health Archives - Adulting: Second- Half

Thumbs Up

I’ve had a numb thumb on my left hand since March of this year. The numb thumb is the last symptom to stubbornly remain after a miserable, agonizingly painful experience which was diagnosed as “cervical radiopathy” or commonly known as a pinched nerve in my neck (to this day, I honestly can’t think of any one particular event that caused the original painful experience. I just woke up with it one day, and it was truly awful for about a week). I’ve doctored for my thumb – with my general practioner, a neurologist, two different chiropractors, two different acupuncturists and I’ve had an MRI. (It turns out that I have bulging discs in my neck, but apparently so do a vast majority of us who are in our fifties and beyond. These bulging discs often do not cause symptoms and discomfort.) I’ve bought all sorts of contraptions and pillows and I’ve taken muscle relaxers and I’ve faithfully done a gazillion physical therapy exercises on a daily basis. I’m not ready to consider surgery. My thumb is not painful. It’s annoying, at most.

Interestingly, I get a massage with a wonderful massage therapist about once a month. One of my best friends recommended her to me, and so I knew right then that this massage therapist would be extra special. And she is. My massage therapist is perfectly fit for her occupation. She is kind, intuitive and absolutely dedicated to her clients. She is even a little bit “geeky” about her profession, and she loves when I ask questions. She is dogged to find answers. Rarely do I leave her office, without us pouring over her phone about something concerning muscles or nerves or the best balance of modalities to use in order to heal. I love my massage therapist. I love her earnestness and curiosity and passion. These traits are so contagious and enlivening and inspiring to me.

The last time I got a massage was a few weeks ago, and I told my massage therapist that my latest chiropractor said not to touch my neck and I reminded my massage therapist about the bulging discs in my neck as seen in my MRI. She looked at me and she firmly stated: “Kelly, I’ve been thinking about this situation and I don’t really think your neck is where the nerve is being blocked.” She then brought her anatomy chart over for me to look at and she told me that she believes that my nerve is trapped by my scapula in my shoulder. (I did notice that she always seems to spend a lot more time on my left shoulder than anywhere else when I have a massage.) “You know, a lot of people have bulging discs and have no symptoms. It’s just a hunch, but I really think that your focus needs to be on your shoulder.”

And so I left her office that day and I did some research. I found this on the internet:

“Dorsal scapular nerve (DSN) entrapment syndrome is an under-recognized cause of neck and shoulder pain. DSN injuries can be the origin of a well-defined chronic pain syndrome, often referred to as DSN syndrome. DSN syndrome is often characterized by a dull ache along the medial border of the scapula.”

And since then I have been faithfully doing unique exercises designed to address this issue and I have gotten more sensation in my thumb then with any of the other treatments I have tried all year long. I actually have real hope related to healing this numbness in my thumb, for the first time in a long time.

I don’t want to become one of those older folks who bores everyone to death about her various ailments. I write this as a reminder that when it comes to our health, we really are all unique. We have to be our own advocates, and not blind sheep when it comes to taking advice for the health of our bodies. We have to be open-minded, hopeful, dedicated and true to ourselves. If you look at the “medical food chain” of the practitioners listed above, the person who has helped to guide me, and to heal my thumb the most is the massage therapist, perhaps thought by some to be the “low man” on that particular totem pole. Interestingly, my massage therapist is the one who has shown the most dedication, time and interest in helping me with my situation. And I don’t say this to disparage the others. I think that they all wanted to help me, but medical practitioners face a lot of constraints and limits these days, that are out of their own hands. In the end, I am dedicated to helping myself, and to healing myself, and I am grateful for anyone who has helped me along the way.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Glass Down

