Understanding Stomach Pain

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The cause of stomach pain can vary widely, from relatively minor conditions to something more serious. It may or may not be accompanied by other gastric issues such as bloating, vomiting, nausea, diarrhea or constipation. The following are some of the major causes of this type of pain.

Food Poisoning

Stomach pain is often caused by food poisoning, the result of eating contaminated food. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, cramping, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. Food poisoning is often mild, does not require treatment and will go away on its own. Symptoms usually set in soon after consuming the food and may go away within as little as a few hours, although sometimes it can set in later and last for longer. Symptoms, severity, duration and whether treatment is required varies depending on the cause of the food poisoning, which could be viral, bacterial or parasitic. Avoid food poisoning by practicing proper food preparation techniques at home.

Food Intolerance

Individuals who have allergies, sensitivities or intolerances often experience stomach pain after consuming the food that is bothersome to them. Lactose intolerance and gluten intolerance are two of the most common. Noticing whether you experience pain after eating certain foods is important to discover what the issue is. If upon ceasing to eat that food you no longer experience the pain, that is a strong indicator that the cause was related to food intolerance. Testing by a medical professional is the only way to know for sure.

Stomach Flu

The condition commonly known as stomach flu is not actually the flu at all in that it is not caused by the flu virus, although it is often a viral infection. This condition is usually accompanied by vomiting, fever, nausea, and diarrhea. It often goes away within 48 hours. It is rarely serious but a doctor should be consulted if you begin showing signs of dehydration.

Ulcer

Stomach ulcers can be another cause of stomach pain. A stomach ulcer occurs when the protective mucus membrane along the stomach walls is weakened, allowing stomach acid to burn through the lining. Long-term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or aspirin, is a major cause, as are certain bacterial infections and severe stress. Ulcers can be serious enough to require surgery and should be examined by a physician.

Gastric Cancer

Rarely, but seriously, stomach pain can be caused by gastric cancer, which is characterized by cancerous tumors growing in the cells of the stomach lining. Like with other cancers, additional symptoms can include unexpected weight loss, fatigue, feeling full quickly and dark or bloody stool. Gastric cancer often does not produce any symptoms until the disease has progressed, which often makes prognosis poor when discovered.

See a doctor when experiencing stomach pain that is sudden and severe or lasts for a prolonged period of time. A trip to the emergency room is warranted for patients who are vomiting blood or are having trouble breathing. However, most causes of stomach pain are not serious and will go away on their own.

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How You Can Earn Money From An Injury Sustained From a Accident in Orange County

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Were you recently injured in an accident in Orange County? Your injuries may have been due to a car accident in which you were not the person at fault. You may have been injured on the job due to the negligence or oversight of your supervisor or owner. You may even have been received an injury at the park, at a restaurant, or at a local sports event.

Regardless of the cause of your accident, one thing is clear: You deserve to be able to claim compensation for your injuries. You may have spent a great deal of time in the hospital recovering from your accident. As a result, you not only have mounting medical bills to deal with but also need to find a way to replace the income you have lost from your job. You will need to file a claim with your insurance company.

What Happens if Your Insurance Company Won’t Cover You

Your insurance company may refuse to give you the full settlement that you deserve. They may allege that you waited too long to file your claim. They may try to say that you provided insufficient evidence to justify your claim or that you inflated the total figure beyond what you are actually owed. They may try to offer you an amount that is totally inadequate to cover your needs. They may offer you nothing at all.

If this occurs, don’t accept it. Your best bet is to take them to court. You can contact a personal injury lawyer in Orange County. This is the legal expert that can help you file your claim to force your insurance company to pay you the full amount that they owe you. Your personal injury attorney will help you gather up all of the medical documents and other evidence that you will need to prove your claim.

File a Claim with a Personal Injury Attorney in Orange County

If you are ready to file a claim with a personal injury attorney in Orange County California, get in touch with us today. We will be glad to guide you through all of the steps that are necessary to file your claim and secure your full settlement. The time to take action is now because your claim may be subject to a statute of limitations. Talk to us today to get started on getting the full settlement that you need to cover your bills.

