Are You Winning YOUR Life?

Was It A Coincidence or Was It God?

2011-12-20T15:07:00.000-06:00

Sometimes we do have these moments in life where we say things like, "It's was just a coincidence", "Wow, what a coincidence that was", or numerous other comments like that. But it's very seldom that we consider the possibility of it being Divine Presence. There are many times in my life where I can look back and say that those 'so called' coincidences where in fact a Divine Presence, can you?

You know the moments in life I am speaking of don't you? The ones when we catch our breath and glimpse God's presence. Sometimes it is when we see the glowing face of a sleeping child, sometimes it is when we hear a song. These moments, which shine for an instant and then vanish in a flash, convey a sense of the Divine.

Every leaf, every blade of grass bears God's imprint. But these days most of us are urban dwellers leading hectic lives, and have lost the connection to the earth that enriched our forefathers and helped them see God. Obscured by skyscrapers and the haze of polluted skies, we can barely see the stars, let alone sense a Divine Presence.

Living as so many of us do, lives of alienation and despair, how can we help ourselves reconnect; to God, to one another, to our very selves?

Beyond nature, there are teachers, other experiences that can help us along our journey. These guides, beacons of light and signposts in the labyrinthine wilderness in which we wander, offer us gentle instruction and compassionate encouragement as they firmly propel us back to the path from which we may have strayed.

These experiences, common to us all, can help lead us to our unfulfilled destiny. They occur within the great universal flow of energy, and require nothing more than our sheer awareness of their presence. When consciousness is cultivated and perception is heightened, these experiences can serve as vital tokens of growth and transformation. To encounter these moments in their fullness and richness, to be aware of their message and hear their music, is truly to know God. And predominant among these experiences is the phenomenon we call coincidences.

Coincidences have been defined as luck, chance, a fluke, something our of the ordinary, or a random conjoining of inexplicable events that defies our sense of the reasonable. I firmly believe that coincidences are much more than simple accidents or quirks of fate. To me, coincidences are blessings, the spiritual manna that hosts of angels send down to illuminate our path. They are vivid, striking, awe-inspiring examples of Divine Providence. They are acts of God.

Thousands of years ago, God spoke to man through sublime miracles he preformed on massive scales. We are not so fortunate. Today we wrestle with a hidden God, a concealed God, a God who no longer parts seas, stops the sun, or turns people into pillars of salt. Instead we have coincidences. Smaller, more personal, everyday miracles. For when a coincidence does take place, it is nothing more and nothing less than God tapping us on the shoulder, whispering, or at times even shouting: "I'm here! I'm with you!" Coincidences are God's way of remaining anonymous.

Coincidences can also be seen as opportunities for change, vital keys towards expanding our consciousness. If we can learn to become more aware of and attuned to coincidences, more cognizant of their significance, that we will evolve to a higher state of being. When we integrate both the experience and the meaning of coincidences into our lives, we open ourselves to the enriching possibilities, the blessings, and the sense of harmony with the universe that they offer.
I heard a story once of a holy man who radiated an unusual aura of inner peace and joy. An unearthly, almost celestial glow shone from his body, and attracted vast crowds who pursued him everywhere. They would call to him, "Are you a God?" "No." he would answer. "Are you an angel?" "No." "Are you a prophet?" finally he said, "No, I am simply awake."

Coincidences are everywhere and can happen at any time. When your soul is ready, they will come. All that is required is that you open your heart.

JOYFUL COOKING IN THE PURSUIT OF GOOD HEALTH with Joy Feldman

2011-11-03T12:36:00.000-05:00

Join us on today's show live at 1pm CST, or listen to the recorded version of it at:

www.rsdcoachlive.com

Our guest today is:

Joy once believed her route to making a difference in society was to become a lawyer and was successful in many different fields of the law.

After a while she grew tired of the politics of law and pursued work in the area of education. As Joy was tutoring children in schools she noticed that many children were undernourished and could not concentrate on their studies. She went back to school pursuing a Masters Degree in Holistic Nutrition as well as one-on-one mentoring by Dr. Lawrence Wilson, considered one of the foremost suthorities on nutrition and on the science on mineral balancing.

When Joy became sick with an autoimmune disease that left her virtually crippled from the neck down, she had a 2 year old that she could not care for, and realized then that she didn't want to spend her life being ill. A few months of individualized nutritional balancing program, all her blood work normalized, and her vitality and health gradually became restored. She had tried many types of nutritional programs prior to this, but only nutritional balancing made a difference in her health.

Today Joy is an Integrative Holistic Health Nutritional Consultant and Health Coach.

Learn More: Joy Feldman

Learn about HBOT for RSD from Dr. Allen Spiegel

2011-11-01T10:43:00.000-05:00

(TODAY'S SHOW IS AT NOON CST)
If you can't make the LIVE show, you can listen to the Archived edition.
Go To: http://www.rsdcoachlive.com to do either.

Dr. Spiegel has been practicing Neurology for 24 years in Palm Harbor, Florida. He is actively involved in pharmaceutical clinical trials to further the availability of new medications to assist in the treatment of neurological disorders.

Dr. Spiegel will explain to us the benefits of the HBOT (Hyberbaric Oxygen Treatment) for those of us with RSD (Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy).

Learn More: Dr. Allen Spiegel

CALL IN YOUR QUESTIONS: 347 - 324 - 5661

Stanford scientists work towards developing a “painometer”

2011-09-13T17:34:00.000-05:00

By Tracie White on September 13th, 2011

About two years ago, Stanford neurologist Sean Mackey, MD, PhD, was asked by defense lawyers in a workman’s compensation case to serve as an expert witness. A man, burned by chemicals at work, wanted compensation from his employer for chronic pain, and his attorney was attempting to use brain scanning evidence to prove that his client was in chronic pain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans of his brain showed heightened activity in a network of regions associated with pain. But the question was, did this prove he was in pain?
According to Mackey, definitely not. The case was settled out of court.
“I was very critical of the findings,” Mackey recently told me. “In fact, they had not proven that this person had chronic pain. He may well have been in chronic pain, but current technology could not determine this.”
That experience helped spark Mackey’s interest in working toward finding technology that could someday achieve such a goal. Now, a study based on work from Mackey’s lab has taken a first step toward the development of a diagnostic tool that would use patterns of brain activity to give an objective physiologic assessment of whether someone is in pain.
The press release I wrote about the study, which was published online in PLoS One today, specifies that this is preliminary research and that much more needs to be done before the creation of a usable “painometer.” But early results are promising:

Researchers took eight subjects, and put them in the brain-scanning machine. A heat probe was then applied to their forearms, causing moderate pain. The brain patterns both with and without pain were then recorded and interpreted by advanced computer algorithms to create a model of what pain looks like. The process was repeated with a second group of eight subjects.
The idea was to train a linear support vector machine — a computer algorithm invented in 1995 — on one set of individuals, and then use that computer model to accurately classify pain in a completely new set of individuals.
The computer was then asked to consider the brain scans of eight new subjects and determine whether they had thermal pain.
“We asked the computer to come up with what it thinks pain looks like,” co-author Neil Chatterjee said. “Then we could measure how well the computer did.” And it did amazingly well. The computer was successful 81 percent of the time.

Such a tool, which could possibly be useful someday in a court of law, has long been sought after by physicians, Mackey told me. The current method of “self-reporting” – when doctors ask patients to rank their pain on a scale of 1-to-10 – is limiting, he said. Too many patients, especially the very young and the very old, have difficulty communicating pain. “Wouldn’t it be great if we had a technique that could measure pain physiologically?” he asked.
Previously: Using philosophy to create a vocabulary of pain, No pain, no gain. Not!, Relieving Pain in America: A new report from the Institute of Medicine, Stanford’s Sean Mackey discusses recent advances in pain research and treatment and Oh what a pain
Photo by El Gran Dee

Mum quizzes Games chiefs in TV debate

2011-09-13T12:00:00.000-05:00

Mum quizzes Games chiefs in TV debate

10:00am Tuesday 13th September 2011
By Emily Roberts

A BASINGSTOKE mother was in the national spotlight when she took part in a televised debate about the 2012 Olympic Games.

Michelle Harding’s six-year-old daughter Emily was promised a major role in either the opening or closing ceremonies, having been born on the day Britain won the bid to host the games, back in December 2004. But organisers back-tracked on their pledge and instead said the 700 children could only have a minor role in their local torch relay ceremonies instead.

As reported in The Gazette, Mrs Harding, from Oakridge, launched a campaign and petition with other angry parents.

She was subsequently invited to take part in The Olympic Debate, broadcast on the BBC in London, with London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe and London mayor Boris Johnson.

The pressure and publicity resulted in London 2012 organisers offering the children to be part of the opening ceremony of the Paralympics instead. Mrs Harding, who has four other children, said the decision was a “compromise.” She added: “I and some other parents wonder if this was just a response for the TV audience on the day.”

Despite her initial disappointment, Mrs Harding said she has now come around to the idea.
The 37-year-old suffers with a condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), which came on suddenly five years ago. It involves a malfunction of the nervous system that leaves her in constant pain, often resulting in her having to use a wheelchair.

She said: “There is a lady who is competing in the Paralympics who has the same condition, so it’s quite nice that Emily is going to be part of that. When I told her she was really happy.”
However, organisers have only promised one ticket, which means either Mrs Harding or her husband will have to miss out.

She said: “It’s not very fair. The whole thing has been a lot of stress and I don’t want to jeopardise my health any more, but we will try and get another ticket.
“No one has apologised for why they changed their minds. I think the reason they changed their minds was because of the publicity. I still have my doubts about whether it will actually happen, but we’ll see.”

Shop owner who was found dead had K2, painkillers in system

2011-01-13T17:25:00.002-06:00

Shop owner who was found dead had K2, painkillers in system

By JOSEPH BUSTOS - jbustos@nwherald.com

Comments (5 comments) | Add Comments

McHENRY – The owner of House of Glass, who was found unconscious and later died in November, had K2 along with painkillers in his system.

The McHenry County Coroner's Office, which completed its investigation this week, said there was K2, and the Painkillers: Methadone, Morphine and Lyrica in Fred Evans' system when he died.

Evans also had Clonazepam and Topiramate, both of which are used to control seizures, in his system.

However, the coroner's office could not determine what caused Evans' death. Evans also had an enlarged heart and that could have played a role, said Robert Locke, the deputy coroner.

Evans had a chronic pain condition called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, Locke said, and had prescriptions for all of the drugs.

Evans also wasn't healthy. He weighed 325 pounds and was 6-foot-2. He had trouble walking and used a wheelchair, McHenry Police Detective Sgt. John Birk said.

Locke said this case was the first confirmed McHenry County case of someone who has died while having K2 in his system.

"Hopefully it's the last," Locke said.

Evans, a Holiday Hills resident and owner of the House of Glass in McHenry, died Nov. 30 after he was found unconscious at the store with another man. Evans was 57.

Carbon monoxide poisoning was ruled out as a cause of death, and there were no odors or visible smoke when emergency crews arrived.

Birk said the other man, a McHenry resident whose name is being withheld by police, confirmed that he and Evans had used K2 earlier in the day. Video surveillance also showed that Evans did smoke something within an hour of becoming unconscious.

The 38-year-old McHenry man was found unconscious, but breathing, on the ground. Evans was found slumped over in a wheelchair. He was not breathing, officials said. Evans was pronounced dead at Centegra Hospital - McHenry.

K2 is Synthetic Marijuana. It has been marketed as incense for aromatherapy. People smoke the product, and it mimics the effects of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana.

K2 became illegal in the state on Jan. 1.

No criminal charges will be filed as part of the case, Birk said.

The coroner's office completed its investigation on Tuesday.

Check This Out..Then Ask Yourself: "What Would Happen?"

2010-11-11T23:43:00.000-06:00

It's Been Longer Than I Thought....

2010-11-10T23:17:00.002-06:00

I knew it had been a couple months since I had posted last, but I had no idea it had been since July!!!! Good night how the time sure does fly....even when you really aren't having all that much fun. =)

Let me share a bit about what has been going on with me since my last post.
In March my eldest son and his wife decided to call it quits on their marriage, so they split up. Well, a couple weeks after he moved o
ut, there was another man living with his wife and 2 year old daughter!! Oh NO she didn't....Oh YES she did!!!!
Needless to say it was an extremely stressful time for all of us really. I started keeping "My Little Apple" (nickname my other grand-daughter, "My Only Sunshine", gave her), every week usual
ly starting from Thursday through to Monday or beyond. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't arguing about being able to spend so much time with her, because she is "My Little Apple" - 'Apple Of My Eye' and I would do anything for her or any of my family members....and most of my friends and their children, wouldn't you??
Then August 5th came around and I was to be keeping "My Little Apple" for a couple weeks while her mother moved to Las Vegas with this other man, because his children and ex-wife live there. Yes, you read that correctly!!
So, not a problem, I was more than willing to keep her because I knew that once she moved I wouldn't see her as much if any really, and that was an extremely hard pill to swallow!! But I had resigned myself to that fact and decided I was going to thoroughly enjoy each and every minute that I had "My Little Apple"!!

As you can imagine, I was praying for a miracle to happen....anything that might prevent this precious little girl from having to move so far away. At her young age (2 yrs old) it wouldn't be long before she would pretty much forget me and all those special moments we shared while she was in my care. (My husband helped with her as well...just giving credit where it is due!).

Ya know, it actually felt as if there was a death without anyone dying....ya know??
It was like, I knew that in a couple of weeks my time with her; teaching her the ABC's; teaching her the letters in her own name and knowing it when seeing it; teaching her to use her spoon and/or fork when eating; teaching her how to hold a pencil/crayon to write her numbers and/or letters; teaching her to sing - not only her ABC's, but songs like 'Row Row Row Your Boat' and 'This Little Light Of Mine'; my singing her to sleep with 'I Surrender All'; teaching her to count past 10; teaching her to pronounce words properly...or where they could be understood; teaching her to say please and thank you; and most of all....teaching her to 'feel' Love and to know that, without a doubt, she IS Loved - was all going to be taken out of my daily routine and who knew when I would see, hold, or hug her again. It was like walking around with a knife flopping in and out of my heart!! So, I began to cherish every moment we had and hopefully build memories that will last a lifetime for her as well as myself.

Then, God answered my prayer!! August 25th her mom was flying in to pick up "My Little Apple" and fly back to Vegas with her the following day. Trust me, the day was an incredibly long day too!! Anyway, I went to the airport to pick up her momma and didn't take "My Little Apple" because she didn't have a nap and was the fussiest I had ever seen her be, so I left her at home with my husband.

While I was waiting for the plane to come in, I was talking with this other lady and her two kids about all the ways the airport has changed. About that time I heard (we'll call her 'Jane' as not to use her real name) Jane's voice saying, "That's my mother-in-law right there" and I turned to see her walking with this man who happened to Hispanic as the lady I was talking with was. (Keep in mind that this is a very small airport where the planes they use are what we call 'Puddle Jumpers' so it's not like there were tons of people everywhere). So I 'assumed' the man Jane was with was the husband or family of the lady I had been talking with. I stood up and began walking towards them, when he put his hand out and asked if I was this ladies mother-in-law, of course I said yes. Then he begins to tell me that he is with Immigration and is taking Jane to jail because her passport/visa had expired....in 2002!!

Now I promise ya, my mouth dropped open so wide you could have driven one of those puddle jumpers up in there!! I was so shocked and couldn't say anything, I mean I knew she was from England and had been here illegally prior to her and my sons marriage, but once that happened I again 'assumed' that would seal the deal and she was now a US citizen because she married one.....boy was I wrong....they never did the paperwork after they got married to make it legal.

I was also super surprised because I didn't even know we had immigration like that in our town. (Yes, I'm in Texas and we have border patrol in the border towns, but I am not close to a border town, so I had no clue they were here). He does allow Jane to talk to me for a minute and she asked where her daughter was. I explained about her foul mood because of no nap but she is doing really good otherwise. Then off they go and that was the beginning of a journey I never imagined myself traveling .... ever!!

To make a rather long story, and one that isn't finished yet, short....their divorce also included a fight for custody of their daughter, which is pretty much a normal outcome of a divorce when there are kids involved. BUUUUTTTT.... not only did this journey start out as 'not the norm' kind of thing, the divorce proved to be somewhat 'off the beaten path' as well!!

Without giving all the gory details, I'll just say that the fight for custody wasn't just between Jane and my son....but my husband and myself petitioned for custody as well. That's right, we feel it would be best if we had custody because we can provide a stable, healthy and loving environment for her better than either of them could.
Yes, we were nervous at first about taking that step, especially since Texas doesn't have "Grandparent Rights" per say, but more and more are petitioning and winning so we did it. When we started the court hearings would be over that day or so everyone thought.....nope, 3 days later, that spanned over 3 weeks full of all the nasty truth of how she began living a most unscrupulous life and even said she didn't feel she did anything wrong or immoral. (I will leave things to your own imagination about what I am talking about).

After we were done presenting, the judge said he would give us his ruling the beginning of the following week and we ended on a Wednesday.
When Monday rolled around we really didn't think we would hear anything on that day....and we didn't. But on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we were sure we should have heard from him, but we didn't. So we were positive we would hear his ruling on Friday, so we could have a great weekend we thought, but nope, no word! Talk about time standing still but rushing past ya at the same time....these days were the epitome of that!!!! Finally on Wednesday we received his ruling, my son was awarded custody, but not sole custody...joint custody. UGH!!

