Need solutions for the medication, medical appliances and/or medical travel that you can't afford? READ EMPOWER Yourself.
A Health Information Management professional, I survived a life-threatening emergency with information that only a person of my professional experience would know. And I’m sharing it!
There's nothing like a Monday morning Quarterback annoying everybody with wisdom that just doesn't matter anymore. Maybe the second-most annoying thing is looking yourself in the mirror and being disappointed with what you see, especially after you've broken another set of New Year's resolutions.
So, I'm sharing the EZ Shmeezy tool for getting things right: Take life one day at a time. If necessary, one hour, minute or moment at a time. Realize that humans fail at times. It's part of being normal. Start over as much as necessary. Review your commitments regularly. Strategize for meeting goals. Set deadlines. Meet them.
Look in the mirror again. And congratulate yourself, one improvement at a time. Only rare individuals are capable of a 100% overhaul in a heartbeat.
Readers, I apologize that my blogpost is a departure from the norm. But it is most definitely health related and part of a bigger story!
Last night some friends and I worked on crowd control, with police, at the internationally famous rally to support Jewish women in Israel. You might spot news photos of a tall redhead in a purple jacket and yellow security vest (me) on the scene, as in this interview footage with one of the organizers.
I'm physically and emotionally tired from being part of the solution to the horrific misrepresentation of Judaism and to the abusive mistreatment of females in Israel. I reside in Bet Shemesh, where I've been to many previous demonstrations against the violent hooligans in haredi clothing. They betray the Jewish values of compassion, honesty and the respect of women. I spoke about this on Rusty Mike Radio yesterday morning.
The very fact that the huge peace-promoting gathering made international news last night, the last night of Chanuka, is heartrending. Women are at the heart of the Chanuka miracle, not just the Maccabee men. Chana and her seven sons were slaughtered by Romans who punished Jews refusing to worship the idolization of the human body. Another Chana begged her Jewish co-religionists to save her from impending rape by Roman predators ruining the wedding nights of all Jewish brides. Those cries for help mobilized the Maccabbees, who showed the world that we Jews value the integrity, sanctity and honor of females no matter their religion, age or level of achievements. Women deserve respect. GOD ALMIGHTY taught this to the Jews and wider world.
I believe that we at last night's rally have lit the world as some sort of Chanuka candle with our firm stance for kindness, honesty and simple good-heartedness.
As for the boors harassing little children and anyone obstructing violent behavior, they are misogynists in the classical sense of the word. They suffer a sexual identity crisis that is foreign to Jewish values and teachings. Somehow, they veered off the genuine Jewish worldview: to bring more holiness to the world, to enjoy its beauty and to emulate its All Compassionate Creator.
Scroll around this blog. Find the posts honoring people of various religions, skin colors and occupations. They came from my deep appreciation for the Jewish mandate to "Build a world of kindness." Heaven is not off-limits to anyone who earns it.
Brighten YOUR worldview with a soothing look at how to EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. Buy it today from BOOKLOCKER Publishing.
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.
2) Good news will envelope the medical world: Medical Breakthroughsare happening around the clock. One could very soon help YOU or a loved one.
3) You'll develop the courage and behavior to take better care of yourself. You can use the gentle humor and step-by-step ideas in
Every year has its ups and downs. But 2012 is shaping up to be quite dramatic. Tame the tension. Buy the E-book or print edition today for a happier, healthier year with soothing, can-do solutions: Click on the words EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.
Here's to the healthiest, happiest possible 2012!
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.
Disability advocates, medical and mental health professionals, and regular people happy to lower their stress and to reduce the costs of their health care are letting me know that they're happier, more functional and much more organized because they followed the book's suggestions.
This message from Israel-based charitable organization MELABEV, devoted to helping people with Alzheimer's, recently went out via E-mail:
"A tremendous thank you to Yocheved Golani
for the donation her very practical and inspiring book
to the Melabev Lending Library!
"It's my Crisis and I'll Cry if I Need To"
is a useful, compassionate guide for people
undergoing the challenge of coping with an illness.
