I am glad to report as of last Saturday I am feeling much better. This upturn in my health started a few months back when my husband and I made a trip to Warner Springs, CA. It was here some 50 years ago my grandmother bathed in the sulfuric hot spring after she had broken her hip. She was determined to walk without a cane and she did just that and lived to be close to 90 when she passed away.

Anyway we had a wonderful time there, staying just two nights. While there I became acquainted with a really nice lady who introduced me to Nefful, a company that makes clothing, blankets and other products. The fabric they use provides your body with negative ions. Negative ions are found naturally in nature near waterfalls, and flowing water.
She let me use a blanket of hers for one night. The fabric is most useful when it is touching your skin so I slept in very little clothes in order for it to lie again my skin.
The next morning when I woke up, I felt so refreshed as I had slept like a baby that night.
She gave me a pair of Nefful socks to take home with me. While wearing them my feet stay warm, and they feel more comfortable than any socks I have ever worn. Just recently I was in contact with a man who said he was in love with Nefful products as he had purchased some socks from them and they had did wonders for his gout.

Both he and I were so excited about the product we joined the company as distributors, and by doing so we can buy the products at a discount rate. They are not cheap even at that but the way I look at it, they are an investment in my health, and they will last longer than other clothing or blankets and such.

Enough said about that, I want to tell you about a experience I had last Saturday. A friend of mine from writing class told me about a free healing clinic, she thought would be helpful to me. I had no idea what it was because I had never heard of Pranic healing. I did not know what to expect but I was game to try it.

When I arrived I was greeted very pleasantly by the receptionist who also was a healer. He could read aura’s. I did not know this at the time. I filled out a questioner about myself. I was then introduced to a Chinese lady who was to provide healing. I was led into a room where there were at least two others in the process of being healed. I didn’t pay much attention to them as I was being questioned as to what areas of my body were troubling me the most. I told them my neck and lower back were my main problems.
They invited me to seat down in a comfortable chair. I saw that there was a wide bowl of salt crystals on the floor to the right of the chair. I was told to take deep breaths and count to six on inhaling and to six again while exhaling and I was to do this for 20 minutes. I didn’t think that would be too difficult but it seemed a little hard to do at first. I have always been a shallow breather so maybe that is why it seemed so difficult. Anyway while I sat there inhaling and exhaling I could see that the healer and her male student was making motions around my body as if to pull things away and place them in the salts.

As I sat there I became more relaxed keeping my eyes closed. After some time had passed my body was feeling drops of water come lightly down against my skin. I was enjoying this very much, it felt like early morning in a rain forest. When the session was almost over the lady was spraying a perfumed mist into the air. This too was very refreshing.

The healer told me we are finished almost startling me out of a paradisaical dream.

I exited the room into the hallway where two people asked me how I was feeling. I told them some better but my back and neck were still in pain. They told me the man whom I had first met was worried about me as he saw aura’s and mind was not good. “He reads colors” they said He would like us to work with you. I was led into another room where I was asked to get up on a table an lie down. While lying there a very sweet lady and the same male student I had before stood about me and focused on areas of my body which were in pain. They did this without touching me. My neck and back started to feel good, but now I was feeling intense pain in my left hip and my right side. I was amazed as I could feel the intense pain in my hip flow up like a volcano being pulled from my body. That is the only way I could think to describe it. The pain in my right side seemed to lift gently like a cloud.

I felt like a different person than I had been when I had arrived. They told me on the third day I would be feeling even better, and I was.
I plan to go back next month, as they hold the clinic once a month. It is remarkable how much better I feel. My spirits have changed for the better. Living with pain can be a real drag upon your life, not to mention how irritable it can make you and how hard it is who are around you.

Today I went to my chiropractor and asked her about Pranic healing she said is a good thing. It works with your body energy unblocking paths of energy that have become blocked. She made a likeness of it to a car that has broke down on the freeway and other cars are trying to get around it. The road becomes congested, the flow of traffic is interrupted and the stopped car is effecting not just one lane but most all of them.
I do not pretend to understand it, but I know it made a change in the way I feel and I do intend to go back again next month.

2 The Lord looks down from heaven
on the entire human race;
he looks to see if anyone is truly wise,
if anyone seeks God.
3 But no, all have turned away;
all have become corrupt.[a]
No one does good,
not a single one!
4 Will those who do evil never learn?
They eat up my people like bread
and wouldn’t think of praying to the Lord.
5 Terror will grip them,
for God is with those who obey him.
6 The wicked frustrate the plans of the oppressed,
but the Lord will protect his people.

