Sleepyhead Shares a Secret by Maureen Reil BOOK REVIEW

Sleepyhead Shares a Secret by Maureen Reil
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book through the Goodreads First-Reads program.

I sat down with it when I first received it and tried to read it, really I did. The main character is just so whinny. I ended up having to put it down. And of course there I let it sit for the longest time.

Last week I was looking through some books, and realized I had a couple of books from the First-Reads that I had not reviewed yet, so I sat down and tried to read the book again.

I confess, I only got about half way through before I threw the book across the room. Not only is the main character whinny, she talks about having Sleep Apnea (note to the author...it is spelled APNEA not APENOA) like it is some horrible dreaded thing that will ruin her life. I for one have sleep apnea, and I have never experienced anything like this character does, nor have I ever went through any treatments like she describes or tests. The more I read, the less I liked the book, and the harder it was to keep reading.

Even the blossoming friendship or whatever it will be between Sabrina and the Dr can not save this book.

Maybe if I came at the book with no knowledge of sleep apnea, maybe I could have read it, but then again i would hate knowing it was out there and people are thinking this of me.

It's well-written, the grammar and structure is great, but I can't do the story. sorry.

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Practical Belly Fat Cure - 4 Weeks To Lose Belly Fat & Get a Lean Tight Belly

Book Review If you are looking for another fad diet, a body wrap, or weird and strange exercise that will just wash the belly fat away while you sleep, then put this book back down and walk away. You won't find it here, what you will find in here is good, honest truth! Imagine that! Believe you me, as a mom of three, I know belly fat, and I know all about the gimmicks out there, so I on my guard when I picked up this book. This book is well written, not too overly educated, almost anyone can understand it, and it is written so that anyone can follow the instructions, understand why they are following them and change their life. I think that last part makes it so much different, she explains, why we need to do this, why just doing crunches don't work and what to do instead. Covering diet and lifestyle, it addresses the reasons and things that got us to this point in the first place, and the lack of motivation keeping us here, and how to change all that to move on to a new life. If you are serious about making a change in your life, then this is the book for you. Come join me in the revolution to lose the baby belly forever!

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben

Hold Tight by Harlan Coben
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you have read any of my reviews, you might already know that once I discovered writer, Harlan Coben, I have falling in love with his ability and stories. I love the way he writes, how done to earth and real life his books seem to be and how engaging they are. So when I found this book at the local Goodwill store, I was in seventh heaven!

On the surface, this seems like a book that any parent would read and be involved in. Tia and Mike Baye are spying on their own son, well at least his online activity. He has seemed so changed and different since his best friend committed suicide recently that they feel the need to spy to see what is going on and hopefully prevent another suicide in their community. What they discover is that what is going on is much deeper than just a teenage boy committing suicide, there are so many more levels and so many more people are involved, and a young child is faced with trying to protect his family without understanding the truth of what is going on!

I was sucked in from page one. I understood the parents, I felt for them and I understood why they made that choice, not that I agreed with it, but I could feel their pain and concern and why they felt this was the option they needed to go with. Again, as in other books, as the story progresses you hear some names you already know, they were mentioned in this book or that book, background characters, but it gives that homey feel, like in my small town where it seems like every person you run into knows another person you know and such. It just really makes it so much more believable. But the twists and turns that the story ends up taking is nothing I could have imagined, or thought of, but yet it was realistic.

If you haven't read a Harlan Coben book, I would recommend this one as a great starting place. Try this one, let me know, but I feel very confident that you will enjoy it and be hooked on the author the way I am!

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A Cancer Prevention Guide for The Human Race by Robert A. Wascher

A Cancer Prevention Guide for the Human Race by Robert A. Wascher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got a copy of this book through the Goodreads First-Reads program.

I entered to win a copy because it seemed like so many people in my life had recently been diagnosed with cancer, but at the same time I wasn't sure I was going to like it. I mean, it says lower your cancer risk by 60% on the front cover, and I thought oh this is probably some guy telling me the latest fad to prevent cancer, it's not going to be worth it.b So I put off reading it for a bit, but I can't stand having such a large pile of to-be-read books, and having so many of them that were First-Reads that i needed to read and review, so I picked it up and started reading.

The book was not what I thought it would be. it was not some kook telling me the latest fad to prevent cancer, it was actually someone who did what we all want. He found all the studies, both highly scientific, moderately scientific and even non-scientific, and he took all that information and complied it into useable information. He summarized the research, and told you that this is the gist of what the highly scientific research is showing and this is what the other research is showing, and based on all that, this is what I think would benefit you in your life to reduce your risks.

