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 5 Elul, 5775 Let's keep focusing on resilience for a bit. The EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge book and this blog have explained how to lower your pain with the Pain-o-Meter technique, laughter and more. Here's something from today's headlines. It's based on a sound principle. See if it works for you:
If I understand the premise of EFT correctly, it has much in common with the techniques described in the article. So do other de-stressing strategies. Speaking of stress, yesterday I endured my semi-annual vision exam at the eye clinic of the hospital where'd I'd had life-saving brain surgery 10 years ago. The agony of anticipation about scary news at such exams long ago turned into wonder, delighted laughter and spiritual insight. My vision, once written off as "impossible to recover," has made enduring progress for a decade. Not steady progress, rather the stuff that makes medical professionals and merely human me realize that GOD is controlling the result of my efforts, I recently began following a macrobiotic menu, in the hopes that the focus on "Balance" could well serve my once traumatized, ever-recovering brain. I even invited you to share a delicious macrobiotic dinner with me, so to speak. Perhaps macrobiotic menus have promoted the phenomenon recorded in yesterday's findings: My double vision is abating. I see a binocular "picture" from time to time, with increasing frequency and over increasing amounts of time. I plan to celebrate the development at a gourmet macrobiotic dinner with some friends, next week. Stay tuned. Sometimes the efforts we make pay off in surprising, unpredictable, unforeseen ways. 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 sensible options.
I recently responded to an ad seeking information about pain management. It could prove instructive to you. Here's the ad:
RE: 2) Summary: Pain Management Products
Name: - - -
Category: Biotech and Healthcare Email: [removed] Media Outlet: MSM Deadline: 1:00 PM EST - 11 May Query:
I am compiling pain management products for an upcoming "Pain Management" magazine published by USA Today. I'm looking for products aimed at relieving chronic pain for all parts of the body, including feet, back, and head. I am only interested in non-drug-related products. These might include but aren't limited to insoles, heating pads, rubs, etc.
Requirements:
Please reply to this query with a brief description of the product and, if available, a link to more information. Please do not send attachments as they will not make it through the [XYZ] system. I will contact you for additional information, images, and pricing once we've narrowed down the submissions. Thanks very much!
Here's my response to it:
Dear [identifying info removed], I suggest reading the Coping with Pain section in It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry If I Need To: EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge for solutions that cost less than a few dollars. Some readers have hugged me in gratitude for those "THEY WORK!" ideas (specific food items, a thin bar of ---- under the fitted bed sheet and specific homeopathic drops placed under the tongue, among other suggestions!)
The e-book and print edition save lots of wear and tear on a reader's nerves, let alone their wallets. Doctors recommend this book for a reason. It's helping people worldwide.
All in a day's work (mine starts before dawn). Early this morning I sent this message in response to an information request from a USA Today Reporter:
Katy I suggest reading the Coping with Pain section in It's MY Crisis! And I'll Cry If I Need To: EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge for solutions that cost less than a few dollars. Some readers have hugged me in gratitude for those "THEY WORK!" ideas (x, y, z and then some!) The e-book and print edition save lots of wear and tear on a reader's nerves, let alone their wallets. Doctors recommend this book for a reason. It's helping people worldwide.
Name: Katy Tomasulo USA Today Category: Biotech and Healthcare Email: Media Outlet: USA Today Deadline: 1:00 PM EST - 11 May
Query:
I am compiling pain management products for an upcoming "Pain Management" magazine published by USA Today. I'm looking for products aimed at relieving chronic pain for all parts of the body, including feet, back, and head. I am only interested in non-drug-related products. These might include but aren't limited to insoles, heating pads, rubs, etc.
Requirements: Please reply to this query with a brief description of the product and, if available, a link to more information. Please do not send attachments as they will not make it through the HARO system. I will contact you for additional information, images, and pricing once we've narrowed down the submissions. Thanks very much!
