Lower Your Pain in One Step with a Personal Pain-o-Meter!

24 Shvat 5768

My recovery from a severely broken arm (doctors had to install a permanent metal brace under the skin, along my bones, in order to save the arm) has been challenging, to put it politely. I've wept from awful, awful pain that major painkillers (including morphine) hardly affected. But I learned to cope with the agony by reducing it at will. Now I'm ready to share that technique wth you.

Want relief from the physical pain of your medical condition? Try this nifty trick.

Turn down the dial on your Personal Pain-o-Meter, a terrific technique that friend/Life Coach Ben Goldfarb taught me. Pain that does not serve a function is pain we can banish at will.

Go on. Study the dial in your mind. Say the level of your pain out loud e.g., "I have a gazillion watts of pain!!!!" or "On a scale from one to ten, ten being the worst level of pain, I have a pain level of... (fill in the blank with a number from 1-10)", then say out loud, "I can lower my pain. I'm lowering it to (name the ever-lower wattage)..."



Then do it. Imagine the arrow on your Personal Pain-o-Meter dialing downward. Push it down with your mind. Choose to reduce your pain. Aim for less than half your present pain level.

Go on, try again until you make progress. Yes, I know it's difficult. I do this exercise, too. My physical therapy workouts are not pleasant. C'mon. Try it again.

You can set aside time as often as needed to work at aiming that arrow increasingly down. You'll know you've succeeded when you realize that your discomfort feels significantly less than it felt earlier. Keep spinning that arrow down until your pain is as low as possible.

Ta-daaa, this is your one-step solution for pain reduction:

CHOOSE TO LOWER YOUR PAIN, AND REDUCE YOUR SUFFERING.

And be sure to buy my book so you can learn other terrific techniques for coping with even emotional distress!

***

JOIN THE FUN AND VOTE FOR

It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Count them! More than 1400 votes of praise have been made for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It’s MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.” You can vote for It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To on the Musella site daily. Once you’ve read It’s MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To, vote for it at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm.

I hope you choose a 9 or a 10.

Read it, benefit from it, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Buy someone a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores anywhere 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.

Save on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

ONE MORE IMPORTANT ITEM FOR TODAY'S POST: my publisher Angela Hoy has a friend in critical need of recovery from severe medical setbacks. Please join me in praying for the welfare of "G." and gosh, for all the folks who need to be well.

To your good health,

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

Preventing Foot Ulcers Caused By Diabetes

23 Shvat 5768

Diabetics suffer foot problems and/or injuries that the rest of us do not experience. Sadly, many diabetics risk foot amputation due to hard-to-minimize blood infections that result from those injuries.

Read this superb USNEWS&WORLD REPORT article about protecting diabetic feet:

Preventing Foot Ulcers Caused By Diabetes
The personal and economic costs of foot infections and amputations are enormous.

***

Thank you for the get-well wishes regarding my broken arm. My fiberglas cast and staples (does anyone still sew stitches?) were removed yesterday. I am now on physical therapy to restore the use of my arm and hand. Yep, I blog one-handed.

***

Read it, benefit from it, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Give someone a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores anywhere 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.

Save on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

JOIN THE FUN AND VOTE FOR

It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Over 1330 votes of praise have been made for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It’s MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.” You can vote for It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To on the Musella site daily at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm.

I hope you choose a 9 or a 10.

To your good health,

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

Indication Creep: Overmedicating Gullible Patients

21 Shvat 5768

Some title, hmm? Indication Creep sounds as if it refers to those nasty people referenced in my previous post. But it's actually about doctors who purposely overload sick people (the Indication) with too much medication (the Creep). It's a whole other world of selfish behavior. The motive is greed at the corporate, industrial level. The result can be lingering illness or untimely death.

Bear in mind that only some medical organizations are guilty of the crime. Not every doctor deserves scorn (some doctors have no idea of the abuse going on). Educate yourself about the problem when you click on:

More money, less health -- baltimoresun.com

and

Indication creep: physician beware -- Hébert and Stanbrook 177 (7 ...
Physicians have a duty to be vigilant regarding this phenomenon and to avoid being enablers of the scientifically unsound creep of prescribing indications.

and Journal Medicine: Indication creep: physician beware

Ahhh, if only we'd obey the Golden Rule and do no harm to our neighbor...




Here's a true story sbout how a controlled diet and reduced medication IMPROVED patient health! Read on.

MODIFIED ATKINS DIET CAN CUT EPILEPTIC SEIZURES IN ADULTS
--High-fat, low-carb diet may be an option when other treatments fail

The Atkins-like diet, which has shown promise for seizure control in children, may offer a new lifeline for patients when drugs and other treatments fail or cause complications.

