MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'god'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:53:03 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5140055&cid=t_104752_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fthe-public-you-versus-the-private-you-in-a-life-of-chronic-pain%2F Early on in a life of chronic pain we learn to guard ourselves against being hurt by callous comments from others. We say, “I’m fine, thanks.” What we’re really thinking is, “If only you knew, even as I stand here my knees are buckling, my rear is throbbing and I’m trying to concentrate on what you’re saying. I don’t think you could handle the truth and I don’t want to see that cold dead look come into your eyes if I dump the truth on you.” We ask the checker at the supermarket to keep our cloth bags light; which we bring with us because we’re “green” citizens and because the plastic bags will leave our fingers numb for the rest of the day. We continue to watch as the checker puts a five-pound bag of sugar and a five-pound bag of flour topped off by a half gallon ... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5140055 Thu, 18 Aug 2011 22:15:36 +0100 5140055 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5103487&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fall-nature-sings-his-glory.html Praise flows from the million voices of crickets singing a late summer lullaby.Glory cascades from the yellowest sunset I've ever seen.Skepticism melts in the shadow of a gold harvest half moon.His presence shines from every one of the thousand stars visible tonight.He begs me for these: praise, glory, belief, presence with Him.In everything beautiful, and in everything ugly about this world,there is the shadow and whisper of His holiness.He is making all things new.Even my broken heart and shattered mind. (Source: Turquoise Gates) Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5103487 Sun, 07 Aug 2011 04:11:00 +0100 5103487 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5103488&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Fgod-in-tangible.html I read the assignment: share a moment you've felt close to God lately.The cool breeze of a fan in the claustrophobic Southern sun.The turquoise of hurricane shutters down by the beach.The criss-cross of the palmetto shrub,so familiar, the raspy rub of it against palm.4 years now I've been traveling here to feel this.Grassy palmetto tops seclude the beach access brush hair back with their rough edgesand sing a rustling song in the ocean breeze.In nature I feel him.But He is so silent.He is so still.He is so far away, other times.Where are you, oh God, that I cannot touch or feel you?Where is your whisper?Where is your windsong?When is my escape? (Source: Turquoise Gates) Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5103488 Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:48:00 +0100 5103488 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086484&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F08%2Flife-is-in-little-things.html I receive an e-mail from a friend that brings me to tears. I took care of her little girl, sweet Maddie, when she was undergoing both of her 2 bone marrow transplants in an effort to control her life-threatening disease. When her single mother adopted her from China at 14 months, she was a healthy toddler. In a few months, things started to go awry. I met them several years later, and Pat, Maddie's mother, became one of my own everyday heroes.I went outside an hour or two later after wrestling with data organization, feeling frustrated and depressed. "Depressed", for me, means a sudden wave of incredible sadness and hopelessness about my life and the impact I am having on others. Just like I didn't want my oldest to intimately know the word "cancer" at age 4, I don't want any of them to kn... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086484 Tue, 02 Aug 2011 01:52:00 +0100 5086484 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5086485&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fjail-of-questioning-mind.html Rainbow row in Charleston. Rows upon rows of homes right up against their neighbor. It's famous for it's beauty. I look up and think of Noah's rainbow, the sign that humans would never be extinguished by God again.En masse that is. Many have been killed since the rainbow, including His own son Jesus Christ, who took our place before the wrath of God.I hear about God - that He is good, that He has overcome eternal death, that He always gives a way of escape. Where is my way of escape? Where is His goodness?Round church in downtown Charleston.How about that He works ALL things for the good of those who diligently seek Him. That God's plan does not always match up with my plan. He seems so very, very far away. I heard something else - something considered a fallacy - that God is a distant cos... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5086485 Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:43:00 +0100 5086485 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5062449&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F07%2Fplan-plan-b-plan-c.html Blink, blink. Your eyes open hazy and unfocused that first second of consciousness in the morning. You see the balloons of light dancing in patterns. Rub your eyes.Suddenly everything is in focus, and you drop your feet off the side of the bed and get up. Go through your morning rituals. Then comes the crux of the day - what will you do? Who are you scheduled to see? Where might you go?You make your roadmap for the day. Mine is always linear, logical, hour by hour, light the straight strips of sunlight coming through the slats under the boardwalk. I'm in the middle of two weeks of research, and I find myself thinking over my tasks like a gambler focuses on rolling probabilities. Right now I'm on Play A but tomorrow may find me on Plan B, and eventually that might even fall through. So of c... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5062449 Mon, 25 Jul 2011 15:26:00 +0100 5062449 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5028458&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F07%2F12%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-july-12-2011%2F I wouldn’t call myself a hoarder. But I have what probably most of us have: an ordinary case of messy-itis. Underneath my bed you would find a collection of old books I’ve been meaning to read and a stack of unread old magazines or two. But after nearly tripping over a glossy mag the other day, I finally decided to face the music and deal with the growing clutter under my bed. The first thing I grabbed was a copy of O magazine’s April issue. ”Not bad,” I thought. Until I saw it was circa 2010. Yikes! Anyway, as I randomly flipped through the issue I found an excerpt from Geneen Roth’s book Women, Food and God. It’s a book already beautifully covered by associate editor and Weightless blogger Margarita Tartakovsky here. So I’m not going to g... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5028458 Tue, 12 Jul 2011 10:17:36 +0100 5028458 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4975972&cid=t_104752_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fanother-happy-patient-from-malpani.html We had been married for 10 years. We had our careers, home, and friends everything going for us. Just one thing made us feel incomplete, especially me, not having a child of our own. Initially we felt it will happen after 6 months, a year. Then we took treatment. We had hopes. But all the hopes kept dying year after year. What was worst was when elders and relatives kept asking us about when we were planning to have a baby. That pressure was unbearable. But after 10 years I was coming to terms with the fact that I would be childless.We kept reading about the latest developments of science in this field in newspapers and kept tabs of the most successful doctors in the field. But we were afraid of the costs involved and that kept us from approaching them. But then we read some articles abou... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4975972 Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:52:00 +0100 4975972 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953294&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fwrestling-walk.html I write this because I assume there are other women who do this, somewhere on God's green earth.I tell my husband a few minutes after he gets home from a long day at work. Which equals a long day of work for me as well. My neurons are firing all in disarray and I ask him please can I go for a walk while he puts the children to bed. They are sleepy-eyed and already pajama-d, so how badly could it go, right? (Don't ask.)Late dusk. In the cobalt hews of the very end of the day's light, I start my walk vigorously. Ipod replacing the tape cassette Walkman of my teen years. I need to wrestle over something with God. He knows I've got the gloves off when I wear sneakers instead of flip flops. This is going to be a long walk, pacing back and forth in front of your house, waiting for a call to come... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953294 Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:49:00 +0100 4953294 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893818&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fopposite-side-of-pride-or-how-to-accept.html After you admit your fault, rebuild the fence, and make appropriate amends, then move forward. There are certain debts that you cannot pay without the ability to go back in time and choose different actions. Any attempt to earn back your reputation and good name is only to serve a shrouded sense of personal pride. I’m specifically talking about people who run the risk of tying themselves down to rigorous religion, becoming more concerned with rules and regulations as a means to outwardly prove that the insides have changed. You cannot earn a gold heart. You cannot perform to become. When the inside has changed, the outside has remnants. Refuse to work outward-in. Commit to an inward-out approach and keep it personal. Pride is the messenger of the soul who refuses to accept the free ... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893818 Sat, 04 Jun 2011 09:32:00 +0100 4893818 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893820&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F06%2Fmake-me-daisy.html  Turmoil surrounded by sweet scented lilacs.Dandelion cottons looks like owlet feathers as they wait for the wind.My friend and I go for a long hike and muddy our shoes and legs in the coulees of Pepin County.And I pray, and I pray, and I pray that my life will soon be back to yellow. Bathed in sun. Flowers blooming, and my soul free to accept that gift from Father God.For now, I'll take the yellow that splurges out of the darkness, the buds cheerful against the dark foliage deep.Make me a flower, whose scent pleases you, Lord.Make me better as I become less.Fill all the holes in my soul Satan is diggingwith your love, grace, mercy, peace, long-suffering.  I don't want to be the corrugated metal panel patching up an old factory....we pray for you always, that our God wi... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893820 Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:41:00 +0100 4893820 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4853121&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F05%2Fwhat-if-you-cant-forgive.html Some of the pain is leeching out, day by day, the soul pain, the kind you can do nothing for. Friends lost slowly become benign memories, and are replaced by the sweet faces of those who ran toward you in your darkest hour.Dam on Chippewa River, near paper plantII Corinthians 2:4-10 has been a beachhead for my sanity throughout the conflict as we left our last church. The simplicity of God-given forgiveness confuses the intellectual, and sometimes even the person doing the forgiving. It is a supernatural experience to have God's love flowing out of your heart in an unstoppable rush when common sense should leave you reeling from the damage done. The assassin of your peace does not know one key component to this God-breathed forgiveness: with God there is nothing, short of true blasphemy, t... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4853121 Sun, 22 May 2011 10:08:00 +0100 4853121 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4841878&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=35302&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWhitePebble%2F%7E3%2FiVx0aveuSFQ%2F God made the integers, all else is the work of man. Leopold Kronecker Filed under: Mathematics, qotd Tagged: God, Leopold Kronecker, qotd (Source: white pebble) white pebble blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4841878 Wed, 18 May 2011 17:57:17 +0100 4841878 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4820924&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F05%2F12%2Fi-focused-on-who-i-wasnt-by-my-mid-30s%2F One reason that this blog has brought me so much happiness is that blogging has widened my circle of friends so much. I met Melanie Notkin because we’re both interested in using social media to engage with readers, and I’m very excited for her this week — her first book just hit the shelves, Savvy Auntie: The Ultimate Guide for Cool Aunts, Great-Aunts, Godmothers, and All Women Who Love Kids. In it, she shines a light on relationships that bring a tremendous amount of love and happiness — the bond among “aunties” and their nieces, nephews, god-children, etc. I knew Melanie has done a lot of thinking about happiness, so I was eager to hear what she had to say. Gretchen: What’s a simple activity that consistently makes you happier? Melanie: I call my... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4820924 Thu, 12 May 2011 12:27:26 +0100 4820924 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4724187&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F6dZ2qPPB18o%2F ……..I’ve dropped anchor in Your promises and I am holding on…… -Steven Curtis Chapman Emma is now re-intubated. We are no closer to an answer than when we began this journey almost seven weeks ago… But He is in control. ————————————————— “He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” – Deuteronomy 8:3 “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vai... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4724187 Mon, 18 Apr 2011 15:21:47 +0100 4724187 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4714974&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FrJLEkM6qNeM%2F “…consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” ~Rom 8:18 That verse speaks volumes to me today. It reminds me that He is still at work and will never be done until He calls me home! The suffering here on earth is only temporary…This life is but a vapor compared to eternity…. Doesn’t that make your heart smile! Every time I want to give up, throw my hands in the air and shout “I give!”, something happens and I am reminded that I am no where near in control of my life. And that is a good thing. Anyways, onto Emma! Today is turning out to be a very good day. She is stable enough to do the swallow study, so we are having that done this afternoon. She is only on 1 l... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4714974 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 15:27:29 +0100 4714974 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4704654&cid=t_104752_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwarning-dr-mehmet-oz-is-not-a-trustworthy-source-of-health-information%2F2011.04.12 When I was in medical school at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Mehmet Oz had the reputation of being a competent and caring cardiothoracic surgeon whose research interest was reducing preoperative stress. I remember hearing about a music study of his in which soothing melodies reduced blood pressure and heart rates in patients preparing for heart surgery. I felt pleased that a surgeon was leading the charge in improving patients’ O.R. experiences, and had no inkling that 15 years later Dr. Oz would be America’s chief snake oil salesman. I have been slow to criticize Dr. Oz on my blog because of a sense of loyalty to my medical school, however yesterday he crossed the line when things got personal – a friend of mine was negatively impacted by h... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4704654 Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:00:23 +0100 4704654 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4704734&cid=t_104752_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F04%2Fhappy-couple-from-canada.html Hi, We are from Canada and this is our short story that we would like to share as noted below:First of all, would like to extend our warm gratitude to Dr.Aniruddha & Dr.Anjali Malpani, and your staff making our IVF treatment a SUCCESS !!!I am on the eleventh week of pregnancy now and hoping and always pray it will be a SUCCESS until the baby is born.Planning/deciding to undergo IVF is not a joke/easy. There are a lot of things to consider.1. Financial - IVF involves a huge amount of money like travelling expenses, hotel,food,medicine and might affect the job as well2. Stress - Need to manage your stress - IVF involves a lot of stress. 3. Taking the risk a. Job - Ready to quit the job to have full rest if required according to case to case basis before and after the treatment until... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4704734 Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:12:00 +0100 4704734 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4696687&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F10%2Fwhat-not-to-say-to-a-grieving-family%2F Harold Kushner explains what not to say to a grieving family in his classic “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” using as an illustration the story of Job (the faithful, righteous, and pious man who loses his livestock, house, servants, and children, and is afflicted with boils all over his body). Having lost his own son, the rabbi knows all too well what helps and what hurts when trying to comfort a friend or relative. The three friends who came to console Job got terrible scores, and here’s why, according to Kushner… Because the friends had never been in Job’s position, they could not realize how unhelpful, how offensive it was for them to be judging Job, to be telling him he should not cry and complain so much. Even if they themselves had experienced si... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4696687 Sun, 10 Apr 2011 11:00:27 +0100 4696687 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4664230&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fweb.me.com%2Ftomasulo1%2FDanTomasulo.com%2FAppearances___Contact_files%2FDavid_Harp_DanDuetEtc_3-11.mov “I play the harmonica.  The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast and stick it out the window.” ~Stephen Wright “Live as if you were to die tomorrow.  Learn as if you were to live forever.” ~Mahatma Gandhi David Harp is the Rosetta Stone of the harmonica.  He has taught over a million people how to play, and holds the world’s record for teaching the most people to play at one time (2,569).  How does he do it? Mindfulness.  Because that’s what he’s really interested in… If you’re like me you probably have at least one, if not two cheap harmonicas lying in the bottom of your closet or in the back of a drawer someplace.  When you see them you take them out of the box, lick your lips, wail unskillfully until you’re out of breath,... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4664230 Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:00:11 +0100 4664230 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4631621&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Frest-in-exhaustion.html It's one of those mornings when night gives way to dawn too soon, and we drag ourselves out of bed tired, pull the sleeping arms of children off our necks, and slide woolen stockinged feet over to the devotion chairs, our own private retreat in a bedroom too small. Crack spines on Bibles and open homework for our recovery group, and pray together. Interrupted as usual, half-way through, by the pitter-patter of feet coming to claim breakfast for growling tummies, the toddler-baby clamoring for a few more minutes cuddling under down with Mama.The moon meets the rising sun across the cobalt sky, the stars shut out by the glistening dawn on newfallen stone. The big crater there feels like the hole in my heart, hungry always for more time with my lover and more time with the Lover of my soul.&n... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4631621 Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:02:00 +0100 4631621 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4615372&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FgnX1KhBDdTU%2F Trust is hard. It involves stepping back and letting some one bigger than yourself in. It leaves you vulnerable….naked to those around you. Helpless in your eyes. It means relinquishing total control. But it is also easy. It brings peace, if placed in the right hands. It brings hope if accepted by the right person. It brings freedom from fear if done with a pure heart. Tomorrow morning Mark and I will be placing Emma in the Lords hands again. She is scheduled for surgery at 11 am for a fundoplication. *During fundoplication surgery, the upper curve of the stomach (the fundus) is wrapped around the esophagus and sewn into place so that the lower portion of the esophagus passes through a small tunnel of stomach muscle. This surgery strengthens the valve between the esophagus and s... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4615372 Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:07:05 +0100 4615372 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4610957&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fget-the-best-reconstructive-surgery-for-you%2F I am so grateful that Dr. Rebecca Studinger began her practice in Michigan. Yesterday I had another breast revision surgery and fat grafting. Fat grafting is actually liposuction; Dr. Studinger took fat from another part of my body — not hard to find — and put it into my breasts to get the right size. The best thing about this wonderful doctor is that she is not only highly trained, skilled, and talented, but is willing to work with me patiently to ensure I get the results I want. Her vision for women after breast cancer matches our own. We desire natural looking breasts as close to the real thing as possible and Dr. Studinger is one doctor who can make that happen. My surgeries with her have been like a spa experience — she is that good. My doctors at Johns Hopkins were... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4610957 Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:48:02 +0100 4610957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4636514&cid=t_104752_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.drmalpani.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fthanks-dr-malpani.html This is an email a patient from Nigeria sent me today." I have set aside this morning to commend you and your beautiful wife on the good work you are doing for humanity. You give hope to the hopeless, healing our wounds of years by showing commitment and concern, even when the situation looks gloomy. You are ready to even pray for mercy and help for your patients! I am impressed.I have discovered that IVF is a journey. The travellers are the patients, but all of us will have to travel by different means of transportation, The luckiest by air, some by sea, others by road. It means there will be travellers by jet, speedboat, canoe, ships, cars, bikes, rail or even trucks and cartwheels! I am happy you guys are the drivers and my prayer is that the Almighty Creator will always grant you the w... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4636514 Sun, 13 Mar 2011 13:41:00 +0100 4636514 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4554662&cid=t_104752_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorandpatient.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Ftry-and-try-till-you-succeed-success.html Try and try till you succeed....i think this mantra holds not only in your professional life but personal too....After two years of trying for baby and undergoing two laproscopies ,two iuis and one failed ivf we were devastated....we thought we can never have a child of our own....but then by God's grace we came across the web site of Dr Malpani..Oh it was so informative! i posted my history and there came a very positive reply..there was a ray of hope...we made up our minds to give ourselves one more chance so that we don't repent later.We visited Dr Malpani clinic in May 2009 for the first time and i must say there is something in his clinic..i think its God's blessing to them...the environment is so positive and cordial and Dr Malpani is so very approachable and positive too that we imm... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4554662 Sun, 06 Mar 2011 11:45:00 +0100 4554662 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540723&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Fother-gold.html Make new friends,but keep the old.One is silverbut the other gold.You go through seasons in this life, droughts and times of plenty, harvests and times to plow and plant. What I like about the concept of seasons is that you are never in one place for long. I don't want to be here long.This season of my life has been a hard one. Sometimes it's a hailstorm, here and there a few tornadoes; when it's calm it's a famine, a drought, a desert. Yet down comes the manna, in the old friend who sits in a worn chair, her hands hard-working hands, sore hands, just like mine. Sore from the cancer, worn from the constant opening of those stiff fingers to offer the precious treasures, to say, "God, yes, you can have this, too." Weary from the living out of the constant task of giving and releasing and suf... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540723 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:55:00 +0100 4540723 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4532510&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Flove-will-not-betray-you.html Serve God, love me and menThis is not the endLive unbruised, we are friendsAnd I'm sorryI'm sorrySigh no more, no moreOne foot in sea one on shoreMy heart was never pureYou know meYou know meAnd man is a giddy thingLove - it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you,It will set you freeBe more like the man you were made to be.There is a design,An alignment, the cryOf my heart to seeThe beauty of love as it was made to be~Sigh No More, Mumford and SonsThe basilica shines black against the white snowladen sky.I hover and take photos through the cracks behind the altar,and watch people pray.Yes, everything that has breath...Praise the Lord.Searching for the love that does not betray, dismay, enslave.The love that sets me free. (Source: Turquoise Gates) Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4532510 Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:11:00 +0100 4532510 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4522145&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F02%2F25%2Fhow-abraham-lincoln-used-faith-to-overcome-depression%2F Abraham Lincoln is a powerful mental health hero for me. Whenever I doubt that I can do anything meaningful in this life with a defective brain (and entire nervous system, actually, as well as the hormonal one), I simply pull out Joshua Wolf Shenk’s classic, “Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.” Or I read the CliffsNotes version: the poignant essay, “Lincoln’s Great Depression” that appeared in The Atlantic in October of 2005. Every time I pick up pages from either the article or the book, I come away with new insights. This time I was intrigued by Lincoln’s faith — and how he read the Book of Job when he needed redirection. I’ve excerpted the paragraphs below from the article on ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4522145 Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:09:22 +0100 4522145 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4507546&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fits-right-time.html There's a time for every season under heaven.Ecclesiastes 3:1The snow falls in grainy powdery magnificence, and we make ice cream.Amy gets a genetic diagnosis.I face some ghosts from my past.A dream withers and dies.I panic around new people.And so I am told I have grief and I have to feel it.I'm improvising, and the ice cream falters for a few minutes,and the kids are crowded around throwing out ideas.I balk at this whole grief idea.I run from grief.It's how I survived as a nurse.It's how I've survived as a parent.It's how I've survived as a cancer patient.But this seems to be the season. And just like the ice cream, that comes together in sprinkled splediforousness, this season seems to be for grief in a lot of ways. I give grief a little window, a little wiggle room in that deep down da... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4507546 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 21:38:00 +0100 4507546 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4495388&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fwhat-silence-speaks.html I'm going to put this in writing. Because I trust that someone out there has felt this way, needs to read this, needs to hear that someone else is in the same lonely place. Because writing it somehow brings the breath back into lungs spasming and the light back into eyes behind those squeezed-tight eyelids. Because I know somewhere someone else is crying out for help from Jesus as they put brick upon brick, slap mortar, build build build walls and hope they're invisible walls, walls nobody can see and will keep you safe in here forever. Because, if you read that I am right here, where you are feeling all alone, then you will know the truth - you who are like me, and not alone - and the truth will set you free. (John 8:32)Don’t let your bones turn to stoneCause you’re feeling so al... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4495388 Fri, 18 Feb 2011 06:00:00 +0100 4495388 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489931&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fwhen-god-seems-far-away.html I remember the moment clearly, when last He showed His face. It was only the second time in my life I felt like I had seen Him. Both times I was wrung out, wasted, worn, weary. The first time by the confounding decisions I faced as a single woman. This day, by the suffering of life...Amy's illness, the newly worsened drudgery of my days as a mom, failures at school and work, at home as wife and mother and housekeeper.So I flung myself like a rag doll across my bed, and my inner two year old showed herself in the hot tears and loud sobs. I heard the kids edging toward the closed door of the bedroom, but the sobs kept coming. And WHY? It wasn't as though someone had died or anything truly terrible had happened. I was undone by a whole list of small problems, that's all.Where are you? I sobbe... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489931 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 10:09:00 +0100 4489931 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4545162&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cancerlifeandme.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fdark-energy-dark-matter-and-the-great-mystery%2F I’ll try my best to keep this simple: According to current physics, the empty space we see in outer space is not actually empty. Scientists have figured, through charting stars and galaxy clusters, that the universe is expanding. Space itself is widening and getting larger and larger. This goes against the expectation, which would be that the Continue reading Dark Energy, Dark Matter, and The Great Mystery (Source: Cancer, life, and me) Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4545162 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:00:36 +0100 4545162 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4459903&cid=t_104752_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2011%2F02%2Fuk-patient-penny-johnson-sues-surgeon-le-roux-fourie-55-million-pounds%2F Businesswoman Penny Johnson is claiming a botched facial plastic surgery performed by Le Roux Fourie has cost her her career and the companionship of her husband. She is claiming that the surgeon was “playing God” and is suing him for 55 million pounds. (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4459903 Thu, 10 Feb 2011 04:31:38 +0100 4459903 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4241917&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fweary-prayer.html I had my cancer doctor appointment yesterday. Potentially good news this time, which is a relief - but I won't know anything for sure until after my scan, which has now been set for "as early as possible". Given it is Christmastime, the "earliest possible" for me is January 3. I get injections the 3rd and 4th (Thyrogen - praising God anew for the insurance that allows me to pay for this $25,000 shortcut and remain on my medications). Then the electric blue pill - a mini dose of radioactive iodine 131 - for the scan on the 5th. After 9 a.m. on the 5th, I will be on my own without family once again. This is the hardest part of every year. You would think I'd be clamoring for a week off by this point, but I learned the hard way that it is an experience along the lines of "It's a Wonderful Lif... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4241917 Wed, 08 Dec 2010 14:55:00 +0100 4241917 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4233373&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F12%2Flooking-in-on-grief.html He left her - this whole earth - early in spring. Her jaw was tight and tears fell silent through all our conversations. We walked down the steep hill in back and cried with her while the children swung on the swings he built, played with the dogs he loved.Summer came and she seemed better, the tears weren't her constant companions any longer. She showed us the garden she somehow managed to plant and we marveled at the pumpkin vines growing thick amongst the weeds. Neighbors mowed her lawn and it seemed like every time we brought her a meal there was one still warm in the fridge, the gift of another helpless friend who brought food instead of words.Autumn. She seemed to be recovering. She talked more about her children and their futures than she did the husband she lost. She seemed to be s... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4233373 Mon, 06 Dec 2010 01:52:00 +0100 4233373 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4230189&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F12%2F05%2Fspirituality-and-bipolar-disorder%2F According to Kevin Culligan, O.C.D, manic depression can mimic the behavior of someone growing in her spiritual life. Hey, that’s great news for me! The next time I get manic and tell an inappropriate joke to a colleague, I can say that I’m just getting closer to God, that’s all. Here’s what he has to say, Keith Egan’s book, Carmelite Prayer: A Tradition for the 21st Century… The spiritual life can also easily mask a bipolar disorder or what has traditionally been called a manic-depressive condition. As a mood disorder, depression has usually been linked in systems of classifications of mental disorders with mania, an agitated mood that is at the other end of the affective continuum opposite a depressed or dysphoric mood. Manic symptoms are many: inappr... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4230189 Sun, 05 Dec 2010 12:57:18 +0100 4230189 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4207479&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fback-and-forth.html Illness is the night-side of life, a more onerous citizenship. Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick. Although we all prefer to use only the good passport, sooner or later each of us is obliged, at least for a spell, to identify ourselves as citizens of that other place. ~Susan SontagMy aunt was only sick a few weeks.Her sons couldn't bear the sharpness of spaded dirt falling on her in the grave.They dug with their hands instead,leaning deep in the hole to drop gently on the beloved.It's a different world, a different part of me whispered in the flat hushed land of the reservation. I think these men do intuitive better than most. Rules matter less here.I remember them both...lovers in old age, uncle with the chaotic over... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4207479 Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:46:00 +0100 4207479 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4207352&cid=t_104752_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorandpatient.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fcanadian-couple-success-story.html We have been married for 7 years now. We tried to get pregnant after the first year of marriage with no success. We then tried IVF clinics in Canada the first Doctor we went to we did IVF it was a positive result only to find out that it was a chemical pregnancy. We took that very hard because we wanted to have a baby and we wanted to start our family right away. This Doctor told us that because of age that we had to use a donor’s egg we despised that thought we did not accept it so we decided to go to another Doctor. We were with this Doctor for 2 years trying all kinds of treatment, firstly , IUIs with no success, we then decided to try IVF again but every cycle my eggs got lesser and lesser and not developing the way they should for a successful IVF procedure so I we would be detour t... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4207352 Sun, 28 Nov 2010 17:18:00 +0100 4207352 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4207386&cid=t_104752_117_f&fid=38158&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwwww.wahmsmotivatedforever.blogspot.comhttp%3A%2F%2Famericanacupuncture.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fhealing-powers-of-john-of-god.html hHEALING POWERS OF JOHN OF GODThe following are excerpts from the Oprah show this month.  Using a powerful acupuncture point  CV 17    Joao a Brazilian healer, shows  the power of activated invisible forces,  (as found in medical acupuncture).A video screen in a one-story coral building, was playing a video where a man’s chest was being cut open with a rusty paring knife. His eyes were closed and he looked peaceful as blood ran down his white shirt. (acupuncture point: Conception vessel 17 was entered).A 62 year old Brazilian healer named John of God, in a small town of Abadiania  Brazil, walks barefoot,on a stage,  dressed totally in white,  his eyes scanning the hall with a laser-like focus.John of God, a Catholic, is known in town as �... Dr. Needles Medical Blogs blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4207386 Sun, 28 Nov 2010 15:50:00 +0100 4207386 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4164578&cid=t_104752_117_f&fid=38856&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timemastermd.com%2F%3Fp%3D1298 No one could be more unhappy than Lindsay Lohan about the fact that soon there will be no more free drugs at any doctor’s office thanks to President Obama’s “healthcare reform law”.  While touted to bring access and affordability to all – naturally it doesn’t, and while it is now clear to the Democrat Congress and Senate who voted it in without reading the bill – here is another unseen but real consequence of their failures. Pharmaceutical companies give doctor’s offices free samples to give to patients who can’t afford medication, or need to “try them before they have to buy them.”  And they give us a lot of them! Pfizer Inc. 101 million samples worth $2.7 billion Merck & Co. 39 million samples worth about $356 mill... Timemaster MD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4164578 Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:16:03 +0100 4164578 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4172332&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Fcame-to-believe%2F The spiritual adventure of Alcoholics Anonymous as experienced by individual members. Over 75 A.A. members from all over the world describe the wide diversity of convictions implied in “God as we understood Him.” Especially helpful to those who confuse “spiritual” with “religious.” - Order now >> Came to Believe - Share, print or e-mail this articleAction and PatienceThe Alcoholics Anonymous Spiritual AwakeningMany Faiths Aid RecoveryBill W was Spiritual not ReligiousReligious 12-Step Fellowship Links (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com) Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4172332 Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:30:24 +0100 4172332 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4086523&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FDFzSya4LSlE%2F When You Don’t Believe in God Here is an opportunity to listen in on fascinating conversations with people who found God when they didn’t really want to and weren’t even looking. Through a series of deeply personal interviews with individuals from different walks of life, the authors conduct a captivating discourse on discovering a "higher power." The interview subjects are not proselytizers, nor are they interested in comparing spiritual states. Their stories are neither tidy nor definitive. What they offer, however, is a remarkable, refreshing, and ultimately satisfying mosaic on the meaning and manifestation of God.   Get today >> Finding God When You Don’t Believe in God Share, print or e-mail this articleRandom ArticlesShould ... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4086523 Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:26:00 +0100 4086523 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4055922&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Falways-goodor-never-good.html We know from all his writings that Paul trusted not only that God is sovereign, but also that his character is faithful and good (1 Thessalonians 5:24). It's critical for Christians to believe this, too. Why? Because without these additional attributes, we could view an absolutely sovereign God as a potential big bully. If I can't trust that God is always good and faithful, then God goes on trial with each particular circumstance of my life. I become the doubter who's like the waves of the sea, always being tossed about (James 1:6).Of course, it's easy to say I'm confident that God's faithful when I've escaped a negative situation, but is he still faithful when the friend I've lifted up in prayer for more than 30 years has never returned to faith in Jesus? Or when I was diagnosed with brea... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4055922 Mon, 11 Oct 2010 15:00:00 +0100 4055922 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4053463&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fgentle-teacher.html Amy took 36 hours of hard labor to enter this world. I remember being up for two full nights with no sleep, and feeling rather more like a limp noodle than a radiant new mother when she finally emerged!  It was the sweetest, purest of my four labors, with my mom singing and whispering verses through the whole thing. My grandma Fern was in the hospital at the same time, and the poignancy of that book-ends experience - one leaving this earth and one entering it - has stayed with me ever since. Two verses comforted me through the long second night of labor pain and effort, as I felt my body literally broken to "deliver" the sweet treasure housed within: But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be in God, and not of us. (II Corinthians 4:7) And we... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4053463 Sat, 09 Oct 2010 16:23:00 +0100 4053463 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4045357&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fwhispers.html My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world....you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie — just as it has taught you, abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. ~ I John 20: 1-2, 20, 27-28 ~I hear the whispers in the quiet communion between these tw... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4045357 Fri, 08 Oct 2010 01:29:00 +0100 4045357 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4018396&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Fespeciallyheather.com%2Fmusic%2F04%2520Bubbly%25201.mp3 “Bubbly” – Colbie Caillat (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4018396 Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:05:57 +0100 4018396 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4003064&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fwhat-suffering-says-about-prosperity.html These days are filled with troubleAnd the nights feel like they’re all getting longerThese days are dark and greyLike that storm rolling in across the waterThere’s a strong wind blowingI push on it pushes backIt’s a hard timeBut I know I’ll get through itJust gotta lean into itThis ain’t where I thought I’d beIf I could I’d stop it now and I’d rewind itBut this ain’t where I’m gonna fallIf there’s a way to fightI know I’m gonna find it~ Lean Into It, Little Big TownMoments with my nephew - the "cousin-twin" to the baby I lost - in the morning sun.Today, in church, I listened with questions swirling: am I experiencing the blessings and benefits of being a child of God?  To outward appearances, perhaps not.  I'm tired.  The dark circles around my eyes, ... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4003064 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 03:01:00 +0100 4003064 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3994243&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F-DHPUI4gpP8%2F Emma is doing better today. Her fever is gone and probably the result of a virus. Her blood cultures have not grown anything as of yet, and her Urine culture was clear. I haven’t seen her transplant cardiologist yet, but don’t expect to until late this afternoon because Wednesdays are clinic days. When I came into the PICU this morning, I could hear her singing from outside the unit door! It was music to my ears. I honestly can say that visions of her last hospitalization stayed with me through out the night, but this morning when I heard her singing “Emma-nese” it did my heart so good! I will update later when I know more.. Thank you for your prayers and your care for my family! (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3994243 Wed, 22 Sep 2010 14:47:53 +0100 3994243 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3987208&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Ftongues.html My Bible fell open to Acts 2 yesterday morning, the scene in which the Holy Spirit descends on the early church  on the Day of Pentecost.  So many times of late, I feel like I am speaking the wrong language...or at least a different one.  I remember a mission trip to Honduras, when I, by some magical interjection of the Holy Spirit into my stubborn brain, demonstrated fluency enough in Spanish to see patients without an interpreter for several whole days at a time.  I remember coming home to the States the next week and trying to speak to a Hispanic patient, and fumbling over a basic word I'd learned many years prior.  That experience taught me that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us, at times, with that gift of tongues...that New Testament kind of "tongues" where y... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3987208 Mon, 20 Sep 2010 13:06:00 +0100 3987208 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3976532&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F09%2F16%2F5-ways-to-manage-fall-anxiety%2F Even as I love the autumn season, it is full of anxiety for me. I start to mourn the ending of summer when I hear the cicadas grow louder the last two weeks of August and when I feel the crispness in the air at that time, which brings less sunlight and longer nights. Then the back-to-school craze: buying shoes, supplies, backpacks, etc. and trying to catch up on the homework we didn’t do during June and July. By the time I make it to the parent-teacher conferences in early September, when I hear about all the things I’m supposed to be doing with the kids, I’m well into panic mode. The other day, my therapist and I talked about a few coping exercises to keep my anxiety from disabling me this time of year. 1. Pick a sound or object to be your Xanax. My therapist looks up t... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3976532 Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:07:17 +0100 3976532 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3895937&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F08%2F23%2Ffinding-your-writing-voice-without-losing-your-mind%2F I’ve had the clandestine identity writer since I first scribbled in crayon on the living room wall. But there was always one small problem: talent. So the first thing I needed to do was to go out there and get me some of that God-given talent that God hadn’t given me yet. Here are the lessons I’ve learned. Lesson One: Getting some skill I took a noncredit course at the New School in New York City called Finding Your Voice In Non-Fiction. It seemed perfect. For 10 weeks 20 of us sat around and critiqued each other’s essays. This confirmed something I had suspected: Some people were better writers than me. I could tell. Their writing had whole sentences and nifty words. They had nice little paragraphs and compelling stories about something that really happened to them. I learned ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3895937 Mon, 23 Aug 2010 14:20:39 +0100 3895937 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3885512&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fthe-good-stuff-can-outshine-a-breast-cancer-diagnosis%2F There is a Bible book in the Old Testament called Job, which tells the story of a man who had everything in life. Job was a well-respected and good person who was prosperous and had a big family. But when God allowed Satan to test Job, he lost everything, including his children. While he was sitting forlorn and discouraged, his wife — who I assume was just as adversely affected by all the loss — told him to curse God and die. I don’t blame her for her sentiment at the time. Job, however, resisted all urges to turn on God and refused to give up his faith. In the end, God restored everything to Job and more. Lately I have heard more than one person give themselves the name of Job. We are all tempted to see our particular hardship as the worst thing that could happen to anyone. A woman ... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3885512 Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:45:18 +0100 3885512 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3872724&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Funfading-beauty.html Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.  For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves... (I Peter 3:3-5a)It's been months now since the rock garden was resplendent with the cobalt blue of the hyancinth standing tall in the back corner.  I took these photos in the early days of summer, in Amelia's worst month of seizures, as I tried to keep house maintained and children safe and my own brain sane.  Every day Rosy brought me a nosegay of wildflowers: daisies and butter-and-eggs, bachelor's buttons, asters, thistle... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3872724 Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:36:00 +0100 3872724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3862165&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fbroken-china-is-still-china.html "In the darkness of despair and the prison of pain, we often say things that we later regret, but God understands all about it and lovingly turns a deaf ear to our words but a tender eye to our wounds." ~ Pause for Power, Warren W. WiersbeMy mother brought me a china plate for my collection of mismatched china (we eat off beauty every day) and I promptly broke it.  