Living With a Brain Tumor - A Conference for Patients and Families in Washington, DC.

B'SD

16 Shvat 5770


One of the hardest parts of my first brain tumor experience (read those books - I've survived 5!!!!!) was a debilitating lack of awareness in people around me.

They could not comprehend my 24/7 exhaustion following surgery. It lasted for over a year. People worsened the situation by accusing me of depression, laziness, hypochondria, name the nastiness. They kept ordering me to "STOP sleeping so much!" "Go on a trip," "Go back to work," or "Snap out of it!" as if I'd had a choice to become energized, to improve my memory skills, and to end recurring bouts of bronchitis.

Critics failed to appreciate or chose not to cope with the reality that my immune system, muscles and nerves were quite exhausted from the effects of the tumor(s) and life-saving surgery. That weariness kept me in bed longer as my stressed brain and nervous system tried to recover inside a very sick body. I was prone to recurring bronchitis since my body couldn't combat germs well enough while struggling to keep my organs (heart, brain, digestive system, circulatory system, etc) in motion.

NONE of those critics knew that I'd endured a 2-for-1 deal. Meningiomas often come in pairs. My first and last surgeries involved pairs. That's a lot of insult to one mushy brain in a tight space with no room to expand.

My medical team knew that the activity choice was not mine to make. My entire nervous system had suffered a horrific shock. It needed time to repair itself. LOTS of time.

If the clueless and negative people around me had understood that brain tumors and brain surgery create an inevitable weakness that can only be overcome with sufficient rest, nutrition and positive thinking, then they could have helped to speed along my recovery rather than hinder it by failing to provide necessary assistance. Don't repeat that mistake with yourself or with someone you love.

As you can sense from my posts and books, I'm NOT lazy nor a hypochondriac. Depression has little chance to root in my fun-oriented mind. No matter how debilitated I've been, my spirit soars above the challenge. I force it to. As I teach my coaching clients and readers, "The alternative to coping with adversity is worse."

Yes, coping takes work. You necessarily change problematic old habits into better ones. It's worth the effort! It means that you can pull yourself out of the dumps, the blues, whatever you call that deep sense of sadness, and pursue some activity or thought process that fills you with inner strength. Doing so prevents or stops the downward spiral into depression, worsening illness and associated problems that can otherwise accumulate over time.

Back to today's topic: I'm keenly aware of the need to educate everyone concerned about the ramifications of brain tumors and their treatment. The Musella Foundation for Brain Tumor Research and Information does an outstanding job of that. Here's a recent update from the site:

National Brain Tumor Society
Living With a Brain Tumor - A Conference for Patients and Families in Washington, DC.

March 19 -20, 2010

Join NBTS in Washington, DC on March 19-20, 2010 for an exciting conference created for patients, survivors, and their families. The day will feature presentations from multidisciplinary health professionals on topics ranging from treatment updates, survivorship, quality of life, pediatric tumors, late effects, and more. The conference will also provide opportunities for patients and families to receive support and connect with others with two tracks specifically tailored to adult and pediatric patients and families. This program is made possible with sponsorship from Genentech.

For more information and to register online, visit our website.

To register over the phone, please call our Patient Services Line: (USA) 800.934.2873


Participate in the event if you can. Minimize heartache over that brain tumor diagnosis. Make progress based on the information you can get from the conference. Help yourself. Help a loved one diagnosed with a brain tumor.

I'm pleased to let you know that Dr. Musella recommends my books. EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.


They're PACKED with helpful information for strategizing daily tasks, coping mechanisms, and information about free or low-cost quality medical resources (medication, medical appliances, medical insurance, medical transportation, stuff for kids, and and and!!!)

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

Dear Moms and Moms to be...

B'SD



14 Shvat 5770

Let's have healthier children

without hair-raising behavior problems,

OKAY?

(You might want to consider ending the use of plastic plates and cutlery for starters.)

I keep letting people know that reading my books can minimize, prevent as well as solve some serious medical problems (and their costs!). In the books and this companion blog I've warned readers about the dangers of exposure to synthetics before, during and after pregnancy.

