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!
The message is non-denominational. Each of us can set ourselves free from the slavery of our minds: doubts, fears, sadness, bad health habits, you name it.
Great shot, huh? I have no idea whom to thank for the hilarious picture sweeping Jewish monitors worldwide. But it sure captures an updated look at why so many so many people hit the beach for Spring Break. Jews started it all, so to speak ;^ )
Moses and his Boss meant for this to be
a kosher time of year, on many levels.
I'll be celebrating the Passover Festival of Freedom from Egyptian Slavery for 7 days (the quickie explanation is that we call it Pesach to signify the miraculous "Passing Over" of death) starting tomorrow evening.
I'll be off my PC and praying thanks for our deliverance. And with a more focused than usual mode of thought, I'll join fellow Jews in asking The One Above for more blessings throughout the world. All of us need better quality in our lives some way or another.
One quick item: Tomorrow will be the Once in 28-Years Opportunity to thank The One Above for the sun (and the healing, nurturing powers S/He put into it). ClickBircat HaChama andOorahto learn about the event.
To your good emotional and improving physical health,
Yocheved Golani Coping with a Medical Crisis? Make the Changes You Need in Your Life
PS - If you need an emotional lift right now (holidays kind of suck the happiness right out of you when you're ill or upset about something), watch the following video and follow it with a Prune Juice Chaser or a fruit/vegetable salad. Matza is not gentle on unconditioned tummies:
Johns Hopkins researchers want YOU to eat all the broccoli sprouts on your plate (hmm, take a little extra, too). Why? They've learned in a pilot study that broccoli sprouts could very well protect you from stomach cancer, gastritis, and even stomach ulcers!
“The highlight of the study is that we identified a food that, if eaten regularly, might potentially have an effect on the cause of a lot of gastric problems and perhaps even ultimately help prevent stomach cancer,” says Jed W. Fahey, M.S., Sc.D., an author of the paper who is a nutritional biochemist in the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Cancer Chemoprotection Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
Boaters will be surprised to learn that tailwinds are also helpful to people who've experienced debilitating strokes. "Tailwind" is the name of a new rehabilitation device on the medical market. It helps people to regain physical strength and coordination.
I've worked with stroke patients and deeply understand the frustration and struggle of relearning how to control muscles. The following news report sheds light on a once dark part of medical life. Share it with anyone who's had a stroke and with their medical team:
Secretaries from a medical office called me the other day. They keep a copy or two of my book in the waiting room. They happily reported that patients are in love with my book, which they read while waiting for the doctor to tend to them. "One lady said your book is helping her to survive the whole mess!" I heard.
The secretaries are letting patients saddened with their medical problems know that they can order my book online or order it from stores.
What about
seriously ill people
who are upset with
the soft spring season
that so mismatches
their unhappy emotions?
The Pesach/Passover holiday arrives next week. Other holidays abound around the world. And each one is hard to enjoy, if at all, when you or a loved one is facing a medical crisis.
You have a problem. My book can help to solve much of it.
Keep reading to learn about how to simplify the struggle into some manageable chunks ;^ )
How to Cope with Medical Crises Five Steps for
Simplifying the Medical Care Monster
Reduce your stress. Simplify how you'll deal with your medical diagnosis and all the hard work it involves. Break what seems to be an overwhelming project into small, manageable tasks.
You're in shock.
Tears are flowing.
Tempers are flaring over
a medical diagnosis
about someone
important to you.
There's lots of work to do
and hardly any time for doing it!
Let's reduce your stress by
taming the medical monster
as much as possible.
Break this project into
5 manageable tasks.
Do each task one by one.
1. Buy a large dayplanner with: spaces for listing appointments; spaces for making daily and monthly notes; a plastic business card holder for inserting biz cards from each doctor, social worker and therapist you need; and a phone directory in which you can list friends to call for transportation to appointments, childcare help, a bit of reassurance from a friendly voice and anything else you care to add.
2. Each time you make an appointment with a doctor or therapist, immediately mark it down on the appropriate date in that dayplanner. Include that person's complete contact information: phone, cellphone and fax numbers, E-mail address and physical address.
If you're supposed to send them relevant information or bring it with you, jot down details in the same area where you noted the appointment. If you need more space, fill in the "Notes" area.
Then label a large manila or clear plastic folder with the words: For (Medical Professional's Name). Fill it with the requested information as you locate it: CDs, X-rays, medical reports, blood test results, whatever you've been asked for.
If you have questions for the professionals you're working with, list them in a separate notebook. Keep that notebook with your dayplanner at all times, especially when you're heading to the appointment(s). That way you'll read your remarks and remember what to ask instead of thinking "I forgot what to say!" before the appointment ends.
Ask for the medical professional's business card at each appointment. Place it in the plastic biz card holder of your dayplanner. Do your best to keep the cards in alphabetical order.
3. Make a list of helpful neighbors, friends and relatives on a blank sheet of lined paper. Create headings a few lines apart: Meals, Household Help, Kid Care, Shoulders to Cry On, and Transportation. Under each heading, list the names of the people who've agreed to do that task, plus their phone and cellphone numbers and E-mail address, Post that paper where you can easily see it: on a bulletin board, on the refrigerator, atop your night table in the bedroom, or on a desk.
As you fill up the page you'll notice the blank spots of jobs that still need doing. Ask someone you trust to help you to find out who can do that job for you while you focus on healing and coping with your emotions.
4. Take a time out every now and then to focus on what's going right! Breathe sighs of relief that the job list is filling in, that stuff is getting done, and that you're arriving to medical appointments as scheduled. Listen to music you enjoy, watch a video that fills you with happiness, and say something pleasant to each helpful person as they interact with you. Ask for back rubs, foot rubs, a massage or something desirable that people around you can easily provide.
PS - Halachically observant Jews can find Passover intimidating due to the unusual situation regarding medications at the holiday season. Here's a helpful site (in Hebrew) with comprehensive information regarding the kashrut (kosher status) of medication on Pesach (and throughout the year):http://www.kosherpharm.co.il/
To your ever-improving coping skills,
Yocheved Golani Coping with a Medical Crisis? Make the Changes You Need in Your Life
I want to balance out the dreary news I've provided to you lately. So I'm about to share a documented fact that can put a BIG smile on your physically, emotionally tired face:
Religious Beliefs that Support the Believer in Socially Productive Ways do indeed block anxiety and minimize stress. Psychological evidence proves it.
Think of The One Above sighing and smiling with you through all the ups and downs of dealing with your medical crisis.
I know in every cell of my mind and body how difficult it is to accept this idea. However, I once faced death this way. It can be done. Practice the pro-you G'Dly concept. S/He is.