The very next day.  My first reaction, unfortunately, is still to throw a tantrum.  I remember her warning me, as a teenager, that I if I chose that agitated state of heart in the quiet of my room and privacy of my brain, it would settle in and become a habit that was nearly impossible to break.  And, I regret to say, I went on heedlessly...nay, obstinately...and let it settle in.  Now I struggle with th... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3862165 Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:55:00 +0100 3862165 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3858342&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Finevitable-let-down.html Apparently, there still exists a very disturbing paragraph in the legislative code of the great State of Wisconsin, chapter N1 in the Board of Nursing code for accreditation of "professional programs of study":(c) A nurse faculty member who teaches nursing courses in a professional nursing program shall hold a current license to practice as a registered nurse in Wisconsin, have at least 2 years of full−time or equivalent direct care experience as a practicing nurse, be employed in nursing within the last 5 years and hold a master’s degree with a major in nursing.Somehow, I am apparently supposed to:Study for a doctorate degreeKeep working as a nurseAND obtain a master's degree...regardless of the fact that I've already shown that I've mastered doctoral content and e... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3858342 Wed, 11 Aug 2010 15:42:00 +0100 3858342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3854686&cid=t_104752_133_f&fid=37107&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Faspiewebnet%2F%7E3%2FB1iVp01Kv14%2F Author Kelly Langston has wrote a faith based book on Autism.  The book explores some of the scripture that relates to Autism and God’s promises to Autistic people.  The book “Autism’s Hidden Blessings: Discovering God’s Promises for Autistic Children and Their Families” seems to be getting great reviews on Amazon and is something I hope [...] (Source: AspieWeb.net) AspieWeb.net blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3854686 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:37:46 +0100 3854686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3816656&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FxkxapgPNk1w%2F This morning, while I was in the living room and Emma was asleep in her crib in our bedroom, I heard a faint “Mommy” followed by a very distinct “Mommy!”. She was calling me to come and get her out of her bed. When I walked in to greet her, I asked her if she called for me and she smiled and nodded her head yes! This interaction did my heart so much good! She has repeated my name when I say it first, but this is the first time she has associated a name with a person (that wasn’t even in the room!), and it just so happened to be MY name! THEN when I asked if she had actually called my name, she replied! HOLY COW! Emma has a neurology appointment tomorrow at 9am. They are going to do an EEG to see if she come off of her last seizure medicine, Phenobarbital. At ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3816656 Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:55:16 +0100 3816656 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3798829&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Fdeveloping-spirituality%2F Spirituality means that we know we are more than just the physical self. We have an energy or spirit attached to us. In some religious circles our spirit is referred to as the soul and is immortal and that the spirit was created by some divine maker or creator. On the other hand, spirituality to some is a sense of connectiveness to the spiritual nature of the universe, the collective universe that is a part of us all. What the psychologist Carl Jung referred to as the collective unconscious. The collective unconscious is the reservoir of the experiences of all humans. Some believe that spirituality is simply getting in touch with your higher consciousness because we all have the divine spirit within us and it can be accessible. Regardless of your definition, when you begin a spiritual jou... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3798829 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:04:00 +0100 3798829 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3795021&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Fespeciallyheather.com%2Fmusic%2FEaston-Speak-Mix.wav Easton went to Tennessee last week with my parents to visit some friends in the music business. While there, she wrote and recorded this song about Emma and the day she seized. I cannot tell you the emotions that filled my heart the first time I read the lyrics. And yes. That is all her playing that guitar!! She is such an amazingly mature young lady, and I love her so very much. She has witnessed things that most people won’t witness in their lifetime, yet she knows that this world and all of it’s heartache is not the end… Speak-Written and Performed by Easton George Speak Lyrics Her smile can reach the sky. And her eyes will shine so bright. You hit the floor for the first time that night, and I watched your life flash by. Speak, just a word cause’ I love you is so ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3795021 Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:09:04 +0100 3795021 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3787103&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Fchronology.html Reading the lyrics of "Wonder" by Natalie Merchant the other day brought me back.  Made me think some things over.  I had to scan a few photos in for another post, photos from my childhood album.  This is my favorite picture in that album.  Whenever I start thinking I might be making some headway in this photography hobby of mine, I look back and I am reminded that I have a long way to go to match my dad's black and white film and Canon A1 with it's old kit lens...a photojournalists camera, his first major purchase as a high school student.I remember fainting and nearly dying at a friend's wedding when I was in high school.  I remember them thinking I was pregnant and hemorrhaging or something, and how I said a thousand times through gritted teeth that was impossib... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3787103 Sun, 25 Jul 2010 11:34:00 +0100 3787103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3726745&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F07%2Flamenting-loss-of-normalcy.html Sometimes it just hits you in the gut like a ton of bricks.  There is nothing left in your life that is normal.  You watch, on Facebook, at church, through blogs and e-mails, as your friends and most of your family progress through a "normal" life, with fun pictures of holidays, updates about jobs, all the little details that make up "normal".  And you realize there is nothing left you can claim as normal.  I found a photo taken a few weeks before we lost normal.  What brings the tears the quickest is my children, my husband.  He looks so young.  I look at Caleb - just born - and Amelia, not even 2.  They don't remember "normal".  I see Katy's innocence.  I had never asked to learn to do laundry or cook a meal or clean a bathroom yet. &nbsp... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3726745 Mon, 05 Jul 2010 19:30:00 +0100 3726745 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3699665&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fwhy-does-god-allow-breast-cancer%2F As a little girl, somehow I got the impression that God was watching everything I did and would clobber me for any bad behavior. I am sure this came from a mother who wanted to instill the fear of God in me — and it worked. But in my early twenties, I developed my own relationship and understanding of God that has only grown deeper as I get older. For me, now, He is a loving father. Like many people who are diagnosed with cancer, I turned to God with questions and prayers after my breast cancer diagnosis. I didn’t think God gave me cancer, but I knew He somehow had allowed it in my life. I was comforted knowing that He would be with me through my battle against the disease. I was also convinced that He had a plan and a purpose for me to go through this trial. I know there are many who ... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3699665 Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:32:33 +0100 3699665 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3691053&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fdid-god-give-you-breast-cancer-2%2F As a little girl, somehow I got the impression that God was watching everything I did and would clobber me for any bad behavior. I am sure this came from a mother who wanted to instill the fear of God in me — and it worked. But in my early twenties, I developed my own relationship and understanding of God that has only grown deeper as I get older. For me, now, He is a loving father. Like many people who are diagnosed with cancer, I turned to God with questions and prayers after my breast cancer diagnosis. I didn’t think God gave me cancer, but I knew He somehow had allowed it in my life. I was comforted knowing that He would be with me through my battle against the disease. I was also convinced that He had a plan and a purpose for me to go through this trial. I know there are many who ... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3691053 Wed, 23 Jun 2010 16:36:40 +0100 3691053 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3683814&cid=t_104752_134_f&fid=35162&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FLemonadeLife%2F%7E3%2F4k-Q3e2sRHU%2F Last night at my church, my pastor was talking about ways in which we define ourselves. He shared an anecdote about how, when speaking to a group of students, a boy asks, “Since you’re from Dallas, are you a Rangers fan or a Yankees fan?” My pastor responds, “I’m a Christian! But I root for the Mets” as a way to convey that he doesn’t define himself by the “typical” identifiers, but by something far more spiritual than a sports team. I was intrigued because for most of my time as a diabetes advocate, there has always been a bit of heckling done between those who choose to use diabetes as an characteristic that defines them (the so-called “diabetic vs. PWD” debate). My pastor said that people have a “controlling” ... Lemonade Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3683814 Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:33:15 +0100 3683814 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3678661&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2F11th-step-prayer%2F Lord, make me a channel for thy peace – that where there is hatred, I may bring love – that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness – that where there is discord, I may bring harmony – that where there is error, I may bring truth – that where there is doubt, I may bring faith – that where there is despair, I may bring hope – that where there are shadows, I may bring light – that where there is sadness, I may bring joy. Lord, grant that I may seek rather – to comfort than to be comforted – to understand, than to be understood – to love, than to be loved For it is by self-forgetting that one finds. It is by forgiving that one is forgiven. It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life. Amen. No matter where I am in my spiritual growth, th... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3678661 Sat, 19 Jun 2010 16:32:00 +0100 3678661 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3676900&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Ftie-up-your-camel-2%2F Trust Your Higher Power, But Tie Up Your Camel There was once a man who was on his way back home from market with his camel and, as he’d had a good day, he decided to stop along the road and offer his thanks to his Higher Power. He left his camel outside and went in and spent several hours offering thanks, praying and promising that he’d be a good person in the future, help the poor and be an upstanding pillar of his community. When he emerged it was already dark and lo and behold – his camel was gone! He immediately flew into a violent temper and shook his fist at the sky, yelling: "You traitor, God! How could you do this to me? I put all my trust in you and then you go and stab me in the back like this!" A passing sufi dervish heard the man yelling and c... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3676900 Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:21:00 +0100 3676900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3666234&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Flife-is-a-mystery-2%2F Many people in early recovery from addiction, alcoholism, gambling and co-dependency are challenged by philosophical questions such as posed here. My life is… a mystery which I do not attempt to understand, as though I were led by the hand in a night where I see nothing, but can fully depend on the Love and Protection of Him Who guides me.     – Thomas Merton – When I laugh, God laughs.  When I weep, God weeps.  When I need, God says, “Yes.” I have come to know that there are many different ways to express spirituality and  know that the Universe is showing me my way.  Spirituality is not defined only as religion.  Spirituality is the yearning of the heart toward something larger than ourselves and the desire to leap the chasm that di... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3666234 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 05:15:00 +0100 3666234 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3632404&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F-LCjcsfkDHw%2F Emma was back in the hospital last week, but it was a quick trip. She went in because she had a urinary tract infection, and while there we opted to have a G-Tube placed. On Tuesday of last week she was officially diagnosed with Cortical Vision Impairment (CVI) by her Neuro-Ophthalmologist. We {Mark, I and her doctors} feel that the G-Tube is needed because Emma has limited vision and was not allowing us put anything in her mouth because she thought everything was medicine. If you have followed my blog for the past 4 years, you will remember that she use to have a G-tube that she loving called “nubbie”. She pulled it out when she was 5 and has not required one until now. The G-Tube makes it so much easier to give her medicine, and it helps her become reacquainted with food in h... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3632404 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:40:56 +0100 3632404 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629691&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F06%2F04%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-june-4-2010%2F I was out on break for a bit, but now I’m back. I’m just wondering one thing: Did you miss me? Well the start of summer means lots of you are also on summer break — break from work, school, your favorite television show or maybe it’s more time with the kids. One thing you can count on is another week of top posts to read. Don’t worry if you were too busy barbecuing, partying or hanging out at the beach! There’s plenty of time to catch up. In fact, you can start with these. Here’s another quick round-up of our best posts for this week: Mental Health Hashtag List (World of Psychology) – One of the best things about Twitter is that you get the chance to chat with people all over the world. Twitter hashtags are one of the ways you can do so. But ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629691 Fri, 04 Jun 2010 11:57:46 +0100 3629691 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3621915&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FaTQ_x1i4iiY%2F You know, this last three months has been overwhelmingly painful yet utterly awesome. They have shown me my weaknesses, my doubts, my lack of faith… but at the same time it has pushed me closer to strengthening my weaknesses, trusting in the midst of my doubt and building up my faith by searching HIS heart. I have prayed so many times before that Christ would do a mighty work in me, that He would anoint my life and my words and that His will would be done, despite mine. I have doubted him so many times that I have lost count. I have lost trust in him so many times. I have lost faith that he will do what he says he will do so many times. Yet, He is still faithful. He is still trustworthy. He is still our Healer. Mark and I went to Emma’s IEP last week dreading that we were go... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3621915 Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:31:49 +0100 3621915 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3570028&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FlMVY4od29KA%2F My mom came up to the rehab center  while we were there and brought Emma (and me) and plaque that stated “Good things will happen today.”  I  nonchalantly hung it on her window in her room at TGH and every once in a while I would read it in passing and smile and go on my way through the various therapies scheduled for that day. Today, as a sit on my lanai, it hangs over the table.  Every morning, when I come out and drink my coffee and have my quiet time, I see it.  