Hey! So glad you stopped by today, I look forward to your comments each week.
Melinda
Month: September 2022
#Weekend Music Share-Heart – Barracuda & Crazy On You by Heart!
I’m so glad you dropped by today, thank you. I hope you have a great weekend.
Welcome back to Weekend Music Share; the place where everyone can share their favorite music.
Feel free to use the ‘Weekend Music Share‘ banner in your post, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #WeekendMusicShare on social media so other participants can find your post.
Melinda
October Awareness Days
This month has some interesting Awareness Days. This is not an exhaustive list, you can search the Internet for monthly awareness days and get more than enough resources.
See you throughout the month with educational posts.
National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
ADHD Awareness Month
National Bullying Awareness Month
Dyslexia Awareness Week 3rd-9th
Child Health Day 3rd
World Smile Day 11th
Trigeminal Neuralgia 7th
World Mental Health Day 10th
World Osteoporosis Day 20th
International Brain Tumour Awareness Week Sept. 29-October 5th
Melinda
Holy Day Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur translates from Hebrew to English as Day of Atonement. Traditionally, Jews spend the holiday fasting and reflecting on sins committed over the past year. Even if you’re not Jewish, you can acknowledge the holiday, and it is indeed respectful to share well wishes to your friends and colleagues who do observe.
According to tradition, it is on Yom Kippur that God decides each person’s fate, so Jews are encouraged to make amends and ask forgiveness for sins committed during the past year. The holiday is observed with a 25-hour fast and a special religious service. Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are known as Judaism’s “High Holy Days.”
God judges all creatures during the 10 Days of Awe between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, deciding whether they will live or die in the coming year. Jewish law teaches that God inscribes the names of the righteous in the “book of life” and condemns the wicked to death on Rosh Hashanah; people who fall between the two categories have until Yom Kippur to perform “teshuvah,” or repentance. As a result, observant Jews consider Yom Kippur and the days leading up to it a time for prayer, good deeds, reflecting on past mistakes and making amends with others.
Yom Kippur is one of the Holiest of days of the year along with Rosh Hashanah. I pray you can look into your heart and reflect on the sins you’ve made against God. L’shana Tova.
Melinda
References:
How To Get Your Doctor’s Full Attention
I hear stories every day about doctors not listening to the patient. I’ve had two situations like this and both ended differently. The first time, I encountered a frustrating conversation with my Psychiatrist, he had me talk with a Therapist in the office. She had known him for a long time and she gave me pointers on how to get his attention and keep him from getting frustrated. She said to keep things short and sweet. It worked. That meeting made all the difference and still see him 30 years later, her too for that matter.
The second experience was building over months and months. I was coming off of Lyme Treatment and had my GP take over my care. He worked with me but was always in a rush, even after booking double appointments. I learned to keep my list short so we could get to all my issues. It came down to the fact that I had maxed out on Tramadol and isn’t wasn’t working. He had no idea where to go next and didn’t refer me to a Pain Doctor. I quit his practice. Most doctors can tell when they have all they can. If they are out of your bailiwick they need to pass the patient on for the things they need assistance with.
I’m glad that decision was made. I love my new doctor and she sends me to a specialist when I have a problem she can’t address. She spends 30 minutes with patients giving plenty of time to discuss your list, maybe. You have to prioritize what issue is most important and start your conversation with that.
Don’t set unrealistic expectations. They have very tight schedules even Specialists and they can’t answer every question you have. You have to narrow it down to three items at most. Write down your questions so the doctor can see you are prepared.
Once in, skip the pleasantries and jump right in. Say I know you are busy so let me jump right in. Then ask your first question, if it draws out because it needs explaining then schedule another appointment before you leave to follow up on other questions. I believe we have to go into a doctor’s office knowing that we are not going to get everything answered in one meeting unless we only have one question.
Bring a dedicated journal to write just medical notes in. This is where you write your questions and your perception of the meeting. Be sure to date each appointment.