God looks down upon his creation and asks is there anyone who is doing good. In Noah’s time he asked the same question and only Noah’s family were found to be putting their faith and actions to work. They were living a moral life and listening to the voice of God.
In this day and age the majority are living like there is no God. They live to please themselves.
When bad times come they have no protection, but those who put their faith in God. God will protect them, just as he protected Noah and his family.
“The fool in his heart has said there is no God” (First verse of this chapter.) Scripture from the New Living Translation.

Seems like things are finally beginning to come together. It’s been a very difficult year. I have been keeping busy with doctor’s appointment every since the accident. I now have been released from all of them except the TMJ dentist, and that should be happening soon.

I am thankful to God and all the people who prayed for me, as well as all those who treated me. They all had a part in my recovery.

An ironic thing happened a few days ago, my husband and daughter were in town and on their way home, when they came to a stop signal at the end of a bridge. They were stopped when suddenly they were rear-ended! It was pretty obvious the woman who hit them had been on her cell phone and wasn’t paying attention. No one was injured. I am thankful I wasn’t in the car with them when they were hit. That would have been horrible!
Our back bumper is needing replaced and the car needs a detail as my daughter had a root beer float in her hand that went splashing all over the car when it was hit.
The car that hit them had very significant front end damage.

The lady driving the car said it was the first accident she had ever had. I hope she thinks about what caused this mishap and stops using a cell phone while she’s driving.

I hope anyone who reads this, realizes that if they are “text-ing” or talking on a cell phone, they should make an effort to change their habits. The life they save may be their own.

Oprah has a campaign going on about inattentive driving and how dangerous it is. It has become a larger problem than drunk driving. No one should have to suffer because one careless person drives with a phone on their ear. I hope you’re not one of them and if you are…get smart!

The wicked upset the plans of the poor,
but the Lord will protect them.

Feeling defeated? Does it seem like the wrong doers are getting ahead, and at the same time destroying the chance for the poor to excel. Although we may not be rich in worldly goods, the Lord is protecting us. Those who suppress the poor in the end they are the losers.

6 I will sing to the LORD,
for he has been good to me.

These two short verses are the acclamation that David spoke after he was being discouraged by his enemies. In spite of his fear of their powers that they could overtake him he began to rejoice in his faith that God would take care of him. He acknowledges God’s previous blessings, and sings thanks to the Lord. (We can do that also if we can trust in him)

These two verses are part of Chapter 12. It mostly talks about evil men, who lie and lead immoral lives. They oppress the weak not caring about the needs of anyone other than themselves.

David has faith that those who are suffering because of these wicked men, will be protected. He knows God’s promise’s are true. His words are pure and faithful. They have to put their faith in God who cares for them.

While I was staying at my daughter’s home I was away from my own stress, while viewing the stress my daughter was under. She filed for divorse while I was there and I was a big support to her, that was part of my purpose for being there.
I also got to attend my grandson’s two year old birthday party with my other daughter who lives in a state close to where I was staying. My grandson, my only one, is special. He was born with Down’s syndrome. He is bright and happy, but stays a little developmentaly behind. He was standing while I was there but not walking yet. I learned yesterday that now he is walking!

Now back to what the main subject was going to be. While at my daughter’s I let go of a lot of the stress I had been under. My back started to improve. The pain was becoming less and I was beginning to be careful about how I moved my body. I had less to do there than I would have had at home, no thoughts of cleaning house, doing things that would hurt my back.

My daughter’s house is two stories. My assigned bedroom was upstairs. Oh how I hate stairs, yet I climbed them and climbed them, each time making my thighs and back stronger. I also did my exercise that my physical therapist had advised me to do to strengthen my back.

Then my flight home became a nightmare, I lost my ticket for my connection, had a terrible time replacing it, and then had to make a mad dash for the plane. Wouldn’t you know it the plane had to sit on the runway for at least 45 minutes until a bad storm when by.
I was exhausted, when I returned home, my back was killing me. I stayed in bed most of the next day.

Since then however my back pain has lessened and I only have two more days of physical therapy this coming week and I won’t have to go back! I have been released from all of my Doctor’s care, just have a few more trips to the TMJ specialist. After I returned I went to see an Arthritis physican, he gave me some medicine called Meloxicam which has helped tremediously. I am no longer stiff and in pain when I get up in the morning. How wonderful that is!

When I returned I wasn’t able to write because my elderly mother was in the hospital just about to die. She went in the hospital on Easter Sunday and I wasn’t able to get home till Tuesday. I tried to change my flight but the airline wouldn’t do it without me having to pay over $300 which isn’t something I had lying around. I was doing good just to beable to go on the cheapest flight I could find for my round trip. Anyway, thats nothing compared with what happened when I returned home.