But today I really see it. And I get it. No matter what today entails,  no matter what each moment holds- Good things will happen.  Good things always happen amidst the bad.  You would think by now, with all that I have gone through, I would have learned that.  You would think that it wouldn’t take a ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3570028 Mon, 17 May 2010 12:04:41 +0100 3570028 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3560504&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FZICFbTsy1cs%2F Why do people have sex? It may seem obvious to you or me but researchers have found that people have sex for a wide range of psychological, social and self-centred reasons. Historically, the reasons people have sex have been assumed to be few in number and simple in nature- to reproduce, to experience pleasure, or to relieve sexual tension. Several perspectives suggest that motives for engaging in sexual intercourse may be larger in number and psychologically complex in nature. Our first study used a procedure that identified 237 expressed reasons for having sex, ranging from the mundane (e.g., ‘‘I wanted to experience physical pleasure’’) to the spiritual (e.g., ‘‘I wanted to get closer to God’’), from altruistic (e.g., ‘‘I wanted the person to feel good about himse... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3560504 Wed, 12 May 2010 21:54:24 +0100 3560504 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3546988&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FtSlrqkRzHPQ%2F She and I both want to say a VERY HUMONGOUS THANK YOU! When we got home on Thursday, there were not only one but THREE boxes of cards from you all wrapped up in adorable baskets! (Thank you Lisa B and {in}courage for putting that together for us!) You guys will never know how much your words brightened my day… She did absolutely fantabulous at inpatient rehab.  So fantabulous, in fact, that she only had to stay for 2 weeks! More on that to come, but did I mention she did fantabulous?! She is becoming more and more like the old Emma every day! She lost most of her speech and sight from the swelling on her brain, but she is saying some of the old things that she use to say (like “dead gum it” and “NO!”) She has said Mama, Nana, Walk and other random words that ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3546988 Sun, 09 May 2010 10:21:13 +0100 3546988 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3529971&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FY9s-Muvow5w%2F (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3529971 Mon, 03 May 2010 17:42:56 +0100 3529971 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3524433&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fin-drifts-of-soul.html And maybe the answer is that, whether we realize it or not, every moment is our testimony before a world who has Christ on trial. (Ann Voskamp of Holy Experience)I don't have energy for every moment being a testimony. I am picking a dried-up soul up off the floor today, dragging it around to do dishes, sort winter and summer clothes, tidy up the house. Trying to find something edible for dinner. Why, why, why, Father? The world is bursting with the green that comes after the storm. And my heart is still cold, in the drifts, the pale yellow of last summer's dried husks like the memory of a different life that swells within.Read Psalm 22 today and felt a bit better. I wonder if it is coincidence that Psalm 22 is followed by Psalm 23? According to the Jewish oral/textual tradition, both the o... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3524433 Sat, 01 May 2010 16:40:00 +0100 3524433 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3508306&cid=t_104752_117_f&fid=38856&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.timemastermd.com%2F%3Fp%3D932 FDA!  No Lick, Just Sip & Suck? For thousands of years, salt’s high value has made it the foundation of a society, a currency of trade, and cause for wars.  Now suddenly salt is the bad girl.  An organized push by the FDA to ban salty foods and have manufacturers reduce salt in their products, is fueled by idiots who know nothing about health and those who ignore the US Constitution!   So if the FDA get’s it way, and outlaws salt – what happens to #1?  I guess we tequila drinkers will just have to make do with number 2 and 3!                  Consumers love the taste of salt in food and, in fact, their bodies crave it. With the trend toward low-fat foods, food producers must rely on salt to provide the desired taste.   So, what do you think will hap... Timemaster MD blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3508306 Mon, 26 Apr 2010 19:24:51 +0100 3508306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3502832&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F04%2F25%2Fflex-your-moral-muscle-god-can-change-your-brain%2F In his newest book, “After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters,” Anglican bishop and biblical scholar N. T. Wright advises his readers not to cheat on their tax returns. Because that deceitful act may very well carve a neural pathway inside the brain that makes it easier to cheat on other things or people. Scary thought. But the reverse is also true: that the decision to grin and bear a conversation with a boring neighbor on the train–to try ever so painfully to remain patient–also leaves a pathway in the brain that facilitates patience the next time you are confronted with an obnoxious, the-armrest-is-mine train mate. Says Wright: Neuroscience is still in comparative infancy. But already the clear indications are that significant events in your life, incl... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3502832 Sun, 25 Apr 2010 10:40:26 +0100 3502832 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3487318&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F9d6TwVbrmRs%2F Today will mark 10 weeks we have been at All Children’s Hospital. 10 weeks. I can hardly believe it has been that long. One of the many things I have learned in these past ten weeks is how very vulnerable my walk with Christ is. I have been attacked many times by satan tempting me to abandon my faith that the Lord will do what He says He will do. I have cried more than any mother should cry. I have been numb, angry, depressed, heartbroken…wash rinse repeat. Yet the one thing I have never felt is abandoned. I have always known, even in the darkest moments of the past 10 weeks that my God has not abandoned me or my daughter. I have never lost that nagging hope in the back of my heart that says “Be still and know that I am God. Watch what I am about to do.” That has... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3487318 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:06:56 +0100 3487318 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3483078&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FDFLmOJ_QStE%2F Today is the first day in three weeks that we have seen her smile and heard her beautiful laugh! There is actually life in her eyes, though they still are not fixing on anything in particular… But she was bouncing in her wheel chair and twirling her head so she could feel her pigtails She is making the same noises that she made before the seizures, but she still is not talking, only making sounds. That will come in time Tomorrow we have a big day planned full of EEG monitoring in the morning for a few hours to rule out any breakthrough seizures and then in the afternoon we will have an MRI to see how her brain has healed. I am just so very superbly ecstatic with her progress, and so are the doctors and nurses Yesterday she could not suck from a straw and today she can suck if you... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3483078 Sun, 18 Apr 2010 21:16:26 +0100 3483078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3480896&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FXVErnPPDvls%2F Today has been full of small miracles!  She is eating and swallowing on her own (you have to put the food in her mouth, but she goes for it with her tongue!) She has some purposeful eye movement.  She is able to sit unassisted and hold her head up straight.  She LOVES going for wheel chair rides outside! (We are renting a wheelchair for her)  She is consistently raising her hand so that daddy can do “this little piggy” with her fingers She picks her nose, rubs her eyes and clicks her teeth just like she use to do! She is still in there… We just have to find the right method to getting her out. She is going to be moved to Tampa General Pediatric Rehabilitation Center Tuesday or Wednesday.  She has an MRI scheduled for Monday, so be praying for that. I just want to th... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3480896 Sun, 18 Apr 2010 01:36:46 +0100 3480896 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3475872&cid=t_104752_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F04%2F16%2Fbest-of-our-blogs-april-16th-2010%2F As of yesterday, I’m sure you’re singing, “TGIF” or Thank God Its Finished, taxes that is. And if so, congratulations! You deserve a little rest and relaxation. I hope these posts will do it for you. Speaking of which, my regular reading of Psych Central posts have started to get to me. Have you noticed any changes in you? I think it may be all that introspection and insightful thinking that made me rethink my initial judgement of a stranger I met on the plane recently. When I first saw him, he was yelling at people rushing to get off the plane, telling them to “Slow down or else someone would get hurt” and “Why are you so rude? What’s the rush anyway?” I was quick to cast him off as an pushy, negative guy who I wanted nothing to do wit... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3475872 Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:45:49 +0100 3475872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3449091&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fmartina-navratilova-faces-a-new-opponent-in-breast-cancer%2F The tennis champ Martina Navratilova announced just recently that she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It is DCIS, ductal carcinoma in situ, which is the earliest form of the disease. Ms. Navratilova has elected to have a lumpectomy followed by several weeks of radiation, which is pretty standard treatment for DCIS. But that aside, we breast cancer survivors know all too well the shock and fear Martina has had to deal with after getting this diagnosis. So much for diet and exercise preventing breast cancer, as suggested by researchers at a conference in Spain recently. Martina Navratilova has to be one of the most fit women I know of. I truly admire all her accomplishments. Like Martina, so many women really do take care of their bodies and health in every way and still get hit with this... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3449091 Wed, 07 Apr 2010 18:31:09 +0100 3449091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3441009&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Ffight-breast-cancer-with-hope%2F “Once you choose hope, anything is possible.” I found a beautiful plaque with this quote and hung it in my bathroom. Why my bathroom? Well, that is the one place that I know most of my guests will end up visiting — and actually read what is on the wall. Hope has been a theme lately in my life. My brother-in-law and I had a discussion about it recently. He is a motivator, a businessman, and a marathon triathlete. He has established orphanages in Africa and is invited to speak at leadership conferences often. I think this makes him an expert on hope. Recently he began working with a mission in downtown Toronto serving meals to homeless people. He finds that the homeless who suffer most are the ones who truly feel hopeless. It isn’t just those who are down and out that need ho... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3441009 Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:05:16 +0100 3441009 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3435208&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FhHVeknInc3A%2F She is no longer having seizures on the left side of her brain according the continual EEG. We are (un)patiently waiting the viral cultures from her spinal tap that was done on Wednesday evening. That will give us a better idea of what is causing her encephalitis and seizures. We will wean off of the sedation medication (versed) which is helping to suppress the seizures tomorrow if she continues to do well. She has no brain bleeds but if she does have a virus it could potentionally cause brain damage. We will not know the extent, if any until she fully wakes up. Good signs: She has purposeful movements. When she is unrestrained she goes directly for the breathing tube and EEG chords. She has opened her eyes 3 times today and focused on us. That does our hearts so much good! She sque... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3435208 Fri, 02 Apr 2010 22:50:36 +0100 3435208 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3435198&cid=t_104752_134_f&fid=35162&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FLemonadeLife%2F%7E3%2F00A3e8HrTsk%2F Yesterday’s Thing That Make Me Happy was pre-empted by the start of the month and my April Goals, so I hope you don’t mind the change in programming. #51: Jesus! Today is Good Friday and on Sunday, it is Easter, so I thought it would be perfect timing to tell you all about how Jesus makes me happy. I became a Christian late in high school, after a very, VERY long coming-to-Christ period. A lot of people want to tell you that if you become a Christian, your life will be perfect. You will never be upset about anything. Absolutely everything will always work out in your favor. You will start pooping rainbows and butterflies and it will smell like roses. Everyone in the entire world will always do everything you want and that you will always speak softly and sweetly to everyone a... Lemonade Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3435198 Fri, 02 Apr 2010 18:05:05 +0100 3435198 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3411266&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2Fs2hTFydsIjM%2F (This post was originally written in 2oo7.  It speaks to the heart of my post yesterday and when I read it this morning, it spoke to my heart again.) Have you ever thought about that? Jesus wept. In the midst of his heartache, in the midst of his impending death. He wept. He cried out visibly to his Father, praying that the cup would be taken from his hand. When our children are hurting, scared or tired, they weep. We wrap our arms around them and tell them that it is okay, that it will get better, that they are loved. We rush to their sides, and attend to their needs, because thats what mothers do. After all, these are our babies. Yet, when we, as moms, wives and women hurt, we hold it in. We tell ourselves that we must push those emotions aside, because after all we are moms, wives and ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3411266 Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:11:50 +0100 3411266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3385561&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2Fh7YEpL-p7W8%2F : A model of progression The spiritual progression of 14 members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was studied using a transtheoretical approach, with object relations theory as a primary framework. The subjects were aged 35-45, had a minimum of one year of continuous sobriety, and professed belief in the efficacy of the Twelve Steps. The subjects participated in multiple-subject interviews and completed a questionnaire. A six-stage model of spiritual progression was developed. It is noted that within AA, spiritual progression in recovery is based on application of AA’s Twelve Suggested Steps of Recovery. stage one marks the beginning of recovery, stages two and three address relationships with God; stage four relates to subjects’ relationships with themselves; stage five relates t... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3385561 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:58:47 +0100 3385561 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3366435&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FRgiuxGfFg0Y%2F The spiritual adventure of Alcoholics Anonymous as experienced by individual members. Over 75 A.A. members from all over the world describe the wide diversity of convictions implied in “God as we understood Him.” Especially helpful to those who confuse “spiritual” with “religious.” - Order now >> Came to Believe - Alcoholism, Addiction & Codependency Recovery Bookstore Hazelden Books, DVD's & Medalions (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com) Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3366435 Sun, 14 Mar 2010 22:36:00 +0100 3366435 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3354534&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F7Ss5PRMaekM%2F Sorry for the lack of updates for the past couple of days… They were really really busy for Miss Em. By Sunday she was so very much done with CRRT dialysis that she twisted her entire body like a twizzler and clotted the machine.  She was at the maximum amount of all of her sedation yet literally sat up in bed.  They had to make a decision on whether or not she was ready to come off of CRRT and go to Hemo-dialysis.  