I salute YOU!  If I didn’t have caring friends, wise mentors, supportive spouse, dear sister, MaMah, and the information from Dr. Norman Doidge‘s book The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity, I would be in need of advocates and caregivers myself.

Last month, Papa fell again.  No broken bones. No kidney damage. He sure is a lucky fellow.  After his first fall earlier this year, the doctors and nurses explained to him (in Cantonese) and to me that when someone falls and cannot get up and is on the floor for hours, the muscles release a material into the bloodstream that could cause kidney damage. So, what did the doctor and interpreter at the hospital say this time?  “Your father was dehydrated and weak. He needs to eat well, eat more. Encourage him. To eat more. To drink plenty of water.”

Aah, the word “encourage” contains the word “courage”.

Parkinson’s Disease has discouraged Papa – the disease has made Papa’s movement “smaller” – small steps, small voice, small hand-writing.

Encourage my father to do this, to do that? Sounds simple enough.  Then why do I feel discouraged myself?  Whatever happens, I must take good care of my own brain.

I am not fluent in Cantonese, Papa is not fluent in English -

At least twice in the past month, he got upset when I said something about myself (he thought I was talking about him). “Teresa, keep your cool,” I tell myself. (Thank you, mentor Lynn!)

 I do not understand why Papa seems to be evasive when answering questions -

“Papa, when did you last eat?” I’d ask.

“I ate a lot,” he replies.

“What time?” I ask.

“A little while ago,” he says.

“What time?  Six o’clock? Ten o’clock? Two?  It’s two-thirty now. What time did you eat?”

“Eight.”

“Eight o’clock! That’s not a little while ago.” I can hear the irritation in my voice.

“Teresa, encourage him, not grill him.”  (Thank you, NP Lim!)

I cringe just thinking about entering his apartment and getting blasted by the television volume set at 84 or the thermostat set at 80 degrees -

What can I do?  I supposed . . . instead of asking (accusing) him “Is your hearing going?” and “Are you cold because you’re ill?” I could just turn down the two dials and engage him in conversation. (Thank you, dear Sasa!)

I, Teresa LeYung-Ryan, daughter of a father who has Parkinson’s, thank everyone who has helped my papa and Dr. Norman Doidge for writing his wonder-full book The Brain’s Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity.

Thank you to all the doctors, nurses, administration staffs, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, interpreters, everyone at Self Help for the Elderly, folks in UCSF Movement Disorder and Neuromodulation Center,  E.R. staffs, folks at St. Mary’s Hospital, SFGH Orthotics and Prosthetic Center, and the dear staff at the building where my papa lives.

Knowledge that leads to health and wellness – this is my wish for everyone.

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan

Teresa LeYung-Ryan, advocate for my Chinese papa

Please visit http://LoveMadeOfHeart.com/blog and http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  for resources.

If you’d like to read Blog Post 1 of 3 in this series: http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/theme-consultant-teresa-leyung-ryans-blog-post-1-of-3-what-i-learned-about-the-brain-from-dr-norman-doidges-2-books/

Teresa’s trademark:

For other posts in my blog, please go to: https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog

If you’re looking for my blog posts pertaining to our Beautiful Brains and Neuroplasticity… https://lovemadeofheart.com/blog  look at right side of screen, you’ll see the category “Beautiful Brains Neuroplasticity”.  Please click on that category to get those posts.

I think about my mom often. October is a bittersweet month for me -  it is the anniversary of my mother-daughter novel Love Made of Heart and Breast Cancer Awareness Month (my own mom died of metastasized breast cancer in 2000). This October (and every month) is cause for action for everyone who want to be involved in Gina L. Mulligan’s foundation Girls Love Mail and Gina’s beautiful gift book DEAR FRIEND: Letters of Encouragement, Humor and Love for Women with Breast Cancer (published by Chronicle Books).

3 ways to participate and honor AWARENESS, Girls Love Mail foundation, and letter-writing.

Gina L. Mulligan's new book DEAR FRIEND: Letters of Encouragement, Humor and Love for Women with Breast Cancer

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3 ways to participate and honor Awareness, Girls Love Mail foundation, and letter-writing.

Gina L. Mulligan is author of the gift book DEAR FRIEND: Letters of Encouragement, Humor and Love for Women with Breast Cancer AND the founder of Girls Love Mail

1.  A hand-written letter has the special power to heal. Girls Love Mail collects your hand-written letters of encouragement, bundles them, and sends them, via the caring staff at cancer centers, to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer.

Every letter is a gift from you to a woman going through a difficult time. http://www.girlslovemail.com/faqs/

Total Letters Since 2011 is…110,000! That’s 110,000 women encouraged!

Be part of the 2017 MILES OF MAIL campaign to collect 26,000 letters this year. Plus stay connected and read responses from letter recipients!

2.  Gina L. Mulligan’s book DEAR FRIEND: Letters of Encouragement, Humor and Love for Women with Breast Cancer is available anywhere books are sold.

Please support your favorite bookseller, especially the first week of October) http://www.girlslovemail.com/store-donate/  Also, when you purchase from http://www.chroniclebooks.com/dear-friend.html , they’ll donate 25% of the retail price to Houston’s Susan G. Komen (Breast Cancer Foundation).

3.  Please join author Gina Mulligan and letter writers Margie Yee Webb and Teresa LeYung Ryan (whose letters are in the book) on:

Tues, Sept. 26, 2017, 7PM – 9 PM at Gina Mulligan’s book launch of DEAR FRIEND. Barnes & Noble, 280 Palladio Parkway Building 913, Folsom, CA

and

Wed, Oct. 4, 2017, 7:00pm-8:30pm Gina Mulligan’s book party of DEAR FRIEND. Books Inc., 2251 Chestnut Street, San Francisco.

https://www.facebook.com/GirlsLoveMail/

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Margie Yee Webb and Teresa LeYung-Ryan celebrate Gina L. Mulligan and Gina's beautiful gift book DEAR FRIEND: Letters of Encouragement, Humor and Love for Women with Breast Cancer.

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan,
Theme Consultant and Writers’ Platform-Building Coach
Please visit http://LoveMadeOfHeart.com/blog and http://WritingCoachTeresa.com  for resources.

Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s trademark:

Please click here for a short movie of:  Teresa LeYung-Ryan filmed by Elisa Sasa Southard filmed by Margie Yee Webb

This is the kind of fun we create for ourselves to continue building our platforms and fanbases.

Thank you, dear Margie and dear Sasa!

author Teresa LeYung-Ryan with Love Made of Heart Chinese word and her book - photo by author Margie Yee Webb - calligraphy by author MKWL

http://lovemadeofheart.com/

http://lovemadeofheart.com/blog/

Thank you, author MKWL, for creating the Chinese calligraphy “love” for yours truly author Teresa LeYung-Ryan’s trademark.

Sincerely,

Teresa LeYung-Ryan at FEMME movie screening orchestrated by FEMME producer Margie Yee Webb

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