For almost a century, doctors have prescribed an eating plan called the ketogenic diet to treat children with epilepsy. This diet often consists of a short period of fasting, strictly limits fluids and drastically restricts carbohydrates... Some of the largest studies to scientifically test this diet's efficacy took place at Johns Hopkins in the mid-1990s, led by pediatric neurologists John Freeman, M.D., and Eileen Vining, M.D.

In 2002, Johns Hopkins researchers began testing a modified version of the Atkins diet in children with epilepsy... When studies showed that the new diet prevented or curtailed seizures in children, the researchers began testing it for efficacy and ease of use in adults.

Reporting on the results in the February issue of Epilepsia, Eric H. Kossoff, M.D., an assistant professor of neurology and pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said ...The regimen restricted them to 15 grams of carbohydrates a day. "That's a few strawberries, some vegetables, or a bit of bread," says Kossoff. The diet offers most of its calories from fat-eggs, meats, oils and heavy cream, with as much protein and no-carb beverages as patients want.

... Results showed that about half the patients had experienced a 50 percent reduction in the frequency of their seizures by the first clinic visit. About a third of the patients halved the frequency of seizures by three months. Side effects linked with the diet, such as a rise in cholesterol or triglycerides, were mild...

... Though the modified Atkins diet won't be a good fit for all patients, says Kossoff, "it opens up another therapeutic option for adults trying to decide between medication, surgery and electrical stimulation to treat intractable seizures."

For additional information, go to:

http://www.hopkinsneuro.org/epilepsy/doc.cfm/expert/Eric_Kossoff

and

http://www.hopkinsneuro.org/index.cfm

and

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/Press_releases/2005/12_05_05.html


***

Read it, benefit from it, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Buy someone a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To at http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html, Amazon.com, or any online book source.

Order it in book stores anywhere 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.

Save on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!

THANK YOU for castng more than 1230 votes of praise for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It’s MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.”

You can vote for It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To on the Musella site daily. Once you’ve read It’s MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To, vote for it at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm. I hope you choose a 9 or a 10.

To your good health,

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

Integrity. SEX. And YOU.

17 Shvat 5768

Integrity. That word occupies the titles of my two novels. The concept drives my life.

Humanity has a visceral need for privacy, honesty, compassion and for being trustworthy: fundamental decency. They keep us safe.

There is no need to surrender our nobler values and our sense of personal worth in order to have a "better" life. Mental health rests upon and is sustained by good character traits. Friendships, family, employment and all relationships go better with fine character and excellent behavior.

Good character traits result in the positive way others perceive us. We are regarded as "likable, friendly, loyal, fair," et cetera. We are left with a sense of enduring happiness, pride in who we are. Everyone concerned shares MUTUAL RESPECT.

Want to be such a person? Are you troubled by someone pressuring you to behave in ways that make you nervous? Need a way to get out of your situation?

I'm posting today's message due to danger signs in the social and mental health worlds. As cell phones seduce us to discuss private matters in public, as Internet sites beg us to surrender our very identities to strangers of unknown moral standards, and as peer pressure mounts to "Hook Up" with some momentarily sexy oddball, the numbers of emotionally distraught men, women and teens in medical and mental health offices are SKYROCKETING!!!

Murders AND SUICIDES are happening to unsuspecting, defenseless sex partners who "Hooked Up" after being manipulated by scoundels.

Folks, sex is for loving,

permanent relationships called MARRIAGE.

Yes sex feels wonderful. It's supposed to. It's some of the glue that bonds loving individuals together.

The rest of that glue is made of shared values, exclusivity with the one sex partner who appreciates your personal worth so much that they committed a lifetime to you with MARRIAGE. And the rest of that glue is an enduring devotion to and by your spouse PLUS unconditional love for your children.

But the "Hooking Up" phenom is swallowing whole lives. It is a disastrous trend. The creeps pressuring you for meaningless sex are sickos. You are not a sicko. You do not have to become someone's victim. You will be a decent human being by REJECTING the idea that indiscriminate sex makes you "normal."

I hope to ease the nightmare filling, and threatening to fill, so many lives.

Please read these items for emotional relief. The concepts can fill you with courage to restrict your sexual activity to your marriage partner. Learn how to walk away from meaningless encounters before they begin to ruin the rest of your life:

Website articles UNPROTECTED,

Sex, Sadness, and the City by Wendy Shalit, City Journal Autumn 1999,

DYING FOR SEX

Modestly Yours: Wendy Shalit,

Lazer Beams: Child Abuse: The Worst Sin

and "Romantically Perplexed," a book I edited a few years ago. The author is Dr. Lisa Aiken:

UPDATE: If you or someone you know has a problem with pornography, click here for help to overcome it: Overcome Addiction to Pornography

***

Read it, benefit from it, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Give someone a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores anywhere 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 on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

More than 1160 votes of praise have been made for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It’s MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.” You can vote for It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To on the Musella site daily. Once you’ve read It’s MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To, vote for it at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm. I hope you choose a 9 or a 10.