Social Security Beneficiaries Act Passed by Senate

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The past Friday, the Senate passed the Social Security Beneficiaries Act of 2017, H.R. 4547. The legislation forces the Social Security Administration to submit yearly grants to every state’s protection and advocacy system for the purpose of reviewing representative payees under the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program and the Old Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program.

A representative payee is someone or an entity which handles the Social Security benefits of a retired person in the instance that they cannot do so themselves. The AARP estimates that around 5.5 million beneficiaries are managed by a representative payee.

AARP supported the bipartisan bill, which the House passed in February, for the addition of “stronger protections to deter fraud and abuse by payees, including through expanded use of background checks.”

Representative payees, who AARP expects to grow “substantially in number as baby boomers receive their earned retirement benefits, play a critical role in serving the interests of vulnerable Social Security beneficiaries.”

The bill also does the following:

  • “Lessens certain monitoring requirements” concerning specified family members who are serving as representative payees.
  • Forces the SSA to get into negotiations with every state to share information revealing represented minor beneficiaries who are in foster care, and figure out the necessary representative payee for any minor beneficiary who has gone in foster care, leaving foster care, or altered foster care placement in a certain month.
  • The Government Accountability Office needs to report to certain congressional committees about particular issues relevant to represented minor beneficiaries in foster care.
  • Alters provisions relevant to overpayment liability with acknowledgment to a represented minor beneficiary in foster care.
  • The Social Security Administration must report to specified congressional committees on particular issues about representative payments concerning SSI and OASDI benefits.
  • Lawfully states that someone who has been convicted of a felony, or of an attempt or a conspiracy to commit a felony, cannot serve as a representative payee and that someone who is managed by a representative payee cannot serve as a representative payee.

https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2018/03/26/senate-passes-social-security-beneficiaries-act/?slreturn=20180226181800

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3 Tips for Early Spring Landscaping

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Spring is next week; that means it is time to begin landscaping your yard. If you have plans to make your yard spring ready, here are three, true and tested, tips you can use.

Be Irrigation Savvy: One of the main components in making your landscape a pleasant sight is through having an efficient irrigation system. Two recommended irrigation systems are drip irrigation and a sprinkler system. A drip irrigation and sprinkler system can help your greenery stay healthy and vibrant, longer, during those dry spring and summer months.

Test the Ground’s Soil: A landscape thrives when the soil is nutrient rich. To see if your yard has nutrient-rich soil, you should test your landscape’s soil. Signs of healthy soil include the presence of earthworms and other ground organisms, root development, plant residue, and the workability of the dirt.

If you find that your ground is not up to par, you can take steps to rejuvenate your landscape’s soil by using fertilizers from organic sources, adding essential trace elements and by crafting your compost.

Rid Your Yard of Weeds: Weeds can wreak havoc on a landscape both externally and internally: They not only look unpleasant, but they also steal nutrients from the ground.

Ridding your yard of pesky weeds can make any landscape more appealing in minutes. There are a couple of ways to remove them, with the most straightforward way is by picking them via hand. Another way to remove them is by mowing your landscape regularly.

How to Go About Earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing (BSN)

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A career in nursing is one of limitless opportunities and options. And, because nurses are always needed anywhere there are people, there is the promise of job security. Before a person decides to become a nurse, it is often suggested that prospective candidates volunteer at a local hospital or sign up for a nursing camp where they are given training in clinical skills. They also attend anatomy and pathology workshops, simulated clinical situations and other workshops dealing with patient care. With such practical experiences, individuals can better decide if they wish to become nurses, as well as be better prepared for a nursing program.

Earning a BSN Degree

If a nurse has earned a Bachelor’s degree, there are more career opportunities and the promise of better pay than without such a degree. So, how does a person go about earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing?