The worst thing we can do is play Internet doctor and go in telling them what’s wrong with us. Write your symptoms in a journal, start talking about the most important item for you and let them take the lead, speak up if you need to interject. Be very aware the doctor at most practices only gives 15 minutes to each patient however, if they run late you may not get your full appointment time. Always book a double appointment if insurance will let you. I did that and it helped a great deal. Then I got close to 20 minutes with him and he was less in a rush.
Another best practice is to take someone with you. If it’s someone close to you it’s possible they’ve noticed something new about you and can tell the doctor. I think anyone with a mental illness needs to take someone with them. It gives your partner or family member to hear straight from the doctor’s mouth what is wrong and what you need to take or do.
Don’t leave the doctor’s office without talking about the side effects of any new medication written.
What hacks do you have for getting your doctor’s attention?
Melinda
Wordless Wednesday*Asps
Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate your comments each week.
Here’s the post on me the Asps Wrangler, you’ll find it humorous. If you’re not familiar with Asps read the warnings here.
Melinda
You’re Stupid Part Two
After the big showdown with my stepfather, my mother finally relented and let me move to my dad’s. I knew living with my dad was not going to be peaches and cream but at least the beatings and emotional abuse would stop. I was in for a completely different ride but it was bumpy.
One important piece of information is my dad had been taking me to bars since I was nine years old. I’m 12 years old, it’s summertime, and I know no one except the neighbors. There were a couple of neighbors who drank or smoked pot so I hung around their place.
My dad could see I was going crazy without friends. So, my dad start taking me to the club every weekend and sometimes to parties. These parties were for adults, not children. I saw things no 12-year-old should see. At one party, my dad and I were sitting at the bar drinking and I was smoking pot. I had to go to the bathroom and it was upstairs, walking up the stairs was a full-on orgy taking place. I had to walk over people to get to the bathroom.
My dad was married and had a girlfriend, so he would go to the 7-11 every day to call his girlfriend. There were a group of young people who hung around the 7-11 and he thought if we met I would be happy. One night he drove me up there and introduced me to the group. They were all older than me and out of high school. What was my father thinking? Maybe it made sense to him because I had already been hanging out with many older people. Knowing what I know today, he was not well mentally.
Now, this was my gang, even started dating one guy who was 21 years old. In what world do a 12-year-old girl and a 21-year-old man make sense? Not in America. He was the local drug dealer, every week we would break down a kilo of pot and sell it to our friends. Friday night was distribution time, back then you could buy a four-finger bag for just $10! Sometimes I would stay at a friend’s house while he meet some other people. We partied and lived in a world of smoke. Because he had access to other drugs he would ask me if I wanted anything special, it was always hash, speed, or LSD. I had one bad trip on LSD and that was the last time I took it. I was eventually addicted to speed.
One night my boyfriend and I were at my dad’s watching a movie on television, my dad came out of his room madder than hell and put a 357 mag to my boyfriend’s head and told him to get out. Of course, I was mad as hell and a bit frightened so I ran away. My father drove around with that gun and threatened all my friends to tell him where I was. He was pointing the gun at them. I was on the passenger side floorboard when my dad approached one of my friends and I saw the threat playing out. My friends didn’t think anything about it. Now my boyfriend and I started planning how we would kill my father, in the end, God must have said no.
At this point, I was 13 years old and in eighth grade. I didn’t care much for school and would hang out with my friends instead. After missing 34 days of school my father found out and had me put in juvenile detention for three days. My stay was an eye opener to the violence out there, so many girls were in solitary confinement. The stay didn’t affect me, I got out and talked my dad into letting me go to the Eagles concert with my boyfriend just a few days later. It would have been fine except my boyfriend drove a motorcycle so we borrowed a friend’s car. The car broke down as we were almost there. We walked the rest of the way and said we’d figure it out after the concert. After the concert, I used the toll booth phone and called my dad. The worst part is it was freezing outside, my father had never been to that city over an hour away from him. Trying to give directions, I said right before the toll both look for the car. It took him hours to find us and he was pissed.