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

Be Good to Yourself

10 Shvat 5768


I've been reflecting on recent posts to my blog. My guess is that some readers could find them a bit harsh, the goals too high or too hard to reach.

I want to reassure you that I experience times when I weep in pain, frustration or sadness. I'm not made of steel nor do I expect anyone to behave as if they're made of unfeeling metal.


What my book, blog and personal interactions are about is this: overcoming setbacks.

Perfection is not realistic. Humanity cries, suffers, and hopes for compassion, help and friendship. Humanity enjoys love, joy, insight and honesty blended with mercy.


Do someting that makes your heart grin as much as this cute photo does:


Indulge in something you enjoy. Snacks, music, art, people, something that builds up and strengthens your sense of self. Bless yourself with the healing power of pleasure.

***

Read it, benefit from it, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Give someone a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores anywhere 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 on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com:443/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

Over 1040 votes of praise have been made for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It's MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.”

You can vote for It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry if I Need To on the Musella site daily at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm.

I hope you'll choose a 9 or a 10.

To your good health,

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

Sing a Song of Spiritual and Physical Fitness

9 Tevet 5768

As I recover from my broken elbow I am left with time and occasion to reflect upon my life and its meaning.

My acknowledged purpose on this planet is to demonstrate how a mortal human can face utter disaster, work through it, and raise the bar on personal performance. One of the prayers I recite daily is Perek Shira, the song of Creation. It refers to the majesty of the universe and the Creator. GOD (HaShem in Hebrew) is beyond human comprehension. Though we cannot fathom GOD's Master Plan, we can sense its innate purity of power and purpose.

Here is a video that people of any religiion can appreciate. It is by my friend Rabbi Lazer Brody:




***

Want to get your children off the computer, iPod, GameBoy, etc.? Tell them how good looking they’ll be after pleasant, regular workouts:

Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
Office of Communications and Public Affairs
January 7, 2008

PHYSICAL EDUCATION, ACTIVE PLAY HELP TEENS MAINTAIN NORMAL WEIGHT AS ADULTS

Adolescents who participate in physical education at school are more likely to maintain a normal weight as young adults, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

For each weekday of physical education at school the odds of being an overweight adult decreased by 5 percent. Participation in all five days of physical education decreased the odds of being an overweight adult by 28 percent. The study is published in the January 2008 edition of the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

These findings underscore the important role that school-based and extracurricular physical activities play in reducing the likelihood of becoming an overweight adult," said Robert Wm. Blum, MD, MPH, PhD, the study's senior author. "While physical education was not a good weight-loss mechanism over time, it appears to have a positive impact in helping teenagers maintain a healthy weight into young adulthood," added Blum, the Bloomberg School's William H. Gates Sr. Professor and Chair in Population and Reproductive Health.

… The likelihood of being an overweight adult was most reduced among teens who participated in wheel-related extracurricular activities such as rollerblading, biking or skate-boarding more than 4 times per week.

… The American Academy of Pediatrics and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommend physical education at all grade levels. Studies show that…only 6 percent of junior high schools and 5 percent of senior high schools offer daily physical education...

"Sixteen percent of adolescents in the United States are overweight or obese and 85 percent of obese teens will become obese adults. School-based physical education could be a low-cost strategy and a long-lasting solution to adult obesity," said Blum.

###

Enjoy nature, your life, and a whole lot more. Read It' My Crisis! And I'll Cry if I Need To. Benefit from it, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Give someone a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores anywhere 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.

Save on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

Over 1000 votes of praise have been made for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It’s MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.” Readers can vote for It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To on the Musella website once daily. Once you’ve read It’s MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To, vote for it at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm. I hope you choose a 9 or a 10.

May you sing your personal song of joy in the universe. Share your unique gifts with others, and help them along. To your good health,

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

Global Resources for Healing, Free and Price-Reduced Medication, and LOTS More!

8 Shvat 5768

I recently recommended my book to the distraught parents of a very disabled newborn. The "Resources" section of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To is filled with leads, contact information, and ideas that can prove potentially helpful for securing free medical care and medication, cutting-edge therapies that can vastly improve the child’s quality of life, the lives of her parents and countless other readers.

But the parents initially misunderstood the value of the book. I had to explain things further.

It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To is not a simple feel-good book. It is a one-stop supply of information about global resources for healing. Remember: the head of social work services at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital is so impressed with my book’s advice and information that she wants her bosses to provide It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To to their patients.

