Finding a New Primary Care Doctor

A Big Thanks To Leslie at Wellparents.com for this great advice Thanks to Leslie at Read more

The Rollercoaster of Life

Grandma: "I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn't like Read more

Sheltering at Home/Covid 19

Never in the last two decades of my career as a physician would I have imagined that we would be using the same mask to see patients all day and then sterilizing/recycling them at the end of the day. Read more

Turmeric Health Benefits

Have you ever wondered what the paste is applied to the bride and groom's faces and arms in Indian weddings?  It's actually the spice turmeric.  Turmeric is the ingredient in curry that gives it a vibrant yellow color.  Actually, Read more

COVID 19 Precautions

With the scare of COVID here in the USA now, I wanted to post a little info about boosting immunity to prevent contracting the virus. Here are some important facts about Covid-19 It is spread by contact with Read more

Natural Tips for Avoiding Colds

This cold and flu season is still upon us and unfortunately, many patients are still being plagued by these nasty viral symptoms.  Here are a few tips to try if you feel like you are coming down with something. Of Read more

Sherry's Story

Sherry has a great story.  She has been diabetic for years and she has made some massive changes!   "I have been on a lifestyle change. It has been a year following a ketogenic food plan.  When I started this journey Read more

Pharmacy to Farmacy

Many of you may know Erin-- the fabulous Pharm D that worked in our office a few years back.  Erin is a phenomenal gal and we embarked on the journey  into natural medicine around the same time.  As we both Read more

Benevolence

“One bead at a time”

I frequently ponder inequality in the world.  It bothers me that I’m not working harder to change it.   Somebody’s baby’s going hungry while we are still eating out.  I understand consequence for negative choices but I can’t rationalize being born into despair.  Recently, a patient of mine traveled to Haiti on a mission trip.  She shared some interesting stories…

“The Haitian village that we worked in was a very close-knit community.  Women are the primary caretakers of the children and most of what they know is passed down from the older women of the village.  Unfortunately, this includes a ton of what we would call “old wives’ tales”.  Because of the lack of financial resources, women must breastfeed.  They simply cannot afford to buy formula.  However, young mothers will often be influenced by older women that their milk is “bad”.  They believe if a mother cries a lot (due to postpartum depression) while she is nursing her baby, that the tears will create a vacuum that literally sucks her milk up into her head where her brain will then poison the milk when it travels back to her breasts.  Young mothers, not wanting to poison their babies with breast milk, will sometimes feed them a watered-down inadequate supply of formula leading to malnutrition.  Or they will try to feed them baby food instead of milk when they are much too young to digest it well which leads to diarrhea

The Haitians are in dire need of basic nutrition and health classes.  But I think it will take patience and consistent teaching over years — maybe decades — before it overcomes the old wives’ tales and superstitions they have been taught.”—–Denise

This year at Christmas, our office decided to forgo the annual secret Santa gift exchange and donate to Gleaner’s Food bank.   I was then stricken with the decision of what to give the office staff that would follow this “give back” theme.  I found a great local chapter of Amani Organization that solved my dilemma.

The Amani Children’s Foundation partners with New Life Home Trust to care for abandoned and HIV+ infants and nurses them back to health.  Since 1993, New Life Homes has rescued over 1200 infants.  OurIndianapolischapter sells beads and Kenyan market items to raise money to support these foundations.  The beads are made by Kenyan women at the Kazuri Bead Factory.  These beads are then brought to theUSand crafted into jewelry, key chains and novelty items.  100% of the proceeds go back to these hard-working Kenyan women to nourish and clothe their families.  Thanks Indy Amani for opening the local chapter in 2009.  More importantly, thank you for easing my mind when buying a gift for someone that isn’t starving.  At least it gives me a morsel of integrity.  This is my baby step to alter inequality, contributing to help feed infants hatched into desperation.

What a difference it makes!
Visit Amani’s site today and online ordering is now available!
 
Posted on by Angela in Benevolence, Call to action, Charity, Crafts, disease, Family, Mind, Spirit 1 Comment

A Loyal Son’s Farewell

This tribute is in honor of one of my favorite patients whom recently lost her battle with ovarian cancer.  She was an incredible woman and the kind of person that really touches lives, including my own.  Her children are both patient’s and friends of mine and I wanted to share this with you.  I can think of nothing better than to have my son or daughter feel this way about me after I have passed.  Her kids may have lost her here on Earth-but, they will never lose the character and integrity that she gave them.

 

Her son writes the following final tribute after putting her to rest yesterday—

 

“Mom was a charter member of St. Susanna. Like many good Catholic mothers she was involved in choir, fundraising, Women’s Club, festivals, and other church activities, while being a devoted mother, daughter, and wife. So like many good Catholic families, when a special dessert or covered dish appeared in the kitchen, and we asked “Is that for us?” the frequent reply was, “don’t touch that, it’s for church.”

• Mom’s devotion to family was very real. She and Dad not only made sacrifices for their offspring, but each remained attentive to their respective parents. Mom remained a constant companion to her folks when they were in good health. When her parents and her husband, Ed, fell ill later in life, she was the consummate caregiver until each passed on.

• Mom’s move to Plainfield marked a totally new phase in her life. Despite being in her 70s, the change in surroundings from rural Mooresville to “city life,” brought her a lot of new and renewed friendships, closeness to church, and a remarkable range of new activities.

