B'SD

29/30 Tishrei, 5775

My schedule's been a bit unpredictable this week, and full of interesting happenings. Last night I was part of the security detail at a city-wide event. While patrolling the perimeter, a participant called out to me (in Hebrew) "We need an ambulance!"

Someone in the crowd had passed out while standing up and chatting with her friends. 

The pre-arranged and on-site ambulance crew took care of her, and I'm pleased to have been part of the effort. Part of the patient's problem seems to have been dehydration despite our cool weather. Be sure to sip water throughout your day, no matter the temperature. The human body needs fluids 365 days of the year!

***

 I'm ending the work-week with the 5th and final part of the "Talk About Your Medicines" month blogpost.

You're invited to comment about any of the blogposts. I tend to respond quickly and I look forward to interacting with you.

Here's an FYI about the sponsor of this week's blogpost series:

The American Recall Center, which promotes the Talk About Your Medicines month blogging effort, is concerned about the drug Xarelto. Click the link to learn about that medication.

OK, here's the wrap-up for this week (the highlighted text focuses on medication specifically), another excerpt from the EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book:

Organization

Doctors appointments, insurance papers, calls to make, child care issues, nosy neighbors, relatives who just don’t "Get it," have you seen the baby, meals to prepare, pills and potions to swallow or shots to inject, omigawd we need a really BIG bank account, where are my keys, did anyone see the remote and why is the dog making noise like that?

Ever feel as if your inner PC and its memory banks just went and shut down on you? Read on and find some solutions to the problem.

Many people facing medical crises have so much to remember that their inner filing cabinets overflow. They reach a point where they wonder if they’re losing their minds! Know the feeling? You forget almost everything? Even how old you are?

As you read earlier, I experienced no less than five benign brain tumors and their surgical removal. A human head does not have much space for tolerating all that intrusion and banging around upon soft brains. People who’ve experienced brain injury often suffer memory problems. So can anyone facing any type medical crisis. Stress hurts. And medical intervention messes up the insides of your body even more! I lost some memorization ability after my treatments. I benefited from a rehabilitation program for the brain injured. Students of every age in my program learned many tips for vastly improving our memory power. Here are a few tips I'll share with you:

Keep a reasonably sized notebook or day-planner with you all the time. Record upcoming: appointments, social events, PTA meetings and other important scheduled stuff as soon as you commit to it or even hear of it.

Keep repeating a person's name in the conversation as normally as possible when you first meet.

Collect business cards when offered to you. On the back, make notes of where you met and what they look like, your 1st impressions of the person, anything remarkable they said, e.g., Redhead, skinny, laughs a lot. Met at Joe's celebration dinner

Put your stuff away in the same place all the time. NO LAZY SHORTCUTS! Shoes and clothes go in closets, not in chairs, the wrong room or atop doors.

Kitchenware gets washed, dried and immediately put away. When you're cooking, ALWAYS use a timer to alert you to shut off the heat.

Me, I keep my keys in the front door once I lock it from inside. I wear them on a cloth strap, a key strip around my neck, when I leave home. I never lose keys anymore.

Ever seen the funky new chains for holding your glasses around your neck? Use the one of your affordable choice. No need to feel like a moth-eaten relic. The new styles are super-trendy. And you won't lose your glasses.

Using the above techniques jogs the memory cells. Watch. You'll end up teaching folks who never had tumors, brain injuries or any sort of medical stress how improve THEIR memories!

The human body is full of quirky surprises. Some of them are quite interesting and not life-threatening. Follow the suggestions above and good advice from your therapists and medical team. Not every forgotten thought is a danger sign. Now, on to some techniques for straightening out that mother lode of medical and insurance paperwork…

As you make your way through your medical crisis or that of your loved one, the pile of papers with important phone numbers, addresses and other information will grow. If you fail to organize it, the mess can make a wreck of your get-well efforts.

If you're the sort of person who hasn't yet succeeded at organizing your life, I offer sweet solace with simple advice:

“Habit is habit, and not to be flung out the window but coaxed downstairs one step at a time.” – Mark Twain

Here's my Five-Step Plan to Organization: Some simple suggestions for keeping your papers and yourself organized:

STEP ONE: First: Sort out the papers that you have. Place test results in one pile, with newer results on top and older results at the bottom.

Do this for every health care provider organization and insurance company, prescription, referral, medical payment approval etc. with newer paper work on top and older results at the bottom (I highly recommend photocopying each medical payment, insurance or medical approval and prescription. Do this before a medical or insurance person takes it from you when you receive the relevant medical service or buy your medication).

Second: Separate anything written by your Primary Care Physician from the pile of health care provider organization stuff.

Set aside all papers from the hospital.

Keep all discs of MRIs, CT scans and other tests in a pile of their own.

