Remedios Caseros

Two weeks ago I was feeling so sick, however, as many of you know; I am a workaholic. I was driving home with bluish lips, wheezing, and a fever after a full week of work. Let me tell you by the next day... I called my Mami! She advised the usual: lots of rest, Vaporub (who hasn't used this to cure everything from a cold, allergies, burns, cuts ... etc...?), and chicken soup. Dragging myself out of bed and debating whether to give in to Nyquil and other meds … I decided to go with what I grew up with. 

By the following day I was wishing that I had not been stubborn about seeing a doctor because my fever had risen to 105 and I was so dizzy I couldn’t function. I found out I had acute pneumonia and was given emergency antibiotic shots and fluids. There are so many occasion where I am a BIG advocate of holistic health and going with our Remedios Caseros however, I learned a valuable lesson that weekend: you have to go to the doctor if your fever persists because your body is fighting an infection that your remedios may not combat as quickly as your body needs.

I still recommend teas, vitamins (especially Vitamin C and Zinc), Echinacea, chicken soup, and lots of water. I also would advise anyone (especially with little ones) to see a doctor when your symptoms have persisted past a couple of days because even though medicine isn’t what we grew up with (well  ... most of us anyway...). Medicine has come so far in being non-invasive and most doctors are very wary of giving little ones antibiotics.

It is second nature for us to “tough it out”, but as I learned these past couple of weeks, it can really hurt your body. There is no reason why you can’t do your holistic options as well as the headache meds, antibiotics, and other medicine that will make sure you are at least comfortable.

As Latinos we have tons of remedios handed to us from our families and friends but it is important to take advantage of the abundance of doctors and medicines that will help us get better quicker (and less contagious faster). What are some of your favorite home remedies? (Mine is chamomile tea for headaches  )

Social Media for Good?

The future depends on what we do in the present. - Mahatma Gandhi

It is no secret that the biggest influences in my life are my children. Not just by their actions, funny quirks, but mainly because they exist. They are in my life; their wonderful hugs, their unbelievable trust in me, and their unconditional love. I am beyond blessed to be their mother. 

I don’t need to look far to be inspired to push for equality in education, clean environment, and more affordable healthcare. Those two little treasures are enough, BUT, if I didn’t have them just being a part of a community such as LATISM would inspire me. Especially after the tweet chat we had tonight. With us was Johnson & Johnson (did you know they are the official title sponsor for LATISM 11?) because we were focusing on using social media to create the change we want in our societies. 

J&J is celebrating 125 years! I was so happy to see them with us today. They have been a part of my life since I was a baby (who hasn’t been bathed in J&J baby wash?) and recently when I went to BlogHer11 they were there as well. When I saw them at BlogHer11 they were talking about their commitment to nurses (my mom who is a nurse said that they were one of the main companies to offer scholarships for nurses).    

All of this made me think of what inspires me and why. One of the main things I noticed tonight was that the best causes to support are those that YOU are the most passionate about. How true is that??

In my experience, it is the most important thing because I could always tell when someone was just trying “sell” me their cause and when they were trying to “wrap me” into their story. There is a big difference. 

From their website, from meeting their reps in person and from the tweet chat today, I can tell you that Johnson & Johnson has demonstrated a true corporate passion to make their environment better, literally and figuratively. They sponsor initiatives that help women, children, advances in medicine, nurses, and poverty (I could go on but when you go to their website they outline all of their causes). I was so happy that a company that is already such a big part of my life was taking their money and putting it where it matters most, not just in their consumers but striving to better the global community.

Which brings me to my questions:

What inspires you? What are you doing about it? What changes do you wish would happen and what can you do to help make it come true?