Making New Years resolutions to help someone with Alzheimers or some other medical, emotional, disability, or health (mental, spiritual and physical) problem? You know what to do. Click http://booklocker.com/books/3067.html
The nights are bright with Chanuka lights (we've lit 2 so far). I bet I can light up your life with one amusing video that can get your health rhythm going better and better. WHAT is the low-cost, all-fun cure for many health problems? It's... it's... oh you'll be surprised!
Holidays are inconvenient times for bad moods, yours included. The best way to get past the emotional block is to count your blessings and to invest in a Purposely Positive Point of View (something I blogged about after the first edition of my book was published).
In today's rushed world with scary news headlines, too much time in cyberspace and ever-developing medical world with all its ups and downs, we need to calm down, to collect our thoughts and to breathe calmly.
Guess what I'm doing about that?
I'm preparing a series of humor columns about coping with illness/disability. Some of it will be outtakes of
Yes, there's laugh out loud humor in the otherwise serious book. Mark Twain weighs in with thoughts about harnessing bad habits to make them - and you - good! Georia O'Keefe opines about a few things... And wait'll you read some of the other riffs by a global collection of time-traveling humorists.
Here's how to get your grin back despite the hardships of emotional, physical illness and/or disability: Read it today. Buy your copy via http://booklocker.com/books/3067.html.
Learn the story of the book's title on page 5. 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."
Here I am, posing in December Israeli sunshine. Blooming roses are all around the country.
Tonight I'll be lighting the first Hanuka/Chanuka candle. In 2011, Hanukah begins at sundown on Tuesday, December 20, 2011 - the start of 25 Kislev. The last night of Hanukah 2011 is sundown on Tuesday, December 27. The happy holiday ends at nightfall on December 28, coinciding with the start of the Jewish month Tevet.
Holidays are hard for unhappy people, and harder still for ill people in emotional or physical pain. Here's how to make their Hanuka happier:
Send them a copy of
right now!
The E-book version will arrive to specified iphone, PC and other monitors as soon as the purchase is complete.
Want to buy the paperback version so you can fill in the nifty blanks with and for loved ones? NO PROBLEM! Buy the E-book or print edition today for a brighter holiday season: Click on the words EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge and let the publisher know which version you'd like.
You and/or your gift recipient will get your grins back in just one reading, I bet.
Stores and organizations can affordably stock up on gifts for customers, staff and constituents. Bulk orders can be made by clicking here.
Happy Hanuka/Chanuka!
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.
Remember my Boo-Boo Barbie story? That's how my arm was saved: a locking plate was installed to hold bone fragments together and to allow new bone to grow between the cracks of my crushed elbow.
The challenge of the recovery is to regain flexibility in the connective tissues that remained unused during the weeks/months of immobile casting. That calls for physical and occupational therapy, LOTS of determination and... heck, learn what to do when you read the whole story of my astonishing recovery on pages 60-62 of
Chanuka starts Wednesday night, December 21/Kislev 25. Xmas, Kwanzaa and holiday parties with loads of food and calories are heading to tables near you.
Scared? Feeling overwhelmed by the task of rethinking your menus and preparing them? Hmmm... I have a good book to recommend to you. It was written by a woman who needed to take immediate dietary action to save her life. A woman who used to joke that "A candy bar in each hand is a balanced meal."
Here's the answer to the headline of today's blogpost: That NYT food writer, this blog and the EMPOWER Yourself book share a common theme: You need to make serious changes in your menu-planning, and you can.
By the way, you'll learn why I do not eat fish - and why you won't want to anymore - on page 156.
Here's a head start on some of the interesting things about Hanuka (sometimes spelled Chanuka to signify the Hebrew word).
Enjoy the perspective from Elmo's point of view:
Here's a GREAT present for any holiday: E-book or print edition EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. Find out how to destress over medical issues and how to save LOTS of money on your medical bills!
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.
I’m among the journalists privy to a Breaking Story: Identifying Unaddressed Systemic Health Conditions at Dental Clinics! Identifying Patients Who Need Urgent Care.
The story is about dentists who detect symptoms of serious disease and medical conditions while treating patients who do not receive necessary medical care for them. WHY didn’t those child or adult patients receive necessary care? Because they could not afford the necessary doctor visit or did not know to seek medical care.