Some people dismiss my organic lifestyle leanings as "too much." Well, now you have to consider what you think of a Mount Sinai Children’s Environmental Health Study about phthalates and prenatal danger.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences supports that study and BOTH of them underscore my repeated warning about dangerous shower curtains, garbage cans, soap dishes, toys, and and and and... They mess up prenatal neurological development!

Check out my relevant blogposts on the Phthalate Danger topic: Dangerous Household Items

and

Air Food and Water Pollution Harms Your WHAT???

And yes, I know where you can buy health-friendly shower curtains, toys, etc.

I'm signing off now to snack on some homegrown sprouts. Good for eyes, muscles, blood, name it. And yummy with a pleasant crunch. mmmm...

Tanning Yourself to Death?

B'SD


13 Shvat 5770



Sigh. You want to look attractive so you've tanned your skin professionally. That's not a good thing for long-term health. Cancer, blindness, even losing your skin are very real risks of Tan Parlor treatments.

How serious is the situation? America's Federal Trade Commission (a regulatory agency) found the Indoor Tanning Association GUILTY of deceptive advertising. As in lying about the alleged safety of indoor tanning beds/parlors.



Want to make the most of your life, and keep it for as long as possible? Focus on your character. Make IT appealing and let your appearance rely on excellent hygiene, a reasonable wardrobe and that winning smile you'll improve on over time. Superficial touches such as fake tans are not going to make life meaningful. Though I appreciate the enduring datelessness and loneliness fear that motivates some tanning efforts, dying in agony and far before you might have is not a solution to the problem.

Readers, the dangers of indoor tanning are not news. I read about that when I was a teen decades ago. Photos of men and women made grotesque by self-inflicted damage was sad beyond immediate comprehension. The poor self-images that led to the disasters, the greed and fraud of practitioners preying on vulnerable customers, and the cost of coping with the nightmare is too much to describe in a blogpost.

If you're miserable over your circumstances, make productive efforts to improve on them: counseling, rewarding hobbies and involvement with "giving to others" activities. Treat yourself to desirable theater, travel or other entertainment to boost your moods and worldview. But don't try to silence sadness with doomed efforts.

Hmm, you're annoyed with my message? I understand. Let's compromise. Get regular, professional facials in a Department of Health-certified salon (organic, safe facial products are my personal recommendation). Men and women need healthy skin. And all of us want a healthy glow. Facials can help you with that. When you look in the mirror after each appointment or home treatment, watch for someone familiar smiling back at you.

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with, EVEN PREVENT, a Medical Challenge.

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

Acknowledge the Rage BUT Cease to Engage

B'SD

11 Shvat 5770



Both "It's MY Crisis!" books address mounting anger at the delays, mixups, pain and fear associated with illness. The manuscripts offer strategies for potential solutions that prevent, lessen and/or cure frustrating situations.

I recently came across an essay about how best to respond to irritating problems. Written by biz guru Seth Godin, it' so on the mark that I choose to share it with you:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Seth Godin blogmailfromseth@yahoo.com
Date: Sat, Jan 23, 2010 at 1:25 PM
Subject: Seth's Blog : The false solace of vilification
To:
[You're getting this note because you subscribed to Seth Godin's blog.]

The false solace of vilification

File this one under basic human emotions that marketers need to be aware of.

When a global slowdown, national tragedy or random event hits, people look for someone to blame. If there's no one to blame, sometimes they look for someone to hate, even if it is ultimately self-destructive.

A novice computer user downloads viruses, interacts with spyware and encounters a system crash. He calls tech support for the word processor he uses and lets them have it with both barrels.

A flood hits a town and innocent people die and buildings are destroyed. The widows and bereaved families take it out on the insurance adjuster or government official who has come to help.

The economic downturn hits a town hard and some residents attack, quite personally, the hard-working school board members who had nothing to do with the bad news and in fact represent one of the best ways to ultimately recover.

In each case, the person being hated on is precisely the person who can do the most to help. And yet sometimes, we can't help ourselves. It takes significant emotional maturity to separate the event from the people in proximity to the event, and any marketer or organization that deals with the public needs to embrace the fact that just because you're close to where the bad thing happened doesn't mean it's your fault.

