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The power of friendship and positive thinking
Playing the blame game is most popular on sites but this story of friends at the hospital bedside of Gabby Giffords held the most facination for me. Yes, I know that some consider that the fact that Gabby opened her eyes was due to the visit of [to use Hamp's term which is most applicable here] his O'liness. But at the risk of being pelted with anger for having this opinion, I believe it was the power of friends who knew "The power of positive thinking" and the doctor's understanding that healing is done from within. H/T to Norman Vincent Peale.
When you read the excerpt and link to the rest of the interview of Wasserman-Schultz and Gillibrand, put yourself in the position of Giffords. Instead of the way many people act at hospital bedsides, these women laughed and told jokes with loving touches. Wouldn't it make you feel better and wouldn't you think that things couldn't be very bad if they were doing that?
The following is a transcript by reporters aboard Air Force One of the visit.
SENATOR GILLIBRAND: Okay, well, I’ll go, and then you’ll go -- okay. Well, we were very excited that we were even going to have the chance of getting to visit her hospital room. We didn’t know when we first came whether we had that opportunity. And so when we did have the chance, we were so excited to get to see her. And when we came in the room, the doctor was there, her parents were there, Mark is there, and the Speaker -- Speaker Pelosi and Debbie and I went in.
And we just were so excited, so we were telling her how proud we were of her and how she was inspiring the whole nation with her courage and with her strength. And then Debbie and I started joking about all the things we were going to do after she got better. And we were holding her hand and she was responding to our hand-holding. She was rubbing our hands and gripping our hands so we could -- she could really -- we knew she could hear and understand what we were saying and she moved her leg, and so we knew she was responding. And the more we joked about what we were going to do, she started to open her eyes literally.
Some doctors and teaching hospitals still practice the horrible ritual of "teaching medical students" by discussing their case at the patient's bedside. A few years ago, some friends and I were visiting her comotose son and observed this with amazement. Because they were saying words like, "hopeless, brain dead, he will never come out of coma" etc. When the doctors left, we went to the bedside and talked and made jokes and told him some silly thing his brother had done etc. After some discussion, we got other friends together and always had two or more of us in his room to counteract the negative programming.
One doctor laughed at us but observed, "it couldn't hurt", when the others tried to get us to leave.
It took a week, but Brian healed himself and went home.
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I wonder why supposedly well educated doctors wouldn't always come down on the side of "it couldn't hurt" or "you never know".
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
eddication buries good common sense. I will never forget when I graduated from college with diploma in hand and so full of myself that I couldn't wait to show it off. My favorite uncle, who never got to go to high school because he had to work, looked at it very seriously, then said with a smile: "Well now, you're an educated fool". I was crushed until it seeped through my swelled head what he meant by it.
Bad uncle
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
He raised me to be responsible by treating me like a person [not a girl] and expecting me to think for myself and to learn to do things for myself and others. Way back then it was nearly unheard of.
He was the first real feminist I ever knew - because of him, I learned carpentry, plumbing, auto mechanics and other useful things. Admitedly, my cooking and housekeeping skills were [and are] decidedly sub par.
Watch the entire video to see how a mike cutting out should be handled.
Civil Discourse - ERA - A Mother President - Women's Rights - Primary Reform
And from the young girl who recovered quickly and just sang along with her "amplifiers". Wouldn't see this in many adult superstars.
I do not remember the place but think it was out West, where a family had a Star of David in their window and hoodlums vandalized their property/home. After helping the family clean up, every house in the village sported a Star of David in their window.
Perhaps this is considered violent talk but Ben Franklin said, "We must hang together or we will surely hang separately."
Thanks so much for including your personal experience with Brian and his family. It was an awesome story that teaches many things, including the power of the human spirit and positive thought. It's better to walk in the light.
Our family had a member like your uncle, too. I'm glad, because that person kept us firmly planted in reality.
As you point out in your post, it's important not to get so puffed up about ourselves and our self-worth that we can't consider alternative viewpoints.
From your story, I gather that medical schools should hire a surrogate uncle for some of their students.