Community News
Be a Santa to a Senior!
Home Instead Senior Care will be having our annual Be A Santa To A Senior Program!
If you would like to help a senior citizen in need this Christmas… Please take an ornament, purchase the items listed on the ornament, and bring the gifts to where you picked the ornament. You may also drop off the gifts at the Home Instead Office in Murrells Inlet. (Please securely attach the ornament to the bag.)
Deadline to drop off gifts is December 7th, 2016
(Please don’t wrap the gifts!)
Annual Wrapping Party
Inlet Square Mall
Hwy. 17 Bypass, Murrells Inlet, SC
Monday, December 12th, 2016
11am – 3pm
Sponsored by:
Home Instead Senior Care
11746 Hwy 17 Bypass, Murrells Inlet, SC 29576
(843-357-9777)
(Wrapping Party is NOT held at the Home Instead Office)
Happy Thanksgiving
With Thanksgiving quickly approaching, it’s a time of reflection. And, what better way to reflect than reading the history of the original Thanksgiving!
THANKSGIVING AT PLYMOUTH
In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth.
Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.
In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time—the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the historic banquet’s exact menu, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrived bearing five deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations.
Source: History.com
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Article written by Lucy M. Riojas, RT(R)(M)
As you peruse the aisles of your favorite department store, you start to notice a trend: pink scarves, pink socks, pink shirts, and pink coffee mugs. Then pink blenders, pink vacuums, and is that a pink microwave?!? Ahh yes, the pink explosion is everywhere, and that can only mean one thing: October is upon us, and everyone is preparing for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It is a reminder that there is a gruesome disease that is out to get second base. These sweet, pink pastels are there to nudge us, saying “hey, don’t forget to examine your breasts, get your doctor to check them out too, and schedule your mammogram.” After all, about 1 in 8 U.S. women, and 1 in 1000 U.S. men will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of their lifetime, and being proactive in this fight is crucial.
There are some guidelines, though. Breast self-exams are to be done monthly, and the best time to do them is about 10 days after the onset of your menstrual cycle. Breasts can be capricious, and they will change texture over the course of the monthly cycle, so sticking to one time of the month is best. If you no longer menstruate, then choose a day of the month and do it that same day from then on. If your breasts are generally lumpy and you don’t know what is normal and what isn’t, the best strategy is to simply become familiar with them. Become so familiar with each ridge and curve that if something was to change, you’d notice it right away. Also, look in the mirror. Look for dimpling, swelling, or redness by standing with your hands on your hips, then with your hands in the air, standing straight, then leaning forward. You can dance if you want to, just make sure the door is locked because if someone walked in, it’d be really awkward for everyone involved.
The second guideline is to have your doctor examine your breasts. Find a doctor that you’re comfortable with, because he or she will be squeezing your breasts and looking at them rather closely every year. A lot of people would rather do it themselves, but if you were to find an abnormality, you’ll need your doctor’s help in getting the proper tests done to determine what is wrong. Only your doctor can provide an order (prescription) for a breast sonogram or diagnostic mammogram.
The last guideline is to get a mammogram. This only applies to certain people: women over 40 (or mid to late thirties if breast cancer runs in the family because a woman’s risk of breast cancer approximately doubles if she has a first-degree relative who has had breast cancer), and patients with an abnormality in the breast. It is not generally recommended to get a mammogram before the age of 35. If a patient younger than 35 finds a lump, the first exam ordered will likely be a sonogram because it does not utilize radiation. And you know what? A mammogram really isn’t that bad. It is only a few seconds of pressure on each breast, and that’s it. The discomfort is worth it when it helps detect cancer in its earliest stages when it is most easily treated. Doctors are so confident that they can treat stage I breast cancer that they give patients a near 100% five-year survival rate.
So there you have it, folks: monthly breast self-exams, annual doctor’s exam, and a mammogram. These three things are your best bet for catching breast cancer in its earliest stages. Trust your judgment when it comes to your body. Don’t ever feel like you are overreacting if you “think” you feel something in your breast. If it doesn’t feel right, have it checked out. The worst (or best) thing that can happen is that you get checked and it turns out to be nothing.
For more info visit: http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-awareness-month
2016 Walk To End Alzheimer’s – Team Home Instead
This year we are participating in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s on November 5, 2016 at Market Common. Our team name is; Home Instead Senior Care Murrells Inlet. Our goal is to raise at least $1000.00 to donate for the cause.
We are having a Raffle; 1st Prize “Dinner for 2 for a Week”. The cost is $30.00 per ticket and will include the following restaurants: RIOZ, THE LIBRARY, P.F.CHANGS, YAMATOS, BRENTWOOD HOUSE, TUPELO HONEY AND SCATORIS. 2nd Prize to be drawn is a Dinner Cruise for 2 aboard the Barefoot Princess in Barefoot Landing. The raffle will be drawn on 11/5/2016
Where do the funds go?
All funds raised through Walk to End Alzheimer’s further the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association. The Alzheimer’s Association is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
We hope you will partner with us and purchase a raffle ticket for this fundraising event.
Event information can be found here: Walk To End Alzheimer’s »
Please contact Home Instead Senior Care at 843-357-9777 to purchase a raffle ticket or come by the office Monday – Friday between 9a-5p, we are located at:
11746 Highway 17 Bypass
Murrells Inlet, S.C. 29576