For each thing that he notes as possibly helping to reduce your risk of cancer, he provide research to back up his claim, and he even tells you that this item has been talked about, but there is no research to show it is effective, and he even tells you if the research has shown something to be non-effective or even harmful.

I was pleasantly surprised, and glad that I read the book. It was not a fad book, but a compilation of the research out there, including footnotes with the exact study information and where to find the study so that you can check it out yourself. It is written so the common man or woman can read and understand it, without a bunch of overused medical terms.

For anyone with a family history of cancer, this is a good book to read. I think it gives good information and it is spot-on and worth the time. it is also a quick read, well organized and helpful.

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Depression...

Almost a year after my hysterectomy and nothing has been the same. Probably the first big mistake I made was listening to the doctor when she said, let's wait six months after surgery to see what your body does. I should have insisted on have all my levels tested before surgery and then within a week or so after surgery testing them again and started on medicine. I didn't, and it's true, hindsight is twenty-twenty.

Now don't get me wrong, my life is defintely better off afterwards. I was in so much pain from the cysts in my ovaries and the fibroid in my uterus that I wasn't living. I was spending more time in bed in pain than doing anything else. I will still tell people, if it has been recommended to you, then go ahead, but to keep your ovaries if at all possible. For me it was not possible to keep my ovaries. The only problem is that almost no one that I talked to had lost their ovaries too. I had no idea what I was going to be in for. Maybe more research, maybe more talking, maybe just more fighting for it the way I felt was right.

I started getting depressed about six weeks post-surgery. It was about like post-partum depression, but I didn't have a nursing baby to help take the edge off the depression. It was just getting worse and worse to the point I had to call the doctors office, so a prescription for an antidepressant, but that didn't do it. I think I have the brand changed twice and the dosage changed more than I can think since then. Of course after six months out, the hormone replacement got added in, and that brought it's own set of problems with it.

I haven't been able to sleep since the surgery. Which I hear is normal, but of course no one wanted to do anything about it, oh let's get some hormones in you and it will get better, finally last month they gave me something to sleep that works as bout as well as jelly beans! So I was fed up and called the doctor's office first thing Monday morning, with the promise that the nurse would call me back that morning. Yeah right, finally Friday afternoon about an hour before the office closed someone called me back, but of course they didn't do anything.

After almost a year of not being able to sleep it has finally caught up with me, and the depression has deepened. When you aren't sleeping, it is very easy to fall deeper into the depression. So I was already depressed after the surgery and it wasn't being handled well, then top that with not being able to sleep, that wasn't being treated at all, and I am a mess. You want to talk about the hormones?

The migraines started about four weeks out from surgery, and they were terrible. I think I have been on three or four different migraine medicines, and no matter how many times I say, that the medicine was doing nothing for the migraines. I mean I can only take two pills in 24-hours and the migraines will come back in 6 to 8 hours some days. I keep trying to tell them that they aren't working, but no one wants to listen, which only makes the depression worse because I feel like I am not worth listening to, The hormones only help to create more of them.

I finally got on hormones, got on a patch. Of course that didn't do too well, still ave headaches, so they added a estrogen gel. As long as I was taking both of those on schedule and not skipping a patch change or the gel, I was getting fewer headaches. They added some progestrone, not sure why, but it has seemed to increased the headaches.

Now I still love my doctor. She delivered all three of my kids and she has been great. But when I first started seeing her, she was a new young doctor in an office of older doctors, then she moved out on her own into a small office, that soon grew and grew and now has three doctors and two midwives in the office. She is still a great doctor, but her office has grown too large. The office staff no longer seems to care. I can remember when I would call in and all I had to say was my name and all the staff knew my history and could help with anything. I mean, let's put it this way, my account number in her office is #38! I have no idea how many people they have in there now, but I know that I almost never talk to the same person, and I have caught a couple of nurses saying things to me that were out-and-out lies, and I am not going for that and had to call her on it, and of course she was upset, but yo know, once your office gets too large, it is out of your control.

I made the hard decision this week, in a few of my more lucid moments to research a new doctor. I had been needing to have a general doctor anyway, and that is what I looked for. A general practice doctor, but one that had underlying specialities in women's issues and HRT. So on Wednesday I called and they got me in the next week on Thursday. They were trying for Tuesday, but didn't have one early enough to make sure I would get home before the kids got off the bus. I was shocked. I am used to having to call four months in advance to get an appointment. I am looking forward to hearing another view on all this, and really hoping for some answers. Or at least if not an answer, someone to listen and be willing to work with me to find an answer, not just brush it off like it's no big deal.

I am sure I will be blogging about my thoughts from the appointment next week. Oh you poor people, you have to listen to me ramble! Oh well, you knew what you were getting into when you read the title of the blog and still kept reading!