That last post was a might harsh. Even if true, none of us are helpless. We choose to allow things to have an effect on us. The nature of life is to re-act, not act. And the power is there within me to do all I can to help them live as best they can. So that is what we do. And if we are unable to free them from their current circumstances, we can at least be there when we are able to share their lives with good times.
Secondly, if I hold on to the anger and anguish it hurts me. I can feel its effect in my body. I'm sure it effects our spirits -- pulling us down and moving us away from the central theme of life. I know it effects me mentally with exhaustion at a time when I need to be focused on the acupuncture boards.
Letting go is the only answer I know of to fill in these empty spaces. I have to give this burden up and pray for their well-being. We are not the controllers of the universe. I sense they understand the dilemma. I always get the same message from both parents -- "how are you", I always ask. "Fine, now that you are hear" -- is their reply.
In those special visits the message from them to me is clear. You can take away my freedom but you can never take away my spirit. Even death is a victory.
I know I need to let go, do what I can, and reconcile the fact that I am not in control.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Watching Helplessly While Someone Dies
Have you ever felt like you are watching from the outside of something while it tears you apart on the inside? That is what if feels like when you love someone and their life goes downhill while under the care of someone else with power of attorney who ignores them and does not respond to their health needs. Whatever you do, if you choose a power of attorney, make sure that person has the goodness and wisdom to actually care enough to take care of you. Because they may park you somewhere in a home and not even visit enough to understand your needs. That is a non-caring, non-seeing mis-management of end-of-life care. Someone with power of attorney has the right to block visits, limit health care, pour on more drugs so that the person is chemically bound, and even structure the information flow for all providers to that person so that the day to day helpers feel the worsening condition is only a mirror of their bad health -- not the cause. Still there is a lack of water, inability to eat food, absence of caring actions, and constant feeding of psychotropic restraining drugs.
Today we have a revolution of psychotropic drugs to treat the elderly. They generally use small amounts. However, with a zealous, hateful person in charge of medication -- this can become a living nightmare as a person can no longer dress, go the bathroom, speak, eat, drink, walk, and so forth because their medication is so strong. The head of the department of the lock down facility at UCSD Medical Hospital told us that the amount can not even be measured with a blood test. How convenient!
As I speak to the doctors, they feel bad because number one -- he is worse and number two -- we have no input to his medical care. They don't feel bad enough to stop it. They call it a difference in style. One family member would take care of an elderly person at their own home with daily visits. The other family member wants to keep them in a nice home where they can park them with few visits and a mentality that this is the end. The doctors react with surprise as we inform them -- not with action. Lawyers pass us from lawyer to lawyer because the money to fight the case resides with the power of attorney. Ombudsman and government agencies grind to a halt as they get hung up in the quagmire -- the home looks good, the helpers are nice, the person making the decisions seems to have answers like it is an advancing decline.
What do I call it? Murder in the first degree.
It takes me 2 hours at times to revive him. I'm losing my resolve and will to fight on. I don't know what to do about it. Maybe that is life. There are many seniors parked in worse conditions that have no one to visit them, no way to fight on. I do what I can and then I have to let go, go home, and sleep in my comfortable apartment with a wonderful wife.
And when my Father-In-Law passes away, what will I feel? I'll always remember those who took his life inappropriately. How they blamed him for their own problems, how they hid his money, how they sold his things off even before he could be stabilized in a home, how they chose to ignore him, and how they chose to let him deteriorate by chemically restraining him to the point where he could not live. In all I do as a practitioner, I will stand for better choices for the elderly, for all patients that may be weak or incapacitated.
I am not against drugs. I am against the misuse of drugs. I am against using drugs as the first line of defense in all medicine. I am against using drugs when there is a natural choice that is symbiotic with our human species. I am for balancing the body when you need drugs so that the drugs you take are far less. And I know that many western medicine practitioners believe the same way as I do. Check out Sanesco which represents a new generation of doctors who are balancing the body. Or look into the "The Cardiovascular Cure: How to Strenghthen Your Self defense Against Heart Attack and Stroke" by Dr. John P. Cooke and Judith Zimmer. There you have a doctor saying you do the right thing for the body and it has a marvelous capacity to heal itself. Interestingly enough, in this book they use food to treat -- that is why I like the Chinese approach so well. There is a great rash of medical books on this same topic.
Today we have a revolution of psychotropic drugs to treat the elderly. They generally use small amounts. However, with a zealous, hateful person in charge of medication -- this can become a living nightmare as a person can no longer dress, go the bathroom, speak, eat, drink, walk, and so forth because their medication is so strong. The head of the department of the lock down facility at UCSD Medical Hospital told us that the amount can not even be measured with a blood test. How convenient!