• Her outlook was a mixture of a mature experience and youthful enthusiasm. When she first moved to Plainfield, someone asked if she would like to transport the elderly. Despite her generosity, she hesitated, because she wasn’t sure she could spend so much time with “older people.” She was committed to physical activity going to water aerobics several times weekly until a few years ago, and recently renewed her interest in card playing, joining a euchre group in the area.

• In addition to continuing her regular attendance at Notre Dame games, and her relish of the pregame tailgating, she added the occasional Colts home game, and opened a new era of travel. As a child and younger adult, she had already seen much of the US with parents and us kids. She began traveling with St. Susanna friends to Great Britain, Ireland, Hawaii, and the Mediterranean.

• When the role of tour guide became too much, she enlisted her son Ed to be her chaperone for her continuing excursions to the Emerald Isle, around  7 or 8 in total. She reasoned that there were 1000 pubs in Ireland, and we still had most of them to visit. As recently as last fall, she was considering another trip.

• Until two years ago, when her health was beginning to decline, she still served as an ombudsman for the needs of her adult children and extended family. Our medical needs, transportation issues, and especially our day-to-day problems were never too much for her to try to handle.

• During her final years, Mom never lost her optimism, nor her acceptance of God’s will for her. As each of us is called upon to be Christ’s human presence to one another, Mom was a great example of that calling to her family and all who knew her well. Mom was not above human frailties, but our memories of her are of her unqualified love.

• Christmas was a shared passion with the rest of the family. Mom celebrated Christmas from Thanksgiving to the Epiphany and often beyond. Even when she was physically able to do much of the work, it took weeks to do all the decorating, cookie baking, shopping, and churchgoing.  Midnight mass was followed by a great breakfast in the wee hours of the morning, and she had her last yuletide gathering earlier this year.

• The church raffle/dinner/auction was an annual observance for Mom. She attended enthusiastically each year, and this year (not surprisingly) we bid successfully for a number of items intended for this coming Christmas. It was a standing joke in our household, from January on, “Do you know, it’s only *** days until next Christmas?”

• Throughout her life, even in recent months, her dry and sharp wit remained. There were a range of family inside jokes and sayings, and the slightest hint would raise Mom’s eyebrow and prompt a mischievous look.

• As we reviewed her photos and other memorabilia of her long and rich life, we were struck by one overriding impression, that of her goodness, her strength, her gentleness, and of a life well lived.”

 

A dear friend of mine shared this with me as well—hope this helps Ed!

~DEATH~
WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT


A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to

Leave the examination room and said,
‘Doctor, I am afraid to die.

Tell me what lies on the other side..’
Very quietly, the doctor said, ‘I don’t know..’
‘You don’t know? You’re, a Christian man,

and don’t know what’s on the other side?’
The doctor was holding the handle of the door; 

On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,

And as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room
And leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
‘Did you notice my dog?
He’s never been in this room before.
He didn’t know what was inside..
He knew nothing except that his master was here,
And when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.
I know little of what is on the other side of death,
But I do know one thing…
I know my Master is there and that is enough.’

Posted on by Angela in Benevolence, cancer, Charity, disease, Family, Guest Blog, Mind, Spirit Leave a comment

The Richest Gift—Family

 

This post is for Mother’s Day.  It is also for the value of family and remembering what is actually important in life.  Dee wrote a post last week that may have kept me out of  jail for considering inflicting some serious harm to a few of my selfish family members.   I texted my mom in my frazzled state (Yes, she is totally awesome and knows how to text) and asked her if I was on the verge of insanity?—she replied, “step back and put things into perspective.”  Thank God for my family and friends that are all consistently there for me!  And thank you Dee for putting perspective back into this crazy world.   Sometimes, you have a “horrible, terrible, no good, really bad days”  just like Alexander–but, that is no excuse to throw in the towel or move to Australia!

Dee wrote:
It’s lunchtime and I just returned from a meeting, so I’m at my work desk. Over the past couple of days, I have been corresponding with my sister Jody and my brother Bil via emails. Simultaneously, I have been conversing with my two teen daughters through text messages and arguing with my husband in a Google Chat. And in my work world I am discussing relatively trivial matters with co-workers and acquaintances while logging hours on a timesheet until 5 o’clock rolls around and my real life begins. I’m fortunate to have a job that I really like, fortunate to have a job at all, and a vehicle to get here and a home to return to. But, in the last couple of days, my brother and sister have given me the richest gift: a reminder of the inherent love that we were given for family and the appreciation of character traits that our parents instilled. This month is Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day next month. There are no words to describe the kindness and love of life my mother has. As a Christian, I know that my joy should never come from my circumstance but rather from the knowledge that I am God’s child and am promised eternal life. My mother has been subjected to nearly tragic medical traumas, and yet she is joyful. She’s in a wheelchair with physical disabilities and mental deficits, but she exudes love and compassion. Our father, the earthly one, is one of the strongest men I know. Even as I’ve grown up and have moved away from him, I don’t think there is any human who has the capacity to make me feel safe the way that my dad would or could. It’s like being a little girl and watching him lift something beyond my ability in amazement.And as for my sister and brother, they are a constant source of showing me in life, what Jesus would do. That’s really what I believe my purpose is, to find ways every day to help whoever God puts in my path. Whenever I see a kid with a broken down bike or offer a kind word to an elderly woman, I stop and thank God for letting me be in the right place at the right time. Jody and Bil are just like that, walking the walk, selflessly. I love you guys, so much.P.S. Dad called me today. It was the first call he made to me in about two years. Thank you.
Posted on by Angela in Benevolence, Call to action, Charity, Mind, Spirit Leave a comment