Party weekend
The three Boyd sisters. Robin, Faith and me, with Robin's husband, Tim and Faith's boyfriend, Alfred, showing off his snake-bit foot.
We celebrated Rob’s 60th (thank God) birthday over the weekend with family and friends from here, New England and New Jersey and New York.
It really started Wednesday, when Faith and Alfred arrived. They were supposed to come on Thursday, but on Tuesday night, as they were camping in Deep Creek at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, Alfred was bitten on the foot by a copperhead.
“I have a black-and-white image in my head of the snake’s mouth open,” Alfred said.
Alfred doesn’t have insurance, not does he have a full-time job at the moment. He had been offered one that he was to start today, but he won’t be able to start for at least a month, and I don’t know if the job will still be there for him when he’s back on his feet.
Even with reform, our system is very broken. Alfred repeatedly told hospital personnel that he’s uninsured and everyone was very happy to work with him to try and keep costs down. He was released from the hospital early Wednesday evening with instructions to stay off the foot for four to six weeks, and they came here.
Alfred’s good humor and willingness to tell the story over and over again all weekend actually made him the center of attention.
Thursday was pretty much a day for the sisters, and we had a ball, laughing at Boyd sister inside jokes.
Friday was for the sisters and the group of friends Rob has known since he was in fourth grade, and his cousin and brother. We went out to eat and then to the drum circle…
Rob's childhood friend, Eric Tull, dances at the Asheville Friday night drum circle.
Saturday was for everyone and we had somewhere around 40 people here, eating, laughing, sitting around the campfire … It was exactly the party Rob wanted.
Oh, and thank you to the people who contributed to Life o’ Mike for Rob’s birthday. We appreciate it more than you can imagine.
Have a beer in May
Stop into Altamont Brewing, 1042 Haywood Road, West Asheville, any time in May and ask for their "charity" beer of the day. Buy one and Life o' Mike gets $1. In fact, we get a buck for each one sold. So go in every day and have one to support Life o' Mike.
Thanks, Altamont!
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.
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