I’m not a big believer in the categories “good” or “bad” or “normal.” I think that there are very few things that 100 percent fall into any of these categories and a lot of that is relative to different perspectives. I believe that it is best to discern things and people and places by “Is exposure to this person/place/thing, healthy for me?” and also, “How much exposure to this people/place/thing is healthy for me?” The answers to these questions are only for me to decide. These questions also apply to social media. Social media is not in its essence, “good” or “evil.” It can be used for both. The question for any of us is, “Is how I am utilizing social media on a daily basis, healthy for me?” A good way to judge your health (mental, physical, spiritual) is to examine how you feel. Generally things that are all-of-the-way-around healthy for you will make you feel “alive”, energized, hopeful, grounded, peaceful, pain-free, rested, calm, creative, connected, even-keeled etc. So when I am starting the new year, and when I am considering the tweaks that I want to make in my life in this new year, I examine what is making me feel overall healthy, and also what is detracting from my overall health, and then I make adjustments accordingly.

The social media platform which I spend most of my time engaging on is X (formerly Twitter). This is because I’m an insatiably curious person. I like to learn more about things that I am interested in. One of my favorite accounts to follow is Vala Afshar, who is a business leader, scientist, and author. There is nothing controversial on his thread. Usually he posts videos of amazing robotic inventions, or fabulous works and marvels from the fields of engineering and architecture, or famous, inspiring speeches from business leaders like Warren Buffett, or sometimes he posts beautiful facts about nature (for instance, today he posted a video of a gorgeous, golden 1400 year-old gingko tree in China and he said that gingko trees existed in the days of the dinosaurs!) In short, following Vala Afshar’s X account is a reminder of just how incredibly amazing our natural world is, and just how ingenious humanity can be, when we put our minds to it.

Recently, Vala Afshar posted two different videos of the same professor teaching interesting, inspiring lessons to his students. Unfortunately, I can’t discern who this professor is, or what he teaches, or where he teaches (or taught), but the professor appears to be an American, he is charismatic and he puts me in mind of Dean Martin. In the first lesson, the professor offers up a $20 bill and asks the class who wants it. Of course, everyone raises their hands. He then puts the bill on the ground and stamps on it, and then he picks the $20 bill up and asks his students who wants it now. Not surprisingly, everyone still raises their hands. He then crinkles it into a ball and rubs it between his hands. When he offers it up, everyone still volunteers to take it. The professor says that this is a lesson in value. The $20 bill had the same value, despite everything it had gone through and what had worn it thin. He said to use this lesson to never forget your own intrinsic value, no matter what happens throughout your lifetime.

In the second video, the professor picks up a glass of water and asks his students to guess its absolute weight. They throw out their guesses: Eight ounces? Twelve ounces? The professor quiets his students down. He said that it really doesn’t matter how much the glass of water weighs. The professor says that what really matters is how long he holds on to it, up in the air. If he holds on to it for a few minutes , the glass of water is easy to hold, and not that heavy. However, the longer he holds on to the glass of water, the heavier it feels. The professor compares our stresses and worries in our lives, to the glass of water. If you spend a few minutes on them, you’ll be fine, but the longer you hold on to them, the more you’ll start to ache, and if you spend all of your day on your problems, the professor says that you feel “paralyzed and incapable of doing anything.” The professor ends his lesson by telling his students that when they start to worry: “Always remember to put the glass down.”

Both of these lessons are wonderful reminders and excellent visuals to put into our “tool box” for better, overall and invigorating health in 2024. I hope that you are enjoying the holiday season for its own everlasting intrinsic worth (no matter what it looks like on the outside), and when you are getting frazzled, you’re able to “Put that glass down!” Cheers! Now, put the glass down.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

What Matters

Some things matter and some things don’t. The journey of life is about discovering the difference.

~ Alan Cohen

I love the story I read over the weekend in People magazine. A little girl was on a flight with her parents, and as they left the flight and were walking in the airport, in the wee hours of the morning (I think around 2 a.m.), the little girl panicked realizing that she had lost her first baby tooth and that she didn’t have it with her. It had probably fallen out on the plane. A pilot, seeing the little girl’s distress, promptly came over and wrote a note, vouching for the lost tooth, for the little girl to give to the Tooth Fairy. The note asked the Tooth Fairy to accept the note in lieu of the tooth. I am sure that the Tooth Fairy accepted the note.