Third: If you do not own a day-planner, buy one with ample space for recording upcoming appointments, tasks to be accomplished, questions for your doctors, and a contact information area (names, addresses, phone and Fax numbers, E-mail addresses, medical specialty). I recommend filling in each day's updates in pencil rather than in pen. Appointments change and scratch-outs make the pages harder to read. Cleanly erased obsolete notes are a big improvement over jagged lines crossing out stuff you no longer need to remember.

IMPORTANT: Select a blank page in your day planner on which you can record all the medicines you take, how often you take them and WHY. Many people forget (especially when they feel stressed) why they take some pills or potions. De-stress your life with good record keeping. And do take time to list all the questions that you want your doctors to answer. I like to note those questions in the blank space under noted appointments or on a page designated for that purpose.

Decide where it will be smartest for you to record new symptoms that you want to discuss with medical professionals. That way, you won't slap your head and ask out loud to nobody in particular "Oh #@@!, why didn't I bring that up during my appointment with Dr. So and So?"

Your preparations can improve the chances that you will select the right doctor to treat you. You will be prepared to ask relevant questions. Focused discussions will reveal if a particular medical professional A) treats your concerns seriously and 2) has the expertise to deal with your medical situation.

Have you enjoyed this series of informative blogposts?

Imagine what the rest of the book is like, as it addresses moods, self-esteem, packing for hospital stays, how to deal with rude medical professionals, in-laws and outlaws.

Click the title in this sentence, or the book cover above, to 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. 

Feel better again, even if you have an on-going medical or mental health issue.


 

Medication Safety: Part 3 of "Talk About Your Medicines" month

B'SD

27 Tishrei, 5775

Please let me know your thoughts about the series of medicinal posts this week.

Here's Part 3. Specfic references to medication are highlighted in purple so you can find them fast:

Take a Breath and Review Some Important Points

You've been doing some hard work. I congratulate you for the effort you've invested in saving a precious life. Now I ask that you take a deep breath. It will clear your mind a bit, I hope, and let you review some important points as well as you can.

Among the positive actions you and I are focusing on is protection of your or your loved one's interests. You are learning to guard your physical, emotional and spiritual health or that of your loved one as you make your way past a medical diagnosis and crisis situation.

The most important actions that you must take to preserve your body and mind are threefold:

1.   To do whatever makes you healthier than you are now.

2.   To maintain the most optimal health you can have at any point in time during your medical adventure.

3.   To do what you can to prevent your situation from becoming worse.

At each juncture in this workbook, I invite you to create or to use your own initiatives. Empowerment is the complete opposite of a crisis situation. You can take as much control as humanly available to you in this medical crisis. You will manage it better with every try.

Three Easy-to-remember Things You Can Do to Preserve Your Health:

One: Trust your instincts. Your gut knows what is right and wrong for you.

Two: Follow up all doctor visits with questions if you have any and get all test results in writing. Knowledge equals decision-making ability.

Three: YOU ARE YOUR OWN BEST ADVOCATE. It also doesn't hurt to have someone in your corner. If you are too shy to ask questions or to challenge medical conclusions, an informed, assertive friend or relative can get the job done for you. Be the Chief Executive Officer of your life and delegate responsibility within reason.

The words that follow are many, but they present an important point for you the reader, your loved ones plus the medical staff addressing your medical issues:

When a person already taking medication(s) is admitted to a hospital or outpatient clinic, they usually receive new medications or changes are made to the medication they've been taking all along. That can present some serious health problems for people with drug sensitivities. They might become sicker or their medical problem will not be adequately addressed while they're in the hospital or clinic.

Hospital-based staff members are not mind-readers. Worse, they tend to be crushed by heavy schedules and excessive responsibilities. They can't easily access every - or any - patients' complete medication lists. Communication lines might falter or not even attempted. Medical professionals down the line aren't always able to know of recent medication changes. As a result, the new medication regimen being prescribed during the hospital or clinic stay, then at the time of discharge could 1) Omit necessary medications, 2) Add too many drugs treating the same problem, 3) Cause physical harm or 4) Hold incorrect dosages that simply do not help the patient.

Sometimes the situation happens in front of you the patient as you scream, beg and plead in vain for someone to pay attention and to prescribe the medication you need versus the stuff they want to ply on you.

The patient and the medical staff share a problem called "A need for medication reconciliation." How that is to be accomplished is one serious matter. I've resolved it live on the spot for a few people.

If you are facing the problem, you need to alert all medical personnel of the issues affecting your health. But what if relevant people aren't paying attention to you the patient, or to your loved ones demanding better care? See the LISTEN to the Person Before You: Lessons for Caregivers section in this book. You can print it out, along with this page, and give copies to nursing supervisors, the head of the medical department treating you and anyone else you deem appropriate. 

