Got both doses of the Pfizer COVID vaccine!

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I got both Pfizer COVID vaccines in January and February 2021! You can tell how I excited I was in the second pic LOL.

As of April 2021, per the site https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations, about 331 million people in the United States have received at least 1 dose of either the Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine. I am happy to say I was one of those 331 million!

Because I’m a Registered Nurse, I was considered Group 1A in both my home state (NJ) and work state (PA) and was offered to receive the COVID vaccine in January. I decided to receive the vaccine in PA since the vaccination site was only a 10 min drive from my job.

I was pretty nervous prior to getting my first dose of the Pfizer COVID vaccine. I read online about people having severe allergic reactions, and a few people posted online how some people they knew had other reactions like severe shaking or muscle tremors.

When I reviewed actual study data for the Pfizer COVID vaccine, I saw that overall the vaccine was safe and the majority of people who received the vaccine did well. The study included about 43,000 people, and the most common side effects experienced were fatigue, headache, muscle and joint pain, pain at the injection site, and fever. Severe side effects were noted in <2% of the study participants. After reading the actual study, I felt much better about receiving the Pfizer COVID vaccine.

I received my first Pfizer COVID vaccine in January, and the only thing I felt was a sore arm for a few days. I felt pretty good otherwise 🙂 I made a quick video a week after my first vaccine to report on how I was feeling.

My second Pfizer COVID vaccine was in February, and at first I felt ok. The next day, though, I began having quite a few side effects, such as headache, fatigue, nausea, feeling feverish (I used a thermometer and saw I didn’t have a fever), and fatigue. I didn’t feel that great on Day 2, so I took Tylenol and went to bed early that night.

On Day 3 – I felt fantastic and had no more side effects!! (and of course I made a video about how I was feeling on Day 3 LOL) I also made a video 1 week after my second Pfizer COVID vaccine while rolling through the car wash to report that I was still feeling well!

Rolling through the car wash and feeling good a week after getting the second Pfizer COVID vaccine 🙂

I wanted to share my experience with the Pfizer COVID vaccine to encourage all of you to get the vaccine, if you’re interested in getting the vaccine.

I felt pretty well after getting both doses, and now I am 95% protected against COVID. The other advantage of the COVID vaccine is that the vaccines greatly decrease the severity of symptoms associated with COVID. In other words, if you get the COVID vaccine and get COVID, you probably won’t get really sick and only experience mild symptoms that you would get if you catch a cold.

As of this writing, it has been 2 months since I got my second Pfizer COVID vaccine, and I still feel great!

Hopefully all of you get the vaccine. If you’re having difficulty finding an appointment to get the COVID vaccine in the United States, I highly recommend visiting these 2 websites. These sites have really helped people I know get appointments:

vaccinefinder.org

findashot.org

Please continue wearing a mask, cleaning your hands often and practice social distancing to prevent the spread of COVID (even if you do get the COVID vaccine). Stay safe and stay healthy everyone!

Healthy Egg and Hummus Bagel (yum!)

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One of my other passions in life, other than sharing health tips, is cooking! I’ll be honest…I love to eat. Tying to stay healthy and satisfy my love of eating has, unfortunately, been a challenge. Being a nurse for about 20 years, I have met many people for whom this also has been difficult.

For the past few years, I have tried to cook healthy foods that I find delicious, and I decided to finally share my recipes with all of you! These recipes are very easy to make.

Today, I would like to present, “Healthy Egg and Hummus Bagel”! (sorry I’ve been watching alot of Chopped and Iron Chef Japan recently, and many of the chefs present their plates to the judges this way. BTW Chairman Kaga from Iron Chef Japan rocks!! :))

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This recipe takes about 15-20 minutes to make depending on how fast you can spread hummus on a bagel 🙂 Hope you enjoy this easy recipe! If you make it, please post a pic of your egg and hummus bagel creation. I love seeing other people’s cooking 🙂

What you’ll need:

  • 1 bagel
  • 2 eggs
  • Hummus
  • Salt and pepper (for taste)
  1. Put enough water in a pot to cover the bottom 1/4 of the pot. Boil on high heat. Because you will be steaming the eggs, you do not need to put alot of water in the pot.
  2. Once the water is boiling, place the 2 eggs in the boiling water and cover with a lid. Set a timer for 7 minutes. (If you would like your eggs a little more hard boiled than what is shown in the picture above, boil the eggs for 8 or 9 minutes instead.)
  3. Slice your bagel in half and toast it.
  4. Grab a bowl and place cold water and ice in it. Once the eggs have boiled/steamed for 6 minutes, place them in the bowl with ice water and let the eggs sit in the ice water for a few minutes.
  5. Once the bagels are toasted, place them on a plate and spread hummus on both slices.
  6. Take the eggs from the ice water and remove the shell from both eggs.
  7. Cut the eggs into slices and place the sliced eggs evenly on both hummus bagels.
  8. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste…and VOILA!! You’re done! Enjoy!!

Vegetarian Burger Meal Under 600 Calories!