Right after that, he put a restraining order on my boyfriend, like that would stop me from seeing him. I was in love and we were going to get married. The fights with my dad kept escalating until he put a gun to my head. That was the last straw, I tried and almost succeeded in killing myself. My dad was so out of touch with reality, he took me by the cub to get a glass of milk. He drove 20 minutes to the club when he could have driven five minutes to the hospital. He’s not able to connect with reality.
By this time I was on probation for carrying a gun and saw my probation officer every month and never spoke a word for seven months. She would tell me that the state was already looking for a boot-camp type of place to send me, that was for kids who could not be reformed. She felt I could be reformed and kept talking to me until the eight-month when I said send me somewhere that is not a boot camp and I’ll go. It took a few months but she found a convent that ran a bad girl boarding school, Mount St. Michaels.
Luckily for me, it was only thirty minutes from my grandparents. My father was not allowed to see me for a year, and my mother was allowed but she never came. Every Wednesday night there was group counseling, and my grandparents came every time. I couldn’t visit with them but over time they let me say hello and my grandmother would bring goodies for the entire dorm.
I was in a boarding school for a year, and I cherish my time there. The nuns were always complementary, positive, and reassuring. One day hurt my thumb, and several nuns circled me, held my thumb and they prayed the pain would go away. This was new to me but it worked.
I started going to the Catholic church on-site every day and eventually converted to Catholicism after completing my studies. Father George and my counselor Jim were my teachers and at Baptism, I chose my Catholic name, Catherine, and name Jim as my guardian.
As always my mother fucked up another big moment for me. I was scheduled to leave on the 10th, we had a big party planned and say our goodbyes. Instead, my mother shows up on the 9th, I’m hauled out of class not knowing what was going on until I saw my mother’s car. No goodbyes, nothing. Someone had finished packing my room and off we went. It wasn’t until years later I realized the reason she came early is my brother’s birthday is on the 10th, she couldn’t be bothered the day of his birthday so she showed up unannounced.
I didn’t want to go back to my mother’s and talked with my grandparents about coming to live with them. Behind the scenes, my grandparents put everything in place to take custody of me. My mother never blinked an eye.
Reformed, I was to a point but still drank and did drugs. My grandparents ran a tight ship and my opportunities were limited to weekends. I wasn’t doing many drugs just smoking pot when it was around. Drinking was another story. This was a continuation of my drinking which lead to addiction. My granny knew I drank and if I were taking medication, she would tell me not to take my medication since it was the weekend. I did pretty well at hiding it except for the night I was skunked, hit the washer, and threw up. Gramps knew then I was drunk but no punishment.
I guess they looked at the trauma I grew up with and gave me a pass at times. With my grandparent’s love and strict rules, I went to 10th grade with confidence. I was your typical teenager except I was hiding a horrific past.
I was also sexually abused by my dad but am not ready to say it out loud.
Melinda
Book Review for This Is Mandy by Mandy Kay
I want to give a special thanks to Editor, Andrea Marchiano from Cherish Editions for sending me the book This Is Mandy by Mandy Kay.
Blurb
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder that affects millions of people of all ages. Unfortunately, it is often kept a secret – and that’s true in the case of young Mandy, too.
Mandy’s OCD affects her life at home and school, as she spends so much time on her compulsions and obsessions: washing her hands, brushing her hair, checking locks, and re-writing her classwork – over and over and over. But Mandy comes to realize that OCD isn’t shameful, and it doesn’t have to be hidden. Instead, speaking up helps her to feel like herself again.
Publication date: 31/03/2022
ISBN: 978-1-913615-54-3 32 pages
My Thoughts
Having OCD is hard for adults but think about how children feel about their OCD. They are still growing, being judged at school, and do not understand why they do the things they do. Not to mention the stigma. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is broad-reaching, it can affect your entire day. I can’t imagine the stress a child must feel.