That software tech rep, the one who didn't cause your viruses, she's the very best person to calmly explain how to get rid of them.

That insurance adjuster might be able to get you some money to help you start to rebuild your life.

And the school board? Well if the only asset of value you still own is your house, destroying the school that gives your house its true value to a buyer seems like a version of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

I've never once heard someone say, "things are really lousy, but I got a chance to really devastate someone today, deliver some choice barbs, some personal attacks, some baseless innuendo and ruin their day, perhaps even their career. Boy, I feel great."

People don't remember how you behave when everything is going great. They remember how you behave when you're under pressure, stressed out and at wits end.

Emotional maturity is underrated.

PS when confronted with misplaced rage, the proper response is not to point out the misplaced part. It's to acknowledge the rage part. One big reason that vilification occurs is that the angry person feels as though not attention or sympathy is being paid.

The long term solution for marketers (and those that believe in civil society) is to make it socially unacceptable to vent like this. Acknowledge the rage but cease to engage, whenever possible."

Rage can't help you. Insulting people is not a helpful tactic. Engage your better self when you take on your medical and emotional issues, one item at a time. EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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

Get it Before Stock Runs Out!

B'SD

10 Shvat 5770


Here's a Heads Up about a limited opportunity for people in medical crisis and their loved ones. Caregivers and psychotherapists around the world can benefit from the information, too.

While summing up my remarks at the mental health practitoner's convention last week, I noted that:

"With God's help and an unusual level of tenacity, I obviously won the race to the lifeline. My Health Information Management background and reporting work had already clued me in to little-known solutions for improving my chances to survive and thrive. But I was an exception to the Knowledge of Out-of-the-Box Medical Resources rule. I had a few things going for me: I have remarkable friends and I knew the answers to the following questions:

What information should your doctor

be providing you?

How can you better advocate on behalf of

yourself, your children, your parents

and your spouse?

What are the elements of a successful

patient-doctor interaction?

What should you expect from

your doctor?

A third thing going for me was that I developed a life-sustaining goal. While the race to my survival was on, I also decided to resolve a debilitating lack of information to the average uninformed patient who is unlikely to be as gutsy as I am in a pinch. I utilized my training in counseling courses as I wrote two highly acclaimed books about how to cope with some spiritual, emotional and physical issues of illness plus how to solve unmet needs regarding ancillary aspects of medical care and convalescence. No other author has addressed those topics as holistically as I have."

My first book, published in 2007,

might soon go out of print.

"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" will likely not be available in the near future.

Buy your copy, or get one for someone who needs it. Want to have it super-fast? Order copies directly from my publisher before the book is no longer available.

Cry if you need to. And learn to dry your tears. THAT can help you to Cope with a Medical Challenge. Especially as you learn from the book about Affordable Solutions to expensive problems and how to Calm Down from the fear, pain and frustration in your medical life.

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

You Own the Keys to a Healthier Life

B'SD

9 Shvat 5770


I'm still receving calls from audience members who heard me speak last week, or from someone who heard them summarize my remarks. I'm going to share two popular paragraphs of my presentation with you here, and separate them with an illuminating video from one of my friends and mentors. It went "live" the day after my mental health conference presentation.

"Neuropsychologist and director of Behavioral Health at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Dr. Don Hafer, suggests taking at least as much time for mental health as for physical fitness. Though physical fitness requires activity, mental fitness means stillness. Psychoanalyst Dr. Gary Malone of the Dallas Psychoanalytic Institute aka medical director of psychiatry at Baylor All Saints Medical Center at Fort Worth, writes prescriptions for patients to block off a half hour a day simply to be "calm and introspective." Rebbe Nachman calls it hitbodedut. It works."

