Mastadon

November 11, 2022Leave a comment

I have joined Mastodon the social media site. http://@WYNNWESTMORELAND@mstdn.social

Ukraine

March 5, 2022March 5, 2022Leave a comment

Thinking of the people of Ukraine tonight. I am weary just working on the story. I can’t imagine what the people living this nightmare are feeling. I pray for a peaceful end to this. I feel especially close to this story because one of my brothers worked in Kyiv for a while. He took this photo of this beautiful city.

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Sharing my Covid Story with the World

March 21, 2021March 21, 20211 Comment

I’ve never kept my medical history a secret. I was in a coma as a teenager which led to an overall decline in my wellness from then on. Seizures, blood clotting complications, and a host of other issues grew from my teenage brain stem damage, the most notable being a 12-inch blood clot, seven pulmonary embolisms, and a stroke in 2012. So, when Covid came along and we got the work from home order, I headed for the hills, because I was not taking any chances. I moved to my parent’s home in the rural Northeast Georgia Mountains, far away from the bustling city and Covid. Or so I thought.

On Christmas Eve 2020, I was taken to Habersham County Emergency Room with excruciating lower back pain. After tests, I tested positive for Covid and was diagnosed with double pneumonia. I had pulse oximetry levels of 82. For reference, a pulse ox number measures the oxygen levels in your blood. It is, quite literally, a measurement of how well you are breathing. A normal level is 95 or above and I was at 82.

I had Covid, I could not breathe, and to save my life, I was immediately put on oxygen.

Just a day after I was admitted – on Christmas morning – the first Covid patient during my stay, died. That death brought the enormity of the situation crashing down. I desperately needed comfort and my family, but I was in isolation in the Covid Unit. I had only limited contact with doctors and nurses. Beyond that, I was cut off from the world and my loved ones.

I decided to share my story on Twitter. I wanted to reach out to other Covid patients, survivors, prayers warriors, mask burners, virus deniers – anyone. I wanted to share the message that the virus was real, that is was a killer, and that I needed prayer.

The tweet was simple, but the feeling was strong. Covid had taken away my physical ability to speak as I had a nebulizer tube in my mouth, but through Twitter, I could communicate with others who were going through, or had gone through, the same experience. In a way, it gave me my voice back.

When I was lucid, I checked messages and gained encouragement. Gratefully, I was released from the hospital after seven days. I was sent home on oxygen, unable to walk or perform basic functions without assistance. Think about that for a minute – I spent seven days in the hospital, I was on oxygen, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t take care of myself, and I was one of the lucky ones.

As my illness dragged on, I grew more adamant about sharing the seriousness of Covid. I tweeted a side-by-side photo of my face taken just days apart to show how quickly the virus can devastate a person’s body.

I promised to keep people posted on my progress as I worked with my mama and nurse to perform simple tasks. During this time, some of our CNN colleagues, including anchors Ana Cabrera and Jake Tapper, started following my story. Tapper took a real interest and started sharing my story. Hundreds (if not thousands) of people started privately messaging me. They shared their stories.

Some were in Covid units. Some wanted me to pray with them because they were scared they were dying. Some asked really human questions, like did my hair start falling out. (The answer is yes.) I felt so vulnerable posting photos but I think those pictures are what people who were struggling with Covid needed to see.

Covid affects everyone differently, but if it hits you hard, as it did me, you feel bad, you look bad, and you are terrified. You feel all alone.

I sent my final Covid tweet 68 days after I was diagnosed – the day I was given the OK to return to work from Medical Leave.

Although recovered, I still keep in touch via Twitter with many of the people who first reached out to me. We share Covid long hauler stories as so many of us still struggle with lingering issues. But mostly, and perhaps most importantly, we just say “hello” and remind each other that none of us are alone in this ongoing battle.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

January 22, 2020January 22, 2020Leave a comment

Meet Ove. The most judgmental old jerk you will ever love.

Ove’s story takes place in Sweden. It’s not a thriller. Not a murder-mystery. Doesn’t have any special plot twist or suspenseful surprise ending. It’s just a simple story and that is how Ove would want it. Ove is a curmudgeon who thinks his best days are over. He doesn’t like drama, feelings, other people and definitely not new technology. Some of the funniest lines involve Ove shopping for “ [o]pad computers” and not wanting to pay full price since it doesn’t even have a keyboard. Ove doesn’t like others in his life (he only trusts people who drives Saabs.) Little does he know how much others actually need him. A series of events lead to Ove encountering eccentric characters including his new neighbors complete with a pregnant wife and small loud children, three teenage boys trying to figure out their sexuality and a kitty who just can’t stay out of trouble but has taken a liking to Ove. Ove learns that he may be more useful than he gives himself credit for and that life unfolds in unique ways to teach us many lessons.

I really got involved with these characters and found myself actually laughing with them and feeling their pain. I missed Ove and the gang when the book ended and to me that is the sign of a good book. I give a definitive thumbs up from me and paws up from Roo. “A Man Called Ove” has also been made into a movie

From Rescue Pup to TV Star

January 6, 2020January 6, 20202 Comments

My rescue Chihuahua, Roo, has been a “star” in my eyes since I adopted her in May. Turns out, Good Morning America thinks so too!

