Dear Belleruth and Health Journeys,

My 5 year old son, a very active little boy, tripped while running around the living room and fell against a coffee table with sharp corners.  He suffered a deep cut on his forehead.  I took him to the E.R. to get him stitched up, and of course he started squirming and protesting the minute he realized what was about to go down.  The more the nurse and I tried to hold him still, the more upset he became.  Things went from bad to worse.

I am 59. I have had a migraine since I was in my mid-twenties (poetic license!). Seventeen years ago I was diagnosed with the prelude to what has now evolved into Lupus. I have had this condition for 5 years - suffering stuff that I wrongly attributed to God knows what - until a major flare-up this year resulted in the diagnosis.
 
This year I have had one flare-up after another. I control one with steroids - get over it - another comes. I have been working with all kinds of techniques/therapies on my own (have a background in psychology) and then I hit the jackpot:  relaxation, emotional protection, visualization.

This note came from a woman who used our Pregnancy and Childbirth imagery to get her labor going again.  We hear a lot about how imagery can modulate the discomfort of labor, but this was the first time we heard about how it could be used to kick-start a lackadaisical labor back into gear again – wow!

Hi Belleruth, I was given a CD to help people through surgery using guided imagery.  When I first listened to it, 3 days before my hysterectomy, I became afraid, visualizing the OR.  Shortly, after that part of the CD, the visualization of your own personal team of well wishers was very powerful. I thought of my dear uncle, now deceased, being part of that group and as the one who nodded and smiled at me before I went under.

We found this lovely note on our website from a very addicted ex-smoker. As an ex-smoker myself, who found it incredibly difficult to quit but finally did, I was especially gratified to read it.  And it speaks well to the point of readiness – most of the time, you need to be ready psychologically and emotionally ready (or scared to death) in order to succeed at this.

Just as the person who wrote in, I have been a chronic fatigue sufferer for eight long and lonely years.  This is not only distressing due to the chronic pain, exhaustion and interference with the ability to function normally on a daily basis.  It is also distressing because people don’t believe there is anything wrong with you and get impatient and angry. For years I had judgmental doctors who hated seeing me in the waiting room because they knew they could not help me and therefore blamed me for being sick, just like you wrote. I was told I was stressed and depressed.  That was definitely true, but this was because of my CFS, not what started it!!!!!!!!!!!! 

This is a typical letter-to-the-editor that shows up in the Martha’s Vineyard newspaper every week.  Usually there are several of these, and it’s always lovely to read them and be reminded that people can really be kind, empathic and anonymous:

Dear Belleruth, Health Journeys and friends,

I am a post-menopausal, 57-year-old woman from Iowa who long ago gave up the battle to achieve slimness.  My husband and I have always liked my healthy, robust, well-larded, corn-fed look, but I recently started having problems with my knees and back. 
 

My wife suffers from Parkinson’s Disease, which has left her with a loss of confidence in herself and a hesitation to go out the way we used to.  Our son recommended she work with a local yoga therapist and Reiki expert.  We had not heard of these techniques, but they have made a difference.  She looks forward to the sessions and feels energized by them. 

I believe it is because of these treatments that we are starting to visit art museums and galleries again – our great love for nearly 45 years.  We move a lot slower and plan more carefully, but we get there.  We both are extremely pleased to be doing a normal, pleasurable activity again.