Thoughts on Being Prepared for an Emergency

WHAT United States Virgin Island RESIDENTS ARE CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING:
This was posted by family members who were hit by the hurricanes in St. Croix. It is "spot on", stated other residents. We copied it and re-posted it here for our readers. This is good education on what the aftermath of a disaster is like and help us be better prepared.
1. You no longer ask "How are you?", but "How did you make out?" And you’re not sure if you want to know the answer.
2. You start to go to bed at 7:30 pm because island curfew starts at 6pm and it's so dark there's nothing else to do but sleep.
3. Your poop and shower sessions now revolve around the generator schedule.
4. If you own a generator you also need a security guard to go with it.
5. Ice cubes have more value than gold and you either get up at the crack of dawn to wait in line for 1 rationed bag or you make an exchange of some sort in the back alley, on the down low out of your car, like a drug dealer.
6. If you have a "generator time" if you’re truly blessed. You now have 10 new best friends that show up at "generator time".
7. The statement that "Cash is King" is an understatement. How to get it, when all the banks are closed, is a mystery.
8. You travel with chainsaws, and other debris removal and construction equipment, in the event that there happens to be a roof or telephone pole in the road, or a friend that needs to clear a path to their home.
9. You fill up your car and every container with gas, even after you drive only a half mile, as you’re not sure there will be gas tomorrow (or ever).
10. Whenever it rains or the winds blow? You start to get serious anxiety, panic attacks and start to look for the closest shelter. You think “Do I have PTSD”?
11. You are now an expert “yoga cell service professional”, able to bend and hold positions for hours at a time, while attempting to get signal for one conversation with the outside world.
12. Instead of "chasing the sun" you now spend hours "chasing the WIFI."
13. Your most hated dance is the “mosquito dance”. And while you spend a lot of your time on “mosquito security”, there's always that one little bastard that finds a way.
14. You never want to see another freaking peanut butter n jelly sandwich again.
15. You find yourself searching for "normal" in just about anything.
16. You realize Hurricane mosquitoes are a mutated species, immune to the highest level of Deet bug spray and Skin So Soft combined.
17. When driving around, you now know every corner where there is a roof, tree or power line in the road….. and exactly how tall your car is to get under them.
18. You figured out that the flashlight feature on your phone is the best life saving invention ever. You’re now very aware of exactly how much battery life is sucked up by every application on your phone.
19. You have made a path in your house for the “new river and waterfall” display that runs from your ceiling through your living room.
20. You feel guilty if you’re driving a car that still has all of its windows intact.
21. Fresh produce at the grocery store causes a frenzy, much like a “Black Friday” sale on the hot new "it" toy in the States.
22. The previously fantastic ocean views are now even more spectacular. This is because most of the trees and vegetation have been blown away. You’re able to see parts of the island that you’ve never seen before.
23. You have learned to bath, do your dishes, clean your house, flush your toilet and wash your clothes (Not in that order) all with one bucket of water drawn from your cistern.
24. Most everyone you know now has open air sky lights in the roofs of their houses.
25. You notice every bit of green, and every bit of new life that shows up on island.
26. The sound of reggae music has been replaced with the sounds of generators and mosquitoes buzzing.
27. You have learned to say goodbye to lifelong friends in 10 minutes, before they jump on an evacuation boat or plane. It’s a surreal experience….. like it's a “see you tomorrow” goodbye, but you feel like you may not ever see them again.
28. If you have a cold drink and a place to charge your phone….. you are living like a King.
29. You have lost 10 pounds on the “Irma diet”. This weight loss plan consists of candy bars, Doritoes, PB n J sandwiches and all the “debris removal exercise workouts” that you’re doing.
30. You are excited to go to bed to forget, and bummed when you wake up and remember.
31. Your concept of history and time is now referred to as "Before Irma", "After Maria", "Between Irma and Maria" which has now replaced "After Marilyn".
32. Your expectation level of “when food has spoiled” has changed. And now you wait for the aftermath to figure out if you misjudged it.
33. A head lamp is part of your normal daily ensemble, and dry socks are a prized commodity.
34. You realize that some technology is overrated when your old school flip phone or outdated iPhone works better than your new fancy IPhone 7.
35. You realize you must have a destiny of greatness ahead of you, and you that you might be superhuman, as you have once again skipped over death ... and for those in the US Virgin Islands... We Have Skipped Twice!

Are You Afraid of the Dentist?

Learning the Hard Way

Learning the Hard Way

Every year I have a garden, and every year I learn a thing or two I will never forget.  I’m always so grateful that I’m learning these things in times of plenty - when my mistakes won’t lead to hard and hungry times for my family.