Here's an informative bit of pain management news for Becker's ASC Reviewand beyond: Surgeons preparing to do corrective surgery on my feet were astounded to learn that I had not been taking any pain killers for the deformity currently messing up my walking abilities. How astounded? The head of the department asked me if I was afraid to reveal how much medication I take, as the situation was affecting my ability to even stand, run or walk! He informed me that most people find the situation unbearably painful.
I assured the doctors that
the pain management tips shared in
have served me well. I literally ate the foods or took the vitamins listed there. They minimized or canceled the pain altogether. The only reason I'd sought the surgical consult is because time and the repeated use of my feet and legs have worn down some of the parts. That caused an awkward gait. I need to walk with greater stability. So, I'm going to have corrective out-patient foot surgery in the foreseeable future.
Pain management specialists, anesthesiologists and nurses can learn quite a bit from the book. So can the average reader. The first time I'd had surgery for the situation was almost a drug-free experience. I simply meditated as the surgeon rearranged the bones and muscles for me. I only needed pain killers to a small degree, near the end. That surprised the staff supporting me.
Many of my real life and cyber acquaintances are in physical pain due to accidents and/or to eating nutrition-challenged "foods" for Easter (candy only looks cute in the box, not in your gut) and Passover (too often overloaded with sugar and eggs, let alone matza). It's a memorable lesson in the harm that sugar and dietary excess can cause to human bodies.
Here are some helpful and quite economical tips from the "Coping with Pain" section of
I was in a freak accident in which my left elbow and ulna (a long, slim bone in the forearm) were broken in multiple locations. I’d been left-handed lifelong.
My disability was significant and my level of pain due to the complicated fracture was too awful to describe here. I took powerful painkillers that only removed a bit of the mega-wattage agony. Doctors in the hospital eventually gave me morphine so I could endure arm-saving surgery.
Physical therapy was a matter of raw courage. I wept through several sessions, struggling to restore the use of my hand, forearm and upper arm. I stopped taking narcotic painkillers over time, fearful of addiction problems from prolonged use.
Then I gradually put together an all-natural pain-reducing plan that worked.
Here’s some potentially helpful information for anyone healing from a bone fracture as I did, or for anyone interested in protecting their bone health.
I minimized the pain by:
· Using my Personal Pain-o-Meter (explained a few paragraphs below)
· Listening to soothing music
· Sitting in cheer-me-up sunshine (which provides Vitamin D for strong teeth and bones) with and without friends
· Basing part of my grocery list on advice from Dr. Neal Barnard’s Foods That Fight Pain book. I bought it after interviewing Dr. Barnard about some of his innovative health-promoting techniques several years ago (I’m still a health writer/journalist for hire, folks).
Shop as I do and you just might feel better after buying from the organic green-grocer and health food store:
Almonds with Raisins (really!)
Beans (soak them for a day, changing water 2-3 times so you won’t develop belly bloat)
Broccoli Capsaicin Cream (a natural remedy made of chili pepper extracts!)
Fresh and powdered Ginger Root
Fresh Figs and/or Fig Jelly
Sweet Potatoes
Vitamin B6 (50-150 mg)
Vitamin E 400 IU
Zinc
I ate the foods in abundance and took the vitamins once daily.
These old standbys also helped me:
· Arnica Montana (a natural remedy that resembles tiny white pills)
· Cuprum Metallicum (a natural remedy that also resembles tiny white pills)
· Rescue Remedy Cream
· Rescue Bach Remedy Drops
· Any bar of soap at all. I have no idea why this folk remedy works, but after I place a bar of soap under a sweatshirt sleeve, under sheets, or upon some other area of sore muscles, the pain reduces noticeably.
Be sure to visit www.NutritionMD.org for more information about the role of nutrition in a variety of diseases and conditions.
Oh – if you or the person you're caring for can't swallow pills, here are some possible solutions to the problem:
Crush the pills. Place them in a plastic sandwich bag and step on them if you lack a pill crushing appliance. Then mix the bits with applesauce. Be sure to shake all the powder into the applesauce, too.