I entered Roo into GMA’s “Pet of the Year” contest completely on a whim but much to my surprise, she was selected as a finalist. Even more surprising? GMA wanted both of us in New York for the big show. The once-in-a-lifetime experience was about to begin! Before we got to New York, the GMA Producer wanted a lot – this was going to be a red carpet, Academy Award-type of event.

I submitted dozens of photos, a lot of video, and a possible acceptance speech I had written in “Roo’s voice” – they wanted to know her hopes and dreams! Oh, and there were costumes. The “Pet of the Year” show was planned for Thanksgiving week so I bought a fancy dress for me and a tutu for Roo – all in orange – to match the fall theme. But then impeachment happened, and coverage of that took over news programming on every channel and we were bumped.

Fast forward a few weeks to December 13th. Roo and I were headed to New York, this time in red and green for Christmas. Roo handled the plane ride well and slept through most of the three-hour drive from LaGuardia (yes, it took that long!) to our hotel in Times Square

Then came the only negative of this whole experience – the 3am wake-up call to get to the studio. Roo was not happy. (And I wasn’t that happy either!) We arrived at GMA by 5am. All I can say is “wow!” GMA has so many people behind-the-scenes that us viewers never see. Producers, interns, camera operators, set designers, anchors, reporters, escorts, security, and more. Even people who simply change the curtain panels between commercials

Before our segment, we were taken to the Green Room with the other Pet Parents and we were we spoiled – catered food, plush couches, and a window overlooking Times Square

Roo and I met Quackers the Goose, Simon the Cat (who has more than 300,000 Instagram followers) and River the Retriever, among others. From the Green Room, we went to hair and makeup where Roo fell asleep getting her head powdered during a bump shot. It made for an excellent Twitter GIF

As we headed to the set, we bumped into actor Jon Hamm. An advocate for rescues himself, he introduced himself to Roo and I and said he loved her tutu. We also met Michael Strahan, Lara Spencer and Amy Robach – who I went to UGA with. Soon after, the audience came in and then – very quickly –it was over. Roo didn’t win but the whole experience was so surreal and fun it really didn’t matter

https://app.frame.io/presentations/a204ff1e-618f-4336-96f6-efdffc8be2b5

With a “Bark Box” full of prizes in tow, we headed backed to the hotel but not before bumping into Dr. Oz on the way. By noon, we were on the plane home! Now that I’m back in Atlanta and have a moment to reflect, I’m in awe of the experience. But more than anything, I’m so grateful that sweet little Roo came into my life. My little rescue pup – who doctors weren’t sure would make it – has blossomed into the most spirited, happy-go-lucky pup imaginable.

“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens

September 12, 2019September 12, 2019Leave a comment

roobook

‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ is all at once a beautifully written Coming of Age Story intertwined with a Murder Mystery set in the lush environment of the North Carolina marshland which is so vividly detailed you can almost smell the brine water. Kya Clark is abandoned in the marsh at a young age and left to survive by living off what she knows from her early years (fishing, a bit of cooking, basic survival skills.) Kya has little interaction with others except for the man who sells her gas for her boat in exchange for fish. And Tate, a boy around her age who feels bad for “The Marsh Girl” as she has become known and teaches her how to read.

Intertwined with Kya’s story is a thriller of a mystery surrounding the murder of the town’s former quarterback, golden boy Chase Andrews, who was found dead in…you guessed it…the marsh! The plot’s twists and turns are as entangled as prey in a spider’s web with an ending that had me reading the last pages again and again just to make sure I had it right.

Definitely the best book I have read this year!

‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ was written by Georgia Native Delia Owens. She graduated from the University of Georgia. (Go Dawgs!) It is a NY Times Bestseller, USA Today Bestseller and Amazon Bestseller where it has over 21,000 reviews.

Paradise Lost

September 5, 2019September 12, 2019Leave a comment

Freeport, Bahamas

Freeport2

Heart wrenching scenes of a sunny tropical paradise turned into muddy gray landscape of pain. I visited Freeport in October of 2017 and saw a place that was not flashy like Nassau. It didn’t have a new Starbucks like Balmoral. Freeport had a very distinct local feel with no fast food restaurants, no “American” stores, and just one small central mall that was run down. My mom described it as ”sad.”

Freeport3

Miles of Grand Bahama, the island where Freeport is located, consist of narrow stretches of road with thickets of scrub brush on one side and adolescent pine trees on the other that are all about six feet tall. These were planted after the island was hit twice in 2004 by Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Jeanne three weeks later.

A lot of the poverty I saw in 2017 was due to Hurricane Matthew which hit Freeport in 2016 as a Category 4. Windows of small houses were still boarded up. Blue tarps that are a signature of disaster remained where roofs should have been and I saw no houses that seemed structurally sound to survive or withstand 100 mph winds much less 200 mph.

But what I remember the most are the people and the beach.

Out of all of my travels, the people of Freeport were the most genuine with their help, their time, and their smiles. They had so little but they had authentic hearts.

Freeport