I went to see my mother right away, she was very weak with a really bad case of pneumonia. She was glad to see me but couldn’t say much. Next day I got a call from her doctor telling me that she wasn’t eating and that either she would have to be tube fed or send to hospice and she would be dying shortly. The later is what he recommended because he said her dementia was too bad to have any quality of life.
However I knew this was not ture, as before I went on my trip she was doing fine, talking, she was answering appropriatly and was enjoying other’s company. I told him that her dementia was not as bad as he was thinking but still made the same recomendation as he said due to my mother’s trouble swallowing she most likely would aspirate again and then have another bout of pneumonia. I was not ready to simply let go of her just on his recomendation.

Next morning I went to the hospital and found my mother lying there on the bed without any IV dehydrating, and growing extremly weak not having eaten in a couple of days. I was extremly upset, I called a close friend of mine and told her what was happening. She came to the hospital and with her support I talked to the nurse and told her she needed to put an IV. I then asked my mother if she wanted to live or die, she told me in the presence of my sister that she wanted to live.
We informed the nurse that we wanted her to be tube fed, and with the consent of the doctor she had the tube inserted. It was not a pleasant thing to do but it was necessary for her recovery. I was not ready to let her die, I had not said my good-by’s.

So after some time and trouble getting the tube inserted she began to regain some of her strength and started to get better. Her recovery progressed slowly one day to the next and after nine days in the hospital she was sent to a rehabilitation nursing home. She is still there at this moment but will be leaving it either Monday or Tuesday they say.
I have been seeing her almost everyday. She has improved so much that her voice is much stronger and she is able to walk about 10 feet, and sit up in a wheelchair and is eating well. She is growing restless and is looking forward to leaving the place.

Meanwhile this past week, I was told on a Saturday that she would be discharged on Wednesday. I was in tremendous pressure to find an assisted living home that could provide her diabetic attention, I was very stressed out calling looking for such a home.
Then relief came on Tuesday the personel at the nursing home said they would not require her to leave until I found a suitable place for her to go. I was glad to hear those words. They employed an agency to help me look for a place. A really nice lady took me to three homes in the area to view and one of them was very suitable for my mother, and only had one bed left so I informed them, it was the one.

Today I am relaxing. Writing is calming to me. I have some good news which I will relay in the next blog which will be coming shortly.

There were other trips I didn’t go with them. I just couldn’t keep up with the young ones, and the rides in the car.

March was a period of fun, progress and days of extreme pain. I was released from two of my doctors, the orthopedist, and the neurologist. My TMJ dentist has really helped me and my progress is going well. It probably won’t be long before he releases me also.

I am still on my way to recovery however, some day’s my back pain is excruciating.
I have an appointment with a Specialist next month for the arthritis I have in my back and fingers. Sometime I have a very severe burning sensation in my toes. I thought it was gout as my sister has gout. I read up on the causes of gout and the foods that contain a lot of uric acid. Towards the end of last year I started eating a vegetarian diet and it seemed to eliminate the burning in my toes.

Tomorrow my daughter and granddaughters and I are flying back to their home in St Louis. I plan to be back east for 20 days, visiting them and my other daughter and grandson in Indiana. First things packed in my suitcase are my back brace, tens unit, and the hot and cold rub. Then later I have to tote my Sleep apnea machine through security and wait while they examine it totally making sure it’s not explosive!

Seems like I am having more and more contraptions to carry with me on the airplane. I’m getting ready for the trip, I borrowed a friends walker that has a seat on it so I could endure the waiting in line at the airport. I can’t stand in one place more than a few minutes nor can I walk very far without the low back pain. I will be having someone escort me in a wheelchair to my connections just like when I flew last year.

I have learned something this month, I discovered that on one of my legs the hamstring is very, very tight, the other leg is fine. I did a search on-line about this problem and was surprised to find that this is a common problem that can contribute to back pain. Therefore I brought this up to my physical therapist, and now stretching the hamstring has become part of my therapy. It also really makes sense to why I have such poor balance, that is something I’ve been working on too.

I am still resolving to keep a good attitude and keep this blog up even though I slowed down some this month.

Thanks for reading, and God bless.

I trust in the Lord for protection.
So why do you say to me,
“Fly like a bird to your mountain.
2 Like hunters, the wicked string their bows;
they set their arrows on the bowstrings.
They shoot from dark places
at those who are honest.

These two verses tell of the protection we have from the Lord. We have no need to fear if we trust in Him. The wicked will try to shoot down believers. The wicked people aim their bows in the darkness at those who are honest and have pure intentions.

We however have no reason to run from them as we can have confidence in God’s protection. We can bank on it!