(readers, hitbodedut is Hebrew for introspection. Rebbe Nachman was a remarkable 18th-century philosopher and rabbi whose heartwarming teachings still reverberate around the Jewish world)

(HaShem is a Hebrew nickname for

The One Above. Jews say "HaShem"

to indicate such respect that they

will not use That Name in vain)

Here's the 2nd paragraph from those presentation remarks I'm sharing with you:

"Okay, we have fearful grief- and guilt-reduced patients calming down as all this is coming together with repeated efforts. Now they can re-focus on finding solutions for mounting problems. Free information on the Internet isn't enough, though. Not all sick people use PCs. A patient-empowering coach, I've made Readily Available Information available on a global basis with face-to-face and phone coaching and a printed book. My updated E-book and companion blog are for the digitally enabled patient. By consolidating can-do coping skill strategies with humorous content relevant to illness and healthy perspective into several formats, I've enabled people to cope better on their own. No less than medical ethicist Dr. Daniel Eisenberg informed me that my content helped him to survive a "devastating" diagnosis. I hear positive feedback from readers and my coaching clients, too. Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital keeps a copy of my print edition in the Patient Information Center, at the initiative of social worker Chaya Har-El. I pray that more psychotherapists will use my information as some already do, or refer people to it."

Well, readers, there you have it. Medical evidence backs up spiritual realities. Anyone, ill or healthy, needs time to comtemplate, to reassess, and to appreciate life - AND themselves - on various levels. Tears may fall, sighs might come out from your heart. A giggle or two might bubble from your throat. Then you'll realize that you're meeting your true self.

Enjoy the "How do you do.

Here's what I just realized

I'm capable of."

In my coaching efforts I remind clients that setting aside that daily amount of Inner Focus time is a habit to be developed. Life has a way of messing up new resolutions and habits. Make focused efforts to use the same part of the day to think deeply. If you miss your appointed time, make it up as soon as you reasonably can. WHY is that so important? Well, the doctors I cited above just told you: IT HELPS YOUR INNER AND OUTER HEALTH!

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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

NEWSFLASH for CAREGIVERS!

B'SD



There's an important article at Offering Care for the Caregiver.

Once you read it, consider the problems you can avoid by reading the cautionary and restorative ideas in the 2007 print book



or in the digital 2009 update



Here's to better mental, emotional and physical health for all concerned.

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

Here's Why a HAPPY Doctor is Good for YOUR Health!

B'SD

7 Shvat 5770


Some days, things come together so well. Just yesterday I spent time explaining the importance of doctor-patient rapport to my audience at a mental health practitioner's convention (those professionals had arrived from around the world). That evening I surfed the 'Net and found this gem of an article:

Doctors' Moods Profoundly Affect Quality of Care

I believe there's one other reality to consider in patient-doctor relationships: your practitioner might be terrified of malpractice suits and over-order tests to cover his or her assets and continued career. A patient's outbursts and other uncultured responses can worsen the situation. Remember, the doctor is already scared of you before the appointment begins.

A solution to the problem? No matter the cause of a medical professional's negative mood, you can make focused efforts to control the expressions of your emotions in the office and on the phone. Remain pleasant. That can keep the lines of communication open and protect your health.

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. Choose to behave with dignity and respect for the other person, no matter how you feel.


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

A NEW Magazine that EMPOWERS Disabled People!

B'SD

6 Shvat 5770

No, it's not a magazine I created or wrote for (yet ;^). Check out The IDEAL Story and Young, Gifted, Disabled . And be sure to visit the magazine's website http://www.leagueforpeople.org/.

Zarifa Roberson has the spirit I try to help my readers to develop. You go, Girl!

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

PS - Wish me success. I'm addressing a roomful of mental health professionals today, teaching them how to help clients with illnesses. How? By sharing my coaching tips, my solutions for multiple problems related to illness, and my book-ordering information with them. A few audience members have already recommended my materials to their patients or use my content in their practices!

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

XENO-what????????????

B'SD

5 Shvat 5770


YUK! While editing a multi-media presentation's content for one of my Writing Services clients, I learned that many cosmetics and hair care items (shampoos, crème rinses) for men and women contain something called Xenoestrogens. They're synthetic versions of the human body's hormones. They might make you look glamorous But WOW do they mess up health!

Diagnos- Techs Lab in Washington State ran relevant tests and discovered the problem.

