‘Patient’s Viewpoint’ Category

Caregivers and Collaboration

Monday, September 19th, 2011

Life can be intense when attending to health issues. Whatever the degree of intensity – low or high — with a health issue, I am present and want to be an active participant in my healing. I want my caregiver to recognize he / she is a passenger, not the captain of my “boat”. Too often a caregiver assumes he / she is the captain on my “boat” regarding health and healing — boat being a metaphor for my health, my life. When the caregiver is the captain, responsibility for my health becomes theirs. I want to be involved in the kind of care I receive and take responsibility to the extent that I am able. Engage me. Ask me about my thoughts on healing myself, and offer suggestions on how I can help myself. For the healthcare I want caregivers would be a coach, mentor and resource; the caregiver would give me confidence to follow my Inner Healer, my Soul, to achieve enduring healing and health.

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The Healthcare I Want

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

The healthcare I want is healing that is oriented by the knowledge and principles known in the Ageless Wisdom much the same way sailors without radar depend on stars for orienting, setting and knowing their direction. I want the Ageless Wisdom to be the caregivers’ compass for my health and wellness voyage.

A basic principle of Ageless Wisdom healing is that self-actualization is the primary process for healing from the inside out. By continually cultivating one’s joy, beauty and love, healing and self-mastery occur. Then, through one’s own personal growth and healing experiences, a richer understanding is developed for helping self and others heal.

The Ageless Wisdom is the compendium for crossing the sea of life to reach a shore of health and service to others. It is wisdom from the collective body of humanity. It contains the principles of becoming and living as a beautiful soul in harmony with all life. The healthcare I want utilizes the Ageless Wisdom as the corpus for healing beyond the physical.

Medicine is an art, not a trade, a calling, not a business, a calling in which your heart will be used equally as much as your head.
William Osler, M.D. 1913

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My Dream

Monday, September 20th, 2010

It is easy to judge and feel superior. It is hard to love unconditionally, compassionately. In moments of humility, love is easy. In ego, love is conditional and depends on many transient requirements.

As a patient I recall some amazing medical moments of love and humility. I also remember some medical moments of ego and feeling judged. When ego is in control there is no time to “hear,” to sense the unspoken anxiety and fears of a patient; there is no time to offer reassurance or hope. In ego there is little ability to smile fully from the heart and eyes. Ego is all about “me” not the other person.

My dream for medical future moments of humility, love and cooperation is to be able to be open with my physician about my beliefs about health, my hopes and fears for health and for my life without being judged. Also my dream is that my physician will seek to understand me, and my health, through compassion. As Hippocrates wrote so many years ago “Help … do no harm,” my physician will work with me to restore my health without harming me. I will feel safe in the care of my physician. My dream is that I will be supported to heal myself by seeking to understand the cause of an illness or discomfort. My physician and I will trust and respect each other. We will have a healing relationship based on love, joy humility and sincere communication.

This is my dream.

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Patient Beliefs and Care

Thursday, September 9th, 2010

A patient’s beliefs about life and health need to define the care he / she receives. When this concept was under discussion during a planning meeting at BodhiCare, an emergency physician (MD) said that he did not “get that” until he had a patient come in whose religious beliefs prevented any kind of blood transfusion. This patient needed a blood transfusion; however, the physician figured out an alternate way to give the patient what was needed to recover from his health crisis without giving a blood transfusion. A naturopathic doctor (ND) in the meeting said he had similar experiences. Whether it is a religious, cultural or personal belief about health and life, care needs to conform to what a patient believes will restore or maintain health. One of the dictionary definitions for conform is “to act in harmony.”

Health is the result of harmony of energies. For each of us harmony is achieved through unique journeys and with varying methods, treatments and therapies. Beliefs contribute to one’s harmony (or lack of). When care providers seek to understand how to harmonize their approach to care with the beliefs of a patient, health and trust in the physician are the outcomes.

For more on this topic read Anatomy of An Illness by Norman Cousins.

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Joy and Healing

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Optimism and joy are great, untapped sources of healing.  We know relatively little about the power of joy, but it IS powerful.  Norman Cousins demonstrated it healing himself with movies that made him laugh.  Laughter yoga is healing groups of people or at the very least making their days more enjoyable.  Here is another testimony to the power of joy.  Singing to heal stroke damage.

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