Needless to say, Jane appealed that ruling and because of that, we also appealed it. We now go back to court, before another judge, to re-do this whole mess again and see if anything will change on Nov. 17th. Yep, next week!! I must admit, I'm looking forward to it, and then again....I'm not. Yes, I want the decision to change but NOT in favor of Jane at all....in favor of us of course, but will be satisfied with the decision as long as Jane doesn't get managing custody (or whatever it's called) know what I mean??

Anyway, there ya have it...pretty much all things that have been going on with me other than still working as a RSD Coach™ and doing my weekly radio program; "Winning Life Through Pain". It's been a busy busy, actually borderline hectic, few months!! But....so many things have happened to show me that God does perform miracles, does hear your prayers, and is there when you need Him most!! He is such an AWESOME God!!!!

Hope your lives have been less active but most of all .... just as full of the love!!

Thank You All &
~God Bless!~

Compound being developed to treat the core symptoms of autism

2010-07-01T21:50:00.001-05:00

Cellceutix Autism Research Demonstrates Increase In Serotonin Levels In Three Areas Of The Brain

Main Category: Autism
Also Included In: Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 24 Jun 2010 - 4:00 PDT

Cellceutix Corporation (OTCBB: CTIX) is pleased to announce that they have completed another study in the research of KM-391, their novel compound being developed to treat the core symptoms of Autism. Cellceutix is pioneering research in autism treatments and has been making solid progress with pre-clinical research as announced in previous press releases.

Neonatal serotonin depletion and decreased brain plasticity are established observations in the autistic brain. The Cellceutix team has identified a reliable animal model and has been successful in chemically inducing these characteristics in the model. The data collected to this point has been promising as KM-391 has shown to be successful in altering the serotonin and brain plasticity levels resulting in physical and behavioral changes in the model that are similar to the "non-autistic" control groups.

The latest research involved physical measurements of serotonin levels in the cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and caudate nucleus areas of the brain. Several groups of rats were established with two of the groups being injected to induce the symptoms of autism. After 48 days, the brains were assayed for serotonin by ELISA with the data showing that the administration of KM-391 significantly increased serotonin levels in all 3 regions of the brain: cerebral cortex, hippocampus, and caudate nucleus, from very low levels as observed with the induced autism to normal levels as observed in placebo treated control which received no treatment.

George Evans, Cellceutix Chief Executive Officer, commented, "This new data is highly relevant as it reinforces the data from previous studies and further solidifies our contention that serotonin levels in multiple brain regions may be a necessary key to the next generation of autism treatments."

Source:
Cellceutix Corporation

Air Force colonel claims lack of oversight in reserve health care

2010-05-18T18:30:00.003-05:00

by David Ham

13NEWS / WVEC.com

Posted on May 13, 2010 at 11:41 AM

Updated Thursday, May 13 at 12:19 PM

HAMPTON -- An Air Force reservist is pleading to Congress for help.
Col. Doug Strand injured his leg in a motorcycle accident two years ago while reporting for duty at Langley Air Force Base. Now he suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a painful nerve disorder.

To qualify for Tricare, the military health care coverage, he had to be placed on active duty, but there was a delay instead of it being automatic.

"I had to travel around in crutches I bought on the Internet in order to collect up paperwork to prove to them I still had problems. That was just wrong," said Strand.
Strand has been tied up in administrative red tape.

After months of contacting the Air Force Reserve, he got the coverage he needed.
In the meantime, he and his wife were burdened with bills and with trying to pay for the medical coverage out of pocket.

"I said, 'honey, this happened to you, a colonel, so I say this will happen to thousands of soliders,'" said Van Strand.

Strand wants an Air Force Inspector General’s Inquiry and has filed a Congressional Complaint.

"That's all we're asking them to do is comply with the laws that are already there. So there needs to be enforcement of the existing laws and accountability," said Strand.

Just last week, Strand visited Rep. Rob Wittman (R-1st District) to explain the problem. He was transported by ambulance because of his disability.

Rep. Wittman sent 13News a statement in regard to Col. Strand’s situation saying, "If a reasonable solution isn’t found, that’s a case where we need to take a careful look and see if improvements are needed."

"My concern is now these hundreds of thousands of other reservists and guardsmen from other branches of service are now going through what i'm going through," said Strand.

A spokesperson from Air Force Reserve said that oversight is different for each type of reservist but could not go into detail.

Source

Feldenkrais clinic is alternative-health hideaway

2010-05-12T23:55:00.006-05:00

Villager photos by Tequila Minsky

The article’s author getting a Functional Integration lesson from Feldenkrais practitioner Marilyn Bakun at the Union Square Feldenkrais center.

By Kathryn Adisman

You’re greeted by…silence. The only sound — breathing. Both clients lie on tables.

John, a practitioner, sits on a stool and angles a board to the sole of Meche’s foot, lightly grazing each toe.

Pat, another practitioner, sits behind Chris. With one hand on his hip, one hand on his spine, she appears to be listening intently. As Pat rolls him forward, Chris exhales — a sign that the client, or “student,” is letting go of muscular contraction.

This is the scene the evening I go to observe what could be Downtown Manhattan’s best-kept secret in the health and wellness field. It happens in a room, tucked away on the 10th floor of a 19th-century office building on the corner of Union Square West. Every Thursday, four clients can book an appointment for an individual session, for a cost of just $25. Spectacular low fee, plus a view of the Empire State Building. Psst! It’s the New York Feldenkrais Clinic.

I’m late, and I missed the interview portion of the first session. Observing along with me is this week’s supervisor, Cynthia Kopyar. Behind the door with a sign reading, “Feldenkrais® Associates,” an unusual form of communication seems to be taking place. A full-service center offering classes, workshops and private sessions, Feldenkrais Associates, under director Amber Barbara Grumet, is home to the once-a-week clinic.

The clinic is volunteer. Its purpose is twofold:

to serve as community outreach and an educational resource, making private sessions affordable — and at the same time, giving new practitioners a place to practice. It began nearly five years ago, the brainchild of co-directors Kira Charles and Karen Donelson.

Though from different backgrounds, both came to the Feldenkrais Method in the 1980s reluctantly. Charles, an attorney, tried it for writers block.

“Begrudgingly,” she said, she attended a weekend workshop “to get it over with.” At the end of the weekend, she said she realized, “What just happened to me?” Today Charles works full time as a Feldenkrais practitioner.

Donelson, a former dancer, was a physical therapist, when her supervisor talked her into teaching Feldenkrais classes to chronic-pain patients. She became a Feldenkrais practitioner to be a better physical therapist.

Donelson admits that at first she had the stereotypical attitude: “What’s all this rolling around on the floor? It didn’t make any sense to me. I’m an athlete and a dancer. This is for people who have pain and aren’t very active.”

She had reconciled herself to numbness whenever she sat for long periods. After the first summer of her training, the numbness was gone.

“It had totally changed my life,” she said. “All I knew was…I just felt great!”

The method that bears his name was developed by Moshe Feldenkrais (1904-’84), a Russian-born Israeli engineer, physicist and judo martial artist, after suffering a debilitating knee injury. It’s often defined by what it’s not: massage, chiropractic, osteopathy, physical therapy, Pilates, Alexander Technique.

“It’s a neuromotor learning method,” Donelson explained. “We provide movement experiences that educate the system into how it was designed to work.” The Feldenkrais Method is practiced in two forms: Awareness Through Movement (A.T.M.’s), done in group lessons, and Functional Integration (F.I.’s), done in hands-on sessions.

The day I show up for my “F.I.” with practitioner Marilyn Bakun, Donelson is the supervisor. In the interview, Bakun asks me, “What brings you here today, Kathryn?” I complain of difficulty walking because of pain in my right foot. After my session is over, I’m amazed that I’m standing more equally on both legs.

This is the magic of Feldenkrais. Instead of attempting to fix the problem part, the FM approach supports the person’s pattern. Huh?

Explained Donelson: “The distinction — in contrast with physical therapy — is really looking at what the person’s doing versus the isolation of a fix.”

Bakun concurred: “It’s a systems approach. Looking at the whole person, we recognize habits and that we can have more options in life than our habits afford us.”

Bakun — who noted, “I never got past Hatha I” — learned it was possible to improve. Her introduction to Feldenkrais happened in her West Village neighborhood when she bid on a lesson during a silent auction at P.S. 41. She got on the table, fully clothed, and when she got up, she recalled, “I had the experience my muscles had relaxed without being kneaded [as in massage]. It awakened my curiosity.”

Bakun teaches Feldenkrais at Gilda’s Club (named for Gilda Radner of “Saturday Night Live” fame, who died of ovarian cancer) on West Houston St. Charles outlines three categories of people who can benefit from Feldenkrais: athletes and performing artists who want to improve their “game”; those with chronic pain, from arthritis to carpal tunnel syndrome, or who are seeking stress relief; and people with neurological issues, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis or cerebral palsy.

Chris, a new practitioner, who was taking a lesson at Union Square, said of the method, “It’s calmed down my whole nervous system.”

Marion, a clinic regular and veteran of adult ballet, said attending an Awareness Through Movement class led by Charles showed her the effectiveness of Feldenkrais.

“I could feel things happening as I was doing them — without effort,” she said. The less effort, the more things flowed. The pain in her knee went away.

The “radical message” of Feldenkrais, said Marion, is opposite everything we’ve been taught: “no pain, no gain.” Based on the pleasure principle, Feldenkrais’s motto could be: “less pain, more gain.”

“My generation [boomers] prizes independence: You’re only good as long as you’re mobile,” she said. “We’re looking for something that will give us mobility.”

Interest seems to be spreading, as current research into neuroplasticity and aging confirms what pioneer Moshe Feldenkrais realized years ahead of his time about the brain’s capacity to learn. Chronic syndromes are more common than ever due to widespread computer use — all of which contribute to a quest for something that will alleviate stress and discomfort. Could Feldenkrais be the next big thing?

Meche, a psychoanalyst and clinic devotee, recommends it for people who want to feel better.

“It has to be experienced,” he said. “There’s an ‘Ah ha!’ moment… . No lesson is the same.” In contrast, he noted, “Yoga is repetitive. Boring.” Sadly, though, “People are reluctant to try new things.” Meche’s definition of Feldenkrais: “It’s an educational system that takes your body in a new direction.”

Said Charles: “A lot of people have heard about Feldenkrais, but have no idea what it is. The clinic offers a great opportunity to satisfy your curiosity without a big investment.”

Co-director Donelson said, “We’re in many ways ahead of our time. People are going to be catching up.”

Stasia, who works as an administrative assistant when she’s not swing dancing, said she felt fortunate to have an opportunity to try one-on-one, which she wouldn’t have without the clinic.

“I’m astonished this is not a six-month waiting list!” she marveled.

During Stasia’s session, a practitioner, Pat Carrozo, asked her, “Can you slow down?” — a mantra in the method. Supervisor Kopyar pointedly asked what did Stasia “need to learn?” then redirected her attention from pain to: “Where do you feel more stable?”

Stasia admitted she experienced a shift: “This is a practice that’s a perfect example of no mind-body dichotomy,” she said. “You get a little shot of yoga, a little bit of breathing… .”

Psst! You can experience a Functional Integration lesson for yourself until the end of June, when the New York Feldenkrais Clinic breaks for the summer, before it resumes “functioning” in September.

Feldenkrais Associates is located at 41 Union Square West, Room 1009. (Weekends and after 5:30 p.m., enter at 22 E. 17th St.). For more information, call 646-638-1369 or visit www.feldenkraisassociates.com

Adisman is a Feldenkrais practitioner

Source

Genetic Research Sheds Light on Chronic Pain

2010-05-07T13:22:00.003-05:00

THURSDAY, May 6 -- Chronic pain, which often occurs without an apparent cause, may be the result of accidental reprogramming of more than 2,000 genes in the peripheral nervous system, new research suggests.

The finding may someday lead to new drugs that treat pain by correcting the activity of specific genes, a method called transcription therapy, the researchers said.

In the study, published online in the
journal Genome Research, Mayo Clinic researchers focused on dorsal root ganglion neurons of the peripheral nervous system in rodents. These nerve cells are suspected to be involved in pain.

The researchers studied hundreds of millions of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules -- the messengers of gene activity. The team identified more than 10,000 new exons (sections of the genome involved in creating proteins) and about 400 candidate genes implicated in the pain response.

The new approach "may be an efficient new approach to a wide array of problems in neuroscience research," Dr. Andreas Beutler, Mayo Clinic oncologist and corresponding author on the study, added in a news release.

Chronic pain, which affects 50 million Americans, often fails to respond to available treatments, and costs the United States about $100 billion in health costs, lost time at work and other economic effects annually, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

More information

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about chronic pain:

Source:

Oldest Yoga Teacher In The World

2010-05-06T01:01:00.002-05:00

I found this absolutely incredible, inspirational, encouraging, and wonderful. Now it's your turn to watch this video and I would love to hear your thoughts.

How I Differ From You - Awareness

2010-05-05T16:19:00.001-05:00

How I Differ From You - Awareness

For anyone who suffers, or know someone who suffers, from Fibromyalgia:

1. My pain - My pain is not your pain. It is not caused by inflammation. Taking your arthritis medication will not help me. I can not work my pain out or shake it off. It is not even a pain that stays put. Today it is in my shoulder, but tomorrow it may be in my foot or gone. My pain is believed to be caused by improper signals sent to the brain , possibly due to sleep disorders. It is not well understood , but it is real.

2. My fatigue - I am not merely tired . I am often in a severe state of exhaustion . I may want to participate in physical activities , but I can' t. Please do not take this personally . If you saw me shopping in the mall yesterday, but I can' t help you with yard work today , it isn' t because I don' t want to. I am, most likely, paying the price for stressing my muscles beyond their capability .

3. My forgetfulness - Those of us who suffer from it call it fibro fog. I may not remember your name, but I do remember you. I may not remember what I promised to do for you, even though you told me just seconds ago. My problem has nothing to do with my age but may be related to sleep deprivation. I do not have a selective memory. On some days, I just don' t have any short - term memory at all.

4. My clumsiness - If I step on your toes or run into you five times in a crowd , I am not purposely targeting you. I do not have the muscle control for that. If you are behind me on the stairs, please be patient. These days, I take life and stair wells one step at a time.

5. My sensitivities - I just can' t stand it! "It" could be any number of things: bright sunlight, loud or high-pitched noises, odors . FMS has been called the "aggravating everything disorder." So don' t make me open the drapes or listen to your child scream. I really can' t stand it.

6. My intolerance - I can' t stand heat, either. Or humidity. If I am a man, I sweat . . . profusely. If I am a lady, I perspire. Both are equally embarrassing, so please don' t feel compelled to point this short coming out to me. I know. And don' t be surprised if I shake uncontrollably when it's cold. I don' t tolerate cold, either. My internal thermostat is broken, and nobody knows how to fix it.

7. My depression - Yes, there are days when I would rather stay in bed or in the house or die. I have lost count of how many of Dr. Kevorkian' s patients suffered from FMS as well as other related illnesses. Severe, unrelenting pain can cause depression . Your sincere concern and understanding can pull me back from the brink . Your snide remarks can tip me over the edge.

8. My stress - My body does not handle stress well. If I have to give up my job, work part time, or handle my responsibilities from home, I'm not lazy. Every day stresses make my symptoms worse and can incapacitate me completely .

9. My weight - I may be fat or I may be skinny. Either way, it is not by choice. My body is not your body. My appetite is broken, and nobody can tell me how to fix it.

10. My need for therapy - If I get a massage every week, don' t envy me. My massage is not your massage. Consider how a massage would feel if that charley horse you had in your leg last week was all over your body. Massaging it out was very painful, but it had to be done. My body is knot-filled. If I can stand the pain, regular massage can help, at least temporarily.

11. My good days - If you see me smiling and functioning normally, don' t assume I am well or that I have been cured . I suffer from a chronic pain and fatigue illness with no cure. I can have my good days or weeks or even months. In fact, the good days are what keep me going .

12. My uniqueness - Even those who suffer from FMS are not alike . That means I may not have all of the problems mentioned above . I do have pain above and below the waist and on both sides of my body which has lasted for a very long time. I may have migraines or hip pain or shoulder pain or knee pain, but I do not have exactly the same pain as anyone else.

I hope that this helps you understand me, but if you still doubt my pain, your local bookstore, library and the internet have many good books and articles on fibromyalgia.

Author's note: This letter is based on communications with people throughout the world, males and females, who suffer from fibromyalgia. It does not represent any one of the over 10, 000, 000 people with FMS, but it can help the healthy person understand how devastating this illness can be.

Please do not take these people and their pain lightly.

You wouldn't want to spend even a day in their shoes . ..or their bodies!

Do You??

~Author unknown

God Has A Purpose!

2010-03-19T11:59:00.000-05:00

Do you ever wonder why you are facing all the heart aches, challenges and difficulties in your life?

Watch this Butterfly movie! It has a SIGNIFICANT message for you.

Nothing in life is a coincidence. God has a purpose.

8 Embarrassing Sleep Secrets

2010-03-12T19:15:00.000-06:00

By Jennifer Soong
WebMD Feature
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

If you're confiding in a friend about sleep problems, the conversation might turn to topics like not getting enough rest or tossing and turning at night. But what about things your body does during sleep - like drooling, snoring, bed-wetting, or passing gas - that you might be embarrassed to talk about by the light of day?

