I'm writing this from home and I'm about to whine. It's about 4:10pm and I got to work at 4:15 this morning. When I wrapped up my mini-version of this story for 6pm and looked up at the clock and saw that it was 3pm.. I just didn't want to stay one more second in the newsroom. I knew when I left I'd hit a wall of traffic (which I did). Nothing like turning in a simple 17 minute commute into a 50 minute ordeal. It's allright, I'm home now and happy to spend a few minutes telling you more about heat stroke.

Here's the thing: I do a story on heat stroke every year. EVERY year. And every year it's a little hard to get super fired up about it, only because I've covered it so many times before. This year was different.

Molly (who works on our assignment desk) was fishing for a story just like this and landed it with the Canby Fire & Rescue folks who knew about a woman who suffered heat stroke who was also willing to share her personal story. Believe me, to get BOTH of those variables covered is remarkable. So, Molly passed it along to me this morning about 9:30am and I was off and running to Canby with phojo Steve.

Ms. Collins story goes a long way to highlighting the potential dangers of the heat. It is so amazing she is alive. Tighe (one of the firefighter/paramedics) said that with a core temperature around 107, like what she had... it can easily kill you and most certainly lead to brain damage.. neither of which happened to Ms. Collins!!

By the way, I didn't have time to include it in my story, but she doesn't remember a thing about that day... all of it-- gone!!

The bottom line is this: check on your older parents, friends, neighbors and make sure they get some relief from the heat. Her family found her after she didn't pick up the phone at home. Close call!!

This is from the Clark County Health Department:

Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability if emergency treatment is not provided. Warning signs of heat stroke vary but may include the following:

An extremely high body temperature (above 103°F, orally)
Red, hot, and dry skin (no sweating)
Rapid, strong pulse
Throbbing headache
Dizziness
Nausea
Confusion
Unconsciousness

If you see any of these signs, have someone call for immediate medical assistance while you begin cooling the victim. This can be done by placing the victim in a tub of cool water or in a cool shower, by spraying the victim with cool water from a garden hose, sponging him or her with with cool water, wrapping him or her in a cool, wet sheet and faning vigorously. Do not give the victim fluids to drink. If emergency medical personnel are delayed, call the hospital emergency room for further instructions.

And here is a good resource from the CDC:

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/faq.asp

Okay, here are a few tips from mom's about morning sickness! I hope they help...

Amy writes: I do have one friend who in her 2nd pregnancy kept a box of raisins at her bedside because she would feel really sick first thing in the morning and so she ate a couple of raisins to stablize her blood sugar and then she could actually go about most of her day. thinking back now I think she kept raisins in her purse all of the time too!

Christina writes: My morning sickness was twice as bad with my second. My first who is now 2 years old is a boy who only knows two speeds, off and full blast. I had heartburn for the first 10 weeks and that was it. The second who is a girl will show herself (hopefully she will wait that long) at the end of September. My morning sickness was extremely bad. I lost 5 pounds even through I was only nauseous. My stomach protested anything I wanted to eat. This included water and my prenatal vitamins. Of course, I gained the weight back and more during the second trimester. Baby girl and I are doing just great but the first trimester was hard. I am glad with my first, the morning sickness wasn't that bad because I would have had second thoughts on having my second. I am also glad my partner and I only wanted two children because I don't want to do the pregnancy thing again. Take all of the time you can after the baby is born because you won't have another chance to have three months off from your job unless you have another child. My son and the one on the way are the best things to happen to me. Have fun!

And Lynn writes: Ginger tea helps, as does keeping something on your stomach at all
times. The advice about eating before you get out of bed is spot on,
except i kept saltines next to the bed. In fact, I kept saltines
everywhere. I lived on saltines the first trimester of both babies.
As for that tile, hey! it's only money! you only live once! ;)

And Ryan, thanks to you too for the support on my ridiculously expensive tile that I'm in love with. :-) Maybe I'll just buy one and put it in a frame or something. And, that pic of your two little kiddos is really super cute!! Can I post it?

One more random observation: various corners of my house are crawling with ants. Tiny, industrious ants. Little, unwelcome, rascally ants. Ants that I am just going to have to learn to ignore because there are way more of them than me. I live in an older home so ants are just part of the deal. It was the same at our other old home, too, but right now I feel like they are everywhere!! And, I'm anal about cleaning so that's not it. I think they must be looking for water or like the fact that our home is air-conditioned.
:-)

As always, feel free to email me!! sstricklen@kgw.com