I met grief as an adult in my late twenties. My step-dad was diagnosed with lung cancer and he died almost exactly one year to the day of diagnosis. Forty-five days later we were spreading his ashes in Northern Wisconsin when we received another heartbreaking call: my father-in-law had died unexpectedly of a heart attack. Sixty days after that, my husband and I lost a friend in his early 40's unexpectedly due to an unknown heart condition. A year and a half after that, I tragically found my Dad who had passed away due to alcohol withdrawal complications. Six months after that, my close girlfriend passed.

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Join Healthy Sheboygan County 2020 in partnership with re:TH!NK, the Lakeshore Tobacco Prevention Network, this year for the Great American Smokeout on Thursday.

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What if food pantries are your main source of food to fuel your body because you have a disability that affects your ability to work, recently lost a job or simply can’t make ends meet?

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Low back pain is the second most common reason for visiting a doctor and can affect people of all ages, from childhood to adulthood. Approximately 80 percent of the population will experience back pain at some point throughout their life. Low back pain is also responsible for lost workdays and is the single leading cause of disability worldwide. Over 100 million American adults live with chronic pain. Our spine is composed of approximately 33 vertebrae bones stacked on top of one another. In between each of those bones lay discs, which provide the cushioning between the vertebrae. The discs can be thought of as shock absorbers for our spine.

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You have your advance directive (a legal document, such as a living will that is signed by a competent person to provide guidance for medical and health-care decisions, such as the termination of life support or organ donation, in the event the person becomes incompetent to make such decisions) completed and signed. Your doctor, the hospital, and your health care agent have copies. Everything is in place, right? Maybe. But there are often more decisions that need to be made as one nears the end of life. Will you or your loved one want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a feeding tube, an antibiotic, a surgery? The decisions can seem to be endless as options for healthcare have expanded. It can be particularly difficult deciding for another person, especially someone you love.

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