For example, take Kindra Hall, vice president of sales at a network marketing firm in Phoenix. She admits that drooling excessively while sleeping is a major source of embarrassment, especially when she's been caught in the act. Soaked bed pillows and stained throw pillows are constant reminders of her humiliating habit.

"I'm very conscious about saliva control," Hall tells WebMD via email, "but as soon as my eyes are closed and I enter dreamland, all bets are off."

You might not even be aware of your sleeping habits -- until your bed partner clues you in. Sometimes, these behaviors are a part of the natural sleep process. Other times, what you might consider a nuisance -- like snoring -- could be a sign of an underlying sleep problem.

"It's important for people to realize what is a normal phenomenon versus something that needs further evaluation," says William Kohler, MD, medical director of Florida Sleep Institute in Spring Hill, Fla.

Here is the lowdown on your nighttime habits - why they happen and when they could be a sign of something more serious.

Habit #1: Snoring

An estimated 37 million American adults snore on a regular basis, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

Snoring is caused by airway narrowing and tissue vibrations in the nasal passages and throat. Snoring can be associated with colds and allergies, but can also be a sign of a more serious problem, like obstructive sleep apnea.

"It's not really the loudness that's concerning, it's whether the obstruction that's causing snoring is also causing respiratory impairment at night," Kohler says.

The verdict: Snoring is a common problem, but if you suspect that it's disrupting your sleep, you should get a medical evaluation.

Habit #2: Drooling

Drooling in your sleep can be a normal phenomenon or it can occur in medical conditions that increase salivation, Kohler says. If you drool regularly, you may want to find out if you are at risk for a blocked airway at night or sleep apnea.

The verdict: Drooling can be normal, but it can also be associated with other medical conditions.

Habit #3: Sleepwalking

"The odd things that happen in the night that get people's attention tend to be things that are scary or potentially dangerous, like complicated episodes of sleepwalking," says Helene Emsellem, MD, medical director of the Center for Sleep & Wake Disorders in Chevy Chase, Md.

"We should be paralyzed while we're in the dream phase of sleep. If there's a failure of the normal paralysis that protects us from acting out our dreams, then we can potentially be dangerous and inadvertently hurt ourselves or a bed partner," Emsellem says.

In extreme cases, someone might go into the kitchen, turn on the stove, and forget to turn it off without any memory of the incident.

The verdict: If you're acting out complex behaviors during sleep, it's time to see a doctor to figure out what's going on.

Habit #4: Talking in Your Sleep

Talking in your sleep, whether it sounds like a conversation or just mumbling, is usually harmless by itself. But screaming and yelling with intense fear are associated with night terrors, which are more common in children than adults. They occur during REM sleep, so you will not remember it in the morning.

The verdict: Don't lose sleep over talking in your sleep.

Habit #5: Bed-wetting

"Bed-wetting is embarrassing and distressing, but a once-in-a-blue-moon episode is not particularly concerning, especially if you're dreaming about going to the bathroom", Emsellem says.

"However, repeated bedwetting could indicate a problem, such as nocturnal seizures. Bowel movements during sleep are unusual", Emsellem says, "so one instance should merit a visit to the doctor.

The verdict: You can write off one bedwetting episode, but you should see a doctor if you have repeat performances.

Habit #6: Nocturnal Orgasms

"Nocturnal orgasms, sometimes referred to as wet dreams, can occur on a regular basis for men and women, typically during REM sleep. That's a normal phenomenon that occurs throughout our life." Kohler says.

The Verdict: Completely natural.

Habit #7: Flatulence

Passing gas can occur during sleep, but most people aren't aware of it. "It depends a lot on the GI tract and what you're eating," Kohler says. "There's nothing pathologic, but it can be embarrassing if your partner tells you about it." The verdict: Examine your diet if you're gassing up the entire room.

Habit #8: Twitching

"When you're nodding off, you may experience a release phenomenon known as a hypnic jerk. Your body may twitch, or you may experience a visual or audio component like seeing flashing lights or hearing a popping sound."

The verdict: Hypnic jerks are generally benign.

Time to Seek Help?

"For so many years, we've ignored sleep as being an important part of health," Kohler says. "We talk about nutrition, weight gain, weight loss, and exercise. Sleep is extremely important to our functioning. We need to be aware that both quality and quantity is important."

"People also need to be aware of what they're doing while they're sleeping. So stick to this basic rule of thumb: If you're having a persistent problem that is disturbing to you or your bed partner, get it checked out."

Source

Quick! Somebody Needs Help

2010-03-09T15:49:00.000-06:00

As a wife, mother, daughter, cook, chauffeur, and dynamic all-around woman, you are everyone’s go-to gal. Whenever the fridge is empty, the laundry room is full, or someone (including the dog) gets sick, it’s you who’s expected to step up, take charge, and fix it. Sure, you can handle the day-to-day. But for those times when things go dangerously awry, here’s how to really be clutch.

Splint a broken arm. The next time a little one (or Dad) falls off the play set, and you suspect he’s broken his arm, make an impromptu cast from a newspaper or magazine. Thick issues work best. (The September edition of Vogue, for instance, could splint a rhino leg.) Gently place his wrist palm down on top of it. Next, roll the magazine into a U-shaped cradle and secure with tape, bandage, or strips of cloth. Then get to the hospital.

Save a severed finger. If someone lops off the tip of their finger or toe with a kitchen knife or lawn mower, find the detached digit but don’t—repeat don’t—put it directly on ice. That could freeze and damage the tissue. Instead, wrap it in a clean, wet cloth, secure it in a plastic bag, and keep it in an ice-filled cooler until you reach the emergency room.

Restart a stalled heart. If you suspect someone is having a heart attack, call 911 immediately. Then while you’re waiting, try this: 1) Have them chew an 81mg aspirin; it’s a blood thinner; 2) Consider rubbing a pain cream like Bengay on their torso; preliminary research suggests its active ingredient (capsaicin) can stimulate nerves into quelling the attack. Of course, if the person is unresponsive, start CPR right away and continue until help arrives.

Give yourself (or Scruffy) the Heimlich. You probably know how to save another person from choking, but do you know how to save yourself—or a pet? If a piece of prime rib is caught in your esophagus, stand up, make a fist with one hand, and place the thumb side just above your navel. Using your other hand for extra force, press inward and upward with a quick, sharp thrust. If that doesn’t work, throw your weight forward over the back of a chair so the edge of the chair is driven into your abdomen. To save Scruffy from the same fate, use the same hand position as for yourself (below his rib cage). Apply firm, quick pressure on the abdomen until the Barbie head or whatever the heck he swallowed pops out. Accept his thankful licks.

Escape from quicksand. Should your trip into the bush to retrieve the team’s soccer ball drop you into a roiling bog, do this: Stretch out on your back, spread your arms wide, and move your legs in a circular motion until they come free. Then slowly do the backstroke out. Hey, don’t laugh, you never know where your Wonder Woman duties will take you!

Nurse anesthetists dispute Senate bill

2010-03-03T22:58:00.001-06:00

March 3, 2010

Don Mordecai and Victor Long

EDMOND — A bill that will dramatically decrease rural Oklahomans’ access to quality health care is moving forward in the state Legislature. Senate Bill 1133, by Rep. John Trebilcock, R-Broken Arrow, and Sen. Clark Jolley, R-Edmond, would remove certified registered nurse anesthetists’ ability to help Oklahomans manage chronic pain, something these graduate degree-trained providers have been doing for decades.

The state’s 500-plus nurse anesthetists are as well-trained in pain management as general-practice physicians and are equally able to offer Oklahomans with arthritis and debilitating injury a measure of relief. Yet any physician, regardless of training, will be able to provide pain management, while nurse anesthetists will not.

If SB 1133 passes, Oklahoma will become the first state to prohibit nurse anesthetists from practicing chronic pain management.

The bill’s supporters have yet to make a public-health case for its passage. Complaints against nurse anesthetists for providing pain management are nonexistent, and even rural doctors acknowledge that they often would be unable to offer pain management without nurse anesthetists.

Many of the state’s counties have no anesthesiologist. Nurse anesthetists practice in every one of the state’s 77 counties. Forty-one counties have nurse anesthetists only. Seventeen have nurse anesthetists and anesthesiologists. Overall, nurse anesthetists perform roughly 70 percent of anesthesia in the state. In rural areas it’s more like 85 percent.

If SB 1133 becomes law, Oklahomans with debilitating pain will have to drive hundreds of miles in some cases to reach the state’s population centers for treatment. For someone who can barely walk, this is quite a hardship. After receiving referrals, these Oklahomans will have to build relationships with new health care providers.

Contrary to some of the misinformation surrounding the bill, nurse anesthetists do not solicit patients. Every patient who receives their services has received a physician’s referral. Proper oversight is already there: If doctors didn’t trust the services nurse anesthetists provide, they wouldn’t refer patients to them.

The bill’s supporters claim that the law is needed to prevent the unauthorized practice of medicine, but the unauthorized practice of medicine already is prohibited by law. An attorney general opinion in 2008 rightly found that pain management is not considered the unauthorized practice of medicine. SB 1133 is an attempt to get around that opinion.

The state Board of Nursing has no complaints against nurse anesthetists for practicing pain management. If they aren’t providing sub-standard health care, it’s clear that this bill is little more than a money grab in the growing field of pain management.SB 1133 pass. The ultimate cost will be to Oklahomans: Nurse anesthetists are able to provide care for far cheaper than physicians and are able to offer it closer to where patients live. Driving to Tulsa and Oklahoma City isn’t an option for someone with chronic pain, yet that is what many will face should

The nurses are paid at 80 percent of the Medicare rate, while anesthesiologists are paid at 120 percent. Because many pain-management cases involve work-related injuries and are paid by Medicaid, the state will bear the increased cost at a time when it can ill-afford to do so.

It’s easy, yet misleading, to dismiss SB 1133 as one of the many scope-of-practice issues that appear in the Legislature. Oklahoma’s nurse anesthetists aren’t asking for an expansion of their responsibilities as has been the case with other health care providers in the past. Nurse anesthetists simply seek to provide the care they are trained and qualified to provide and have been providing for decades to the public’s benefit. Oklahoma legislators, especially those who represent rural areas, should do the right thing and preserve their constituents’ access to quality pain management.

DON MORDECAI is president of the Oklahoma Association of Nurse Anesthetists and VICTOR LONG is past president, government relations chairman of the Oklahoma Association of Nurse Anesthetists.

Source

Change the World

2010-02-27T11:54:00.000-06:00

This is a very unique video, please watch it all the way through....

You will understand it better once it is completed!!

Abused Kids More Prone to Migraines in Adulthood

2010-01-06T19:13:00.000-06:00

HealthDay News

Updated: 7:51 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

Posted: 4:07 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010

Children who were physically or emotionally abused or neglected are more likely to develop migraines and other chronic pain conditions as adults, a new study finds.

According to the researchers, their study and others have found stress caused by abuse can alter children's brains, making them more likely to develop chronic pain from such conditions as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis and arthritis.

"Stressful events in childhood, such as abuse, can alter the body's stress response permanently and predispose to a wide variety of medical and psychiatric conditions in adulthood," said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Gretchen E. Tietjen, professor and chairwoman of neurology and director of the Headache Treatment and Research Program at the University of Toledo Medical Center in Ohio.

It is not uncommon, she said, for people who've been abused to have a variety of debilitating conditions, including migraine.

"The linking of these comorbidities may be through abuse-mediated brain changes occurring early in life," Tietjen said. "Understanding the physiology of abuse's effects on the brain over the life span may lead to prevention or more effective treatment of migraine and associated conditions."

She was quick to note, however, that not all abused children develop migraines and not everyone who suffers from migraines or any other chronic painful condition was abused.

But those with a history of abuse "are more likely to have the worst cases of migraine," she said. "They are the ones most likely to have a lot of the other pain conditions."

The findings are reported in the January issue of Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain.

For the study, Tietjen's group collected data on 1,348 people with migraines who were seen at 11 outpatient headache centers. About 58 percent reported being physically, sexually or emotionally abused or physically or emotionally neglected during childhood. Also, 61 percent reported having at least one painful condition other than migraine.

Those who had been abused or neglected as children were significantly more likely to suffer from other chronic pain conditions than were people who had not been abused as children, the researchers found.

"Childhood abuse, especially emotional abuse and neglect, is very common in the population of persons seeking help for headache," Tietjen said. "Childhood abuse is linked to high frequency of headache in adults, and to headache-related disability. Persons with migraine who have been abused are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and from chronic stress-related pain conditions."

The researchers noted that different types of abuse appeared to result in different conditions. For example, physical abuse was linked with arthritis, whereas emotional abuse was associated with irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and arthritis, Tietjen said.

Physical neglect was linked to an increased likelihood of irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, interstitial cystitis and arthritis.

Women who suffered physical abuse or neglect as children were also more likely to have endometriosis and uterine fibroids. Emotional abuse was linked to both conditions as well, but emotional neglect was associated with uterine fibroids alone, the study found.

Dr. Walter Lambert, an associate professor and medical director of the child protection team at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, said that "adverse childhood events have significant long-term health risks in adulthood."

"It does not surprise me that people who reported emotional abuses would have more chronic headaches and migraines," he added.

Lambert also agreed that stress in childhood can change pathways in the brain, with neglect being the worst. Children can take only so much stress before it begins to affect their growing brain, he explained.

"As human beings," Lambert said, "we need nurturing -- both physical nurturing and emotional nurturing -- to flourish." Society needs to find ways to promote nurturing and stable environments for children to prevent maltreatment, he added.

Childhood abuse is a common problem, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In the United States, more than 3 million reports of abuse or neglect are investigated each year. Of these, more than 700,000 children are classified as victims of neglect or abuse.

Source

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2009-12-31T17:06:00.001-06:00

So long 2009 hello 2010....WOW Where has the time gone.....It was just December of 2008 and now.....Goodness Gracious how the time does fly!!

I want to wish each and every one of you a most Blessed New Years that is the best you have ever had, but not as good as those yet to come!!

Brittany Murphy Had "Large Amounts" of Prescription Meds in Bedroom

2009-12-22T15:17:00.000-06:00

Tuesday – December 22, 2009 – 8:39am

Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images for IMG

A shocking number of strong prescription meds were found on Brittany Murphy's bedroom nightstand before her sudden Dec. 20 death, according to notes from an investigator with the Los Angeles coroner's office.

According to the notes (obtained by TMZ.com), the medications included Topamax (anti-seizure meds also to prevent migraines), Methylprednisolone (anti-inflammatory), Fluoxetine (depression med), Klonopin (anxiety med), Carbamazepine (treats Diabetic symptoms and is also a bipolar med), Ativan (anxiety med), Vicoprofen (pain reliever), Propranolol (hypertension, used to prevent heart attacks), Biaxin (antibiotic), Hydrocodone (pain med) and miscellaneous vitamins.

The notes state Murphy "had been complaining of shortness of breath and severe abdominal pain" for 7 to 10 days prior to her death.

Around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, she went into the bathroom of her Hollywood Hills home and shut the door, according to the notes.

A half hour later Murphy's mother, Sharon, went to check on her daughter, opened the bathroom door and "discovered the decedent lying on the floor unresponsive," the notes read.

According to the notes, Sharon yelled for help. Murphy's husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, who was in bed, ran to the bathroom.

The notes reveal that Sharon called 911 and Monjack "attempted to revive the decedent by placing her in the shower and running the water." But Murphy "remained unresponsive and purged her stomach contents prior to the arrival of the paramedics," according to the notes.

When the paramedics arrived, Murphy was "without signs of life." Paramedics then moved her from the bathroom to the master bedroom, where they found the prescription drugs.

"A check of the nightstands revealed large amounts of prescription medication in the decedent's name. Also noted were numerous empty prescription medication bottles in the decedent's husband's name, the decedent's mother's name and unidentified third party names," the notes read.

According to the notes, "No alcohol containers, paraphernalia or illegal drugs were discovered."

The notes state that the night before her death Murphy "had consumed some noodles, leftover Thai food, Gatorade, water and tea with lemon."

The notes also say that Murphy had a history of hypoglycemia and was hospitalized in April 2009 for low blood sugar while on location in Oregon.

Monjack, Murphy's husband, told the investigator that during the 7-10 days prior to her death, the actress complained of shortness of breath and severe abdominal pains, but he was not overly alarmed because "she often suffered from severe menstrual pains."

After assessing the situation, the investigator concluded to police that "foul play is not suspected."

Source

Freedom From Pain

2009-12-20T01:34:00.000-06:00

Freedom from pain

A 24-year-old Christiansburg woman is regaining mobility and making plans to attend graduate school after treatment put her in remission from years of pain.

Anna L. Mallory

Sunday, December 20, 2009

CHRISTIANSBURG -- Brandy Sachs smiles more these days, even after gaining 30 pounds in one year.

For this 24-year-old, weight gain is a blessing and the least of her concerns.

In October 2008, Sachs weighed 76 pounds after she spent seven days in a ketamine-induced coma. She was the 55th patient to undergo the treatment in Germany. She emerged from the procedure with few memories and couldn't perform natural tasks, such as shivering.