Here are a few more suggestions: Print out the "Don't Tell Me You 'Understand'" poem on page 7 and hang it over your hospital bed. Practice more patient-protecting ideas. Delegate authority and have loved ones or friend present facts to relevant medical personnel. Learn how to successfully advocate for yourself in dire medical straits. Practice until you get it right.

If the medical personnel before you are rude (be sure that you remain polite 24/7!), here are a few practical suggestions for ending accusations, sarcasm and other negative things hampering good communications:

Respond to a provocative, perhaps false or misleading statement by saying “That's interesting… tell me more.” If things do not improve, ask “Why would you say that?” or “Why would you ask that?” and “Why would you do that?” If at any point you’ve heard inappropriate remarks made to or about you, a neutral-sounding “Oh” just might quell the nastiness coming your way.

Seek out a hospital social worker or ombudsman/ombudswoman if necessary. It’s their job to mediate difficulties and to resolve them to the patient’s satisfaction.

One more thing: Know why you take prescriptions medications. Here are some questions to ask your doctors and nurses when they give or prescribe medication (cremes, pills, powders and all kinds of potions) to you:

WHAT is this medication for and what does it do?

HOW should I use it and what can happen if I don’t use this medication?

WHEN/How soon should I expect this medication to work for me?

WHAT should I do if I have a problem with this medication?

Can I safely take this medication with all my other medications and the foods I eat? Even with my vitamins?

The reason is this: You need information so that you keep making safe decisions with your healthcare. You might know of a valid personal reason for not using a specific medication (drug sensitivities, expenses involved etc.). Alert your medical team members of your concerns and ask all the questions you wish until you're sure you know why you have to use a specific drug, and how to use it safely. Take notes so you can remember necessary information. Feeling rushed, scared, tired or embarrassed can make you forgetful. So can the average day filled with other details.

Avoid harming yourself due to mistakes that can be avoided.Some medications should be used on empty stomachs, others only with meals. Some creams and oils stain clothing or skin. Perhaps you should not expose yourself to sunshine while using specific drugs. Drowsiness might make using certain machines (cars, trucks) dangerous. Be aware of what is involved. Get the facts straight and take notes so you can remember necessary information. Normal people tend to forget details. Notes help you to remember them.

You need realistic expectations of your medical treatments. Know up front if you must be patient for specific effects to occur. Side effects can be surprising but not dangerous. Some can kill. Be alert to the need to reach an emergency room if your medicine makes you worse off than before. Take notes so you can remember necessary information

Some foods, such as dairy items, can limit the effects of specific drugs. Vitamin supplements might not be compatible with certain drugs. Clarify the dietary guidelines. Take notes on answers to all your questions. As a matter of fact, list all your medications in a handy notebook you can study in once glance. That can save you time, money, fear and heartache.

Click on the title at the end of this sentence, or the book cover above, to 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. 

Figure out what you need to do to promote your health.

 

It's Talk About Your Medicines Month!

B'SD

27 Tishrei, 5775

The new year has been filled with blessings and heartaches. Normal life. 

The best way to deal with pain is to focus on things that improve your quality of life.

On that topic, the American Recall Center (see the ARC Facebook page) contacted me, to request that I join selected bloggers "... to bring light to a topic that is not often talked about, medication safety."

I've chosen selections from the the EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book about the misery of taking medications, the "Why ME?" conundrum, and suggestions for improving compliance with taking prescribed medications. 

Keep coming back to this blog for the 5-day series of posts coming up. 

Here's Part 1:

It’s Hard to Cope

The pressure is on. We want to be heroes at saving our own lives, or somebody else wants us to be heroic. Sometimes we feel like quitting this scary situation. As the mental pressure builds, our minds sort of explode. We might start asking "WHY? Why is this happening to me?"

We don't ask that question because we necessarily want an answer. I suspect that what the question is really about is this: We're accusing GOD of having made a mistake- a BIG mistake. We don't believe we deserve the troubles, tribulations and pain that we're in. I'll return to this line of thought in a bit.

Not knowing the answer to "WHY?" can make a suffering person feel infuriated. That can lead to a sense of guilt. We're not supposed to be angry with GOD; we're supposed to accept whatever He gives to us. Acceptance is a process. A normal person needs time to come to grips with their medical crisis. You are normal. You need that time, too. You're normal if you're ready to move on from the pointless speculation and still feel upset. It means you have courage, the ability to take sound action despite your conflicting and/or confusing emotions.