Check out this Warning I learned as I edited those materials:

Some manufacturers use lower than minimally permitted amounts of synthetic hormones, hoping to slip in under the detection radar of regulatory agencies. Or, they use the chemicals on some runs but not others, conning customers into preferring specific brands while the cunning manufacturer appears to obey health regulations. Not only will that leave you wondering why your hair, skin and energy qualities aren't consistent over time, it will also make you wonder why your sexual functions are off-kilter.

Which sexual functions? Perfomance and fertility for starters. Monthly cycles in women, too.


I know it sounds trite and boring, but folks, please use simple hygiene products that only get you clean. Your hormonal system does not tolerate tampering.

Make a list of what you need on your bathroom shelves and counters, and in your cosmetics bag. Buy it all at a natural health care shop.

Cry if you need to. And learn to dry your tears. THAT can help you to

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with (even AVOID!) a Medical Challenge.

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

Help Haitians!

B'SD

The disaster is further complicated with security problems for rescue teams stranded in airports! Find out how to help as you read Only Her Eyes Were Moving.

Learn about the best resource for stricken Haitians so far.


Yojeved

Toxic Plastics in Canned Food and (omigawd you'll never guess where!)

B'SD

4 Shvat 5770

I realize that some of the "organic lifestyle" suggestions in the book and on this blog leave you a bit distressed and skeptical. With the evidence adding up about synthetics poisoning the populace, however, I want to underscore the "synthetics are dangerous to health" advice.


BPA is a chemical found in many plastic food containers. It's leaching into human bodies and wreaking havoc with health. Look at some of the photos on this blogpost for a quick grasp of how often BPA gets inside you or your loved ones. Yes, baby formula too often contains BPA!

The Environmental Working Group shares my concerns. Read their update entitled

Bisphenol A:

Toxic Plastics Chemical in Canned Food:

Consumer Tips to Avoid BPA Exposure

Though the article advises using stainless steel thermoses without plastic linings, you might face health issues from the metal leaching into your water (I won't even use stainless steel cookware for that reason! Aluminum cookware is a known cause of Alzheimer's, so I prefer ceramic, porcelain, glass, and cast iron cookware). A metallic flavor in your water could be unpleasant, too. Please use ceramic, glass, wood and cast iron utensils that do not endanger human health.

What to do for a water bottle? This blog often lets you know that scrubbed-clean empty grape juice and wine bottles make excellent water containers when tucked into cushiony water carriers that hang off your shoulders with straps.

Hmm, how much benefit can there be to ridding your kitchen and household of plastics? Well, for one thing, there's evidence that synthetics are causing the odd rise in infertility problems among people who grew up using them. Parenthood is being achieved after changing old habits for healthier ones (and after benefiting from BHRT Bioidentical Hormone Therapy to restore normal hormone levels).

And yes, non-toxic baby bottles and safe pacifiers are still manufactured ;^ )

Improve your health. Prevent unnecessary suffering. EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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

What the Medical World Wants

B'SD

2 Shvat 5770


Readers, there are exceptions to the rules written below, but not enough.

Medicine has morphed into a much-different world in the last 45 years. Lifestyles and health risks have also changed dramatically. Increased workloads, fast food and time restraints have had negative effects on the aging and health process. Poor diet, stress, and environmental chemicals, let alone industrial poisonings affect us in ways the human body never dealt with before.

Conventional Medical Professionals are too often trapped, telling ill people to obey expensive commands and perspectives, and then frustrated when compliance doesn't happen or doesn't work.

It's easy to lose sight of what the patients want and need.

Too many medical institutions and practitioners don't want successful self-help and holistic healing methods, because although selling synthetic medicines and dangerous procedures is expensive and often worsens physical, spiritual or emotional health, it keeps them in business.

On the other hand, they love industry-wide consensus and brand-name products because they bring in reimbursement, plus they have promotional support from drug manufacturers and treatment sites that need to pay for expensive purchases that fill desperate people with hope.

The pharmaceutical (drug) industry doesn't want tried-and-true remedies that don't change from year to year. That's not going to build drug sales. The conventional medical world thrives on BREAKTHROUGH discoveries and ever-changing rationales about why one medication or treatment method is preferable to another. That's how they make a living.

