So WHERE was the nearest mall…?

 

by Franz von Rohden

German artist 
born 1817 – died 1903

Homeopathic Medicine? or Scam?

Here are the facts of my recent consult. I would really like to know what you think or have experienced, positive or negative, in this area of medicine.

I wanted to try alternative medicine for my lupus since there doesn’t seem to be anything else to try except for chemo which I don’t want to do. I can still function and work and don’t want to live my life around that. I called this particular doctor of osteopathy because I heard he’d really helped a women with lupus for the past 20 years. He’s  in practice with his son,  a tech. First I met with the doctor, who spent over an hour taking a very comprehensive history.  He said traditional medicine teaches doctors to start with the symptoms, come to a diagnosis, and then treat the symptoms.  He explained that what he does is different in that he looks further back to the causes of the disease and starts his treatment there. Ok….sounded reasonable. He took quite a few vials of blood.

The next step was to go downstairs to his son and get tested for the causes. With blind faith I went, not even asking about what the procedure entailed. What it turned out to be was three hours of testing using some kind of probe on the meridians of my fingers which produced computerized data for his father. (For the uninitiated, meridians are the energy fields used in accupuncture.) This cost $550. and was not covered by insurance.

I then went back to the doctor at a later date for the results. The blood tests were unremarkable. But  the computerized meridian tests indicated all sorts of parasites, bacteria, viruses, low functioning adrenals, and lymes disease which I have apparently had for at least 8 years. I have been tested many times by my rheumatologist for lymes and adrenal functioning but he and his son explained the test was for “stealth” organisms which hide by embedding in the organs and escaping detection of traditional medical tests….He said that the hidden stealth organisms are what cause the autoimmune system to attack the body. 

He offered an eight month treatment plan, to the tune of several thousand dollars, none of which is covered by insurance. To start with, animal stem cell injections. Then various kits from his son with herbal remedies which would definitely help my immune system. I reminded him I’d come in for help with lupus and he said, “Oh? IS it lupus?” He suggested I not tell my regular medical doctor about the treatment since they’re so skeptical of alternative medicine, and then let him be surprised after the treatment with the improvement in my health and THEN tell him how I’d gotten better. (Ok, even as I write that I am embarrassed…what BAD medicine it is to NOT practice coordination of care!)

So now I finally decided to do some research (duh) and I find out that homeopathic remedies are so diluted that basically there is nothing of the original “essence” left by they time you take it. Lots of talk by traditional medicine of no research, just placebo effect. 

Responses, anyone? I would so appreciate them….

Cross

When Alpha Males Get Sick

Lord help me. He only gets sick once a year, but when he does my hero turns into my worst nightmare.  I truly appreciate that he patiently takes care of me all the rest of the year above and beyond the call of duty, with my lupus and all, but BOY…paybacks are a bitch! He won’t let me take care of him… he wants me to take care of him…. he doesn’t need help…he does need help. I am trying not to get too close physically so I don’t catch his germs. He finds this to be insulting. When I tell him  that I miss his hugs, he looks accusingly at me like its all my fault. I’m also supposed to be a mindreader. When I ask him if he’s hungry, he’s not. Five minutes later I find him cooking himself some soup and sneezing into it. Mmmm….yummy…He then graciously offers me some, which I graciously decline.. And, worst of all, he’s a VERY cranky patient who isn’t a patient.

And just so you know, Alpha Males don’t marry Florence Nightingales. Truthfully, I HATE being a nurse. 

I hope I don’t get sick for Thanksgiving 😦

Baby Boomers ROCK!

You have to be a baby boomer to appreciate this I think. Click on the link and be SURE you have your sound on 🙂

BABY BOOMERS

My Son is Engaged!

Photo copyright Jupiter Images 2008.

He officially proposed yesterday, after he took Mom and his sister ring shopping with him. I am so happy he has found a girl who really loves him, and better yet, laughs at all his jokes. (This is very important to a guy like my son) .

What a creative proposal he came up with. He pulled over to the side of the road – a rainy night – and told her he thought they had a flat tire. She totally disagreed with him that it felt like they had a flat.  He pretended to find one in the rear, and got her to come out and look at it, obviously acting all annoyed at the situation. When she got out of the car he was on his knee, in the rain and mud, with the ring box in his hand!

This is the first girl who he has seemed truly happy with, which of course makes his mom so happy (he’s 33 for goodness sake!). She’s shy, lovely, and this is not her original country. She was born in Ecuador, which is very cool. 

