You Need to Continue Advocating for Yourself

B'SD

9 Av, 5777

This "Doctors too often fail to inform patients of a drug's possible side effects" Washington Post article holds information and suggestions worth noting, especially

"...Fugh-Berman said patients need to become their own experts, researching drugs on websites — such as the government database MedlinePlus — that are 'free of [the pharmaceutical] industry.'

Doctors have a responsibility to listen to their patients about side effects, too, she said.

'I tell medical students: If a patient develops a symptom after they’ve gone on their drug, it’s always the drug’s fault until proven otherwise,” said Fugh-Berman.'"



Click on the link to read the rest of the

 Doctors often don’t tell you 

about drug side effects, 

and that’s a problem.

Learn more about how to manage your medical life. Read the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. 





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

Fill your medicine cabinet with safety.

Can Baby Care Toiletries Cause Cancer?

B'SD


19 Adar 5769

55 babycare products with

cancer-causing chemicals in them

and parents don't even know?

Oy. Some time ago it was baby formula and toothpaste from China filled with life-threatening chemicals. Now a country long respected for it's high standard of health care and consumer safety is to blame for health hazards to defenseless babies.

US Senators

Diane Feinstein and Jill Schakowsky

are calling for stronger oversight of

the American cosmetics industry.

The reason:

Some of the biggest names
on the market,

including Johnson & Johnson
Baby Shampoo

and Baby Magic lotion
tested positive for

cancer-causing 1,4-dioxane

or formaldehyde, or both,

say spokemen for
nonprofit organization

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.

The Environmental Protection Agency has characterized these chemicals named above as probable carcinogens.

Worse, they're not listed among ingredients on labels. Parents wouldn't realize that they're endangering their children with those cleansing and skin care products.

Read Washington Post's warning:

Probable Carcinogens Found in Baby Toiletries

I suggest that you use only organically made soaps, creams and other toiletries until better consumer protection rules go into effect.

As you'll realize from reading my book, my health greatly improved after I began eating an organic diet and using organic soaps and other hygiene products. My entire medical team has been watching my once awful and worsening health rocket into the quite healthy zone and stay there.

My book is NOT about going organic, however. It's about taking charge of your health in many kinds of can-do ways. Learn how to de-stress, how to find affordable medical care and medicines, even how to pack for a hospital stay when you read It's My Crisis! And I'll Cry if I Need To: A Life Book that Helps You to Dry Your Tears and to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

Click on I'm Buying Yocheved's Book to Learn How to Take Better, More Affordable Care of Myself.


To your little one's health,

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

PLAY with Words: B FUNNY

29 iYaR 5768


Some wistful E-mail writers and neighbors who read yesterday’s post complained to me that they have no idea how to be funny. Some of them proved it. So today’s message is a quick primer on how to have heaping helpings of humor to share around the hospital room or even in the privacy of your home when you face a medical - or ANY - crisis.

Issue an ALL-POINTS BULLETIN for Whatever Doesn’t Fit! For you non-Americans, an APB is a police term designating dedicated searches for criminals, missing children (usually napping in the closet or hiding behind mommy as she frantically searches the whole house) or stolen merchandise. In short, spot the item in a list/series of things that seems out of place and joke around at the expense of a thing without feelings. I prefer not to make jokes about people whose feelings can be hurt. Stick it to the inanimate and leave the neighbors alone. This means family members, too ;^ )

Pun, pun, pun. Ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is a genius at this.

Play with words as you seek out the ones to convey the depth of your situation (I've done it several times on today's message). The surprising use of worn-out words gives them fresh new perspective that can enter and remain in your audience's heads. And yours!

Alliterate. All of us kind of crumble from hearing boring lectures. Attract attention with verbal allure. Say the same sounds again and again so they'll s-s-s-scintillate.

Timing. Poets and songwriter/singers succeed with rhythmic patterns (Garth Brooks does this well). Practice puffing your pronunciations with pregnant pauses. Allow listeners to think, to expect something routine, then WOW them with the unexpected!

Triples. The late comedian Steve Allen wrote about triples in one of his books about how to be a comedian. Build up a joke with three possibilities, the last one being a surprise ending to the lull building up in your listeners’ mind.

Turning the Situation on its Side with Laughter. Treat the problem at hand as if it were a naughty puppy or a friend with a wicked sense of humor.

Poke Fun at Pain. Pain is a universal, part of everyone’s lives. Prove that emotional and physical pain do not control your mind. Let everyone around you know that your responses to pain and to painful circumstances come from your sense of willpower and your desire for better times. Your attitude will invite people into your wonderful world of coping mechanisms.


Here, I’ll try to illustrate with some non-medical situations:

GOOGLE kinda lost it for a while yesterday. Several bloggers couldn’t update their messages. Not good news for those of us selling something. I E-mailed a writing colleague several times to find out how she was coping. Here’s how that went as I Turned the Situation on its Side with Laughter:

ME: Nuts! I can’t access my blog.
Is Google goin’ ga-ga?

