A Tip for Travelers, PC Users and Anyone Sitting Down

B'SD

3 Adar 5773

I'm busy running around to prepare for the fun-filled PURIM Holiday (it happens in 1.5 weeks from today!) 

But some days I'm busy stretching to relieve my back from the stress of being at the PC too long. 

I tend to exercise at specific times of the day to minimize the problem and to prevent the pounds from collecting all over otherwise sedentary me. 

But what if you're normal, like me, and you slack off the exercise routine sometimes? OW, your back can end up sore.

Here's a tip about how to prevent backaches and strains, at Help for the Deskbound (that includes people traveling and stuck in their seats too long).

Let me know if this idea helps you if you're in a wheelchair.

When you're ready to resume some kind of exercise routine, check out 15 Tips to Restart an Exercise Habit - and Keep it!



Want doctor-recommended ideas for soothing your medical, disability or mental health life - even your wallet? 

Buy the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge today!  

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism. 

 

Music and Melodies: Life Goes On

B'SD


4 Sivan 5772


I apologize for not updating this blog much the past week. I'm helping a friend who is desperately ill, working hard at my writing life (I'm preparing the manuscript for my next book, The Comfort Foods Cookbook: Recipes to Calm You Down FAST Without Widening Your Waistline) and living the details of my daily life, too. My online activity was minimal at best for several days.


One of the repeated messages in EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge and the medical-mental health world is that optimism is a great coping mechanism for stress. Sometimes we have to pretend that we feel optimistic. After doing it enough to earn Oscars, we begin to realize that we're actually feeling as lighthearted as we've pretended to be! Yes, practice can perfect our behaviors, though emotions tend to rise and fall with a life of their own, it seems. As you'll read in

The purpose of this workbook is to be a tool for strengthening your resolve. Emotions go on a rollercoaster when a person learns of the medical and/or emotional/spiritual crisis that seems to be engulfing them. That’s a sign of being human, of being normal. Despite your yearning to master and to control the situation you’re in – or even to get rid of it, reality dictates that you remain calm and logical. The temptations to go ballistic are innumerable. We all suffer with that problem.


The mark of a refined human being, a "decent person," is that he or she behaves pleasantly and intelligently despite the pain, setbacks and sadness of the problem in their life. In the 21st century, however, a huge sense of confusion clouds our thinking: we became used to instant solutions back in the 20th century. Technological advances gave us instantly cooked food zapped in microwaves. We advanced from s-l-o-w snail mail or telegram-facilitated communication to real-time Faxes, Instant Messaging, quickly received and responded to E-mail, cell phones, PDAs, blackberries and more. We lost the sense of having to wait for results.


That loss of perspective affects our understanding of emotional restraint and spiritual growth. They develop with the repetition of polite behavior despite inner turmoil. Time and patience are crucial factors for becoming refined individuals. They’re critical coping tools for medical challenges.


You turn every mistake into a blessing when you decide that it will not weigh you down and choose to use it to rise to greater heights. Growth means rising above present limitations, after all.


I pray that the humorous content and insights within my manuscript will help you to renovate your inner life, your very soul and mind. Persist at making your character over into that of a more tolerant and flexible person. And when you fail after making or approaching success, know that our spiritual ancestors went through the same trials and errors. Psalms/tehilim are full of those thoughts. King David knew of what he wept. You do, too.


Persist in your efforts to improve your behavior and thinking patterns. Make it a hobby. Your accomplishments and lofty goals join the spiritual power of Toraitic lessons. None of your efforts can be wasted. A universal reality makes this so.

***

Okay, enough of the book. Here's an illustration of the reality that going forward with life as much as possible despite illness or a disability can help mere mortals. Click on the words The Beat Goes on, Despite Cancer.

Still feeling a need to cry now and then? A medical crisis - you'd cry too, if it happened to you. Use your tissues and handkerchiefs with my blessings borne of experience. GOD gives you Permission to Weep. And you can say that to any critics after explaining that "It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry if I Need To." There's a heavenly license to cry inside the book!




Buy the E-book or print edition EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge today for a brighter outlook and sense of well-being: Click on http://booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.

Coping with a Medical Mistake (or More)

B'SD

10 Elul 5770


Readers, I'm a former Health Information Management professional. I knew way back when not to believe urban legends about patients who marked themselves before surgeries i.e., left shoulder, operate HERE, etc.

Why?

I knew they weren't legends. I knew medical professionals who'd made horrific blunders and patients who'd suffered them. I knew other patients who literally drew on themselves with pens or markers, in an effort to prevent such problems.

Then it became personal.

As friends clung to me minutes before my brain surgery, they were puzzled at the blue lines acoss my forehead. "That's a guide for the surgeons. An intern drew them to prevent disaster. Smart guy, huh?" I responded.

Yes, the medical world is facing the reality that doctors make human errors. And now the medical world is adding communication, including apologies, to damaged people. It won't erase the damage but it can reduce emotional scars on both sides of the surgical team.

Read this New York Times Health and Wellness blog entry Talking to Patients After a Medical Mistake and note comment 45.

I apologize for my recent spate of late-in-the-day blogposts. The heat in Israel has been brutal for weeks. I'm worn down from it and rather behind in my daily schedules.

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.

MOVE!

B'SD


27 Elul 5769




My book & blog beg you to keep moving to the best of your ability. Here's some evidence that the oxygen-burning aerobic exercise improves your thinking skills:

Phys Ed: What Sort of Exercise Can Make You Smarter?

There's more evidence that exercise can prevent and minimize illness. Arrange for someone willing to help you if you're bedbound or in some sort of appliance. I've helped wheelchair users and people wearing leg or arm braces to dance rhythmically, and with HUGE smiles across their faces.

When I was bed-bound following life-saving surgery, I wore wrist and ankle cuffs to which I gradually added weights (in specially made pockets) over time. They're manufactured for karate enthusisasts who want to build muscle fast. Here's why I wore the getup:

Standing on my toes, moving up and down on my feet at the physical therapist's direction, left me breathless. Then she convinced me to perform daily leg and arm-lifting routines until I regained strength, graceful movement and the ability to walk unassisted.

Quarter pound weights wore me out in the early days (yes I cried). I now pump 20 pounds on my arms and legs as I walk and dance through daily maintenance exercise regimens (now I laugh or sigh with deep satisfaction).

There are more solutions to be found when you focus on finding them.

Sept. 22 UPDATE: JHU medical professionals insist:

MILD EXERCISE WHILE IN THE ICU

REDUCES BAD EFFECTS OF PROLONGED BED REST

Think of me clapping in time to the beat for you. Or cheering you on during a run.

EMPOWER yourself to cope with a medical challenge.

Yocheved Golani
Coping with a Medical Crisis?
Make the Changes You Need in Your Life


PS - sorry for the gap in blogposts. My ISP crashed. All is well now.