Well, that’s my announcement for the day 🙂 Other that when it rains it pours…my daughter just got married on Sept. 19th!

Parable of Two Wolves

 

An elderly Cherokee was teaching his grandchildren about life. 

He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.” One wolf is evil………..he is fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, competition, superiority, and ego. 

The other is good……… he is joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too.” 

They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” 

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.” 

Am I “addicted” to the Internet?

I just read the psychology news brief in my sidebar:  Chinese Issue First Definition of Internet Addiction.  “Symptoms of addiction included yearning to get back online, mental or physical distress, irritation and difficulty concentrating or sleeping.  The definition, based on a study of more than 1,300 problematic computer users, classifies as addicts those who spend at least six hours online a day and have shown at least one symptom in the past three months.”

Who? Me? Do nights count? Well….I’ve never counted how many hours a day I spend online.  But its a lot. I blog, read others’ blogs, go online for news, weather, telephone numbers, to shop, bid on my ebay beads, and find out lots of other information or research that interests me. I also email lots of friends, and belong to various professional listservs that I read to stay current in my field. The internet has replaced magazines as a source of leisure reading, and most of the major newspapers are now online.

I definitely get irritated when I can’t get at my computer when I want to, and I sometimes yearn to get back to it when I’m in a boring social situation. I doubt its 6 hours a day, but maybe I’m  in denial. Maybe my family will shock me with a group intervention. Though I don’t know where they’d find time since they’re all online too…

What amazes me about this news article is that they were able to tear the people away from their computers and into psychiatric units.  Unless…ew…they were taken involuntarily?

What do you think of this definition? And where do you fall according to these guidelines?

Psychscribe Quote #45

C. FreeFoto.com 2008    

“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” Buckminster Fuller

 

New Site Design

Isn’t it awesome?!! I am so happy with it!!!! It was designed and given to me as a gift from my dear friends Amber Moon   and Sanity Found. If you haven’t discovered them yet, please do click on their blogs. You won’t be disappointed 🙂

Amber and San, these rhodies are for you, right out of my garden. xxxooo

 

Baby Laughing at Wii

Ok, this may be a sign of my obsession with wanting a grandchild, but I ask you….can you watch this and NOT laugh just hearing him? I hope this brings a smile, or a laugh, to you today.

 

When A Spouse Comes Out

 

I found an interesting column by Garry Cooper  in this month’s Psychotherapy Networker.  

He reports that  Amity Pierce Buxton, founder of The Straight Spouse Network, estimates that as many as two million straight spouses will, often suddenly, traumatically,  and by accident, find themselves discovering that they have a gay or bi spouse. The article also reports that Joe Kort, an Imago therapist specializing in gay issues, has seen couples negotiate arrangements other than splitting.  Some agreed upon solutions have been allowing one or both parters to have relationships outside the marriage, allowing the bi/ gay partner to use porn and webcams but not meet sexual partners face to face, or the bi/gay partner agrees not to indulge in outside sexual behaviors or porn.

What a tough and painful situation for everyone involved…particularly where there are children…or the spouses still love each other…  What would you do?

Being Thankful for Chronic Illness

I am rushing off to work right now, so thankful to be in remission these last few weeks. But I read an essay called Being Thankful at But You Don’t Look Sick  which I’d really like to share.  Enjoy your day.

Organ Donor? Not Me…

I just read an article about a California surgeon facing trial in an organ donation case. He is accused of hastening the death of a very ill man in order to harvest his organs. The man’s mother sued the hospital and got a $250,000. settlement, though the hospital admitted no wrongdoing…hmmm…

It seems so morally admirable to be an organ donor, at least in theory. Like giving blood. But I confess that its exactly for this reason that I said no when asked recently if I wished to be an organ donor. I would not want to live on life support, but I frankly don’t trust anyone except my loved ones to make the decision to pull the plug. At that point, I would be more than glad to help someone else live a longer or better life as I leave this one. (Not that anyone could even use my diseaed organs, I don’t think. Maybe my eyes..)

But I don’t want medical staff, or anyone else who doesn’t love me, speeding me along on my journey for purposes of expedience. 

How about you? Are you a donor? Or not?

Psychscribe Quote #44

 

 

 

HARRIET BEECHER STOWE:

“So much has been said and sung of beautiful young girls, why don’t somebody wake up to the beauty of old women?”

Charlie Bit My Finger – Again!

Having a bad day? Try watching this 🙂

]