The coma was designed to reboot her nervous system, and, doctors hoped, rid her of the decade-long bouts of pain associated with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, known now as chronic regional pain syndrome. The little-known condition she was diagnosed with at age 13 caused her to cringe in pain with any touch even as slight as a flutter of her brown hair. Walking was difficult, and her right foot had turned inward and would often swell.

Today, after a year's worth of ketamine boosters, doctors say Sachs is in remission. She's been RSD-pain free for a year and won't have to return to Philadelphia for infusions of the drug for another year, unless any changes occur.

While she isn't entirely pain, or medicine, free (she is on strong painkillers as a result of a back surgery that touched nerves, but that pain is not related to the condition), Sachs said a little pain is better than her previous state.

Always cautious, she prefers to say the condition is dormant, but she's pleased with her progress.

"I have RSD, and I'm always going to have it," she said.

She walks on two crutches and has become more active. She started driving on her own, went rock-wall climbing and can make two full laps around Walmart.

Mentally, Sachs said she still feels stuck at 16. Many of her memories -- and skills -- are fuzzy. Doctors said some memories may never return.

The physical progression also has been slow, although Blacksburg therapist James O'Connell said Sachs has made great strides. She's now working on the stationary bike and the treadmill to gain strength and tone her unused legs. He's trying to get her to wear regular shoes, instead of the orthopedic shoe created for her in Germany.

Sachs goes to physical therapy twice weekly. Just last week, she took her first steps in years without bracing herself.

"I'm so proud of her," said her mother, Lisa Sachs. For years, the mother and daughter could barely hug. "It still makes you smile every time you see her stand up," she said.

Around the house, Brandy Sachs still often uses a wheelchair. That's mostly to navigate the crowds of cats, dogs and people who swarm her parents' small Christiansburg home.

"It's just easier," she said. If she bangs any part of her body too much, the RSD could flare, and the pain might return.

In August, Sachs hopes to enroll in graduate school at Virginia Tech to study sociology.

Her parents said that step will be good for their daughter, whose life was overtaken by the condition.

Sachs' story has inspired many. In July, People magazine featured part of her story.

The family said the breadth of knowledge about RSD and CRPS is growing.

"When we first started with it, they knew nothing," Lisa Sachs said.

Brandy Sachs spent seven days

in a ketamine-induced coma and

went through months of ketamine

boosters to ease chronic pain.

Her physical progression has been

slow, but she is strengthening her

legs by riding a stationary bike and

walking on a treadmill.

James O'Connell applies resistance

to Brandy Sachs' foot during a physical

therapy session as her mother,

Lisa Sachs, looks on.

Brandy Sachs, 24, takes unassisted

steps Monday for the first time in years

during a physical therapy session with

James O'Connell in Blacksburg.

Photos by JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times Source

Raided doctor's patients complain they're "Left Out In The Cold"

2009-12-20T01:03:00.000-06:00

Raided doctor's patients complain they're 'left out in the cold'

By Brian Fraga

bfraga@s-t.com

December 19, 2009 12:00 AM

NEW BEDFORD — "Taylor's orphans" is how they are referred to by some in the local medical community.

When federal and state law enforcement authorities raided the Acushnet Avenue offices of Dr. Michael A. Taylor earlier this month in a drug investigation, hundreds of his patients found themselves without a primary care physician and with no way to get ahold of their medical records or to refill their prescriptions.

The patients say they have called other doctors but are either told the physicians are not accepting new patients or the earliest appointment cannot be made for two to three months. They are referred to emergency rooms or pain clinics to inquire about refilling prescriptions and are then told they will not receive any strong painkillers like OxyContin.

Some patients say they are being blackballed.

"I can't find a doctor. No one will take me, even for primary care," said Carolyn Lavoie, 68, of Fairhaven, who said she is diagnosed with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, a chronic neurological condition that causes severe burning pain over her body. Taylor prescribed her daily dosages of 50 milligrams of oxycodone and 15 10-milligram doses of methadone.

"It seems people consider most of (Taylor's) patients to be drug addicts, and that's just not fair," said Mike Miller, 44, of New Bedford, who has a diabetic ulcer on his foot and peripheral neuropathy in his legs. Miller said Taylor prescribed him a 30-day supply of 150 milligrams a day of oxycodone and 200 milligrams of morphine. Those prescriptions have run out.

"There are some of us who are legitimately sick," said Darlene Almeida, 44, of Acushnet, who is diagnosed with fibromyalgia and osteoporosis. She was prescribed four 50-milligram tablets a day of morphine as well as vicoprofen for break-through pain.

"I don't abuse my meds," she said. "I don't sell my medicine."

On Dec. 1, Drug Enforcement Administration agents in conjunction with state police detectives assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office executed a search warrant for records at Taylor's office at 3388 Acushnet Ave. The office has been closed since the raid.

Spokesmen for the U.S. Attorney and DEA offices in Boston declined to comment on the nature of the investigation. Meanwhile, Taylor, 58, has not been charged with a crime. His medical license has not been revoked, according to the state Board of Registration in Medicine.

Taylor did not return a phone call seeking comment.

In August, Taylor's secretary, Cathy Pereira, was arrested in a state wiretap narcotics investigation, accused of helping her husband, Paul J. Pereira, and associates obtain painkillers such as OxyContin with fraudulent prescriptions from the office.

An answering service for Taylor's office says someone is collecting patients' names, telephone numbers and addresses to eventually forward them their medical records, which were seized by authorities.

Several of Taylor's patients have gone to St. Luke's Hospital seeking help and have been instructed to call the SouthCoast Physician Referral Line, where an operator will give contact information for several doctors in the area.

When contacted, those doctors' offices say they are not seeing new patients for at least two months.

Taylor's patients have been calling the Greater New Bedford Community Health Center. Cynthia Champagne, assistant director of nursing, said the health center will accommodate the patients as much as possible.

"Anyone who calls for an appointment, we will give them an appointment," Champagne said, adding that she could not answer any questions about the patients' prescriptions.

Almeida said she last saw Taylor a month ago. She received a prescription for painkillers and was told to return Dec. 10. But she then heard from an acquaintance that Taylor's office had been closed. She was told the DEA had her medical records.

"I'm in shock," she said. "I can't believe this happened," she said.

Almeida said she called several doctors in the area but could not find a primary care physician who was able to see her. The best she could do was schedule an April 14 appointment at the downtown community health center. She was told her prescriptions will not be refilled before then.

"I don't know what I'm going to do," she said. "The pain. I end up in a ball. I can't even move... I know I'm going to end up in detox."

Lavoie's insurance company arranged for a March appointment with the community health center. She said she will run out of her pain medications on Christmas Day.

"I have a disease, and I need my meds to live," she said.

After weeks of frustrating telephone calls, Miller found a primary care physician, but his appointment will not be until February.

"Everybody thinks you're out to get narcotics," he said. "A lot of us were using the meds for what they were meant to be used for, to ease our pain."

Patricia Thompson, 65, of New Bedford is still without a new primary care doctor. She broke her sternum and tailbone several years ago and said she cannot sleep at night or walk without holding onto something. Taylor placed her on Percocets, 30 milligrams eight times a day.

Taylor "was a very good doctor. He was concerned about his patients," said Thompson, adding that she went to St. Luke's Hospital after her doctor closed his office. She said she was given 12 5-milligram Percocet tablets and told she would not be given any more.

"I'm being thrown out in the cold," she said. "It's not right. It's not like I abused my medication, but no one's giving me an answer."

Source

This really upsets me!! My heart goes out to ALL of "Taylor's Orphans"!! My thoughts and prayers are with you ALL on coming through this without extremely harmful repercussions!! ~God Bless "Taylor's Orphans"

My Friends Little Sister - Cristie Noel Campbell

2009-12-17T13:48:00.000-06:00

I have to share this video with you all.
It is my friend's little sister whose name is Cristie Noel Campbell.
She is helping to lead worship at her church at Bethesda Community Church near Ft. Worth, Texas. She has an incredible voice and everyone needs to hear her singing this song!!

Mr. Bluelight's Christmas Countdown

2009-12-09T11:42:00.001-06:00

Hotel Blamed for Complications of Apnea

2009-12-08T10:14:00.000-06:00

Hotel Blamed for Complications of Apnea

By NICK DIVITO

December 8, 2009

LAS VEGAS (CN) - A man says he went to bed with sleep apnea and woke up with a wrist disorder, because the hotel where he was staying failed to tell him about a planned power cutoff. Andrew Gold uses a breathing machine that delivers oxygen while he sleeps.

Gold sued the Palazzo Hotel in Clark County Court. He claims hotel officials failed to warn him when he checked in that they were planning a power outage in the early morning hours of Dec. 17, 2008.

Gold says that when the power went off at 3 a.m., the machine stopped and he woke up. He says he stumbled through the dark room to find a light switch, but tripped and hit the palm of his right hand on a nightstand, causing him to develop Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, or Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.

Gold says had he known about the planned power outage, he would not have stayed at the hotel.

He demands at least $50,000, and says the hotel failed to warn him of the power cutoff, and failed to provide a flashlight in his room for such emergencies.

He is represented by Ralph Rohay.

View actual court papers HERE

Source

The Passing of Janice Kay (Schmidt) Everson

2009-12-04T23:23:00.000-06:00

SALEM -Janice Kay (Schmidt) Everson, 63, of Salem, died at 11:25 a.m. Monday at her home. Jan succumbed after living with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome and loosing a courageous battle with Cancer.

Jan was a devoted wife. She spoke many times about how she felt her husband was a true gift from God in her life. She and Allen W. 'Butch' Everson were married on Dec. 14, 1991.

She was an animal lover and had three pets: Aries the bird, Kasey the cat, and Blue the fish. She loved gardening and spending time outdoors on her porch or in her yard. Jan was a great decorator and was also a personal financial wizard. She possessed a great sense of humor and was able to always find a reason to laugh. This is a trait she passed on to her children and she always enjoyed family gatherings when the house was full of laughter.

She loved traveling and going on cruises in the warmer climates. Jan had many lifelong friends who were dear to her. Her favorite desert was Moose Tracks ice cream which even in her last days she had the opportunity to enjoy.

Jan was born on Oct. 4, 1946 in Wellsville, Ohio to William Edward and Elsie (Johnson) Schmidt.

Jan has been a resident of the Salem area since 1992. She had previously resided in North Benton, Beloit, Sebring, Lisbon and Wellsville.

She has worked at various places over the years. She had worked the longest at A and J Mold Machines in Akron where she was the vice president and office manager of the company. She had also worked as a Mary Kay consultant, real estate broker with Oesch Reality, hearing aid technician at Miracle Ear in Boardman, HK Paper, and Carriage Hill (Fresh Mark) Foods.

She was a former member and volunteer of the Democratic party and formerly attended the Fellowship Baptist Church in Beloit.

In addition to her husband of Salem, she is survived by three children, William C. (Amy) Hurford of Beloit, Tina L. (Terry) Goynes of Austintown, and Christina M. (Frank) Grezlik of Hudson; three step children, Troyann Hobdy of Mobile, Ala., Valerie L. (Charles) Tonkin of Atwater, and Mark Allen Everson of Akron; a brother, Charles Kent (Janice Ann) Schmidt of Arthur, Ill.; ten grandchildren and one great grand child.

There will be a private family burial in Grandview Cemetery, Sebring, Ohio. The family will be holding a Celebration of Life gathering at 2 p.m. Dec.19, 2009 at the family home in Salem.

The family has requested to have memorial donations to be made to:

Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association (RSDSA)

99 Cherry Street

Milford, CT. 06460

( Please note on the donation: in Memory of Janice Everson.)

Arrangements were handled by the Arbaugh-Pearce-Greenisen Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Salem, Ohio.

Source

Local teen tops national wheelchair tennis rankings

2009-11-22T22:39:00.001-06:00

By Sandy Lippe, La Jolla Village News

Sunday, November 22, 2009

University City’s Dana Mathewson,

a women’s wheelchair tennis champion,

is now attending the University of Arizona.

What would you expect from a high school senior, who is a gifted tennis player, a community volunteer with 200 hours of service her senior year and a 4.1 grade point average at a prestigious private school like Bishop’s? You might answer that the sky’s the limit.

Dana Mathewson graduated from Bishop’s last June and set her academic and athletic sights on the University of Arizona, where she is adjusting to dorm life, tennis competition, academics and everything a college freshman deals with. The sky is the limit for Dana still.

Dana is ranked the No. 1 Open Player in the United States Women’s Wheelchair Tennis.

“I haven’t checked my international ranking in a few weeks, but last I checked I was ranked No. 22 in the world for Women’s Open singles as well. I’m pretty pleased with myself as of late. Hopefully, I can keep up my rankings, though, in the off-season,” Dana said.

Growing up in University City, she attended Mission Bay Montessori Academy and absolutely loved it. After graduating from sixth grade, she went to Bishop’s and had to repeat seventh grade due to numerous medical absences.

“I got ’sick’ or injured when I was entering sixth grade and it took my body and mind a long time to adjust to my new situation, I guess,” she said. “I say I got sick because the reason I’m in a wheelchair is a bit of a weird one.”

When Dana was 10, she contracted a rare neurological disease known as Transverse Myelitis (TM).

“I think I remember doctors saying only five in one million people contract it each year. Lucky me!” she said. “I was at soccer practice running sprints at the very end when I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. It almost felt like someone was stabbing me, and then my legs started to feel weaker and proceeded to get a ‘pins and needles’ feeling like when a limb falls asleep. The rest is a flash of random memories, but I do remember crying in the car on the ride home, being helped into the living room, and then lying on my living room floor. In a matter of minutes, I was completely paralyzed from my belly button down.”

Transverse Myelitis affects the spinal cord and causes the immune system to attack a certain area. It attacked a very low region of her back. In some cases, TM has been known to go as high as the neck region, which leaves victims quadriplegics. With onset very fast, Dana’s parents, both physicians, raced her to Children’s Hospital’s emergency room, where she was treated with steroids. She credits the steroid treatment as the reason she is able to feel her legs now and stand/walk very limitedly.

“Initially I was told that any sort of return was impossible, so I consider myself to be extremely lucky,” she said.

When asked if she felt questions dealing with her medical situation may have been too insensitive, Dana responded promptly and pleasantly: “Please don’t feel rude by asking me these questions. They used to bother me, but I’m at a stage now where I’d rather educate people about what happened to me instead of hiding it.”

Dana has been playing tennis for 5 ½ years; the last three years she’s played competitive basketball, too. She credits her mom for getting her into sports. Her mom drove her to various sports camps, while Dana admitted to screaming all the way, only to find herself two hours later with a huge smile on her face.

“I fell in love with wheelchair sports immediately,” she said.

At San Diego Adaptive Sports Foundation (SDASF), Dana met Marla Knox, a woman she credits for her athletic success.

“She introduced me to the SDASF basketball team, called San Diego Hammer,” Dana said. “I played the last two years in high school for that team and finished second in the nation.”

Dana’s mom took her to a Coronado tennis camp several years ago. Once again Dana balked at the idea at first, but after only five minutes, she loved the camp. While she didn’t feel as though she would be a great player, she says that something clicks inside of her when she is out on the court.

“It’s scary being out there by yourself, but it is incredibly rewarding, too,” she said.

University of Arizona is the only American university that has a reputable wheelchair tennis team. Many colleges have basketball and track teams, but in the United States, tennis is less popular, unlike other nations. Dana is part of the wheelchair tennis team as well as the women’s basketball team. She travels with each team to various tournaments locally or nationally. In regard to her academic major, she is leaning toward speech pathology.

When Dana comes home for her Thanksgiving break, she will probably visit some of her mentors, including Steve Halverson, a private tennis coach who helped fine-tune her game. She might peek in at basketball practice at Muni gym in Balboa Park on a Saturday to see some wheelchair basketball practice. No doubt she will also open some books since she is enrolled in the honors college at U of A.

Her tennis tournament season will run from February to September, although the team trains year-round. Basketball is “good cardio for tennis,” according to Dana. Her life is busy with two sports and mandatory study halls for athletes.

Dana has a keen zest for life. She has memories of trips overseas at places like Nottingham, England last summer, where she distinguished herself at World Team Cup, analogous to Davis Cup. The sky is the limit and then some for this young woman, whose enthusiasm should be bottled and sprinkled on the rest of us.

Source

Woman says doctors' negligence left her disabled

2009-11-22T15:50:00.000-06:00

By TONY BLAIS

Last Updated: 22nd November 2009, 5:45am

A Fort McMurray woman has filed a $475,000 medical malpractice lawsuit against six doctors in the northern Alberta city after alleging she was left permanently disabled when a fracture in her left foot was not identified.

   In an Oct. 9 statement of claim, Karen Stuckless alleges she went to the Northern Lights Health Centre after she injured her left foot and ankle in an Oct. 13, 2007 fall.

Stuckless claims she was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle following X-rays and given Tylenol 3 for her pain.

   She alleges she was in significant pain and returned to the hospital eight days later.

Another X-ray was taken and she was told no fracture or displacement was seen and she was discharged with a cast boot on her ankle.

   On Nov. 9, 2007, Stuckless says she went to her family physician and was told to get further X-rays. She says she did and a different doctor identified a projected fracture in a bone in her foot and she was told to get further therapy.

   Four days later, Stuckless claims she returned to the hospital and the cast boot was reapplied to her ankle and she was told to keep mobile. Two weeks after that she went back for a follow-up and alleges swelling was identified in her left foot and she was told to not put weight on it.