• There was the year I fried all of my plants with compost that was too hot - not even my radishes would grow, and radishes always grow!
• Another year I thought I was being so clever and put all of my green tomatoes in my root cellar to ripen.  I left them there over Fall Break, not realizing they were going moldy.  I returned to a root cellar FULL of mold that quickly destroyed all the food I had so carefully stored that year.
• Then there was the year of the volunteer plants.  My compost had been made from all of the plants from the year previous, and those wonderful non-hybrid seeds were still alive and thriving.  I had volunteer tomatoes, squash and tomatillos coming up all over the place.  Thinking these were wonderful bonus plants, I let them grow.  Big mistake!  They took over the garden and crowded out the things I really did plant and want to grow.

And now this year...the lessons of the dogs, birds and greenhouse monster!  

• We got a new dog that quickly grew into a large dog!  Being a puppy, he was very eager to dig.  He and his buddy found my potato patch and dug up half of the potatoes and ate them.  They also found the bean patch to be a particularly lovely place to take a nap.  No beans from those plants survived either.
• They were not nearly as destructive as the birds though.  These little birds have taken up year long residence in my garden.  There have to be at least 100 of them this year.  They destroyed all of my grapes and nearly all of my tomatoes.  Yes tomatoes.  They fly into the plants and peck the tomatoes until they are shriveled, moldy messes hanging on the plants.  They have also covered all of my eggplants with poop - they roost on the cages around the plants.  A shotgun is still on my list of options right now…
• And the last lesson of the year - tend the greenhouse!  The tomatoes I planted in the greenhouse were my scrawny extras, and they were actually behind the tomato plants outside.  I kind of forgot about them for awhile.  Soon you could see the plants peeking out the door of the greenhouse.  With the heat and moisture inside, the plants had quickly overgrown into monsters!  No one could go into the greenhouse without a machete to cut their way in...except the birds.  They were very happy to roost in there and munch on those tomatoes too!

Thankfully my family is a much smaller version of itself this year, and no one is going hungry.  We had a particularly plentiful broccoli and cauliflower harvest, and the purple sweet potatoes we dug yesterday will be delightful for a few months.  I’m learning lessons the hard way, but at the right time.

Learning Everywhere

That is what is happening in the office as well.  I’m certainly learning lessons, and some of those I’m learning the hard way because of things I’ve not known.  For example, we are learning about the relationship between root canals and heart disease.  New research shows that if you have a root canal, you are three times more likely to have a heart attack.  Wow!  And gum disease - when we diagnose it, we are now telling patients what Stage of disease they have.  Why?  Because gum disease contributes to arthritis, diabetes, autoimmune problems, kidney and lung disease and much more.  It can be treated and we are getting very serious about treating it NOW before it manifests as disease somewhere else.  These are things we are learning to help you with your health, and we can’t wait to share!

We have also had some new friends join our practice:

• Lightwalker TwinLight laser - We can now often fix your cavities without getting you numb.  We can disinfect diseased gums and bone, disinfect after removing teeth and use BioStim to help you heal six times faster.
• Frequency Specific Microcurrent Machine - This machine can find the exact frequency of energy you need to heal and deliver that right to where you are having problems.  Chronic pain, inflammation, joint and muscle problems all disappear with this treatment.
• Ozone - we use ozone to disinfect all cavities, infected gums, infected teeth and jaw bone cavitations.  This really is a wonder treatment!
• Piezotome- with vibrational energy, we are able to do surgery faster and with less after effects that ever before.  This makes a huge difference in healing.
• Laser for cavity diagnosis - We have rediscovered this old friend, and are finding cavities while they are still small and easy to treat without numbing.
• Platelet Rich Fibrin- we use your own fibrin to help any surgical area heal.  This speeds up healing and reduces any post operative pain.
• Volt Meter - Metals in your mouth may be sapping your energy.  With this voltmeter we can determine exactly the voltage of your metals fillings or crowns, and whether they are affecting your health.

Come visit us to see how these things can help you and your HEALTH.

I’m so grateful to be continually learning, and hope you will be too.  Often we are scared of new things, or embarrassed that we didn’t know them before.  All I can say is let yourself off the hook!  We are all learning and growing and changing, and if we aren’t, something is wrong.  My favorite analogy is that life is like a treadmill.  If you aren’t moving forward, you are going to fall off the back end- life is moving forward, with or without you.  You can walk slowly, but keep moving.  Keep learning and living and loving life!  What an adventure!  

Have a great week!

Love,

Dr. Michelle Jorgensen