Jackie Kellum

Jackie Kellum is a RN from NYC and CA, retiring in San Juan Cosala with her husband. For 12 years we provided foster care for abandoned motherless infant kittens and puppies, and now due to circumstances I only rescue kitten babies. During my many years volunteering with Anita’s Animals, I was given the privilege of writing a regular pet Column in the Ojo starting December 2010. Even with a column name change to “If Our Pets Could Talk” in August 2017, the purpose of the writings remain the same - help pet owners better understand their pets, learn what they can teach us , recognize their health needs and provide them with the best care possible.

Jackie Kellum

YOU and Your Doctor Are Your Medical Team – January 2025

Psoriasis Psoriasis – an autoimmune skin condition. It is a long-term (chronic) disease with no cure, in which the immune system becomes overactive, causing skin cells to multiply too quickly. Normal skin cells completely grow and shed in a month. Psoriasis skin cells, instead of shedding, on average over 7 to 14 days pile up […]

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YOU and Your Doctor Are Your Medical Team – November 2024

The topic this month is Lupus. An overview – Lupus is a serious complex disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs (autoimmune disease). Inflammation caused by Lupus can affect many different body systems including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs. This attack causes inflammation,

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You and Your Doctor Are Your Medical Team – October 2024

This article is an over-view of hernias that occur in both males and females. But to explain the frequently used terminology and to clarity there is a difference between a hernia and a prolapse, a herniaoccurs when part of your “insides” bulges through an opening or weakness in the muscle or connective tissue that is

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YOU and Your Doctor Are Your Medical Team – September 2024

This is not intended as a gloom and doom article, but one that contains alert information to help you protect your good health. The fall and winter months are a salad bowl of contagious respiratory viruses. Then you have to include pneumonia. Even though it is a bacterium it is another contagious respiratory infection. This

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YOU and Your Doctor Are Your Medical Team – August 2024

Celiac disease is a condition where your immune system attacks your own tissues when you eat gluten, which damages your gut (small intestine) so your body cannot properly take in nutrients. Celiac disease can cause a range of symptoms, including diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating. There is a big difference between gluten sensitivity/intolerance and Celiac. Sensitivity

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YOU and Your Doctor Are Your Medical Team – July 2024

This topic is an over-view of thyroid disease. June was part one addressing hyperthyroidism and an autoimmune condition called Graves’ disease. This month is part two dealing with hypothyroidism. A review: the thyroid is a gland, shaped like a “butterfly,” located in the front of the neck, circling the windpipe (trachea). Your thyroid makes hormones

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