   She claims she returned after another two weeks and was told the fracture had healed and she should gradually increase her activities and begin physical therapy.

On Dec. 23, 2007, Stuckless went to the hospital complaining of ongoing pain, especially with weight bearing, and alleges another X-ray was taken and she was advised there was no evidence of bone healing and a CT scan was arranged as well as a referral to an orthopedic surgeon.

On Jan. 2, 2008, Stuckless claims she was diagnosed as suffering from reflex sympathetic dystrophy (RSD) and alleges it was caused by the failure to identify the fracture and offer her appropriate treatment.

Source

Former Kiss Drummer Battled Breast

2009-11-19T03:58:00.004-06:00

Posted by Tiffany Sharples O'Callaghan
Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 5:18 pm

Peter Criss grew concerned after he noticed a small lump in his left breast. When the Catman, as he was known during his days as the make-up smeared drummer for Kiss, noticed that the lump was growing larger and more painful, he decided to see a doctor. After a series of tests, he soon learned that he had breast cancer, the Associated Press reports. Two years and two surgeries later, Criss is cancer-free—thanks to his proactive approach, doctors were able to diagnose and treat the condition early. Now the former rock star is on a mission to educate men about the disease.

Breast cancer is still relatively rare among men, representing roughly 1% of all cases. Yet, regardless of gender, it can be a terrifying diagnosis. Of the nearly 2,000 men diagnosed with breast cancer each year, approximately 440 will ultimately die from the disease, according to figures from the National Cancer Institute. (Nearly 193,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer each year, and more than 40,000 die from the disease.) Criss has said that after his battle against breast cancer, he wants to encourage awareness in other men. As he told the AP:

"It's something we think guys don't get," Criss said. "Guys get prostate cancer, heart attacks. Men are men — women get breast cancer. Or so I thought... It has nothing to do with macho," said Criss, best known for the 1976 ballad "Beth," which remains Kiss' biggest hit to date. "There's no tougher guy than me. I was born in Brooklyn, I was in gangs, I did the whole battling thing my whole life. I think a man is a man if he steps forward and says, `There's something bad going on and I need to deal with it."

The news about Criss's triumph over breast cancer comes just days after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force issued new recommendations for breast cancer screening, igniting a heated debate among breast cancer survivors and medical professionals about the best ways to screen for the disease and prevent unnecessary deaths.

Source

Virginia Teen Athlete In Wheel Chair After H1N1 Vaccine Shot

2009-11-15T11:47:00.000-06:00

A teenage Virginia athlete is in a wheel chair now after suffering Guillain-Barre Syndrome within hours after receiving an H1N1 swine flu vaccine shot.Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is the name given to anyone who exhibits a particular set of neurological symptoms including muscle weakness and muscle spasms. 14-year-old Jordan McFarland developed severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs after being injected. He will need “extensive physical therapy” to recovery, reports MSNBC. Plus, he’ll need the help of a walker for four to six weeks. NaturalNews) A teenage Virginia athlete is in a wheel chair now after suffering Guillain-Barre Syndrome within hours after receiving an H1N1 swine flu vaccine shot. 14-year-old Jordan McFarland developed severe headaches, muscle spasms and weakness in his legs after being injected. He will need “extensive physical therapy” to recovery, reports MSNBC. Plus, he’ll need the help of a walker for four to six weeks.

Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is the name given to anyone who exhibits a particular set of neurological symptoms including muscle weakness and muscle spasms. GBS is now increasingly occurring following H1N1 vaccine injections. It was diagnosed in thousands of patients following the 1976 swine flu vaccine scare, and it appears to be recurring here in 2009 as the swine flu vaccine makes it into more widespread distribution.

Health authorities, however, remain adamant that H1N1 vaccines are never the cause of GBS, and that such diagnoses are “pure coincidence.” This blatantly unscientific P.R. tactic is designed to dismiss any and all concerns over the neurological side effects of H1N1 vaccines by simply denying they exist. To date, the CDC has received reports of five additional people being diagnosed with GBS following swine flu vaccinations, but it dismisses them all as coincidence. “It’s much less than we’d expect,” says CDC official Dr. Claudia J. Vellozzi. (Which is sort of interesting all by itself, because it reveals that the CDC expects a lot more people to get GBS following vaccine injections…)

At the same time, part of the reason the CDC isn’t receiving many reports on neurological disorders caused by H1N1 vaccines is because they participated in a massive media brainwashing event that prepped the population to dismiss all side effects by pre-announcing the bizarre idea that “side effects experienced after vaccine injections are not related to vaccines.”

This was an organized, nationwide media brainwashing campaign engineered by the CDC, FDA and drug companies. It sought to pre-program health consumers to automatically dismiss serious side effects that appeared in the hours after receiving swine flu vaccine injections.

The campaign worked. In fact, even the GBS of this young man, Jordan McFarland, wasn’t submitted to the CDC. It only came to light when his step-mother submitted details to MSNBC.com’s reader reporting tool. In other words, this was citizen journalism at work, where a parent submitted information directly to the media.

For this to occur is exceedingly rare. Most parents would simply wait for their doctor to submit such information to health authorities, not knowing that submitting reports of vaccine-related side effects remains voluntary in modern medicine.

No requirement to report vaccine side effects...
You read that right: There is no requirement that doctors send reports of vaccine side effects to any health authority at all.

And that raises the question: So how do they really know how many people are suffering neurological side effects from the H1N1 vaccines?

Climb Until Your Dream Comes True

2009-11-01T09:51:00.000-06:00

Often your tasks will be many,
and more than you think you can do.
Often the road will be rugged
and the hills insurmountable, too.

Always remember, the hills ahead
Are never as steep as they seem,
And with faith in your heart start upward
And climb 'till you reach your dream.

Nothing in life that is worthy
Is ever too hard to achieve,
If you have the courage to try it
And you have the faith to believe...

Faith is a force that is greater
Than knowledge or power or skill
And many defeats turn to triumph
If you trust in God's wisdom and will.

Faith is a mover of mountains,
There's nothing that God cannot do,
So start out today with faith in your heart

And Climb Until Your Dream Comes True

by Helen Steiner Rice

Couple ready to hit road in customized van

2009-10-06T01:24:00.004-05:00

By Wayne Laepple
The Daily Item

Published October 05, 2009 11:19 pm -

Barbara Schaffer and her husband, Paul, arranged for Harvey, their customized van, to have enough room for trips to music festivals around the country.
Liz Rohde / The Daily Item

NORTHUMBERLAND — If you happen to see a large white van parked outside Paul and Barbara Schaffer’s King Street home, you’re looking at Harvey. Harvey is actually a Sprinter van that’s been customized to accommodate Barbara’s wheelchair.

“We named it Harvey after the big white rabbit in the movie,” Barbara said with a chuckle. “Maybe we’ll paint a pink nose and whiskers on it some day.”

Actor James Stewart starred in the 1950 movie, “Harvey,” about a man who befriends an invisible six-foot tall rabbit, or pooka.

The Schaffers never thought they’d ever be interested in a recreational vehicle or a second home, but after a visit to Arches National Park in Utah a couple of years ago, they changed their minds.

“We really wanted to sleep out under the stars,” said Barbara, “but we just couldn’t do that.”

Since 2001, the couple has enjoyed attending half a dozen music festivals every year, and they wanted to be able to join friends who camp at the events and take part in the after-hours jams they’ve only heard about.

“We started thinking about it, but no one builds any that are handicapped-accessible,” Paul said. “What we wanted just didn’t exist.”

Barbara, 60, who suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, a debilitating nerve condition, has been using a battery-powered wheelchair for a number of years as her condition has changed. Paul, 63, took early retirement to care for her following her 1987 injury.

They did see a few motor homes that could have been adapted, he said, but they were all very large luxury units, so large that they would have had to tow their Dodge Caravan behind to transport Barbara from the campground to an event. Besides, those units were way outside their price range. Even an Internet search for a used vehicle came up dry, since their particular needs couldn’t be met in a used vehicle without extensive modifications.

“We decided we had to start fresh,” Barbara said.

She decided they should find the right lift unit to get her and her wheelchair into the vehicle. However, they didn’t want a unit that would occupy space inside the vehicle. She finally found a company, Creative Controls, in Madison Heights, Mich., that assured them they could mount their lift beneath whatever vehicle they chose for their motor home.

Next they found a custom builder of motor homes, Sportsmobile, in Huntingdon, Ind.

“They make custom vans, not RVs,” said Paul. “These are the people who, in 1961, modified the first Volkswagen vans into campers.”

The Schaffers found a perfect ally in Sportsmobile. The company provided an online floor plan that allowed the couple to develop a floor plan using the components the needed where they needed them. For example, instead of a right-hand front seat, a power-operated tie-down for Barbara’s wheelchair was specified.

Because Barbara cannot step over the entrance to the bathroom, they changed the layout so the commode is next to the doorway. She can sit on the commode, then lift her legs and pivot into the space. To make that change work, the hot water heater had to be downsized and relocated.

Working closely with the design team at Sportsmobile, it took nearly two months to get the interior layout completed.

“There was a lot of problem-solving by phone.” Barbara said.

They had already settled on the Sprinter, a vehicle designed by Mercedes and sold by Chrysler in this country, but it took some time to locate a 24-footer, the largest one made, and then have the necessary windows installed. The vans are shipped into the U.S. with only the windshield and door windows, so other doors and windows had to be installed after they purchased it.

The truck was purchased in Michigan and delivered to Creative Controls for installation of the wheelchair lift, then taken to Indiana for the rest of the work. The Schaffers went to the Sportsmobile plant to be present as workers installed the bathroom and kitchen modules to be certain the wheelchair would fit where it was supposed to.

“They were wonderful to work with,” Barbara said. “They wanted to be sure everything was right.”

At one point, the locking mechanism to hold her wheelchair would not work correctly, and a technician from Creative Controls came to Indiana to correct the problem. They wound up having to take the vehicle back to the plant to get it right, which held up work at Sportsmobile for a day or so.

The results, the couple agree, have exceeded their expectations.

They demonstrated the lift, which folds out from beneath the vehicle. Barbara backed her wheelchair onto it, and it hoisted her up to floor level. She backed in and turned around near the folding table where they can take meals. Then she moved forward and the electronic lock snapped into place. She pulled on her seat belt and was ready to go.

In the middle of the unit, the compact kitchen, complete with stove, refrigerator, microwave and sink, faces the lavatory, which features a sink, shower and commode. Behind them are two couches that quickly convert to beds.

“We’ve also got air-conditioning and a furnace,” Paul said, as he swung the rear doors wide to reveal a fabric screen across the doorway that will let them indeed sleep outdoors. There’s also a generator for lights, and they will be able to use it to charge the batteries on Barbara’s wheelchair.

“People told us we couldn’t do this,” she said. “We were persistent, and we found the right people to help.”

The couple drove the unit back from Indiana, and Paul said the 5-cylinder, three-liter diesel engine with a five-speed automatic transmission gave them better than 20 miles per gallon.

“A piece of you asks why you’re doing this,” he said, as he contemplated the cost of Harvey. He wouldn’t say exactly how much it cost them. “This cost more than either of the homes we’ve owned, but will let us do something together that we both enjoy.”

Source

Medical marijuana supporters rally at Capitol

2009-10-04T23:13:00.002-05:00

By SANDY CULLEN scullen@madison.com 608-252-6137 | Posted: Sunday, October 4, 2009 7:40 pm

Hundreds of medical marijuana supporters rallied Sunday at the State Capitol for legislation that would make Wisconsin the 14th state to legalize cannabis for treatment of debilitating illnesses.

Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, are co-sponsors of the newly drafted Jacki Rickert Medical Marijuana Act, which would protect Wisconsin patients from arrest and prosecution and allow them or a designated caregiver to possess and grow a small amount of cannabis for medical use, said Gary Storck, communications director for the nonprofit advocacy organization Is My Medicine Legal YET?

"It is time that we address medical marijuana as an issue of providing comprehensive health care to all people," Pocan and Erpenbach said in a memo to legislators. "The patient and their doctor should have as many options as possible available when treating a patient's medical condition."

Rickert, a 58-year-old grandmother from Mondovi who has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and advanced reflex sympathetic dystrophy, founded IMMLY in 1992. In 1997, she led a 210-mile trek of patients in wheelchairs from Mondovi to Madison to advocate for legal access to marijuana.

Rickert said she began using marijuana to stimulate her appetite after dropping to 68 pounds. "I'm alive because of cannabis," said Rickert, who now calls herself "a heavyweight" at 93 pounds.

"It's got to be this bill, this time," Rickert told supporters Sunday, saying that every time someone else signs on in support of medical marijuana, "It's like saying, 'More hope.'"
Storck, who has been advocating for medical marijuana for decades, said cannabis has helped him retain his eyesight, which he began losing from glaucoma as a child. He agreed that the time for passing legislation could be now or never. "Gov. Doyle has been willing to sign it all along," he said, adding, "The legislature has never been in a position to pass it until now."

Storck said that while there is a lot of support for the legislation from people throughout the state, "We need them to step forward and let their legislators know it."

The act is based on a Michigan law passed by voters in November 2008, Storck said. It also includes provisions from a Rhode Island law that would allow patients to obtain medical marijuana from dispensaries if they cannot grow it themselves.

Source

That's My King....Do You Know Him??

2009-09-20T18:59:00.000-05:00

Such a great video that highlights such a great message.

From Dr. Shadrach Meshach (S.M.) Lockridge’s famous sermon:

The Bible says my King is the King of the Jews. He’s the King of Israel. He’s the King of righteousness. He’s the King of the ages. He’s the King of Heaven. He’s the King of glory. He’s the King of kings, and He’s the Lord of lords. That’s my King. I wonder…Do you know Him?

Sailing Hero Gives The Rest Of Us Food for Thought

2009-09-03T15:56:00.004-05:00

September 3, 2009

Having fought the elements, exhaustion and the extreme limitations of her own body, 37-year-old Hilary Lister calmly sailed into Dover as well as in the record books today being the first female quadriplegic to circumnavigate Britain solo.

The Oxford-graduate biochemist, who’s afflicted by a rare, degenerative neurological disorder that has paralyzed the young woman from the neck down, has completed the final portion of a marathon journey undertaken in a string of 40 day-long sails.

With the help of advanced technology, which allowing her to control the sails by sucking and blowing through plastic tube, Lister sailed solo with help of a team only to attend to her when she got into and out of her sailboat, Me Too. She finally sailed over the finishing line to enthusiastic crowds at 6.45pm.

The young woman expressed contentment upon her return to Dover, saying that the highlight of her expedition was witnessing marine wildlife at close range.

Lister, hailing from Canterbury, Kent, has reflex sympathetic dystrophy and is only capable of moving her head, eyes and mouth. Tempted in the past as she went through the darkest of moments to end the physical ordeal she suffers everyday and the frustration which comes from being imprisoned in her own body, she now claims that sailing has saved her life.

Source

3 Ways Your Thoughts Can Help You Heal - Ways You Thoughts Can Help You Heal | Parade.com

2009-09-03T11:15:00.007-05:00

By Robert Moss

Our thoughts can make us sick, and they can help us get well.

Here are ways to adjust your mindset to promote good health.

Take A Deep

Take A Deep Breath Hold it, exhale, then repeat for 10 minutes. Take a walk, preferably in nature. Breathe in that fresh air.

Laugh!

When you laugh, you pump more oxygen into your lungs, improve blood flow and boost your immune system.

Keep A Journal

Writing about emotionally charged events helps us deal with them mentally and physically.

So Keep On Thinking!!

Source

What's YOUR Best "Camp Name" Contest!!!!

2009-09-01T15:49:00.007-05:00

Alright Everyone....if you listened to the show today you already know what I am about to write, but if you didn't listen....other than; tsk tsk shame on you (see link below and go listen!!)....I am about to share some wonderful info with you!!

Our guest today, Kathy Gruver is a 'Certified Medical Massage Therapist" (among other titles) and she has made an offer to my show listeners!!

Here's the offer:

Come up with a "Camp Name" and send it to me at winninglife@rsdcoach.com with the subject line of: "Camp Name", and I will send to Kathy.
Kathy will then pick the best name and the winner will win a copy of her dvd titled:
Therapeutic Massage at Home -- Learn to Rub People the Right Way™.

Like me, you will be so grateful for this dvd!!

Learn more about Kathy and her dvd at:

www.HealingCircleMassage.com You'll be glad you did!!!!

If you have not listened to the show and have no clue as to what I am talking about in this post, go listen to the show now at: www.rsdcoachlive.com and then send me your best "Camp Name"!!

Brave Hilary nearing finish of her epic journey

2009-08-26T12:38:00.001-05:00

Hilary Lister in her boat

Inspirational sailor Hilary Lister is getting closer to setting another world record as she enters the final leg of her trip around the British Isles, Yourswale reports.

She is currently off the coast of East Anglia sailing south towards her final destination of Dover, which she is due to reach on Tuesday.

Hilary, 36, from Selling, suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a degenerative disease which started to show itself when she was a child so controls her craft using a set of straws and her breath.

She is bidding to become the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain.

Hilary set off in May, on her second attempt to complete the course, which includes venturing into the North and Irish seas, as well as navigating the Caledonian Canal.

The trip had to be postponed last year at Newlyn, in Cornwall, due to bad weather and technical issues.

