'tips' posts

Happy (healthy) holidays! Here's a roundup of great tips, recipes, and videos to help you make decisions about what to eat or what to make & bring to holiday gatherings:

• Love pinning and finding recipes on Pinterest? Click to view and pin from our board of more than 100 dietitian-approved heart-healthy recipes.

• Tarynne Mingione, RD, gives some great tips for thinking about portion sizes at holiday gatherings and also how to incorporate more vegetables into your favorite festive foods - click here to read, and also find links to some of her favorite recipes!

• Do you know what is in your holiday cocktail? Dr. Lindquist has some tips for eating and drinking at holiday gatherings. Click here to watch his video with healthy holiday eating tips, and also watch this video with tips on preventing holiday weight gain.

• Chef Eric has ..

Dysphagia. This is the technical medical term for difficulty swallowing which is a common complaint. Most people have experienced this sensation in their lives. It can occur when you’re eating something doughy like a bagel or French bread and then take few extra bites before swallowing. If you immediately swallow several times in a row you may get the sensation that the food is slowly passing toward your stomach. Your mouth may salivate; you might get a pressure sensation behind your breastbone; you might experience some pain, burning or discomfort. And, then you will feel instant relief the second the food you swallowed passes from the esophagus into the stomach. This is dysphagia.

For most people, this experience occurs very occasionally and usually when we are trying to eat too much, too quickly.

However, for some patients this symptom may occur more frequently such as daily and sometimes as often as every bite of food. It may also occur with solid food alone or with both solids and liquids. Most people will hope that the symptom will resolve by itself. Over time, they will often change the way they eat to avoid the symptom. They will eat slowly and chew their food till it resembles a paste, or they will use water to make things runny which then allows the food to pass.

What is interesting is that patients are reluctant to see or discuss this symptom with their physicians. In the last few months, I have seen patients who have had the symptom of dysphagia anywhere from 1 year to 40 years before they believed it was important enough to seek medical advice. The simple truth is that dysphagia that happens regularly or requires changes in the way you eat should be reported to a physician to determine the cause of the trouble.

What causes dysphagia?

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Being diagnosed with cancer is the beginning of a difficult time. The entire process – from diagnosis to treatment to survivorship – can be exhausting. And, I am sure that when you have questions that come up, you would like to have them answered, respectfully and responsively.

As health professionals we want to ensure that you, your family, friends and caregivers have access to all resources available at the Swedish Cancer Institute (SCI). For this reason, Swedish launched a customized phone line tailored to the Cancer Institute where callers can find out more information on services available.

Whether you want to know more about different treatment options, learn more about research studies or locate community cancer resources, I am here to assist you. If you are a new patient and would like to be seen by a provider at the Swedish Cancer Institute, I can help get the process started for you by connecting you with the most appropriate SCI specialist.

To put a story behind the voice over the phone, I would like to officially introduce myself to the Swedish community! I am Swedish’s Integrated Care Services Coordinator and Telephone Liaison for the Swedish Cancer Institute and True Family Women’s Cancer Center – which means I get to work with the entire network of Swedish campuses (including First Hill, Cherry Hill, Issaquah, Ballard and Edmonds) and can help you get connected to the appropriate areas of service that you may need.

I can help to answer any questions you may have, or connect you to the following:

The holidays are amazing for so many reasons, among them the extra time with loved ones and the pretty decorations draped over anything that will stand still. At the top of this list for me though is the food. I can’t get enough roasted root veggies and pumpkin-flavored…everything. Of course, the holidays have also become a time of overindulgence in such tasty treats. So how do we take advantage of these wonderful seasonal delights in a healthy way?

Since your mind is probably already filled with lists (presents, holiday cards, naughty/nice?), I’ll keep this one short:

Thanksgiving has passed but the power of gratitude is timeless. As a Health Education Specialist for Swedish, I get the pleasure of working with wonderful patients, clinicians and staff every day. For this I am endlessly thankful. But how often do I express that?

How often do you express thanks to those in your life (coworkers, family, friends, random strangers?) who get you through bad moments, bad days or bad years even? Appreciation never goes out of style and even though the official holiday of thanks has passed, let me use this time to thank you all: blog readers, Facebook followers, patients,  providers and any and everybody that is part of the larger Swedish family.

It is amazing how far a simple phrase like “thank you” can go so why don’t we say it more? Ask ...

A lot of parents have questions about the flu vaccine and many parents refuse the vaccine as they feel it does not very effective. Some parents are concerned about vaccines in general and refuse vaccinating their child as they don’t want to administer “another vaccine” to their child. The best way to prevent getting flu is by vaccination.

What is flu (Influenza)?

Flu (influenza) is not just a common cold or a stomach virus as most people think. Influenza usually occurs during the winter in our region although it can occur all year around in other parts of the world. It can be a serious respiratory illness that can lead to complications especially in children and older adults. Symptoms are generally similar to any other common cold infections and can vary from fever, runny nose, nose congestion, cough, body aches and headaches. The body aches and headaches are mostly reported by older children and adults. Children may not be able to explain their symptoms and may just be fussy.

Most children get over the flu without any complications. In some children and adults, however, it can lead to serious complications including pneumonia.

How to prevent the flu:

Influenza is ...

When people think of the Pacific Northwest, they often think of rain. Especially during non-summer months, water never seems to be in short supply in our region. So it seems strange that many of us aren’t getting as much water as our bodies need.

Every cell and tissue in your body needs water to survive and without it, you could be left high and dry. Thirst is the first sign that your body is dehydrated which means we should be drinking water even before we think we need it.

What are other signs of dehydration?