Read it, benefit from it, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.

Read the right-hand margin of this blog. Refresh your knowledge about the value that It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To offers.

Listen to me speak about my book on Internet radio.

Study listener comments in reaction to my personal appearances and radio interview.

The information to do all that appears to the right of your monitor.

Give someone a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores anywhere 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.

SAVE on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com/booklocker/wholesale/order.php

***

Almost 1000 votes of praise have been made for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It’s MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.” Readers can vote for It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To on the Musella website once daily. Once you’ve read It’s MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To, you can vote for it at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm.

I hope you'll choose a 9 or a 10.

To your good health,

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

Balance Your Inner and Outer Lives plus... BIG Drug Warning!

7 Shvat 5768

It's not how much or how little you have that makes you great or small, but how much or how little you are with what you have.
— Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch

You know that this blog is all about doing the most you can with your remaining abilities and steadily improving attitude. Your behavior is the only thing under your control.

Here's a nifty news item about how to improve your chances for avoiding bone-breaking accidents: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/health/08brod.html?ex=1200718800&en=8032c228e8c61ebc&ei=5070

Too bad the above advice had no relationship to the incident that felled me a few weeks ago.

On a related topic, here are some updates about Optalgin, a drug presently prescribed around the world, though it has been banned in the USA and in Europe. Following my misguided doctor's advice, I took it after breaking my arm and then suffered breathing and awareness problems.

Optalgin is routinely prescribed to new Israeli mothers and other patients in severe pain. It can kill without warning. Optalgin can cause immediate death by obstructing breathing without warning. It causes dangerous changes (dyscrasias) in the blood and can seriously damage cognitive abilities. I dumped my remaining supply of the painkiller as soon as everyone around me realized that my breathing ability and mental abilities were seriously sliding downward after only two days of use. Educate yourself on the Internet at:

אופטלגין - OPTALGIN

BioPortfolio News : NAFDAC Bans Drugs Containing Novalgin, Analgin

Caplets Tablets

http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Villa/2960/healthhazard.html

and elsewhere.

My Israeli pharmacist Arthur Jacobs permits me to quote him saying, “Israel’s health ministry should supply blank complaint forms to all pharmacies dispensing this widely recognized and problematic morphine derivative. People who’ve suffered from Optalgin should be enabled to inform our health ministry of its dangers!”

Here's a tip from my 10 Tevet/Dec. 19 post in which you learn how to share your thoughts with the Israeli Health Ministry without a form: Send your politely phrased thoughts to public.sal @ moh.gov.il (remove the spaces on either side of the @ symbol after you copy & paste the info into your E-mail system).

***

Help someone you love and respect to cope with illness. Give them a copy of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html

Order it in book stores anywhere 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.

Save on large orders of It's MY Crisis!
https://secure.booklocker.com:443/booklocker/wholesale/order.php


***

The votes are in and still arriving: over 900 votes of praise for my book since December 2 2007, when the Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research declared It’s MY Crisis to be “Recommended Reading.” My book is now among other recommended titles on the Musella website. Readers can vote there once daily for their favorite book. Once you’ve read It’s MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To, vote for it at http://www.virtualtrials.com/books.cfm. I hope you choose a 9 or a 10.

To your good health,

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

OW That Hurts!

6 Shvat 5768

I apologize for the unexpected, longish break in my posts. I was badly injured in an accident that damaged bones in my dominant arm. The doctor who initially treated me misdiagnosed the fractures, then gave me the wrong type of cast and an ineffective sling. My pain was indescribable.

I later entered a hospital emergency room on December 30 2007 and eventually received orthopedic surgery. I came home 10 days later, just before this weekend. I am grateful to my surgeon, who dealt with my complex case in a realistic and competent fashion. We're giving my arm a few weeks to heal by letting it rebuild healthy new bone. Then I'll need physical therapy once my immobilizing arm-brace is removed.

***

The horrific mismanagement of my medical emergency plus the nature of the freakish accident will likely be the bases for one of my future feature stories for the press. Editors and publishers are welcome to contact me for comments.

***

I'll update my blog with news about my book as I'm able.

Offbeat as this "marketing strategy" may be, I gave a few hospital staff members copies of It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To. The result? Chaya Har-El, head of social work services at Hadassah Ein Kerem recommended to administrative heads that my book be offered to English-speaking patients of Hadassah Hospital. My surgeon grinned as he looked over his edition and shook my uninjured hand. Ask for a copy if you're ever in Hadassah Hospital.

Meanwhile, if you're in Israel and NOT hospitalized, buy It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To at Pomeranz Books on Rechov Beeri 5 in Jerusalem. Online purchases can be made through http://www.booklocker.com/books/3067.html, Barnes & Noble, etc.


Yocheved