Kindness matters.

I also read an excellent article by Paul Sutherland in Spirituality & Health magazine. The article was talking about perspective. He wrote this:

“I have been immersed in spirituality and religion my whole life. I met a few “repent or go to hell” fearmongering Christians, Muslims, and Jews along the way. Listening to the frown-lined devotee who is keen to save my soul, I ask: “Are you happy?”

I pause for their answer. I then ask: “Are you saved, or content that your life is reflective of Moses, Jesus, or Muhammed, or whoever guides your worship?”

I then listen and simply say, “Seems if I had a personal relationship with God, was feeling guided by God’s presence, and had faith, I would be so happy, optimistic, and joyful that I would hardly be able to contain myself. I certainly would not be running around judging people and tearing down those God created in God’s image.”

Paul also told the story about lamenting about all of the world’s ills to one of his teachers. His teacher let him go on and on and then said firmly, “Paul. Suffering exists so we have something to do.” Paul Sutherland ended his article with this statement:

“I realize that, actually, suffering can be our call to optimism, to act, to hope, and to work for a world where every person goes to bed feeling safe, happy, loved, full, connected, and optimistic about tomorrow.”

Perspective matters.

Masaru Emoto, a famous Japanese author and researcher, studied water crystals and what the effects of words and feelings have on water crystals. Here is an example of some of his findings:

Whether you believe these findings about water crystals to be true or not, we already know what Emoto was trying to convey:

Gratitude matters. Wisdom matters. Truth matters. Peace matters. Love matters.

It appears what really matters in this world, are those things which are eternal and recognizable to all of us, no matter our age, our country, our language, our backgrounds, our educations, and our beliefs.

Love matters. Love matters. Love matters.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Hidden Gifts

My friend mentioned the “hierarchy of pain” the other day. For instance, if you have a major toothache, your chronic sciatica all of the sudden goes into the background. I think this is true of crises, too. Everything that seemed of utmost importance to me about a month ago, are all things that are easily now on the backburner, as we work to get my son settled on some epilepsy medicines that will keep his seizures at bay. When you are in the middle of focusing on an acute crisis, you realize that all of the stuff that you usually gripe over, really doesn’t matter. Nothing is nearly as important as your health and your sanity, and the health and sanity of those whom you love. Everything else is just a plus, but not a must. When things in life are relatively copacetic, that’s when our pesky human nature starts to look for little issues and gripes and annoyances and dramas to stir us up. But when real emergencies are happening, that’s when we realize just how much we complain and worry about so many meaningless trivialities in our lives. Every experience in life, even our worst experiences, have their hidden gifts. The worst experiences force perspective like no other experience can do for us.

Sad Quotes and Quotations: What is Happiness

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Sh#t on Shingles

Turning 50 brings unexpected gifts. Yesterday, I happily received my first shingles vaccine. Having had family members and friends who have gotten the actual shingles virus, and told me (and texted terrifying pictures) of the horrors of the ordeal that still end up in my nightmares (my uncle, a military veteran, who had gone through more health treatments than almost anyone I know, once emphasized to me, that shingles was by far, the worst experience of his life), I had no hesitancy about pulling up my sleeve for this one. I was one of those sheltered, late bloomers who didn’t get the chickenpox until I was in my early twenties. It was a beyond miserable trauma, and plenty enough for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Since shingles is related to the chickenpox, I’m not taking any chances. When I was 48, I once went into a Walgreens and begged for the vaccine. (I even considered getting a fake ID – ha!) They turned me away. I had to be the magic age of 50.