Warm liquid jell-o is another alternative. Pudding works. So does pleasant-tasting yogurt. The idea is to provide a slippery, pleasant-tasting food in the mouth so that the medication will go into the tummy with it. The pleasant taste prevents gag reflex problems. The slippery textures make the swallowing much easier despite the fear of swallowing the pills. And children will be eager for more dessert at medication time. Be sure to remind them that the medicine is not dessert, the pudding, applesauce, jell-o or yogurt perform that yummy job.
Do you suffer from leg cramps that wake you during the night? I sympathize. Here are my suggestions for preventing them:
PREVENT LEG CRAMPS
1. DRINK WATER - dehydration can play a part in leg cramps.
2. Stretch your calves during the day and night, especially before bed.
3. Riding a bicycle is one of the best preventatives, but a stationary bicycle a few minutes in the evening can help, too.
4. Keep your blankets and sheets loose at the foot of the bed to prevent your toes from pointing downward as you sleep.
5. Prolonged sitting, poor or abnormal posture or inefficient biomechanics (possibly related to poor flexibility) may cause leg cramping. Compensate as best you can.
6. Do the "Seaweed Soak": eating seaweed and drinking seaweed previously soaked in water before a meal. Eat, juice or blend good amounts of green leafy vegetables (parsley, squash, Swiss chard, etc.) and carrots, etc. Munch on sesame seeds and even add them to nut milks (e.g., almond milk). These foods hold tremendous amounts of magnesium, calcium, etc. which are very important for muscle comfort and function. You can learn about juicing and making nut milks in books or online.
7. Mix 1 teaspoon organic honey and 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Drink it once daily to prevent muscle cramps.
Certain leg stretching exercises can also help.
1. Stand 30 inches from the wall. 2. While keeping your heels on the floor, lean forward, put your hands on the wall, and slowly move your hands up the wall as far as you can reach comfortably. 3. Hold the stretched position for 30 seconds. Release. 4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 two more times. 5. For best results, practice this exercise in the morning, before your evening meal, and before going to bed each night.
Let's shift focus now, to Mind over Matter. Want to know how a Personal Pain-o-Meter works?
My recovery from that severely broken arm (doctors had to install a permanent metal brace under the skin, along my bones, in order to save the arm) had been challenging, to put it politely. I'd wept from awful, awful pain that major painkillers (including morphine) hardly affected. But I learned to cope with the agony by reducing it at will. Now I'm ready to share that technique with you.
Want relief from the physical pain of your medical condition? Try this nifty trick. Turn down the dial on your Personal Pain-o-Meter, a terrific technique that friend/Life Coach Ben Goldfarb taught me. Pain that does not serve a function is pain we can banish at will.
Go on. Create a dial in your mind. Study it. Say the level of your pain out loud: "On a scale from one to ten, ten being the worst level of pain, I have a pain level of... (fill in the blank with a number from 1-10)," then say this out loud, "I can lower my pain. I'm lowering it to (name the ever-lower wattage at each new pain-lowering session)..."
Then do it. Imagine the arrow on your Personal Pain-o-Meter dialing downward. Push it down with your mind. Choose to reduce your pain. Aim for less than half your present pain level.
Try again until you make progress. Yes, I know it's difficult. I do this exercise, too. My physical therapy workouts were not pleasant. C'mon. Try it again.
You can set aside time as often as needed to work at aiming that arrow increasingly down. You'll know you've succeeded when you realize that your discomfort feels significantly less than it felt earlier. Keep spinning that arrow down until your pain is as low as possible.
Ta-daaa, this is your one-step solution for pain reduction:
CHOOSE TO LOWER YOUR PAIN, AND TO REDUCE YOUR SUFFERING.
Yes, your medical situation is painful. Heartache, physical pain that medications might not help, fear and, well, fill in the blanks.
You're facing unspeakable misery. But you can survive it. Make staying alive your hobby. Pursue health as much as you can. Pretend to be cheerful until you actually think of something funny or pleasant to say or do.