Governments have an at-odds-with-itself investment in supporting medical advances and treatment (the USA seems to excel at this). They're focused on cost-effective ways of keeping citizens nominally healthy but are uninterested in respecting individual needs or in respecting cost-effective preventative measures. Passing prohibitive laws that limit healthcare and healthcare insurance options gives them agendas. And all that media attention!

The trips, the bribes, the personal power ...

If the medical world prescribed lifestyle changes, whole foods or natural cures along with effective conventinal medical practices, they'd have to face some cost-effective realities and lose lots of potential scare-mongering income.

If the medical industry can't make money selling complementary/alternative healing methods in addition to lucrative conventional medical practices, why would its members recommend non-conventional methods to you?

You can view these realities as mysteries too big for mortals to solve. Or you can see them as parts of the system as enduring and as central as the groupthink on which the conventional medical world largely relies...

Pledge allegiance to the system and you might forget the patient. And we know how poorly that's working out over time.

Take back the power to make your own decisions about personal medical care.

Learn of can-do, AFFORDABLE SOLUTIONS to get what you need from an author who learned lessons on BOTH sides of the hospital bed.

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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

A Time for Compassion, Prayer and Reflection

B'SD



28 Tevet 5770



Many hearts and minds are focused on the suffering of earthquake victims in Haiti. Israel is one of the countries sending subtantial medical aid with its doctors to people who desperately need them.

As the book indicates, some days we need to change our usual behavior patterns and simply pray, reflect on life, and focus on compassion rather than go about business as usual.

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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

Catch that MEDICAL CLOWN! Plus: Chase Away Winter Blues

B'SD

27 Tevet 5770

As the title bar of this blog indicates, you'll learn how to calm down from your diagnosis AND learn how to get affordable (perhaps free) medical stuff you need in the GLOBAL RESOURCES section of the book.

How diverse is the information there?

It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry If I Need To:

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge

includes contact information for medical clowns around the world. They help sick children (and not a few adults!) to cope and/or to heal with humor and optimism.

Watch this video of Medical Clowns in Israel.

Notice the various ethnic populations involved? Yep, Israel's medical system opens wide to people from all over the world.

Want contact information for medical clowns, and other medical needs, around the world? Get your copy of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge TODAY!

Still feeling overwhelmed? Maybe you're experiencing winter blues. Here are Tips to Fight Depression and Winter Blues.


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

Mozart's Music Mellows Premature Babies and Other MIRACLES!

B'SD

26 Tevet 5770


My American readers in the USA have heard all about this since Sunday. Perhaps my readers in other locales have not: Here's some interesting evidence that Playing Mozart's Music is GOOD for Premature Babies.



Be sure to play some when bathing and diapering your newborn, as the researchers suggest.

Fill life with fun for you and your child.

Sometimes a person with physical limitations needs to specialize in can-do activities that are rewarding. Music's not for everybody. It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry If I Need To: EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge suggests many different recreation outlets, gardening among them.

If you or older children in the family want to start a gardening hobby (on windowsills, in pots or in the ground), here's an educational video about The Photosynthesis Miracle. Gosh, if that's what the Creator can do with plants, imagine what's possible in other realms!

Enjoy your day and your life, challenges and all.

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

Help for Postpartum Depression

B'SD


25 Tevet 5770


Postpartum Depression is more than a double-whammy. The woman already physically stressed out by birthing a baby must now tend to the helpless child while her mind is assaulted by a hormone surge she can't control. Feeding, bathing, diapering, cuddling and dressing the infant require clear-headed thinking, time and energy, the things poor mom seems to have in a frighteningly low supply.

If other children are in the home, and if the fathers are oblivious to the issues or unaware of how to be helpful, the mother's problems can add up unbearably.

Here's some good news about that scary scenario.