Lives can be saved in one dental visit, as hygienists and dentists identify health problems to be addressed.
Editors: Contact me to buy my coverage of the story for your publication.
I'm sad to let you know that I've been contacted by frightened, unhappy people many times in recent days. Each of them has been affected by or is concerned about pedophilia, the sexual abuse of children.
Sex abuse is no stranger to the adult world, either.
I urge victims of sexual assaults to benefit from counseling and/or EFT, Emotional Freedom Techniques. It is a simple matter of reciting specific phrases and performing simply gestures that can literally rewire your brain for emotional recovery. A certified EFT professional can guide your efforts.
I truly believe that all of us must do what we can to protect children and everyone from sexual predators. Promote stronger laws, be vigilant, and report your suspicions to legal authorities.
Whew! I'm having a busy week, let alone a busy month. Tonight I'll be moderating a "Meet the Authors" evening. It's designed to give that much-needed break to new writers.
Tomorrow night I head up not one but TWO community-oriented discussions about cultural needs in my town. I'll be part of a round-robin of conversations dedicated to raising the quality of life in my local and greater neighborhood.
I'm booking ever-more engagements to speak about
on the radio, in libraries and elsewhere.
My daily activities continue as I write feature stories, prepare book reviews and tend the garden (peas are growing fast, as are my flowering vines, turmeric, marigolds (in three different colors!), beets, garlic, parsley, ivies (two kinds), aloe vera and more. The dog already took me for our morning walk ;^ D
Though I remain certifiably disabled, I do what I can to enjoy life. It's all about pacing and choosing to be cheerful. Let me know how you manage with your disability or medical challenge.
One of the mental health practitioners who endorseEMPOWER Yourself is world-famous psychiatrist Dr. Abraham Twerski. He specializes in helping people past their addictions. He also addresses other emotional and mental health issues. Listen to what he teaches us about how to respond to adversity/stress, whatever you care to call the things that go kerflooey in life (including ourselves):
Dr. Twerski gives
to addicts and to patients on chemotherapy. He teases me that they call him less after that. "They calm down from reading what you wrote."
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism.
One of the readers of EMPOWER Yourself commented that she’s grateful for the book because “It lets me be me. It offers ideas I can use or not use at my own discretion. I don’t have to start reciting some mantra you came up with or act in ways I’m not comfortable with. I don't have to be a cancer 'Warrior.' And the book is helping me. It has a lot to offer.”
I appreciate that nobody normal needs to be demeaned in order to get well. That “You Must FIGHT to beat your disease!” mindset in other books about coping with illness is echoed on websites about healing, too. It’s not realistic and it's not fair. It is inappropriate to pressure someone to do things your way when they are weak, in need of compassion and deserving of respect.
NOBODY is licensed by The One Above to tell the whole wide world what they “should” do to be healthier. There is no One Size Fits All healing or coping prescription. We are individuals.
Here’s an excerpt from EMPOWER Yourself to demonstrate just how strongly I believe in respecting the person before you, and not in the the alleged healer's ego-tripping:
“I wrote this book after having been on both sides of the hospital bill. Throughout my professional and personal experiences, I've clung to a sense of humor with the tenacity to grab life by the collar and yell, "I want more!" That attitude developed over my lifetime, and ultimately saved my life.
“About two years after my life-saving surgery and subsequent recovery, I began a new career as a Self-Help Coach. My clients tell me that their trust in my empathy, my insight, and in my efforts to help them to change their counterproductive beliefs and behaviors, let alone their delight in successfully replacing negative thought and behavior with positive thought and behavior are the outgrowth of my life-affirming choices.
“I welcome readers to benefit from my true-life experience at managing with a medical crisis. The opening segment of this workbook is Permission to Weep over your diagnosis. You might feel shock, betrayal, confusion, despair, and more because of the medical crisis before you. Those are normal reactions to the shock of a sudden, unexpected medical crisis or one that you tried to prevent. Read on to absorb the entire Permit. - Yocheved
Human beings mint coins and they're all alike. But when the Creator mints people, each of us is unique even though we come from the same mold. Our different personalities, skills and longings necessitate different paths to achieving a state of calm after we've been startled or terrified. There are no "One size fits all" methods of calming down or gaining perspective. Yet we need to reach the state of composed thought and behavior in order to live as productively and happily as possible under challenging circumstances. Sound reasoning enables us to choose the coping mechanisms that work for us.