I like that when you turn 50, you all of the sudden qualify for extra health treatments, like shingles vaccines and colonoscopies. These aren’t spa experiences, of course, but they are a measure of prevention. Telling me to get these procedures done, says to me, “Hey lady, you may becoming a little high-mileage, but you’re a classic. You are worth maintaining. We want you for the long haul.”

So, truthfully my arm hurts a lot, I’m a little achy all over, and I didn’t sleep very well last night, but it was worth it. I feel valued – by myself, and by my community. Sometimes, tender, loving care comes in all sorts of strange forms, but care is care. And care feels good.

Are you passing on love or are you passing on pain? Heal your pain and pass on love.

Surprise Package

Today I’m going a few miles away to pick up a special package. I’m very excited to get it. It is going to be a large, colorful, over-brimming package and it only cost me $20. When I ordered the package online, the website also gave me the opportunity to share the joy, by purchasing and sending one of these amazing packages to someone else. My package is going to be over-brimming with fresh fruits and vegetables, grown by my local farmers. The other package will be headed to a local food pantry. I love the idea of being able to support and to nourish my family, nourish other families, and also, our wonderful farmers, in such a simple and easy way. While my link is a local link, I understand that this program is happening in many cities, all over the United States. Google “Farm Fresh” to see what is available in your area. While this coronavirus situation is indeed, very, very painful, the silver linings that have come with it, are plentiful. In fact if you took all of these threads of silver linings, such as more rest and quiet time, the healing moments for the Earth, the long, lingering family dinners, and the pure appreciation of the simpler things in life, you could probably make quite a pretty, shiny silver scarf. When the vaccine is developed and all of this fiasco is put to rest, we could all still wear our shiny silver scarves, from time to time, as lovely reminders that even the worst of times, have lovely, glimmering, sparkling gifts of hope and joy and peace, to offer.

12 Quotes to Help You Find the Silver Lining in Every Cloud - The ...

Body Language

My daughter has started a yearly tradition in our family in which she generously brings home the first virus of the school year to share with us all. This year’s virus isn’t bad enough for any of us to stay home and in bed; it’s just a big old pain in the butt, or more specifically a pain in the throat. It’s good that I don’t offer an audio version of my blog, although sometimes I like the sexy, husky tone my voice gets when I’m sick. This isn’t one of those times. Today I am just nasally, cranky and croaky.

Why is it that I get so mad at my immune system for “letting me down?” I never think to thank my body every day for doing everything that it does for me on the daily, even when I’m less than a good steward in regards to sleep, exercise, and healthy nutrition. Well, hell, I do take expensive vitamins. So there “body”, buck up!! Martha Graham, the famous dancer respected her body deeply. This is what she said:

The body is a sacred garment. It’s your first and last garment; it is what you enter life in and what you depart life with, and it should be treated with honor.

I’m a cerebral person. I tend to live a lot “in my head.” The band Twenty One Pilots has a song with the lyrics “I’ve been thinking too much. Help me.” I completely relate to those lyrics. I say that I believe in balancing “the triple threat – mind, body and spirit,” but my actions often lead me to spend a lot more time in mind and spirit and I let “body” out there to fend for itself. I only notice “body” when it’s not working perfectly. “Body” tends to be neglected and taken for granted.

The body is our vehicle for being. It is what allows our minds and spirits to really explore our world. I often marvel at Sci-fi movies when someone’s wound is instantly healed and disappears, but then I think that in reality, our bodies already really do that amazing “sci-fi” healing. It just takes a little more time. Bodies are incredible when you really think about it.

So, maybe if I look at this virus as a reminder to not take my body for granted, it won’t be so annoying to be sick. Maybe this virus is just a little birdy in my ear reminding me to appreciate my health and vitality and the amazing fact that my body is already in the process of healing itself. Maybe this virus is a reminder to me to not just listen to the “noise” of a sick body, but to listen to the subtle “nuances” of a healthy body and remain in awe, gratitude and harmony with everything that it offers to me, every moment of my life.