I've reviewed a marvelous book and despite its title, it serves the needs of women of any religion. The authors simply addressed some cultural realities within the Jewish world when they wrote:

Delivery from Darkness: A Jewish Guide

to Prevention and Treatment

of Postpartum Depression

A comprehensive look at the emotional, physical, psychological and medical realities of PPD, this book explains the hormonal cascade happening during pregnancy, birth and recovery. The effects of that cascade have nothing to do with willpower, evil or goodness. The chemical reality is all on its own.

The manuscript explains PPD's low to high levels of severity, how to recognize the symptoms and how to cope with them. The personal stories in the text can relieve PPD sufferers of their senses of undeserved guilt.

Prepared by mental and medical health professionals who've experienced PPD or are professionally familiar with it, this book is a must-read filled with solutions, preventatives and coping mechanisms. Published by Feldheim, Delivery from Darkness can literally save lives.

Cry if you need to. And learn to dry your tears. THAT can help you to EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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

Digging Up the Past and Healing Human Brains

B'SD


24 Tevet 5770



Here are some photos of me on site at "the dig" I joined at the close of my December vacation in Israel's upper North area, the Golan.

I'm in the green sweatshirt, gearing up for the centuries-old dig by listening to our lead archaeologist. She's kneeling as she explains our methodology.

The team uncovered a ceramic pitcher leaning against the wall as if someone had just set it upon the stone floor.

Now I'm standing above the jug, looking exhausted after an 8-hour day of slugging, digging, brushing off and carting away LOTS of centuries-old dirt.

There's more excitement to tell of
but that's waiting for
official clearance.

I'm impressed at how well my wash machine cleans my clothes from daily digs. I literally shake dust as I walk about in dirtied clothes. The experience of touching and breathing in history is so worth the inconveniences ;^ )

I keep reflecting on how much weight my once-endangered arm lifts and tosses on a daily basis. It's a miracle for my arm to function as it does (THANK YOU G'D!).

I'm so happy to be part of this effort that I have a happy buzz all over! Now that's gotta be good for inner and outer health ;^ )

I didn't plan to do archaeology to help my muscles and emotions to heal from so much past suffering. The opportunity simply became available and I took it for the simple fun it affords me. The change of pace is certainly fun, too.

Watch the video below, which hints at developing therapies to heal damaged brains. What terrific opportunity are YOU taking to cope with medical or emotional adversity?



EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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

Who Can Help with Health Crisis Issues?

B'SD

22 Tevet 5770

Readers, it literally brings tears to my eyes when I receive touching messages about how my manuscript helps people in expected, and in unexpected, ways.

Here's an E-mail message that arrived to my monitor last night:

"I recently came across your

new workbook and although I have

not read through it completely,

it looks like a wonderful tribute

and very useful resource.

I have come across MANY coaches,

worldwide, who are working as

Health Coaches and only two

who work with health crisis issues,

you and one other!

I am in the process of developing

a systematic approach to dealing

with those precious souls

who are afflicted so severely

with the intention of focusing

my Coaching talents in this area.

Could you please direct me to

the work of others who Coach

in this area?

Have you any pearls of wisdom for me?

Would you be interested in assisting me

in my thinking as my approach

takes shape...?

Thanks - Chris Boyd

Man Alive Foundation: Cape Town S. Africa"

Here's my reply to Chris. It came from the depths of my heart:

Thank you for contacting me, Chris.

The only pearls of wisdom

I can share are:

"1. The supply of health-crisis coaches

depends on people with sharp personal

insight, knowing from the gut what the

fear, pain and obstacles can be and

personal experience at solving

those problems. It's not a field for

theories/speculation.

2. The dread that the average person has

of death and illness pretty much

limits the possibilities for studying

the discipline of health coaching.

You necessarily deal with

death and dying issues,

prohibitive expenses,

gut-wrenching decisions,

heartache and other forms of pain.

It takes nerves of steel and

gentle hearts to study and coach,

or to experience all that.

And a LOT of inner work.

We can keep a dialogue going if you wish."

What do YOU think of the above exchange, readers?

Bear in mind that coaching is designed for short-term relationships that focus on defining/setting goals and on making a better use of time, rather than on long-term situations and life/death issues that generally leave far too little time for reflection, research and budgetary boosts (financial crises abound with medical issues).

EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.

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