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An absolutely delicious, healthy vegetarian burger meal!

I was craving a hamburger today, but I also wanted to eat something healthy. I decided to make a vegetarian burger meal using my trusty double bin air fryer and wanted to share it with all of you 🙂 If you’re looking for a way to satisfy your burger craving and eat healthy, I highly recommend trying my vegetarian burger meal. Here’s how to make it:

  1. Cook a frozen vegan burger patty in an air fryer at 350F for 10 minutes. and frozen tater tots at 400F for 12 minutes.
  2. While those two items are cooking, cook an egg sunny side up for a few minutes on medium low heat in a pan. Cover with a lid to help the top part of the egg cook evenly.
  3. Sliced up a tomato and place it on a lightly toasted bun spread with Dijon mustard.
  4. Once the burger patty is done cooking, put it on the bun and carefully place the sunny side up egg on top.
  5. Plate the tater tots came on the side and with a little sriracha.
  6. Finally, enjoy a yummy hamburger meal which is vegetarian and under 600 calories. Absolutely delicious and healthy! Check out the quick video I made below 🙂
Music by one of my favorite MCs of all time: Nas “Ain’t Hard to Tell”

Covid-19 Treatment Myth

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I’ve been reading online some “treatments” people are suggesting to prevent covid-19, which in reality are myths. I talk about one of the myths I read about recently in my latest video. Hint: Hot water is better used for tea or coffee 😊. Stay safe everyone!

Social Distancing in my back yard…beautiful day!

Easy Mediterranean Inspired Healthy Lunch Plate You Can Make in Under 15 Min!

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I LOVE Mediterranean food and try to get some Mediterranean food at least once or twice a month. Unfortunately, during the quarantine period, I can’t go out to eat at my favorite spots. To satisfy my craving and put my home cooking skills to use, I came up with this easy, Mediterranean inspired healthy lunch plate that I wanted to share with all of you!

Yum!

What you’ll need:

  • 1 tortilla or 1 wrap
  • 4 tbsp canned black beans
  • 4 tbsp of canned corn
  • Frozen meatballs
  • Hummus
  • Hot sauce or sriracha (optional)

Warm up the tortilla or wrap in a pan with no oil. You can also put the tortilla or wrap in a microwave for about 10-20 seconds.

On your plate, put 4 tbsp canned black beans, 4 tbsp canned corn.

Cook 3-4 frozen meatballs as directed on the package, and cut them up into smaller pieces.

Put 2 tbsp hummus on the side and drizzle with hot sauce or sriracha (optional).

In under 15 min, you have a healthy, filling lunch that has about 500-600 calories and about 20 g of protein! Enjoy!

World Health Organization launches messaging service to answer COVID-19 questions

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Recent news and social media’s #1 topic recently has been about COVID-19. Many people, of course, are turning to the internet to find out the latest reports and facts about this pandemic. The World Health Organization recently launched a fantastic messaging service via WhatsApp to help answer your questions and provide updates, reports and facts about COVID-19.

I tried the messaging service myself after logging onto WhatsApp and was impressed with the information I received (screen shots are below). If you would like accurate, up to date information about the Coronavirus pandemic, I highly recommend the World Health Organization’s WhatsApp messaging service. To learn more, here is the original article: https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/who-health-alert-brings-covid-19-facts-to-billions-via-whatsapp.

To access the messaging service directly via WhatsApp, click here or the image below. Stay safe everyone!

Screenshot #1 from WHO COVID-19 messaging service
Screenshot #2 from WHO COVID-19 messaging service
Screenshot #3 from WHO COVID-19 messaging service

Healthy lunch recipe you can make at home in under 20 minutes!

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Since ALOT of people stocked up on groceries due to the #coronavirus quarantine, I wanted to share an easy, healthy lunch dish you can make at home in about 20 min!

What you will need:

  • 2 slices of bread
  • Toaster
  • 2 boiled eggs
  • Hummus
  • Sriracha or sauce of your choice (optional)
  1. Boil 2 eggs for about 10 minutes. While boiling the eggs, toast your 2 slices of bread.
  2. Spread hummus on each piece of toast.
  3. Slice up the 2 hard boiled eggs and put on the toast with hummus.
  4. Garnish with onion (or any veggie) and serve with sriracha (or a sauce of your choice) on the side.

You’re ready to enjoy a healthy, delicious home made lunch that’s also under 500 calories! Have a good lunch!

Oh and a reminder: make sure to always wash your hands before making your lunch and before eating 😊

#gracethenurse #coronavirus #covid19 #quarantine #healthyrecipe #homecooking #vegetarian #healthyfood #lunch #yummy #hummus #eggs #caloriecounting #recipe #handwashing

One of the BEST ways to avoid Coronavirus (COVID-19)

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Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a major health concern around the world today. One of the BEST ways to avoid Coronavirus is also the BEST way to avoid the flu – handwashing!

