, Director of Nursing, DialySuites Bartram Park Happy Halloween!  October's Book of The Month is The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown.
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown is a guide to wholehearted living and provides guideposts to assist in changing your mindset. These ten guideposts include actionable advice on cultivating joy, gratitude, resilience, authenticity, compassion, creativity, and more. These are all vital components of living a healthy, happy, fulfilling life. DIG Deep: DIG Deep is a tool Brene Brown uses to follow up each guide post to help make her stories, guidance, and wisdom actionable and applicable to our lives. She uses this to give examples and advice for taking action and starting the change we wish to see. Get Deliberate Get Inspired Get Going Guideposts we love: Guidepost #3: Cultivating a Resilient Spirit
How it applies to our patients: Living with chronic illnesses can potentially have a terrible effect on one’s mindset. Feelings of dread, impending doom, and loss of control can begin to numb emotions, both good and bad. The Gifts of Imperfection can begin to guide our patients toward finding happiness and cultivating joy, regardless of what they may face. It can also help our patients to accept and love their authentic selves and begin reversing the numbness to emotion that they may be experiencing. How it has helped our office: The Gifts of Imperfection has had a great impact on mindset within the office. We have been able to recognize the impact of being brave and vulnerable. Being our true, authentic selves has allowed us to gain trust and respect for one another, thus creating a stronger team bond and environment. It has also aided us in gaining compassion for one another and our patients. Our Favorite Quotes: “We cannot selectively numb, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive ones.” “Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty.” “...our imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” “The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It's our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.” Check in next month to read and grow along with our office! Happy reading! |