  • The prospective nursing student should be sure to have either a high school diploma or a GED diploma. This education is a mandatory requirement since basic knowledge of English, Math, Science, and Social Science is a prerequisite.
  • The student should apply to an Accredited BSN Program and go through the application process. He or she should always make sure the college he or she plans to attend has all the required accreditation. Otherwise, the student will run the risk of the degree being contested at job interviews.
  • The student should look into the cost of earning the degree and the financial options such as scholarships and financial aid.
  • The student should complete all required courses for the degree.
  • The graduate should then apply for an RN license and take the NCLEX-RN® exam.

Schools whose Nursing Programs are well-respected are good choices for prospective students interested in earning a Bachelor of Science and becoming an RN since prospective employers and graduate schools take into consideration the reputations and programs of the schools issuing the BSN degrees.

Having a BSN provides opportunities for advancement

RNs who do not have a bachelor’s degree but have experience and have completed a two-year Associate’s degree program can enroll in a comprehensive year-and-a-half RN-to-BSN program. Some of these programs are conveniently available online. Fortunately, many hospitals have tuition reimbursement programs for nurses who wish to further their formal education. By upgrading their degrees, nurses are afforded more opportunities for employment and for advancement.

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Will I Still Receive Benefits During a Government Shutdown?

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Depending on the program, recipients may be granted benefits for the timeframe that they have already been approved for. In other words, each state has announced a January deadline for benefits applications in order to continue helping existing cases. While several benefits are unaffected, there are limited funds for those barely staying afloat. Money is rumored to be completely exhausted for food assistance by late February or early March.

Why is This Affecting My Benefits?

Programs like SNAP, Social Security, and TANF (to name a few) are federally funded. During times of government shutdown, government employees are unable to work which means there is little-to-no assistance in local offices. Even if the funds are available, the services will slow down, causing cases to fall behind.
A shutdown also means that the federal funding to these programs is cut off. To avoid finding out what will happen when the funds run out, local government offices are attempting to supplement the funds once they’ve been depleted.

SNAP/EBT

With funding in decline, the USDA cannot take on more cases until an agreement is reached. Therefore, a deadline for SNAP/EBT and Families First applications was issued for January and has been reached. Those approved before the deadline can still receive benefits that backtrack to the date of application. However, because the local human services departments are closed or short-staffed, benefits for the month of February will be granted early (by January 20, 2019). February’s benefits will be given early to ensure that recipients still get the help they need.
Unfortunately, until the shutdown is lifted, benefits for March or any month thereafter are not guaranteed. This means recipients will have to stretch those benefits and pinch pennies to afford necessities until further notice.

Do I Need to Spend Benefit Money Now?

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is expecting a high amount of SNAP/EBT transactions throughout the remainder of the month. At the moment stores are still accepting these funds, but the concern is of how long this will last and what happens when the funds run out but there is still money on the card. For now, there is no definite answer since funds are there and state governments are making efforts to maintain the balance.

HUD

The Department of Housing and Urban Development relies on reserved funding for times like this. It should have enough to stay afloat for a month-long shutdown. There are areas in which offices are partially closed. While some landlords await payment, tenants await assistance, and other applicants are left in limbo, these are the offices that remain open during a government shutdown:

  • Public Housing Authorities (PIH/PHA) and their websites
  • The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO)
  • The Federal Housing Administration within the Office of Housing (FHA)
  • Office of the Inspector General (OIG)

For details on each office’s role in HUD and how they operate during a shutdown, click here.

Which Benefits are Not Affected?

The following will not be affected by the shutdown:

How Can I Stay Informed if Offices are Closed?

The USDA typically oversees FNS activity and gave useful information for as long as possible. Unfortunately, a lack of funding has caused the website to pause its regular flow of updated information. The USDA’s site contains general information about the efforts to aid in SNAP/EBT funding.
Other .com sites have taken over the regular updates to provide program information as the shutdown continues. Click here to see recent news about SNAP/EBT and how it may affect existing cases.
For more local information about an individual state’s status, visit the state or county’s Department of Human/Social/Health Services website.