Let's examine the "Why ME?" question a little more. My hunch is that when people ask "Why ME?" they really want to ask, "How can I get out of this situation?" My personal approach is that I start talking to HaShem (GOD) as if I were talking to Him on the phone. I state my case. I review the facts of my history. I've been basically good. I've messed up here and there. I don't understand how to relate to my suffering. I admit that we mortals are supposed to accept whatever HaShem (GOD) gives us and I tell Him that I'm working on that acceptance. I know that each setback is an opportunity to exercise my strengths and to improve on them. I focus on the reality that my prayers are part of my relationship with GOD. I list the things for which I'm grateful, and tell Him so. And I tell Him what I want to happen to me.

Then I work on accepting the situation as it is. At other times I visualize desired improvements. The bonus is that during the whole painful adventure, I sometimes gain insights into behaviors and attitudes that aren’t serving me well. Some of them, I realize, are counterproductive. So I set goals for changing myself for the better. It tends to be a plan that works. You might have had similar experiences. In any case, focus on what’s not serving your interests, explore ideas for productive changes you need to make, and nurture those changes along.

What if you're a person who feels so much guilt about what you did or did not do in life? What if you're afraid that you DESERVE this medical crisis?

And how can you deal with the searing pain of people who callously respond to your questions with trite clichés such as “Why is a crooked letter (and hence a forbidden question),” or “We can never know ‘why’”?

I have two user-friendly responses to those questions:

1.   You need to sort the issues out with a friend, loved one, effective therapist or sensible clergyman/woman. Then you can use the above exercise.

2.   GOD knows we all have misery in our memories. GOD is a realist. Our spiritual heroism comes from grappling with the memories and going forward with/despite/because of and in spite of them (fill in the word or phrase you prefer to use).

Here’s a caveat to keep in mind with some critics who lack insight or sympathy with your situation (this is not a license to wallow in self-pity!): Remind yourself (perhaps your critic, too) that their condescending comments are fueled by a one-upsmanship point of view. They are not appropriate responses to someone experiencing shock and misery. The critic is coming from a position of comfort, failing to empathize, to see life from your point of view.

HaShem (GOD) does not endanger anyone struggling to become a better person with Double Jeopardy. Once we make focused efforts to stop our troublesome behavior (granted, it might take a few tries to succeed), He then credits us with the efforts and ultimately with our successes. We DO NOT get punished for past misdeeds once our character improvement effort is accepted. We are further appreciated for the effort we invested in ridding ourselves of character defects. Forgiven is forgiven, no two ways about it. One road to self-improvement is to ask “Why me?” It works for people genuinely interested in self-improvement, insight and inner peace. Think of the concept that “I’m not what happened to me, I am what and who I choose to become.”

The “Why me” mindset is most definitely not a legitimate tool for manipulators sucking unwarranted sympathy from other people. Being well-adjusted, even happy - no matter what went on in your life - is a personal matter. You need to do your inner work to make your own life better. It is not everyone else’s job. They have their own lives to live.

Still grappling with the concept of a GOD Who’d “do this" to you? I understand. Life is one lo-o-o-n-g lesson in humility. Acceptance is a process amidst uncertainty. There’s no One Size Fits All way to help all of humanity to love GOD with the individual medical or other crises each of us faces. Here’s my suggestion for resolving the dilemma one person at a time: Consider the fact that GOD created the concept of love.

He/She (Hebrew prayers and Jewish texts describe GOD/HaShem in both masculine and feminine pronouns) knows more about the entire scope of love than we do. We mortals only have a tiny peephole into the cosmos, let alone into our hearts or someone else’s. Our comprehension of reality is therefore limited.

You know that parents must permit painful injections into beloved little children: it’s a means of preventing deadly diseases. The tykes wail and scream bloody murder, but doctors and parents/guardians are heroes for facilitating necessary medical care despite the hot tears and juvenile efforts to run away from the scene. Eventually those recipients of shots or terrible-tasting medicines reconcile themselves with the necessity of discomfort to ward off death or disease. We humans submit to surgery and other uncomfortable treatments in order to minimize suffering. We realize that the medical professionals are not cruel for cutting into us or for filling us with chemicals. They are helping us, though our pain and emotional turmoil are part of that helping process. Doctors suffer emotional torment, too. Their goal is not their pain and suffering or ours; it’s the effort to promote healing and to minimize suffering. Medical professionals know that though they’re hurting you, the medical process can help you. GOD works the same way, to a more spiritual degree.

When you go to your ultimate reward and see that Instant Replay of Your Life video we keep hearing about, the one that the Heavenly Court plays after we arrive for Judgment Day, you WILL NOT SEE your misdeeds on screen. GOD forgives you completely. Your enduring concern touches Him deeply and your commitment to being good is a great accomplishment. You did the best you could under your specific circumstances. He will NOT hold the past against you. Why? Because you created a beautiful future with goodness-oriented life.

Click on the book cover above, or on the title at the end of this sentence, to 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. 

Feel the pain, and go forward anyway.