Undeterred she returned to Newlyn this year to start again from where she left off, determined to finish it this time.

But this will be far from her first achievement, she is already in the record books as the first quadriplegic to perform a solo-sail across the English Channel.

Two years later, she was able to add another feat to the list, becoming the first female quadriplegic to sail solo around the Isle of Wight.

Hilary is sailing her boat, called Artemis 20, using a 'sip and puff' system.

This involves three straws, which are hooked up by pressure sensors, controlling a computer already programmed to react to her commands.

Hilary uses her breath to give directions, for example, one straw works the tiller, so if Hilary puffs it will go to port and if she sips it will go to starboard.

Each night she is towed into a port, with a total of 40 stops along the way.

She is expected to receive a hero’s welcome when she returns to Dover Harbour on Tuesday, after three months sailing.

On the day, KCC cabinet member for communities Mike Hill will make a special presentation to Hilary and her team to mark their enormous achievements.

Councillor Hill, also an avid sailor, said: "It has been a real honour to meet Hilary and support her latest challenge.

“I hope her tremendous efforts have inspired other people to have the determination to overcome their own obstacles and we very much look forward to welcoming her back to Kent."

Hilary also has a trust set up in her name, which raises money to help other disabled sailors and is expected to raise £20,000 when she completes her voyage.

Through her round Britain challenge, she also hopes to encourage and inspire people towards achieving their own goals.

POSTED: 26/08/2009 14:00:00

Debra Stein dies - Berkeley land use expert

2009-08-11T20:15:00.006-05:00

Corey Paul, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Debra Stein - a land use expert and attorney who helped developers win over city governments and community malcontents - died July 30 from complications related to a rare neurological disease. She was 48.

Ms. Stein, president of the San Francisco public affairs firm GCA Strategies, represented the wealthy and the down-and-out equally, from corporate Burger King to homeless shelters. She left her mark on the San Francisco skyline, helping to win approval for a number of structures, including the South of Market high-rise at 55 Second St. and Sutro Tower, the three-pronged antenna that pokes through the fog.

She was known nationally as an expert on understanding NIMBYism or what motivates residents who oppose development beneficial to the community.

"The person who deserves credit for my career," Ms. Stein told Affordable Housing Finance magazine last year, "is a woman who spit on me at a public hearing 20 years ago. As I was wiping saliva off my arm, I said to myself, 'I am going to figure out why that happened and never let it happen again.' "

Ms. Stein, a Berkeley resident, published four books and dozens of articles about raising community support and finding political solutions for controversial land use projects. But affordable housing, especially in her last years, was her dearest cause.

Born Sept. 6, 1960, in San Jose, Ms. Stein graduated from UC Berkeley in 1981 with a degree in political management. After graduation, she worked for the San Francisco public relations firm Judith Brown and Associates. She rallied support of the Hacienda Business Park in Pleasanton, which now employs thousands.

For eight years, Ms. Stein ran a public relations firm. In 1986, she met architect Jeffrey Heller while they worked on a project together in City Hall. They married the next year.

At the time she met Heller, Ms. Stein was taking night classes at University of San Francisco School of Law. She graduated in 1987.

In 1990, Ms. Stein founded GCA Group. Four years later, with more associates, it became GCA Strategies.

In 2004, Ms. Stein wrote to friend Cindy Wilson: "I'd actually like to get out of the rat race a bit. The opposite of ambition is satisfaction - I've been on the ambition route. I'm starting to enjoy the sit-back-and-enjoy-life side of things more."

She delegated work at GCA to others so she could focus more on her passions: traveling the world with her husband and fighting for affordable housing.

By then, Ms. Stein was co-chair of the Northern California chapter of the Jane Austen Society, an avocation she pursued after reading Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and becoming drawn to the novelist's themes of ethics, morality and marginalized women.

Development and architecture organizations frequently booked Ms. Stein to speak at seminars. It was on one of these routine ventures, in San Jose, that she died, Wilson said.

Ms. Stein had reflex sympathetic dystrophy syndrome, suffering chronic pain for about 15 years.

"She was remarkably stoic," Heller said. "She never let it get in her way."

Ms. Stein is survived by her husband, stepdaughter Rebecca Heller of Los Angeles, and brother Doug Stein and sister Sharon Moerner, both of San Jose.

A memorial service was held last Wednesday.
E-mail Corey Paul at cpaul@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page D - 8 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Lyric Contest!!

2009-07-21T17:06:00.008-05:00

I know there are some very talented people out there, and I wish I were one of them....but, I'm not, so I am turning to you!!

If you, or someone you know, can write lyrics - you are gonna want to read this!!

I am holding a contest for someone to write lyrics for my radio show as a theme song! If you have never listened to my radio show, here is the link: www.rsdcoachlive.com go on over and listen to a few of the previous shows and you will know in what direction you will need to go when writing those lyrics. The name of my radio show is: "Winning Life Through Pain" and every show is full of helpful information for so many.

So now I bet you are wondering what kind of prizes are there for this contest, right?

Well, that's a real good question and one I would be curious of as well, so here ya go:

1st Place:
One Month Coaching -$100.00 Value

2nd Place:
Gift Card for Amazon - $50.00 Value

3rd Place:
Gift Card for Amazon - $25.00 Value

****UPDATE****

There has been a winner named as well as the 2 runner ups....Thank You ALL for sending in so many WONDERMOUS suggestions....I was right....there are LOTS of talented people out there!!!! Thank You, Thank You, Thank You, etc.!!

So get your pens or pencils moving and write up some lyrics that would fit with what my radio show is all about and send it to me at: winninglife@rsdcoach.com

Contest starts July 22, 2009 until August 5, 2009.

I am so excited about the possibilities you all will be sending me....it will be so much fun for all of us!! SO put those thinking caps on, write down your thoughts and make the best darn lyrics you can!!

Looking forward to reading your lyrics....I know they will be absolutely fabulous!!

Where have I been?? =)

2009-06-29T16:02:00.007-05:00

I have received numerous emails from you, my readers and followers, asking where I am; what I'm up to; and if I am doing alright. I can't begin to tell you how very sweet that is of you, and you know who you are, and how blessed it makes me feel. I couldn't believe it once I got to each of those emails and read the words of encouragement, prayers of well being, and outreach of concern - support, and all around love that each one held. I was so moved, they brought tears of joy along with a few chuckles, and I loved them all!!

So I am going to update you all on what all I have been up to that has kept me out of pocket for so long....

As you know, at the first of the month I participated in a Sleep Study to try and get some solid answer as to why I keep uncontrollably falling. I did that on the 3rd through the 4th and on the 10th I went to hear the results, here's how that went;

I woke up at 6:30 am to start getting around and ready because my appointment was at 10:15 am and the drive over is about an hour. So I showered, fixed my hair, got dressed, and went into the kitchen with my make-up kit (it looks like a make-up artist should own this kit...hahahaa) and sat at the table with my mom, enjoyed the a/c & fan blowing in the room - but not on me, and put my make-up on. We talked, drank coffee, and ate some toast, and we both took our meds at the same time, of course her's are different than mine, but it was kind of funny that after we finished our toast we both reached for our medicines. Usually my mom goes with me to my doctor appointments, but this morning she wasn't feeling very well so she decided to stay home. So about 10 minutes to 9:00 am I left out starting my drive with all the other morning drivers, and man there was more than I thought there would have been.

I get to the doctor's office, check in and begin reading a couple of magazines. One of which was called "Fort Worth, Texas - The City's Magazine" and the cover had these huge words "Top Docs 2008". Well of course I had to check to see if any of my doctor's were listed and if this Sleep Medicine doctor was listed. Much to my delight, all of them were listed and this Sleep Medicine doctor was the number one in the area....I was feeling pretty confident about what this sleep study was going to provide. Good, bad or indifferent, the results would be pretty definite one way or the other....in my mind anyway.

Finally I was called back to speak with the doctor, yes....I took that magazine with me into his office!! I walk into his office, which is something new for me; usually it is into an exam room when you have a follow up. Anyway, I walk in his office and look around this really beautifully decorated office. There were two chairs in front of his desk so I sat in the one on the left, while I was waiting for him to come join me in his office, I continued to look through the magazine. Why is it that you always have to wait 10 minutes or more for the doctor to join you, either in the exam room or his office?? UGH!!

When he came in he sat in the chair next to me instead of behind his desk, which I thought was so odd..comforting, concerning, but still odd. hahahaha. He started by asking how I liked doing the sleep study and if I had any questions about it before we get started on the details of it all. Of course I had to tell him how much I loved the mattress..hahaha, and how nice everyone was to me and I appreciated that!! Then he asked me to go over to the computer so we could look at the graph reading from all the electrodes that were placed all over my body, and take a look at the actual video. Talk about interesting!! To see yourself sleep is really something everyone should experience!! I really don't move around much, just my head and one arm or the other is all that really moved....which I knew I didn't move very much because it hurts, but I had no idea just how still I could be. He began to tell me that during the night when I was sleeping that I did go into REM sleep multiple times, and during the day with the naps every 2 hours that I did go to sleep 3 of those times and very quickly and 2 of those times I did go into REM sleep.
Ok, so now I bet you are asking the same question that I had....What does that all mean?

Well, it means that I do have signs of Narcalepsy which goes along with the diagnosis my other doctor gave me of Cataplexy. He went on to say that the reason for my unexpected and uncontrollable falling is due to Cataplexy. I felt really good to finally have a definite answer for all that has been happening to me for the past several months. I asked if I could have a copy of the video, graphs, and his findings. Yes, I also asked if I could have the magazine of the Top Docs, to which he said yes to all. YAY!!

I walked out of there with my head in the clouds and my eyes set on DSW Shoes again....but I didn't stop this time...hahahaha. I drove back to my mother's, but first I stopped at Subway and got foot long subs for my mom, dad and myself. I was excited to let my parents know that we now have an answer for which could be controlled.
But once my Neurologist heard of his diagnosis, she totally disagreed....greattttt, just great!!!!
Which means I still have to keep my appointment with UT Southwestern Medical Center on July 31st. I sure do hope they can come up with either the same diagnosis or something that can be controlled as well!!

I stayed at my parents house through the weekend, because I had another doctor's appointment on the following Monday. I let him know of the results from the sleep study and he was pleased with himself because he was the one who had that thought in the first place. So he prescribed Imipramine and I went merrily on my way back to my parents house for the night. But I didn't leave until Wednesday because I was exhausted and didn't want to rush to make it home before doing my radio show or leave afterwards and be driving in the dark, so I hung out with my parents one more night. =)

Wednesday morning I loaded up my suitcases, yes that is plural....I had been there for a couple weeks ya know.....anyway, got all my things packed up, got the dogs things packed up and ready to be loaded up in the car. My dad and I toted everything outside and sat things beside my car, I went back in the house for the last little bit of things - my purse, cell phone, keys and to give out hugs. Only one problem....I couldn't find my keys!! We all searched everywhere for them, and I do mean everywhere, but couldn't find them. After an hour of searching and bringing everything back in the house because it was way too hot for them to be left outside for long, I searched through my purse one more time....which made it the 9th or 10th time.....and what do ya know....I found my keys in the outside pocket of my purse....someplace I never put them!!
So....my dad and I toted everything back out and in the car, I got the dogs in and straped in, gave out my hugs and kisses, and away we went, making our way back home.

Three hours later we arrived home to find all my plants in the house from the greenhouse because they weren't tended to the way they needed to be....go figure....They all looked half dead or at least headed in that direction. But I was way too tired to fuss with it right then!! So I unloaded everything out of the car and dropped it all off in the closet and quickly changed my clothes for comfort and made my way into my nice, comfy bed!! WOW did it ever feel nice to be back in my own bed again!! I raised the feet up and lowered the head, put the tv on relaxing music and closed my eyes.....I drifted off to sleep so quick!!

Ever since, I have been either sleeping.....babysitting my two grand-daughters, tending to my plants, or sitting out on the boat dock relaxing and watching the cows!!
Well, until this week that is!! This week has started off with me putting key notes and a speech (of sorts) together for my speaking engagement for the Abilene Holistic Association on Thursday evening. I am really looking forward to it and hope open the eyes of those who are blind to the effects Chronic pain, be from RSD or something else, causes on the mind, body and spirit. If any of you have something you would like for me to add to my speech, please email it to me and I will be sure to include it .... if I don't already have it!!

So, I guess that pretty much gets you up to speed with all that has been going on with me this past month....and for those of you who are on my mailing list for my Newsletter, sorry to have you read the same thing twice....that is if you read my blog also....hahahahaa.

Again, I appreciate all your emails of well wishes.....they truly made me feel so much better!! It is so nice to have you all as friends!!

~~God Bless You All~~

Disabled sailor taken to hospital

2009-06-06T21:33:00.006-05:00

Page last updated at 21:54 GMT, Saturday, 6 June 2009 22:54 UK

A quadriplegic yachtswoman was taken to hospital after suffering the effects of cold off the west Wales coast.

Hilary Lister, 37, from Kent, is aiming to become the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain.

The Fishguard RNLI lifeboat took the sailor off her boat after the weather deteriorated and she had a check-up at in hospital at Haverfordwest.

Her boat was eventually towed to shore by her support boat under the supervision of the lifeboat.

A spokesman for Ms Lister said there had already been a plan with the RNLI to take Ms Lister off her boat when she reached Fishguard but this was brought forward.

There had been no radio contact after the yachtswoman failed to arrive in port at the appointed time.

Peter Kedward from the RNLI at Fishguard explained: "Eventually the coastguard managed to make radio contact and established that she was two miles north of Strumble Head and under tow by her support boat.

"Conditions were becoming very difficult and the tide had turned against her."

The support boat with four on board requested assistance from the Fishguard lifeboat which stood alongside as the tow continued.

Mr Kedward added: "With force five winds and with wind over tide, the sea state became very demanding and the lady requested to be transferred to the all-weather lifeboat as she was becoming hypothermic."

Assistance was requested from a Stena ferry, which was approaching inbound Fishguard from Rosslare.

The RNLI crew made radio contact with the ferry and requested a weather lee so they could transfer Mrs Lister into the lifeboat more comfortably.

But in the end the transfer was not possible because of the conditions and the tow continued into Fishguard harbour where Mrs Lister was transferred to the inshore lifeboat in calmer waters and then taken onto Withybush hospital by ambulance.

Mrs Lister, from Faversham in Kent, is disabled from the neck down.

She is trying to become the first disabled woman to sail solo around Britain, and - in the process - the first disabled sailor - male or female - to conquer the Irish Sea.

On her website today, she said she arrived at Fishguard at 0130 after an "excellent sail followed by a very difficult end," and that they were remaining in port for another week.

The start of the current bid in Plymouth last month was delayed after she developed breathing difficulties.

She had to abandon her first attempt last August because of technical problems and bad weather.

Ms Lister uses a "sip-and-puff" system of straws to control her boat.

Her specially-adapted vessel, an Artemis 20 called Me Too, has been designed to be operated through three "straws".

Ms Lister, a biochemistry Oxford graduate, became the first quadriplegic sailor to sail solo across the English Channel in 2005 and two years later was the first quadriplegic woman to sail around the Isle of Wight.

She was wheelchair-bound at the age of 15 because of a progressive neurological disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

What Am I Doing??

2009-06-04T16:02:00.004-05:00

For the past couple days I have been doing a "Sleep Study" in Ft. Worth, and I have to tell you, I have had the best time here!! The people are extra sweet and have a sense of humor, which is so important!! Of course they are all a bit perplexed by me in things like: where should we touch you; where should we put the electrode wires; but the best one is: how are should we pull to get the electrode wires off....hahahaha. Then when they do anything, they simply can't understand why I am laughing and upbeat...one lady said if she had everything I have been diagnosed with she would be the grumpiest old woman on the face of the earth..haha.

The reason I am posting this is because I have received several emails from people wondering where I have been and/or what I am up to.....so now everyone will know.=)
Although once I get back home I had planned on posting all about my experience with pictures of the room, me all wired up, and things, along with a couple videos I did for your viewing pleasure. haha

I must admit, I was extremely curious as to what the room would be like, what all do they do in a sleep study, etc. and now you all will be able to see the room from the other side of their camera!! Oh, and they said they could burn me a copy of the entire thing....how cool is that!! I might even be compelled to post that on here as well...maybe...hahaha.

Oops, gotta scoot, they just told me I have another testing in 10 minutes, and I have to shut everything down and off.

Make it an Amazing Day....Every Day!!

Budget cuts may force California child health insurance premiums onto parents

2009-06-01T18:41:00.002-05:00

June 1, 2009

Parents who have been taking advantage of California child health insurance programs that lowered costs may have to look to the capitol in Washington DC for help: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is still facing a $24.3 billion budget deficit and says that health care coverage to less-than-affluent children may have to be cut to make up some of the difference.

For children whose parents make a combined $22,000 to $55,125 and were normally covered by the state's Healthy Families program, Schwarzenegger announced that he would try to save $305 million by cutting their coverage, a process that would take away in turn roughly $600 million more in federal matching funds, according to the Sacramento Bee.

Other health care cuts in the state budget helped to bring the total to $2 billion, out of a total $14.3 billion still facing the state after cuts made earlier in the year. Other programs that may be cut based on a vote in the legislature include funds for treatment of breast and cervical cancer, as well as counseling and testing programs for HIV, according to the Redding Record Spotlight.