As I speak to the doctors, they feel bad because number one -- he is worse and number two -- we have no input to his medical care. They don't feel bad enough to stop it. They call it a difference in style. One family member would take care of an elderly person at their own home with daily visits. The other family member wants to keep them in a nice home where they can park them with few visits and a mentality that this is the end. The doctors react with surprise as we inform them -- not with action. Lawyers pass us from lawyer to lawyer because the money to fight the case resides with the power of attorney. Ombudsman and government agencies grind to a halt as they get hung up in the quagmire -- the home looks good, the helpers are nice, the person making the decisions seems to have answers like it is an advancing decline.
What do I call it? Murder in the first degree.
It takes me 2 hours at times to revive him. I'm losing my resolve and will to fight on. I don't know what to do about it. Maybe that is life. There are many seniors parked in worse conditions that have no one to visit them, no way to fight on. I do what I can and then I have to let go, go home, and sleep in my comfortable apartment with a wonderful wife.
And when my Father-In-Law passes away, what will I feel? I'll always remember those who took his life inappropriately. How they blamed him for their own problems, how they hid his money, how they sold his things off even before he could be stabilized in a home, how they chose to ignore him, and how they chose to let him deteriorate by chemically restraining him to the point where he could not live. In all I do as a practitioner, I will stand for better choices for the elderly, for all patients that may be weak or incapacitated.
I am not against drugs. I am against the misuse of drugs. I am against using drugs as the first line of defense in all medicine. I am against using drugs when there is a natural choice that is symbiotic with our human species. I am for balancing the body when you need drugs so that the drugs you take are far less. And I know that many western medicine practitioners believe the same way as I do. Check out Sanesco which represents a new generation of doctors who are balancing the body. Or look into the "The Cardiovascular Cure: How to Strenghthen Your Self defense Against Heart Attack and Stroke" by Dr. John P. Cooke and Judith Zimmer. There you have a doctor saying you do the right thing for the body and it has a marvelous capacity to heal itself. Interestingly enough, in this book they use food to treat -- that is why I like the Chinese approach so well. There is a great rash of medical books on this same topic.
Acute Inflammation
I've seen this before many times, a bubble around the injury. Most people end up resting and on pain killers. We leave them to stew in their problem. So what would I do differently? Lots, and it all depends on what I see. It is not that difficult to treat and after you do it a hundred times, you intuitively know what to expect.
As a practitioner it is best to begin any such session with the proper acu-points to help increase energy flow in the area and to alleviate the pain. When in doubt Large Intestine 4 and Liver 3 on opposite sides is a good choice.
Go outside the bubble where it does not hurt ... maybe 3 inches out. Map out the courses of energy that lead to the bubble and gently create a stream away from the conflict. I use the Chinese meridians as my guide along with the movement of energy as felt from practicing Qi Qong daily. Below the wound -- press gently below it. Above the wound, press gently above it. Move like a stream with an even steady stream of pressure -- best done with lotion that has anti-inflammatory properties. I recommend TRAUMEEL® which is an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-edematous, anti-exudative combination formulation of 12 botanical and 2 mineral substances. Magically, the bubble corners begin to soften.
Continue in those same course of energy but encroach upon the bubbles boundary -- a tad closer, not so close that it elicits pain. Make sure the stream follows its course a ways down or up -- always moving away from the conflict or bubble of inflammation. Notice the melting away of the boundary continues only more remarkably.
Now reach the boundary and begin the gentle pulling away in all directions from the bubble. Work even more gently as you are in the area of damage control for the body. From here on out it all depends where the trauma is -- pay attention to the structure of the underlying area for it is best to reinforce the underlying healthy movement of that structure. Pay attention to the extent of the damage and be gentle enough to keep receding the fluids.
A good follow up at this point is a lymph massage. That is like a sweeping brush of the hands and fingers in opposite directions, at opposite points on either side of the injury. A book could be written on how to move lymph so this is best demonstrated. It is best to match the technique to the specific injury. A number of the soft arts like Qi Qong and Tai Chi Chuan will move lymph. Moving up and down on a mini-trampoline without leaving the surface will move lymph.
At this point an experienced practitioner can go a bit deeper and help align the structure so that it sets properly while healing.
As a practitioner it is best to begin any such session with the proper acu-points to help increase energy flow in the area and to alleviate the pain. When in doubt Large Intestine 4 and Liver 3 on opposite sides is a good choice.
Go outside the bubble where it does not hurt ... maybe 3 inches out. Map out the courses of energy that lead to the bubble and gently create a stream away from the conflict. I use the Chinese meridians as my guide along with the movement of energy as felt from practicing Qi Qong daily. Below the wound -- press gently below it. Above the wound, press gently above it. Move like a stream with an even steady stream of pressure -- best done with lotion that has anti-inflammatory properties. I recommend TRAUMEEL® which is an anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-edematous, anti-exudative combination formulation of 12 botanical and 2 mineral substances. Magically, the bubble corners begin to soften.