JEAN: Yes! And I’m kinda peeved at the mo’!

ME: I need to correct a typo before my readers catch it. I have a “can can” in the middle of a sentence. French dancing is NOT on my blog's agenda ;^

JEAN: LOL!)

One more illustration before I leave you for the day:

A different colleague asked a professional writers' listserv for a solution to dirty mirrors and windows for an article she’s writing in WASHPOST. Hmmm, my chance to make it into a prestigious paper. So, here’s our cyber-dialogue (I hope it helps to hoist me into journalistic fame and sells my book by the truckload):

FREELANCE WRITER: I'm working on a story for the Washington Post Real Estate Section on cleaning windows, mirrors and glass...

How do you clean yours? Looking for your successes AND failures. (Grandma's technique anyone?)

And/or professional (or not so professional) window washers you have used and any stories (disasters) you'd care to share.

Please reply off-list to +=+=

Here’s my respone to that journalistic research effort:

ME: I use 2 methods:

Newsprint and vinegar (works like a charm and WOW is it cheap!) for total surface cleansing and brilliant shine.

A soft puff of air followed by a wipe-down with clean flannel cloth (usually an old shirt or nightie that saw better days) whenever I spot wispy-looking smudges (WHERE do those come from, anyway?).

Happy house-cleaning!

But the unexpected happened (use it for more humor) and I was ready for it, using Humor with a Twist of Utter Silliness:

FREELANCE WRITER: Those wispy looking smudges are part of the problem...

Me: They come from cooking, humidity and outer space. I kinda wonder which evil aliens are sending those smudges down here. Slobs! Go back to your own galaxy (or is it too messy for even you?)

FW: do you have a preferred newspaper? (City Paper works better for me).

ME: I live in Israel so I use whatever's handy, although I remember City Paper as quite helpful when I was in the DC area.

FW: could this "soft puff of air" be you blowing on the surface or is there some thingus that you use?

ME: Me. Does that make me a Me-ngus? ;^ )

FW: Is this approach one you discovered yourself or was it handed down or read about?

ME: The air puff was my idea. The newspapers with vinegar trick is older than than the Flintstones.

FW: There are over 1 million glass cleaning references on google. Could it all come down to newsprint and vinegar?

ME: Yep. Merchandisers take advantage of unaware consumers willing to pay for something to solve problems for them.

I first learned to make fun of life with its weird twists and painful turns from a grade-school friend I used to play with in downtown Detroit. Her dad sold a business to my father, and we little girls relieved our boredom from business discussions by wrapping towels around our trunks or sticking towels in our T-shirt collars, then pretending to be Wonder Woman or Super Girl as we leapt off tall buildings and rescued endangered animals (bouncy beds and stuffed toys, actually).

Aw c'mon, it was fun to pretend to be pretty and strong, not goofy girls as awkward as we'd been.

Readers, YOU CAN COPE with the vagaries of life. A neighbor, loved one, book (MINE for instance!) or your favorite blog could prove helpful to you. Seek out your solution. As Roseanne Rosannadanna would have said, "It just goes to show you, it's always something."

To my first mentor for funny frou-frou, here's to you Gilda Radner. May you rest in happiness.

~*~*~*~

To your good health,

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

Taking the Fear out of Scary Medical Tests

12 Cheshvan 5768

It's hard enough to know that you or a loved one are facing a medical crisis. Suffering through medical test after medical test just adds to the misery. The machines look BIG, spooky and confusing. Some of them hurt! You start wondering if anyone cares that all that stuff scares you out of your wits! If you're like me, you've asked out loud "Why doesn't somebody invent something easier for patients to use?" You wish for something that is nicer to touch, nice to look at and nicer to feel as your medical team tries to find out how you're doing.

The good news is that some doctors realize how frightened we are of gadgets that whirr, blink, creak, draw, squish your tender parts, and go beep-beeeeeep-beep. They're patiently explaining the mysteries of their machines to people who need them for diagnostic and healing purposes. Share this message with your medical practitioners if you wish. It definitely won't hurt to try!

Protect Yourself from the Unexpected

The Washington Post newspaper recently updated its readers about a marvelous, patient-friendly way to decide if some medical tests are or are not in your best interests. See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/19/AR2007101902620_pf.html

***

Remove even more fear from your medical situation. Buy It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry if I Need To. Click on http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores if it's not on the shelves. It's MY Crisis! and I'll Cry if I Need To can be shipped worldwide.

Specialty editions are available for large organizations.

Booksellers, save money on large quantities of Its MY Crisis!:
https://secure.booklocker.com:443/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

Sending you healing thoughts,

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