"We're working very hard to find other alternatives, but if you're a free-standing rural health clinic today I don't see surviving these times," Cathy Larsen, CEO of Southern Trinity Health Services told the news provider. "We're not only going to have jobs and services lost, but we're going to be losing federal dollars coming into the state, which will just mean the loss of more jobs."

Just over the border, many Americans are finding that they can afford to get prescriptions in towns like Tijuana, in spite of turbulent drug-related warfare and the recent swine flue scare, according to UCLA researchers who estimate that just under 1 million Californians cross the border each year for health insurance, primarily Mexican emigrants who cross back over.

While legislative officials may not all be on board with the cuts, some told the Sacramento Bee that the state can't afford the benefits it provides, and Assemblyman Chuck DeVore said, "When you have an unemployment as high as it is in this state, it should be a signal to people to look for jobs in other states with more jobs and a lower cost of living."

Working with health insurers that offer California child health insurance plans could save money for some families, including ones where a child may have autism. One provider of autism spectrum disorder services, Wellspring, is offering a seminar on June 11 in Burbank to show families how they can get coverage through their current insurer, without worrying about further state budget cuts.

Calfornia Child Health Insurance News provided by healthinsurancefinders.com

Injured soldier, bride ready to face hurdles together

2009-05-29T22:38:00.004-05:00

The couple squeeze their wedding in before the groom's next surgery.

By Kevin Haas

RRSTAR.COM

Posted May 29, 2009 @ 10:01 PM

ROCKFORD —

Four days before Sgt. Joseph Mershon was scheduled to return home from Iraq and propose to girlfriend Hillary Krueger, he was seriously injured when an improvised explosive devise struck his troop.

The couple were able to follow through on wedding plans today by tying the knot in a small ceremony inside the chapel at SwedishAmerican Hospital. Hillary works as an aide for the hospital’s medical imaging services.

“It’s been canceled twice,” said Mershon’s mother, Christine. “He was supposed to come home Feb. 23. Then he was supposed to come home in March from the hospital for 30 days, but that got pushed back because of his injuries.”

Joseph Mershon proposed on March 6, and the ceremony was held less than three months later so the couple could get hitched before his next scheduled surgery.

“It all happened like a whirlwind,” Hillary Mershon said. “All our parents and family and friends, as soon as we set (the date), they sprung into action.”

On Feb. 19, the explosive device ripped the meniscus in Joseph Mershon’s right knee. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury and suffers from reflex sympathetic dystrophy, which causes chronic and progressive pain in his right ankle, Christine said.

Joseph Mershon moves mostly by wheelchair now, but he stood to take his wedding vows.

His next surgery is scheduled for June 22 at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, and there is still a 50-50 chance he could lose his right leg from the knee down, Hillary Mershon said.

“I’m relieved,” she said. “But there are plenty more hurdles we have to clear. But we will, together, holding hands.”

Staff writer Kevin Haas can be reached at khaas@rrstar.com or 815-987-1354.

"Don't Look Back"

2009-05-28T11:30:00.004-05:00

If you're a person, like I once was, who has a hard time making a decision, then you are probably aware of the time and energy you spend in the process. Changing indecisiveness is a very difficult job, particularly if it is deeply ingrained into the fabric of your life, (like cotton..haha). But indecisiveness is learned, and therefore it can be unlearned. It will, however, take tough choices and regular practice before decisive decision making comes easily.

Ask yourself:

On a scale of 1 to 10, how decisive are you?
How long did it take you to answer that question? hahahaha

Major decisions still need major consideration, but wisdom lies in recognizing which decisions are minor and can be decided quickly.

Once a decision is made, you may still second-guess it. That's a problem for many, which produces major anxiety. They live their lives in the land of "should haves" and "could haves." This is an incredible waste of time and energy, since most decisions cannot be undone. It's best to live with your decision -- or learn from it and use that knowledge to make a better choice next time.

Try practicing telling yourself one or more of the following phrases.

1. "What's the worst that can happen?"
This is especially helpful for small decisions. When you're agonizing over whether you should go to a meeting or whatever, because you're feeling especially run-down, ask yourself, "What's the worst that will happen if I miss that meeting tonight?"

2. "I made the best decision I could with the information I had at the time. Whatever outcome, I'll make the most of it."
This applies to major decisions, which can be subject to major second-guessing. Practice this phrase for yourself. It really works! Whether the decision is big or small, we can only deal with the knowledge we have at the time. Hindsight might tell us more about what we might have done, but don't worry about hindsight. That's a no-win situation!! We can't look back. We must learn and look forward!
Many have agonized over the decisions involved in buying a house. These choices can cost or save thousands of dollars. Should you lock in at a certain interest rate? Or should you wait in case the rates go down? Of course, the experts disagree on the direction of rates, so you can constantly agonize over this. But what's the worst that can happen? Well, a wrong choice would mean a higher mortgage payment each month. If that thought isn't very comforting, try this phrase: "I made the best decision I could. Once the decision is made, there's no sense in looking back."

3. "God is still in control, life still goes on, and I can adjust to whatever happens."
This is another comforting phrase that we should practice often!! God never wakes up and says, "Oh no! Look at what happened while I wasn't paying attention!"
As Christians, we can trust that God is in control of our lives. Yes, we make mistakes, but God is still in control. As long as our attitude is one of submission to him, there is really nothing for us to fear.

Hopefully you can, and will, take the gist of one of those phrases above and put it in your own words. Or make up a whole new pep talk, to keep yourself from wasteful second-guessing of the decisions you' ve already made.

Laugh Your Way To Health

2009-05-23T18:22:00.006-05:00

Friday, May 22, 2009 by: Cindie Leonard, citizen journalist
(NaturalNews)

In Jimmy Buffett's famous song, "Changes in Latitudes," a key line in the chorus is: "If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane." This verse in this fun and somewhat philosophical song is supported by scientific research. Our mental health is positively enhanced by laughter.

Using laughter as medicine is not a new concept. As early as the 14th Century, French surgeon Henri de Mondeville used humor therapy to aid recovery from surgery. He wrote: "Let the surgeon take care to regulate the whole regimen of the patient's life for joy and happiness, allowing his relatives and special friends to cheer him and by having someone tell him jokes."

In the 1930s U.S. hospitals began to bring in clowns to cheer children hospitalized with polio. In 1972, the Gesundheit Institute (of Patch Adams fame) was founded to bring "fun, friendship, and the joy of service back into health care."

Norman Cousins calls laughter "internal jogging." Cousins had been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, an experience that had led him to question Western medicine. Cousins found the treatments suggested by his doctors to be totally lacking, so he checked himself out of the hospital and checked into a hotel. From here on, he literally laughed himself back to health. He immersed himself in only funny movies and television shows. He enjoyed every one of the Charlie Chaplin movies, and watched "Candid Camera" episodes until his sides hurt, laughing. His illness disappeared. From this experience, he wrote an enlightening book, "Anatomy of an Illness."

Even the Bible suggests that we keep a happy heart: "A cheerful heart does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit makes one sick." Proverbs 17:22

Solid scientific research demonstrates that laughter offers the following benefits:

Lowering blood pressure

Strengthening cardiovascular functions

Reducing stress hormones

Improving circulation

Increasing muscle flexion

Oxygenating the body by boosting the respiratory system

Boosting immune function by raising levels of infection-fighting T-cells, disease-fighting proteins called Gamma interferon and B-cells, which produce disease-destroying antibodies.

Triggering the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers

Producing a general sense of well-being.

Even anticipating laughter can enhance our biochemistry. In a novel experiment conducted at Loma Linda University, researchers studied a group of 16 healthy male volunteers. The participants were assigned to two groups. Blood was drawn from both groups four times during the event and three times afterward. The experiment group was told that they would be watching a humorous video. The control group was not. The findings were astounding. The experiment group showed not only a decrease in stress hormones (cortisol, epinephrine, and dopac,) but also an increase in beta-endorphins (chemicals that alleviate depression) and human growth hormone (which boosts immunity.)

Dr. Lee Berk, the team's lead researcher, sums up the study: "Our findings lead us to believe that by seeking out positive experiences that make us laugh we can do a lot with our physiology to stay well."

In an earlier study conducted by Dr. Berk and her team, the experimental group watched a humorous video. Blood samples were measured on both the experimental group (that watched the humorous video) and a control group (that did not watch the video.) The results were similar to the above experiment showing positive biochemical changes by those who watched the funny video. In addition, this study also demonstrated the positive physiological changes that occur after a session of laughter. Dr. Berk states: "The physiological effects of a single one-hour session viewing a humorous video appear to last anywhere from 12 to 24 hours in different individuals."

Interestingly, one can exercise both mind and body is a class called "laughter yoga." This trend has been active in India and China for years and is now part of a growing trend in the United States. The students are re-learning something children already know instinctively -- that laughter makes you feel better. Barb Fisher, a certified laughter yoga teacher, states that "kids laugh about 400 times a day, and adults only about 15...Laughter is a gift that has been given to us to make us feel better."

Laughter is proving to be a tool to protect ourselves from heart disease. Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, sums up the benefits of laughter: "We don't know yet why laughing protects the heart, but we know that mental stress is associated with impairment of the endothelium, the protective barrier lining our blood vessels. This can cause a series of inflammatory reactions that lead to fat and cholesterol build-up in the coronary arteries and ultimately to a heart attack...The ability to laugh -- either naturally or as learned behavior may have important implications in societies such as the U.S. where heart disease remains the number one killer."

Research into the positive effects of laughter is generating a global interest into humor and well-being. The Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor sites this official definition of Therapeutic Humor: "Any intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating a playful discovery, expression or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life's situations...This intervention may enhance health or be used as a complementary treatment of illness to facilitate healing or coping, whether physical, emotional, cognitive, social or spiritual."

How many other therapies can you think of that are effective, free, and have no known negative effects?

"The most wasted of all days is one without laughter."
~E.E. Cummings

Source

GREAT Information....Please Share!!

2009-05-18T14:59:00.006-05:00

Hey everyone....I am going to share with you a couple of AWESOME information that will help you, or your loved one, or even your neighbor. So please share with anyone and everyone you know, because maybe they know someone that will benefit from either or both of these resources!!

Are You A Woman Battling Cancer?

When you are battling cancer, a clean house isn't just a matter of aesthetics, it's a matter of health. A clean environment is essential when an immune system is compromised.

That's why the "Cleaning for a Reason Foundation" offers FREE monthly housecleaning services for four months to women undergoing cancer treatment.

To donate or request services,
visit: www.cleaningforareason.org

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Do You Need A Wheelchair Ramp?

If you, or someone you know that lives in Texas and are in need of a wheelchair ramp in order to get in and out of your house, this information will make your day!!

"The Texas Ramp Project" - Building Freedom For The Home-bound, can provide you with that much needed wheelchair ramp for FREE!! That's right....for FREE!!

To find out how to have the volunteer's from "The Texas Ramp Project" give the gift of freedom to you or someone you know, or if you want to be one of the volunteer's in your area....

visit their website: www.texasramps.org or

if you want to send them a note,
email them: info@texasramps.org or

if you would like to give them a call,
dial: 972-235-7309

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I have to tell you, I am completely impressed with both of these organizations!! These are the type of organizations and volunteer's we need to see more of!!

If you know of an organization that is doing things like this, please share them with us.

Have an Amazing Day....Every Day!!

Man Sentenced For Worker's Comp Fraud

2009-05-12T21:47:00.007-05:00

Man Sentenced For Worker’s Comp Fraud

By Donna Willis
Web Content Coordinator
Published: May 12, 2009

RICHLAND COUNTY, Ohio—A Mansfield man was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to fraud.

Roger Roseberry pleaded guilty to fraud following an investigation by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Special Investigations Department (SID).

A Richland County Common Pleas Court judge ordered Roseberry to pay at least $500 per month to BWC.

He will face incarceration for six years if he fails to pay.

He also was sentenced to five years of community control.

Roseberry was collecting permanent disability from the BWC for an injury that included total loss of use of his right arm and both legs due to Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, also known as RSD.
A BWC attorney referred the settlement to the SID for review after Roseberry submitted an application for a lump sum settlement in the amount of $617,000.

The SID’s investigation revealed Roseberry did have use of both his legs as well as his right arm.

“Injured worker fraud draws resources from workers who have legitimately been injured on the job, and unfairly raises premiums for employers who are working to maintain safe workplaces,” said SID Director Tom Wersell. “Careful monitoring of claims helps us identify and prosecute those who abuse the system.”

Special agents conducted several days of surveillance and observed Roseberry operating a motor vehicle, driving long distances, walking, opening and closing doors, holding items and writing. The videos were later shown to Roseberry’s treating physicians who indicated the video contradicted the conditions allowed in his workers’ compensation claim. Upon completion of the investigation, the settlement was rejected by the BWC and Roseberry was referred for prosecution.

Roseberry admitted to fraud related to collecting permanent total disability benefits and his request for the lump-sum settlement.

On March 30, 2009, Roseberry pleaded guilty in Richland County Common Pleas Court to one count of workers’ compensation fraud, a third degree felony and one count of theft, a fourth degree felony. As part of the plea agreement, Roseberry has agreed to repay $23,536.92 in restitution and $7,000 in investigative costs.

Source

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Stories like this makes me so frustrated!! It makes it more difficult for those of us who are "REALLY" having pain from RSD to get proper treatment!!

What are your thoughts on this story?

Today is "NATIONAL FIBROMYALGIA AWARENESS DAY"!!

2009-05-12T10:59:00.005-05:00

I am so glad there is a day set aside for everyone to be honoring and spreading the word about Fibromyalgia and it increases the awareness!

Today on my show the guest will be "Mother Knows Best" will be giving some healthy and natural tips on how to manage your Fibromyalgia!
Click here today at 1:00pm CST to listen.

Also, join us members of "Living Whole With Chronic Pain Support Network" in honoring and supporting those of us with Fibromyalgia! There will be 'Door Prizes', 'Recipe Contest', 'Live Chats' in the chatroom, and much much more!
Click here to check it out.

Do you have any special events or activities in support of Fibromyalgia that you would like to share here with everyone? I invite you to post any and all info in the comment section of this post. Include links to your own website, those events, etc. and I will also post those links here on the main page of my site.

Wishing you all a most AMAZING day!!

"If You Only Knew Syndrome" - Do You Have It Too?

2009-05-11T22:50:00.005-05:00

If you are someone living with a chronic illness that nobody can see, you know what "If You Only Knew Syndrome" is!

When people say things like: "Wow, you are really looking good, things must be going well with you" or "So you must not be ill anymore because you are so active again, and you're looking better", that is when you just want to sarcastically say to those people: "If you only knew!" Right? Sometimes you just want to scream: "Buy a vowel already because you DON'T have a clue!"

But you hold that sort of response inside, biting your tongue so hard that you could draw blood, and smile and say something like: "Thank You! I'm doing pretty good 'today'!" or maybe: "Good thing I don't look like I am feeling inside!" and you just laugh it off. While in the back of your mind you are feeling frustrated, discouraged or you're fighting the urge to shake that person and explain how ignorant they are!!

You have felt those things, or worse, haven't you? Sure you have, all of us who are living with a chronic illness that doesn't show itself on the outside where everyone can see, goes through situations like that, it's inevitable! It's going to happen!

But....do they really mean it as a compliment with some understanding or knowledge of what you're going through?

How could you know this for sure?

You can't honestly think they are saying it to be mean or hurt your feelings can you? No, of course not!

So why is it that we take such offense to those comments?

I know, for myself - and many others, the answer to that question is because we are getting 'sick and tired' of being 'sick and tired' and we long to be "NORMAL" again.

We really don't want to park in those handicapped spaces. I mean, sure they are closer to the door and real convenient. But you feel a bit "guilty" when you get out of your car and people look at you like: "What the heck? That person can walk, there's no reason for them to be parking there" or they have an angry look on their faces as they watch you walk in the store. Ever experience one or both of those?

You also feel 'guilty' because of what you perceive to be your limitations. (e.g. cleaning, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, making the bed, cooking, etc.) Right?

I remember life before chronic illnesses and pain, and how much I loved it. So when someone looks "down" on me because they 'assume' I don't do anything except sit around all day eating bon-bons and watching soap opera's, it would really upset me to the point of causing much undo stress and my slithering into depression over it. I use to think to myself, "Man, if this is how the rest of my life is going to be, then God....Take me now!!" And I know I'm not the only one who experiences those types of feelings, Am I?

With a chronic illness that is invisible to the eye, all you want is for people to understand how dramatically your live has been altered by what is causing your illness or pain.
You just want "Empathy" not "Sympathy"!!

How do you ever get that "empathy" that you want and need?

Unfortunately, to get the much needed support and sense of understanding from others, you first need to "accept" things as they are and begin your journey into wellness!

You are probably sitting there asking: "What does she mean by that?", aren't you?

Well, can you honestly say you have "accepted" the fact that you are in chronic pain, or you have a chronic illness that only you can see because you feeeel the affected area.
But to those who have never felt the type of pain you have, it is incredibly difficult to describe what or how you're feeling. Should you even try making them try to feel it? No, probably not. Why? Because unless they are diagnosed with the same illness, they will never come close to even imagine the things you go through on a daily basis!
So what then are you to do?

Share some of the things that have helped you "accept" things and move 'forward' in your journey and find that much needed sense of understanding and empathy!