I have no control over how long you'll live, keep some of your body parts or how well medical intervention will work for you. But I know one thing: you can grab life by the collar, no matter how wispy it seems, and decide "I WANT MORE! I WANT BETTER!" Then make it so.
Behave with dignity. Thank the people trying to help you: aides, nurses, doctors, relatives, friends, strangers and neighbors. Cry as necessary, then commit yourself to coping with the problems you have. Find solutions.
Exercise hurts? Do 5 minutes instead of 10. Eating upsets you? Be sure to swallow basic nutrients and nibble away the rest of whatever's on your plate and tray.
What are you talking about? Aches? Pains? Anger? Disfigurement? Mourning? Anything negative? Does your voice have that "I must have said this 1000s of times already?" drone to it? Improve the sound.
STOP living in the trauma.
Live Your Life!
Look for joyous moments: lovely skylines, a hug, footrub, or lack of complications in some regard. You have a new "Normal." Go for the Gusto as best you can. Seize happiness, maximize pleasures no matter how small or big. FOCUS on them. Say pleasant things so people can hear you. Look for their signs of relief at hearing you speak this way. Share it.
Now, snuggle up in your bed or chair, wherever you may be, and bask in your victory. You're ALIVE, and proud of your behavior. You can repeat it, too.
The future can unfold with richer experiences. Let it. If you wish, share your richer experiences with me at Giveretgolani@gmail.com
That's some grim title on today's blogpost, hmm? But those three phrases are topics that attract some of the busiest cyber traffic at this "Cope with Medical Crisis" blog.
Readers interested in reducing the stress associated with all or only one of those topics will probably benefit many times over when they learn what's in
Turn your worried look into a sigh of relief when you breathe with a smile page after informative page.
Reduce your pain. Learn cutting-edge methods of curing and preventing cancer. Find out about quality, cost-cutting medical care, medication, medical appliances and medical transportation for people with many diagnoses worldwide, all in one publication: EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge.
Yocheved Golani Coping with a Medical Crisis? Make the Changes You Need in Your Life
Dr. Christopher Charms is one of several scientists developing an investigational technology for looking into the brain, particularly your own, and then programming it at will.
A Functional MRI-based technique, it can enable persons with neuropathy (severe pain) to reduce their suffering. It will allow someone with mental anguish to feel joy instead, and facilitate lots of other productive decisions/actions. It is a potential tool for enabling some paralyzed people to move at will.
Want to train your brain for optimum performance just as weightlifters build their muscles?
Shore up your understanding of free will by reading Buddhist philosophy about the mind ("The Places that Scare You" is my personal suggestion) and ANYTHING written by Rebbe Nachman of Breslav (a centuries-ago Jewish scholar who influences Judaic philosophy to this very moment). Then see Control Your Brain
The Functional MRI technique has its critics, but the future awaits the refinement of potential fMRI flaws and the improvement of human health.
BTW, I know to expect some flak from a few of my readers because I suggested Buddhist reading material. Consider that suggestion to be my far-flung invitation to some readers who can now try to realize that when Biblical Abraham sent his children EAST, they carried teachings based on the Jewish Torah with them. Over time, these philosophies, bodies of knowledge and practices became diluted by political pressures, personal imperfections (greed among them) and simple forgetfulness. The origins of many eastern mindsets are actually based upon Judaism.
OK, back to the physical-emotional health purpose of my blog. For more promising news, check out this Israel 21 C video for a brief glimpse about how to overcome the tremors of Parkinson's Disease and to use your limbs effectively: Israeli company leads the gray product revolution
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Suffering with a Medical Crisis? Been there, done that, wrote a book about it, and going forward into the future
Want to learn many more can-do healing/coping strategies? Then read, benefit from, and tell others about It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To.
Order it in book stores anywhere if it’s not on the shelves. It's MY Crisis! And I’ll Cry if I Need To can be shipped worldwide. Specialty editions are available for large organizations.
