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!
B'SD 6 Elul, 5777 I revisited this video and realized that the speaker's sense of humor lets her have fun with her disability, not despite it. Attitude Matters!
Born with a genetic visual impairment that has no correction or cure, Susan Robinson is legally blind (or partially sighted, as she prefers it) and entitled to a label she hates: "disabled." In this funny and personal talk, she digs at our hidden biases by explaining five ways she flips expectations of disability upside down. Watch »
I suspect that Susan has what is called "prosopagnosia," aka "Face Blindness," the inability to remember faces. Dr Oliver Sacks had it, too. I'd even written an article about the phenom years ago (EDITORS: You can ask me to refresh the piece for your publications!). Take what you can from this enchanting TEDTalk presentation. It just might give you ideas on how to laugh at your difficulties. Watch for my forthcoming article at www.e-counseling.com. My boss plans to post my recent piece about the value in laughing at yourself in the near future. Buy 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 heart with joy. It's a fun healer, and a thrilling coping mechanism.
B'SD 2 Elul, 5777 I'd meant to share a message with you, yesterday, but I was caught up in helping several other people to meet their medical needs in various ways (paperwork, conversation about healing modalities, and my journalistic efforts at www.e-counseling.com). Then I took some time to enjoy an evening musical concert with friends, in the lovely outdoor setting adjacent to a local nursing home/assisted living facility. I was very amused to see people who'd been sitting as still as statues suddenly begin to sway, rock to various beats, or even get up and dance! Music is healing in many ways.
I'm aware of many philosophical, scientific and spiritual insights in to the healing, soothing power of music. Indulge in it. Listen to music that soothes you. Let your emotional and physical pains lessen as you adjust the soundtrak to your medical life. Make it work on your behalf. You can read these nutritious updates while you relax. They can help your healing and coping efforts, too.
Ready to learn more Do-it-Yourself healing and coping strategies? Buy 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 life with positive developments.
B'SD 30 Av, 5777 I let last week's miracle-oriented message stand alone several days, to let it sink in. Doctors are fascinated with my recovery. They meet me and ask many questions about how I managed to recover vision after having been blinded with crushed optic nerves that had appeared to be dead upon medical examination. They also ask how other nerves, so damaged that I could not walk unassisted, healed. My eventual ability to walk, exercise, and to dance has made many medical minds more alert to my situation. We discuss that I'd gradually lost my need for a wheelchair, walker, crutches or a cane, and how that happened over time. That startles medical professionals, many of whom had told me to my face that I'd never recover, that I needed psychiatric help to deal with my fantasies of eventual recovery.
They ask how I can be cheerful despite all I've been through.
They ask if I'd known the healing techniques I've used before being stricken with a body so weak that I could not see, walk, or speak clearly. My answer? "No. I learned my body cleansing techniques, super food nutritional know-how, and junk food avoidance behavior from naturopaths. They also taught me the importance of not wearing or using synthetic materials in my clothing, kitchen or furniture." When asked about my lifestyle I respond, "My clothes and furniture are made of naturally occurring wool, cotton, silk, hemp, and/or latex, and my kitchenwares of bamboo, cast iron, ceramic, glass, wood or porcelain. Synthetics sabotage human health. Our bodies can't process it, and that undermines health, ending it in many cases."
It's been an adventure to learn a new lifestyle
and to live it.
Yesterday, someone with multiple medical problems asked me for advice on how to heal. I explained that dining on wholesome food has been critically important to my ever-improving health. It is critically important to anyone's health. She asked a question and I replied "No, snacking on junk though you generally eat a wholesome diet is NOT good for you. No, you can't 'get away' with it when your body's fragility demonstrates that each and every nutrition-challenged bite causes you pain or reduced ability hours later." She sighed. She understood. Genuine nourishment allowed my body to strengthen nerves, muscles, blood, energy levels (I had lots of otherwise-tiring exercise regimens to finesse!) and attitude. It can do the same for you. I'll spend this week sharing information with you about why some "edibles" sabotage human health, and how pure, simple nutrition supports health. It even prevents cravings! Update 1:
Want to learn what I know? Buy 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 plate with body-building food. Dump the junk. Your mood will improve, too.
B'SD 23 Av, 5777 If you've been reading this blog and its associated book over the years then you're aware of several upheavals in my life: Being struck blind and almost dead by a benign brain tumor called a Petroclival Tentorial Meningioma, emergency life-saving brain surgery, extraordinary efforts to regain health and vision, and relocating from one city to another in order to achieve several other goals. It's enough to leave a person feeling winded. And yet, I caught my breath, time after time, looking toward goals and steeling myself to reach them as I limped to the finish line. I earned certification in ICD10 medical coding that way, plus certification in counseling skills, including Spiritual Chaplaincy (end of life issues), and rescue credentials from Israel's Homefront Command. I wrote a book to help other people to better cope with medical or mental health setbacks (kids, too!).