She made the decision for them when she wouldn’t be still! They stopped the CRRT and started Hemo-dialysis Monday Morning. Mondays dialysis went better than expected, but Monday night she decided that she was done with her Central Venous Femoral Line and pulled it out.  For those of you who are not aware of where they put that, it is in the main artery in her le... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3354534 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:05:33 +0100 3354534 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3350582&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FxDSWkEleCTk%2F Trust Your Higher Power, But Tie Up Your Camel There was once a man who was on his way back home from market with his camel and, as he’d had a good day, he decided to stop along the road and offer his thanks to his Higher Power. He left his camel outside and went in and spent several hours offering thanks to, praying and promising that he’d be a good person in the future, help the poor and be an upstanding pillar of his community. When he emerged it was already dark and lo and behold – his camel was gone! He immediately flew into a violent temper and shook his fist at the sky, yelling: "You traitor, God! How could you do this to me? I put all my trust in you and then you go and stab me in the back like this!" A passing sufi dervish heard the man yelling and ... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3350582 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:30:31 +0100 3350582 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3339692&cid=t_104752_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorandpatient.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F03%2Fwhat-i-learned-from-my-failed-icsi.html This is a guest post from a patient, who is now a good friend !My first ICSI attempt failed. The first day after hearing this I was very disappointed and down. But the next day, I felt this strange sense of peace and happiness. I realized that I have learned so much from this experience, I am very grateful for that. Firstly, I am really proud of myself, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I could be so emotionally and physically resilient. Secondly, I feel a deep sense of gratitude for everything I have, my family, my health and so many other blessings that I tend to take for granted. Life is fragile and it is important to be aware and thankful for all our blessings, every minute, every single day. Thirdly, I am much more compassionate than before and feel a strong inner desire to b... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3339692 Sun, 07 Mar 2010 03:40:00 +0100 3339692 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3331649&cid=t_104752_180_f&fid=38612&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpickthebrain%2FLYVv%2F%7E3%2FxhpJNw-Cmwo%2F I was a touring comedian for ten years and a very successful one at that; in fact, I hold the entertainment industry record of 106-straight weeks touring on the road. At the same time, I managed to retain my anonymity, which was important to me. In those ten years touring, I met tens of thousands of audience members after shows. The most common opening phrase they used? “I wish I could . . .” followed by their goal or dream that they just didn’t know how to go about achieving. In small towns, it was often just “I wish I could move to a big city where I could have some options.” (Small town people often feel trapped and because of it often become so.) I found myself uttering the same phrase back in college at nineteen. Mine was, “I wish I knew how to figure o... PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3331649 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:22:19 +0100 3331649 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3316250&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FoomtlmPBrTg%2F Let go, let ... There’s a story sometimes told by members of Alcoholics Anonymous. A mountain climber stumbles off the edge of a cliff. He manages to break his fall by grabbing a branch on a tree that overlooks the ravine. Hanging for his life, he calls up to heaven. “If there’s anybody up there, help me-please!” A thunderous voice booms from the clouds: “Let go, and I will protect you.” The man pauses for a moment to think. Finally he shouts, “Is there anyone else I can talk to?” Paradoxical Program AA offers a program based on the paradox of personal change-that transformation comes only when we let go of our futile efforts to control what we cannot control. Unlike the man hanging from the tree, we can learn to accept direction from outside ourselves. Over the years, AA m... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3316250 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 04:40:27 +0100 3316250 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3276091&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Fim-an-agnostic-alcoholic-in-aa%2F My name is Jan and I’m an agnostic alcoholic in AA My parents gave me a faith that in later years I lost. No, it was not a religious faith, though I was exposed to the teachings of two sects. Neither was forced upon me; I simply drifted away through boredom, and my fragile, superficial belief in God vanished as soon as I tried thinking about it. It was a faith in people that my parents gave me — both by loving me and by respecting me as an individual, entitled to make my own choices. Out in the world on my own, I still had a feeling of being under benevolent protection. My immediate bosses (of both sexes) seemed to regard me as kindly schoolteachers had. Oddly, my good fortune sometimes annoyed me. “What is this?” I asked myself. “Do I arouse the parental impulse?... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3276091 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:22:37 +0100 3276091 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3262847&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36032&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-breast-cancer%2Fwhy-am-i-keeping-this-wig-after-i-survived-cancer%2F Like a lot of women I know I have fat pants in my closet. You know, the ones you kept from when you were at your heaviest so you can remind yourself how much weight you lost. They are usually one or two sizes bigger than you are now. Only some of us keep them because every now and then our weight creeps back up and we actually need a pair of bigger pants. We refuse to pay for fat clothes because we are convinced the weight will come off again. Some of us never even tell anyone but sisters and close girlfriends about our fat pants. Certainly my husband doesn’t know. When he comes with me to doctor’s offices I don’t even let my husband see the nurse weigh me or check my height; I don’t want to ruin his image of me as tall and thin, which isn’t easy to accomplish... Life with Breast Cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3262847 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:29:19 +0100 3262847 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3259275&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FYABvJaUJNlc%2F The Agnostics 12 Steps For agnostics who would like to work the steps, this version of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous provides slightly different wording of the six steps that make reference to God or a Higher Power. This version of the Twelve Steps seems to have originated in agnostic A.A. groups in California. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol-that our lives had become unmanageable. Came to believe and to accept that we needed strengths beyond our awareness and resources to restore us to sanity. [Original: Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.] Made a decision to entrust our will and our lives to the care of the collective wisdom and resources of those who have searched before us. [Original: Made a decision to turn our wills a... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3259275 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:18:42 +0100 3259275 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3227955&cid=t_104752_134_f&fid=35162&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FLemonadeLife%2F%7E3%2F24hTYQrx1u0%2F Congratulations, America! You have survived your first month of the New Year. Have you stuck to your resolutions? If you’re like 99.9% of the world, you haven’t, but if you have, you’re awesome. Have a cookie. How did I do? Well, let’s take a look at what I said my January goals were and whether or not I accomplished what I set out to do: 1. Give blood. Indeed I did! Kind of under the gun though. I signed Erik and I up for doing it the third weekend in January, but we ended up having to cancel, which gave us just this past weekend to do it. Unfortunately, since I never officially canceled on the website, the NYC Blood Center thought I had already given and wouldn’t let me schedule an appointment until MARCH! Ugh. Fortunately, there happened to be a Donor Bus ... Lemonade Life blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3227955 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:00:11 +0100 3227955 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3205078&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F84ODw2mlaJw%2F I wish I could say that the much needed break was because of some unstoppable action that I couldn’t take a break from… But in all honesty, I just needed a break. I needed time to myself to just- be. I need a respite of sorts, and now I feel very rested, both physically and emotionally. It has been a whirlwind of activity around here. Easton is playing with an actual band now. They are hoping to get in front of the judges for America’s Got Talent in Orlando, and I think they have a pretty good shot at it! They are really really good (and I am not just saying that because she is my daughter!) They haven’t settled on a name yet, but that is soon to come. Did I say they were really really good?! The drummer is 18, and a senior in highschool. The keyboardist is 16, and... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3205078 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:49:37 +0100 3205078 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3200667&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FPreUvLXkWn0%2F Acceptance People in 12 Step Fellowships often struggle with acceptance. Not just acceptance of powerlessness over their disease but many other things as well. God grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. –Reinhold Niebuhr Some things I cannot change I need to accept as is: my age, who my relatives are, my eye color, my height, my childhood experiences, my inborn talents, my nature, someone else’s abuse of alcohol or other drugs, whether the sun will shine, my job history, what I will inherit, how my parents feel, yesterday’s lost opportunities, how long I will live, who forgives me, how my parents treated me, how much I am loved, the past. Some things I can change: the ... Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3200667 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:54:41 +0100 3200667 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3167460&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2FQhVfZeBtE8Y%2F “My sponsor was a living damper on my intolerance. But even more, he told me that it would be all right for me to doubt God, that A.A. was not a religious program and, to belong, I did not have to adhere to any set of beliefs. “He suggested that for me a good starting point [...] (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com) Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3167460 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:01:09 +0100 3167460 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3159952&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fjesus-sought-me-when-stranger.html I long to reclaim a toddler's spirit of faith. All it takes to make a beautiful day, peace and safety, is Papa. My niece, Susan, here ignores the cold floor, the lack of a proper bed to sleep in at night, and a dozen other comforts she might have desired, if she had thought of them. But her gaze is fixed upon her Papa. She finds all the beauty, peace, safety and comfort she desires there in his eyes.Through the daily sufferings and disappointments, may my eyes never be removed from the face of my Father. O to grace, how great a debtor! Daily I'm constrained to be. Grace that brought me home for eternity through the Cross. Grace that preserved my life through the latest surgery and infection. Grace that knows every day between my beginning and end. How His kindness yet pursues me, mortal to... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3159952 Sun, 10 Jan 2010 17:42:00 +0100 3159952 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3142840&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2F5ogsG1IwBHA%2F What and where is My Higher Power? “The answer I was looking for was on page 12 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, in Ebby’s words to Bill: ’”Why don’t you choose your own conception of God?”’ “’I’ve tried everything else,’ I thought, ’and I’ve got no place else to go. I might just as well.’ [...] (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com) Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3142840 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:35:14 +0100 3142840 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3142845&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FRecoveryIsSexycom%2F%7E3%2Fp5AO23GhI1g%2F ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: The story of how more than one hundred men have recovered from alcoholism. 400 pp. New York Works Publishing Co., 1939, $3.50. The psychological aspect of alcoholism taxes the entire skill and intuition of the therapist, and the authors of this book claim that in the long run the ex-alcoholic patient who is properly [...] (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com) Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3142845 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:04:01 +0100 3142845 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3139212&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FunzWcrWc7XI%2F but this picture! This picture was taken at The Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando. It is the first family picture we have had taken since my cancer diagnosis and thus loosing my hair. I have so many other photo’s to show you of our Christmas vacation, but that will have to wait until company leaves… Until then, Happy 2010! (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3139212 Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:49:24 +0100 3139212 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3100932&cid=t_104752_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fmr-scrooge-be-gone-and-take-the-grinch-with-you%2F Really! Don’t you know it’s Christmas? Yet, here you are, bringing it on. Your “bah humbug” presence is trying to louse up the happiest time of the year.  I know your type.  You’re the grouch at every family gathering; the insensitive friend who has no comprehension of chronic pain and no respect for the courage it takes to live this way. You’re that individual who cannot see life beyond yourself. How tragic is that? You’re missing so much. But I don’t really want to convert you; that’s Tiny Tim’s job. I just want you to be gone. The problem with you is you take many forms. Isn’t life difficult enough without all the struggles you throw our way, compounding our predicament with further complications? Life hands us disease and you hand us discouragement. Life assault... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3100932 Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:37:58 +0100 3100932 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3082614&cid=t_104752_151_f&fid=35818&url=http%3A%2F%2Frecoveryissexy.com%2Fspirituality-in-alcoholism-recovery%2F : A model of progression The spiritual progression of 14 members of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was studied using a transtheoretical approach, with object relations theory as a primary framework. The subjects were aged 35-45, had a minimum of one year of continuous sobriety, and professed belief in the efficacy of the Twelve Steps. The subjects [...] (Source: Recovery Is Sexy.com) Recovery Is Sexy.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3082614 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 18:21:00 +0100 3082614 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3079539&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F12%2Fhollow.html There is so much that is raw right now. It stops up my words, all this pain that threatens to bubble over the top and consume my days. I find comfort in the darkest books of the Bible...Lamentations, Daniel, Joel, Habakkuk, Isaiah, some of the Psalms. In a season that is all about praise, I am more on my knees in wordless agony of emptiness and concomitant desperation of waiting for resolution. Waiting for heaven. I had two miscarriages before this one, and I haven't ever suffered so. There is something so tangible about this baby...my sister-in-law down the street, one of my dearest friends. Calling me to tell me her baby is moving. Her baby that she found out about two days before I found out about mine. It just seems so cruel that I have to suffer this now, that I will suffer this for t... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3079539 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:46:00 +0100 3079539 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075732&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2Fi4K62i7Lxtg%2F If you followed me on twitter yesterday, you probably already know that my MRI was clear! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support. I have no idea why this last MRI was so stressful to me {and my family} but it really helped knowing that you were praying. I am sorry that I couldn’t update sooner but my parents took us out for Mexican food last night to celebrate and then I literally fell asleep on the car ride home (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075732 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:32:09 +0100 3075732 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3061528&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FyodOW2tM8II%2F “I can count a million times people asking me how I can praise You with all that I’ve gone through. The question just amazes me, can circumstances possibly change who I forever am in You?” -MercyMe That is Emma’s hand catching rain. This pictures really touches my heart because it captures perfectly how our family chooses to accept the “rain” instead of run from it. So many times people approach us and tell us how strong we are… how brave we must be to take on all that we have, including my cancer and a daughter with special needs. I never really thought we were brave, and most of the time we are not strong. What options do we have? We could either wallow in the heartache or we can praise Him through the storms…. {continue reading at incourag... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3061528 Sun, 06 Dec 2009 05:00:30 +0100 3061528 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3048311&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F0Lv9ge4-LVE%2F When ever I hear of someone who has been recently diagnosed with cancer, my mind goes back to that day when I first heard that I had brain cancer. I remember the fear and the complete out of control feeling that I felt. I remember the pleading, praying, bargaining, begging and finally the surrender that I experienced. I have recently come across two very precious people that have just been diagnosed with cancer. Wendy has just been diagnosed with lymphoma. Reading through her blog, floods of emotion ran through me… especially this post I remember silently watching my hair go down the drain, trying to hold back the tears… I remember calling my dad because Mark was at work and asking him to come over and shave my head because it was too hard to watch it gradually fall out. I rem... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3048311 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:44:08 +0100 3048311 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3037071&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FSFemcvr3-Eg%2F These past few weeks I have been just trying to stay afloat. My mind has been traveling to places it shouldn’t, and I have had a hard time with the how’s and why’s. I have found myself fearful of the next MRI (Dec. 9th) and I really don’t know why. I know in my heart that He is already there and he knows the outcome…. it is just hard not having that control. I hear these words over and over in my heart: “Be still and know”…. but my mind wont stay still long enough to let what I know sink in. So, if you would, say a prayer for me. Pray that I would have peace that passes all understanding and that satan would have no control over my thoughts. Pray that I would go in confidence to my Dec 9th MRI, and that His will would be done- not mine. That ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3037071 Sat, 28 Nov 2009 18:43:34 +0100 3037071 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3026814&cid=t_104752_129_f&fid=36035&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.everydayhealth.com%2Fblog%2Flife-with-chronic-pain%2Fa-personal-thanksgiving-list%2F As each year passes, living with chronic pain and disease, I find myself grateful to still be alive to be grateful, to be grateful to still be alive, well, you get the picture. I’m thankful for modern medical care which saves us from the old fears of scurvy, consumption and the ingestion of laudanum; but we still have a long way to go. I’m thankful for the many medications, like the dreaded prednisone, biologics, NSAID’s and anti-malarials, in spite of their numerous side effects. I’m thankful there isn’t as much fat in my behind as there is in my chin…chins…I think. In spite of living with daily pain, I look back in awe and wonder why I still have as many “marbles rattling around in my jar” as I do. I’m thankful for the insight which I have gained from all this sufferi... Life with Chronic Pain blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3026814 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:51:29 +0100 3026814 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3023385&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fanother-november.html November hasn't been a friendly month for our family, two years running. The oppressiveness of the vista surrounding us is a visual reflection of the darkness of circumstance and spirit that pervades. Death seeps in all autumn, reaching its zenith in this gray, muddy month of wavering between the seasons. Last year, cancer. This year, giving over a child yet unborn and yielding another we've cherished these three long years, submitting bodies to knives in surgery, and waiting almost desperately for the healing hand as the hours tick by without relief.We know it will arrive, come December. The death scene of autumn's last waning warmth finally gives way to the blanket of rebirth that protects the deep secrets of the earth through the long winter. December is the resurrection of light and sp... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3023385 Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:43:00 +0100 3023385 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3023386&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fwhy.html My heart cries to you out of the darknessI am laid low in this caveMy soul finds no peaceon a bed of stone all the night longYou are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.Where is your miraculous hand, O God?Why are you silent now,when you spoke so loudly in days past?The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses!Why did you shatter my illusions when I came to you for help?Why did you allow that hour of happinesswhen you knew the pain to come?I am content in a place of peace and mediocrityYet you draw me forth to the valleys and mountaintopsto revel in your glory,and to descend into pits and call out your name.But you are he that took me out of the womb:you made me hope when I was but a babe upon my mother's... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3023386 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0100 3023386 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3008364&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FR-HWb0MBwsM%2F Thank you, Mark for being here every step of the way for the last 15 years.  On our wedding day, we couldn’t have realized how much this song would mean or how many obstacles we would have to over come.  I love you so very very much and am so very thankful that God gave you to me. I could have never made it without you by my side…. Happy 15th Anniversary. My prayer is that we will have another 15 years together and then some! love you more, -me (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3008364 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:58:25 +0100 3008364 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2999827&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F11%2Fwhat-time-i-am-afraid_16.html , I will trust in Thee; In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? (from Psalm 56, KJV)I received a call from the neurologist today. Amelia has been formally diagnosed with Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM), a form of leukodystrophy. She may also have Vanishing White Matter Disease (VWM), another much more severe form of leukodystrophy. The diagnosis of this, or exclusion of it as a potential diagnosis, will be made over time after one or more additional MRIs have been taken. I think it is reasonable that all of you who ... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2999827 Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:08:00 +0100 2999827 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2981307&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FJesbDa2UbdA%2F The weather today is awesome. The high is expected to be in the lower 80’s and it is suppose to rain most of the day. {Lower 70s tomorrow! } I have the back of my house {wall of sliding glass doors which lead to a lanai} open and I am sitting here thinking about nothing and everything all at the same time. Emma is quietly chattering in the background and Mark is getting ready for work. Elijah and Easton are sound asleep in their rooms. I love mornings like this. I love when I can just sit and contain my thoughts and unwind my overly exhausted brain. I love the smell of the crisp rain floating through my house. The sound of chirping birds and rustling squirrels. The sounds of nature doing what is natural. So before I start my homeschooling day, and all of the ratios, non common deno... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2981307 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:32:22 +0100 2981307 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2963292&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FVOih0uE0EbE%2F From the cradle to college tell your daughters the truth about life before they believe the cultures lies. Easton and I have been discussing pretty deep issues as of late. Sex, dating, guys, etc. I have to tell you that it was a little uneasy for me at first because the fact that she is growing up really has taken me by surprise! She is no longer a little girl. I try to emphasize that sex is a beautiful thing, and is well worth the wait. It is not enough in this day and age to tell them not to do it because “God says not too.” The world is telling them that it is a totally acceptable thing at any age. She is bombarded with images of half clad teenagers {especially here in Florida}. We talk about what being virtuous means. We talk about what “reputation” she wants ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2963292 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:32:24 +0100 2963292 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2939526&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39025&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Feverythingchangesbook%2F%7E3%2FXkQ-pYv4ZqU%2Fcancer-religion-god God talk is embedded in a lot of cancer conversations: “It is all a part of God’s plan.” “The universe is trying to tell me something.”  “God doesn’t give you something you cannot handle.” (Major puke on that one.) “I’ll say a prayer for you.”  These exchanges are so common we rarely think twice about them.  Unless you are someone like me who doesn’t believe in God or the Universe. Many people say a benefit of cancer is connecting with amazing people you might not otherwise meet.  I agree.  And part of that is meeting people with different religious faiths and beliefs, including non-belief.  In Everything Changes, I met and wrote about an Evangelical Christian, conservative Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, Catholic, atheist, and a follower of Amma.  I had with each of ... Everything Changes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2939526 Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:46:53 +0100 2939526 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2899158&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2Fadq9k_S2RR0%2F His actions don’t make any sense. His reactions make even less sense. He asks His followers to do weird stuff; Things like pray and repent and witness. He calls on His people to believe that He really can do the things He says He can do. Yet how in the world could He expect me to handle all of the things life has thrown at me? How in the world could He expect you to handle all of the things life has thrown at you? Read that again. I often forget that He created not just the planet that I live on, but the galaxy that surrounds it. He doesn’t have to make sense, He doesn’t have to tie my world up in a perfect little bow. When we continue to think that this life should make sense to us we are missing the point. This isn’t about us. It never was. Yet we have a graci... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2899158 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:06:59 +0100 2899158 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2876310&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FSflJwH2aiEk%2F I love having a cup of coffee in the morning with my husband. I love the smell of Emma Grace after her bath. I love the sound of my children’s laughter in the distance. I love the quietness of the afternoon when I am all alone in my house. I love the imperfectness of my cluttered home. I love the crisp smell of a newly purchased book. I love the sound of my eldest daughter playing her guitar. I love the screams of excitement of my son on his xbox. I love the silly face that Emma Grace makes. I love the smell of my husband when he gets out of the shower. I love the smell of my dog when he gets back from the groomer. I love the sound of the birds chirping when I sit on my lanai. I even love the fighting and bickering between my children. Because at least I am here to hear the ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2876310 Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:56:15 +0100 2876310 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2862714&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F3fpmmkZB_eQ%2F The amazing thing about this song is that it was written by a man who claimed to have cancer yet did not. He faked his illness for 2 straight years, deceiving not only his parents congregation, but his wife and parents, yet the Lord turned it around for good. I first heard about this back when I was on chemo and it was honestly to close to home for me at the time. I wondered how in the world someone could take something so vile such as cancer and use it for monetary gain.. and sympathy. He even went so far as to dawn oxygen and walk with a cane to elude his symptoms were real. So I chose not to write about it because of the state of mind I was in at that time. It was too close to home for me at that time. Then I heard about this 10 year girl who sang it after receiving her heart transplan... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2862714 Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:49:58 +0100 2862714 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2824394&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2Fkotp1tSF8Po%2F Established. Deeply Rooted. Upheld. I have always been fascinated with the Joshua Tree, not only because of its biblical name and symbolism but also because of its root system. This tree has a top-heavy branch system, but also has what has been described as a “deep and extensive” root system, with roots possibly reaching up to 36 ft away. That is massive. It is also an awesome visual of how Christ loves us. Deep and Extensive. He establishes us through every trial we face. He holds us up through those trials and roots us deeply in His strength. He is my foundation, my “dirt and clay”. It is up to me how deep I want my roots to grow. It is up to me how far I want them to reach. It is up to me how tight I want to hold onto His promises. Because He is holding onto m... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2824394 Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:12:14 +0100 2824394 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2820558&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FmR2eY_FJHlc%2F Fall is one of my favorite times of year, second only to Christmas. I love the smell of pumpkins and watching the one tree change color in my back yard..(downfall of living in Florida) I love to open my sliding glass doors in the evenings and let the cooler air come through the house . (And the prospect of not running the AC at 73 really does my husbands heart (and bank account) good!) And I love having coffee on Saturday mornings with my husband on our back lanai. It is a time of change. A time of reflection. A time of shaking off the old, and anticipating the new. That brings to mind this verse in Titus “He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” – Titu... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2820558 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:54:37 +0100 2820558 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2858872&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fin-dark-places.html He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. I thank and praise You, O God of my fathers... Daniel 2:22-23aAlas, I have not had time nor energy to update this or visit all my normal blog haunts this week. The Crypto continues to rage in our household. I beg your prayers. Our annual church camp is this weekend and I am slated to play music in our annual family band. Without some dramatic improvements, most of the children and I will be stuck home. It's the third week now, and it feels as though the light may never shine at the end of this long, dark tunnel. I find it wryly humorous that an intestinal parasite visible only by microscope has brought me to my knees in frustration and desperation in many ways that cancer several inches long could... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2858872 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:16:00 +0100 2858872 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2812540&cid=t_104752_133_f&fid=37107&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aspieweb.net%2Fpain-breakdown%2F Lately Kate has been going through a breakdown and its so painful to watch.  Now I know what its like from the other side of the fence.When I was breaking down earlier this year after I lost my job and things starting sliding with other things in my life Kate was at my side the [...] (Source: AspieWeb.net) AspieWeb.net blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2812540 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:58:09 +0100 2812540 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859104&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fwhen-cancer-killed-grandma%2F I’d like to expand on what I wrote in this post, particularly about my grandma. I didn’t write enough about how her death affected me. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer  when she was 85 and I was 15. It’s been said that type of cancer is one of the most excruciating and lethal. (R.I.P., Mr. Swayze) Let me backtrack… my granny was Manuela. She insisted we call her Manuelita, though. She didn’t want to hear any of that “abuelita” or “grandma” business. She was short, stocky, feisty, and incredibly rugged for her age. She lived with my family since before I was born. In a sense, she was a second mom. They both ran the show while Dad was off working. Dad, Mom, and Manuelita: they were the bosses of us 5 kids. Manuelita & me Manu... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859104 Fri, 18 Sep 2009 22:26:07 +0100 2859104 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859105&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2F2009%2F09%2Fmy-foundation-dads-response%2F Not too long ago, I wrote about my father. He called me yesterday and asked if I was ready to hear his response yet. I said, “Sure.” I was curious. He actually read this to me over the phone. Can you say emotional? Between him choking up and me reaching for tissues…well, I’ll let you read it. He left this as a comment on the blog yesterday, but I’m elevating it to full-on blog post, baby! My comments are in GREEN. His reply: Hi mi hijo, After I read “My Foundation” I was crying for awhile, and so many memories to to my mind and heart. I remember how many of my plans (as a dad) for you suddenly collapsed right before my eyes. I figured maybe you would be a great soccer player. But, most of all, a martial artist that I could be teaching and coaching. (My Dad... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859105 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:12:51 +0100 2859105 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2804140&cid=t_104752_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F09%2Fdid-iatrogenic-harm-select-for.php Toward the end of this episode of EconTalk, Nassim Taleb (Fooled by Randomness, The Black Swan) talks about religion and the history of medicine. He notes that one of the benefits of adhering to religious practices was that you probably avoided going to a doctor when you were in trouble -- you prayed to a god or whatever other supernatural entity your religion said would help you out. Why was this a benefit? Because before roughly 50 to 100 years ago, going to the doctor was worse than doing nothing. He bled you, gave your wife a disease by not washing his hands while delivering her baby, etc.Basically, before very recent times, doctors were parasites. They did not specialize in healing you, but in conning you into thinking that they could heal you -- for a small fee -- all while making yo... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2804140 Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:10:00 +0100 2804140 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2752112&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FQqKKOcVTKHo%2F “Nothing external can steal our right to delight” – Beth Moore I mentioned in my short post yesterday that I went to a live simulcast seminar that Beth Moore was hosting. Ya’ll, it left me absolutely speechless. She spoke on Desires, and used Psalms 37 & 38 as reference points. When she said the statement above… I stopped dead in my tracks. Nothing External. Not cancer, not divorce, not depression, not heartbreak.. NOTHING has that right. Yet we freely give it passage. We all have something, something that is creeping in and slowly taking over our “delight”. It is as sneaky as the night, and just as determined to put darkness over us. For me, it was brain cancer and a daughter who has medical issues, but for you it could be something totally ... Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2752112 Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:23:03 +0100 2752112 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2858891&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39016&url=http%3A%2F%2Fturquoisegates.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F08%2Fhow-to-respond.html Getting to know someone through their writing is undoubtedly difficult. Even the most eloquent writer fails to capture the entirety of life within the limitations of their character alphabet, those finite combinations of letters and sounds that meld together as in imperfect portrait in text. Just like the rest of the art forms, what comes through is a collection of impressions, viewpoints, ideas. But not the whole. I realize I may have been remiss in filling in the blanks in my attempt to be succinct and more contemplative in style, to the exclusion of reporting hard facts and boring details. So here, in a few bullet points, I aim to make more clear my vision for this, my life, in the next five years, adoption included.1) School is one of my great joys. I love being a student and look forw... Turquoise Gates blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2858891 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:20:00 +0100 2858891 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859109&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2F2009%2F08%2Ftrigger-points%2F Today I had my first set of trigger point injections. A trigger point is a super-sensitive band of muscle, tendon, or ligament that causes pain. I had seven trigger points identified around my back and shoulder area. The doctor first fills a syringe with a tiny amount of lidocaine (local anesthetic) and injects it directly into a trigger point. For me, this felt like a burning sensation, followed quickly by numbness. The point of the injection is that by poking the stressed trigger point, it goes from being a tight band to a looser muscle. The numbing medicine is mainly to reduce the injection discomfort (it’s meant to wear off within hours). At the end of the procedure (it took about a half hour altogether), I told the doctor and nurse, “I feel like I just let out the world&#8... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859109 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:11:29 +0100 2859109 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2725215&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F_ocL0R3mI9M%2F “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” -Albert Einstein “Sharing good times, bearing hard times, trusting in God…. Laughing and living, trusting, trusting, forgiving, together in love, side by side, day by day.” These pictures are on my walls, [...] (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2725215 Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:15:35 +0100 2725215 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2716193&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F625Aw8IJgg8%2F So last night, when Mark came home from work, he offered to watch the kids so I could go have some “me” time. It had been a really rough day (3 fillings, Emma peeing all over the world. etc.) and by the look on my face, he just knew. So I loaded up my [...] (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2716193 Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:11:58 +0100 2716193 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2709363&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2F25uxKHEoy70%2F I love all things A&E reality. I love Intervention. I love Obsessed and now they have this new reality show called Hoarders. I often watch these shows and think about what makes people do the things they do. For example, last night on Hoarders there were two stories. One was of a [...] (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2709363 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 09:46:48 +0100 2709363 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2705304&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FrnFUYwfMsvY%2F This entry was posted on November 10, 2006 I am he, [...] (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2705304 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:48:07 +0100 2705304 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2688837&cid=t_104752_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F08%2Fheather-mac-donald-on-evolution-of-god.php Heather Mac Donald reviews Robert Wright's The Evolution of God. (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2688837 Mon, 10 Aug 2009 19:35:00 +0100 2688837 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2683961&cid=t_104752_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FM32MyPH8T1w%2F Just a short note and congratulations to Dr. Francis Collins for being confirmed as director of the National Institutes of Health. Francis Collins is new NIH director According to the Associated Press, Collins was confirmed by the US Senate yesterday via voice vote (say “aye” or “nay”), so I’d have to say this was an even easier confirmation than Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who took her oath today from Chief Justice Roberts as the first Hispanic justice of the US Supreme Court after a non-event of hearings. Collins is a familiar face and name at the NIH, having been one of the prime-movers of the human genome project as head of the Human Genome Research Institute for 15 years. He also authored the controversial book “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief ” ... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2683961 Sun, 09 Aug 2009 01:40:00 +0100 2683961 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2671061&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2Fc0ln421s6pQ%2F Wow. That is all I could say about the SheSpeaks conference up until this morning, and still I have rambling thoughts going through my head! You have got to go next year if you can, it is so worth it. (And remember to take pictures because well, I took two… and they both were [...] (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2671061 Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:15:31 +0100 2671061 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2662630&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=36469&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fespeciallyheather%2FEH%2F%7E3%2FQF9m0IR2zms%2F I have so much to tell you guys! I am sitting in the conference room of The SheSpeaks conference and let me tell you, it rocked my world. I have been blown away by the overwhelming… love that I have received here. The Lord has really ministered to me about the purpose and place [...] (Source: Especially Heather) Especially Heather blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2662630 Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:30:16 +0100 2662630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2626308&cid=t_104752_180_f&fid=38616&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifelearningtoday%2Fwlyf%2F%7E3%2FqcLXjjF2yU4%2F photo credit: Ana_Cotta I love the song, “Maybe God is Trying to Tell You Somethin’,'” from the Color Purple soundtrack.  It is a very passionate and moving gospel song. Every once in a while, something happens in my life where I can hear a message from God. It’s not always earth shattering, but even when it is a simple message it is still a delightful intermission from my usual mundane thought patterns. Hopefully this story will spark your interest to  adjust the dial on your “tuner” in order to hear the messages you may be receiving right now. I got a cold recently. The worst part was that it made me so tired. So tired, in fact, that I had to take a nap nearly each day. I never take naps so this means my body was really tired. After 5 days I though... Life Learning Today blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2626308 Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:56:49 +0100 2626308 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2593100&cid=t_104752_93_f&fid=35707&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FHemodynamics%2F%7E3%2Fh3pZIqvA1ac%2Fbecoming-fat-man.html Sleep-deprived and worried for my interns, I start spouting half-true or all-wrong or kind of right aphorisms as if I was aspiring to be the new Fat Man:"All patients lie. All patients are crazy. And it is our job to love them anyway." (Said to an intern who is tempted to believe everything his patients tell him, to his patients' potential detriment.)A pair of nurses, overhearing this, do a double take and tighten up as they hear me start this, then visibly relax as I finish. One says, "You saved yourself with the last part there." I try to save myself a bit more: "Well, we all lie sometimes, even when we don't realize it, and we're all a little bit crazy, right?" Still, I thought, Am I really the resident who blurts out cheap half-truths as if they were wisdom?It is an inevitable temptati... hemodynamics blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2593100 Sat, 11 Jul 2009 18:15:00 +0100 2593100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859119&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fthe-dreaded-question%2F Pain leads to anger and I am angry right now. Give me a f.ing rest, will you?! Yeah, talking to you again, God. I’m tired, leave me alone. You’ve beat me enough. You win! There, I said it! You win! You’re stronger, I know it. I got the f.ing message! I’m human! I KNOW! But why do you have to keep proving your vicious and relentless power to me? Let me be. Give me peace. And I mean on EARTH, you idiot! Don’t get the wrong idea. Stop. Please, just stop. I beg you to f.ing leave me alone. What is your aim? Tell me, if you know it all… How come I can’t know? For the love of god, why me? Why, why… a million times why? I’ll never know. Nothing will ever satisfy that dreaded question. It makes more sense to me that you do not exist. All life i... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859119 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 21:19:54 +0100 2859119 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859120&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fbad-morning%2F Back pretty sore. It feels like I’m bent over by the weight of bricks on my shoulders. Not being able to arch my back is killing me. If only I could just stretch… I know I need to take some motrin. BUT – not good to take motrin on an empty stomach. Okay, gotta eat then. BUT – nauseous also. Okay then, cannabis for the stomach. Quick smoke. Now I have to wait for it to kick in. It helps the nausea but does nothing for my back (not with this level of aching). About 20 minutes later and I’m eating some cereal. I pop the motrin. Now gotta wait for THAT to kick in.  So far, about an hour and a half has gone by since I woke and the back pain is still there. Stomach? Good. Goddamn this is so annoying, this f.ing reliance on things outside of myself just to feel more... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859120 Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:35:05 +0100 2859120 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2859126&cid=t_104752_136_f&fid=39027&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lrdlc.dreamhosters.com%2Fpodpress_trac%2Ffeed%2F17%2F0%2Fprepaw.flv This little video clip does a decent job of expressing the type of frustration I feel.  This is from the TV show Battlestar Galactica. I know what you’re thinking (”Uh oh, nerd alert!”).  But trust me, this show (it ended earlier this year) is nothing like some Star Trek crap. There were no rubber-masked aliens or cheesy plots. Just great acting, intense situations, and the fact that it takes place in the far future is just the setting. Anyway, before you hit play, you need to know that the old guy is a robot. He is talking to one of his makers (the blonde lady). Even though the man is a machine, he has been created to be biologically human. You can ignore the Asian chick. Now watch the scene: The dialogue: John (old guy): In all your travels, have you ever seen a star... Cancer, life, and me blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2859126 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:35:45 +0100 2859126