Continue in those same course of energy but encroach upon the bubbles boundary -- a tad closer, not so close that it elicits pain. Make sure the stream follows its course a ways down or up -- always moving away from the conflict or bubble of inflammation. Notice the melting away of the boundary continues only more remarkably.
Now reach the boundary and begin the gentle pulling away in all directions from the bubble. Work even more gently as you are in the area of damage control for the body. From here on out it all depends where the trauma is -- pay attention to the structure of the underlying area for it is best to reinforce the underlying healthy movement of that structure. Pay attention to the extent of the damage and be gentle enough to keep receding the fluids.
A good follow up at this point is a lymph massage. That is like a sweeping brush of the hands and fingers in opposite directions, at opposite points on either side of the injury. A book could be written on how to move lymph so this is best demonstrated. It is best to match the technique to the specific injury. A number of the soft arts like Qi Qong and Tai Chi Chuan will move lymph. Moving up and down on a mini-trampoline without leaving the surface will move lymph.
At this point an experienced practitioner can go a bit deeper and help align the structure so that it sets properly while healing.
Cats and Fleas
I laid down on a pillow today and a flea crossed my eyelids. I instinctively picked it off and took it to the sink where the water took it down the drain. We quickly pulled out the chemical advantage for our two cats and treated them. Don't we all reach for some chemical when nearly anything happens in our life. So I began reading about it.
Garlic, onion, and brewer's yeast make your body unfavorable for fleas. Wow, maybe I can feed the cats some garlic, onion treats. On further reading cats have a hemolytic reaction to garlic, onions, shallots, and a few other things. Somewhere in my memory worms are the nature predator for fleas -- sure enough, simple nematodes. Yes, but it must be in a moist environment. Somehow I can't see moist carpet in my apartment flooded with little worms. It does work for the outside. And I found plenty of product in that area. How about that diatomaceous earth I used for ants a while back and before that for parasites for a friend of mine? Yes, that does it -- dust your pet with this specially shaped earth and it has sharp edges that destroy the fleas, cockroaches, silver fish and a ton of other insects. It can be used in the garden, the home, the fur of the furry critters and even in our digestive system for parasites.
This gives new meaning to eating dirt, or even eating worms. And cats hate baths -- or at least our cats do. Water naturally drowns fleas. Soapy water dishes put where the fleas are abounding can cut the adults out quite a bit. In fact, some people make flea traps which catch them on a sticky that can be replaced. For every flea you see on an animal (or yourself), there are 30 more waiting in the wings. An adult flea can produce 60 larvae a day. They love a messy house with dirt, clothes, things to breed on. Need I say more?
I began to realize that the diatomaceous earth cost about $16, a trap cost about $16, soap with water is already available, and cleaning the house is sorta free -- all in all it sure beats a chemical solution which means you have to apply it monthly and spend some real money! A box of nematode worms for the yard is about twenty dollars.
So for dinner tonight I loaded up on garlic and onion -- we had black beans with turkey and split pea soup.
Garlic, onion, and brewer's yeast make your body unfavorable for fleas. Wow, maybe I can feed the cats some garlic, onion treats. On further reading cats have a hemolytic reaction to garlic, onions, shallots, and a few other things. Somewhere in my memory worms are the nature predator for fleas -- sure enough, simple nematodes. Yes, but it must be in a moist environment. Somehow I can't see moist carpet in my apartment flooded with little worms. It does work for the outside. And I found plenty of product in that area. How about that diatomaceous earth I used for ants a while back and before that for parasites for a friend of mine? Yes, that does it -- dust your pet with this specially shaped earth and it has sharp edges that destroy the fleas, cockroaches, silver fish and a ton of other insects. It can be used in the garden, the home, the fur of the furry critters and even in our digestive system for parasites.
This gives new meaning to eating dirt, or even eating worms. And cats hate baths -- or at least our cats do. Water naturally drowns fleas. Soapy water dishes put where the fleas are abounding can cut the adults out quite a bit. In fact, some people make flea traps which catch them on a sticky that can be replaced. For every flea you see on an animal (or yourself), there are 30 more waiting in the wings. An adult flea can produce 60 larvae a day. They love a messy house with dirt, clothes, things to breed on. Need I say more?
I began to realize that the diatomaceous earth cost about $16, a trap cost about $16, soap with water is already available, and cleaning the house is sorta free -- all in all it sure beats a chemical solution which means you have to apply it monthly and spend some real money! A box of nematode worms for the yard is about twenty dollars.
So for dinner tonight I loaded up on garlic and onion -- we had black beans with turkey and split pea soup.
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