I've experienced an extraordinary life. As I indicated in the book, whenever I feel frightened or endangered, I pretty much focus on happiness, grab life by the collar and holler (inwardly or outwardly) "I want more!" A person in daunting circumstances needs to strengthen themselves to face difficulties. That mindset helped me to reach a miraculous milestone. I marked it with festivity. This past Shabbat, I'd prepared a kiddush, a celebratory party, in my synagogue. Here is the speech I gave to my friends, neighbors and fellow congregants about why I'd bothered to share my happiness with them. I share it in the hopes of strengthening your resolve to deal with your setbacks in optimal fashion:
Parshat Eikev Dvar
Torah
Throughout chumash,
we learn to love GOD, to walk in His ways. MosheRabenu (Moses) emphasizes this imperative in ParshatEikev. Generations later, Mikha
tells us that justice and kindness as we “walk humbly with HaShem (GOD)” are
critically important. He rhetorically asks what sort of sacrifices we ought to
make to show our closeness with HaShem, but then specifies that being
fair, just, a practitioner of kindness, and walking “with” GOD humbly is the
perfect recipe for achieving that closeness.
Now let’s look at
what impresses me deeply as I continue my Beershevian life: I’ve only been here
a bit over two years. What strikes me most is the compassion here, the genuine dvekut (attachment) to Torah values. I can’t recall ever hearing the slightest hint of lashon
hara (gossip). No idle musings, no diatribes, nothing. That reality sums up the
wonder and beauty of Beer Sheva: You take morals seriously. The sweetness of
character among all of you is remarkable. I keep picking up on it in other
ways, too.
In your zekhut (merit),
I’d like to share a story from the Chafetz Chaim with you. He once mentioned that map makers indicate
important cities with stars or special colors, perhaps special lettering.
“But,” the Chafetz Chaim remarked, “that’s not how HaKadosh Barukh Hu (the Holy One) looks at the world. He/She is impressed with the holy lights of kedusha (holiness) coming out of specific locations. You think or Rome and Paris are important?
Not in heaven. They don’t light up. It is the places where Jews practice
compassion, where mercy and unconditional love are the stuff of daily life,
that look large in Heaven. They light it up!”
I’ve obviously
paraphrased the Chafetz Chaim, but you get his drift.
I came to Beer Sheva
legally blind due to a medical mishap. I’ve dealt with it since 2006 by adhering
to an organic diet, avoiding synthetics, and indulging in innovative vision
therapies. But I’d hit a plateau in 2014-15. My eye wear prescription had fallen
about 20 times by then. But no improvements followed. Doctors and I accepted
the fact that I’d reached my potential for recovering sight after having been
blinded by a benign brain tumor. I prayed every day for more medical miracles,
did alternative healing techniques new to me, and prayed harder. I knew that it
would take a miracle to gain “normal vision.” What would it be?
I learned to see
life more sweetly by living in Beer Sheva. I learned it from you. I am grateful
to each person standing here, as you have done something that touched me
deeply. We can speak privately about that if you wish.
I’ve prepared this
Kiddush (party) to thank you for your accepting me, physical disabilities and all, into
Beer Sheva. I’ve experienced some heart-breaking discrimination elsewhere, and
each day of my life here is a menukhat hanefesh (spiritual comfort)
You’ve made Beer
Sheva shine in heaven. And you made a medical miracle by relaxing my heart and
soul. After extensive, sophisticated vision exams from February to June this
year, exams on equipment you could never imagine to exist, my medical team
found astonishing proof that I am no longer “legally blind.” Yes, I have the
wandering eyes of strabismus/pazila; I still need to be extra careful
when descending stairs or curbs, but my vision is almost certifiably normal.
It’s a miracle, and I credit you for making it happen. I have found deep,
meaningful happiness in Beer Sheva, and much of it here in this synagoge. This Kiddush
is my way of saying a big “Thank you.” You are beautiful to my eyes.
Buy 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 mind, heart and soul with a sense of an ever-better future. Then ask GOD to help you to make it happen!
B'SD 16 Av, 5777 Several days ago I wondered why so many UKers were jamming the statistics for visitors to this blog. Then I checked some recent headlines and guessed what the problem might be: A lack of sound mental health care in England. I indicated as much on one of my facebook pages:
Figures suggest a large rise in the number of reported cases of abuse of mental health patients.
NEWS.SKY.COM
This 7 Things You Need to Know about Britain's Failing Nationalized Health System report underscores the overall problem. If you're in the UK and need competent mental health care, I strongly suggest that you A) Make use of licensed, reputable online mental health care professionals ready to serve your needs, and B) Check out the Global Resources section of
It's packed with details about private and charitable organizations ready to serve the public's medical and mental health needs. I write about many online mental health care options at a website geared to US reader interest, but no less valuable to UKers: http://www.e-counseling.com/. Read it as often as necessary. Buy 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 life with better choices.