Here are just a few of the things I have done when I sincerely didn't think there was anything that could get me to the next level of the relentless agony I was feeling each and every second of each and every minute of each and every hour of each and every day!!

1. Realized nobody could help me any better than I could, so it was completely up to me how my life would go, and I chose to Live!

2. Learned how to meditate and visualize my journey being in a much happier time and place.

3. Learned how to 'breathe' correctly so I could get the full benefit of all those deep breaths I had been taking.

4. Learned how to 'relax'! This one of the most important things you will ever do for yourself! I invite you to find a way to unwind and enjoy the beauty God provide for you each and every day!

Ok, your turn... =)

Looking forward to reading your tips that has gotten you to where you want to be....And if you aren't where you want to be, ask me, or someone, how you can!

~God Bless~
Coach Marla

True Grit Is ....

2009-04-21T20:15:00.005-05:00

TRUE GRIT IS ....

By: Susan Falkner-Wood

True grit exists in the day to day behavior of those who face overwhelming challenges but still insist on sucking the marrow out of the bone of life instead of settling for scraps.

True grit is speaking up to a doctor who must cover his ego because he can’t find out what is wrong with you and tells you it’s
“all in your head.”
It takes true grit to walk in to a new doctor’s office after experiencing a put down like that.

Courage is the individual who, after a restless, pain-filled night, still reaches for the alarm clock, gets out of bed and stumbles or limps to the bathroom to take the morning medications, to face a new day.

Courage, Valor and Hope lie deep within us, and we will find the seeds of their existence if we have the grit to look and we don’t bury ourselves in denial, a bottle of liquor or an extra, dangerous dose of pain pills.

Courage is not the absences of fear.
It is walking into the face of fear and smacking it in the face.

Courage is quiet and at other times, grand.
It’s still courage.

True grit tackles the hard way, if necessary,
not the easy way.

Courage is doing what you know, deep in your being, is best.

Courage finds a way to go forward whether it is upright, on a crutch, in a wheelchair
or at a crawl.

You can read the entire article from Sue Falkner-Wood by clicking HERE

Excuses or Accomplishments??

2009-04-21T12:03:00.013-05:00

It is easy to make up excuses to tell to yourself. You can choose to believe anything you say to yourself. But what do those excuses accomplish? Where do they take you?

It's easy to use your thinking to rationalize your way out of taking action. Without much effort, you can think of plenty good, believable reasons for not making that effort.

At some point, though, you must ask yourself this question:
"Do I want my life to be filled with excuses or filled with accomplishments??"

In fact, each time you catch yourself thinking up an excuse or rationalization, ask yourself that question. Challenge yourself to consciously choose whether or not you wish to accomplish something everyday.

When you force yourself to look at it that way, the excuses will begin to look pretty silly and useless. The more you remind yourself of the value of accomplishment, the more you will take action instead of making up excuses.

And the more you take action, the more you will achieve!!

So....What are you going to accomplish today??

I Wonder - An Easter Poem

2009-04-06T23:38:00.006-05:00

I wonder what I would have done,
Had I been there in that crowd,
Would I have spoken up for Him,
In a voice clear and loud?

Would I have walked beside Him,
Down that dirty, rock-strewn road?
Would I have tried to steady Him,
As He stumbled with His load?

Would I have let Him lean against me?
Would I have gladly borne his weight?
Could I have helped in anyway,
To have eased His great heartache?

Could I have said the proper words,
To comfort His aloneness,
To show I shared His sorrow,
To attend to His forlornness?

I wonder if I'd been there,
Would I have stroked His tear-stained cheek,
And kissed His bloodied hands,
And washed his bloodstained feet?

Would I have rubbed His aching shoulders,
Put soothing lotion on His back.
Tended to His open wounds,
And supplied the water that He lacked?

I know I was not good enough,
To volunteer to take His place.
But could I have helped Him bear that cross,
And kept the sweat from His dear face?

Would I have put my arms around His mother,
And hugged her to my breast?
Could I have shielded her from viewing,
Her precious Son's tormented death?

Could I have helped prepare His body,
And have bathed Him with perfume?
I wonder if I'd been there,
Would I have waited by His tomb?

No doubt that Easter Morning,
I would have shouted, "HE IS RISEN!"
And I know I would have thanked my God,
For that most joyous of occasions.

I'm so sorry that He suffered,
And I am sad it was that way.
But I know it was God's plan for man,
And because of it, we're saved.

The only thing I could have done,
I suppose, had I been there.
Would have been to state my love for Him,
And tell Him that I cared.

written by Virginia (Ginny) Ellis

10 Commandments for Interacting With the Chronically Ill

2009-04-02T20:40:00.009-05:00

In the realm of chronic illness, one of our more challenging tasks can be gaining support from others. As if finding a knowledgeable and caring doctor wasn’t difficult enough, finding caring and supportive friends to surround ourselves with can be even more difficult. Most people are simply not capable of understanding, unless they have the misfortune of a chronic illness of their own.

How many of us have heard something along the lines of “But you don’t LOOK sick...?” It makes one wonder how a sick person is “supposed” to look. If one were to hobble around on crutches, would their illness suddenly become more believable? Our society understands the visible, physical manifestations of illness, such as a broken bone in a cast or hair loss from chemotherapy. What many fail to grasp is the subtle, invisible manifestations of chronic illness. Symptoms such as pain, severe fatigue, and cognitive impairments are not easily visible to the average observer, which means that sufferers of chronic illness often look “just fine”.

Our society is all about instant results - the mindset that we can just pop a magic pill and all our troubles will go away. When sufferers of a chronic illness do not quickly “get better”, we are often treated as if it were somehow our own fault. We may even be told that we are “hypochondriacs” or that “it’s all in our head”.
Remember when you had the flu? You were exhausted, achy all over, and could hardly get out of bed. But, fortunately, the illness passed and you were back to your old self and usual activities.

Now, imagine if you had never recovered from that flu. Every day, you wake up achingly sore and as tired as if you had not slept at all. Imagine trying to go through your usual activities while feeling this way. Not only do work, school, and regular tasks of daily living become near-impossible, but so do the smaller day-to-day things that so many take for granted, such as simply washing your hair or paying the bills.

It is stressful, it is exhausting, it is depressing... and yet the chronically-ill person continues on in the face of it all.

For those of you who may have, at some point, been the perpetrator of an otherwise well-intentioned comment, please understand that our illness is just as real as that of an amputee or other “visible” illness. To help aid those of you who wonder how to interact with a chronically ill person, allow me to present the Ten Commandments.

1. Thou Shalt Not Imply That We Are Not Truly Ill.
You will not convince us otherwise with remarks such as, “You LOOK good", or “But you don’t LOOK sick". Even if you meant them as compliments, we perceive those kind of statements as insults because they imply that you do not believe us.

2. Thou Shalt Not Imply That The Illness Can Be Easily Fixed.
People with chronic illnesses are persistent, if nothing else. We hang on, day after day. We see countless doctors, take numerous medications, do endless research, and continue hoping that the answer is just around the next corner. So please do not insult us by delivering diagnoses, remedies, or comments such as, “Why don’t you just...” or “Have you tried...” or “You should....” If it truly were that simple, I assure you that we would have done it already. We are sick, not stupid.

3. Thou Shalt Not Imply That We Brought This On Ourselves.
We did not choose to become ill, just as we do not choose to stay ill. Simply having a positive attitude is not going to solve our problem. One would never imply that a quadriplegic chose such a trial for themselves, or could get better “if they really wanted to”. Please afford chronically ill patients the same respect.

4. Thou Shalt Not Insult or Argue With Our Limitations or Behaviors.
If people with chronic illnesses push ourselves too hard, we can suffer serious consequences. Most of us have developed coping mechanisms to help us survive, and it is cruel to expect us to do more than we are able. One chronically-ill woman I know was actually told, “I wish I could have the luxury of sleeping all day". Believe me, we would much rather be out working, playing, spending time with loved ones, participating in normal activities.

“Sleeping all day” is not a luxury for us – it is a critical necessity, one that we must take in order to protect whatever remaining health we have. Perhaps it may help to think of it in terms of being one of the medications we need to take. If you wouldn’t think of denying a diabetic their insulin, then don’t think of denying the sufferer of a chronic illness their critical need, whether it is a mid-day nap, avoidance of certain foods or environmental factors, or something else.

5. Thou Shalt Not Imply That You Can Relate To What We Are Going Through.
Unless you have a chronic illness of your own, you cannot possibly understand just how much suffering is happening. Of course you want to be compassionate and want to relate to people. But when you try to do this by telling a chronically-ill person that you are always tired too, it tends to make the person feel that you are minimizing their suffering. Try saying something more along the lines of, “This must be so hard for you". or “I can’t imagine what you’re going through". It really does make a difference to us.

6. Thou Shalt Be Mindful Of Other Family Members.
Chronic illness doesn’t just affect the person who has it, but the whole family as well. The trauma of the illness can evoke feelings of fear, depression, anger, and helplessness in all family members. The balance of family dynamics will most likely change, especially if it is a parent who is ill. The healthy spouse may end up taking on an overwhelming amount of responsibility, and even children will likely be involved in helping care for the ailing family member. Please keep these others in your thoughts as well, and make an effort to direct some special attention to them, without any mention of illness or disability.

Individual family members adjust in different ways and at different paces. All members might benefit from counseling to help handle the stress involved, and each family member also needs to have time to pursue their own individual interests. External support from friends, neighbors, extended family, religious institutions, and support groups may help ease some of the burden.

7. Thou Shalt Acknowledge Our Efforts and Celebrate Even Our Small Successes With Us.
For the chronically ill, any day that we can accomplish a task, no matter how small, is a “good” day! Our lives are often measured in terms of doctor’s visits and lab work, and our “success” measured by a rise in Natural Killer cell counts in our blood, or actually completing an entire load of laundry in just one day. Please do not look at us as if we are joking when we share these celebratory moments with you. Celebrate with us, be happy with us, and do not kill the moment by announcing that you just completed the Ironman Triathlon in record time.

8. Thou Shalt Offer Thy Specific Help.
There are so many ways to help -- the most difficult part is usually getting a chronically-ill person to accept that help. They do not want to feel like a “burden”. If you offer a vague, “Call me if I can help,” the call will probably never come. But if you are sincere, consider extending offers of specific help, such as a ride to a doctor’s appointment, or picking up a few groceries or the dry cleaning. These activities can be done in a way that does not add any extra burden to your own schedule. If you have to go to the grocery store for your own family, it really isn’t much extra work to grab an additional loaf of bread and jug of milk. If you have to swing by the post office, getting an extra roll of stamps or mailing an additional package isn’t much extra effort for you – but it can save a chronically-ill individual a lot of time, energy, and exacerbation of symptoms.

9. Thou Shalt Remember Important Events.
I’m not just talking about birthdays and Christmas. A major doctor’s appointment, lab test, or new medication are all important events to the chronically-ill person. Try to sincerely ask, “How was your appointment? How did the lab test go? How’s your new medication?” The chronically-ill person will appreciate that you remembered, and that you cared enough to ask about it.

10. Thou Shalt Get To Know The Person Behind The Illness.
The illness may be a part of us, but it’s not a part of who we ARE. We want to be known as more than “that sick person”. You may discover that we have a wickedly funny sense of humor, a creative imagination, musical talents, or any number of things that better describe who we are, and what we would rather be remembered for. (It makes for better gift ideas too -- rather than presenting us with yet another self-help book on the power of positive thinking, now you can give us a CD from our favorite singer or movie of our favorite actor instead.)

Most of all, please remember that the chronically-ill person is more than worthy of love, friendship, and support. Most chronically-ill people I know are the toughest nuts I have ever met. Indeed, I have come to believe that a chronic illness is not for wimps – rather, only the toughest of the tough can continually face the struggles of life while battling a debilitating disease. That kind of grit deserves nothing less than pure respect and admiration, even from our toughest critic -- ourselves.

You CAN Choose!!

2009-03-31T10:04:00.004-05:00

Give yourself a gift today.

Give yourself a challenge.

Challenge yourself to accomplish something new, something of your own choosing, before the day is done.

It could be something you create, or learn, or improve, or a problem that you solve.

Make it something that's far enough out of reach to stretch you.

Make it something that's close enough to your heart to push you and inspire you.

Decide that you will do something with this day that will distinguish it from all the others.

Choose to make this a day that you'll always look back upon with satisfaction and gratitude for having accomplished something of lasting value.

Then get busy and make it happen.
Work your way through the challenge that you've so thoughtfully provided for yourself.

When you reach the goal, pause for a moment and fully experience how fulfilled, empowered, effective and purposeful it feeeeels.

Then smile to yourself with the satisfaction of knowing that you can choose to accomplish again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next.

Celebrating The "Women Of HOPE" - Journey # 8

2009-03-29T20:38:00.006-05:00

~~Amber's Story~~

Back in September 2008, I was doing this crazy thing that occasionally happens in college, called studying. After finishing studying for a biology test I had the next day, I stood up. Upon standing, I had shooting pain in my elbow and tingling in my hand. The pain continued for a few days and I started going to doctors: five medical professionals and a few months later and I arrived at an orthopedic doctor who said it was Cubital Tunnel Syndrome.

Like carpal tunnel syndrome, it involves a nerve that becomes compressed and pinched, but the cubital tunnel is in the elbow rather than the wrist. It also affects the ulnar nerve rather than the median nerve. Anyway, enough of an anatomy lesson; the doctor tried several conservative methods before resorting to surgery when my pain and tingling persisted.

The surgery was pretty routine - he would slice my elbow open about 7 inches, then move the nerve to the other side of the bone that stick out of the side of your arm called the medial epicondyle (thus effectively removing my ability to "hit my funny bone"). The surgery went well; I was placed under regional anesthesia, so my hand was numb for about 24 hours after surgery.

While the whole arm was numb, I felt great, but the numbness never fully wore off the ulnar side of my hand (that's the pinkie side). Though it was numb to touch, I started feeling a crushing pain in my wrist followed by stabbing pains in my whole arm. The pain continued, so the doctor decided to go in for another surgery to be sure nothing was blocking the nerve (basically, he went "sight-seeing" in my arm to check for mistakes).

That time I had general anesthesia that resulted in instant pain as soon as I was conscious. I was taking Norco (extra strength Vicodin) and it was doing nothing for the pain and nothing did until the surgeon prescribed some Neurontin, which helped the pain a little. The pain at times was so bad I'd want to throw up. That was mid-January 2009 and now the incision is healed up well, but my arm is still in great pain.

My hand sweats more than the other, but my elbow/upper arm feels cold. My hand is swollen some and the skin is stretched tight (my pinkie and ring finger knuckles seem to have disappeared, even when I make a fist). I can't move that elbow, wrist, or hand much at all without sharp pain. The pain is really weird and very hard to explain to doctors. Even stranger is what hurts - people walking by make a breeze that causes pain, so does even the slightest vibration, like someone sitting on my bed, or twitching their foot near me.

The orthopedic surgeon thought it might just be nerve damage, and we would have to wait for the nerve to "calm down." I wasn't entirely satisfied, so I went to a psychiatrist in February 2009 who first mentioned CRPS (or RSD).

The pain in my arm hasn't changed from before the doctor said "CRPS," but the diagnosis has thrown me into an emotional tornado. With Cubital Tunnel, I was looking at going through a surgery and two weeks in a splint, but relief of pain.

When it continued to hurt afterward, the doctor said nerve damage that might take three to six months to heal. A long time, but manageable. But now, CRPS, I'll never "heal" even if I go into remission, there is always the threat of its return.

How can I go on in life when everything I am has been stripped away?

I'm 22 years old. I'm supposed to be graduating from college, looking for a house, a job, a life - gaining independence from everything I've known while growing up.

Yet I can't even tie my own shoes or fold my clothes. I've been robbed of everything that makes me who I am.

I love working with my hands: quilting, knitting, card-making, cooking, scrapbooking, art.

I love being active: hiking, biking, horse back riding, camping, traveling the world.

All of that has come to a screeching halt, replaced with pain, exhaustion, doctor's visits, and trying to hide my pain from everyone. It is all I can do to keep up with my classes, homework, doctor's visits, and physical therapy.

My life will never be the same, my plans for the future have been destroyed, my dreams devastated, but in the midst of pain and struggling to comprehend what God is doing in my life, I find hope.

God is my creator, He made my nervous system, and He knows every intricate nerve that communicates with my brain. I know He didn't make a mistake making me, exactly what He knew He was doing.

Even when all else is stripped away, I can trust that God knows exactly what He is doing in my life. I pray that this time will be one of blessings - growing closer to God and reaching out to those who are lost.

My goals in life are still the same - love God with all my heart, help those around me to know Him more, and reach out to those who cannot comprehend salvation, but my means of accomplishing my goals have changed. Just like Paul, I've been thrown in a circumstance that seems unpleasant, but I praise God because it gives me a story.
It offers a way to meet people I might never meet, it blesses me with the ability to concentrate on God when everything else has faded into the background, it forces me to accept help and rely on other Christians, drawing strength from them when I am down.

Would I choose to have CRPS? No way, but I praise God for the blessing it is to me, even in the darkest of circumstances, I will praise my God because He is worthy. Though I know I face unrelenting pain, I say to God "bring it on, just so long as you use it to glorify you." Blessed be His name, for He is worthy of endless praise.

~~Amber~~

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