Challenging? Oh yes. But the alternative to coping is worse.
After I revealed my diagnosis to friends and family, we cried together. Then we progressed to choosing coping skills and keeping me strong so I could have a chance to continue living. My choice to focus on sound psychological principles complemented my Orthodox Jewish religious convictions. Many of those sound psychological principles, as well as classical Jewish philosophy and laws are presented in this text. A blend of both appears in the next paragraph.
One of the worst reactions people had to my news was saying with a sense of fatalism and religious superiority over me, "You shouldn't cry. GOD only gives people the challenges they can face." I disagree. Many a good person has experienced a psychological or medical problem, and suffered terribly or not survived it. Some medical and emotional challenges destroy no matter how valiantly we fight to survive them. Other crises can be survived. It isn't fair to lump them all in one "You can do it!" category. It blames the patient, who is suffering already. No one on this planet is authorized to pass judgment on another person's trials and tribulations. That's GOD's job.
Are you afraid that religious people or even not so religious people will blame you for your very legitimate tears and fears, because GOD knows what He's doing? Are they doing it already? These types of pithy remarks get high scores for being truthful and meaningful. But they get big fat ZEROES for actually helping someone to conquer their misery. It's as useless as telling someone dripping blood or holding onto broken limbs in an emergency room that "I FEEL YOUR PAIN." It's no help at all.
A medical diagnosis that presents a crisis is something to legitimately cry about. It is a lack of stability and a lack of reliable givens that we need so much. One of the Gates of Prayer that remains open despite the lack of a Beit HaMikdash (ancient Jewish Temple) is the Gate of Tears. Crying is a form of prayer. It says, "I'm scared, I'm sad, I'm angry, I don't know what to do about my problem. I need your help HaShem (GOD)," and more.
We learn from the Talmud in Bava Metzia 59a "Even though the Gates of Prayer are closed (after the destruction of the grand Jewish Temple called Bait HaMikdash), the Gates of Tears are never closed."
GOD keeps the Gate of Tears open so we will cry to Him. Crying is part of our relationship with Him.
Consider the reason that you're crying. Do you feel shocked, lost, confused or angry with someone, as I did? Anger can express itself as outrage, frustration, jealousy, resentment, fury, and hatred. It can masquerade as judgment, criticism, and even (surprise!) boredom. Like all emotions, it is a complex, ever-shifting state involving thoughts, feelings, and bodily changes. So, not only do you have a medical diagnosis of concern, you also might be developing the stress of tummy upsets, unpredictable menstrual cycles, weight problems, and other complications. It's a roller coaster with thrills, spills, and corkscrew turns, none of it predictable or controllable.
A friend shared a relevant poem with me. I do not know the identity of the original author. I recommend that you share this deep message with loved ones so that they can learn how better to express their love from it:
Don't tell me that you understand,
Don't tell me that you know,
Don't tell me that I will survive, How I will surely grow.
Don't tell me this is just a test,
That I am truly blessed,
That I am chosen for this task,
Apart from all the rest.
Don't come at me with answers,
That can only come from me,
Don't tell me how my grief will pass,
That I will soon be free.
Don't stand in pious judgment,
Of the bounds I must untie,
Don't tell me how to suffer,
And don't tell me how to cry.
My life is filled with selfishness,
My pain is all I see,
But I need you, I need your love,
Unconditionally.
Accept me in my ups and downs,
I need someone to share,
Just hold my hand and let me cry,
And say, "My friend, I care".
All of us are holding your hand, and say... (your name)... "We care"
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."
Did someone order YOU to be a Cancer WARRIOR? Show them this blogpost. Then click on the words EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge to buy the E-book or print edition today. Have a brighter holiday season with my blessings.
Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity.
Face Your Future with Optimism.
