Patient-Empowering Privacy

B'SD

4 Elul, 5775

It's a new year, may it be brimming with sweet blessings for the world at large.

I'm clinging to the marvelous moods and spiritual highs of the Rosh HaShana holiday followed by a most meaningful Shabbat spent with precious people. 

I have no words for the love shared between me and my friends, and the love that we share for the Torah-oriented life. I doubt that I'll be on the Internet much for the next day or so, as I stay with and cherish the sensations.

Privacy is so necessary when we need to bolster our emotional lives. So, I'll let Rami Klinstayn sing of those emotions for me. 

May 5775 be a source of unending blessings, worldwide. 

Here are the lyrics, in Spanish and Hebrew (I'll post the English-language version if I finish the translation task in reasonable time):

Es otro viernes, respiro el aire
la luz y la sombra juegan otra vez a atraparse
la mesa está puesta, fotos de infancia en el muro
caravanas blancas vuelven de la sinagoga
y el aroma aquel que me rasguña el corazón
se cuela se cuela y abre puertas
a una pequeña alegría a la misma vieja canción
que ha pasado por nosotros a lo largo de las generaciones

Pequeños regalos
alguien me ha enviado pequeños regalos
fragmentos de convicción, círculos de fe
pequeños regalos alguien me ha enviado
pequeños regalos

Es otro viernes, terraza y periódico
el sol tal como las preocupaciones lentamente se van borrando
melodías simples se arrastran por la ventana
y ya ninguna tormenta esconderá por aquí el silencio

Ze od yom shishi noshem et ha’avir
ha’or vehatzel mesachakim shuv tofeset
hashulchan aroch tmunot yaldut al hakir
shayarot levanot chozrot mibeit kneset
vehareach haze shesoret li et halev
mitganev mitganev vepoteach dlatot
el osher katan el oto shir yashan
she’over etzleinu bemeshech dorot

Matanot ktanot
mishehu shalach li matanot ktanot
resisim shel kavana igulim shel emuna
matanot ktanot mishehu shalach li
matanot ktanot
kmo hakoach lekabel et ma she’ein et ma sheyesh
ma od efshar kvar levakesh

Ze od yom shishi mirpeset ve’iton
hashemesh kmo hade’agot le’at nimcheket
manginot pshutot zochalot mehachalon
veshum se’ara kvar lo tastir po et hasheket

זה עוד יום שישי נושם את האוויר
האור והצל משחקים שוב תופסת
השולחן ערוך תמונות ילדות על הקיר
שיירות לבנות חוזרות מבית כנסת
והריח הזה ששורט לי את הלב
מתגנב מתגנב ופותח דלתות
אל אושר קטן אל אותו שיר ישן
שעובר אצלנו במשך דורות

מתנות קטנות
מישהו שלח לי מתנות קטנות
רסיסים של כוונה עיגולים של אמונה
מתנות קטנות מישהו שלח לי
מתנות קטנות
כמו הכוח לקבל את מה שאין את מה שיש
מה עוד אפשר כבר לבקש

זה עוד יום שישי מרפסת ועיתון
השמש כמו הדאגות לאט נמחקת
מנגינות פשוטות זוחלות מהחלון
ושום סערה כבר לא תסתיר פה את השקט

מתנות קטנות…

OK, back to the mundane business of this patient-empowering blog: I want to share a thought with you.

Be careful about the Patient Privacy initiatives you support. Privacy is a necessity. But extreme privacy can present danger to your health.

The last line of the California Medical Association Challenges drug-tracking system in court article explains the serious risk mentioned above, and the risks of rash decisions.

Empower Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge, 

using information that promotes the goal. 

Read

Click on the  image above and buy the  E-book or print edition today.

See you later this week. I'm going to reflect a bit more on the wholesome happiness I feel, first.
 

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism. 

Fill your life with facts you need to know.

 

Promoting Morality in the Medical Research World

B'SD

27 Elul, 5773

Medical research is a mystery to many people. Some of us hope that the researchers "Know what they're doing." Others of us worry "What ARE they doing? Especially with my body parts/pictures/laboratory samples etc?"

Not everything goes into a trashcan.

The Henrietta Lacks saga brings 
a medical research nightmare

to heartbreaking life.

Listen to this TedTalk about the need to sort out the moral and medical issues for many compelling reasons.

The Henrietta Lacks story teaches important lessons about patient privacy. 

Protect yours with 

• Pro-active questions, 
• Memos to medical practitioners and a 
• Constant inquiry into what is being done with your removed or repaired body parts and lab samples (your urine, blood, mucus, spit, feces, cells, skin, etc.).

Follow up on troubling comments and situations. 

You are your own best advocate. Have a relative or friend assist you if necessary.

Patients can be active in improving health care. Patient passivity is so decades-ago!

 
Part of being a patient is about being treated with respect, before, during and after surgical or medical procedures.

Need to know how to protect your privacy - and your preferences -  even as you lie in a hospital bed? Read the E-book or print edition of EMPOWER Yourself to Cope with a Medical Challenge. It clues you in on how to deal with rudeness, life and death issues and yourself. 

Face Your Medical Problems with Dignity. Face Your Future with Optimism. 

Face threats to your privacy with forthright statements and actions.