Handwashing often, ESPECIALLY before eating or touching your mouth, nose or eyes, is the best way to prevent getting sick from a virus or bacteria. Currently, the CDC recommends washing your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you are not near a sink, you can also clean your hands with hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol, as long as your hands are not visibly dirty.

Check out my videos on handwashing and cleaning your hands with hand sanitizer. The one I filmed in the parking lot was done recently…and I wanted to show off my Philadelphia Eagles lunch bag (go Birds!) haha

The other video was done about 5 years ago on Halloween featuring 2 of my coworkers, Mimi and Julie! Some of the nurses and medical assistants decided we would dress up as Star Trek.

The Halloween Star Trek video was fun because we filmed it unrehearsed and during a brief 5 minute break in between seeing patients, which is why at the end I ran to turn off the camera because we all had patients to see. Not to worry, none of our patients were kept waiting 😉

I hope you enjoy my videos, and I hope all of you stay safe during the #coronavirus quarantine!

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Pets at the Workplace is a Great Stress Reliever

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If this dog is “Big Brother”, he can watch me anytime 🙂 Photo courtesy of confessionsoftheprofessions.com

Happy Monday! I know many of you are getting ready for work (or already at work). As you sip your morning coffee/tea and quietly munch on your breakfast while checking email, do any of you start thinking, “Man, it’s Monday. Here we go. I hope today isn’t going to be too crazy”.

I usually felt like this on a Monday morning once I began working Monday-Friday (sidenote: for those who aren’t familiar with a nurse’s schedule, nurses usually work 12  hour shifts, 3 days/week. I’ll always remember asking the HR person at my first Monday-Friday job, “So, I work everyday except weekends?” Her response, “Yes” (with a skeptical look….or maybe it was her “duh” look 🙂 )

One job, though, did not feel as daunting on a Monday because usually as I approached the bottom of my coffee cup and ate the last few bites of my morning bagel, a random dog would appear by my side. The second I would look down at him and give him a few pets, my Mondays (and everyday, actually), suddenly felt a million times better. I always thought of this dog as Mr Social because he made it a point to visit each and every employee throughout the day.

Then another dog I nicknamed “The Beautiful Scavenger” would saunter through the office, sashaying his perfectly brushed golden mane and tail like a fashion model on the runway. I loved looking at this dog but loved even more watching him look in every trash bin for any food scraps while his owner was busy typing away at his desk. I’m not sure his owner knew his gorgeous canine was doing this, but none of us were going to be “the snitch”. 🙂

You might all be asking, “Where did you work? Petco? A veternarian’s office? Doggie beauty salon?” Believe it or not, I was working at a regular office in Silicon Valley, and employees bringing their dogs to work was actually a pretty common thing at tech offices in that area. I loved the idea and the fact that numerous companies allowed their employees to bring their beloved furry friends with them to work. I could always see the joy on these employees when they walked through the office door with their pets and throughout the day as they sought out their dogs during stressful moments. Equally wonderful was how these office dogs lifted the spirits and decreased the stress of everyone else in the office.

I decided to review online articles to see if anyone else felt that pets at the workplace was an excellent stress reliever and was happy to find more than a few articles supporting this idea. I also found quite a few articles too that brought up the pros and cons of pets at the workplace. I listed some of the articles below.

What are your thoughts? I’m obviously a believer of pets in the workplace and highly recommend it to anyone considering working at a pet friendly office.

Who Let The Dogs In? More Companies Welcome Pets At Work by Yuki Noguchi on npr.org

The Rising Trend of Pets at Work by Krystal D’Costa on Scientific American

The Benefits of Bringing Pets to Work at usc.edu

Dogs in the Workplace: A Review of the Benefits and Potential Challenges by Anne M. Foreman, Margaret K. Glenn, B. Jean Meade, Oliver Wirth on National Center for Biotechnology Information website

Pets In the Workplace: Is It a Good or Bad Idea? by Kim Tracy Prince on business.com

Take your dog to work Friday? These ’employees’ wag their tails by Kelly Tyko on usatoday.com

The many benefits of pets in the workplace on aaha.org

Why Bringing Your Dog to Work Can Be Great for (Almost) Everyone by Jennifer Calfas on time.com

Did You Know Animals Help Depression and Anxiety?

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Happy Caturday! Did you know animals can help depression and decrease anxiety? My cat Jr Mint definitely helps my #mentalhealth. He even gives me hi-fives 😊

Here are some articles noting the positive effects of animals on mental health:

Alleviating Anxiety, Stress, and Depression with the Pet Effect by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America

Pets and Mental Health by The Mental Health Association

Science Says Your Pet Is Good for Your Mental Health by Time Magazine

Pets Help People Manage The Pain Of Serious Mental Illness by Erin Ross on npr.org

It’s official: Pets benefit our mental health by Ana Sandoiu on MedicalNewsToday.com

 

screen shot 2019-01-12 at 11.03.32 am#mentalhealthawareness #mentalillness #depression #depressionawareness #depressionhelp #anxiety #anxietyrelief #anxietyawareness #cat #cats #cats_of_instagram #catstagram #adoptdontshop #livingthefivlife