Mandy has an art project, she has to paint a portrait of herself. She spends so much time picking the right paint and brush she has little time to draw. But she finished and the portrait has a red face, and black eyes, basically looking very unhappy. Her teacher is alarmed by her work she takes her to a private place to talk about why she drew herself that way. Mandy likes her teacher and opens up about her morning rituals. The teacher reassures her there is nothing to be scared of and that she would get her some help.
Once Mandy gets the help, she feels better. Mandy is confident now and feels good about herself and the future.
I would recommend this book to all children and adults to read to their children. It highlights the struggle with OCD and with treatment life is better. The other moral of the story is trusting someone to share your problems with can often help you deal with them.
Trigger Publishing
TriggerHub.org is the first mental health organization of its kind. We are bringing mental health recovery and balance to millions of people worldwide through the power of our books.
We have built a first-class resource of curated books produced and published in-house to create a unique collection of mental health recovery titles unrivaled in quality and selection. We work with experts, psychologists, doctors, and coaches to produce our books, but we also work with real people looking to share their stories to reach out to others and provide hope, understanding, and compassion. These brave authors also aim to raise awareness of mental health’s “human” face and its impact on everyday lives.
Melinda
Introducing Vital Field’s Kuau Freguencell
When I read about the new Kuau Freqencell, I had to try it! Thanks to Communications Director. Nassia Bitha for being so easy to work with. It’s been two years since I wrote my first Vital Field review, and we have a great relationship.
The Kuau Cell has been developed for everyone interested in improving their quality of life and revealing their highest potential.
This post contains affiliate links, they don’t cost you more and it funds my coffee habit.
About Vital Field
The cumulative expert knowledge and the science of using precisely targeted frequencies for health management and pain management are now, for the first time in history, available to end-users worldwide. Vitalfield applications don’t replace or compete with traditional medicine or conventional treatment methods. They are intended to provide an alternative treatment to pain and health, when conventional methods fail to provide significant results on their own. With zero negative side effects reported and over 80% reported satisfaction from customers, we are confident in offering a full money-back guarantee if our product does not work for you.
Since Vitalfield products are safe, natural, non-invasive and non-chemical, it’s worthwhile to see if our product can reduce your pain and improve your life.
About the Frequencell
Kuau Cell is a special Energy Cell. In it, the energy of a shamanic ritual, ancient herbal knowledge, and energized water all merge together. The unusual ingredients from the digitized version of the medicinal cactus ritual are a key factor. This ritual’s purpose is rooted in deep cleansing and reconnecting with Mother Earth. The high alkaloid cactus extract used is not psychoactive, but acts as a cell activator.
So far
I started wearing mine on 9/22/22 and have seen an increase in energy and clarity. I plan to wear it longer to get the full effect and will keep you up to date. My heritage includes American Indian so this ritual-based Frequencell grabbed my attention.
Today is the 25th and I’ve only taken one nap, that’s a huge improvement over every day. I woke up at 4:00 am today and have not had a nap. I worked in the garden, deadheaded my roses, and deadheaded several other plants in the backyard. I even put fertilizer in the Hibiscus plant and thinned indoor flowers.
Check out the review for the Energy FrenquenCell here.
You can find more information on all Frequencells here
Use discount code LIGHT20 for 20% off any Vital Field product.
To your health,
Melinda
Blogger Highlight-Adventure is out there
Thank you for all the great feedback on the Blogger Highlight series, I’ve enjoyed meeting each blogger and sharing their site with you. This week I highlight a new blogger, Adventure is out there.
A love story that meets travel and nature
Casian and Kezia
LDR since 2017, recently with our studies finished, we plan on sharing the new adventures we live thru in the process of changing our LDR status.
Enjoy their site, it has great travel photography.
Melinda
lookingforthelight.blog 