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| Thu, 11-06-2003 - 8:27pm |
"Now that I am dying I realize that I never really learned how to live" "The nurse held the man's hand for a few minutes in silence; two days later, he died" "And as soon as she could she signed up for "Spirituality and Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, a course that teaches students how to talk to patients about faith and illiness." "More then half of the med schools in the country now offer such courses-up from just three decades ago-largely because patients are demanding more spiritual care." This is according to this "Newsweek" magazine that I am reading right now titled "God & Health"
Well like you these few lines in the article aroused my curiosity. And this is what I found.
First I would like to say yeah I know I say joking around here that I think some times God has a screw loose. But I do not mean it as a put down of any kind because no matter what I say on this board I still deep down believe she has pulled me out of a lot of tight places in my life so I do have respect for her. I have never banished the supreme being from my life never no matter what I have said or will say in the future. I figure she has her reasons and who am I to question her motives. When I look back on my life I can see she made a pretty decent human being out of me by throwing Me a few curb balls during my life so she is doing a good job with me.
Second, I know this is going to come a shock to many of you but before any surgery is preformed on this old body of mine I insist on a prayer meeting with my family, friends, hubby, my primary doctor, the surgeon and assistant, anesthesiologist, cardiologist, pulmonary specialist, the surgical nurses and who ever else is going to have my life in their hands while I am under. I know unbelievable ha girls? With me who ever you conceive God to be is okay with me. If you want to mediatate or chant during the prayer get together in my pre-op room then thats cool with me. What ever works best for you. I am not the type of person who thinks my beliefs are the only correct way to pray. I love the diversity of beliefs in all the religions of the world. And I do not call for a pre-op get together because I feel it is going to change what ever my God has in store for me when I go under the knife. I call for a pre-op meeting of the minds so they all know who I am. More importantly, I want them to know I believe if I take a nose dive on them that they can talk to me even though they may think I am dead and by doing so I can mentally get my act together and with their help breathe again. I do not want to be dumped in the trash can because my heart stops on them a few times during surgery. I want every one to be aware that I want them to talk to me even when they do not believe it is going to help. It has worked a few times for me in the past so I am totally convinced if you do not give up on me I won't no matter what the readings are on the machines in surgery. I make sure to tell my medical team to please hummor me and talk to me until your blue in the face to keep me fighting to get my heart jumped started again. Not kidding! I did die once and saw the light and it was so loving. It was like drowning or being surrounded in a whole wad of unconditional love jello. I swear! I know that my death experience gave me some thing full of love and the feeling has stayed with me through all these years because it was the purest unconditional love I have ever felt in my life. It is so wonderful that I share it with all of you every chance I get. And this love has turned me into some one I like and love.
Girls, I have even made a trip or two to the in house hospital chapel when loved ones are on the cutting board (like when my sweet William was a few weeks ago). Okay who needs a hand from ole Hula Girl in getting up off the floor or help coming out of shock?
Any way this article states that there is a growing belief "in the medical community that what happens in a person's mind (and possibly the soul) can be as important to health as what happens on the celluar level" I am amazed aren't you. It goes on to say that this one rich dude spends $30 million a year on funding scientific projects that explore the nature of "the Anatomy of Hope". Wew! amazing ha? There is even a book coming out shortly titled "the Anatomy of Hope" This book is going to explore the effects of optimism and faith on health". That book if it ever comes out is going to be a must reading for me.
Get this Health plans are going to spend over 3.5 million over the next several years on "mind/body" medicine. Well it is about time because I am living proof that positive thinking even though it is sporadic at times WORKS!
Also the article said that this weekend Harvard Medical School will hold a conference on spirituality and health, focusing on the HEALING EFFECTS OF FORGIVENESS!! To bad none of you girls are Doctors because if you were you could go to the conference and tell us all about it. That would be so interesting don't you think ladies?
The biggest problem is how do you measure the power of God? I guess the studies inevitably run up against the difficulty of using scientific methods to answer what are essentially, existential questions? I never thought about this but they are looking to see if one person's prayers can be more powerful then another's huuummmmmm that is an eye opener ha Ladies? Wew I say good luck because everyone's conection to the supreme being's power of course is going to be better then the guy's next door. I know with me if I did not think my way was the best way for me then I sure as heck would change my way of thinking to get the best results! I know duh! More importantly, I know every one feels the same way I do you know your way is best.
I know my way of thinking is the only way for me to live my life. My positive out look on life does reduce my depressions and helps me recover sooner from surgery and continues to lower my blood pressure. But I do not believe my prayers are going to delay my death though? What do you girls think?
To see how they are going to separate the health benefits of going to church or synagoue from those who don't and are in great shape is going to be interesting. The last page of this article ends with "A Columbia professor says the melting of medicine and prayer may cause harm! Religion is a private matter". Okay fine... but so is it a private matter when a doctor cuts my body open or sticks needles or tubes up it down and through each orifices in my body. And how private can it be when they make a decision that there are not enough orifices to stuff their equipment in my poor body so they make another hole to stuff stuff in. Being worked on by the medical world is the most private thing I think a person can go through in their life. errrrr
Okay how many of you believe that religion (what ever you conceive it to be... could be mediating, chanting, positiving thinking and/or vibes or what ever I am lumping it all together here girls for the sake of argument) has no place in medicine and that steering patients toward spiritual practice in any form can do more harm then good?
And how many of you girls believe like me that a growing body of evidence points to religion's possitive effects on heath and that keeping spirituality or positive thinking or vibes out of the medical field is wrong? Me I think what ever is going to help me help my doctors keep me alive like telling them to talk to me when there is no hope on that operating table is going to help me. I don't know why or how but personality I can testify that in my world it helps both me and my own little personal medical world to stay bonded more firmily then if I never open my mouth and just went in the surgical rooms at the mercy of the doctors mood that day.
aloha,
Hula Girl

Hi hula girl,
Nice to see you again. :) Thank you for your share.
>>I know this is a physical fitness like a muscle board but I read this article and was just interested what you girls think of it
Actually, we're a board about
We're delighted to see you again ..
Very interesting what you have shared and most appreciated.
Everyone must do what is best for themselves at all times!
Hope to see you again :)